This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced that this would be his final full-time season, is the defending race winner at the 1.058-mile track.
So far this season, 10 different drivers have won Cup Series races and have guaranteed their spot in the Playoffs – William Byron, Daniel Suárez, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric and Ryan Blaney. That leaves only six available spots up for grabs.
Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Jesse Love, and Shane van Gisbergen have already raced their way into the Xfinity Series Playoffs via wins this year. Cole Custer has also earned a spot in the Playoffs as the points leader, leaving five available spots.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is off and will return to competition on Friday, June 28 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Friday, June 21 2:30 p.m.: Whelen Modified Tour Practice – No TV 5:45 p.m.: Whelen Modified Tour Qualifying – No TV
4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – USA – Canceled due to rain 4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA – Canceled due to rain
Saturday, June 22
10 a.m.:Whelen Modified Mohegan Sun 100 – FloRacing (Originally scheduled for 6:30 p.m.) 12:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/PRN/SiriusXM 1:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA/PRN/SiriusXM Post-Cup Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series SciAps 200 – USA/PRN/SiriusXM Distance: 211.6 miles (200 laps) Stages end on Laps 45, 90, 200 Purse: $1,270,055 Post Xfinity Race: NASCAR Press Pass 6:30 p.m.: Whelen Modified Mohegan Sun 100 – FloRacing
Sunday, June 23 2:30 p.m.: Cup Series USA Today 301 – USA/PRN/SiriusXM Distance: 318.46 miles (301 Laps) Stages end on Laps 70, Lap 185, Lap 301 Purse: $7,876,911 Post Cup Race: NASCAR Press Pass
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney made Iowa Speedway his “Field of Dreams” for the day after he muscled through to a dominant win in the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday, June 16.
The 30-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, led four times for a career-high 201 of 350-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Kyle Larson and led for the first time on the second lap following an early lap skirmish with Larson.
With mixed strategies and tire wear ensuing throughout the event, Blaney, who spent the majority of the event running towards the front and won the first stage period, cycled back into the lead following a two-tire pit stop call during a late caution period with 92 laps remaining. Once he muscled away from the field during the event’s final restart period with 84 laps remaining, he proceeded to weave his way through lapped traffic and fend off a late charge from William Byron and his four fresh tires to triumph for the first time in the 2024 Cup Series season and place both himself and his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team into Playoff contention.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 15, Kyle Larson notched his fourth Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 20th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 136.458 mph in 23.084 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ryan Blaney, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 136.311 mph in 23.109 seconds.
Prior to the event, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after both wrecked their primary cars during Friday’s practice session.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As they continued to duel for the lead through Turns 3 and 4, Larson managed to edge Blaney to lead the first lap. Blaney, however, would assume the lead from Larson during the following lap amid contact with Larson through Turns 3 and 4 and proceeded to lead during the next two laps while the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for early spots.
On the third lap, the event’s first caution period flew after rookie Carson Hocevar got into the rear of teammate/rookie Zane Smith, which got Smith loose and resulted in him getting into teammate Corey LaJoie as LaJoie and his No. 7 Gainbridge/Iowa Hawkeyes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry spun into the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. During the event’s first caution period, some drivers, including LaJoie, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell and Kaz Grala pitted while the rest, led by Blaney, remained on the track.
When the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, Larson managed to muscle ahead of Blaney and reassume the lead. With Larson ahead of the field with the lead by the Lap 10 mark, Chase Briscoe overtook Blaney for the runner-up spot as teammate Josh Berry and Tyler Reddick battled in the top five ahead of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron and Daniel Suarez.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Larson extended his advantage, leading by more than a second over Blaney, while Briscoe, Reddick and Kyle Busch trailed in the top five. Behind, Josh Berry occupied sixth place ahead of Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, William Byron and Justin Haley while Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton were racing in the top 15 ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman. Meanwhile, Noah Gragson was mired in 21st ahead of Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie while Todd Gilliland, Martin Truex Jr., Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith and Christopher Bell were in the top 30 on the track.
Ten laps later, Larson stretched his advantage, leading by more than three seconds over Blaney while third-place Briscoe trailed by nine seconds. As Reddick and Berry occupied the top-five spots on the track, Suarez, Byron, Busch, Haley and Logano trailed in the top 10 while Truex, Wallace and Hamlin drifted back to 25th, 27th and 33rd, respectively. In addition, Keselowski, who started in the top five, was mired in 14th behind Ty Gibbs while Cindric and Bell, were up to 23rd and 24th, respectively, after starting at the rear of the field in backup cars,
Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to three seconds over Blaney while Briscoe, Berry and Byron trailed in the top five by 10 seconds. By then, Hamlin, who was mired in 34th place, was lapped by the leaders while Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Michael McDowell, Cindric, Allmendinger, Wallace and Austin Dillon were mired outside the top 20 on the track.
At the Lap 50 mark, Larson was mired in lapped traffic and had his advantage shrink to one-and-a-half seconds over runner-up Blaney while third-place Berry and fourth-place Byron trailed by nine seconds. With Briscoe trailing by 10 seconds in fifth place, LaJoie, who was involved in an early spin, was up to 19th place on four fresh tires while Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek and Stenhouse, all of whom were running within the top 30, were lapped by Larson.
A lap later, the event’s second caution period flew when AJ Allmendinger, who was racing in the mid-pack region, ran his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry straight into the outside wall in between Turns 1 and 2 after he blew a right-front tire. It marked his second wreck of the weekend at Iowa Speedway after he wrecked out of Saturday’s Xfinity Series event due to a blown right-front tire.
During the event’s second caution period, nearly all of the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for fresh tires and fuel while Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit road first and was followed by Blaney, Byron, Berry, LaJoie, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Wallace and Logano, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Justin Haley was penalized for equipment interference.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 58 featured Larson navigating his way past both Suarez and Keselowski for nearly a lap as he led the proceeding lap. With Larson continuing to lead by the Lap 60 mark, Blaney assumed the runner-up spot while Suarez was trying to fend off Berry, Byron, LaJoie, Keselowski, Logano, Busch and a bevy of competitors for third place. Blaney would then assume the lead from Larson on Lap 61 while Suarez retained third place ahead of Berry, Byron and LaJoie. Despite Ty Gibbs scraping the outside wall entering the backstretch, the event remained under green flag conditions.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Blaney, who was battling a potential cool suit issue amid the warm temperatures, fended off a late challenge from Larson to capture his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Suarez settled in third place while Byron, Berry, Logano, LaJoie, Keselowski, Elliott and Busch were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Suarez and including Keselowski and LaJoie, pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Daniel Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road.
The second stage period started on Lap 77 as Blaney and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as Larson rocketed ahead of Blaney to reassume the lead. With Larson leading, teammates Byron and Elliott battled for third place along with Logano while Busch was in sixth place ahead of Bowman, Chastain, Briscoe and McDowell. Meanwhile, Bell was up to 11th place while Berry was back in 12th.
Then on Lap 80, the caution returned after John Hunter Nemechek and Noah Gragson, both of whom were fighting outside the top 20 on the track, made contact entering Turn 4. Nemechek sent Gragson spinning sideways but Gragson managed to quickly straighten his No. 10 Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry without hitting the wall and continue. During the caution period, Larson, who radioed tire concerns, surrendered the lead to pit for fresh tires for his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry as Blaney returned atop the leaderboard.
With the event restarting under green on Lap 86, Blaney and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Blaney managed to clear Byron and muscle ahead through the backstretch. As Elliott got sideways entering the backstretch, Logano charged to the runner-up spot and began to intimidate teammate Blaney for the lead while Byron, Busch, Chastain and Bowman trailed in the top six. With a multitude of competitors jostling for spots within the mid-pack region, Blaney retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Logano just past the Lap 90 mark while Byron and Busch tried to close in.
At the Lap 100 mark, Blaney was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Logano followed by Byron, Berry and Elliott as Busch, Chastain, McDowell, Bowman and Suarez occupied the top 10. Behind, Briscoe was in 11th ahead of a hard-charging Larson while Wallace, Reddick and Ty Gibbs were battling in the top 15 ahead of Bell, LaJoie, Keselowski, Cindric and Hocevar. Meanwhile, Gragson was trapped in 23rd place behind Preece and Austin Dillon while Truex, Stenhouse, Haley, Gilliland, Nemechek, Hamlin and Buescher were mired in the top 30.
Fifteen laps later, Blaney stretched his advantage to lead by a second over teammate Logano while Byron, Elliott and Berry trailed by within two seconds in the top five. By then, Larson, who was aggressively weaving and carving his way through the field, had returned to the top-10 mark as he was running in eighth place ahead of teammate Bowman and Suarez while Busch and Chastain occupied sixth and seventh, respectively. Meanwhile, Bell, Wallace, Briscoe, Gibbs and Keselowski trailed in the top 15 while McDowell, who was running in the top 10, was pinned two laps down in 35th place after he pitted his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse to replace a flat right-front tire.
Another 10 laps later, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Logano just before Byron overtook Logano for the runner-up spot, with Elliott and Chastain trailing by within three seconds in the top five on the track. Blaney led by one-and-a-half seconds over Byron just past the Lap 130 mark and by a second at the Lap 140 mark. By then, Busch, who was running in the top 10, had pitted his No. 8 zone/Kwik Trip Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry under green on Lap 135.
By Lap 150, Blaney continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott as Byron, Logano and Larson followed suit in the top five. By then, Hamlin was mired a lap down for a second time in 27th place while Bell was up to sixth place as he had Berry, Chastain, Bowman and Wallace following suit.
Ten laps later, LaJoie and Austin Dillon made contact while battling within the top-20 mark that sent Dillon up the track towards Turns 3 and 4 but he kept his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry running straight as he then ran into the rear of LaJoie to express his displeasure over the contact. Amid the contact, Blaney retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Elliott while Byron, Larson and Bell trailed in the top five by nearly five seconds.
Then as Byron pitted his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry under green from third place on Lap 165, trouble struck for Chastain as he went up the track through Turns 1 and 2 with a flat right-front tire to his No. 1 Busch Light For the Farmers Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. Chastain, though, managed to limp his car to his pit stall without drawing a caution as LaJoie, Briscoe, Truex and Berry also pitted during the proceeding laps. Not long after, Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road.
By Lap 172 and with more green flag pit stops ensuing amid tire wear concerns within the field, Blaney surrendered the lead to pit his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green. Elliott, who led the proceeding lap, pitted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry during the following lap along with teammate Bowman, Gibbs, Grala and Austin Dillon before Larson pitted as Erik Jones limped his No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE entry to pit road with a flat tire.
As the event surpassed its halfway mark on Lap 175, more names including Logano, Gragson, Nemechek and Reddick would pit while Bell, who last pitted on Lap 54, cycled into the lead. Bell would then pit his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE entry on Lap 180 before Suarez and Haley pitted during the next scheduled lap. This moved Keselowski into the lead.
Then on Lap 181, the caution flew after Hemric made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, select names led by Keselowski and including Wallace, Hocevar, Gilliland, Buescher, Hamlin, Suarez, Haley and Hemric pitted while the rest led by Stenhouse, who pinned many competitors a lap down by remaining on the track during the previous green flag run, remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 188, Stenhouse and Byron battled for the lead for nearly a lap until they nearly wrecked entering Turn 4, which allowed Larson to zip by both and return to the lead. With Larson leading, Berry moved his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry up to second place followed by Wallace and Elliott while Stenhouse was trying to fend off fifth place from a multitude of competitors. Larson would proceed to lead just past the Lap 190 mark while he was being intimidated by Berry.
By Lap 200, Larson extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Berry, who had Elliott pressuring him for the runner-up spot, while Blaney and Wallace occupied the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who was lapped twice, was up to sixth place followed by Buescher, Gilliland, Keselowski and Stenhouse while Byron was back in 12th place behind Haley. In addition, Busch was in 14th while battling Hocevar, Bell was in 17th behind Suarez and Bell, Logano was in 18th while trying to overtake Bell and Chastain, the first competitor a lap down, was mired in 19th. In addition, Reddick was in 24th and Briscoe was mired in 29th in front of Truex.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 210, Larson captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Berry fended off Elliott to retain second place ahead of Blaney and Wallace while Hamlin, Buescher, Gilliland, Keselowski and Haley were scored in the top 10. By then, 18 of 36 starters were scored a lap down while 19th-place Chastain was the recipient of the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down during the caution period.
During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Larson pitted while Buescher and Gilliland remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Keselowski exited pit road first after he only opted for a two-tire pit stop while Larson, Berry, Elliott, Suarez, Wallace, Hamlin, Blaney, Byron and Haley followed suit.
With 132 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Buescher and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Buescher maintained the lead ahead of Gilliland and Berry while Keselowski slipped to fourth. Then entering the frontstretch, the caution quickly returned after Larson, who was pinned in the middle of a three-wide battle with Keselowski and Suarez, got sideways after Suarez hit Larson, which resulted in Larson getting loose and coming across the path of Hamlin’s No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE.
Both wrecked against the outside wall, with Larson spinning across the frontstretch while the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Larson. The incident would cost Larson multiple laps as his pit crew went to work to repair the damage in his pit stall. With Larson then being assessed an additional two-lap penalty for having too many crew members over the pit wall, he would take his No. 5 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs but was granted permission to return to the track following his repairs due to meeting the minimum speed under the Damaged Vehicle Policy.
With the next restart period occurring with 123 laps remaining, Buescher and Berry dueled for the lead for a full lap as Berry, who was racing up the outside lane, led the proceeding lap before Buescher, who had Berry slide in front of him during the previous lap, slid in front of Berry in retaliation to reassume the lead during the next lap. Berry, however, kept intimidating Buescher for the lead while Busch, Gilliland, Keselowski and Byron trailed closely in the top six with 120 laps remaining. Berry would then muscle away from Buescher during the proceeding five laps while Byron carved his way up to third place as he was being trailed by Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Gilliland, Busch, Suarez and others.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Berry was leading by two seconds over a side-by-side battle between Blaney and Byron while Elliott and Buescher trailed in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Suarez, Logano, Haley and Busch. Meanwhile, Bowman occupied 11th place ahead of Chastain, Gilliland, Stenhouse and Bell while Wallace, Hocevar and McDowell occupied the remaining 18 competitors scored on the lead lap as Hamlin, who was in 19th, was lapped for a third time.
Nine laps later, the caution returned after Buescher, who was running in fifth, scrubbed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 after he lost a tire. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Berry returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited pit road first after he opted for a two-tire pit stop along with teammate Logano and Stenhouse while Berry, the first competitor who opted for four fresh tires, followed suit in fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron, Suarez, Busch, Haley and Bowman.
The start of the next restart period with 84 laps remaining featured Blaney battling and having enough momentum to clear teammate Logano to lead the next lap while Stenhouse, Byron and Berry followed suit in the top five. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Busch, who was racing in the top 10, scrubbed the backstretch’s outside wall and he would pit under green with 80 laps remaining, which dropped him out of the lead lap category. Shortly after, Busch’s chances of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs took another hit after he took his car to the garage and retired due to another mechanical issue to his No. 8 Chevrolet. Amid Busch’s issues, Blaney retained the lead while Stenhouse and Byron overtook Logano to move into second and third, respectively.
With 60 laps remaining, Blaney continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Byron while Elliott, Stenhouse and Logano trailed in the top five. Blaney would stabilize his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Byron with 50 laps remaining while Elliott, Stenhouse and Logano continued to race in the top five.
With 35 laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Byron while third-place Elliott trailed by a second-and-a-half. As Stenhouse and Logano continued to race in the top five, Bell trailed in sixth place by seven seconds while Berry, Suarez, Chastain and Bowman were in the top 10, with Haley situated in 11th place ahead of Keselowski, McDowell, Gilliland and Truex.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney, who nearly had his steady advantage extinguished while mired in lapped traffic, most notably Ty Gibbs, extended his advantage back to nine-tenths of a second over Byron while Elliott, Byron’s teammate, trailed by a second as he started to close in on Byron for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bell moved up to fourth place ahead of Stenhouse and Logano while McDowell, who was racing in the top 15, pitted under green a few laps earlier to address a flat tire for the second time within the event. Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek would also pit under green as Blaney maintained the lead by a second over Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet with 15 laps remaining.
Under the final 10 laps of the event, Blaney, who was mired in more lapped traffic despite proceeding to lap Wallace and Gragson, maintained his lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Byron as Elliott continued to trail by a second in third place. Blaney, who would close in and lap Truex, would then have his advantage shrink to six-tenths of a second as Byron continued to close in on Blaney with five laps remaining.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by seven-tenths of a second over Byron. With Byron unable to close the deficit even narrower, Blaney was able to cycle his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford smoothly around the Iowa circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Blaney, who nearly won at World Wide Technology Raceway until he ran out of fuel while leading on the final lap two races ago, notched his 11th Cup Series career win and his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in late October 2023. By becoming the 10th competitor overall to record a victory through the first 17 events of the 2024 Cup season, Blaney has guaranteed himself a spot into the 2024 Playoffs as he will commence his pursuit to defend his series’ title.
As an added bonus, Blaney, who racked up the second victory of the season for Team Penske and the third ever for the Ford Mustang Dark Horse stock car, is the first competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. He claimed his first Craftsman Truck Series career win at Iowa in September 2012 and would win an Xfinity event at the 7/8-mile short track in August 2015.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, what a cool way to win here,” Blaney, who had 80 family members rooting for him in the grandstands, said on USA Network. “This place, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to my mom. We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on. They wheeled us to that [win]. Overall, [I] really appreciate the whole No. 12 boys. Our car was really fast all night. We got a little bit better through the night with two [fresh] tires. It was a good call there. I didn’t know how well [the car] was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end, but had to definitely hang on. So proud of the effort. It makes up a little bit from a couple weeks ago. I’m looking forward to seeing [the family members]. It’s always good to have family. I’ve been super lucky to have family that supported me through my career. It’s great that they’re still supporting me just as much as they did day one. It’s a cool weekend. Really cool to win the first Cup race here. I can’t wait we come back with many more years.”
Byron, who recorded his first Xfinity Series victory at Iowa in June 2017, settled in second place for his sixth top-five result of the season while teammate Elliott, who notched his first ARCA Menards Series East victory at Iowa in 2012, ended up in third place for his seventh top-five result of 2024.
“[Me and Blaney] were pretty even,” Byron said. “He was on two tires, so I think I had just a little bit fresher tires and was able to work the bottom [lane] through lapped traffic okay. [I] Felt like I was making marginal gains through [Turns] 1 and 2, but my tires were getting hot down there and I would just start sliding the rears around a little bit on entry. Really good effort by our team. We definitely need to put together some consistent runs and this is a good start. We’d love to be winning tonight, but Ryan [Blaney] and those guys were good, so congrats to them.”
“[The event] was a lot of surprises that [I] wasn’t really sure what to expect with the tire,” Elliott said. “The racetrack changed a lot, I thought, throughout the day. The lanes changed a lot. We were able to move around. I thought it was actually a much better race than I was anticipating being with the repave. I thought all of that was really good. Ultimately, really proud of our NAPA team and just continuing to put together solid days. Just need a little bit more to set the pace and be up there leading laps like I feel like we can. It’s nice to be in the fight and have a shot there in the closing laps.”
Christopher Bell rallied from starting at the rear of the field in a backup car to finish fourth followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as Joey Logano, rookie Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski finished in the top 10.
There were 17 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 49 laps. In addition, 14 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 17th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by eight points over teammate Kyle Larson, 38 over Denny Hamlin, 54 over William Byron, 61 over Martin Truex Jr., 64 over Tyler Reddick and 90 over Ryan Blaney.
Results.
1. Ryan Blaney, 201 laps led, Stage 1 winner
2. William Byron
3. Chase Elliott, one lap led
4. Christopher Bell, seven laps led
5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps led
6. Joey Logano
7. Josh Berry, 32 laps led
8. Alex Bowman
9. Daniel Suarez, four laps led
10. Brad Keselowski, five laps led
11. Ross Chastain
12. Todd Gilliland
13. Justin Haley
14. Carson Hocevar
15. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down
16. Noah Gragson, one lap down
17. Bubba Wallace, one lap down
18. Chris Buescher, one lap down, 16 laps led
19. Austin Dillon, one lap down
20. Harrison Burton, one lap down
21. Corey LaJoie, one lap down
22. Tyler Reddick, one lap down
23. Michael McDowell, one lap down
24. Denny Hamlin, two laps down
25. Ty Gibbs, two laps down
26. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down
27. Ryan Preece, two laps down
28. Chase Briscoe, two laps down
29. Daniel Hemric, two laps down
30. Austin Cindric, three laps down
31. Zane Smith, three laps down
32. Erik Jones, three laps down
33. Kaz Grala, five laps down
34. Kyle Larson, 36 laps down, 80 laps led, Stage 2 winner
35. Kyle Busch – OUT, Water Pump
36. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ annual visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, for the USA Today 301. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 23, and at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Kyle Larson scored the Busch Light Pole Award Saturday at Iowa Speedway. The Hendrick Motorsports driver will lead the field to green in the NASCAR Cup Series debut at the 0.875-mile track.
It is Larson’s fourth pole this season and his 20th career pole. He outpaced the field with a 136.458 mph qualifying lap in 23.084 seconds in his No. 5 Chevrolet.
“Obviously, happy to get the pole,” Larson said. “It helped to go out last, probably. I’m sure the track was continuing to get a little bit better. We got to watch SMT (data) of everybody’s runs, so that helps. But it also makes you a little bit more nervous when you see everybody out there struggling. Thankfully, my lap was mostly comfortable, a little bit loose like everybody was. But we were able to piece together two pretty consistent laps and be fast enough on that second lap to get it done.”
Ryan Blaney will start beside Larson on the front row in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford after a 136.311 mph lap.
“It would have been nice [to win the pole], obviously,” Blaney commented. “But that’s a big improvement from yesterday. We did a lot of work overnight and this morning to figure out how to be better than where we were yesterday at the end of practice. We’re really proud of that effort.”
Josh Berry, William Byron and Brad Keselowski completed the top five fastest drivers in the qualifying session followed by Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell to round out the top 10. Bell, however, will start from the rear of the field after crashing during practice which necessitated going to a backup car for the race.
Austin Cindric will also go to a backup car after a tire failure during practice.
Sunday’s Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol will be broadcast on the USA network at 7 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Complete Starting Lineup:
Kyle Larson
Ryan Blaney
Josh Berry
William Byron
Brad Keselowski
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Busch
Tyler Reddick
Chase Elliott
Christopher Bell (Will start at the rear of the field)
Joey Logano
Denny Hamlin
Daniel Suarez
Todd Gilliland
Chris Buescher
Bubba Wallace
Ross Chastain
AJ Allmendinger
Justin Haley
Carson Hocevar
Austin Cindric (Will start at the rear of the field)
Martin Truex Jr. announces retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing By Reid Spencer/NASCAR Wire Service
NEWTON, Iowa — Martin Truex Jr. felt it was time to regain control over his own life and his own schedule.
“I’m obviously here to let y’all know that I won’t be back full-time next year,” Truex said Friday in a press conference with team owner Joe Gibbs, confirming the widely reported news that he will exit the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota at season’s end.
“It’s been incredible. It’s been a hell of a ride. I’m excited about the future, and I’m not really sure what that looks like yet,” Truex added.
There are several issues, however, that are already settled. The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion will continue with JGR in what is vaguely defined as an “ambassadorial capacity.” He likely will compete in an occasional NASCAR Xfinity Series race for the organization.
And Truex will fulfill a stated purpose of reclaiming his time as his own.
“It’s the right time for me. I’ve thought about it a lot for the last few seasons — just waited for that feeling in my mind to be positive, like ‘This is OK, I’m good, and I want to do something else,’” Truex said.
“In the 21 years that I’ve done this, I’ve never missed a race. I’ve never missed a practice. I’ve never been late for anything. I’ve never missed an appearance. You live your life by a schedule that somebody makes for you, and it’s just time for me to make my own schedule.
“That’s really what it boils down to. I want to go do the things I want to do, and I don’t want anyone to tell me when I can and when I can’t do those things. I still love racing. I’m still going to race some — I don’t know what, when, how, why — but I feel very fortunate to be in this position to make this decision.”
Gibbs said he had a sense of what Truex’s decision would be. Truex will turn 44 on June 29. That makes him the elder statesman of JGR by less than five months over teammate Denny Hamlin, a three-time winner so far this season.
“I did everything I could to keep it going,” Gibbs said of his efforts to retain Truex for another season. “I think we’ve got two 43-year-olds that are at the top of their game.”
Now in his 19th season of full-time Cup racing, Truex has accumulated 34 victories, 23 poles, 146 top fives and 287 top 10s in 673 starts in NASCAR’s top series. He also won consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series titles in 2004 and 2005 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Chance 2 Motorsports.
Truex’s high-water mark in the Cup Series came in 2017. Driving for Furniture Row Racing and paired with crew chief Cole Pearn, he scored career bests in victories (eight) and top 10s (26) en route to the series championship, which he claimed with a win in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After stints with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, Michael Waltrip Racing and Furniture Row, Truex joined Joe Gibbs Racing in 2019. He won seven times that season and finished second in the final standings for the second straight year.
Though winless so far this season, Truex currently is fifth in the Cup Series standings, despite running out of fuel and finishing 27th in last Sunday’s road course event at Sonoma Raceway.
NASCAR President Steve Phelps acknowledged Truex’s achievements in a statement extolling his successes as a competitor and a person.
“Martin Truex Jr. has been a consistent figure over the last two-plus decades in NASCAR — a consistent winner, champion and fan-favorite,” Phelps said. “Though he especially excelled on NASCAR’s biggest stages, Martin performed his craft with a quiet tenacity, allowing his immense success tell his incredible story.
“On behalf of the France Family and all of NASCAR, I congratulate Martin on a wonderful career and wish him the best of luck for the remainder of his final full-time season.”
As he plans his exit from full-time racing, Truex has few, if any, regrets.
“I would say I’ve achieved more than I ever thought I would,” he said. “That being said, there’s a lot of heartbreakers. There’s a lot of things you go back and think about like, ‘Man, if that had turned out different.’
“But a championship and three runners-up in this (elimination) format, I feel like that’s really good. I’m proud of what I’ve done. I feel like I gave it everything I had, and I feel I’m really, really good at what I did, so I’m happy with that—I’m content.”
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway for the first time. The Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol is scheduled for Sunday, June 16 at 7 p.m.. It will air on the USA Network at 7 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Nine drivers have earned a spot in the Cup Series Playoffs by virtue of wins including Christopher Bell, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suárez, leaving seven available spots.
After a five-year absence, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will compete at the .875-mile short track. The Hy-Vee PERKS 250 is set for Saturday, June 15 at 3:30 p.m. ET and will also be broadcast on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, and Shane van Gisbergen have claimed their spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs via wins, leaving six open spots.
NBC Sports will broadcast the final 20 Cup Series and 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2024 across the NBC, USA Network and Peacock platforms.
BROADCAST TEAM
Play by Play: Rick Allen
Analysts: Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Brad Daugherty
Pit Reporters: Marty Snider, Dave Burns, Kim Coon
Specialty Reporter: Dale Jarrett
STUDIO COVERAGE TEAM
Host: Marty Snider
Studio Analysts: Dale Jarrett, Brad Daugherty
Friday, June 14 3 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice – ARCA Race Center 4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Qualifying – ARCA Race Center 4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – USA/NBC Sports 5:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM 8 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Atlas 150 (64 Laps, 127.36 Miles) FS1/MRN
Saturday, June 15 12:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports 1:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM Post Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass 3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Hy-Vee Perks 250 Stages 75/150/250 = 218.75 miles USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,408,568 Post Xfinity Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
Sunday, June 16 7 p.m.: Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol Stages 70/210/350 = 306.25 miles USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $8,881,630 Post Cup Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass
1. Kyle Larson: Larson powered by Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher for the lead on Lap 102 at Sonoma and cruised to the win in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, earning his third win of the season.
“I was born in Elk Grove, California,” Larson said, “so it feels good to win in my home state. Sonoma is wine country, so I bet a lot of my fans raised a glass in my honor. I raised one in my opponents’ honor because they were ‘toast.’”
2. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fourth at Sonoma, posting his sixth top-five this season.
“I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of the Ross Chastain-Kyle Busch incident,” Elliott said. “Chastain and Busch are two of NASCAR’s biggest personalities. They’re unlike any other driver. They’re also unliked by any other driver.”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin’s day ended early at Sonoma when his engine blew on Lap 2. He finished last in the 38-car field.
“I’m not used to saying this,” Hamlin said, “but ‘I just beat your favorite driver (to our respective hauler for the post-race shower.)’”
4. Christopher Bell: Bell started 15th and finished ninth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
“I was the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the top 10,” Bell said. “In fact, Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs finished last and next to last, respectively. Joe Gibbs is outraged that Denny’s engine blew so early. As far as his grandson Ty’s plight, well, he’s just ‘relatively’ upset.”
5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 13th at Sonoma.
“The race featured two Australian Supercar drivers,” Keselowski said, “Will Brown and Cam Waters. Those guys finished 31st and 35th, respectively, which is well ‘down under’ where they’d have to finish for me to view them as threats.”
6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished seventh at Sonoma, posting his sixth top 10 of the year.
“The first half of the race was pure chaos,” Blaney said. “Incidentally, the term ‘pure chaos’ is the exact opposite of my father Dave Blaney, a man who’s so laid back he’s prone.”
7. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs smashed the Turn 11 wall on Lap 16, damaging his right front beyond repair and ending his day. He finished 37th.
“I consider myself a pretty good road course racer,” Gibbs said. “So the only thing more damaged than my car is my ego.”
8. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished eighth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
“I led the most laps of any driver,” Reddick said. “And all I have to show for it is a measly top-10 finish, and a lousy t-shirt.”
9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex ran out of fuel on the final lap with the finish line in sight. Instead of taking the runner-up spot, Truex finished a disappointing 27th.
“If I had to give us a letter grade on the day,” Truex said, “I would give us an ‘E.’”
10. William Byron: Byron had an eventful day at Sonoma, with a number of issues leading to a 30th-place finish.
“It was just one of those days,” Byron said. “I think we’ve all had one of those days, or something similar. Kyle Busch had ‘1’ of those days at Sonoma when he was dumped by Ross Chastain.”
After enduring an up-and-down process in his attempted double duty attempt in May, Kyle Larson rose to the occasion with a strategic NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 9.
The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led twice for 19 of 110 scheduled laps in an event where he dodged a series of on-track carnages within the first two stage periods. With pit strategies ensuing amongst every team and competitor throughout the event, Larson’s key path to victory occurred with 30 laps remaining as he pitted under green after leading the previous 10 laps. Returning to the track with fresh tires and a full tank of fuel, Larson then spent the next 21 laps carving his way back towards the front, where he would gain ground on the leaders Chris Buescher and Martin Truex Jr., both of whom pitted 13 laps earlier than Larson.
Then with nine laps remaining, Larson took advantage of both Buescher and Truex dueling each other for the lead through Turn 12 and Truex missing the Chute’s entrance turn moments after he assumed a brief lead to overtake both and reassume the top spot. Having the clean air to his advantage while stretching it, Larson was able to pace his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry smoothly around Sonoma’s 12-turn circuit for the final eight laps before he crossed the finish line in first place for his third Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and his second at his home track.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 8, Joey Logano notched his third Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 97.771 mph in 73.273 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Tyler Reddick, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 97.661 mph in 73.356 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Joey Logano launched his No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead of the field through the uphill first turn before he led the way through the second turn, a pair of Turns from 3 to 3A and the Chute between Turns 4 and 7 as Tyler Reddick battled and fended off Ryan Blaney to retain second place. As the field proceeded to navigate through the Esses before making the sharp, right-hand turn in Turn 11 and back to the start/finish line in Turn 12, Logano proceeded to lead the first lap as Reddick, Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and William Byron followed suit in the top six.
Just past the second lap, the event’s first caution flew for fluid on the course after Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE went up in a billow of smoke just past the frontstretch, where he would manage to nurse his car through the uphill first turn before he parked his car in Turn 2 and became the first retiree of the event.
During the event’s first caution period, select names including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Hemric and Kaz Grala pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track. John Hunter Nemechek would also pit for repairs to his No. 42 Save Mart Toyota Camry XSE entry after he scrubbed the wall in Turn 1 due to slipping into Hamlin’s oil spill.
Following an extensive cleanup on the track due to Hamlin’s oil spill and a blown engine, the event restarted under green on the sixth lap. At the start, Logano fended off teammate Blaney to retain the lead through the first three turns while Reddick was able to overtake and reassume the runner-up spot from Blaney. As the field fanned out through the Chute before entering the Esses, including a series of right- and left-hand turns, Logano maintained a steady advantage over teammate Blaney and Reddick as Elliott, Larson and Daniel Suarez followed suit. Behind, Byron dropped to seventh as Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger were in the top 10.
The following lap, Martin Truex Jr., who was in 18th, spun in Turn 2 after he got turned by Will Brown. Not long after, Ross Chastain got loose and drove his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sideways off the dirt course in Turn 8A while he was in eighth place. Amid both incidents, the event remained under green flag conditions as Logano was leading by nearly half a second over Reddick and more than a second over teammate Blaney.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Logano continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Reddick followed by Blaney, Elliott and Larson while Suarez, Byron, Bowman, AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell were running in the top 10. Behind, Ty Gibbs occupied 11th place ahead of Christopher Bell, rookie Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland and Corey LaJoie as Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Will Brown, Noah Gragson and Austin Dillon occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Chase Briscoe, Austin Cidnric, rookie Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Ryan Preece. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher was 27th ahead of Cam Waters, Erik Jones was mired in 30th in between rookie Josh Berry and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski was back in 33rd place ahead of Daniel Hemric and Truex was down in 37th behind John Hunter Nemechek.
Five laps later and with a series of battles ensuing around the circuit, the event’s second caution flew after Ty Gibbs, who was running in the top 10, hit the newly installed concrete walls in Turn 11, which broke his right front hub before he proceeded to drive through Turn 12 and slap the outside wall entering Turn 1, which left Gibbs with more right-side damage to his No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE entry. At the time of the caution, Logano maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Reddick while Blaney, Elliott and Larson continued to race in the top five. In addition, Byron, who went off the course in Turn 1, had pitted under green to address concerns of a loose wheel to his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry.
During the caution period and with pit strategy amongst the field ensuing, some led by Logano and including Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Preece, Zane Smith, Cam Waters, Berry, Erik Jones, Hemric, Justin Haley and Grala pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 18, Reddick launched his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Blaney and the field with the lead through the uphill first turn before navigating through the following three turns and the Chute. With the field fanning out and jostling for spots approaching the Esses, the caution quickly returned after Chase Briscoe, who was running in the top 15, got turned in Turn 8A, where he was clipped by Logano, who bumped Stenhouse and sent him for a spin, as Logano, who shredded the rear of Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, spun off and back onto the course through Turn 8 before he was hit in the rear by Harrison Burton, leaving all four competitors with damage to their respective entries.
Amid the caution period, select names including Bell, Will Brown, Buescher, Byron, Keselowski, Preece and Haley pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.
The event re-started under green with three laps remaining in the first stage period. At the start, Reddick and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first three turns before Reddick managed to muscle ahead entering Turn 3A and the Chute. As Reddick led Blaney, Larson, Elliott and Bowman through the Esses before Turn 11, McDowell was in sixth while Trackhouse Racing’s Suarez and Chastain battled for seventh place. In addition, LaJoie and Gilliland battled for ninth place ahead of Hocevar, Wallace and Gragson while Cindric and Allmendinger trailed in the top 15.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Reddick captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Blaney followed suit in second along with Larson, Elliott, Bowman and McDowell, respectively, while Chastain edged teammate Suarez to grab seventh place. LaJoie and Gilliland would round out the top 10 at the first stage’s conclusion.
Under the stage break, some including Kyle Busch, Truex, Preece, Hemric, Allmendinger, Logano, Haley, Stenhouse, Grala and Harrison Burton pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Reddick and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick and Blaney dueled for the lead through the uphill first turn and through Turn 2 before Reddick launched ahead entering Turn 3A. With Reddick leading through the Chute, Elliott tried to make a move to Blaney’s outside entering Turn 7, but he got loose amid light contact with Blaney. This allowed Larson to assume third place from teammate Elliott while Chastain trailed in fifth place through the Esses.
During the Lap 30 mark, Austin Cindric nearly flipped as he spun his No. 2 America’s Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse sideways off the course and through the uphill turn in the dirt entering Turn 2, but he managed to proceed without drawing a caution. Two laps later, however, the caution returned after Will Brown, who was battling electrical issues to his No. 33 Mobile X/Shaw and Partners Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, parked his car off the course in Turn 11 due to a potential engine issue that resulted in him falling off the pace entering Turn 11. At the time of caution, Reddick was leading ahead of Blaney, Larson, Elliott and Chastain.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 34 amid a stacked restart, Reddick and Blaney dueled amid close-quarters racing through the first four turns before Reddick managed to maintain the top spot and clear Blaney prior to entering the Chute. Meanwhile, Larson bumped and overtook Blaney for the runner-up spot entering the Esses while Chastain, Elliott, Gilliland and Bowman followed suit.
Shortly after, more on-track issues ensued as Bubba Wallace, who was running in the top 10, slipped his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE off the course and kicked up dirt in Turn 11. While Wallace recovered despite losing a handful of spots as the field stacked up, trouble ignited in front of him as Josh Berry got bumped and turned into the concrete walls by Erik Jones in Turn 11, which resulted in Berry locking up the tires and going dead straight into Bell, Truex, Byron and Dillon, as all but Truex spun. Cam Waters was also collected in the carnage while the rest of the field in the mid-pack region scattered and jammed on the brakes to avoid the carnage. The carnage drew the event back into a caution period as Reddick retained the race lead.
With the event restarting under green on Lap 39, Reddick retained the lead from Larson, Blaney and Chastain through the first four turns and the Chute, with Chastain bumping and battling Blaney for third place. Then through the Esses, the caution quickly returned after Austin Cindric got Noah Gragson sideways in Turn 8A, where Gragson then clipped Cindric and sent both into the tire barriers as McDowell was also sent into the tire barriers after getting caught in a mid-pack stack-up.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 42 featured Reddick muscling away from Larson to retain the lead as Chastain moved into third place from Blaney. While Bowman and Suarez rubbed fenders while battling for fifth place in front of Elliott before entering the Esses, Reddick kept his No. 45 entry racing in front of Larson to retain the lead during the ensuing lap while the rest of the field behind jostled for spots. By then, Austin Dillon took his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry to the garage.
Through the Lap 45 mark, Reddick was leading by six-tenths of a second over Larson while third-place Chastain trailed by nearly two seconds. Behind, Blaney and Bowman trailed in the top five while Suarez, Elliott, Buescher, Preece and Busch followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Zane Smith and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Logano, Burton, Gilliland, Stenhouse and Hemric were racing in the top 20 ahead of Hocevar, Cam Waters, Haley, Bell and Briscoe as Wallace, LaJoie, Grala, McDowell, Gragson and Byron were mired in the top 31.
At the Lap 50 mark, Reddick extended his advantage to two seconds over Larson while Blaney, who overtook Chastain for third place a few laps earlier, trailed by three seconds. With Chastain settling in fourth, Bowman retained fifth while Elliott overtook Suarez for sixth place.
A lap later, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green along with Elliott and Suarez. Larson would pit his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry during the following lap along with teammate Bowman, Chastain, and rookie Zane Smith before Reddick, the only competitor who has yet to pit, surrendered the lead to pit by Lap 53. Reddick’s pit stop moved Chris Buescher into the lead as he was followed by Preece, Truex, Busch and Allmendinger.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 55, which marked the event’s halfway point, Buescher captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Preece followed suit in second along with Truex, Busch and Allmendinger while Keselowski, Erik Jones, Gilliland, Logano and Burton were scored in the top 10. By then, a bevy of front-runners that included Larson, Chastain, Byron, Reddick, Blaney, Elliott, Suarez and Bowman were mired outside the top 25, with Reddick locking up his front tires and going off the course before entering the Chute after he made contact with Larson just after completing his green flag pit service.
With 51 laps remaining, where the entire lead lap field remained on the track, the final stage commenced as Buescher and Preece occupied the front row. At the start, Buescher launched ahead from the outside lane and retained the lead through the course’s first four turns before navigating his way through the Chute. Behind, Truex overtook Preece for the runner-up spot while Allmendinger and Busch battled for fourth place in front of Nemechek and Keselowski. With the field navigating through the various turns through the Esses, Buescher was leading by nearly a second over Truex with 50 laps remaining.
Shortly after, Preece, who was trying to battle Truex for the runner-up spot, slipped sideways and spun his No. 41 Caymus Vineyards Ford Mustang Dark Horse off the course in Turn 7, but the event remained under green as Preece dropped out of the top-10 running order. Meanwhile, Larson, who carved his way into the top 20, was trying to weave his way back to the front amid a series of jostles and on-track contact in the middle of the pack. Other front-runners mired in the mid-pack region with Larson included teammate Elliott, Chastain, Suarez, Reddick and Bowman while Buescher stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Truex.
With 43 laps remaining, the leader Buescher along with Truex, Busch, McDowell, Logano, Preece, Bowman, Wallace and Burton pitted their respective entries under green. More names including Gilliland, Erik Jones, Haley, Bell, Reddick and Berry pitted over the next two laps before Hocevar, Hemric and Suarez pitted with 40 laps remaining. By then, Allmendinger, who assumed the lead when Buescher pitted, was leading ahead of Larson, Stenhouse, Chastain and Elliott. Once Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry along with Chastain with 39 laps remaining, Larson cycled into the lead.
Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Larson was leading by four seconds over teammate Elliott as LaJoie, Blaney and Grala trailed as far as 18 seconds in the top five. Behind, Buescher, the first competitor with four fresh tires and fuel, trailed by 18 seconds in sixth place while Truex, Busch, Allmendinger and McDowell were racing in the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Chastain, Reddick, Erik Jones, Bell, Cindric, Suarez, Bowman and Haley.
Five laps later, the top-four competitors led by Larson and including teammate Elliott, LaJoie and Blaney continued to run on the track, though all have yet to make another pit stop, while Buescher trailed the four leaders by 20 seconds in fifth place. Meanwhile, Truex continued to trail the lead by 22 seconds in sixth place as Busch, Allmendinger, McDowell and Keselowski were in the top 10. Behind, Reddick, who was still trying to carve his way back to the front, was mired in 13th in between Chastain and Bell, Suarez was in 15th and Bowman was in 18th.
Not long after, Larson surrendered the lead to pit under green as teammate Elliott moved into the lead. Third-place Blaney pitted under green with 27 laps remaining before Elliott and LaJoie pitted during the following lap. Amid the pit stops, Buescher cycled his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry into the lead as Truex, Busch, Allmendinger and McDowell all cycled into the top five while Larson cycled his way back to sixth place.
With 20 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Truex while third-place Busch trailed by four seconds. Meanwhile, Larson, who was locked in a heated three-way battle with McDowell and Allmendinger three laps earlier, trailed in fourth place by less than six seconds while McDowell and Allmendinger followed suit in fifth and sixth, respectively. In addition, Chastain was in seventh ahead of Gilliland, Elliott and Keselowski while Reddick, Bell, Suarez, Blaney, LaJoie and Bowman trailed in the top 16.
Over the next handful of laps, Truex started to close in on Buescher for the lead as he cut the deficit as close to half a second. At the same time, Larson, who overtook Busch for third place, ignited his pursuit on the two leaders, with Larson having fresher tires than both Buescher and Truex, as he trailed both by four seconds. Despite having two series champions intimidating him through distinct approaches, Buescher continued to lead by half a second with 15 laps remaining.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the top three competitors were separated by eight-tenths of a second as Buescher retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Truex while Larson, who now has the top two leaders close in front of his windshield, was trying to navigate his way around Truex for the runner-up spot. Behind, McDowell trailed in fourth place by four seconds while Busch trailed in fifth place by six seconds.
Then approaching the final nine laps of the event, Truex attempted to stick his front nose beneath Buescher entering Turn 11 as Buescher missed his marks. Despite squeezing his way underneath Buescher through the turn, Buescher refused to surrender as he rubbed dead even with Truex through Turn 12. This allowed Larson to close in even more as Truex was able to overtake Buescher to move his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry into the lead in Turn 2. Larson, however, also overtook Buescher for the runner-up spot through Turn 2 as he pursued Truex for the lead. Then entering the Chute, Truex went wide after he missed his marked turn, which allowed Larson to make his move beneath Truex in Turn 7 as he assumed the lead. Larson would proceed to lead by two-tenths of a second over Truex while Buescher trailed in third place by a second.
With five laps remaining, Larson started to stretch his advantage as he was leading by eight-tenths of a second while third-place Buescher trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, McDowell started to close in on Buescher in his late attempt for third place while Busch trailed in fifth place by six seconds. Another lap later, McDowell, who radioed a potential flat tire to his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, overtook Buescher for third place as Chastain, Elliott, Allmendinger, Blaney and Reddick trailed in the top 10.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader while extending it to two seconds over Truex. As Chastain and Busch tangled for fifth place entering the Chute, Larson was able to cruise his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry smoothly around the 12-turn Sonoma circuit for a final time before he navigated his way back to Turn 12 and across the finish line to claim the checkered flag for his third Cup victory of the 2024 season and by four seconds.
With the victory, Larson, a product of Elk Grove, California, notched his 26th career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his second at Sonoma and his first since 2021. He also joined teammate William Byron and Denny Hamlin as competitors to notch three victories during the first 16 events of the 2024 schedule as the 2024 Sonoma victory marked the eighth of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the sixth for Hendrick Motorsports. The Sonoma victory marks Larson’s 20th driving the No. 5 Chevrolet entry for Hendrick Motorsports.
Larson’s Sonoma victory also occurred five days after he was granted a waiver to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. The waiver occurred due to Larson missing the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after on-track precipitations between both the Coke 600 and the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway spoiled his attempt to complete the Memorial Day “Double”, where he opted to start the Indy 500 and was unable to register a lap for the Coke 600 with the event being shortened and as Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier filled in for Larson’s Cup Series efforts.
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Valvoline Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 09, 2024 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images).
“I didn’t know what we were like doing as far as strategy,” Larson said on FOX. “I was just out there banging laps away. We studied all the strategies, but it’s like doing homework. I don’t really know what I’m looking at. I was like, ‘Well, [Buescher and Truex] have to pit another time, maybe.’ Then [the team] said we had to go race and pass those guys. I got a bit nervous. I knew I’d be quick from the get-go, but I thought once the tires would come up to [track temperature], it would even off too much. Thankful that we had enough grip. Thankful too that those guys got racing and Martin [Truex Jr.] never got clear really where I would get stuck in third. That really saved the race…just an awesome, awesome race car. Cool to win at home. [I’ll] Drink some wine here in a little bit and go celebrate.”
As Larson celebrated his Sonoma victory both on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane towards the circuit’s dragstrip, Truex, who was losing steady ground of Larson during the final lap, had his hopes of posting a strong runner-up finish spoiled after he ran out of fuel approaching the final stretch to the finish line. Truex’s misfortune allowed Michael McDowell to claim the runner-up spot while Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain finished in the top five.
As AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Todd Gilliland finished in the top 10, Kyle Busch nursed his No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry to a 12th-place result following his last-lap spin from Chastain, where he also ran out of fuel approaching the finish line. Truex ended up in 27th place as he struggled to coast his entry across the finish line to finish the race, drawing a caution as the event concluded.
There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 16th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson reassumes the lead in the regular-season standings following his Sonoma victory and he leads by 14 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 26 over Denny Hamlin, 49 over Tyler Reddick and 53 over Martin Truex Jr.
Results.
1. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led
2. Michael McDowell
3. Chris Buescher, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner
4. Chase Elliott, three laps led
5. Ross Chastain
6. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led
7. Ryan Blaney, one lap led
8. Tyler Reddick, 35 laps led, Stage 1 winner
9. Christopher Bell
10. Todd Gilliland
11. Corey LaJoie
12. Kyle Busch, one lap led
13. Brad Keselowski
14. Daniel Suarez
15. Alex Bowman
16. Zane Smith
17. Carson Hocevar
18. Ryan Preece
19. Erik Jones
20. Bubba Wallace
21. Joey Logano, 16 laps led
22. Austin Cindric
23. Kaz Grala
24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
25. Harrison Burton
26. Noah Gragson
27. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led
28. Daniel Hemric, one lap down
29. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down
30. William Byron, two laps down
31. Will Brown, three laps down
32. Josh Berry – OUT, Suspension
33. Justin Haley – OUT, Steering
34. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Transmission
35. Cam Waters – OUT, Accident
36. Austin Dillon – OUT, DVP
37. Ty Gibbs – OUT, DVP
38. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 16, and air at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Sonoma Raceway. Martin Truex Jr. is the defending Cup Series race winner at the 1.99-mile track and leads all active drivers with four wins (2023, 2019, 2018, 2013) at Sonoma.
Denny Hamlin is the most recent Cup Series pole winner with a lap of 92.178 mph in 77.719 seconds last June.
This will be the second time the Xfinity Series has competed on the 1.99-mile course. Last year’s race winner, Aric Almirola, and pole winner, Kyle Larson, are not entered in this weekend’s event.
The Craftsman Truck Series is off and returns to completion on June 28 at Nashville Superspeedway.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, June 7 1:40 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice (All Entries) ARCA Race Center 3:10 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying (Timed, Impound) ARCA Race Center 4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – All Entries (Tape delayed: 5 p.m.) F1 5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – All Entries (Tape delayed: 8:30 p.m.) FS1/PRN/SiriusXM 6:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 – 64 Laps, 127.36 Miles FloRacing
Saturday, June 8 3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound, Group A & B, Multi-Vehicle, 2 Rounds) FS2 6 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound, Group A & B, Multi-Vehicle, 2 Rounds) FS2/PRN/SiriusXM Post-NCS Qualifying Press Pass 8 p.m.: Xfinity Series Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 Stages 20/45/79 Laps = 156.95 Miles – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,747,861 Post-Xfinity Race – Press Pass
Sunday, June 9 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 Stages 25/55/110 Laps = 218.9 Miles FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $8,426,274 Post-Cup Series: Press Pass
In a season mired with only a single top-five result and nine results outside the top 20 through 14 races, Austin Cindric achieved good fortunes under the Gateway Arch, racing his way into Playoff contention after taking advantage of teammate Ryan Blaney running out of fuel on the final lap to win the third annual running of the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, June 2.
The 2022 Daytona 500 champion from Mooresville, North Carolina, led three times for 53 of 240 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Michael McDowell and raced competitively towards the front. As the event quickly became a race of execution in pit strategy within the field, Cindric, who accumulated a bevy of stage points during the event’s two stage periods and led for the first time on Lap 97, made his final pit service with 63 laps remaining under green flag conditions, one lap after teammate Ryan Blaney pitted. Cindric then spent the remainder of the event navigating his way around the Gateway course and methodically climbing the leaderboard as more front-runners pitted. Amid his drive back to the front, he was also trying to keep pace with Blaney, who would prevail in a late battle of his own against Christopher Bell.
Then after being initially poised for a runner-up result behind Blaney with two laps remaining, Cindric struck gold after Blaney ran out of fuel and quickly fell off the pace through the frontstretch. Having the lead to his advantage for a final lap, Cindric was able to have enough fuel and horsepower within his No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry to cycle back to the frontstretch and claim his second NASCAR Cup Series career victory in his 94th series start along with his first win in two years.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 1, Michael McDowell achieved his third Cup pole position of this season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 138.598 mph in 32.468 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 138.134 mph in 32.577 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, McDowell jumped his No. 34 Siteman Cancer Center Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead from the outside lane and he led the field through the first two turns and through the backstretch. With Christopher Bell navigating his way into the runner-up spot and the field behind fanning out to multiple lanes, McDowell proceeded to lead the first lap from Bell. Behind, Ryan Blaney was up to third place while teammate Austin Cindric dropped to fourth place as he was racing in front of Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and Brad Keselowski.
The following lap, Wallace, who was battling Keselowski for seventh place, bumped into the side of Keselowski as Keselowski got loose and briefly went up the track through Turns 1 and 2, but he managed to keep his car running straight despite dropping out of the top 10 on the track. Then prior to the third lap, the event’s first caution period flew after John Hunter Nemechek and Cody Ware both spun in Turn 2.
During the next restart period on the seventh lap, McDowell and Bell dueled for the lead through the first two turns until McDowell just managed to clear Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE through the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes for a second time, McDowell retained the lead by a narrow margin over Bell as Team Penske’s Blaney and Cindric battled for third place in front of Toyota drivers Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Wallace. William Byron and Keselowski would trail in the top 10 along with Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson while McDowell led the Lap 10 mark by three-tenths of a second over Bell.
Through the first 15 scheduled laps, McDowell was leading by half a second over Bell followed by Blaney, Cindric and Hamlin while Reddick, Gibbs, Byron, Wallace and Logano were scored in the top 10. Behind, Larson occupied 11th place ahead of Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch while rookie Josh Berry, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., rookie Carson Hocevar and Austin Dillon trailed in the top 20.
Shortly after, the event’s second caution period flew after Cody Ware was involved in a second two-car spin in Turn 2, with his latest one including Kaulig Racing’s Derek Kraus. During the caution period, select names led by Keselowski and including Busch, Truex, Austin Dillon and Josh Berry pitted while the rest led by McDowell remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who pitted, was penalized for speeding while Keselowski pitted for a second time to address a loose wheel to his No. 6 Solomon Plumbing Ford Mustang Dark Horse.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 22, McDowell and Bell battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until McDowell managed to muscle ahead from Bell from the outside lane. McDowell proceeded to lead the proceeding lap from Bell as he had both lanes in his control while Blaney was trying to fend off Cindric, Hamlin and a hard-charging Byron for third place. Behind, Wallace and Logano battled fiercely for ninth place in front of Alex Bowman, where Wallace blocked Logano through the frontstretch before Logano prevailed and overtook Wallace from the inside lane through the first two turns. Amid the early battles, McDowell retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Bell by the Lap 25 mark.
Through the first 30 scheduled laps, McDowell continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Bell followed by Blaney, Cindric and Hamlin as Byron, Gibbs, Reddick, Logano and Chase Elliott trailed in the top 10. Wallace, Larson, Bowman, Erik Jones and Ross Chastain trailed in the top 15 while Ryan Preece, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley and John Hunter Nemechek followed suit in the top 20. Meanwhile, a bevy of top names including Kyle Busch, Truex, Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Keselowski and Daniel Suarez trailed the lead outside the top 20 on the track.
Just past the Lap 35 mark, the top three competitors on the track were separated by less than half a second as runner-up Bell and third-place Blaney slowly began to close in on McDowell for the lead. At the same time, however, Blaney would start to challenge Bell for the runner-up spot while fourth-place Cindric trailed by two seconds. Bell would then make two different attempts to overtake the leader McDowell from the inside lane through the Lap 40 mark, which he prevailed after running McDowell up the track through Turns 1 and 2. As McDowell tried to fight back from the outside lane, Bell maintained both his racing line on the inside lane and the lead during the proceeding lap.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Bell, winner of last weekend’s rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. McDowell held off Blaney to retain second followed by Cindric and Hamlin while Byron, Gibbs, Reddick, Logano and Elliott were scored in the top 10 on the track. By then, all but one of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Bell pitted while the rest led by Todd Gilliland, including those who pitted during the second caution period, among which included Kyle Busch, Berry, Austin Dillon and Stenhouse, remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Ryan Preece exited pit road first with two fresh tires ahead of Truex while Bell, the first competitor with four fresh tires, followed suit along with McDowell, Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Blaney, Hamlin, Gibbs and Keselowski.
The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Gilliland and Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Busch briefly dueled for the lead until Busch rocketed his No. 8 Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes and jostled for spots through the backstretch, Busch led Gilliland and teammate Austin Dillon back to the frontstretch. Behind, Berry occupied fourth place while Stenhouse was in fifth ahead of Bell, Preece, Truex, Cindric and Elliott.
Just past the Lap 56 mark, Gilliland dropped from second to seventh on the track. This enabled Dillon to move his No. 3 DOW/Rivers are Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the runner-up spot behind teammate Busch while Berry, Stenhouse, Bell and Truex followed suit. Preece would then move into eighth place while Briscoe and Cindric battled fiercely for 10th place. With a multitude of battles ensuing around the circuit and between those with fresh tires versus those with none, Busch maintained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Dillon by Lap 60.
At the Lap 70 mark, Bell, who was charging his way to the front on four fresh tires, overtook Busch to move back into the lead. Behind, Dillon trailed in third place by a second and a half while Truex and Berry followed suit in the top five as they trailed the lead by three seconds.
Ten laps later, Bell was leading by more than a second over Busch followed by Dillon, Truex and Berry while Elliott, Stenhouse, Cindric, Blaney and Preece were racing in the top 10 ahead of Hamlin, Larson, Wallace, Briscoe and Gibbs. Meanwhile, McDowell, who restarted 10th at the start of the second stage period, was down in 16th ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Gilliland and Bowman as Byron, Chastain, Reddick, Haley and Buescher trailed outside the top 20.
Another 10 laps later, Bell extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Busch as Dillon, Truex and Berry continued to run in the top five. Elliott, Stenhouse, Cindric and Blaney also continued to race from sixth to ninth, respectively, while Hamlin occupied 10th place in front of Larson, Wallace, Preece, Gibbs and Briscoe.
Then during the next lap, select names including Richard Childress Racing’s Busch and Dillon pitted under green along with Gilliland. Berry, who was running fourth, pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green during the proceeding lap along with Stenhouse, Haley and Derek Kraus while Bell continued to lead. Soon after, a cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced on Lap 94 as Larson pitted his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the top 10 and only for two fresh tires. The leader Bell, along with Hamlin, Chastain, Reddick, Elliott, Erik Jones and Nemechek would pit during the proceeding laps as Berry was penalized for speeding on pit road.
By Lap 100, Austin Cindric was one of many who had yet to pit and was leading by nearly a second over teammate Blaney as Wallace, Preece and Gibbs followed suit in the top five. Gibbs would then pit under green along with Wallace, Byron, McDowell, Preece, Daniel Suarez, Buescher and Bowman over the next five laps while Cindric continued to lead.
Then on Lap 109, Truex, who pitted earlier under green, pitted his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE for a second time after he lost his left-rear tire. Amid Truex’s issues, the event remained under green flag conditions as Truex lost two laps in the process. The caution, however, flew on Lap 111 after Berry lost a left front tire and slid dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 4 as his event came to an end. By then, 17 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while a multitude of names led by the leader Cindric, many of whom were anticipating a caution, have yet to pit as part of their strategic move. During the caution period, a majority of the lead lap field by Cindric, including those who have to pit, pitted while the rest, led by Bell and including Elliott and Larson, remained on the track.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 119, Bell and Elliott dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Bell rocketed ahead from the outside lane through the backstretch. Bell would maintain the top spot and lead the halfway mark on Lap 120 while Busch was trying to close in on Elliott for the runner-up spot. In addition, Cindric battled Larson for fourth place in front of Blaney as the rest of the field behind jostled for spots.
By Lap 130, Bell stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Cindric, who was battling Elliott for the spot. Behind, Blaney occupied fourth place in front of a side-by-side battle between Busch and Logano while Keselowski, Larson, Briscoe and Hocevar were in the top 10 ahead of Dillon, Harrison Burton, Hamlin, Daniel Hemric, Gibbs, Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, Corey LaJoie, Byron and Reddick.
Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew after Larson, who was battling fiercely with Busch amid close-quarters racing and contact through the frontstretch for seventh place, got loose and slid up the track into Busch, with Busch sliding and hitting the outside wall hard while Larson continued to slide sideways towards the outside wall. The incident between Busch and Larson, which ended Busch’s strong run in the garage and spoiled his bid to win for two consecutive years at Gateway, concluded the second stage period on Lap 140 as Bell captured his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season as he also swept both stages of the day. Cindric settled in second ahead of Blaney, Elliott and Keselowski while Logano, Briscoe, Hocevar, Dillon and Hamlin were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, mixed strategies ensued within the field as some led by Bell pitted while the rest led by Cindric, including his Team Penske teammates Blaney and Logano, remained on the track.
With 92 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Cindric and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, the field quickly fanned out through the frontstretch as Briscoe attempted to make a three-wide move on both Cindric and Blaney for the lead through the first two turns. Cindric, however, muscled his No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead from the outside lane through the backstretch while Blaney and Logano muscled back ahead of Briscoe into the top three. Hocevar then battled Logano for third place while more jostling of spots ensued within the middle of the pack during the following lap. Amid the battles and as Bell was trying to navigate his way back towards the front, Cindric retained the lead with 90 laps remaining.
Down to the final 80 laps of the event, Cindric was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney while teammate Logano trailed in third place by two seconds. Behind, Hocevar retained fourth place ahead of Hamlin and a hard-charging Bell as Briscoe, Dillon, Chastain and Keselowski trailed in the top 10 ahead of Reddick, Hemric, Haley, Zane Smith and Elliott. Meanwhile, Stenhouse occupied 16th place ahead of Byron, Buescher, Burton and Gragson while Gilliland, Preece, Larson, Wallace and Gibbs occupied the top 25 in front of Erik Jones, Bowman, Suarez, McDowell and Nemechek.
Fifteen laps later, Cindric maintained the lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney while teammate Logano continued to trail in third place by five seconds. As Hocevar surrendered fourth place to pit under green, Bell cycled his way up to fourth place, where he trailed the lead by six seconds, while teammate Hamlin moved up to fifth place.
Another lap later, however, pit strategies amongst the front-runners started to occur as Blaney pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse from the runner-up spot before the leader Cindric, Hamlin and Zane Smith pitted another lap later. Logano would then pit his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse along with Dillon, Briscoe and Byron with 63 laps remaining as Bell returned atop the leaderboard. With Stewart-Haas Racing’s Preece and Gragson pitting not long after, Bell was leading Keselowski by more than four seconds as Reddick, Haley and Chastain followed suit in the top five with 60 laps remaining.
With less than 50 laps remaining, Bell, who has yet to pit, continued to lead by more than five seconds over Keselowski as Reddick, Haley and Chastain continued to race in the top five. Meanwhile, Blaney and Cindric, both of whom managed to pit and remain on the lead lap ahead of Bell, were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively. Bell would then pit from the lead with 47 laps remaining along with Reddick and Chastain as Keselowski cycled into the lead. With Haley, LaJoie and Stenhouse pitting not long after, Keselowski, who has yet to pit, continued to lead by more than nine seconds over Elliott as Larson, Gibbs, Gilliland, Wallace, McDowell, Bowman, Erik Jones and Nemechek trailed in the top 10 with 40 laps remaining. By then, Blaney, Cindric and Bell, all of whom had enough fuel to complete the event’s scheduled distance, had cycled their way just outside the top-10 mark.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Keselowski retained the lead by 11 seconds over Larson before he pitted a lap later. By then, Elliott had pitted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Larson cycled into the lead. Then as Gibbs also pitted a few laps later, Blaney cycled his way up into the runner-up spot while Bell, Wallace and Cindric followed suit. As Blaney and Bell battled for the runner-up spot and potentially for the victory, Larson, who has yet to pit, retained the lead by 13 seconds with 25 laps remaining.
Then with 24 laps remaining, Larson surrendered the lead to pit, which moved Blaney into the lead by a mere margin over Bell as Bell continued to pressure Blaney for the position. Behind the two leaders, Cindric was up to third place while Wallace and McDowell were in the top five. Amid Bell’s continuous challenges through the turns and from the inside lane, Blaney managed to prevail through the straightaways from the outside lane as he led with 20 laps remaining.
Bell then led the following lap after he moved in front of Blaney through the straightaway, but Blaney responded with a crossover move on Bell through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Bell then pulled a crossover move of his own underneath Blaney, who barely slipped up the track, through the backstretch, but Blaney moved in front of Bell to block him and remain ahead of him as he returned to the lead with 18 laps remaining. Bell then slowly began to fall off the pace through the backstretch as he reported an engine issue to his car, which allowed Cindric to catch up and overtake him for the runner-up spot with 16 laps remaining while Blaney pulled away with the lead.
With 10 laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by two seconds over teammate Cindric. Behind, Hamlin navigated his way up to third place while Bell, who was trying to nurse his car to the finish, settled in fourth while Keselowski trailed in fifth place by eight seconds. Keselowski and Reddick would catch and overtake Bell for positions while Blaney stabilized his advantage of less than two seconds over teammate Cindric, who was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic, with five laps remaining.
Then as Blaney was about to cycle his way back to the frontstretch to start the final lap of the event, he quickly fell off the pace after he ran out of fuel, which allowed Cindric to zip by him with the lead through the frontstretch. As Blaney was trying to coast his No. 12 Ford around the circuit for a final time, Cindric was able to cruise his No. 2 Ford around the Gateway circuit smoothly for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch with enough fuel underneath his tank and victorious for the second time in his career.
With the victory, Cindric, who notched the second victory in three races for the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse stock car, became the 142nd competitor overall to achieve multiple victories in the Cup Series and he snapped an 85-race winless drought since he notched his first Cup career victory in the 2022 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
In addition to becoming the ninth competitor to win through the 2024 season’s first 15-scheduled events and guaranteeing himself a Playoff berth for this season, Cindric also delivered the first Cup victory of the season for Team Penske and the first ever for crew chief Brian Wilson, who celebrated an Xfinity Series championship with Cindric in 2020 and was moved to the No. 2 team from the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing team midway into the 2023 season.
Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Honestly, I’m heartbroken for the No. 12 team,” Cindric said. “I don’t know what happened to them at the end of the race, but they deserve to win this race. Ryan’s [Blaney] been a hell of a leader on this team. This weekend was a great weekend for everybody involved, but to have two cars in the fight, an eventual one, two [finish] there. Like I said, I’m heartbroken for those guys, but this is huge for me. This is huge for this team. I’m so glad I was able to get a win with [crew chief] Brian [Wilson] as my crew chief in the Cup Series. You never know when it’s going to happen again. Just drove my butt off and hope for the best.”
“[The win]’s everything, it’s absolutely everything,” Cindric added. “The funniest thing about it is that this Freightliner Ford Mustang’s probably one of the best-looking cars on the racetrack. I have had terrible races every single time with this car and it’s great to win with a great paint scheme. Great to win front of an amazing crowd. This racetrack does an amazing job of putting on events. Just proud to be able to do it. Proud to bring it home for these [No. 2] guys. They deserve it.”
As Cindric celebrated on the frontstretch, teammate Blaney was left dejected on pit road after ending up in 24th place in the final running order as he continues to seek his first Cup victory of the 2024 season.
“No, I didn’t think so [of running out of fuel],” Blaney said. “[I] Never thought in my mind we were short, but one of those things. Proud of the No. 12 boys. [I] Had my work cut out for me holding off Christopher [Bell]. That was a fun battle. Yeah, one lap short. That stinks, but congrats to the No. 2 team. They did a good job all day, so it’s a props for them, Austin [Cindric]. Proud for Team Penske and Ford. Really happy with our showing today. I don’t know what I got to do to get some luck on our side. Gosh, [I] wrecked the last two points races and thought we had a great shot to win today. Ended up bad. Appreciate the effort, just got to keep sticking with it.”
Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin piloted his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE into the runner-up spot while Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano came home in the top five.
Austin Dillon settled in sixth place followed by Bell, who had enough power to finish despite leading a race-high 80 laps, while rookie Carson Hocevar, Justin Haley and Kyle Larson finished in the top 10.
There were 16 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 15th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Denny Hamlin continues to lead the regular-season standings by 21 points over Kyle Larson, 27 over Chase Elliott, 44 over Martin Truex Jr. and 36 over William Byron.
Results.
1. Austin Cindric, 53 laps led
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Brad Keselowski, 17 laps led
4. Tyler Reddick
5. Joey Logano, one lap led
6. Austin Dillon
7. Christopher Bell, 80 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
8. Carson Hocevar
9. Justin Haley
10. Kyle Larson, seven laps led
11. Ty Gibbs
12. Ross Chastain
13. Chase Elliott
14. Chris Buescher
15. William Byron
16. Todd Gilliland, six laps led
17. Chase Briscoe
18. Daniel Hemric
19. Zane Smith
20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
21. Bubba Wallace
22. Noah Gragson
23. Daniel Suarez
24. Ryan Blaney, 20 laps led
25. Michael McDowell, one lap down, 40 laps led
26. Erik Jones, one lap down
27. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down
28. Alex Bowman, one lap down
29. Ryan Preece, one lap down
30. Derek Kraus, one lap down
31. Harrison Burton, one lap down
32. Corey LaJoie, one lap down
33. Cody Ware, two laps down
34. Martin Truex Jr., three laps down, one lap led
35. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, 15 laps led
36. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 9, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series travel to World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway). Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner of the 1.25-mile oval.
The Toyota 200 is the second race of the Triple Truck Challenge and the winner of the event will receive a $50,000 bonus except Nick Sanchez who won the first race of the bonus program last week at Charlotte. If he wins at Gateway, he will receive an increased bonus of $150,000.
The Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series West head to Portland International Raceway. AJ Allmendinger won the first Xfinity race at the 1.97-mile road course track in 2022 while Cole Custer took home the trophy last year.
NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend. All times are Eastern.
Friday, May 31 2:35 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice (Portland) Race Center 5:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying (Portland) Race Center
6:05 p.m.: Craftsman Truck Series Practice (Gateway) FS1 6:35 p.m.: Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1
7 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Portland 112 – FloRacing/MRN
Saturday, June 1 9:30 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 10:15: Cup Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Toyota 200 (Gateway) Fox/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 200 miles (160 Laps) Stages end on Lap 35, Lap 70, Final Stage ends on Lap 160 Purse: $752,252
11:30: Xfinity Series Practice (Portland) No TV Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Portland) FS1 4:30: Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 (Portland) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 147.75 miles (75 Laps) Stages end on: Lap 25, Lap 50, Final Stage ends on Lap 75 Purse: $1,408,568
Sunday, June 2 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 300 miles (240 laps) Stages end on: Lap 45, Lap 140, Final Stage ends on Lap 240 Purse: $7,776,907
