Tag: Austin Cindric

  • Logano withstands five overtime attempts for fuel-mileage Cup victory at Nashville

    Logano withstands five overtime attempts for fuel-mileage Cup victory at Nashville

    In a first-half season stretch mired with an average-finishing result of 17.9 and eight results outside the top 20 through 18-scheduled events, Joey Logano turned his luck into good fortunes after surviving through a record-setting five overtime attempts while going 110 laps on his low tank of fuel to grab a thrilling NASCAR Cup Series victory in the fourth annual running of the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 30.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led the final nine of 331 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 26th and was mired within the middle of the pack for the majority of the event before he steadily gained ground to race within the top 10 in the closing stages. Then running in 14th place with two laps remaining of the event’s scheduled distance, a series of opportunities presented themselves, allowing Logano to gamble by employing fuel strategy. By doing so, he was able to inch closer to the front when teammate Austin Cindric spun in the backstretch and sent the field into a first overtime period.

    The event surpassed its third overtime attempt amid a series of multi-car incidents but was then sent into a fourth, knocking both Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch out of contention allowing Logano to cycle to the lead after the leader Denny Hamlin pitted for fuel. Following the fourth overtime attempt that was halted due to rookie Josh Berry wrecking in Turn 4, Logano then withstood late charges from Tyler Reddick and rookie Zane Smith for two laps during a fifth overtime attempt but had enough fuel to cross the finish line in first place by a mere margin. It was his first Cup victory of the 2024 season and guarantees him a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 29, Denny Hamlin notched his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 160.354 mph in 29.859 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 159.749 mph in 29.972 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Justin Haley dropped to the rear of the field due to his Rick Ware Racing entry failing pre-race inspection multiple times. The penalty also resulted in Haley’s car chief JR Norris being ejected for the remainder of the weekend while Haley was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road after taking the green flag.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Denny Hamlin rocketed his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Josh Berry and teammate Christopher Bell entering the first two turns to retain the lead entering the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out through the backstretch, Hamlin proceeded to lead the first lap and teammate Bell followed suit in second while Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski navigated past Berry to move up to third and fourth, respectively.

    Over the next four laps, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to as high as half a second over teammate Bell while Larson, Keselowski and Berry continued to run in the top five ahead of William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs. As a tight three-wide action for 18th place occurred between Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson, Hamlin remained in the lead.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Hamlin was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Bell followed by Larson, Keselowski and Reddick while Byron, Gibbs, Berry, Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric were running in the top 10. Behind, Chase Elliott occupied 11th place ahead of Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and rookie Carson Hocevar while Ryan Blaney, Chastain, Gragson, Truex and Michael McDowell were racing in the top 20 ahead of Harrison Burton, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Corey Heim and Todd Gilliland.

    Nearly seven laps later, Hamlin was stalled by Justin Haley, who was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty through pit road. This allowed Bell to zip his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE past both Hamlin and Haley through the backstretch as Bell moved into the lead, where he would proceed to lead at the Lap 20 mark.

    By Lap 25, Bell was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin as Keselowski, Larson and Reddick followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Gibbs trailed in sixth place by five seconds and Byron, Berry, Buescher and Elliott trailed in the top 10 while Cindric, Wallace, Bowman, Dillon and Blaney were mired in the top 15.

    Then on Lap 37, a first round of green flag pit stops commenced as Bowman pitted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 along with Busch, Austin Dillon and Cindric, with Busch barely sliding his No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through his pit box. Chastain, Riley Herbst, Keselowski, Heim and Allmendinger would follow suit during the following lap before teammates Bell and Hamlin pitted prior to the Lap 40 mark. More names including Larson, Berry, Buescher, Elliott, Wallace and Blaney would pit as Gibbs cycled into the lead. Gibbs would then pit his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE from the lead on Lap 41 as Briscoe, Gragson, Daniel Suarez, Preece, Truex, Reddick and Byron all pitted their respective entries during the proceeding laps.

    By Lap 50 and with most of the lead lap field having made a pit stop under green, McDowell was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Logano followed by Stenhouse, Hemric and Gilliland. With all five still needing to make a pit stop, McDowell and Logano, the top two competitors on the track, radioed their plans to stretch their fuel tank to as high as Lap 75. Behind, Bell, the first competitor who pitted, trailed in sixth place along with teammate Hamlin, Keselowski, Larson and Gibbs.

    Ten laps later, McDowell continued to lead by a second over Logano as Bell trailed in third place by seven seconds. With Hemric and Hamlin trailing in the top five, Stenhouse occupied sixth place in front of Larson, Keselowski, Gibbs and Reddick while Gilliland, Byron, Buescher, Wallace and Berry were scored in the top 15 ahead of Elliott, Bowman, Truex, Haley and Chastain.

    Another four laps later, Logano pitted his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green from the runner-up spot. In the process, Bell moved into second place and trailed McDowell by five seconds while Hamlin was up third place ahead of Hemric and Larson. As Hemric and Stenhouse pitted their respective entries just past the Lap 70 mark, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit his No. 34 Love’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse on Lap 77. With his teammate Gilliland also pitting, Bell cycled back into the lead as Hamlin, Larson, Reddick and Keselowski all cycled up into the top five.

    Just past the Lap 80 mark, Bell, who was trying to lap 25th-place running Preece, was being stalked by teammate Hamlin, who was trying to narrow the deficit amid Bell’s issues to navigate through lapped traffic. With Hamlin also trying to overtake the lapped competitors of Haley, Bell retained the lead as high as four-tenths of a second by Lap 85 just as he managed to lap Preece’s No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Meanwhile, third-place Larson trailed by three seconds while Reddick and Keselowski continued to run in the top five.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 90, Bell, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Hamlin trailed in second by six-tenths of a second while Reddick, Larson, Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Chris Buescher, Truex and Bubba Wallace were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin cycled into the lead after he edged teammate Bell to exit pit road in first place while Larson, Reddick, Keselowski, Gibbs, Byron, Logano, Buescher and Truex followed suit in the top 10.

    The second stage period started on Lap 97 as teammates Hamlin and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin muscled ahead from the inside lane to retain the lead while Bell fended off Larson to retain second. With the field fanning out and jostling through the backstretch, Reddick and Larson battled for third place ahead of Gibbs and Truex and Keselowski followed suit in seventh ahead of Byron and Wallace while Hamlin retained the lead by Lap 100.

    At the Lap 110 mark, Hamlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Bell as Reddick, Gibbs and Larson were racing in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Truex, Byron, Elliott and Wallace. Behind, Buescher, Blaney, Chastain, Logano and Austin Dillon trailed in the top 15 as Berry, LaJoie, Gragson, Cindric and Heim were up in the top 20. Meanwhile, Bowman occupied 21st place ahead of Preece, Hocevar, Suarez and Burton while Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones and Kyle Busch were mired outside the top 30.

    Nearly six laps later, the caution returned due to John Hunter Nemechek snapping sideways and spinning his No. 42 Massey Motor Freight Toyota Camry XSE across the grass in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Bell exited first ahead of Keselowski, Buescher, Logano and Chastain, all of whom only opted for two fresh tires, while Hamlin exited sixth with four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Ross Chastain was penalized for equipment interference.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 122, Bell retained the lead over Keselowski and Buescher as the field fanned out entering the first two turns. With several three-wide actions ensuing within the top-10 marks, Reddick battled Gragson for fourth place as Elliott, Larson, Hocevar, Bowman, Gibbs and Truex followed suit. Meanwhile, Logano and Hamlin lost several spots on the track amid the start. As the battles ensued, the caution returned on Lap 125 due to Gibbs making contact with Bowman and spinning through the Turn 4 grass.

    With the event restarting on Lap 130, the field fanned out multiple lanes entering the first two turns as Bell retained the lead. Amid the fanning out of the field, Reddick boosted his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE into second place while Larson also overtook Keselowski for third place. With Keselowski trying to fend off a parade of competitors led by Elliott for fourth place, Bell stabilized his advantage to less than half a second over Reddick nearing the Lap 135 mark.

    Then on Lap 135, the caution flew and the field led by Bell was directed to pit road before being placed in a red flag period due to a lightning strike reported near the circuit. One hour and 21 minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the field returned to the track under a cautious pace. During the caution period, select names including Bowman, Logano, Dillon, Chastain, Haley, LaJoie, Burton, Stenhouse, Hemric, Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track. Meanwhile, Austin Cindric was sent to the rear of the field due to his pit crew working on his car during the red flag period, where the crew pointed a fan to cool the car from pit lane to provide a cooling advantage from NASCAR’s perspective.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 140, Bell rocketed away from Reddick and Larson to retain the lead through the first two turns. Bell would proceed to lead the ensuing laps while Keselowski battled Elliott and Buescher for fourth place ahead of Byron, Hamlin and Truex. As Elliott then battled Buescher for fifth place while teammate Byron battled Hamlin and Truex for seventh place, Keselowski retained fourth place while Bell remained in the lead. As Byron got loose entering Turn 4 and lost a bevy of spots on the track, Bell stabilized his lead to four-tenths of a second over Reddick by Lap 145.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Bell was leading by six-tenths of a second over Reddick as Larson, Keselowski and Elliott trailed in the top five by two seconds. Behind, Hamlin occupied sixth place in front of teammate Truex, Buescher, Blaney and Gragson while Heim, Gibbs, Hocevar, Byron and McDowell trailed in the top 15. Briscoe, Chastain, Gilliland, Erik Jones and Suarez followed suit in the top 20 as Preece, Logano, Wallace, Allmendinger and Bowman were mired in the top 25 ahead of Burton, Cindric, Berry, Herbst and LaJoie.

    Fifteen laps later, Bell extended his advantage to a second over Reddick as Larson, Keselowski and Hamlin were scored in the top five and trailing by less than four seconds. Bell would stabilize his lead to a second over Reddick by Lap 175 while third-place Larson trailed by three seconds. By then, Hamlin gained a spot to fourth place and Keselowski dropped to fifth while Elliott was mired in sixth ahead of Truex.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Bell captured his ninth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season by sweeping both stage periods at Nashville. Reddick settled in second place ahead of Larson, who fended off Hamlin to claim an extra stage point before Hamlin would then run into the rear of Larson to express his displeasure over being forced up the track by Larson in Turn 1 prior to the stage’s conclusion. Keselowski ended up in fifth while Elliott, Truex, Blaney, Buescher and Gragson were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Bell retained the lead after he exited pit road first as teammate Hamlin, Reddick, Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Truex, Gragson, Gibbs and Chastain followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Larson lost nine spots due to his No. 5 jackman dropping the jack on the right side of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 too early, which resulted in the jackman lifting the car back up to have the right-side tires tightened, as he exited pit road in 12th place behind Hocevar.

    With 108 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Bell and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Bell muscled ahead of Hamlin to retain the lead and have both lanes to his control while Reddick challenged his owner Hamlin for the runner-up spot. With Blaney occupying in fourth place ahead of Keselowski, Elliott and Truex, the battle for the runner-up spot between Hamlin and Reddick continued to intensify into a tight side-by-side battle while Truex started to battle dead even with Elliott for sixth place. As McDowell fell off the pace due to a gearing issue, Blaney started to close in on Hamlin for third place while Reddick retained second and Bell continued to lead with 100 laps remaining.

    With 98 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Riley Herbst receiving a light tap from LaJoie, who got loose, that sent Herbt’s No. 15 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse sliding and scrubbing the outside wall in between Turns 1 and 2. The damage to his car was enough for Herbst to retire in the garage. During the caution period, select names led by Buescher pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 92 laps remaining did not last long as Erik Jones, who was mired in 25th place and pitted during the previous caution period, made contact into the outside wall in Turn 2 as he lost a right-front tire. By then, Bell, who made minor contact with teammate Hamlin during the short restart, lost the lead to Reddick. During the caution period, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.

    As the event restarted with 87 laps remaining, the field fanned out as Bell and Reddick battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns. As Truex made a bold three-wide move on both teammate Hamlin and Blaney to move up to third place, Reddick and Bell continued to duel for the lead for the following lap as Hamlin and Truex tried to join the battle. Then amid the side-by-side action between Reddick and Bell that proceeded for the next three laps, the caution returned due to Elliott, who was running in sixth place, snapping sideways and spinning his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch’s grass, though he continued without making any significant contact. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Reddick and Bell pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with 75 laps remaining, where Blaney and Allmendinger occupied the front row, Blaney rocketed ahead from Allmendinger to retain the lead through the first two turns as LaJoie and Allmendinger battled for second place in front of a side-by-side battle between Wallace and Chastain. Logano then made his way in between both Wallace and Chastain in his attempt to move up to fourth place while Reddick and Hamlin were mired in 10th and 11th, respectively. Then amid the battles around the venue, the caution flew with 73 laps remaining as Bell’s strong run came to a sour end when he got loose underneath Larson while running 15th and made contact with the Turn 2 outside wall backward and on the driver’s left side as he was trying to fight his way back to the front. Amid the damage, Bell, who had multiple issues re-firing his damaged car to limp it back to pit road, retired in 36th place.

    The start of the next restart period with 66 laps remaining featured the field fanning out and jumbling for late positions through the first two turns and the backstretch as Blaney retained the lead while Allmendinger fended off Chastain for the runner-up spot. With the battles around the circuit ensuing towards the front and the rear of the field, Blaney retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over a tight battle between Allmendinger and Chastain for the runner-up spot as Busch, Hamlin and LaJoie engaged in a tight three-wide battle for eighth place. Meanwhile, Wallace occupied fourth place ahead of Logano, Berry and Buescher.

    Two laps later, the caution returned as Keselowski, who was running just outside the top 15, received a tap from Austin Dillon entering Turn 1 as Keselowski spun and made hard rear-end contact to his No. 6 Consumer Cellular Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the outside wall in Turn 2. Then in front of Keselowski’s incident, Hocevar intentionally turned Harrison Burton in the backstretch and made contact with Gilliland in the process. During the caution period, select names led by LaJoie pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    As the event restarted with 52 laps remaining, Blaney and Chastain dueled for the lead as Hamlin dived his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE below the apron in an attempt to gain more spots. Moving as high as seventh place during the proceeding lap while Logano, who restarted in the top 10, got loose in Turn 2 and lost a bevy of spots, Hamlin would then overtake both Busch and Berry to move up to fifth place with 50 laps remaining while Chastain, who had cleared Blaney earlier, was leading by half a second over Blaney and Wallace was left battling Allmendinger dead even for third place. Shortly after, however, Busch would battle fiercely with Hamlin to retain fifth place.

    With 40 laps remaining, Chastain stretched his advantage to a second over Blaney while Wallace also trailed by more than a second in third place. As Busch muscled his No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead in fourth place, Hamlin navigated his way into fifth place while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Gibbs and Larson for sixth place. Meanwhile, Reddick was mired in 10th place behind Berry.

    Nine laps later, Blaney, who was running short of fuel amid his earlier strategic call to remain on the track, surrendered the runner-up spot to pit his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse for fresh tires and fuel. Blaney’s pit stop, which pinned the reigning series champion a lap down, allowed Hamlin, who overtook Wallace earlier, to move up into second place while Chastain was leading by two seconds. With Wallace falling back to third, Busch and Larson were scored in the top five while Gibbs, Reddick, Truex, Allmendinger and Buescher trailed in the top 10 with 30 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Chastain stabilized his advantage to less than one-and-a-half seconds over a hard-charging Hamlin, who was steadily decreasing Chastain’s advantage, while Kyle Busch trailed in third place by three-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Larson overtook Wallace, who was trying to conserve on fuel and nurse his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE, for fourth place, while Gibbs, Truex, Reddick, Buescher and Berry occupied the top 10 ahead of Haley, Austin Dillon, Allmendinger, Elliott and Suarez.

    Five laps later, Hamlin decreased Chastain’s advantage to four-tenths of a second as he continued to close in on Chastain for the lead with a fast race car while Busch trailed by more than three seconds. Another lap later, Hamlin nearly got to Chastain’s rear bumper in Turn 1, but Chastain retained the lead by a narrow margin. Chastain would proceed to keep Hamlin mired in the dirty air and run in front of him while blocking him through every turn and straightaway with 10 laps remaining.  

    Then with seven laps remaining, Hamlin, who closed in on Chastain entering the frontstretch, capitalized on Chastain getting loose in Turn 1 while trying to block Hamlin’s Toyota to overtake him and claim the lead. With Hamlin stretching his advantage to half a second for the following lap, Larson, who overtook Busch for third place, trailed by less than three seconds. With Gibbs and Wallace running in fifth and sixth, respectively, Hamlin started to pull away with the lead with five laps remaining.

    Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime as Austin Cindric, who was running outside the top 20, spun his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse amid contact with Noah Gragson in the backstretch. During the caution period and with a majority of front runners running low on fuel, some led by Wallace and including teammate Reddick, Buescher, Haley, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Berry, Heim and Preece pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt lasted a single turn as Chastain, who was engaged in a side-by-side battle with Hamlin for the lead entering the first turn, received a tap from Larson entering Turn 1 that sent Chastain spinning backward into the outside wall as Gibbs collided into Chastain’s wrecked No. 1 Busch Country Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Busch slid up the outside wall as he was slamming the brakes to avoid hitting Chastain, whose strong run and hopes to defend his Nashville victory came to a bitter end.

    Select names including Nemechek, Dillon and Hemric also wrecked amongst themselves amid a chain reaction as Hamlin escaped with the lead, where he was followed by Larson, Truex, Logano, Briscoe and Elliott. Despite making light contact with the wall, Busch, who kept his car running straight and running on the track, was given fourth place back due to maintaining a reasonable pace with the field while dodging the latest multi-car wreck.

    Amid an extensive cleanup period, the start of the second overtime attempt lasted only two turns as a multi-car wreck erupted in the backstretch that involved Heim, Burton, Haley, Berry, Gilliland, Preece, Stenhouse, Hemric and Blaney. At the moment of caution, Hamlin, who was among several competitors running very low on fuel, retained the lead ahead of Larson, who made contact with Truex at the start of the overtime attempt, as Truex, Busch and Logano were scored in the top five. During the caution period and with the event sent into a third overtime attempt, the top seven competitors led by Hamlin and including Larson, Truex, Busch, Logano, Briscoe and Elliott, all of whom were running very low on fuel, remained on the track while LaJoie and Wallace, both of whom have enough fuel to finish, were lined up in eighth and ninth, respectively, as teammates Zane Smith and Hocevar were lined up in the top 12 behind Gragson, who was running low on fuel.

    The start of the third overtime attempt only lasted past the start/finish line as Larson, who was stumbling on pace and ran out of fuel while restarting alongside Hamlin on the front row, caused a stack-up that resulted in Busch, who was bumping into Larson, getting bumped by Elliott and turned sideways into the frontstretch’s outside wall as the rest of the field scattered to avoid the chaos. The incident ended Busch’s run with a wrecked race car and his ninth result of finishing outside the top 20 while Larson coasted his car back to pit road for fuel.

    During the caution period that sent the field into a fourth overtime attempt, the leader Hamlin and teammate Truex yielded their spots towards the front to pit for fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by Logano, who was also running very low on fuel, remained on the track to inherit the lead as he was followed by Briscoe, LaJoie, Zane Smith, Elliott and Bowman.

    The start of the fourth overtime attempt nearly lasted a full lap before the caution was again drawn before the white flag due to Berry wrecking his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the Turn 2 outside wall. Prior to the incident, Elliott, who restarted in fifth place, ran out of fuel and caused the field to fan out to avoid hitting Elliott as Elliott, who remained in the middle of the track, coasted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road.

    During the caution period that sent the event into a fifth overtime period, LaJoie pitted to address a mechanical issue with his No. 7 Garner Trucking Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Prior to pit road being accessible to the field, Bowman pitted for fuel. Amid the process, Logano, who fended off Briscoe during the latest green-flag run, retained the lead ahead of Briscoe, Zane Smith, Preece, Reddick and Wallace.

    The start of the fifth overtime attempt featured Logano rocketing his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Briscoe and Zane Smith through the first two turns and the backstretch while Reddick launched a late charge to overtake both through the following two turns.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained in the lead by a tenth of a second over Reddick. Entering Turn 1, Reddick attempted to make a move on Logano on the outside lane, but Logano also went wide to fend off Reddick’s challenge. With more carnages erupting while the race remained under green flag conditions, Logano maintained the lead ahead of Reddick and Smith through the backstretch as he fended another attack from Reddick through Turns 3 and 4.

    Despite having both Reddick and Smith set up a three-wide move on Logano through the frontstretch, Logano, whose fuel light started to blink as he was about to run out of fuel, stood on the gas and used the remaining fuel within his low tank to coast across the finish line and claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 season by 0.068 seconds over Smith and 0.071 seconds over Reddick.

    With the victory, Logano, who still had enough fuel for a few victorious burnouts before he ran out on the frontstretch, notched his 33rd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, which tied him with Fireball Roberts in 27th place on the all-time wins list. In addition to claiming his first victory at Nashville in the Cup circuit, Logano achieved his first win since he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2023 and he extended his winning streak as a Team Penske competitor to 12 consecutive seasons. Logano had won the 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway six weeks ago despite the event not counting for Playoff points.

    Logano’s Nashville victory also guarantees all three of Team Penske’s competitors in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, with Logano notching the fourth victory for the Ford nameplate and the third of the season for the Penske organization through the first 19 scheduled events. Prior to becoming the 11th winner of the 2024 season at Music City, Logano had held a 13-point advantage over Bubba Wallace for the final transfer spot into the Playoffs.

    “It’s been a stressful few weeks trying to get into the Playoffs,” Logano said on NBC. “Being able to win here is huge for our season. It felt great to get that [win]. Boy, that feels good. I’m out of breath. We had it won off of [Turn] 4 and the caution came out. I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ but you can’t pit, like you kind of got to go for it. Boy, it was close, but we got to give a lot of credit to Roush Yates not only building horsepower, but build a fuel mileage that won today. When I went into [Turn] 3 and saw that [fuel] light [blinking], I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m gonna run out off of [Turn] 4.’ It just stumbled and spit and sputtered across the [finish] line. Trying to make the Playoff’s not easy these days with these Next Gen cars and everyone’s so equally matched. I made a lot of mistakes, even some tonight. It’s nice to be able to overcome. It’s a much-needed win, for sure.”

    Behind Logano, rookie Zane Smith, who has finished no higher than 13th place through the first 18 events of the 2024 season, notched a career-best second place as he edged Tyler Reddick by 0.003 seconds, but fell 0.068 seconds shy of overtaking Logano at the finish line. The runner-up result left Smith with mixed emotions on pit road.

    “My winning side of me is pissed with the second place, especially after hearing [Logano]’s gonna run out [of fuel] for the past 10 laps,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t have done anything different. I felt like I chose the right lane and it’s crazy just how much these cars drive with cleaner air. Just proud of our strategy there. [This season]’s been rough, no doubt, so just appreciate everyone at Spire Motorsports. You never know how many more opportunities you’re gonna have at a Cup win, so we’ll be thinking about that one. Just short, but obviously, proud of my second place. Top three [finish] in the Cup Series is awesome. Just proud of our day.”

    Third-place finisher Reddick, however, was left visibly disappointed on pit road after falling short of the victory despite having fresher tires and enough fuel for the finish compared to Logano.

    “It’s very disappointing,” Reddick said. “I’m trying my best, but it’s tough. I’m trying to keep it cool at the moment. I’m really upset about how [the race] ended. All the good cars ran out of fuel and we were in position to pass. [Logano] hadn’t been good all day long and didn’t get the job done.”

    Behind the top three finishers, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher finished in the top five while Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson rounded out the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Denny Hamlin, who led 70 laps, ended up in 12th place after pitting for fuel before the fourth overtime attempt. In addition, Chase Elliott, who spun through the frontstretch’s grass while approaching the finish line, slid to an 18th-place result while Martin Truex Jr., who wrecked on the final lap with help from Daniel Suarez entering the backstretch, fell back to 24th place.

    “[My team and I] were fine with just running out of gas and we did under caution [following the third overtime attempt],” Hamlin said. “[Pitting] was the right call. I was going down pit lane out of gas. I was surprised [the race] lasted that many green-white-checkereds. It certainly stinks having about 15 seconds from a win at the end and then 10 seconds from the win at the end and then, we finished 12th. It’s just a part of it. That’s NASCAR Cup Series racing.”

    There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured 15 cautions for 79 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 19th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over Chase Elliott, 43 over Denny Hamlin, 53 over Tyler Reddick, and 73 over Martin Truex Jr.

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, nine laps led

    2. Zane Smith

    3. Tyler Reddick, 16 laps led

    4. Ryan Preece

    5. Chris Buescher

    6. Ryan Blaney, 26 laps led

    7. Bubba Wallace

    8. Kyle Larson

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Noah Gragson

    11. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

    12. Denny Hamlin, 70 laps led

    13. Justin Haley

    14. Alex Bowman

    15. Austin Cindric

    16. Carson Hocevar

    17. Todd Gilliland

    18. Chase Elliott

    19. William Byron

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Chase Briscoe

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Ty Gibbs, two laps led

    24. Martin Truex Jr.

    25. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

    26. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    27. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    28. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    29. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    31. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    32. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    33. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident, 45 laps led

    34. Erik Jones – OUT, Suspension

    35. Michael McDowell – OUT, Transmission, 31 laps led

    36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, 131 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    37. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    38. Chad Finchum – OUT, Electrical

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the second annual running of the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 7, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Larson executes late pit strategy for a wild Cup victory at Sonoma

    Larson executes late pit strategy for a wild Cup victory at Sonoma

    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.

  • Cindric benefits from Blaney’s last-lap misfortune for a wild Cup victory at Gateway

    Cindric benefits from Blaney’s last-lap misfortune for a wild Cup victory at Gateway

    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.

  • Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson transfer to 2024 All-Star Race from All-Star Open

    Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson transfer to 2024 All-Star Race from All-Star Open

    Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Noah Gragson completed the starting grid for the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race after all three transferred from the NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Sunday, May 19. 

    Gibbs and Wallace, both of whom started towards the front with the former starting on pole position, raced their way into the main event after finishing first and second, respectively, during the Open while Gragson was revealed as the Fan Vote winner for a second consecutive season, thus claiming the final spot of the 20-car grid for the All-Star event that will follow suit at the North Wilkesboro circuit. 

    The starting lineup for the event was based on the current 2024 Cup Series owner’s standings after the event’s on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday, May 17, was canceled due to on-track precipitation. As a result, Ty Gibbs was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Alex Bowman. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Ty Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead from the outside lane through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As the field fanned out and jostled for early spots, Gibbs proceeded to lead the first lap as he was being pursued by Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and a bevy of competitors. Wallace, who also gained a strong launch at the start behind Gibbs from the outside lane, would trail Gibbs for the lead by nearly a second by the fifth lap mark. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe while Gragson, rookie Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland, John Hunter Nemechek and rookie Josh Berry were racing in the top 10 ahead of Ryan Preece, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Kaz Grala, rookie Zane Smith, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric and Timmy Hill, respectively. 

    Ten laps later, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace while Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe continued to trail in the top five and by within four seconds. Behind, Hocevar overtook Gragson for sixth place while Nemechek and Berry were running in eighth and ninth, respectively, ahead of Gilliland. 

    Another 10 laps later, Gibbs extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Wallace while third-place Cindric trailed by more than three seconds as Bowman and Briscoe continued to run in the top five. Behind, Hocevar retained sixth ahead of Gragson, Berry, Nemechek and Gilliland while Austin Dillon, Preece, LaJoie, Justin Haley and Erik Jones trailed in the top 15. 

    By Lap 40, Gibbs continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Wallace while Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe trailed by within four seconds in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Hocevar trailed by seven seconds in sixth place followed by Gragson, Berry and Nemechek while Austin Dillon cracked the top 10 as he occupied 10th place over Gilliland. 

    A designated caution period was generated when the All-Star Open reached its halfway mark on Lap 50. By then, Gibbs was leading ahead of Wallace, Cindric, Bowman and Briscoe while Hocevar, Gragson, Berry, Nemechek and Dillon were scored in the top 10. 

    During the caution period, all the competitors led by Gibbs pitted for a mandatory four-tire service. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting first as he was followed by Bowman, Wallace, Briscoe, Berry, Cindric, Gragson, Nemechek, Hocevar and Dillon. Amid the pit stops, both LaJoie and Nemechek were penalized for speeding on pit road.  

    When the race restarted with 43 laps remaining, Gibbs and Bowman battled dead even for the lead as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. During the following lap, however, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to race his way back into the top five, got squeezed into Gragson by Hocevar amid a tight three-wide battle through the frontstretch as he then slid his No. 2 Keystone Light Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the wall with right-front damage before proceeding. 

    During the following restart with 36 laps remaining, Gibbs fended off a challenge from Bowman for nearly a lap to retain the lead as Wallace overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot. Wallace, Bowman, Briscoe and Berry would all battle for the runner-up spot during the ensuing laps while Gibbs drove away with the lead as he led by half a second with 33 laps remaining.  

    Wallace and Bowman would then engage in another side-by-side battle for the runner-up/transfer spot during the next three laps, with both neither stepping off the throttle as Berry and Briscoe tried to close in. Other competitors mixed towards the battle included Hocevar, Gragson, Haley and Preece while Gibbs was leading by more than a second with less than 30 laps remaining.  

    With 27 laps remaining, Berry made a bold move beneath Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering Turn 3 to move his No. 4 Harrison’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse into third place as he tried to close in on Wallace for the runner-up spot. Soon after, Haley moved his No. 51 Pinnacle Home Improvement Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the top five while Briscoe, Hocevar and Gragson tried to close in from sixth through eighth. Amid the battles for the runner-up spot, currently occupied by Wallace, Gibbs was gone with the lead as he was on top by two seconds with 20 laps remaining. By then, Haley was trying to overtake Berry for third place in his bid to catch Wallace’s No. 23 Alltroo Toyota Camry XSE for second place. 

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than two seconds over Wallace, who had Berry, Haley and Bowman all close in on him for the runner-up/transfer spot. Gibbs would retain the lead by a comfortable advantage of more than two seconds while Wallace would retain the runner-up spot by within two- and three-tenths of a second over Berry as Haley and Bowman tried to close in with 10 laps remaining.  

    With five laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by more than two seconds as Wallace retained the runner-up spot by nearly a second over Berry while Haley and Bowman continued to trail in the top five followed by Gragson, Briscoe, Preece, Hocevar and Austin Dillon. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Wallace while third-place Berry trailed by three seconds. Having a comfortable lead to his advantage, Gibbs was able to cruise around the North Wilkesboro circuit smoothly for a final time as he then cycled back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and race his way into the 2024 All-Star Race for a second consecutive season.  

    With the victory, Gibbs, who is coming off a career-best runner-up result at Darlington Raceway, will campaign for his first All-Star Race victory after transferring from the Open for a second consecutive season. Gibbs’ transfer enables all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries to earn starting spots for the 2024 All-Star Race. 

    “Yeah, we were pretty good,” Gibbs said on FS1. “I feel like we were pretty solid, so it’s good to make [the All-Star Race]. Hopefully, we can go ahead and win it. I think we’re solid enough and good enough to [win]. I feel like we learned a lot with what we’re gonna do. I got some good friends here. Let’s go win this thing.” 

    Like Gibbs, Bubba Wallace was also left smiling on pit road after settling in the runner-up spot and transferring into the All-Star Race for the fourth time in his career and his third in a row in recent seasons. As a result, Wallace, who finished second to Kyle Larson during the 2023 All-Star Race, enabled both 23XI Racing entries to make the main event as he will also campaign for his first All-Star victory.  

    “[This event] just made us work extra hard,” Wallace said. “You have to earn every right of this, so I can’t say we deserved, well I guess we deserve to be in the All-Star [Race], but we got to go fight for it every once in awhile. We’re just lacking a little bit. Definitely, a different feel than what we had in practice, so got a little bit of time to make minimal changes to make [the car] better, but all in all, we’re in the show. Appreciate [Bowman] and [Berry] running clean there. That was fun, that was short-track stuff right there. We were able to squeeze away there and hang on to second, but that’s the most stressful spot to be in.”  

    Amid the battles for the top-two finishing spots during the Open, Noah Gragson, who finished fifth in the Open, claimed the final starting spot for the 2024 All-Star Race after being named the 2024 All-Star Fan Vote winner for a second consecutive season. As a result, Gragson joined Chase Elliott and Danica Patrick as the only competitors to be named the Fan Vote winner during the All-Star weekend for multiple seasons, with Gragson becoming the first back-to-back Fan Vote winner since Elliott achieved the honors for three consecutive seasons (2016-18). Gragson’s transfer has also allowed at least one Stewart-Haas Racing entry to make the 2024 All-Star Race as he will attempt to replicate Kasey Kahne’s run by winning the All-Star Race after being voted into the main event by the fans in 2008. 

    “I appreciate all the fans,” Gragson said on the radio following the All-Star Open. “You guys are badass. We didn’t quite have what it took there in that race, but you fans pulled through. Your support means everything. We’re gonna go have some fun.” 

    Rookie Josh Berry and Justin Haley recorded strong finishes of third and fourth place, respectively, but were among the 17 remaining competitors who did not qualify for the 2024 All-Star Race. Among those who also did not make the main event included Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Austin Dillon, rookie Carson Hocevar, Kaz Grala, Corey LaJoie, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric, rookie Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Timmy Hill and Austin Cindric. 

    There were no lead changes and the race featured two cautions for 11 laps. In addition, 18 of 20 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Results. 

    1. Ty Gibbs, 100 laps led 

    2. Bubba Wallace 

    3. Josh Berry 

    4. Justin Haley 

    5. Noah Gragson 

    6. Alex Bowman 

    7. Chase Briscoe 

    8. Ryan Preece 

    9. Austin Dillon  

    10. Carson Hocevar 

    11. Kaz Grala 

    12. Corey LaJoie 

    13. Harrison Burton 

    14. John Hunter Nemechek 

    15. Todd Gilliland 

    16. Daniel Hemric 

    17. Zane Smith 

    18. Erik Jones 

    19. Timmy Hill, seven laps down 

    20. Austin Cindric, 18 laps down 

    The 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway will follow suit on Sunday, May 19, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, with the green flag scheduled to wave around 8:30 p.m. ET. 

  • Larson edges Buescher in closest-recorded Cup Series finish at Kansas

    Larson edges Buescher in closest-recorded Cup Series finish at Kansas

    In the blink of an eye, Kyle Larson went from being beaten to a photo finish that set a new record for the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Cup Series division after edging Chris Buescher to score a wild win y in the rain-delayed AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, May 5. 

    The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led six times for 63 of 268 over-scheduled laps in an event where he was competitive from his fourth-place starting spot as he battled against NASCAR’s elite towards the front for the majority of the event. Then, after initially being poised for a top-six run, a caution for a spin involving Kyle Busch with seven laps remaining generated an opportunity for Larson, who opted for a two-tire pit stop to line up in third place behind Denny Hamlin and Chris Buescher. After attempting to make a three-wide move on both during the start of an overtime shootout, Larson settled behind Buescher, who would fend off an early challenge by Larson to retain the lead and start the final lap.

    During the final lap, however, Larson then seized an opportunity to make a move to Buescher’s outside entering the final turn and despite getting both rubbed and squeezed by Buescher towards the wall, he managed to muscle ahead by a hair. With Buescher fighting back and both drivers refusing to step off the throttle as they made contact twice approaching the finish line, Larson and Buescher crossed the finish line dead even. Larson would be declared the race winner by 0.001 seconds, which eclipsed the previous margin of finish record of 0.002 seconds, as he notched his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season in dramatic fashion.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, May 4, Christopher Bell notched his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 11th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 183.107 mph in 29.491 seconds in his No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE. Joining him on the front row was Ross Chastain, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap time at 182.704 mph in 29.556 seconds. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced following a delay period of more than three hours due to inclement weather, Bell and Chastain battled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as the field behind fanned out to three lanes. With the field still fanned out, Bell managed to edge Chastain to lead the first lap from the outside lane, but Chastain kept his car dead even against Bell for the following lap and in an early bid for the lead.  

    Prior to the third lap, Chastain, who edged Bell to lead the second lap, managed to muscle his No. 1 Busch Light Crocs Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead of Bell through the backstretch as he had both lanes to his control. With Chastain leading Bell, Noah Gragson followed suit in third place followed by Kyle Larson while a three-wide battle for fifth place occurred between Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Ty Gibbs. Gibbs would prevail while running the outside lane as he muscled away from Busch and Cindric as Chastain proceeded to lead the fifth lap mark. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chastain, who nearly lost the lead to Bell a few laps earlier, was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Larson, who assumed the runner-up spot from Bell a lap earlier, as Bell followed suit in third while Gibbs, Gragson, Busch, Chris Buescher, Cindric, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. were running in the top 10. Behind, Michael McDowell trailed in 11th ahead of Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano as John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trailed in the top 20 ahead of Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, rookie Carson Hocevar, William Byron and Corey Heim. 

    Ten laps later, Chastain stabilized his early advantage to two-tenths of a second over Larson while Bell, Gibbs and Buescher were scored in the top five ahead of Gragson, Busch, Hamlin, Cindric and Truex. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson, who qualified 19th, had fallen to 32nd as he was trailing rookie Josh Berry and Daniel Suarez on the track while Austin Hill, Derek Kraus, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Riley Herbst and Ryan Preece were running towards the rear of the 38-car field. 

    Another 12 laps later, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Truex pitted his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE along with Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace. The leader Chastain would pit under green on Lap 33, followed by Larson, Gibbs, Buescher, Gragson and a bevy of competitors as Bell and Busch remained on the track. While more drivers, including Bell, pit by Lap 35, Chastain and Larson engaged in a heated battle to emerge as the first competitor who recently pitted on the track while Derek Kraus, who has yet to pit, was leading. 

    On Lap 41, Chastain zipped by Kraus to reassume the race lead on the track as Larson, who was battling Chastain tightly for the lead a few laps earlier, followed suit in second. Both Chastain and Larson would be separated by a tenth of a second by the Lap 45 mark while Gibbs, who moved into third place, trailed the two leaders by more than two seconds as Buescher and Bell trailed in the top five by three seconds. 

    At the Lap 50 mark, both Chastain and Larson continued to engage in a heated battle for the lead with both swapping lanes, remaining dead even against one another’s entries, pulling crossover moves on one another through the turns and refusing to give an inch to one another. With Chastain and Larson continuing to battle dead even for the lead during the proceeding laps, third-place Gibbs started to close in as he trailed the two leaders by six-tenths of a second while fourth-place Hamlin only trailed by a second. Larson would then manage to emerge ahead by two-tenths of a second over Chastain by Lap 53 and he would proceed to extend his advantage to a second over Chastain just past the Lap 55 mark. 

    By Lap 60, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE past Chastain for the runner-up spot as he started to close in on Larson for the lead as he only trailed by less than half a second. Gibbs and Buescher would trail the lead by a second in the top five as Hamlin challenged Larson for the lead on Lap 63. With Larson retaining the top spot while running his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the outside lane, Hamlin tried to overtake Larson again during the following lap, but was denied by Larson as Chastain tried to close back in to join the battle. Eventually, Hamlin would overtake Larson to assume the lead by Lap 68 as Chastain battled and also overtook Larson to assume the runner-up spot. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Dover Motor Speedway, captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season after fending off a last-lap charge from Chastain, who ended up second. Larson settled in third ahead of Bell and Buescher while Gibbs, Truex, Busch, Gragson and Chase Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, 33 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. 

    Under the stage break, the field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Bell edged Chastain to emerge as the first competitor off of pit road with the lead from the first pit box as Larson, Gibbs, Buescher, Truex and Busch followed suit as Hamlin, who was blocked by Austin Hill while trying to exit his pit stall, exited eighth ahead of Elliott and Gragson. Amid the pit stops, John Hunter Nemechek was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 88 as Bell and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, both Bell and Chastain mirrored their early performance from the event’s start by battling dead even against one another and in front of the fanned pack through the first two turns and the backstretch. Shortly after, Larson, who rocketed his way up to the two leaders, made a bold three-wide move beneath Bell and Chastain, who got loose through Turns 3 and 4, to assume the lead through the frontstretch’s apron. Bell and Chastain were then pinned in a five-wide battle with Gibbs, Buescher and Truex across the start/finish line as the latter three overtook both Bell and Chastain for positions along with Kyle Busch. Chastain and Bell would continue to battle for sixth place and Buescher would battle Truex for the runner-up spot in front of Gibbs and Busch while Larson retained the lead by the Lap 90 mark.  

    Through the Lap 100 mark, Larson was leading by nearly two seconds over Buescher followed by Gibbs, Busch and Truex while Bell, Gragson, Chastain, Hamlin and Bowman were racing in the top 10 ahead of Michael McDowell, Reddick, Wallace, William Byron and Elliott. As Brad Keselowski, Blaney, Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carson Hocevar trailed in the top 20, Joey Logano was mired in 21st ahead of Austin Dillon, Justin Haley, Jimmie Johnson and rookie Zane Smith as Suarez was mired in 32nd behind Corey LaJoie, Hill and Chase Briscoe. 

    Ten laps later, Larson slightly stretched his advantage to three seconds over Buescher while third-place Gibbs trailed by four seconds. Behind, Busch occupied fourth place ahead of ex-teammates Truex, Bell and Hamlin while Chastain slipped to 10th as he trailed Gragson and Bowman on the track. 

    Another six laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Todd Gilliland and Ryan Preece pitted their respective Ford entries. Blaney would then pit along with Kraus, Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Logano, Byron and others before select front-runners like Buescher, Gibbs and Hamlin pitted by Lap 119. Larson would then surrender the lead to pit by Lap 120 as he was followed by Busch, Truex, Bell, Gragson and others while 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace remained on the track.  

    On Lap 125, Reddick surrendered the lead to pit his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE. By then, his teammate Wallace and Daniel Hemric pitted while Buescher, who split Bell and Chastain through the middle as part of the five-wide battle during the start of the second stage period, cycled his No. 17 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead. Gibbs trailed Buescher in the runner-up spot, followed by Busch and Larson, who endured a slow pit stop after his front-tire changer had issues tightening the left front tire. Meanwhile, Truex trailed in fifth while Hamlin was in sixth. 

    At the halfway mark in between Laps 133 and 134, Buescher was leading by more than a second over Busch followed by Gibbs, Larson and Truex while Hamlin, Bowman, Gragson, Bell and Chastain occupied the top-10 spots on the track. Behind, Elliott was in 11th place as he was running ahead of teammate Byron, Keselowski, McDowell and Reddick as Cindric, Blaney, Hocevar, Stenhouse and Wallace trailed in the top 20 as they were running ahead of Logano, Austin Dillon, Gilliland, Zane Smith and Jimmie Johnson. 

    By Lap 145, Buescher continued to lead by more than a second over a side-by-side battle between Larson and Busch for the runner-up spot while Gibbs and Hamlin trailed by within four seconds in the top five. Buescher’s advantage slightly decreased to nine-tenths of a second over Larson while third-place Busch trailed by a second by Lap 150.  

    Between the Laps 155 and 160 marks, Buescher stabilized his advantage within less than a second over a hard-charging Larson while Busch retained third place ahead of Hamlin and Gibbs. Behind, Chastain and Reddick battled dead even for a top-10 spot while Elliott and Bell battled for 11th place.  

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Buescher captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson settled in second followed by Hamlin, Busch and Truex while Gibbs, Bowman, Reddick, Chastain and Gragson were scored in the top 10 on the track. By then, 29 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Buescher pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Larson returned atop the leaderboard after he edged Buescher off of pit road first while Busch, Gibbs, Truex, Chastain, Reddick, Elliott, Gragson and Bell followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, however, Buescher, who had part of a windshield tear off floating atop his car, was penalized for his pit crew jumping over the pit wall too soon prior to his service and was sent to the rear of the field. 

    With 94 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Larson and Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Larson fended off Busch and Truex to retain the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as the field behind fanned out. With the field fanning out as wide as four lanes during the following lap, Larson was ahead of Busch with the lead while Truex, Gibbs and Reddick were running in the top five. Another lap later, however, the caution returned after Jimmie Johnson was hit by LaJoie in Turn 1 and sent for a spin before he veered back across the track and crashed hard against the outside wall as Hemric and Hill were also collected. The incident left Johnson disappointed with LaJoie as he ended up with his first DNF of the season and strapped in 38th place, dead last.

    During the following restart period with 84 laps remaining, Larson and Busch again battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until Larson muscled ahead from the inside lane. Busch, however, crossed over to the inside lane in his bid to claim the lead, which he led the following lap by a mere margin as Truex closed in. Shortly after, however, the caution returned for a multi-car crash through the backstretch that started when Hamlin, who was running within the top 10, went up the track and was squeezed into the backstretch’s outside wall by teammate Bell into Cindric, where Cindric veered sideways before he spun his No. 2 Snap-On Ford Mustang Dark Horse back down the track and clipped both Wallace and McDowell as all three were sent spinning while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage.  

    The next two restart periods, one with 77 laps remaining and another with 71 laps remaining, were quickly halted with two caution periods. The first with 77 laps remaining occurred during the following lap when Harrison Burton, who was running towards the rear of the field, spun his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse entering the backstretch as he needed a wrecker to tow his car back to pit road after he flattened his rear tires. The second caution period with 71 laps remaining also struck a lap after the restart when Logano spun his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entering Turn 4 as he too flattened his rear tires.  

    During the initial caution period for Burton’s incident, select names including Hamlin, Buescher and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Busch and Larson remained on the track. During the latest caution period for Logano’s incident, however, a majority of the field led by Larson and Busch pitted while select names led by Gilliland and including Hamlin and Buescher remained on the track. 

    As the event restarted with 62 laps remaining, the field quickly fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch as Hamlin used the outside lane to muscle ahead with the lead through the first two turns. Buescher followed suit in the runner-up spot through the backstretch and Wallace challenged Gilliland for third place while Busch was trying to fight his way back to the front as he was up to fifth place in front of McDowell, Bell and the field. 

    Down to the final 60 laps of the event, the battle for the lead between Hamlin and Buescher ignited as Buescher used the apron to overtake Hamlin from the frontstretch to the first two turns. As Busch carved his way up to third place, Hamlin would reassume the lead from Buescher with 54 laps remaining. By then, Busch retained third place while Larson carved his way up to fourth place. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading by two-tenths of a second over Buescher, who continued to stalk Hamlin for the lead amid their side-by-side battle earlier, while third-place Hamlin trailed by a second and fourth-place Larson trailed by more than a second. Behind, Gilliland continued to run in fifth place ahead of teammate McDowell, Wallace, Bell, Truex and Elliott while Hocevar, Reddick, Haley, LaJoie, Keselowski, Gragson, Blaney, rookie Josh Berry, Stenhouse and Byron trailed in the top 20. 

    Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Buescher while Busch and Larson continued to trail the lead by more than a second. Buescher then transitioned to the outside lane as he drew even alongside Hamlin for the following lap before Hamlin rocketed back ahead and blocked Buescher through the frontstretch’s apron with 38 laps remaining. Not long after, Larson overtook Busch for third place as Truex overtook Gilliland to move into the top five while Bell carved his way into seventh place ahead of McDowell. 

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to within two- and three-tenths of a second over Buescher while third-place Larson trailed by a second. Behind, Busch retained fourth place ahead of Truex while Bell, Gilliland, Elliott, Keselowski and McDowell were scored in the top 10 ahead of Blaney, Haley, Reddick, Wallace and Hocevar. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hamlin and Buescher, both of whom were running on fumes with concerns about not having enough fuel to the scheduled distance, continued to run first and second on the track, with Hamlin leading by three-tenths of a second ahead of Buescher. Behind, Larson, who has enough fuel to finish, continued to trail in third place by while Busch and Truex occupied the top five. 

    Five laps later, Hamlin slightly stretched his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Buescher while third-place Larson continued to trail by more than a second. Hamlin would then extend his advantage to more than a second over Buescher while Larson, Truex and Busch trailed within three seconds with 10 laps remaining. 

    Two laps later, Truex, who was charging strong after overtaking both Larson and Busch, overtook Buescher for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch. Larson would then drop to sixth as Busch and Keselowski overtook him for top-five spots while Truex started to close in on teammate Hamlin for the lead amid lapped traffic. 

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew after Kyle Busch, who was running in the top five, got loose and spun his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 towards the apron from the first two turns and through the backstretch. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited pit road first following a two-tire pit stop as he was followed by Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Gragson, Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek and Corey Heim, all of whom elected for a two-tire pit service, while Truex exited in 10th place with four fresh tires. 

    With the event restarting in overtime, Hamlin and Buescher, both of whom restarted on the front row in front of Larson and Elliott, led the field to the start until Larson, who restarted behind Hamlin, quickly made a move beneath Hamlin in a three-wide bid for the lead. With Elliott joining the battle, Buescher managed to muscle ahead from the outside lane to emerge with the lead ahead of Larson, Hamlin and Elliott through the backstretch. Larson then tried to make a move beneath Buescher entering Turns 3 and 4, but Buescher blocked Larson, which caused the latter to move up the track and regain his momentum as Hamlin was pinned in a three-wide battle with Elliott and Truex for third place. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Buescher remained as the leader by a tenth of a second over Larson while Truex was trying to muscle away from Hamlin and Elliott to occupy third place. Then after stalking Buescher through the first two turns and through the backstretch, Larson gained a draft on Buescher and made his move to the outside lane as Buescher was trying to squeeze Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 against the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4. Despite being rubbed and squeezed towards the wall, Larson then started to emerge ahead as both he and Buescher made contact while Truex and Elliott were trying to join the battle. Larson then veered left and rammed into the side of Buescher’s No. 17 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse to stall his momentum, which nearly got Buescher loose, but Buescher kept his foot in the gas, as both he and Larson crossed the finish line dead even ahead of Truex and Elliott.  

    When the dust settled, Larson, who was initially told that Buescher had won, emerged as the race winner by 0.001 seconds over Buescher, which set a new closest-recorded finish in the history of NASCAR’s premier series. Larson’s margin of victory over Buescher broke the previous record of 0.002 seconds that was made twice: once by Ricky Craven at Darlington Raceway in 2003 and the second made by Jimmie Johnson at Talladega Superspeedway in 2011. 

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With the victory, Larson notched his 25th career win in NASCAR’s premier series, which placed him in a tie with Jim Paschal and Joe Weatherly on the all-time wins list. He also recorded his second victory at Kansas Speedway, his second of the 2024 Cup Series season after winning his first of the year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, and his 19th driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. In addition, the victory was the sixth of the season for Hendrick Motorsports and the seventh for the Chevrolet nameplate as Larson became the third competitor to repeat as a race winner alongside teammate William Byron and Denny Hamlin through the first 12 events on the 2024 schedule.

    “That was wild,” Larson said on FS1. “I was obviously thankful for that last caution [with seven laps remaining]. We were dying pretty bad. [I] Was happy to come out third and figured my best shot was me choosing the bottom [lane] and just try and split three wide to the inside. [It] Worked out. My car turned well and was able to get some runs. Got through [Turns] 1 and 2 really good down the backstretch and had a big tow on Chris [Buescher]. I just committed really hard up top and wasn’t quite sure if we were gonna make it to the other side. I got super loose in the center and then, I’m trying not to get too far ahead of him to where he can side-draft. Then I was trying to kill his run, so it was just crazy. That race from start to finish was amazing. You [fans] got your money’s worth today. I’m just proud to be a part of the show.” 

    “I didn’t know if I won or not,” Larson added. “I was pumped for the finish. I got to about Turn 3 and [spotter] Tyler [Monn] was going crazy up on the [spotter’s] roof, so just incredible finish there. I wish we have more mile-and-a-halfs [tracks]. These mile-and-a-halfs, these cars just race so amazing. This is so cool. Month of May is gonna be great for us, so hopefully, this just starts some momentum.” 

    As Larson was left beaming and celebrating on the frontstretch, Buescher was left dejected on pit road after coming up a nose shy of etching the first victory of the season for himself, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing and the new Ford Mustang Dark Horse stock car. 

    “I don’t know what to say right now,” Buescher said. “That sucks to be that close. It was a great finish for us. A really strong day, a lot of speed in this Castrol Edge Ford Mustang. We really needed that. Needed a win more. [I] Thought I might have had that one. [I] Tried to cover what I could and gave [Larson] half a lane too much, I suppose, but good hard race there right there down to the line, but that hurts.” 

    Meanwhile, Chase Elliott edged Martin Truex Jr. to finish third while Denny Hamlin, who led a race-high 71 laps, ended up in fifth place. 

    Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson and Michael McDowell finished in the top 10. 

    There were 27 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the 12th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 29 points over Martin Truex Jr., 55 over Chase Elliott, 56 over Denny Hamlin and 93 over Tyler Reddick. 

    Results. 

    1.  Kyle Larson, 63 laps led

    2. Chris Buescher, 54 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Chase Elliott

    4. Martin Truex Jr.

    5. Denny Hamlin, 71 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Christopher Bell, five laps led

    7. Alex Bowman

    8. Kyle Busch, 14 laps led

    9. Noah Gragson

    10. Michael McDowell

    11. Brad Keselowski, one lap led

    12. Ryan Blaney

    13. John Hunter Nemechek

    14. Todd Gilliland, four laps led

    15. Josh Berry

    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Justin Haley

    19. Ross Chastain, 43 laps led

    20. Tyler Reddick, seven laps led

    21. Chase Briscoe

    22. Corey Heim

    23. William Byron

    24. Carson Hocevar

    25. Austin Dillon

    26. Corey LaJoie

    27. Daniel Suarez

    28. Ryan Preece

    29. Zane Smith

    30. Daniel Hemric

    31. Derek Kraus, six laps led

    32. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    33. Austin Hill, one lap down

    34. Joey Logano, two laps down

    35. Riley Herbst, two laps down

    36. Harrison Burton, six laps down

    37. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident 

    38. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 12, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Reddick dodges final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

    Reddick dodges final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

    With drafting help from two Toyota teammates as team owner Michael Jordan watched atop the pit box, Tyler Reddick rose to the occasion and raced his way to a wild overwhelming NASCAR Cup Series victory in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 21, amid a final lap accident that knocked pole-sitter Michael McDowell out of race-winning contention.

    The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led five times for 13 of 188 scheduled laps. Reddick started 18th and kept his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE intact while working closely with his Toyota teammates amid the draft and the three-wide packed action towards the front.

    Despite losing four of his Toyota teammates, including team owner Denny Hamlin and 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, to a multi-car wreck with 33 laps remaining amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops Reddick cycled into the lead during the caution period. Drafting support from Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs kept him in contention for a 27-lap dash to the finish as he squared off against Ford competitors Michael McDowell and Brad Keselowski.

    Then, on the final lap, Reddick, who led the penultimate lap by a hair over McDowell initially lost ground to McDowell and Keselowski amid the draft. But with two corners remaining, he capitalized on a swerved move by McDowell entering the frontstretch resulting in McDowell spinning in the middle of the track and igniting a multi-car wreck. Reddick was able to zip by both Keselowski and Noah Gragson to cross the finish line by two-tenths of a second ahead of Keselowski and capture his first Cup Series victory of the 2024 season along with his first at Talladega and of the season for 23XI Racing.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, April 20, Michael McDowell captured his second Cup Series pole position of the season and his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.022 mph in 52.609 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.739 mph in 52.691 seconds. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric battled for the lead in front of two packed lanes through the first two turns before they navigated through the backstretch. With the field behind still running in two tight-packed lanes through the final two turns and back to the tri-oval, McDowell managed to lead the first lap by a hair over Cindric.  

    During the next four laps, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as McDowell and Cindric battled and swapped the lead. Amid the battles, Martin Truex Jr. mounted a charge from the outside lane with drafting help from Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric while McDowell started to muscle ahead on the inside lane.

    Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, who was not allowed to post a qualifying lap on Saturday due to unapproved adjustments involving his roof rails to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and was assessed a drive-through penalty on pit road during the opening lap, was mired at the rear of the field and trailing by a distance with no drafting help. 

    Over the next five laps, Truex, Hemric and BJ McLeod each led at least a lap while the pack of 37 competitors fanned out to three lanes as they navigated around the superspeedway venue to take advantage of the draft.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Chase Briscoe assumed the lead from Hemric on the outside lane amid the tight-packed racing before Justin Haley carved his No. 51 Parts Plus Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the front as he challenged Briscoe for the top spot during the proceeding laps. Despite Briscoe blocking Haley and briefly stalling his momentum through the backstretch by Lap 16, Haley switched to the inside lane and continued to battle Briscoe before he assumed the top spot by Lap 18. Truex, however, would join the battle and lead by the Lap 20 mark. By then, Larson was lapped by the field. 

    By Lap 25 and with the field still fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Truex was ahead with the lead by a hair on the outside lane as Haley was leading the draft on the inside lane and Briscoe was mired as the lead competitor in the middle lane. As Haley, Truex and Briscoe battled against one another for the lead within the draft, Truex continued to muscle ahead and lead the proceeding laps by the Lap 30 mark. 

    At the Lap 35 mark, Truex, who led eight of the previous 10 laps, was ahead by a hair over McLeod and Briscoe while he had teammates Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin drafting him through the middle lane. McLeod, however, would have Daniel Suarez pushing him on the outside lane as he remained in contention for the lead before Suarez bailed on him by Lap 37, allowing Truex to muscle ahead while Briscoe tried to mount another challenge on the inside lane. McLeod would then receive drafting help from Chase Elliott by Lap 40 to muscle back ahead on the outside lane, with Truex and Briscoe remaining in the middle and inside lanes, respectively.

    Then on Lap 40, McLeod went up against the outside wall entering Turn 3, and fell off the pace as the entire field zipped by him. McLeod then pitted as the race remained under green flag conditions. By then, Briscoe had muscled his way back to the lead on the inside lane while Truex fought back on the middle lane. Meanwhile, Elliott was trying to mount a charge from the outside lane and received a push from Ryan Preece through the backstretch to challenge the front-runners for the lead.  

    Not long after on Lap 41, Indiana natives Briscoe and Haley peeled off the track to pit under green. Another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors led by Suarez and rookie Zane Smith, pitted by Lap 42 before another led by Alfredo and Gragson pitted. During the latest wave, Hamlin, who was trying to slam on the brakes to enter pit road under pit road pace, got loose and ran into the side of John Hunter Nemechek before he spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE on pit road. The race, however, remained under green as Hamlin proceeded to his pit stall while another wave of competitors led by Elliott and Larson, who was a lap down, pitted. By then, Zane Smith and Suarez were penalized for speeding on pit road.  

    On Lap 45, the final wave of competitors led by Shane van Gisbergen pitted under green. Once the pit stops cycled through, Elliott emerged as the new leader ahead of teammate William Byron, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Harrison Burton. During the pit stops, Joey Logano was penalized for speeding on pit road as Briscoe would have to pit for a second time to address a flat tire on his entry. 

    By Lap 50, Cindric, who assumed the lead from Elliott two laps earlier, was still leading ahead of Elliott, Burton, Byron and Ryan Blaney as the top 30 competitors were separated by a second. As Cindric and Elliott battled for the lead in front of two packed lanes during the proceeding laps, Larson was running in front of teammate Elliott as he was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty. 

    Just past the Lap 55 mark, Cindric and Elliott battled for the lead in front of two packed lanes, with Cindric having Harrison Burton drafting him on the outside lane. Elliott was still running behind teammate, Larson, and had teammate Byron drafting him on the inside lane. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Cindric edged Elliott by a hair to claim his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott ended up second followed by teammate Byron, Blaney and Kyle Busch while Burton, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Larson, who was lapped by Cindric at the start/finish line, was the recipient of the free pass as he returned to the lead lap category.  

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Cindric pitted while Brad Keselowski and Anthony Alfredo remained on the track. Not long after, the following names that included Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Keselowski, John Hunter Nemechek, Logano, Corey LaJoie, Truex and Larson would pit again for extra fuel to their respective entries. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 66 as Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Busch briefly muscled ahead exiting the frontstretch until Blaney fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. As the field started to fan out to three lanes, Blaney received a draft from teammate Cindric and Burton to clear Busch and muscle ahead of the pack through the tri-oval and back to the start/finish line for the following lap.  

    Then on Lap 68 and as the field continued to battle through three packed lanes, Shane van Gisbergen mounted a drafting charge to the front followed by Austin Dillon from the outside lane. After clearing both Busch and Blaney, Dillon then bailed on van Gisbergen as he moved his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in front of teammate Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. But van Gisbergen fought back on the outside lane as he picked up Alfredo as his new drafting partner. Alfredo then bailed on van Gisbergen on Lap 70 as he led while van Gisbergen was shoved out of the draft as he and his No. 16 Wendy’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 slowly drifted to the rear of the field. Meanwhile, Noah Gragson carved his way into the lead during the following lap as he was pursued by John Hunter Nemechek and while Larson was battling Alfredo for third place.  

    Just past the Lap 75 mark, Nemechek assumed the lead in his No. 42 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE on Lap 72, was leading ahead of Alfredo and a bevy of competitors charging strong amid a scattered, three-wide pack. Despite being pressured by Gragson, Alfredo and Corey LaJoie during the proceeding laps, Nemechek would retain the top spot by Lap 80 as 36 of 38 starters were running within two seconds of one another amid the draft. 

    Through Lap 85, Nemechek continued to lead ahead of Gragson and LaJoie while Chris Buescher was trying to mount a charge on the outside lane with drafting help from Gilliland. As Alfredo occupied the inside lane amid a three-wide battle within the pack, the top-36 competitors were separated within three seconds while Nemechek remained in front of Gragson with the top spot. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 94 and with the field running tight in three packed lanes, Hamlin overtook Nemechek for the lead while Cody Ware, Buescher, Gragson, Gilliland, Truex, LaJoie, Preece and Larson were scored in the top 10 ahead of Busch, Austin Dillon, van Gisbergen, Wallace, Cindric, Ty Gibbs, Alfredo, Logano, Byron, Bell, Elliott and Hemric. Meanwhile, Briscoe, who pitted by himself under green earlier, trailed the lead pack by 41 seconds. 

    Six laps later, Buescher drafted his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by Ford teammates Gilliland, Preece, Logano and Gragson while van Gisbergen, who led on Lap 98 and battled Buescher during the following lap, was shuffled out of the draft for a second time. Meanwhile, Larson occupied sixth place ahead of LaJoie, Wallace, Austin Dillon and Busch as Briscoe was lapped by the field during the following lap. 

    Then on Lap 102, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as the first wave, mainly Ford competitors led by Buescher, pitted primarily for fuel. Another wave, mainly Chevrolet competitors led by Austin Dillon and Busch, pitted during the following lap. During the second pit sequence, trouble struck for LaJoie, who spun his No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 after running into standing water on the asphalt while exiting pit road. Despite LaJoie’s spin, the race remained under green flag conditions as Logano led a wave of 12 competitors who had yet to pit. Logano and Hamlin would then battle for the top spot by Lap 106. 

    On Lap 110, Hamlin was leading ahead of teammate Bell, Logano, Cindric and teammate Truex as the top-12 competitors, all of whom had not yet pitted, continued to run on the track while the next wave of competitors comprising those who pitted led by Byron trailed by 33 seconds. Another lap later, Hamlin led a wave of Toyota competitors to pit road under green while the rest, including, Logano, Cindric, Blaney and Josh Berry remained on the track. During the pit stops, Bell was penalized for speeding on pit road as Logano, Berry, Blaney and Cindric pitted by Lap 112. Upon the completion of the pit stops, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road as Logano and Cindric managed to blend back onto the track and regain the pace with the field that enabled them to contend towards the front.  

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Logano fended off a late challenge from Larson to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Cindric edged Larson at the start/finish line to claim second followed by Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain while Reddick, Buescher, Elliott, Ryan Preece and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10.  

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Logano returned to pit road for service while the rest including Keselowski, LaJoie, Briscoe, van Gisbergen, Truex, Gibbs and Alfredo pitted. Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of Larson, Cindric, Chastain, Dillon, Elliott, Reddick, Busch, Buescher and Bowman. Shortly after, Keselowski would lead the rest of the competitors who pitted during the caution period as Logano cycled back into the lead.

    With 62 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Logano and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Chastain battled dead even for the lead as Logano had Team Penske teammate Cindric drafting him while Chastain had Chevrolet teammate Kyle Busch drafting him. Chastain then muscled away from Busch before moving in front of Logano and Cindric in the draft by the following lap just before the rest of the field caught back up to the top-four leaders. Shortly after, Chastain and Logano returned to battling dead even for the lead in front of two packed lanes with 60 laps remaining. 

    With 56 laps remaining, the caution returned after Elliott ran into the rear of Haley that sent Haley into Bell’s No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE as Bell went back up the track and hit the outside wall head-on in Turn 3 while barely dodging Elliott as Briscoe, Blaney and Zane Smith were also involved. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Logano pitted while the rest led by Alfredo remained on the track. Once Alfredo and others pitted with 50 laps remaining, Berry cycled into the lead.

    During the following restart with 49 laps remaining, where teammates Berry and Gragson occupied the front row, Berry and Gragson battled dead even against their Overstock.com-sponsored Ford Mustang Dark Horses for a full lap. The following lap, Hemric ignited a charge from the outside lane as he assumed the lead in his No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with drafting help from Chastain before McDowell received a push from Austin Dillon to muscle ahead, clear Hemric and return to the lead.  

    With 40 laps remaining and with a majority of the field migrating to the outside lane, McDowell was leading ahead of teammate Gilliland, Keselowski, Busch and Cody Ware while Gragson, Chastain, van Gisbergen, Suarez and Larson were running in the top 10 ahead of Bowman, Elliott, Stenhouse, Buescher, Berry, Alfredo, Logano, Hemric, Burton and LaJoie. 

    Three laps later, a bevy of Toyota competitors pitted under green, mainly for fuel. As the Toyota competitors managed to blend back onto the track and remain on the lead lap, McDowell retained the lead over Gilliland, Keselowski, Berry, Hemric, Gragson and a bevy of competitors running two by two in a tight pack with 35 laps remaining. 

    Then with 33 laps remaining, the caution flew after Bubba Wallace, who was running in a seven-car Toyota line towards the rear of the field upon pitting under green and trying to regain ground of the lead pack, got Erik Jones’ No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE loose in Turn 3 that resulted with Jones getting turned and sent head-on into the outside wall as Wallace and John Hunter Nemechek also piled into him before Nemechek came back the track and clipped Hamlin as Hamlin also wrecked against the wall while Reddick, Truex and Gibbs escaped the carnage. 

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McDowell returned to pit road for fuel while the rest including Carson Hocevar, Reddick, Truex and Gibbs remained on the track as McDowell exited off of pit road first from the first pit stall. Hocevar would then pit not long after as Reddick cycled into the lead. 

    As the event restarted under green with 27 laps remaining, Reddick received a push from Toyota teammate Truex to rocket ahead of McDowell with the lead through the first two turns until McDowell came charging back from the inside lane with drafting help from Keselowski’s No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Reddick and McDowell battled side by side for the lead during the following lap until McDowell muscled ahead and was placed on defense as he fended off both Keselowski and Reddick for the lead in his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse with 25 laps remaining. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, McDowell retained the lead ahead of Keselowski, Reddick, Gragson and Berry while Truex, Gibbs, Chastain, Busch, Suarez and 20 additional competitors running within two seconds of one another trailed in a tight two by two pack. 

    During the proceeding laps, the battle for the lead was drawn to a side-by-side battle between McDowell and Reddick as Reddick had Toyota teammates Truex and Gibbs drafting him on the outside lane while McDowell had Ford teammates Keselowski, Gragson and Berry drafting him on the inside lane while also trying to gain control of both lanes with 15 laps remaining. 

    With 10 laps remaining, Reddick and McDowell continued to swap against one another for the lead and in front of two stacked lanes, with neither stepping out of the throttle nor giving an inch as they kept their respective manufacturer drafting partners lined up behind them. 

    During the proceeding laps and with a majority of the field continuing to run in two tight-packed lanes, McDowell started to muscle ahead from the inside lane as he was placed on defense to keep Keselowski drafting him and to stall Reddick’s momentum from the outside lane. Amid his strong defensive drive, Reddick fought back on the outside lane as he continued to challenge McDowell for the lead while a third drafting line led by van Gisbergen, who was running within the top 15, was trying to mount a charge toward the front. Gibbs and Busch would also move up to the third outside lane as McDowell held a narrow lead over both Keselowski and Reddick with two laps remaining. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick was leading by a hair over McDowell amid the tight two-pack formation. As the field navigated past the lapped competitor of John Hunter Nemechek through the first two turns, McDowell and Reddick continued to battle dead even through the backstretch until Keselowski drafted McDowell clear ahead of Reddick and the field with Noah Gragson trying to follow suit through Turns 3 and 4.  

    Then entering the frontstretch, Keselowski made a move to the outside of McDowell, but McDowell blocked Keselowski. As Keselowski crossed over back to the inside lane, McDowell did the same to make a second blocking attempt, but he got sideways after barely driving off the front nose of Keselowski. This resulted in McDowell spinning back across the middle of the track and igniting a vicious multi-car wreck that nearly collected the entire field and resulted in Corey LaJoie sliding across the outside wall on his side while also nearly turning over Josh Berry in the process and just past the finish line before his car tumbled once and came to a rest right-side up. 

    Amid the carnage, Reddick, who dropped to fourth entering the frontstretch, surged his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE past both Gragson and Keselowski while barely avoiding McDowell’s spinning car through the frontstretch to claim the lead and cross the finish line in first place to score the victory just before the caution flew. 

    With the victory, Reddick racked up his sixth career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, his first at Talladega and his first since winning at Kansas Speedway last September. In addition, Reddick became the sixth winner through the first 10 events on the 2024 Cup Series schedule as he also recorded the fourth victory of the season for the Toyota nameplate and the first of the season for 23XI Racing.

    “Man, it’s incredible!” Reddick said on FOX. “Everyone on this No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry worked really hard today. [Things] Didn‘t really work out in that third stage for us, but we were able to fight and defend our track position. Was [that finish] crazy [fans]?! That was chaos! That’s Talladega for you. I got to give a lot of credit to Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex [Jr.]. It was just us Toyotas left and they pushed me with everything they had. Huge credit to Martin and Ty. Without those pushes, we don‘t win this race.” 

    The victory celebration for 23XI Racing, which marks the sixth Cup career win for the organization, was also big as team owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan was also present to celebrate in Victory Lane with Reddick, co-owner Denny Hamlin, former 23XI Racing competitor Kurt Busch and the 23XI team. 

    “Denny [Hamlin] keeps saying I was bad luck when I come to the track,” Michael Jordan said in Victory Lane. “Today, we proved him wrong. I think Tyler did a good job. The whole team did a good job. I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody tells me when we win, we can have a good celebration, but this is the first time I’ve been here. We’ve been working hard, trying to get ourselves up to where we can compete against the top guys in this sport. We’ve done a heck of a job just to be where we are and for us to win a big race like this, it means so much to me and for the effort the team has done. I’m all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball.”

    With Reddick winning the race, Keselowski ended up in second place for a second consecutive week while Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman avoided the final lap carnage to finish in the top five. 

    “I was getting some great pushes from Noah Gragson,” Keselowski said. “I thought the Fords were really working well together. We cleared the Toyotas there on the bottom lane and it was pretty clear that it was gonna come down to the three of us [me, McDowell and Gragson]. I backed up, Noah gave me a great push and I went to make a move on Michael [McDowell]. He covered it, went back the other way. I got another push from Noah and just nowhere to go when Michael came back down. I hate that for [McDowell]. He’s a good guy, hope he’s alright. Just kind of the way this stuff goes, right? All in all, really solid day for us, for Ford, for Castrol. Another second. It’s a solid day, but not the win we wanted. Good finishes are important, but we want wins. I could really taste it today, but it just didn’t happen.”

    Anthony Alfredo piloted the No. 62 Beard Motorsports entry to a sixth-place result while William Byron, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric and Harrison Burton ended up in the top 10. 

    Notably, Truex ended up 11th ahead of Briscoe, Chastain, Preece and Elliott. In addition, LaJoie slid across the finish line on his side in 18th place, Larson ended up 21st in between Blaney and Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch ended up 27th in between Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen.  

    Meanwhile, McDowell, who led a race-high 36 laps from pole position, ended up in 31st place as he was unable to limp his wrecked race car across the finish line to complete the final lap. 

    “Yeah, it’s just super unfortunate,” McDowell said in the infield care center. “I just hate it for everybody on this Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang and I hate it for Brad [Keselowski] too because we did a good job of keeping those Mustang Dark Horses upfront. He did everything right. He pushed me out, I drugged back to him and I was able to get in front of him that very first time, but when I came back down, [I] just barely, barely wasn’t clear. I hate it that we didn’t make it to the finish line. We had such a fast Mustang today. It’s unfortunate. It’s been a rough few weeks, but it’s last-lap Talladega. Going for it, trying to get a win and just came up short. [I] Hate that I took a lot of guys with me, so [I] apologize to Brad and everybody that got collected in that. [I’ll] Go back and watch [the replay] and see what we could’ve done better.” 

    There were 73 lead changes for 23 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 21 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the 10th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 15 points over Martin Truex Jr., 22 over Chase Elliott, 24 over William Byron and 43 over Tyler Reddick. 

    Results. 

    1. Tyler Reddick, 13 laps led 

    2. Brad Keselowski, two laps led 

    3. Noah Gragson, five laps led 

    4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    5. Alex Bowman 

    6. Anthony Alfredo, four laps led 

    7. William Byron 

    8. Todd Gilliland 

    9. Daniel Hemric, eight laps led 

    10. Harrison Burton 

    11. Martin Truex Jr., 16 laps led 

    12. Chase Briscoe, three laps led 

    13. Ross Chastain, six laps led 

    14. Ryan Preece 

    15. Chase Elliott, five laps led 

    16. Josh Berry, three laps led 

    17. Carson Hocevar, one lap led 

    18. Corey LaJoie 

    19. Joey Logano, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner 

    20. Ryan Blaney, one lap led 

    21. Kyle Larson 

    22. Ty Gibbs, one lap led 

    23. Austin Cindric, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

    24. Cody Ware 

    25. Chris Buescher, six laps led 

    26. Daniel Suarez

    27. Kyle Busch, five laps lef

    28. Shane van Gisbergen, three laps led 

    29. Zane Smith 

    30. Austin Dillon 

    31. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident, 36 laps led 

    32. BJ McLeod, one lap down, five laps led 

    33. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down, 20 laps led 

    34. Justin Haley, four laps down, four laps led 

    35. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident 

    36. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident 

    37. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, four laps led 

    38. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 28, and air at 2 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • Suárez edges Blaney and Busch in three-wide finish for second Cup career victory at Atlanta

    Suárez edges Blaney and Busch in three-wide finish for second Cup career victory at Atlanta

    In a three-wide photo finish for the ages, Daniel Suárez bested NASCAR Cup Series champions Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch to score a wild victory in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 25.

    “It’s an amazing feeling,” Suárez said after the race. “This team did an amazing job all race long. We wrecked on Lap two. The guys fixed the car and we were able to make it good again, make it fast again. It took some tweaking, but unbelievable. Freeway Insurance, Trackhouse, Chevrolet, and all the people that believed in us from day one – it’s unbelievable to do this in this fashion.”

    The 2016 Xfinity Series champion from Monterrey, Mexico, led twice for nine of 260 scheduled laps in an event where he was involved in a 16-car pileup on the second lap. Amid the early incident, Suárez persevered through nine additional caution periods to methodically carve his way back to the front, where he would lead for the first time with 12 laps remaining. During a five-lap shootout to the finish, Suárez, who lost the lead to Ryan Blaney, was left to battle Kyle Busch dead even for the runner-up spot during the next four laps.

    Then on the final lap, both Suárez and Busch took Blaney in a tight three-wide battle in front of the stacked field through the final two turns. All three competitors remained dead even against one another through the frontstretch until Suárez just managed to emerge ahead of both Blaney and Busch by a nose to claim his second NASCAR Cup Series career victory and snap a one-year winless drought.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, February 24, Michael McDowell achieved his first Cup Series pole position of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.844 mph in 30.999 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Joey Logano, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying speed at 178.424 mph in 31.072 seconds.

    Prior to the event, however, Logano dropped to the rear of the field and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start of the event due to wearing illegal gloves and violating NASCAR’s SFI specification. Chase Elliott also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, McDowell and Kyle Busch, who moved up to the front row, dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Busch, who was drafted by Kyle Larson on the inside lane, quickly moved in front of McDowell entering the backstretch. McDowell, however, fought back as he transitioned from the outside to inside lane, but Busch was able to muscle ahead from the outside lane and lead the first lap.

    Following the completion of the first lap, however, the first caution flew after a checkup towards the front of the pack caused by Gilliland on the outside lane resulted with Austin Dillon, who was running in the top 10 and ran into the rear of Austin Cindric, getting hit by Martin Truex Jr. as he spun his No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 exiting the frontstretch, which then triggered a multi-car wreck entering Turn 1 that collected Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suárez, Elliott, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, BJ McLeod and Harrison Burton.

    During the event’s first caution period, a bevy of names that included Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Zane Smith, Logano and the wrecked competitors pitted while the rest led by Busch remained on the track. By then, Josh Williams took his Kaulig Racing entry to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 10, Busch quickly transitioned from the outside to inside lane to retain the lead in front of a side-by-side duel in front of McDowell and Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch. Larson then challenged Busch with a move to the inside lane and he managed to slide in front of Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead. Busch, however, responded back by overtaking Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap as he would retain the lead while Chris Buescher challenged Larson for the runner-up spot.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Busch was leading ahead of Chase Briscoe and Larson while McDowell and Buescher followed suit in front of two tight-packed lanes. With the field slowing fanning out to three lanes while spread out around the Atlanta circuit, Busch, who was swapping against Larson for the lead a few laps earlier, continued to lead by the Lap 20 mark ahead of Larson while McDowell, Blaney and Buescher battled in the top five. Behind, Briscoe was in sixth while William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, Truex, Zane Smith, Gilliland, Ty Gibbs and LaJoie occupied the top 15 on the track.

    Nearing the Lap 25 mark, the event’s second caution flew after Buescher, who was running in the top 10, got loose and spun his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse in front of William Byron entering Turn 4, though he was dodged by oncoming traffic and was able to limp his entry to pit road for four fresh tires. During the caution period, some led by Byron pitted while the rest led by new race leader Ryan Blaney remained on the track.

    At the start of the proceeding restart on Lap 31, Blaney muscled ahead on the outside lane and fended off Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch until Larson fought back on the inside lane, with both dueling for the lead in front of Busch, Briscoe, McDowell and Denny Hamlin. Amid the two-pack formation towards the front, Blaney retained the top spot until Busch rocketed his way back to the lead just past the Lap 33 mark. With Busch leading, McDowell battled dead even with Blaney for the runner-up spot while Chastain, Larson, Briscoe and Truex followed suit by the Lap 35 mark.

    Through the first 40 scheduled laps, Busch continued to lead in front of McDowell, Blaney, Chastain, Larson, Briscoe, Truex, Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace while Byron, rookie Josh Berry, LaJoie, Logano, Gilliland, Cindric, Ty Gibbs, Keselowski, Zane Smith and Justin Haley were running in the top 20 amid two tight-packed lanes.

    Ten laps later and with the field dispersed, McDowell, who reassumed the top spot on Lap 41, was still leading in front of Blaney, Busch, truex and Larson while Hamlin, Chastain, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Wallace were running in the top 10 in front of Byron, Logano, LaJoie, Cindric and Keselowski.

    Another two laps later, the caution flew after Hamlin, who was battling for a top-five spot on the track, made contact with Kyle Busch as he spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE through the frontstretch’s grass before coming to a stop just towards the exit of pit road. During the caution period, a majority of the field pitted while the rest led by McDowell remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with a single lap remaining to the first stage’s period, McDowell and Blaney dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns until McDowell started to muscle ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. As the field behind fanned out to three lanes through Turns 3 and 4, McDowell was able to muscle ahead and capture his first stage victory of the season on Lap 60. Blaney settled in second followed by Chastain, Larson and Busch while Truex, Stenhouse, Wallace, Byron and Gilliland, all of whom earned the first wave of stage points, were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by McDowell pitted while the rest led by teammate Gilliland remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney nearly collided with Ryan Preece while trying to exit his pit stall amid a congested pit road stretch with those who pitted.

    The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Gilliland and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Logano dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gilliland, who received a strong push from LaJoie on the inside lane, muscled ahead and managed to slide in front of Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse through the backstretch. With Buescher, LaJoie and Zane Smith following suit, Gilliland retained the lead in front of Logano as Josh Berry, Harrison Burton and Cindric joined the battle towards the front.

    On Lap 72, Zane Smith, who was rim-riding towards the outside wall while running in the top five, made contact with the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 after he got loose just as Logano slid up in front of him, which stalled his momentum as his No. 71 City of Refuge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 slowly began to backslide through the field. With the field remaining under green flag conditions as Smith pitted, Gilliland retained the lead followed by Logano, Buescher, Berry and Harrison Burton while Elliott, Hamlin, Cindric, LaJoie and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 10 by the Lap 75 mark.

    Through the first 80 scheduled laps and with the majority of the field running in tight-pack formation amid two lanes, Gilliland continued to lead in front of Ford teammates Logano, Buescher, Burton and McDowell, who carved his way from starting in the top 20, while Hamlin, who recovered from his early spin, was trying to mount a charge on the inside lane followed by Cindric. The top 28 competitors would be separated by more than two seconds by the Lap 85 mark as Gilliland retained the lead while McDowell moved up to third place and challenged Logano for more.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Logano, who assumed the lead for the first time of the day a lap earlier, was leading in front of Gilliland, Buescher, Keselowski and McDowell while Burton, Byron, Hamlin, Blaney and Chastain were running in the top 10 in front of Larson, Cindric, Truex, Busch, Elliott, LaJoie, Wallace, Stenhouse, Daniel Suárez and Briscoe. By then, the top 28 competitors were separated by more than three seconds.

    Fifteen laps later, Logano, who spent the previous 15 laps swapping the lead with Buescher and Gilliland, was leading ahead of Chastain and teammate Blaney while Buescher, Keselowski, Hamlin, Cindric, Burton, Larson and Byron followed suit in the top 10. By then, the majority of the field were running in two tight-packed lanes while some occurrences of three-wide racing occurred.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 130, green flag pit stops slowly commenced as teammates Logano and Blaney pitted while Larson was leading in front of Cindric, Chastain, Keselowski, Byron and Hamlin. Cindric would then pit during the following lap as Keselowski challenged Larson for the lead. Keselowski would then lead Chastain and teammate Buescher to pit road through the venue’s pit road entrance towards the backstretch’s exit by Lap 133 before Hamlin led Truex, Elliott and Burton to pit road during the proceeding lap.

    Then as Larson surrendered the lead to pit with the next wave of competitors on Lap 135, where he got bumped by Kyle Busch, Byron and McDowell spun and wrecked against one another while trying to enter the pit road’s commitment line towards the backstretch, though the event remained under green flag conditions as both proceeded. Amid the pit stops, Berry and Chastain were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With the first wave of green flag pit stops being completed by Lap 139, Cindric cycled his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by teammates Logano and Blaney while Gilliland followed suit in fourth place. In addition, Larson was in fifth while Buescher, Briscoe, Wallace, Suárez and Keselowski were scored in the top 10. Soon after, Wallace, Busch and Stenhouse were penalized for speeding on pit road while Erik Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    By Lap 150, Cindric retained the lead ahead of teammate Logano, Larson, teammate Blaney and Buescher while Gilliland, Briscoe, Truex, Suárez and Hamlin cycled their way into the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Burton, Elliott, LaJoie, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs, Kaz Grala, Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew after Logano, who was trying to slide up in front of Buescher amid the draft, ran out of room as both collided against the outside wall through the backstretch, with Hamlin also getting collected in the wreckage while Keselowski barely dodged the incident. With the second stage period concluding under caution on Lap 160, Cindric, who nearly lost the lead to teammate Logano a few laps earlier, captured his first stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson settled in second followed by Blaney, Suárez and Truex while Gilliland, Keselowski, Burton, Briscoe and Elliott were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Cindic returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Gilliland exited first followed by Keselowski, Elliott, Hamlin, Suárez and Burton while Cindric exited in 10th place.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gilliland and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Keselowski dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gilliland muscled ahead on the inside lane followed by Hamlin and Blaney. With Hamlin and Blaney swapping lanes exiting the backstretch, Gilliland maintained the lead on the frontstretch while Keselowski, Truex and Elliott followed suit in close-quarters racing and amid two tight-packed lanes. Amid the tight racing towards the front, Gilliland maintained the lead and control of both lanes during the proceeding laps while both Hamlin and Blaney were trying to gain runs amid their respective drafting lanes.

    Not long after, the caution returned with 86 laps remaining after Kaz Grala, who was running in the top 10, made light contact with Kyle Busch amid a three-wide battle in Turn 1 as he slid sideways through the turn, but managed to keep his car off the track from oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some led by Blaney, Elliott and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gilliland remained on the track.

    During the proceeding restart with 80 laps remaining, Gilliland received a push from Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE to muscle ahead from Hamlin on the inside lane through the first two turns and the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out and battled in two tight-packed lanes. With Briscoe, Keselowski, Larson, Elliott and Suárez making their moves to the front, Truex would then grab the lead two laps later over Gilliland through a strong move entering the backstretch while Hamlin remained in third place amid a tight battle with Briscoe. Another three laps later, however, Gilliland cycled his No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang Dark Horse back into the lead from Truex. Meanwhile, Keselowski was battling Briscoe and Larson for third place while Hamlin slipped to sixth.

    With 65 laps remaining, Larson, who returned to the lead two laps earlier, was leading, but mixed in a tight battle to maintain the top spot in front of Gilliland, Truex, Hamlin and Keselowski while Suárez, Briscoe, Elliott, Cindric and Burton followed suit in the top 10. Behind, LaJoie was in 11th ahead of Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Haley while Hocevar, Daniel Hemric, Grala, Preece and McDowell occupied the top 20.

    Three laps later and with the field fanning out to three lanes amid the late jostling of spots, the caution returned after Elliott, who was marching his way through the top-10 ranks, got bumped by Chastain and sent sideways entering Turn 3 as he managed to keep his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning below the apron and away from oncoming traffic, though Ty Gibbs also veered sideways to avoid hitting Elliott. Amid the chaos, Wallace, who was battling Chastain for the free pass spot by being the first competitor scored a lap down, managed to receive the free pass.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted, mainly for fuel, while McDowell and Preece remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Hamlin, Briscoe, Cindric, Keselowski and Larson while Gilliland exited eighth behind Busch.

    With the event restarting under green with 55 laps remaining, McDowell and Truex dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They continued to duel for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch and back to the frontstretch while Austin Dillon, who was running in the middle of the pack, fell off the pace after he pounded the backstretch’s outside wall hard, though the event remained under green flag conditions.

    Then with 50 laps remaining and with the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, a four-wide action for the lead ensued between Truex, Briscoe, McDowell and Cindric through the frontstretch as Cindric, who instigated the four-wide move, moved into the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. Busch would follow suit in second through the backstretch along with Briscoe, Gilliland, Hamlin and McDowell amid the four-wide battle while Truex, who was getting bumped and jostled amid the fanned-out battles, was slowly backsliding. The field would then settle to three-wide racing for the following lap as Cindric retained the lead followed by Busch, Hamlin, Briscoe and Gilliland while Keselowski and Larson followed suit.

    With 44 laps remaining, Hamlin overtook Cindric from the outside lane for the lead. During the following lap, Briscoe tried to move in front of Hamlin for the lead, but the move did not prevail as Busch overtook Briscoe for the runner-up spot while Hamlin maintained the lead. The caution, however, would return with 42 laps remaining after Keselowski, who was running third, got loose and slid towards the outside wall entering Turn 3 as he collected Larson and LaJoie in the process. During the caution period, some including McDowell and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    As the event restarted with 35 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead from the inside lane followed by Busch while Cindric was left to fend off Briscoe and the rest of the pack in third place. Hamlin would retain the lead during the proceeding laps and with 30 laps remaining over Busch while Blaney and Briscoe battled for third place in front of two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, however, Busch and Blaney went three wide on Hamlin as they both overtook Hamlin and moved into a battle into the lead for themselves followed by Gilliland and Cindric while Hamlin slid back to sixth in front of Wallace.

    With less than 25 laps remaining and with the intensity towards the front igniting amid three tight-packed lanes, Blaney was leading the race ahead of teammate Cindric and Busch while Wallace and Briscoe battled for fourth in front of the field.

    With 21 laps remaining, however, the caution returned after Hamlin, who was pinned in a tight four-wide battle for fourth place with Briscoe, Suárez and Busch, made contact with Briscoe that sent Briscoe’s No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse sideways and into Hamlin before Briscoe slapped the outside wall hard between Turns 3 and 4 as Burton, Berry and Haley were also collected. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for more than 11 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field returned under a cautious pace, some including Gilliland, Hemric, Preece and Byron pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    When the event restarted with 15 laps remaining, where Blaney and Suárez occupied the front row, Blaney muscled ahead on the inside lane followed by teammate Cindric and Truex while Suárez, who had Kyle Busch and Wallace drafting him, was trying to fight back on the outside lane through the backstretch. With Blaney leading the next two laps and having both lanes to his control, Suárez then made his move on the outside lane with 12 laps remaining through the backstretch as he led the next laps by a hair while Busch and Cindric followed suit in the second lane. Then during the following lap and as Cindric briefly lost his momentum through the first two turns, the caution flew after Berry, who was drafting Wallace in the top 10, ran into the outside wall entering the backstretch and spun back across the track, where he collided into rookie Carson Hocevar, before he spun back across the track and into oncoming traffic as Elliott also spun towards the infield. Amid the chaos, Suárez managed to retain the lead over Blaney.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Suárez and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Suárez muscled his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead on the inside lane followed by Busch through the first two turns. Suárez then moved in front of Blaney to stall his momentum through the backstretch, but Blaney managed to stick his nose and draw even with Suárez exiting the backstretch as he assumed the lead followed by Truex. Blaney then retained the lead in front of two stacked lanes during the proceeding laps as he went on defense to fend off Suárez and Busch while Truex was backsliding.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader ahead of a side-by-side battle involving Suárez and Busch. Blaney would continue to lead through the first two turns and through the majority of the backstretch until Busch and Suárez took Blaney three wide entering Turns 3 and 4. Suárez, Busch and Blaney remained dead even amid three lanes for the lead entering the frontstretch, with neither lifting. With the leaders navigating through the frontstretch, Suárez, Busch and Blaney crossed the finish line dead even as the checkered flag flew. Following an extensive review of the footage, Suárez was declared the winner as he had beaten Blaney by 0.003 seconds and 0.007 seconds over Busch.

    With the victory, Suárez, who was in contention of winning this year’s Daytona 500 before he was eliminated amid a late multi-car wreck, earned his second Cup Series career victory, his first since winning his first series’ event at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022 and his first on a superspeedway venue. He also recorded the seventh career victory for Trackhouse Racing and his first with his new crew chief Matt Swiderski.

    “It was so damn close,” Suárez, who celebrated with a piñata, said on FOX. “It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch. Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving me pushes. In the back straightaway, he didn’t push me because he knew I was gonna fight his teammate. Man, what a job. We wrecked [on] Lap 2. The [No. 99] guys did an amazing job fixing this car. Man, I can’t thank everyone enough. Let’s go!”

    Blaney, who led 31 laps, settled in the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch, who led 28 laps, ended up in third place following their dramatic three-wide finish with Suárez to the finish line.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I thought I laid back enough in [Turns] 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “Both lanes just got that shove super hard and I just chose the bottom [lane], safest place to be. What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that. Race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel [Suárez]. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle [Busch]. I’ve won [races] by very, very little [margin], too, so I can’t complain too much about losing by that much. Close.”

    “Overall, just real proud of everybody at [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines],” Busch added. “Our Cheddar’s Camaro was fast. It’s good to see Daniel [Suárez] get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there. It shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work and that was the good part of today. Dammit. We’ll have to do it again and find another one.”

    Austin Cindric came home in fourth place while Bubba Wallace rallied from a roller coaster event to finish fifth for a second consecutive race. Stenhouse, Chastain, McDowell, Buescher and Ty Gibbs finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 48 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 65 laps. In addition, 22 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the second event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Busch leads the regular-season standings by a single point over both William Byron and Austin Cindric, three over Bubba Wallace, eight over Ryan Blaney, 12 over Chase Elliott and 13 over Daniel Suárez.

    Results.

    1. Daniel Suárez, nine laps led

    2. Ryan Blaney, 31 laps led

    3. Kyle Busch, 28 laps led

    4. Austin Cindric, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Michael McDowell, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Chris Buescher, one lap led

    10. Ty Gibbs

    11. Harrison Burton

    12. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    13. Corey LaJoie

    14. Kaz Grala

    15. Chase Elliott

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. William Byron

    18. Daniel Hemric

    19. Carson Hocevar

    20. Justin Haley

    21. John Hunter Nemechek

    22. Austin Dillon

    23. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 15 laps led

    24. BJ McLeod, three laps down

    25. Erik Jones , four laps down

    26. Todd Gilliland, four laps led, 58 laps led

    27. Alex Bowman, five laps down

    28. Joey Logano, eight laps down, 27 laps led

    29. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    30. Tyler Reddick, 17 laps down

    31. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    32. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 17 laps led

    33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    34. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    35. Zane Smith – OUT, DVP

    36. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    37. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 3, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • William Byron capitalizes late to claim first Daytona 500 victory

    William Byron capitalizes late to claim first Daytona 500 victory

    In a star-studded and electrifying season-opening event where the Ford and Toyota competitors were deemed as the heavyweight favorites, Chevrolet competitor William Byron and Hendrick Motorsports delivered the final ultimatum that sent them to Victory Lane in the rain-postponed, 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, February 19.

    The 26-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led the final four of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 18th and was consistent amongst a bevy of competitors running in tight two and three-stacked lanes from start to finish. After dodging a multi-car wreck with eight laps remaining that eliminated a bevy of former Cup Series champions and stars, Byron cycled to the front and made his presence at the front known for the first time during the final restart. With four laps remaining, he fended off late challenges from Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric.

    Then as both Chastain and Cindric wrecked before the start of the final lap, Byron managed to start the final lap and emerge in front of teammate Alex Bowman at the moment of caution to emerge as the winner of the Great American Race for the first time in his career and in his seventh full-time campaign piloting the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through a single-car qualifying session comprising two rounds that occurred on Wednesday, February 14, followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday, February 15. At the conclusion of both sessions, Joey Logano started in the pole position after posting a lap at 171.947 mph in 49.465 seconds and was joined on the front row by Michael McDowell, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds. Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell occupied the second row after both won their respective Duel events.

    Before the event, the following drivers including Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, William Byron, Noah Gragson and Daniel Hemric dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after each wrecked their primary cars during the Duel events. Kaz Grala also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his Front Row Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, Logano gained an early advantage to lead the field entering the first two turns from the outside lane followed by Christopher Bell until McDowell fought back on the inside lane as both fought for the top spot through the backstretch and in front of two packed lanes. With the field still stacked up amid two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, Logano led the first lap by a hair over McDowell as both continued to battle side-by-side for the lead during the proceeding laps.

    Then on the fifth lap and as the field started to fan out to three lanes as both Logano and McDowell continued to fight for the lead, the event’s first caution flew. Brad Keselowski, who was running within the top 10, got John Hunter Nemechek loose and sent him veering left into Harrison Burton. Burton, who collected rookie Carson Hocevar, was sent spinning across the frontstretch grass before his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang Dark Horse came back across the track and was T-boned by Kaz Grala, who sent Ryan Preece spinning across the frontstretch. Preece, however, avoided making heavy contact with the inside wall, before Burton was hit by Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Jimmie Johnson collided with Hocevar.

    During the first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Logano and McDowell pitted while the rest of the field, including Christopher Bell, David Ragan, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., remained on the track. During the pit stops, where a majority of the field opted for only fuel for their respective entries, William Byron received a vehicle interference penalty when he pulled up into the wrong box and nearly collided with teammate Alex Bowman. In addition, Nemechek would be penalized for an equipment violation.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Bell and Blaney dueled for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns as Bell had Logano drafting him on the outside lane while Blaney had Daniel Hemric drafting him on the inside lane. Both Bell and Blaney would continue to compete for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes during the proceeding laps. By then, AJ Allmendinger served a drive-through penalty through pit road for not lining up properly during the restart.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Bell and Blaney continued to battle for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes while Hemric, Logano, McDowell, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick were scored in the top 10 followed by Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman, Erik Jones, Riley Herbst, rookie Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was back in 21st along with Kyle Larson, Ty Gibbs, Todd Gilliland and Martin Truex Jr. while Bubba Wallace, Nemechek, Corey LaJoie, William Byron and Noah Gragson were running within the top 30 ahead of Ragan, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, Anthony Alfredo and Allmendinger, with Jimmie Johnson scored two laps down in 36th place.

    Five laps later, Bell and Blaney remained dead even for the lead in front of the pack as Hemric and Logano followed suit in the second row while McDowell and Elliott were running in the third row ahead of Keselowski, Cindric, Hamlin and Reddick. The field led by both Bell and Blaney would continue to run stacked amid two tight-packed lanes by the Lap 30 mark.

    Just past the Lap 35 mark and with a majority of the field migrating to the inside lane while trying to conserve fuel, Blaney had sole possession of the lead followed by Bell, Hemric, Logano and Elliott while Keselowski and Cindric fought for sixth place with Cindric leading a handful of competitors on the outside lane. A lap later, Logano mounted a charge on the outside lane through the frontstretch but was blocked by teammate Blaney entering the first turn. By then, Blaney had his Team Penske teammates Logano and Cindric along with a majority of the competitors following suit on the outside lane while Bell served as the lead competitor on the inside lane, followed by Hemric, Elliott and Keselowski.

    On Lap 40, Logano mounted another charge on the outside lane followed by teammate Cindric and overtook him for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2 while teammate Blaney moved to the inside lane in front of Bell. Another lap later, however, the Team Penske competitors along with Bell, Hemric and Keselowski pitted under green, mainly for fuel, while McDowell assumed the lead. Chris Buescher would then pit his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse by Lap 42 as McDowell was trying to fend off Berry, Hamlin, Elliott and Kyle Busch for the lead. Though he initially prevailed, McDowell was left battling Elliott side-by-side for the lead.

    After Berry led a lap on Lap 45, Elliott assumed the lead in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap. He would be followed by Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and Noah Gragson while Byron, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman and Zane Smith were scored in the top 10 as the field dispersed, with the Team Penske competitors separated as Blaney was losing the draft from teammates Logano and Cindric due to taking extra time in his pit stall for fuel.

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, top names that included Bell, Hemric, Blaney and McDowell, all of whom previously pitted, were lapped by the front-runners as Elliott retained the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Wallace, Truex and Gragson while Byron, Larson, Hamlin, Bowman and Zane Smith remained in the top 10 amid a long single-file line towards the outside lane.

    Four laps later, Zane Smith and Stenhouse pitted under green. Another lap later, a bevy of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, led by Elliott pitted as Wallace cycled into the lead, though Wallace would lead another wave of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors, into pit road for service during the following lap as Gragson cycled into the lead followed by a bevy of Ford competitors. The leader, Gragson, along with teammate Berry, Justin Haley and Todd Gilliland then pitted prior to the Lap 60 mark as Ragan assumed the lead followed by Preece while Kyle Busch, who was leading a bevy of competitors who pitted, was in third and trying to gain ground amid the draft.

    With three laps remaining in the first stage period, Ragan and Preece, both of whom were trying to stretch their fuel tanks to the distance of the stage’s conclusion, were overtaken by a wave of competitors led by Kyle Busch, who assumed the lead followed by Byron, Elliott, Suarez and Larson while Bowman, Chastain, Wallace, Truex and Hamlin were mired in the front pack.

    At the start of the first stage period’s final lap, Elliott moved to the outside lane as he assumed the lead from Busch followed by teammates Larson, Bowman and Chastain. Then entering the frontstretch, Larson tried to make his move to Elliott’s outside approaching the start/finish line, but Chastain gave Elliott a bump, which propelled Elliott forward as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 65. Teammate Larson settled in second followed by Chastain while Byron, Bowman, Busch, Hamlin, Wallace, Truex and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, Blaney, Bell and Hemric had managed to cycle their way back onto the lead lap while Allmendinger fended off McDowell to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down, which enabled him to cycle back onto the lead lap during the caution period.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Elliott pitted while select names that included Keselowski, Riley Herbst and Hemric remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, both Nemechek and Reddick stalled their respective entries. In addition, Kyle Busch was penalized for a safety violation. Herbst and Hemric would pit during the proceeding lap while Keselowski remained on the track, though he pitted to top off of fuel prior to the lead as Larson and Berry cycled into the lead.

    The second stage period started on Lap 70 as Larson and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Larson and Berry dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead before Larson fought back on the outside lane. With both remaining dead even for the lead, Larson led the next scheduled lap as Hamlin and Gilliland followed suit in the second lane.

    With the field fanning out to three lanes through the backstretch by Lap 71, both Larson and Berry remained dead even for the lead until Logano mounted a charge from the third outside lane as he rocketed his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by Chase Briscoe and Haley before Briscoe, who migrated to the inside lane, challenged Logano for the lead as Logano transitioned from the inside and outside lane. With Larson stuck in the middle lane, Logano had drafting help from Haley on the outside lane while Briscoe was trying to regain momentum from the inside lane. As teammates Briscoe and Berry lost momentum and were slowly drifting to the rear of the field, Logano retained the lead followed by Haley, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Preece and Blaney while Larson, who moved in front of Briscoe, was trying to mount forward on the inside lane by the Lap 75 mark.

    By Lap 80, Logano was leading followed by Haley, Buscher, Busch and Preece while Blaney, Gilliland, Hemric, Wallace and Zane Smith were in the top 10 followed by Truex, Larson, Alfredo, Reddick, Bell, Elliott, Cindric, LaJoie, Keselowski and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Byron was mired back in 25th while teammates Berry and Briscoe fell back to 23rd and 27th, respectively, as Chastain was in 29th in between Gragson and Ty Gibbs. In addition, Hamlin was back in 34th place.

    Ten laps later, Logano continued to lead followed by Haley, Wallace and Buescher while Todd Gilliland, who was challenging Logano for the lead a few laps earlier, was trying to mount back towards the front on the inside lane as Gilliland, who received drafting help from Wallace earlier, was being drafted by Truex while Reddick tried to join the fray.

    A few laps later and as the field lapped McDowell, who was battling gear issues, through the frontstretch, Gilliland steered his No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the inside lane and battled dead even with Logano through the first two turns before managing to move in front of Logano’s Ford through the backstretch. This allowed Truex to mount a charge on the inside lane as Gilliland retained the lead both on the outside lane and in the overall event ahead of Logano while Truex, Reddick, Haley and Cindric were battling with close quarters for the top spot.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Gilliland continued to lead followed by Logano, Truex, Haley and Reddick while Wallace, Cindric, Buescher, Keselowski and Busch were scored in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes. By then, 34 of 40 competitors were scored on the lead lap and separated by two seconds. Gilliland would continue to lead the next eight laps until he was overtaken by Bubba Wallace through the frontstretch. Wallace, however, would be overtaken by Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4 while Preece mounted a charge to the outside lane as he challenged Busch for the lead while Wallace followed suit.

    Then on Lap 111, a second cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Preece led Logano, Gilliland, Wallace and a bevy of competitors to pit road. Amid the pit stops, Berry was turned by Nemechek as he was trying to enter his pit stall while Preece, who locked up his front tires while trying to enter pit road, was penalized for speeding on pit road. Meanwhile, Busch assumed the lead followed by Larson, Alfredo and the rest of the pack.

    Busch would then lead another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors, to pit road for service on Lap 114 under green while Larson, who assumed a brief lead, led Blaney, Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Chastain to pit road. At the completion of the green flag pit stops, Larson managed to merge back onto the track as the leader followed by teammate Elliott, Blaney and LaJoie while Busch was trying to carve his way back to the front followed by a bevy of competitors. Larson would maintain the lead until Cindric made his way to the front and the lead, followed by teammate Blaney nearing the Lap 120 mark while Busch was in fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron and LaJoie.

    Just past the Lap 120 mark, a tight battle for the lead ignited between Cindric and Busch, with Busch receiving drafting help from Byron on the outside lane while Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him in front of two tight-packed lanes as the top-23 competitors were separated by more than a second.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 130, Blaney, who had been drafting teammate Cindric over the course of the previous 10 laps amid his battle with Busch, made a bold move beneath teammate Cindric to assume the lead through Turns 3 and 4, which enabled him to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of the pack and claim the stage victory. Teammate Cindric followed suit in second along with Suarez while Busch, Reddick, Byron, Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger and Buescher were scored into the top 10. Amid the battle towards the front, Ty Gibbs managed to fend off Preece and Berry to emerge as the first competitor a lap down as he cycled back onto the lead lap.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Blaney pitted while Keselowski remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Suarez was penalized for equipment interference while Busch had issues for a loose wheel to his entry, but he managed to cycle back to his pit stall to have the wheel issue addressed as he remained on the lead lap. In addition, Keselowkski, Nemechek and Ragan would pit, which cycled Cindric back to the lead.

    With 64 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Cindric and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Wallace dueled for the lead as Cindric had teammate Blaney drafting him on the outside lane while Wallace had teammate Reddick drafting him on the inside lane. Both Cindric and Wallace would continue to battle dead even for the lead during the proceeding laps. Then as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allmendinger, who rallied from being mired a lap down earlier, muscled his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over Wallace followed by Buescher and Truex while Wallace and Cindric slipped out of the top five. A tight battle for the lead then ignited between Allmendinger and Reddick with 60 laps remaining while the field continued to battle amid three tight-packed lanes.

    Five laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead from the inside lane followed by teammate Hemric while LaJoie was trying to mount a charge from the outside lane followed by Bell and Truex as Hamlin was leading the middle lane ahead of Kyle Busch. Not long after, Allmendinger would get shuffled out of the lead as LaJoie and Kyle Busch battled dead even for the lead while Hamlin, Bowman, Larson and Bell followed suit with 50 laps remaining. Two laps later, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE into the lead over LaJoie as Busch tried to fight back on the inside lane.

    With 40 laps remaining, Hamlin was leading ahead of LaJoie, Busch, Bell, Logano and the rest of the field. As the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes while the intensity of the event started to ignite, Logano, who assumed the lead not long after, was leading followed by Ragan, Hamlin, Busch, and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Reddick, Gragson and Chastain were scored in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes with 30 laps remaining. Logano would continue to lead ahead of Ragan, Hamlin, Keselowski, Busch and the rest of the field with 25 laps remaining.

    Then with 23 laps remaining, another wave of green flag pit stops commenced as Riley Herbst led Hemric, LaJoie and a handful of competitors to pit road. Another wave of competitors, mainly Toyota competitors, led by Bell pitted during the next lap while Hamlin and Busch pitted together with 20 laps remaining. A wave of Ford competitors led by the race leader Logano would pit with 19 laps remaining while a wave of Chevrolet competitors led by Chastain pitted during the following lap. After the pit stops, Ross Chastain would cycle into the lead followed by Stenhouse and teammate Suarez while Logano was trying to weave his way back to the front amid the drafting momentum from his Ford teammates.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Chastain was leading ahead of Logano, Stenhouse and a bevy of competitors running tight amid two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, Suarez would muscle his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead while Stenhouse was getting shuffled out of the lead draft. Meanwhile, Chastain remained in contention up on the outside lane followed by Logano while Byron tried to mount a charge on the inside lane.

    A few laps later, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as Chastain made his move to the outside lane followed by Logano, leaving Suarez pinned on the middle lane and Byron on the inside lane, as he reassumed the lead. Not long after, Byron mounted a charge on the inside lane along with Suarez as all three continued to battle dead even in front of the stacked field with 10 laps remaining.

    Then with nine laps remaining, the caution flew after Bowman bumped and got teammate Byron loose, which resulted with Byron veering left and clipping Keselowski’s No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang Dark Horse into Logano and into the path of both Blaney and Truex exiting the backstretch, which triggered a multi-car wreck that collected Suarez, Stenhouse, Reddick, Hamlin, Ty Gibbs, Preece, Gragson, Hemric, Alfredo, Larson, Briscoe, Buescher and Erik Jones. Amid the wreckage, Chastain barely escaped with the lead followed by Bowman, Byron, Cindric and Elliott as the event was placed in a red flag period for more than 15 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some led by Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    Down to the final four laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Chastain and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns as Chastain had Bowman drafting him on the outside lane while Byron had Cindric drafting him on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, Chastain and Byron continued to battle dead even for the lead as the field returned to the frontstretch with three laps remaining.

    With two laps remaining, Byron received a strong push from Cindric to muscle his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead of Chastain from the inside lane through the frontstretch. Byron would then maintain the lead over Cindric, Chastain and LaJoie through the backstretch and approaching the start/finish line to start the final lap of the event.

    Then as the field approached the tri-oval to start the final lap of the event, Cindric, who blocked LaJoie while battling Byron for the lead, veered back to the right and clipped Chastain’s No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which sent both spinning through the frontstretch’s grass as Cindric came back across the track and was T-boned by Ragan as Zane Smith was also involved while Chastain slid across the infield and just missed the inside wall.

    With the leaders having crossed the start/finish line to start the final lap of the event prior to the caution being displayed that ended the event, Byron emerged out in front of teammate Bowman and the field when the caution flew and was declared the winner of the event.

    With the victory, Byron, whose previous best Daytona 500 result was 21st, became the 43rd competitor to win the Great American Race as this season marks the fourth consecutive time where the Daytona 500 featured a first-time winner of the event. In addition, Byron, who achieved his 11th NASCAR Cup Series career victory and second at Daytona International Speedway, delivered the ninth Daytona 500 victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the team’s first since 2014, which occurred with Dale Earnhardt Jr., while also piloting the No. 24 car to a 500 victory for the first time since Jeff Gordon made the last accomplishment in 2005. The 500 victory was also the first for crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle and the 26th overall for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Daytona 500 champion title] sounds really damn good,” Byron said on FOX. “I’ve so many emotions. Obviously, I hate what happened at the backstretch. I just got pushed and got sideways, but just so proud of this whole AXALTA team, 40th anniversary to the day on Monday [when HMS first competed]. Just extremely blessed and thankful for all the opportunities. We just wanna keep [the early momentum] going. We have a lot to prove this year. This is a good start, obviously. Daytona 500! It’s freakin’ awesome! Let’s go!”

    “[We had] Just really good strategy [that got us to the front],” Byron added. “We laid back and tried to save fuel for most of the race. We would get up there at the end of the stages and make some moves. Just thankful for great power under the hood, all of our partners, everybody that allows us to do this. I’m just a kid from racing on computers and winning the Daytona 500. I can’t believe it. [Me and my dad] have been through so much. We sat up in the grandstands together and watched the races. It’s so freakin’ cool.”

    In addition to Byron, the 2024 Daytona 500 victory was meaningful for Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, and owner Rick Hendrick, whose team, Hendrick Motorsports, is celebrating its 40th anniversary of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series.

    “I’m telling you, you couldn’t write the script any better,” Hendrick said in Victory Lane. “When we think about coming down here the first time, we didn’t think we should be here, felt so out of place. We win this on our 40th [anniversary] to the day. It’s just… and tied a record now, so that’s awesome.”

    “It’s so cool,” Gordon added. “What this is gonna do for this team, for AXALTA and all of our partners, and William Byron. He was already a superstar. He just went to another level being a superstar. I wasn’t driving the car, but I felt like I was making every lap with him out there. It’s just crazy to watch these guys do what they do and do it so well. To watch it from this side of it, it makes me so happy, so proud. We’re gonna celebrate. This is an amazing win. Huge win. Daytona 500!”

    Teammate Bowman settled in second place while Bell, Corey LaJoie and Bubba Wallace finished in the top five. For Bowman, the runner-up result was his best in his eighth attempt of winning the Great American Race.

    “I was pretty sure Willliam [Byron] had it, but you’re gonna let him debate it, right?” Bowman said. “I think a couple hundred more feet and obviously, we had the run. Just so proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. To get a Hendrick Motorsports 1-2 [finish], have the No. 24 car in Victory Lane. Obviously, I wish it was our Ally No. 48 [car], but it was a great day for us. Proud of everybody. We did everything we could right. [I] Wish it was one spot better, but still, proud of the whole team.”

    Allmendinger, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Kyle Larson ended up 11th followed by Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. while Hamlin ended up 19th. Chastain, who was in the position of achieving his first Daytona 500 victory prior to the final lap accident, ended up 21st while Cindric ended up 22nd.

    There were 41 lead changes for 20 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 20 laps. Overall, 20 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the first event of the 2024 Cup Series season, William Byron leads the regular-season standings by four points over teammate Alex Bowman, 10 over Christopher Bell, 12 over Chase Elliott, 15 over Bubba Wallace and 17 over John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, four laps led

    2. Alex Bowman

    3. Christopher Bell, 22 laps led

    4. Corey LaJoie, one lap led

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. AJ Allmendinger, nine laps led

    7. John Hunter Nemechek

    8. Erik Jones

    9. Noah Gragson, five laps led

    10. Chase Briscoe

    11. Kyle Larson, seven laps led

    12. Kyle Busch, 12 laps led

    13. Zane Smith

    14. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    15. Martin Truex Jr.

    16. Daniel Hemric

    17. Ty Gibbs

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

    20. David Ragan, two laps led

    21. Ross Chastain, one lap down, 14 laps led

    22. Austin Cindric, one lap down, 13 laps led

    23. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    24. Riley Herbst, one lap down

    25. Josh Berry, one lap down

    26. Justin Haley, one lap down

    27. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    28. Jimmie Johnson, four laps down

    29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

    30. Ryan Blaney – OUT, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    32. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 45 laps led

    33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    34. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    35. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

    36. Michael McDowell, 24 laps down, six laps led

    37. Austin Dillon, 54 laps down

    38. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

    39. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    40. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident

    With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season officially underway, the next event on the schedule is the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, February 25, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Bell overtakes teammate Hamlin to win second Bluegreen Vacations Duel; Grala secures Daytona 500 starting spot

    Bell overtakes teammate Hamlin to win second Bluegreen Vacations Duel; Grala secures Daytona 500 starting spot

    Having very little success on superspeedway venues throughout his racing career, Christopher Bell gained an early advantage in his pursuit of winning his first Daytona 500 title by scoring a victory in the second of two Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 15, following a final lap overtake on teammate Denny Hamlin.

    The 29-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led the final lap of 60 scheduled laps in an event where he started 16th and methodically carved his way to the front while also dodging a late multi-car wreck that collected a bevy of stars, including last year’s NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney. During an eight-lap dash to the finish, Bell, who drafted teammate Denny Hamlin into the lead, gained a huge drafting run from Harrison Burton on the final lap to feign a move on Hamlin and overtake him through the backstretch. He would then fend off a final lap charge from Austin Cindric to achieve his first Daytona Duel career victory.

    Amid Bell’s Duel victory, Kaz Grala rallied from his mechanical issues during Wednesday’s single-car qualifying session and starting at the rear of the field to claim a transfer spot into this year’s Daytona 500 over BJ McLeod.

    Prior to the event, Michael McDowell, who claimed a front-row starting spot for this year’s Daytona 500, started on the pole and was joined on the front row by Austin Cindric. In addition, Kaz Grala dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change after he had dealt with a mechanical issue during Wednesday’s single-car qualifying session.

    When the green flag waved and the second Duel event commenced, McDowell muscled his No. 34 Love’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Austin Cindric, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Harrison Burton followed suit. With a majority of the field opting to run on the inside lane, McDowell proceeded to lead the first lap. He would maintain control of both lanes and the field throughout the early stages of the event while Riley Herbst was trying to generate a run from the outside lane.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, McDowell was then being challenged for the lead as William Byron made his move to the outside lane and drew his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 even with McDowell through the backstretch. McDowell, however, would maintain his ground and position from the inside lane, though Byron kept in toe with McDowell from the outside lane as he had Kyle Busch drafting him.

    Nearing the Lap 10 mark, Byron, who assumed the lead for the first time on the seventh lap, was leading from the inside lane and by a hair over a hard-charging Riley Herbst while Kyle Busch, Noah Gragson, McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Christopher Bell and Harrison Burton were running in the top 10 amid two tight-packed lanes. Meanwhile, BJ McLeod was running in a transfer spot in 13th place, three spots ahead of David Ragan, while Kaz Grala was mired in 21st place, dead last.

    By Lap 20, Herbst, who led six laps in the process, and Noah Gragson were dueling for the lead as Herbst had drafting help from Wallace and Bell while Allmendinger, who led two laps earlier, was drafting Gragson along with Byron amid a stacked two-packed field. By then, McLeod was running in the top 10 while Ragan and Grala were mired at the rear of the field.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 30, Wallace, who led for the first time on Lap 21, was leading in his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Bell and rookie Zane Smith while Herbst fell back to fourth place in his No. 15 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse in front of Gragson, McLeod, Justin Haley, Allmendinger, McDowell and Byron. By then, Kyle Busch was back in 12th while Ragan and Grala were still mired in 20th and 21st, respectively.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, pit stops under green commenced as some led by Wallace pitted, mainly for fuel. Another wave of competitors led by McDowell would pit during the following lap while a select few, led by Harrison Burton, remained on the track. With the rest of the lead lap competitors led by Burton pitting with 17 laps remaining, McDowell would manage to blend back as the race leader with 15 laps remaining as he had Denny Hamlin following suit along with Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Byron and Kyle Busch.

    Then with 13 laps remaining, the caution flew after Busch bumped and sent Byron sideways through the tri-oval, where he clipped Ryan Blaney and sent Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse head-on into the outside wall as Blaney’s car went up in flames. The carnage also collected Brad Keselowski, Gragson, Briscoe, Herbst, Burton, Wallace, Haley and McLeod. Amid the carnage, all competitors, including Blaney, emerged uninjured as the event was placed in an eight-minute red flag period to have the carnage cleared.

    Once the red flag lifted and the remaining competitors proceeded under a cautious pace, the event resumed under green flag conditions with eight laps remaining. At the start, McDowell received a strong push from Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse on the outside lane through the frontstretch to maintain a brief advantage until Hamlin came roaring back on the inside lane with drafting help from Bell, with the latter muscling ahead. McDowell, however, fought back through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4 as he maintained the lead followed by Cindric, Keselowski and Grala while Hamlin was trying to regain his momentum.

    Two laps later and amid a stacked two-packed field at the front, Hamlin drew his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE into another side-by-side battle against McDowell’s Ford for the lead. While McLeod was trying to draft his way towards Ragan and Grala for a transfer spot into the Daytona 500, Hamlin and McDowell continued to battle dead even for the lead and in front of Bell and Cindric.

    Then with four laps remaining and while Hamlin transitioned from the inside to outside lane to block McDowell, McDowell was bumped out of line by Cindric and drifted to the rear of the field. This resulted with Bell drawing even and challenging teammate Hamlin for the lead while Cindric and John Hunter Nemechek followed suit. As the field continued to run in two tight-packed lanes, however, Hamlin managed to clear Bell and assume the lead under his control. By then, Grala was racing within the top 10 and in a transfer spot for the Daytona 500 ahead of Ragan and McLeod.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained as the leader over teammate Bell, Nemechek, Zane Smith and Burton, who was gaining a draft from Cindric and Keselowski to march his way to the front. Amid Burton’s strong run from the outside lane through Turns 1 and 2, Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE in front of Burton as he gained a run on Hamlin entering the backstretch. It was then when Bell feigned a move to Hamlin’s inside as Hamlin transitioned to the inside lane, which allowed Bell to storm into the lead on the outside lane while being drafted by Burton and Cindric. Cindric then moved Burton out of the draft to challenge Bell for the lead, but Bell executed two blocks on Cindric entering the frontstretch, which were enough for him to claim the checkered flag first and win the first Duel event of his career.

    With the victory, Bell, whose previous best Duel results were a pair of runner-up results from 2021 and 2023, was awarded a handful of championship points and the fourth-place starting spot for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 as he also recorded the 11th Daytona Duel victory overall for Joe Gibbs Racing. With 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick winning the first Duel event, this season marks the first time since 2014 that Toyota competitors swept both Daytona Duel events.

    The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to mark Bell’s fifth as a full-time competitor and fifth attempt of winning his first Great American Race on Sunday, Feb. 18.

    “Yeah, it feels good,” Bell said. “These [superspeedway] races, man. I don’t know what to think of ’em. Me and Adam Stevens, my crew chief, we have a running joke: I say these races are 100% luck. I know that’s not true, but it seems like we’ve been struggling to get to the end of it. I know I’ve been a common denominator in a lot of the wrecks. Feels good to do everything right today.”

    Cindric, the 2022 Daytona 500 champion, settled in second place in a Duel event for a third consecutive season while Hamlin, Nemechek, Harrison Burton, Zane Smith, Keselowski, Byron, Briscoe and Justin Haley finished in the top 10 on the track.

    Meanwhile, Kaz Grala, who needed to finish ahead of both David Ragan and BJ McLeod on the track to make the starting grid for this year’s Daytona 500, accomplished his feat after finishing in 12th place, two spots ahead of McLeod and three spots over Ragan, though the latter is also in this year’s Great American Race based on his qualifying speed from Wednesday night’s single-car qualifying session while McLeod failed to qualify for the main event.

    With his accomplishment, Grala, who is piloting a third Front Row Motorsports entry, will make his third career appearance in the Daytona 500. He will attempt to achieve both his first Cup Series and 500 victory on Sunday.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Just really proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports,” Grala said. “They worked so hard the last 24 hours to get the car ready to race today. Some trouble yesterday. Really cool to be able to get it in the show for them. Real big opportunity for me. Excited to be here on Sunday again.”

    There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The event featured one caution for four laps.

    Results.

    1. Christopher Bell, one lap led

    2. Austin Cindric

    3. Denny Hamlin, five laps led

    4. John Hunter Nemechek

    5. Harrison Burton, one lap led

    6. Zane Smith

    7. Brad Keselowski

    8. William Byron, five laps led

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Justin Haley

    11. Bubba Wallace, 21 laps led

    12. Kaz Grala

    13. AJ Allmendinger, two laps led

    14. BJ McLeod

    15. David Ragan

    16. Michael McDowell, 17 laps led

    17. Josh Berry – OUT, Fuel pump

    18. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    19. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    20. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, seven laps led

    21. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    With the starting lineup for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 officially set, the main event is set to commence on Sunday, Feb. 18, which will also mark the official start of NASCAR’s 76th season of premier series competition. The coverage for this year’s Great American Race is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Reddick advances to Playoff’s Round of 12 in thrilling overtime Cup victory at Kansas

    Reddick advances to Playoff’s Round of 12 in thrilling overtime Cup victory at Kansas

    A week after being left disappointed with a runner-up finish in the Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway, Tyler Reddick capitalized on a late caution period and an overtime shootout to emerge out in top and race his way into the second round of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 10.

    The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led the final two of 268 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started fifth, scored stage points during both stage break periods and ran a consistent event while keeping pace with the leaders. Initially set to finish in the runner-up spot behind team owner and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin, an opportunity presented itself for Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team when the caution flew with seven laps remaining after Playoff contender Chris Buescher blew a right-rear tire.

    Amid mixed strategy among the leaders, Reddick, who opted for a four-tire pit stop, exited pit road sixth and lineup alongside Hamlin on the third row for an overtime shootout. During overtime, Reddick managed to quickly carve his way up to third before he pulled a bold three-wide pass on both Erik Jones and Joey Logano through the frontstretch to assume the lead as he also started the final lap of the event. With the clean air and the fresh tires, Reddick was able to fend off Jones and a hard-charging Hamlin to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season and become the second Playoff contender alongside Kyle Larson to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12 by winning.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 9, Playoff contender Christopher Bell claimed his fourth Cup pole position of the 2023 season and second in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.276 mph in 29.954 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, winner of last weekend’s Playoff opener at Darlington Raceway who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 179.826 mph in 30.029 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as a result of damaging his car against the Turn 3 outside wall after blowing a tire during Saturday’s practice session. Rookie Ty Gibbs also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during practice.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell took off with the top spot on the inside lane as he rocketed away from the field that was fanning out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. With the field continuing to jostle for early positions, Bell proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Kyle Larson fended off Martin Truex Jr. to retain the runner-up spot entering the second lap as Truex was being attacked by Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Michael McDowell for more.

    Then on the third lap, Truex, who was continuing to backslide and had fallen out of the top 10 on the track, got loose while running 11th and pounded the outside wall in Turn 3 after losing a tire. The incident and the damage to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry were enough to terminate Truex’s run three laps into the event.

    “Just really unfortunate, very unlucky,” Truex said at the infield care center on USA Network. “[The car] took off really tight. [I] Knew something was up and blew a right rear [tire]. Not really sure what happened. Obviously, it blew in the worst place possible. I hate it for my guys. We had an awesome race car. We were gonna have a really good day. Just not real sure what we need to do to get some luck right now.”

    During the first caution period, select names that included Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Kyle Busch and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Bell and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson managed to rocket ahead from the outside lane and snatch the lead from Bell. With the field behind jostling for positions, Larson started to pull away from Bell with the lead while Chastain and Elliott battled for third in front of Byron, Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick.

    By the 12th lap, Wallace muscled his No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Toyota TRD Camry up to fourth followed by Byron and Reddick while Elliott, who nearly scrubbed the outside wall entering the frontstretch a few laps earlier, was being pressured by Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney and Brad Keselowski for seventh place. In the midst of the battles, Larson retained the lead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by more than a second over Bell followed by Wallace, Chastain and Byron while Reddick, Elliott, Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Behind, Erik Jones was in 11th ahead of Keselowski, Chris Buescher, Joey Logano and Michael McDowell while AJ Allmendinger, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick and Justin Haley occupied the top 20 in front of Austin Cindric, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Carson Hocevar.

    Five laps later, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Wallace, who overtook Bell for the runner-up spot two laps earlier, while Byron was up to fourth after he overtook Chastain’s No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the spot three laps earlier. Behind, Reddick occupied sixth place in front of Elliott, Hamlin and Blaney, thus placing eight Playoff competitors in the top 10 on the track, while Elliott and Erik Jones were the two highest-running non-Playoff competitors in seventh and 10th.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Wallace while Bell, Byron and Chastain remained in the top five in front of Reddick, Hamlin, Elliott, Erik Jones and Blaney.

    Then on Lap 36, the first wave of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Playoff contender Joey Logano pitted his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang followed by Corey LaJoie, Keselowski, McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Hamlin, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher, Erik Jones, Allmendinger, Alex Bowman, Harvick, Chase Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Hocevar, Bell, Byron, Chastain, Blaney, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley and Austin Cindric. By Lap 39, Larson surrendered the lead to pit along with Wallace, Kyle Busch and Sheldon Creed as Aric Almirola, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead followed by teammate Ryan Preece and Harrison Burton.

    By Lap 42, Larson cycled back into the lead after Almirola and Preece pitted. Wallace also returned to the runner-up spot by Lap 43 as Harrison Burton pitted. Then by Lap 45, Byron, Bell and Reddick cycled into the top five with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Byron, Bell and Reddick while Chastain, Hamlin, Elliott, Erik Jones and Ty Dillon were scored in the top 10, thus placing eight of 12 Playoff contenders in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Austin Dillon was in 11th ahead of Playoff contenders Blaney, Buescher and Keselowski while JJ Yeley was in 15th ahead of Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Logano, Bowman and Harvick. By then, Stenhouse and McDowell were mired back in 21st and 23rd.

    Ten laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Wallace while Byron, Reddick and Bell followed suit in the top five. By then, Erik Jones was up to seventh after he overtook Chastain while Blaney returned to the top 10 as he was running 10th behind Elliott. In addition, teammates Buescher and Keselowski were still mired in the top 15 and Kyle Busch cracked the top 15 while Logano, Harvick, Stenhouse and McDowell were mired within the top 20.

    Then on Lap 62, the second caution flag flew when Byron, who was running fourth in front of Bell, got loose and spun his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the backstretch, though he managed to proceed without damaging his car. The incident occurred a lap after Austin Dillon, who was battling Buescher in 11th, got loose while and smacked the outside wall, damaging the right side of his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Wallace emerged as the new leader after he managed to beat Larson off of pit road first while Bell, Reddick, Hamlin, Chastin and Elliott followed suit. In the midst of the pit stops Haley was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Suarez was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Prior to the restart, Playoff contender Buescher would pit for a second time due to a left-front wheel being loose on his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.

    With 11 laps remaining in the first stage period, the race restarted under green. At the start, Wallace and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson managed to muscle ahead and reassume the lead from the inside lane. With Larson back in the lead, Bell battled Wallace for the runner-up spot in front of Chastain and Reddick as the field fanned out to three lanes. Wallace would manage to reassume the runner-up spot from Bell during the proceeding lap as he tried to track Larson for the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Wallace followed suit in the runner-up spot along with third-place Bell while Chastain, Blaney, Reddick, Hamlin, Keselowski, Elliott and Kevin Harvick, all of whom were in the Playoffs, were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Kyle Busch, Byron, McDowell, Logano, Buescher and Stenhouse were the remaining Playoff competitors on the track who did not accumulate the first wave of stage points.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Wallace, Chastain, Elliott, Reddick, Hamlin, Keselowski and Bell, who lost five spots on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 87 as Larson and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Larson received a strong push from teammate Chase Elliott on the inside lane to retain the lead and muscle away from the field as Elliott battled Wallace for the runner-up spot. With the field behind jostling for positions, Larson retained the lead in front of teammate Elliott and Wallace while Chastain tried to join the battle in fourth place. With Reddick running fifth, Hamlin and Keselowski battled for sixth place in front of Bell, Harvick, McDowell and Logano as Larson proceeded to lead the Lap 90 mark.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Larson was leading by more than a second over Wallace followed by Elliott, Reddick and Chastain while Hamlin, Keselowski, Bell, Harvick and Logano were running in the top 10. Behind, Blaney was mired back in 11th ahead of Kyle Busch, Allmendinger, Buescher and Erik Jones while Alex Bowman, Byron, McDowell, Suarez and Cindric occupied the top 20 in front of Aric Almirola, Justin Haley, Hocevar, Ty Gibbs, Briscoe, Stenhouse, LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton and Cole Custer.

    Seven laps later, the caution flew when Wallace, who was running second, lost a right-rear tire and scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 as he limped his damaged No. 23 Toyota to pit road with a flat right-rear tire and a broken right-rear toe link. While Wallace’s pit crew managed to repair the car to keep Wallace in contention, he lost three laps in the process and would continue to lose more laps as he pitted for more repairs.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service while JJ Yeley and Ty Dillon remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited first followed by teammate Elliott, Keselowski, Reddick, Chastain, Hamlin, Harvick and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Once Yeley and Ty Dillon pitted shortly after, Larson cycled back into the lead.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 113, teammates Elliott and Larson dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the frontstretch. As Larson and Elliott continued to duel for the lead for nearly a lap, Reddick pulled a bold three-wide move on both Hendrick Motorsports competitors through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1 to assume the lead. Then just as Elliott claimed the lead from Reddick through the backstretch, the caution quickly returned when Cindric, who had cracked the top 20, received a bump from Michael McDowell and spun his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang towards the apron through Turns 1 and 2.

    During the proceeding restart on Lap 119, Elliott rocketed away from the field on the inside lane as he retained the lead ahead of teammate Larson and Reddick while the field again fanned out entering the backstretch. With Elliott leading the proceeding lap, Keselowski was up to fourth followed by Harvick, who would lose the top-five spot to Chastain by Lap 121 as Blaney battled Harvick for sixth. By then, Hamlin, Bell and Logano were mired back in the top 10 while Byron was in 16th and trying to fight his way back towards the front.

    Just past the Lap 125 mark, Elliott was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson followed by Keselowski and Reddick, both of whom were trying to close in on the two Hendric leaders, while Harvick was in fifth. By then, Briscoe was off the pace after he lost power, starting in Turn 3, in his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang as he was nearly hit by an oncoming Corey LaJoie. With Briscoe continuing to fall off the pace through the backstretch and below the apron, the caution flew on Lap 127. During the caution period, some led by Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 132, Larson and Elliott dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out amid the competitors who pitted versus those who did not. With Elliott rocketing away with the lead, Blaney carved his way up to second followed by Buescher while Larson, who got loose while battling Chastain entering the backstretch since the restart, was overtaken by Harvick, Bell and Keselowski for spots, thus dropping him to seventh in front of Kyle Busch. Larson would continue to lose spots and fall out of the top 10 on the track while on old tires as the event reached its halfway mark. By then, Elliott, who was running on old tires, retained the lead in front of Blaney as Harvick battled and overtook Buescher for third place.

    Two laps later, Harvick, racing on fresh tires, moved his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot as he overtook Blaney before setting his sights on Elliott for the lead. With Harvick, Keselowski and Blaney trailing Elliott from second to fourth within a second by Lap 140, Larson had fallen back to 16th while Chastain plummeted to 27th behind McDowell.

    At the Lap 150 mark, Elliott retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Keselowski, who overtook Harvick for the runner-up spot while also on fresh tires, while Hamlin and Blaney trailed in the top five. By then, Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Erik Jones, Logano, Buescher and Bell while Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Almirola, Hocevar and Byron trailed in the top 16. In addition, Larson was back in 20th behind teammate Bowman while Chastain was mired in 25th behind McDowell. In addition, Stenhouse was in 30th while Wallace, who was six laps behind the leaders, was in 34th.

    Ten laps later, Elliott continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Keselowski, who was continuing to gain ground in his No. 6 BuildSumbarines.com Ford Mustang through every turn and straightaway. Meanwhile, Hamlin cycled his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota TRD Camry into third place over Harvick and Reddick while Erik Jones was in sixth ahead of Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Keselowski muscled his way into the lead over Elliott as Hamlin started to gain ground and join the battle for the lead. Despite nearly getting held up by the lapped competitor of Austin Dillon during the following lap, Keselowski retained the lead over Elliott as Hamlin kept both close within his sights.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Keselowski, who came into the event 18 points above the cutline, claimed his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2023 season. Hamlin, who overtook Elliott for the runner-up spot during the proceeding lap, settled in second followed by Elliott while Harvick, Reddick, Erik Jones, Blaney, Logano, Buescher and Bell were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. With eight of 16 Playoff competitors scoring stage points, the following names that included Kyle Busch, Byron, Larson, McDowell, Chastain, Stenhouse and Wallace were the remaining Playoff contenders running on the track who did not achieve the second round of stage points.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski retained the lead after exiting pit road first while Hamlin, Harvick, Erik Jones, Reddick, Blaney, Buescher and Elliott, who lost five spots during his pit stop, followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Chastain was penalized due to his pit crew jumping over the pit wall too soon.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started as Keselowski and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski and Hamlin dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Harvick and Erik Jones trailed behind along with a hard-charging Reddick. With Hamlin leading the proceeding lap by a hair, Keselowski managed to reassume the lead from Hamlin and clear the field from the inside lane during the next lap while Reddick and Erik Jones battled for third in front of Harvick and Blaney.

    The caution would return with 94 laps remaining when Hocevar slid up the track and made contact with Harrison Burton toward the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 before Burton hit the wall again in Turn 3. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Larson, McDowell and Byron pitted while the rest led by Keselowski remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with 88 laps remaining, Keselowski managed to muscle away from the inside lane to retain the lead ahead of Hamlin while Erik Jones followed suit in third. Jones and Hamlin then battled for the runner-up spot for nearly a lap in front of Harvick, Reddick, Elliott and Blaney while Keselowski rocketed away with the lead by three-tenths of a second.

    Then with 81 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited as Hamlin made his move beneath Keselowski through the frontstretch. Hamlin then managed to clear Keselowski and slide up the track to inherit the lead. Behind, Reddick, Hamlin’s driver at 23XI Racing, overtook Keselowski for the runner-up spot as he ignited his charge on Hamlin for the lead.

    With 70 laps remaining, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were in the top five. Behind, Harvick, Blaney, Bell and Buescher followed suit from sixth to ninth while Larson, racing on fresh tires, cracked the top 10 as he was in 10th ahead of Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs, Logano, Suarez, Bowman and Byron.

    Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were in the top five. By then, Larson, who barely scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, was in ninth behind Bell while Kyle Busch and Buescher battled for 10th place. With Harvick, Blaney and Bell running sixth through eighth, Logano was in 13th behind Ty Gibbs, Byron was mired in 16th, Chastain was in 18th, Stenhouse was back in 22nd and McDowell was in 25th behind Briscoe.

    Another six laps later, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Blaney and Erik Jones pitted their respective entries. Keselowski would pit during the proceeding lap along with Harvick, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Ryan Preece, LaJoie, Hocevar, Reddick, Elliott, Larson, Ty Gibbs, Buescher, Almirola, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Yeley. Hamlin would then surrender the lead to pit with 52 laps remaining along with Bowman and Justin Haley as Bell cycled into the lead. Bell would then pit under green with 45 laps remaining along with Byron as Daniel Suarez, who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead ahead of McDowell, Todd Gilliland and Hamlin.

    Then with 36 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead after Suarez pitted his No. 99 Freeway.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then, Reddick trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott were scored in the top five ahead of McDowell, Blaney, Larson, Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Reddick while Keselowski, Erik Jones and Elliott remained in the top five. Larson, Kyle Busch, Blaney, Harvick and Ty Gibbs followed suit in the top 10 as Hamlin retained the lead with 20 and 15 laps remaining.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Reddick while third-place Elliott trailed by more than nine seconds in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew when Buescher, who was running 12th, blew a right-rear tire through the frontstretch as he fell off the pace while the tire disintegrated on his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service while Suarez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Erik Jones exited first after opting for two fresh tires for his No. 43 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 along with Kyle Busch and Logano while Hamlin exited pit road fourth and the first on four fresh tires ahead of Larson, Reddick, Elliott and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, teammates Larson and Elliott made contact while both were exiting pit road, which prompted Elliott to bump Larson to express his displeasure over the contact.

    With the event restarting in overtime, where Suarez and Erik Jones occupied the front row in front of Kyle Busch and Logano, Logano wasted no time diving his car beneath Suarez and both along with Erik Jones fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch and entering Turn 1. Logano and Jones then made their way to the front followed by Reddick, Larson, Elliott and Hamlin while Suarez was falling back. Through the backstretch and Turns 3 and 4, Logano and Jones continued to duel for the lead as Reddick closed in on fresh tires.

    Then entering the frontstretch, Reddick dropped the hammer and crossed his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry from the top to the bottom lane beneath Logano and Erik Jones. With the momentum and the fresh tires, Reddick overtook both through the frontstretch and gained the lead as the white flag waved and the final lap occurred. With Reddick leading, Hamlin then gained a run on both Logano and Jones as he tried to use the outside lane to close in on Reddick. Entering the backstretch, however, Hamlin was blocked by Jones, which allowed Reddick to continue to lead by a decent margin. Hamlin then tried to use the outside lane again to step on the gas and mount a final corner charge for the win. Despite overtaking Jones while scrubbing the wall, Hamin’s momentum was not enough as Reddick was able to cycle back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second to win.

    With the victory, Reddick scored his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his second of the season, his first at Kansas and his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas in March. By becoming the second race winner in the Round of 16, Reddick advanced into the Playoff’s Round of 12 for the first time in his career as he continues his quest to win the first Cup Series title for himself, crew chief Billy Scott and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team.

    Ironically, Reddick’s victory marked the third time 23XI Racing’s No. 45 entry won at Kansas after the No. 45 car swept both Cup Kansas events a year ago with Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace. Overall, Reddick also recorded the fifth career victory for 23XI Racing.

    “Just an outstanding job by this whole 23XI team,” Reddick said on USA Network. “We had really good pace, but just couldn’t get ahead of Denny [Hamlin] there. Chaos ensued, people stayed out, some took two tires and the bottom lane opened up. Pretty crazy. Four fresh tires, sent it in there and slide up. We’ve had really fast cars with this MoneyLion scheme and it’s really great to get it back to Victory Lane. We came here in the spring. I broke the streak and I didn’t get the No. 45 [car] back in Victory Lane, so I came back here motivated to get it where it belongs.”

    Hamlin, who led 63 laps and was initially in the position of sweeping both Kansas Cup events, ended up in the runner-up spot. Amid his disappointment, Hamlin scaled back to the overtime restart, where he restarted alongside Reddick on the third row and opted to lay back to potentially have Larson draft him instead of keeping pace with the front-runners, a decision that may have cost him time to drive back to the front and win.

    “[Larson] was just laying back so much, I was trying to back up to him,” Hamlin said. “I should’ve just focused forward. [I] Gave [Reddick] an opportunity to get up there in front of us. Just sleeping on the restart, looking in the rearview [mirror] instead of looking in the front. Hats off to the Yahoo! Camry TRD team. Another really, really fast car. Just didn’t need that caution at the end.”

    Erik Jones, who was initially in the position of winning for Legacy Motor Club, ended up in third place while Larson and Logano finished in the top five. Elliott, Kyle Busch, Bell, Keselowski and Alex Bowman completed the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Harvick, Blaney, Chastain, Byron, Stenhouse, McDowell, Buescher and Wallace were the remaining Playoff contenders on the track to finish outside the top 10.

    There were 19 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 45 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 63 laps led

    3. Erik Jones

    4. Kyle Larson, 99 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Joey Logano

    6. Chase Elliott, 47 laps led

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Christopher Bell, 15 laps led

    9. Brad Keselowski, 23 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Alex Bowman

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. Ryan Blaney

    13. Ross Chastain

    14. Ty Gibbs

    15. William Byron

    16. Daniel Suarez, 12 laps led

    17. Aric Almirola, three laps led

    18. Ryan Preece

    19. Chase Briscoe

    20. Carson Hocevar

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    24. Cole Custer

    25. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    26. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    27. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    28. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    29. Sheldon Creed, two laps down

    30. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, two laps down

    32. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, three laps led

    33. Austin Dillon, nine laps down

    34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Dvp, one lap led

    35. Harrison Burton – OUT, Dvp

    36. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    3. Denny Hamlin +49

    4. William Byron +41

    5. Brad Keselowski +33

    6. Ryan Blaney +25

    7. Kyle Busch +24

    8. Ross Chastain +18

    9. Chris Buescher +13

    10. Christopher Bell +13

    11. Joey Logano +12

    12. Kevin Harvick +7

    13. Martin Truex Jr. -7

    14. Bubba Wallace -19

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. -22

    16. Michael McDowell -40

    The Round of 16 in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, where the first of three eliminations will occur. The event is scheduled to commence on Saturday, September 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.