NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series events at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course that occurred between October 12-13, 2024.
In the Cup Series, Joshua Thomas (front-tire changer) and Nick Covey (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Austin Dillon, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a left-front wheel that detached from Dillon’s car on Lap 80 of 109 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred after Dillon had made a green-flag pit stop and left his pit box despite the tire changer unable to tighten the left-front tire’s single lug nut before the car departed. Dillon would proceed to finish in 32nd place at Charlotte in an event that determined the Playoff’s Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Kyle Larson.
With the suspensions, Thomas and Covey will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively.
In the Xfinity Series, four crew chiefs were each fined $5,000 apiece due to their respective entries having a single lug nut unsecured during the post-race inspection process following Saturday’s event that also determined the series’ Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Sam Mayer.
The crew chiefs that were penalized include Philip Bell, crew chief for Sammy Smith and the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; Jeff Meendering, crew chief for Chandler Smith and the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team; James Pohlman, crew chief for Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; and Andy Street, crew chief for Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team.
Ironically, each of the crew chiefs’ respective competitors represent half of the current eight Playoff contenders who remain in championship contention as the series transitions to the Round of 8 that begins this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas.
Tuesday’s penalty report comes a day after Hendrick Motorsports opted to not appeal the disqualification of Alex Bowman from the Round of 8 due to Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet entry not meeting the minimum weight requirements following Sunday’s event, where Bowman had initially transferred after finishing in 18th place and winning the event’s second stage period.
Bowman’s disqualification allowed Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, to claim the round’s final transfer berth.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the Playoff’s Round of 8 also commences for both series. The Xfinity’s Round of 8 event at Vegas will occur on Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup’s Round of 8 event will follow suit on Sunday, October 20, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Alex Bowman has been disqualified from advancing into the Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs due to a post-race infraction that was discovered at the conclusion of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 13.
During the post-race inspection process, Bowman’s No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry was found to be too light and not meeting the minimum weight specifications.
As a result, Bowman, who finished 18th during the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval, was demoted to 38th place, dead last, in the final running order. By being demoted to the last car in the running order, Bowman, who initially transferred into the Round of 8 by nine points after he won the second stage period and accumulated 10 stage points, ended up 20 points below the top-eight cutline.
Following the announcement, Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series division, disclosed the ruling behind Bowman’s disqualification.
“So unfortunately, when we were running the No. 48 [car] through, it didn’t pass the minimum weight specs. So we pulled the car off to the side and we allowed [the No. 48 team] to fuel it, which they already did. We let them fuel it again. We let them run the pumps to make sure all the pickup boxes were full. We give the teams every opportunity to try to meet a minimum weight…We rescaled [the car]. It still didn’t meet the weight. We backed it off and we run it across one more time to confirm the weights were accurate and unfortunately, they did not meet the minimum weight. They are allowed half a percent of a weight break, which is about 17 lbs, give or take. That is what they’re allowed and it was more than that.”
With Bowman being disqualified from the Playoffs, he joins Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe as the bottom four competitors in the revised Playoff standings to not transfer into the Round of 8.
As a result, Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, was awarded the final transfer spot into the Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit of his third Cup Series championship. Logano also caps off the Round of 8 field that includes teammate Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick, the latter of whom was battling Logano for a final transfer berth to the Round of 8.
Amid Bowman’s disqualification from the Playoffs, Hendrick Motorsports has yet to determine if the organization will appeal the penalty. Should the penalty stand, the 2024 season would mark the fifth time that Bowman has been eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 12.
The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 20, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
With no points pressure mounted up his sleeves, Kyle Larson cruised to a dominant victory in the seventh annual running of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 13.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led a race-high 62 of 109-scheduled laps in an event where he started in sixth place and ran a consistent event while executing his pit strategy to perfection that kept him racing towards the front and also keeping his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet intact through every turn, straightaway, chicane and curbs.
After clinching his way into the Playoff’s Round of 8 by accumulating seven stage points between the event’s first two stage periods, Larson, who led twice earlier in the event, assumed the lead for the third and final time with 33 laps remaining during a late cycle of green flag pit stops. Then after muscling away from the field during a late-race restart with 26 laps remaining, the Californian maintained a reasonable advantage over the field and fellow Playoff rivals for the remainder of the event as he raced his way to his sixth Cup victory of the 2024 season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 12, Shane van Gisbergen notched his first Cup Series career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 99.246 mph in 82.704 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Tyler Reddick, who posted his best qualifying lap at 99.177 mph in 82.761 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race started, Shane van Gisbergen muscled his No. 13 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead with the lead from the outside lane and he led the field through the infield turns, starting from Turn 1 to the newly configured Turns 5 and 6 zones that led to the new sharp left-hand turn to Turn 7 and back on Charlotte’s oval course. With the field navigating cleanly through the infield turns, van Gisbergen retained the lead through the oval turns and the chicane areas, from the backstretch to the frontstretch, as he led the first lap ahead of Playoff contenders Joey Logano and Kyle Larson while AJ Allmendinger and Playoff contender Tyler Reddick followed suit.
During the second lap, Logano was overtaken by Larson, Reddick and Allmendinger on the track, which dropped Logano to fifth place on the course. Behind Logano, Playoff teammate Austin Cindric followed suit in sixth place as he was ahead of Brad Keselowski, Playoff contender Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace while William Byron, who is already guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8, was in 10th place ahead of Playoff rivals Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney. As Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were trying to navigate their way up the leaderboard while being mired outside the top-20 mark on the track, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to over one second on Larson by the fifth lap mark. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Alex Bowman, whose No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 briefly came off the ground after he ran over the frontstretch’s chicane curbs earlier, was mired in 19th place ahead of rookie Carson Hocevar.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, van Gisbergen stabilized his advantage to more than one second ahead of Larson while Reddick, Allmendinger and Logano followed suit in the top five. Behind, Cindric and Elliott battled fiercely for sixth place ahead of Keselowski, Wallace and Byron while Bell, Blaney, Suarez, Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland trailed in the top 15 ahead of Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in 24th place behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Briscoe was back in 26th place in between Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher.
Another lap later, Ryan Preece spun his No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the backstretch chicane while running in the top-30 mark, which dropped him below the leaderboard. Then during the following lap, Wallace was penalized for cutting the course while navigating his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE through the frontstretch chicane. This resulted in Wallace serving a “stop-and-go” penalty through the backstretch chicane, which dropped Wallace from eighth to 12th on the course. Martin Truex Jr., who was running within the top-25 mark, would also be penalized for cutting the frontstretch chicane by Lap 13, which dropped him towards the top-30 mark. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to nearly two seconds over Larson while Reddick, Allmendinger and Logano continued to trail in the top five.
On Lap 18, the event’s first cycle of green flag pit stops slowly started to commence as Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the top five. By then, Austin Dillon had pitted a lap earlier. Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher would all pit by the Lap 19 mark before Cindric, Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Wallace, Hamlin, Briscoe and Truex pitted during the following lap. Larson would then pit his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the runner-up spot on Lap 21 along with Todd Gilliland, Hocevar, Bowman, rookie Zane Smith, Stenhouse, Daniel Hemric, Noah Gragson, Harrison Burton before the leader van Gisbergen pitted during the next lap along with Daniel Suarez. With pit road closed on Lap 23 as the first stage period was coming to a conclusion, Reddick, who remained on the course, cycled his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE into the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Reddick, who came into the event 14 points above the top-eight cutline in his hopes to advance into the Playoff’s Round of 8, recorded his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff contenders Logano, Elliott, Blaney and Larson followed suit in the top five while van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, Keselowski and Playoff contender Cindric were scored in the top 10. With half of the 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Bell, Byron, Suarez, Bowman, Briscoe and Hamlin were scored in 11th, 13th, 19th, 22nd, 23rd and 27, respectively.
Under the stage break, some led by Reddick and including Logano, Elliott and Blaney pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Larson and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead of Kaulig Racing’s van Gisbergen and Allmendinger through the frontstretch and he retained the lead through the infield turns while van Gisbergen fended off Allmendinger for the runner-up spot. As the field navigated through the infield road course turns and the sharp left-hand turn from Turn 7 back on the oval turns, Larson retained the lead for the remaining turns and led the following lap while Playoff contenders Briscoe, Hamlin, Reddick, Logano, Elliott and Blaney were mired within a series of on-track bumps and contacts while stuck in the middle of the field.
Shortly after and during the Lap 30 mark, Reddick was collected in a jam-up and came to a full stop to avoid hitting Austin Dillon, who was sent for a spin in Turn 7 after he got bumped by Bowman. Despite sustaining little cosmetic damage to his car, Reddick, whose car briefly came off the ground after he hit both the Turn 7 curb and into team owner Denny Hamlin prior to avoiding Dillon, pitted under green to address a potential broken toe link to his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE. With Hamlin remaining on the track despite getting hit in the left-side area and having a bent toe link to the rear end of his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE, Larson retained the lead by nearly a second over van Gisbergen while Allmendinger, Bell and Keselowski were scored in the top five.
At the Lap 35 mark, Larson stretched his advantage to more than a second over van Gisbergen as both were followed by Allmendinger, Bell and Keselowski. With Cindric, Byron, Chastain, Suarez and Wallace following suit in the top 10, Bowman, Hocevar, Buescher, Stenhouse and Kyle Busch were mired in the top 15 ahead of Logano, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs and Elliott while Hamlin, Blaney, Truex, Gilliland and Harrison Burton were scored in the top 25.
Then while still on the Lap 35 mark, the caution returned due to Playoff contender Briscoe losing a right-rear tire as the tire came off of Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 14 just as Briscoe was pitting. During the caution period, Reddick and Gragson pitted, with the former having his bent right-rear toe link addressed. Soon after, more names led by Allmendinger and including Hamlin and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 38 featured Larson and van Gisbergen dueling for the lead through the first four turns until Larson muscled ahead. With Bell overtaking van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot entering Turn 5, a traffic jam ensued as Keselowski was bumped and sent for a spin by Suarez in Turn 7 while the field fanned out. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, Larson retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Bell, van Gisbergen, Byron and Bowman as Austin Dillon, who was running in 28th place, was penalized for cutting the frontstretch chicane despite getting hit by Briscoe before driving off the course.
Just past the Lap 40 mark, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were racing inside the top 10 on the track as Larson retained the lead ahead of Bell while Byron, Bowman, Suarez, Logano and Elliott followed suit from fourth to eighth, respectively, as Blaney was in 10th place. Meanwhile, Cindric and Hamlin were back in 17th and 19th, respectively, while Briscoe and Reddick were mired in 36th and 37th, respectively, with the former pitting multiple times for repairs following an on-track contact. As Erik Jones bumped Kaz Grala off the course through the frontstretch chicane as payback from an earlier contact that occurred in the backstretch chicane, Chastain was sent for a spin in Turn 7 after he got hit by Truex. Through both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions.
By Lap 45, Larson retained the lead by more than a second over Bell as van Gisbergen, Byron, Bowman, Suarez, Logano, Allmendinger, Elliott and Blaney followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Wallace, McDowell, Cindric, Kyle Busch and Hamlin. With Reddick mired in 36th place, Briscoe’s Playoff run in 2024 came to an end as he took his car to the garage and retired in 37th place. Briscoe’s DNF also ended the final Cup Series Playoff run for Stewart-Haas Racing.
“It’s tough,” Briscoe said after being released from the infield care center. “To have all that momentum that we had to come to an end and to have it come to an end like it did is definitely unfortunate. [I] Wish we could have kept going for [the title]. Just unfortunate. We still have a lot to race for. We still can go win four more races and that’s what we’re certainly trying to do.”
Two laps later, Byron pitted from inside the top five under green along with Ty Gibbs, Hemric, Chastain, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Justin Haley. By then, Zane Smith, Truex, Stenhouse, Harrison Burton and John Hunter Nemechek had pitted. The leader Larson along with Bell and van Gisbergen would pit during the following lap as Bowman cycled into the lead.
Amid the pit stops, Suarez, who was engaged in a fierce battle that included bumps with Logano a few laps earlier, was forced off the course in the backstretch chicane after being bumped by Wallace, where Suarez came to a full stop before continuing. In addition, Zane Smith was spared from being penalized for cutting the frontstretch chicane earlier after he got bumped by Buescher.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Bowman, who came into the Roval 26 points above the top-eight cutline, notched his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger followed suit along with Logano, Elliott and Wallace while Blaney, Cindric, Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch and Larson, who clinched his way into the Round of 8 by points, were scored in the top 10. With half of the remaining 11 Playoff contenders on the track racking up the second round of stage points, the remaining contenders including Hamlin, Bell, Suarez, Byron and Reddick were mired in 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 36th, respectively.
During the stage break, some led by Bowman and including teammate Elliott, Blaney and Suarez pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.
With 55 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Allmendinger and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger muscled ahead with the lead from the outside lane and led the field through the infield turns while Wallace overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Cindric would track teammate Logano for third place as the field fanned out while navigating through Turn 7.
With the field navigating cleanly through the backstretch chicane, trouble occurred in the frontstretch chicane as Chastain, who was mired in the top 20, was hit by Keselowski as he spun his No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for a second time and collected Legacy Motor Club’s Nemechek and Erik Jones. Then as Ty Gibbs retired due to a transmission issue to his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE, the caution returned during the following lap due to debris that came off of Nemechek’s damaged No. 42 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE in Turn 2.
During the caution period, Suarez, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to keep his Playoff hopes alive, pitted and the hood of his No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was lifted as his crew went to work to diagnose a brake issue. By then, Bell was officially ruled to be clinched into the Round of 8 based on points.
As the event restarted under green with 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger rocketed away from Wallace and Logano to retain the lead entering the first turn and through the infield turns. As Larson used the fresh tires to battle Cindric for fourth place, the field fanned out and was able to navigate through Turn 7 cleanly as Allmendinger maintained a reasonable gap between himself and Wallace through the oval turns and the backstretch chicane.
Allmendinger would proceed to lead the following lap while Reddick and Elliott battled for 23rd place and a spot into the Round of 8. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who struggled earlier in the event, was up to seventh place behind Playoff contenders Larson, Logano, Bell and Cindric as Reddick, who was in 23rd place, was tracking Elliott by five points in the current Playoff standings. As both Buescher and van Gisbergen were sent spinning separately in Turn 7 during the next lap, Allmendinger stretched his advantage to more than a second over Wallace before Larson overtook the latter with 47 laps remaining.
With 45 laps remaining, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to a second over Larson as Bell trailed in third place by two seconds. With Wallace leading Playoff contenders Logano, Cindric, Byron and Hamlin on the track, McDowell and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Truex, Keselowski, Gilliland and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Bowman, Blaney, Elliott, Reddick and Suarez were mired in 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st and 32nd, respectively, as Larson proceeded to cut Allmendinger’s advantage to four-tenths of a second during the next lap.
Then with 43 laps remaining, Larson used a bold move beneath Allmendinger while nearly getting sideways to move into the lead in Turn 7. Larson would proceed to lead Allmendinger through the ensuing oval turns, the backstretch chicane and the frontstretch chicane while Bell started to close in on Allmendinger from third place. Meanwhile, Reddick, who had regained his racing rhythm and was trying to carve his way back up the leaderboard since having his car repaired in the pits following his second stage incident in Turn 7, continued to trail Elliott in the Playoff standings by five points as he was mired in 19th place in front of Bowman while Elliott was just ahead of Reddick in 18th place.
With 38 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted from the runner-up spot under green as he was followed by Cindric, Logano, Kyle Busch and Buescher. By then, McDowell had pitted a lap earlier as Larson was leading by more than three seconds over Bell. Wallace and his 23XI Racing teammate Reddick would then pit during the following lap along with Gragson before Byron, Hocevar, Elliott and Bowman pitted with 36 laps remaining. Despite enduring a slow pit service, Elliott managed to blend back on the track in front of Reddick as Reddick was separated from Elliott by four competitors.
As the field reached its final 34-lap mark, the leader Larson pitted under green along with Bell and Blaney. By then, Hamlin had pitted earlier as Larson exited pit road ahead of Bell, who endured a slow service. With nearly every competitor in the field having made a pit stop, Keselowski, who has yet to pit, was leading. Keselowski, however, would pit shortly after, which handed the lead back to Larson.
With 30 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than six seconds over Austin Dillon as Bell, van Gisbergen and Allmendinger trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Reddick, who was scored in 20th place, trailed the top-eight cutline by five points while Logano, who was in eighth place, occupied the final transfer spot. Meanwhile, Elliott was 12 points above the cutline as he was in 13th place while Hamlin, who was in 17th place, was ahead by nine points.
The following lap, the caution flew due to the left front wheel rolling off of Austin Dillon’s No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 just past Turn 4 and right after Dillon had pitted under green, which resulted in Dillon being assessed a two-lap penalty. By then, Reddick trailed Logano in the standings by four points while Larson was leading by six seconds over Bell. During the caution period, some including Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Reddick, Haley and Buescher pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.
The start of the following restart period with 26 laps remaining featured Larson rocketing away from Bell, Byron and Cindric entering the first turn as Logano also tried to join the battle. As Larson led the field through the first four turns before navigating his way through the final three sets of infield turns, Larson slightly stretched his advantage over Bell through the oval’s backstretch and the backstretch chicane. As Playoff contenders Blaney and Hamlin were trying to navigate their way back into the top 10 on the track, Larson led the following lap while Reddick, who was mired in 24th place after he pitted, trailed the cutline by 12 points.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Bell as Playoff contenders Byron, Cindric, Elliott and Logano followed suit in the top six. With Logano losing fifth place on the track to Elliott not long ago, Reddick, who overtook Bowman for 19th place, trailed Logano in the standings by six points. Not long after, Reddick nearly got sideways as he bumped and sent Daniel Hemric for a spin in Turn 7. Amid the incident, Reddick continued in 18th place as he now trailed Logano by five points. Reddick would gain another point during the following lap as he overtook Stenhouse for 17th place and was trying to track McDowell for more.
With 15 laps remaining, Larson added an extra second to his advantage as he was leading by two seconds over Bell. Meanwhile, Reddick carved his way up to 15th place on the track, which placed him only two points behind Logano, who was still running in sixth place on the track, in the standings as he was trying to battle Kyle Busch for 14th place. Another lap later, however, Reddick’s deficit was cut to a single point as he overtook Busch’s No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for 14th place while Logano was being pressured by Allmendinger for sixth place.
Down to the final 11 laps of the event, Logano and Reddick were tied for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 as Allmendinger overtook Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse for sixth place through the backstretch on the track. Meanwhile, Reddick was trying to track down team owner Hamlin, who is only seven points above the cutline, for 13th place on the track as Logano owned the tie-breaker over Reddick. Logano and Reddick would remain in seventh and 14th, respectively, on the track for the following lap as Larson stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Bell.
Then with nine laps remaining, Reddick overtook Logano in the Playoff standings as he was in the final transfer into the Round of 8 by two points after he overtook Toyota teammates Truex and Hamlin from Turns 5 to 7. Meanwhile, Logano was still mired in seventh place and racing ahead of van Gisbergen, Wallace and Blaney while Reddick was trying to track down Hocevar for 11th place. Despite dropping to 13th place, Hamlin remained seven points above the cutline.
With five laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Bell as Byron, Cindric and Elliott followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Logano was scored outside the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings by four points as he was overtaken by van Gisbergen for seventh place on the track a few laps earlier while Reddick was up to 11th place. By then, Blaney and Elliott were also above the cutline by 18 and 14 points, respectively, while Bowman and Hamlin followed suit by eight and four points, respectively.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by more than a second over Bell. As Larson proceeded to lap Suarez through the infield turns while Bell tried to close in, Larson was able to smoothly navigate his way out of the infield turns and through the final set of road course turns on the oval circuit as he then navigated through the frontstretch chicane and streaked across the finish line to claim the checkered flag by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell.
With the victory, Larson, who continues his pursuit for his second Cup Series championship ahead of the Round of 8’s commencement, achieved his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season. He also achieved the 29th Cup victory of his career, his second at the Charlotte Roval after winning his first in 2021 and his first victory since winning the Bristol Night Race three weeks ago.
The victory was also the 15th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the 11th of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, with the organization notching its 25th Cup victory overall at Charlotte, as Larson racked up his 23rd victory while driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for team owner Rick Hendrick.
“It’s the first time in my Playoff career [that] I’ve not been like close to the [Playoff] cutline,” Larson, who celebrated with his daughter Audrey on the frontstretch, said on NBC. “It was good to kind of have a little bit of a stress-free of a weekend. I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe besides the other time we won. Good weekend. Obviously, we’re here at [owner Rick] Hendrick’s home and got so many of the people here from there, so [it’s] gonna be fun to celebrate with them. It’s known that I don’t really use the [simulator] much and I was in the Sim this week. Huge thank you, you guys. It really helped me get into a rhythm, I think, early on and help us fine-tune our car, too. Hats off to everybody there.”
As Larson continued his race-winning celebration in Victory Lane, Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Champion, was left relieved and smiling on pit road with his team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin as he survived his roller coaster event by claiming the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by four points with an 11th-place result at Charlotte. The result enabled Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team to maintain their championship hopes for another three weeks.
Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I thought I was going to flip [in Stage 2],” Reddick said. “This [car] was absolutely destroyed. Real hats off to everybody on this Monster Energy Toyota Camry [team]. This thing couldn’t go within four seconds of what the pace was and we just kept working on it, and we made it a lot better for Stage 3. This is how this place can be sometimes, but it’s really nice to pull this off. You just got to stay calm, got to stay focused. In those moments, man, it’s so easy to lose track of what you control. Either way, I was going to drive the car as fast as I could. It just worked out for us. This thing was able to get up back up through the field and get us to the good side of the cutline.”
Meanwhile, Logano, who recorded a race-high 17 stage points and came into Charlotte with a 13-point deficit to the cutline, was left disappointed as he fell four points shy of remaining in contention for a third Cup Series championship in 2024. This season marks the first time where Logano was eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 12 and it comes a year after he was eliminated following the Round of 16.
“We fought hard, for sure,” Logano said. “I think [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] and the [No. 22] guys did a good job of executing the strategy and what we needed to do today. Just didn’t quite get enough there at the end. I fell off a little bit too much [on] that last run. Honestly, the No. 45 [team], Tyler [Reddick] and those guys did a good job [of] driving up through the field and scored more points. It’s hard not to think about Richmond a little bit right now. Just wasn’t meant to be. You can start looking back at different points in the season to gather four points pretty easily, but Talladega, we just didn’t do a good enough job there scoring stage points. It’s probably where a lot of it lies.”
Overall, Logano joins teammate Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe as the next wave of four Playoff contenders to officially be eliminated from the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.
“We had the speed and that’s the encouraging thing, that’s the exciting thing,” Cindric said. “Today, we needed it all. We had a great car. We had a great finish. All the things that are hard to do in a Cup race, we did all those things and capable of doing all those things in the two races prior [to Charlotte]. That’s what this [Playoff] format is. It’s difficult and for us having a better regular season, having bit better of a buffer can definitely help, but proud of everyone. Looking forward to trying to spoil some races and support our teammates to the rest.”
“We worked very hard for the last two weeks to prepare for this race,” Suarez said. “Honestly, [it was] probably the hardest I ever worked for one specific race and unfortunately, we don’t have anything to show for. Just wasn’t our day, but I can tell you something. I’m very proud of this group because we put in the work. I guarantee you something, nobody works harder to prepare for this race. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything to show for, but we have four more races and we’re going to go out there and give our best.”
On the contrary, Larson and Reddick join Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman as the remaining eight Playoff contenders who will continue the Playoff battle in the Round of 8, beginning next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Bell, Byron, Cindric and Elliott finished in the top five behind Larson at the Charlotte Roval while AJ Allmendinger, pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen, Logano, Bubba Wallace and Blaney completed the top 10 in the final running order. As Reddick finished 11th, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Hamlin, Bowman, Suarez and Briscoe ended up 14th, 18th, 31st and 37th, respectively.
There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 13 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Results.
1. Kyle Larson, 62 laps led
2. Christopher Bell, one lap led
3. William Byron
4. Austin Cindric
5. Chase Elliott
6. AJ Allmendinger, 14 laps led
7. Shane van Gisbergen, 21 laps led
8. Joey Logano
9. Bubba Wallace
10. Ryan Blaney
11. Tyler Reddick, six laps led, Stage 1 winner
12. Carson Hocevar
13. Kyle Busch
14. Denny Hamlin
15. Michael McDowell
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17. Chris Buescher
18. Alex Bowman, five laps led, Stage 2 winner
19. Todd Gilliland
20. Zane Smith
21. Harrison Burton
22. Martin Truex Jr.
23. Josh Berry
24. Brad Keselowski
25. Daniel Hemric
26. Ryan Preece
27. Justin Haley
28. Kaz Grala
29. Ross Chastain
30. Josh Bilicki
31. Daniel Suarez, one lap down
32. Noah Gragson, one lap down
33. Austin Dillon, two laps down
34. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident
35. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident
36. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Engine
37. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident
38. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident
*Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings
1. Kyle Larson – Advanced
2. William Byron – Advanced
3. Christopher Bell – Advanced
4. Ryan Blaney – Advanced
5. Chase Elliott – Advanced
6. Alex Bowman – Advanced
7. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
8. Tyler Reddick – Advanced
9. Joey Logano – Eliminated
10. Austin Cindric – Eliminated
11. Daniel Suarez – Eliminated
12. Chase Briscoe – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 20, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Tyler Reddick outpaced the qualifying field to capture the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course with a 102.839 mph lap in the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. It was his second pole this season, and his sixth Cup Series career pole.
The race is the final event in the series Playoffs Round of 12 with only eight drivers advancing to compete for the 2023 championship. The significance of starting on the pole cannot be overstated as Reddick is currently ranked ninth in the driver standings.
“This is what we needed to do,” Reddick said. “We had hoped and put a lot of effort into this, as all the playoff teams do for this race. For the most part, this is as good of an outcome as possible for the No. 45 team today.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, currently fourth in the driver standings, will join Reddick on the front row after qualifying second with a 102.695 mph lap in the No. 20 Toyota as Daniel Suárez starts in third place. Playoff contenders Bubba Wallace (currently 10th in the driver standings) will start fourth and Kyle Busch (currently 12th in the driver standings) will start in fifth place.
AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top 10 in qualifying.
Playoff contenders William Byron, with a win at Texas and Ryan Blaney, who won last week at Talladega, are safe from elimination. Playoff drivers starting outside the top 10 include Martin Truex Jr. (11th), Ross Chastain (12th), Brad Keselowski (19th) and Chris Buescher (20th). Kyle Larson crashed during practice and will start 36th as he will go to a backup car for Sunday’s race.
You can tune into Sunday’s Bank of America Roval 400 at 2 p.m. ET on NBC with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
It was deja vu for Chase Elliott, who rallied from an unscheduled pit stop nearing the midway point to address a loose wheel to muscle back to the lead with 18 laps remaining and power away on a restart with 10 laps remaining to win the third annual running of the Bank of America ROVAL 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on a cloudy, slick afternoon on Sunday, October 11. With his third victory of the season and his ninth NASCAR Cup Series career win, Elliott became the first repeat winner of the Roval in the Cup Series and he raced his way into the Round of 8 in the 2020 Cup Series Playoffs.
The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner’s standings, the driver’s result from a previous Cup race, the team owner’s result from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race. With that, Denny Hamlin, coming off his thrilling victory last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Chase Elliott.
Prior to the race, Josh Bilicki started at the rear of the field due to a driver change. In addition, Erik Jones also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments and after his crew worked on his car on pit road.
The race started with rain tires, which marked the first time a Cup Series race utilized rain tires for a race. The move came a day after the NASCAR Xfinity Series endured a dark, wet and wild event on the Roval a day earlier, where a number of competitors slid across every wet turn and where A.J. Allmendinger came out on top to win amid the Xfinity Playoffs.
When the green flag waved and the race started on a wet, cloudy afternoon, Hamlin jumped ahead with the lead while Elliott and Brad Keselowski pursued closely behind him. Following an intense battle through the infield turns, the outer track turns and the backstretch chicane, Keselowski was able to pull ahead of Hamlin and Elliott. Coming back to the start/finish line, Keselowski was able to lead the first lap as everyone else behind was able to cycle their way through one full lap around the wet, racing surface on the Roval.
Keselowski continued to lead following the second lap while Hamlin and Elliott pursued. Kevin Harvick was in fourth place followed by Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. Meanwhile, Ty Dillon, who started 17th, moved up to seventh place followed by Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon.
By the third lap, Elliott moved up to second place over Hamlin and Harvick while Ty Dillon moved up to fifth place. By then, Keselowski extended his advantage to more than a second.
The following lap, Ty Dillon continued to flex his muscles on the wet, slick surface of the Roval by moving up to third place. Truex also moved up to fourth place while Hamlin fell back to fifth place. In addition, Harvick fell back to eighth place while Logano and Kyle Busch each moved up a spot.
By the fifth lap, Keselowski was leading by nearly a second over Elliott, with both ahead of third-place Truex by more than three seconds. Ty Dillon retained fourth place followed by Logano while teammates Hamlin and Kyle Busch battled for sixth place. Shortly after, Clint Bowyer, who announced his retirement from full-time racing three days ago, moved up to sixth place.
Entering the backstretch chicane, Elliott was able to narrow the gap between himself and Keselowski to one car length, though Keselowski retained the lead. A lap later, Elliott was able to take the lead from Keselowski through Turns 2 and 3. While Elliott started to extend his advantage to a second, Truex and Bowyer started to reel in on Keselowski for the runner-up spot.
A lap later, Truex moved up to second place and Bowyer also moved up to third place while Keselowski fell back to fourth place. Though Truex and Bowyer started to pounce on Elliott for the lead, Elliott was able to retain the lead through the 10th lap and when the competition caution flew.
At the time of competition caution, nine of 12 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 while Ty Dillon was the only non-title contender in the top 10, running in fifth place. Logano was in sixth place followed by Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Harvick. Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon were in 13th and 14th while Aric Almirola was mired back in 22nd place.
Under the competition caution, some like Harvick, Ty Dillon, William Byron, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Almirola and Matt DiBenedetto pitted while others led by Elliott remained on track. During the stops, Ryan Newman and Ty Dillon opted for slick tires.
When the race restarted on Lap 12, Truex jumped ahead with the lead past the start/finish line and through Turn 1 while Bowyer moved up to second place over Elliott. Entering the frontstretch chicane, however, Bowyer made a move beneath Truex and took over the top spot.
By Lap 15, Bowyer continued to lead the race over Playoff contenders Truex, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Hamlin and Logano. William Byron was in ninth place followed by Christopher Bell, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece, Harvick and Austin Dillon. Bowman was in 17th ahead of Blaney while Almirola was in 21st in between Michael McDowell and Bubba Wallace. Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth were in 26th and 27th behind Cole Custer and Matt DiBenedetto. Chris Buescher, who was penalized for a crew member jumping over the pit wall early prior to Buescher’s pit stop, was back in 28th place. Teammate Newman, who spun in Turn 4, dropped all the way back to 38th, last place.
Three laps later, Bowyer stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Truex while Kurt Busch moved up to third place over Elliott. By then and with the sun starting to peak amid the clouds, Bell and Jimmie Johnson pitted for slick tires. Shortly after, more pit stops under green continued as Reddick, Blaney, Wallace, Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek pitted for slick tires. Logano, Byron, Jones, Preece, Harvick, Bowman, Kenseth and Buescher also pitted for slick tires.
By Lap 20, Bowyer continued to lead by less than two seconds over Ty Dillon, who continued to pounce, while Truex was in third place ahead of the Busch brothers. Elliott was back in seventh place behind DiBenedetto.
A lap later, Ty Dillon and the No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE moved into the lead over Bowyer entering the backstretch chicane. By then, Keselowski and Hamlin pitted for slick tires. Following his stop, however, Hamlin spun in Turn 4 and sustained damage to the front nose of his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry. He was able to re-fire, drive his car out of the grass and continue with the race remaining under green.
With three laps remaining in the first stage, the caution flew due to Nemechek driving off the track in Turn 6 and getting stuck in the grass. By then, Elliott, Corey LaJoie and Almirola pitted for slick tires while Ty Dillon was leading over Bowyer, Truex, DiBenedetto and the Busch brothers. Despite his incident, Nemechek was able to re-fire his No. 38 Citigard Ford Mustang and drive away, though he took part of an EchoPark billboard with him.
Under caution, Bowyer, Truex and Kyle Busch pitted for slick tires while Ty Dillon continued to lead followed by DiBenedetto and Timmy Hill.
With the race restarting on a one-lap dash to conclude the first stage, Ty Dillon was able to retain the lead over DiBenedetto while Christopher Bell moved up to second place. For one full lap, Ty Dillon was able to retain the lead and hold off Bell to win the first stage on Lap 25 and claim his first stage victory of the season. Bell settled in second place followed by DiBenedetto while Byron overtook Timmy Hill entering the frontstretch chicane to finish in fourth. Newman, Blaney, Logano, Wallace and Jones settled in the top 10. By then, Keselowski and Kurt Busch were in 12th and 13th, Bowman was in 17th and Harvick, Elliott and Almirola were in 19th, 20th and 21st. Hamlin was in 24th, teammates Kyle Busch and Truex were in 26th and 27th and Bowyer was in 29th. Austin Dillon was in 37th.
Under the stage break, some like Harvick, Hamlin, Ty Dillon, Hill, Wallace, Kurt Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Quin Houff, LaJoie, Brennan Poole, James Davison and Josh Bilicki pitted while the rest led by Bell and DiBenedetto remained on the track. By then, with his result in the first stage, Harvick clinched his spot for the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.
The second stage started on Lap 28 and Bell was able to retain the lead while Byron challenged and overtook DiBenedetto for the runner-up spot through the first three turns. Behind, Newman, who rallied from spinning in the first stage and falling to the rear of the field, moved up to fourth while teammates Logano and Blaney along with Jimmie Johnson battled for fifth place.
By Lap 30 and with a multitude of on-track battles ensuing, Byron moved into the lead over Bell and DiBenedetto while Penske teammates Logano and Blaney overtook Newman for spots in the top five. Behind, Johnson and Erik Jones battled for seventh place while Keselowski joined the party when Johnson, Newman and Jones battled entering Turn 1.
Three laps later, Byron and his No. 24 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE stretched out by less than two seconds over Bell and his No. 95 Rheem Toyota Camry while Logano and Blaney overtook DiBenedetto for third and fourth on the track. Jones and Keselowski were in sixth and seventh while Johnson was in eighth ahead of teammate Alex Bowman and Elliott. Kyle Busch was in 12th while Bowyer and Truex were in 14th and 15th. Kurt Busch was in 17th ahead of Almirola while Harvick was in 25th. Hamlin and Austin Dillon were mired back in 30th and 31st.
A lap later, Keselowski spun in Turn 4 as Jones and DiBenedetto came to a full stop to avoid hitting Keselowski’s No. 2 Western Star/Alliance Parts Ford Mustang. Though he continued, Keselowski reported a little vibration to his car. Another lap later, Bell spun in Turn 4 while running in second place. Though he continued, he dropped back to ninth place. Despite all of these incidents, the race remained under green and with Byron leading Blaney, Logano, Elliott and Bowman.
A few laps later, Almirola and Newman each spun. Amidst the spins and with the race remaining under green, Byron continued to lead while Blaney started to reel in for the lead. Logano, Elliott and Bowman continued to run in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Custer, Bowyer, Truex and Bell.
On lap 39, Blaney emerged as the new leader over Byron after passing Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet in Turn 1. Logano, Elliott and Bowman continued to run in the top five while Kyle Busch settled in sixth place ahead of Custer.
Three laps later, Blaney extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Byron while Logano trailed by four seconds. Trailing behind by more than 13 seconds was Elliott while teammate Bowman settled in fifth place. Kyle Busch, Custer, Bowyer, Truex and Bell settled in the top 10 ahead of Kurt Busch, Johnson, Jones, Keselowski and McDowell.
With five laps remaining in the second stage, Blaney continued to lead by less than four seconds over Byron, who started to have Logano close in and ignite a challenge for second place. Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates Elliott and Bowman were in the top five while Kyle Busch retained fifth place over Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Bowyer and Custer. Truex was in ninth place followed by Kurt Busch, Jones and Keselowski.
Shortly after, the caution flew due to J.J. Yeley getting stalled in Turn 5. By then, Hamlin pitted. Harvick, Almirola, Bell and DiBenedetto also pitted. Some like Byron and Kyle Busch pitted while others led by Blaney and Logano remained on track.
With the race restarting on a two-lap dash to conclude the second stage, Blaney jumped ahead with the lead while Elliott and Logano battled for second. The following lap, Elliott overtook Logano for second place while Bell and Truex closed in for more. Behind, Kyle Busch fell off the pace due to sustaining a flat left-front tire and minor left-front damage to his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota following contact with Bowyer in Turn 4. In addition, teammate Hamlin spun out of Turn 8, but he continued as the race continued under green.
Towards the front, Bell and Truex overtook Logano for third and fourth while Blaney continued to lead. With no one having anything for the leaders at the front, Blaney was able to hold off Elliott to claim the second stage victory on Lap 50 and for his fourth stage victory of the season. Elliott settled in second followed by Bell, Truex and Logano while Bowman, Byron, Reddick, McDowell and Keselowski settled in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some like Blaney, Elliott, Truex, Logano, Bowman, McDowell, Keselowski, Newman, Brennan Poole, Houff, Bilicki and Hamlin pitted while others led by Bell remained on the track. Kyle Busch also pitted to have the left-front tire changed along with the damage repaired as he restarted at the rear of the field. Following the pit stops, Truex was assessed a speeding penalty for speeding on pit road as he also dropped to the rear of the field.
With 56 laps remaining and with the sun continuing to shine amid the clouds, the final stage commenced with Bell and Byron on the front row ahead of Reddick, Keselowski, Harvick, Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Buescher, Custer and Johnson. Prior to the restart, however, Elliott surrendered his track position and made another pit stop to address a loose left-front wheel on his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE. At the start, Byron overtook Bell for the lead. Behind, Custer spun in Turn 6 along with Hamlin, who spun following contact with James Davison. Hamlin was able to reverse his damaged No. 11 FedEx Toyota out of the grass in Turns 6 and 7 and return to pit road.
With the race reaching its halfway mark in between Laps 54 and 55, Byron continued to lead by more than a second over Bell while Keselowski, Bowyer and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Johnson was in sixth followed by Reddick, Harvick, Jones and Buescher.
With 50 laps remaining, Byron stabilized his advantage to less than a second over Bell while Keselowski, Bowyer and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Harvick was in seventh behind Johnson while Austin Dillon was in 12th. Behind, Kyle Busch, facing a “must-win” situation, was in 22nd behind Logano and Bowman while Truex was in 17th. Elliott was in 24th ahead of Almirola, who was also in a “must-win” situation. Hamlin, meanwhile, was in 32nd.
Nearly five laps later, the caution flew due to debris in Turn 6 and at the time where Ty Dillon also spun in the turn. He continued with damage on the left-front nose of his No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet. Earlier, Keselowski got off line and was overtaken by Bowyer for third place while Byron continued to lead over Bell.
Under caution, a majority of the field pitted while some like Byron, Bell, Bowyer, Johnson, Harvick, Blaney, Buescher, McDowell and DiBenedetto remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Newman was assessed a speeding penalty for speeding on pit road.
With 42 laps remaining and with dark clouds returning to the track with reported rain approaching the speedway, the race restarted under green with Byron and Bell on the front row ahead of Bowyer and Johnson. At the start, Byron retained the lead while Bowyer moved up to second place. Bell fell back to third place ahead of Johnson while Harvick was in fifth ahead of Kurt Busch and McDowell.
Two laps later, with 40 laps remaining, the caution returned when Austin Dillon spun and made contact towards the inside wall near the frontstretch chicane following contact with Kyle Busch. By then, Byron was still ahead with the lead over Bowyer and Bell while Blaney moved up to fourth place. Johnson was in fifth place ahead of Kurt Busch while Logano, Elliott, Stenhouse and Harvick were in the top 10.
Under caution, most of the leaders led by Byron pitted while some like Blaney, Stenhouse, Jones, Preece, Bowman, Kyle Busch, Gray Gaulding, Wallace and Houff remained on track. During the stops, Bowyer lost a multitude of stops following a slow pit stop. Following the stops, Byron was assessed a penalty for speeding on pit road.
The race restarted with 37 laps remaining and Blaney retained the lead through the first turn. Behind, Wallace made contact with Stenhouse, who spun as Bowyer sustained front-nose damage. Shortly after, Bowyer reported no power steering to his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang as his hopes of winning and transferring to the Round of 8 were diminishing. Back at the line, Blaney continued to lead followed by Preece, Bowman, Logano and Jones. Wallace continued to run in sixth place followed by Gaulding, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Elliott.
Two laps later, Preece emerged with the lead after Blaney spun in Turn 3 and plowed his No. 12 Menards/Cardell Cabinetry Ford Mustang into the infield grass, where he was also dodged from the oncoming traffic. With Blaney’s misfortune, Bowman moved up to second place followed by Logano, Jones and Wallace. The situation went from bad to worse for Blaney, who sped on pit road and was assessed a drive-through penalty on pit road after pitting following his on-track spin.
At the front, Preece, racing in his No. 37 Maxwell Houses for Heroes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE, continued to lead followed by Bowman and Logano while Jones, Elliott and Kyle Busch were running in fourth through sixth.
With 30 laps remaining, Preece retained the lead followed by a hard-charging Bowman while Logano, Elliott, Jones and Kyle Busch started to join the party.
Two laps later, Bowman emerged with the lead and teammate Elliott along with Logano and Kyle Busch moved up while Preece fell back to fifth place. At the front, the two Hendrick Motorsports’ teammates battled for the next two laps before Elliott, who rallied from his late loose wheel pit stop, reassumed the lead through Turns 5 and 6.
With 24 laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Bowman, who was retaining one of the final transfer spots to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Kyle Busch was in third place and in a “must-win” situation ahead of Logano, who was also battling for one of the final transfer spots to the Round of 8. Shortly after, the caution returned due to debris spotted in Turn 4. In addition, Matt Kenseth wrecked into the tire barriers in Turn 3.
Under caution, a majority of the leaders pitted while some led by Kyle Busch, Bell, Hamlin, Jones and Blaney remained on the track.
With 20 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota jumped ahead with the lead followed by teammates Jones and Hamlin. With Elliott moving up to fourth place and reeling in on Hamlin for more on fresh tires, Jones moved into the lead with 19 laps remaining through Turns 5 and 6. Elliott quickly made his way into second place over Kyle Busch.
A lap later, Elliott reassumed the lead following a crossover move on Jones through Turns 7 and 8 and started to pull away. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was still in third place, but he had brother Kurt along with teammate Hamlin and Logano reeling in behind him. Shortly after, John Hunter Nemechek spun on the frontstretch, but he continued and the race remained under green.
With the laps winding down, Elliott continued to stabilize and extend his advantage over Jones, who had Kurt Busch closing in for the spot. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in fourth place ahead of Logano, Hamlin and Blaney.
Under 12 laps remaining, the caution flag returned due to the stalled car of Brennan Poole. By then, Elliott was leading by more than two seconds over Jones while Kurt Busch, Logano and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Blaney was in sixth followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Truex and Byron.
Under caution, some pitted while others remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Buescher was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.
The race restarted under green with 10 laps remaining and with Elliott and Jones on the front row. At the start, Elliott retained the lead while Logano moved up to second place over Jones. Kurt Busch and Blaney moved into the top five over teammates Truex and Kyle Busch.
With seven laps remaining, Elliott stabilized his advantage by less than two seconds over Logano while Jones, Kurt Busch and Blaney continued to run in the top five. Truex was still in sixth place ahead of Kyle Busch. Bowman was in eighth place ahead of teammate Byron and Reddick while Almirola was in 12th in between teammates Custer and Bowyer. Johnson was in 14th ahead of Keselowski, Harvick and Austin Dillon. By then, McDowell spun twice on the track’s two chicane areas, but he continued with the race remaining under green.
With five laps remaining, Elliott continued to lead by more than two seconds over Logano with Kurt Busch, Jones and Blaney trailing by four seconds or more.
Down to the final three laps of the race, Elliott stabilized his advantage by more than two seconds over Logano. Kurt Busch and Jones continued to run in third and fourth while Truex moved into fifth place. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch ran out of fuel and pitted as his hopes to advance to the Round of 8 and defend his titles hopes evaporated.
A lap later, Newman spun in Turn 1, but he was able to straighten his car and proceed with the race continuing under green. Across the backstretch chicane on the same lap, Kurt Busch and Truex spun, but both continued while Jones moved up to third place. Despite the spins, Elliott was able to come back around the frontstretch and start the final lap of the race.
With no mistakes made and no challengers closing in, Elliott was able to cycle back around and cross the finish line to win as he continued to flex his dominance and winning streak on road course events.
With his win, Elliott joined Jeff Gordon as the only competitors to achieve four consecutive wins on a road course, a streak that spans back to Watkins Glen International in August 2019 for the Dawsonville, Georgia, native. In addition, he recorded the 20th road course victory for Hendrick Motorsports. By advancing to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs for the fourth consecutive time, Elliott will attempt to secure a spot in the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway in November and battle for his first Cup title.
“Well, [I] just had another really fast NAPA Camaro and really appreciate the effort,” Elliott said on NBC. “I feel like road courses have been fortunate to us the last few trips, but I feel like we just try to get a little better every time, tweak on the small things. [I] Felt like I tweaked on some small things and got a little better than what I was last year, which was good. Just really proud of the effort. It’s always special to win here at Charlotte with the [Hendrick Motorsports] shop being right across the street. Appreciate all the effort there. Best way to get to the next round is to win. Hopefully, we can do something with it.”
Logano finished in second place followed by Jones, Kurt Busch and Blaney. Byron finished in sixth place while Truex, Bowman, Custer and Bowyer, who had no power steering for the remainder of the race, rounded out the top 10. Jimmie Johnson finished 13th in his 40th and final run at Charlotte.
Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Kurt Busch advanced to the Round of 8 and all will continue to pursue this year’s championship next weekend at Kansas Speedway. Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer have been eliminated from title contention.
Of the four competitors who failed to advance beyond the Round of 12 following their runs at Charlotte, no one was more disappointed than Kyle Busch. By finishing in 30th place, the reigning two-time Cup champion will not advance to the Round of 8 for the first time since 2014 as his hopes to defend his title came to an end. Through 32 of 36 races this season, Busch has yet to record his first Cup victory of the season
“It’s just been unfortunate circumstances, a lot of bad luck,” Kyle Busch said on NBC. “These guys on this M&M’s team, they never give up and they fight all year long. Every race and every lap and every pit stop as we can see. Man, one of them off-years. Terrible year for me but as other great sports would say, there’s many other drivers that would love to have the year that we’re having but man, it’s just frustrating to know how good we are, what we’re capable of and being champions from last year, to not come out here and to be able to succeed and be able to win. The fact of the matter, we win and we’d be a hell of a lot better better off, but I knew this round was gonna be trouble with the year that we had. Yeah, I was right…We still got a lot of work to do to try to get better. I’m not sure what it is but man, we lack a lot of drive, drive off the corners with laps.”
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.
“We were looking pretty good at the end of Stage 1,” Austin Dillon, who finished 19th, said on NBC. “We had took tires again and got to fifth in the stage, and that unlucky caution happened in that cycle. We knew we were dead meat at that point because we didn’t have drys [tires] on. So, we pitted at the end of Stage 1 just trying to jump some people, then we had to go to the tail [end of the field] because pit road wasn’t open. Just a lot of stuff and again, that caution fell late in Stage 2 when we’re running 12th. No help from cautions. The race just didn’t play our way. I’m actually pretty happy with that as far as my road course racing has been. I raced hard all day. We finished 19th. That shows some progress. I think if we would’ve been up there track-position wise, we would’ve maintained just fine.”
“It was tough,” Almirola, who finished 16th, said on NBC. “I struggle here in particular. I’m not the greatest road-course racer, but specifically here, it’s always been a challenge. Just struggled all day. Really struggled on the rain tires. I spun out over there in that water that was draining across the race track in Turn 4 and then, we had an issue with a pit gun or something on pit road and got a lap down. We fought hard, it was definitely a fight. Just not the day we needed to move on. We still got a few races left to go perform at the highest level we can and try to get the most points we can. Still really proud of our season and proud of the effort of this team. We’ve got some racing left to do and hopefully, get this Smithfield Ford Mustang in Victory Lane in one of these last few [races].”
Following his run, Bowyer made a trip to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and released, though his hopes of winning his first Cup title came to an end in his final full-time season of racing.
There were 17 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 16 laps.
Results.
1. Chase Elliott, 27 laps led
2. Joey Logano
3. Erik Jones, one lap led
4. Kurt Busch
5. Ryan Blaney, 14 laps led, Stage 2 winner
6. William Byron, 27 laps led
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Alex Bowman, two laps led
9. Cole Custer
10. Clint Bowyer, nine laps led
11. Kevin Harvick
12. Tyler Reddick
13. Jimmie Johnson
14. Ryan Preece, eight laps led
15. Denny Hamlin
16. Aric Almirola
17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
18. Brad Keselowski, seven laps led
19. Austin Dillon
20. Chris Buescher
21. Bubba Wallace
22. Matt DiBenedetto
23. Ty Dillon, five laps led, Stage 1 winner
24. Christopher Bell, six laps led
25. Daniel Suarez
26. Gray Gaulding
27. Corey LaJoie
28. Quin Houff
29. James Davison
30. Kyle Busch, three laps led
31. Ryan Newman
32. Michael McDowell
33. Josh Bilicki, one lap down
34. Matt Kenseth, one lap down
35. J.J. Yeley, one lap down
36. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down
37. Brennan Poole – Suspension
38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Engine
Bold indicates Playoff contenders
Playoff standings.
1. Kevin Harvick – Advanced
2. Denny Hamlin – Advanced
3. Brad Keselowski – Advanced
4. Chase Elliott – Advanced
5. Joey Logano- Advanced
6. Martin Truex Jr. – Advanced
7. Alex Bowman – Advanced
8. Kurt Busch – Advanced
9. Kyle Busch – Eliminated
10. Clint Bowyer – Eliminated
11. Austin Dillon – Eliminated
12. Aric Almirola – Eliminated
The Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next Sunday, October 18, at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The race will occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
A significant milestone is in the making for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 car in the NASCAR Cup Series, currently driven by two-time reigning series champion Kyle Busch. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Cup event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America Roval 400, the No. 18 car competing under the JGR banner will reach 1,000 starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
The No. 18 car serves as the first car fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR when the team made its debut in the 1992 Daytona 500 led by Washington Football Team head coach Joe Gibbs. By then, Interstate Batteries was sponsoring the car while Dale Jarrett, a second-generation competitor from Hickory, North Carolina, was serving as the team’s first competitor. Jarrett and the No. 18 team achieved two top-five results and eight top-10 results throughout the 29-race schedule before finishing the team’s first season in 19th place.
The following season, Jarrett and the No. 18 Interstate Batteries car opened the season in style by winning the season-opening Daytona 500 as Jarrett recorded the first NASCAR win for Joe Gibbs Racing. Jarrett went on to record a total of 13 top-five results and 18 top-10 results before he finished in fourth place in the final standings. In 1994, Jarrett won at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October and he notched four top-five results and nine top-10 results in 30 of the 31-race schedule, where he did not make the field at North Wilkesboro Speedway in October, before he concluded the season in 16th place in the final standings.
Following the 1994 season, Jarrett moved to Robert Yates Racing while Terry Labonte, the younger brother of the 1984 Cup champion Terry Labonte, took over as driver of JGR’s No. 18 Interstate Batteries car for the 1995 Cup season. Eleven races into the season, Labonte scored his first Cup career win in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May and he became the second competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series for JGR. Ironically, JGR’s No. 18 car made its 100th Cup career start when Labonte won his first career race at Charlotte.
Ultimately, Labonte achieved two additional victories throughout the 1995 season: Michigan International Speedway in June and again at Michigan in August. He also achieved two poles, seven top-five results and 14 top-10 results before he concluded the season in 10th place in the final standings.
From 1996 to 1998, Labonte and the No. 18 team won a total of four races and racked up 25 top-five results and 50 top-10 results, with Labonte’s best final result in the standings being a sixth-place result in 1998. By then, JGR’s No. 18 car surpassed 200 Cup starts. After winning five races and concluding the 1999 season in second place in the final standings behind Jarrett, Labonte and the No. 18 team notched four victories, 19 top-five results and 24 top-10 results before claiming the 2000 NASCAR Cup championship by 265 points over Dale Earnhardt. The championship was a first for both Labonte and Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR.
In 2001, Labonte and the No. 18 team were unable to defend their title after winning only two races, recording 20 top-10 results and concluding the season in sixth place in the final standings. By then, JGR’s No. 18 car surpassed 300 Cup starts. The following season, Labonte and the No. 18 team recorded only one victory throughout the 36-race schedule before finishing the season in 16th place in the final standings. By then, Joe Gibbs Racing achieved its second Cup championship with Tony Stewart and the No. 20 Home Depot team.
In 2003, Labonte and the No. 18 team rallied by winning twice throughout the 36-race schedule and racking up four poles, 12 top-five results and 17 top-10 results before concluding the season in eighth place in the final standings. For the next two Cup seasons, however, Labonte and the No. 18 team went winless. They also achieved one pole, nine top-five results and 18 top-10 results, with Labonte’s best points result being 12th place in 2004. By then, JGR’s No. 18 car surpassed 400 Cup starts.
For the 2006 season, J.J. Yeley, a native from Phoenix, Arizona, and a former USAC competitor who competed for JGR as an Xfinity Series competitor, assumed driving responsibilities of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet while Bobby Labonte made the move to Petty Enterprises. In his first full Cup season in the No. 18 car, Yeley struggled on the track as he only achieved three top-10 results before he finished in 29th place in the final standings. Following the 2006 season, JGR’s No. 18 team reached 500 Cup career starts.
Yeley and the No. 18 team rebounded the following season by notching a second-place result in the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 in May, three top-10 results and a pole position at Michigan International Speedway in June before concluding the season in 21st place in the final standings. Following the 2007 season, Joe Gibbs Racing changed manufacturers from General Motors to Toyota.
In 2008, JGR welcomed Las Vegas, Nevada’s Kyle Busch as the newest driver of the No. 18 Toyota Camry sponsored by M&M’s/Mars Inc. and Interstate Batteries. It only took the first four races into the season until Busch achieved his first victory with the team at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Busch’s win at Atlanta was historical with Toyota achieving its first victory in the Cup Series. Through the first 26 races of the season, Busch won eight races, recorded 17 top-10 results and led the standings for the majority of the season. When the 10-race Playoff stretch started, however, Busch struggled with on-track consistency and only notched four top-10 results before concluding the season in 10th place in the final standings.
Following the 2009 season, where Busch won four races and finished in 13th place in the final standings after missing the Playoffs, JGR’s No. 18 car surpassed 600 Cup starts. Busch and the No. 18 team went on to win a total of seven races from 2010 to 2011. At Texas Motor Speedway in November, Michael McDowell drove JGR’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota after Busch was not allowed to compete in the Cup and Xfinity events at Texas throughout the weekend due to intentionally wrecking Ron Hornaday Jr. in the Truck Series race at the track on Friday night.
After the 2012 season, where Busch won only once throughout the season and missed the Playoffs while JGR’s No. 18 car surpassed 700 Cup starts, Busch and the No. 18 team rallied in 2013 by winning four races before finishing in fourth place in the final standings. The fourth-place result in the 2013 standings marked the highest result for JGR’s No. 18 car in the standings since winning the 2000 championship. Busch and the No. 18 team went on to win only once and finish in 10th place in the 2014 final standings.
JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team started the 2015 season on a rocky note when Kyle Busch suffered a massive compound fracture on his right leg and fractured his left foot following a harrowing multi-car wreck in the Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February. The injuries prevented Busch from competing in the early portions of the season. As a result, the No. 18 car was piloted by two-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton, two-time Cup winner David Ragan and four-time Truck winner Erik Jones through the first 11 races of the season. Following the Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway in May, Busch made his return to racing the following week at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race. After finishing in sixth place in the All-Star Race, Busch finished in 11th place the following race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. Ironically, Busch’s first points race of the 2015 season at Charlotte occurred as JGR’s No. 18 car made its 800th Cup start.
Though Busch completed his first points race of the 2015 Cup season at Charlotte, he needed a win and enough consistent runs to make the top-30 cutoff mark in the standings by September and when the regular-season stretch concluded before the 16-car Playoff field would be determined. Busch and the No. 18 team achieved their first goal of winning at Sonoma Raceway in June. After finishing 17th at Daytona the following event, Busch and the No. 18 team went on a three-race winning span. The four victories along with five additional top-10 results throughout the summer were more than for Busch and the No. 18 team to remain inside the top-30 mark in the standings and make the Playoffs.
Following a consistent run in the Playoffs, Busch and JGR’s No. 18 team were one of four driver/team pairings to make it all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November and with an opportunity to win the 2015 Cup championship. During the finale, Busch led 41 laps and pulled away in a late shootout to win the finale and his first title in NASCAR’s premier series. With Busch becoming the first competitor since Richard Petty to win a Cup title despite not competing the entire season and recording the first Cup title for Toyota, JGR achieved its fourth Cup championship overall and its first since the 2005 season with Tony Stewart.
From 2016 to 2018, Busch and the No. 18 team achieved 17 wins. 53 top-five results and 75 top-10 results. In addition, Busch made the Championship Round in all three seasons, with a best result of second place in 2017 and finishing no lower than fourth place. Following the 2018 season, Busch surpassed 900 Cup career starts. He had also achieved a victory across every active track.
In 2019, Busch and the No. 18 team achieved five victories, 17 top-five results and 27 top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule. By winning the season finale at Homestead in November as a title contender, Busch achieved his second Cup championship and he became the 16th competitor to win multiple titles in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition, Joe Gibbs Racing achieved its fifth Cup title, third with the No. 18 car.
This season, through 31 races, Busch and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota have recorded 12 top-five results and 17 top-10 results, though the driver and the team remain winless. Currently, Busch is in ninth place in the Playoff standings and is 21 points below the top-eight cutline to advance to the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.
Catch Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 milestone start in the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
A significant milestone is in the making for Daniel Suarez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and driver of the No. 96 Toyota Camry for Gaunt Brothers Racing in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Cup Series event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Bank of America Roval 400, Suarez will reach 250 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.
A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Suarez’s racing career started with karts, where he won two national karting championships in 2004 and 2008. He went on to compete and win races in mini-stock cars, a support series of the NASCAR Peak Mexico Series in 2008. Suarez’s early racing success led him to compete in the NASCAR Mexico Series in 2010, where he claimed the series Rookie-of-the-Year title and went on to achieve an abundant of on-track success and wins in the series along with the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East through 2013 while alternating between racing in Mexico and the United States of America.
Following the 2013 season, Suarez achieved a total of five victories in the NASCAR Mexico Series with a best result of second place in 2012. He had also completed his first full-time season in the K&N Pro Series East with Rev Racing, where he achieved his first win at Ohio’s Columbus Motor Speedway before he concluded the season in third place in the final standings and all while being a NASCAR Drive for Diversity and Next member.
Suarez started the 2014 racing season by winning the first two K&N Pro Series East races of the season, the first at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway before backing it with a win at the UNOH Battle at the Beach around Daytona International Speedway’s mini oval backstretch course. He went on to record a total of four top-five results and seven top-10 results in 13 starts in the East Series. He also made his ARCA Racing Series at Kentucky Speedway with Venturini Motorsports in September, where he started third and finished fifth.
Two months after winning the UNOH Battle at the Beach, Suarez was selected by Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 20 Toyota Camry for the NASCAR Xfinity Series spring event at Richmond Raceway. Starting in 12th place, Suarez went on to finish in 19th place in his series debut. He made his second series start at Chicagoland Speedway in September. Driving the No. 29 ARRIS Toyota for RAB Racing, Suarez started 18th and notched a 15th-place result. He also made his NASCAR Truck Series debut at Talladega Superspeedway in October, where he started 17th and finished 15th while driving the No. 35 ARRIS Toyota Tundra for Win-Tron Racing.
Four months after making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Richmond, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Suarez will be competing in the series on a full-time basis in 2015. Driving the No. 18 ARRIS Toyota Camry led by crew chief Eric Phillips, Suarez recorded three poles, two Dash 4 Cash bonuses, eight top-five results, 18 top-10 results and an average result of 11.7 before he finished in fifth place in the final standings. He ended up claiming the Rookie-of-the-Year title over Bubba Wallace by virtue of one additional top-10 result. As a result, Suarez became the first Mexican and second Drive for Diversity competitor to achieve a rookie title in any of NASCAR’s three major division series. He also made 13 starts in the NASCAR Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports, where he achieved seven top-five results and 10 top-10 results. He also made four starts in the ARCA Series with Venturini Motorsports, where he recorded one pole, one top-five result and two top-10 results.
Suarez remained as a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing, piloting the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, and as a part-time competitor in the NASCAR Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2016. In 13 Truck starts, Suarez achieved his first career win at Phoenix Raceway in November and he also achieved one pole, three top-five results and six top-10 results. In the Xfinity Series and paired with crew chief Scott Graves, Suarez recorded 18 top-five results and 26 top-10 results through 32 of the 33-race schedule. By then, he also achieved his first two Xfinity career wins, the first at Michigan International Speedway in June and the second at Dover International Speedway during the inaugural Xfinity Playoffs in October. With his first win at Michigan, he became the first Mexican-born competitor to win within NASCAR’s three major division series. Suarez, ultimately, entered the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November as one of four competitors contending for the championship. During the finale, Suarez led a race-high 133 of 200 laps and went on to beat Elliott Sadler, Justin Allgaier and teammate Erik Jones in a two-lap shootout to win the finale and the 2016 Xfinity championship. With his accomplishment, Suarez became the first foreign-born/Latin American competitor to win a championship within NASCAR’s three major division series and he recorded the second Xfinity drivers’ title for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Following the sudden departure of Carl Edwards, Suarez was named a full-time competitor of the No. 19 ARRIS/Stanley Tools/Subway Toyota Camry for JGR for the 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season, marking Suarez’s first opportunity in competing in NASCAR’s premier series. Suarez made his Daytona 500 debut in February, where he finished 29th after crashing out in the second half of the season. Three races later, he achieved his first top-10 result in the series by finishing in seventh place at Phoenix in March. He went on to achieve 11 additional top-10 results and a best result of third place at Watkins Glen International in August, where he also won a stage, for the remainder of the season. He also won the Monster Energy Open preliminary race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, where he transferred to his first All-Star Race appearance and went on to finish in 15th place of the 20-car field. When the season concluded, he finished in 20th place in the final standings and he ended up finishing in second place in the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings behind Erik Jones. Throughout the 2017 season, Suarez also made 14 starts in the Xfinity Series for JGR, where he achieved five top-five results and eight top-10 results. Following the 2017 season, Suarez surpassed 100 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series.
Suarez remained as driver of the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2018. Throughout his sophomore season in the Cup Series, he achieved his first career pole position at Pocono Raceway in July and he went on to achieve a career-best second-place result during the main event following a late battle with teammate Kyle Busch. Another bright moment of Suarez’s 2018 Cup season occurred at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, where he won the second stage of the Monster Energy Open preliminary event, transferred to his second consecutive All-Star Race appearance and settled in second place following a late battle with Kevin Harvick. Suarez also achieved a total of 12 top-10 results and he concluded the season in 21st place in the final standings. He also made two Xfinity Series with JGR, where he finished in the top 10 in both races. Following the 2018 season, however, Suarez was released from JGR in favor of Martin Truex Jr.
A month before the 2019 season started, Suarez was named driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/ARRIS Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series season led by Billy Scott. He started the season on a low note by racking up his third consecutive DNF in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car wreck. He rallied the following race at Atlanta Motor Speedway by finishing in 10th place. Four races later and following a three-race stretch of finishing no higher than 13th, he finished 10th at Martinsville before he recorded a strong third-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Suarez achieved nine top-10 results and one pole position. His late consistent surge on the track was not enough, however, to make the 2019 Cup Playoffs after he finished in 11th place in the regular-season finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and being beaten by Ryan Newman for the final spot to the Playoffs. It marked the third consecutive season where Suarez failed to make the Cup Playoff field as he has yet to do so. Nonetheless, he went on to achieve two additional top-10 results and finish the season in 17th place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 200 starts across NASCAR’s three major division series. Despite a productive junior season in the Cup circuit, Suarez was released from SHR in favor of Cole Custer.
A month before the 2020 season started, Suarez joined forces with Gaunt Brothers Racing to drive the 96 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Cup Series season. He started this season on a low note when he crashed out in the second Duel race at Daytona International Speedway in February and failed to make the Daytona 500. His first start with GBR was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway the following week, where he finished 30th after encountering mechanical issues at the start of the race.
Through 30 starts this season, Suarez has finished no higher than 18th place, which occurred twice at Bristol Motor Speedway in May and at Kansas Speedway in July. His average result is 26.4 and he is ranked in 31st place in the standings. While he has yet to achieve his first Cup Series win, he is set to drive for the newly formed Trackhouse Entertainment Group and in the No. 99 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE in 2021.
Catch Suarez’s milestone start in the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Denny Hamlin will be starting on pole position for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the third annual Bank of America Roval 400 on Sunday, October 11.
The starting lineup was based on four stats: current owner’s standings, the driver’s results from a previous Cup race, the owner’s results from a previous Cup race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Cup race.
With that, Hamlin, who won last weekend’s Playoff race at Talladega Superspeedway, was awarded the top starting spot for this weekend’s race at Charlotte, which serves as the third and final event in the Round of 12 of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. This will mark the third time this season where Hamlin will start on pole position as he is secured into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs following his victory at Talladega.
Chase Elliott, the reigning winner of the Charlotte Roval, will start alongside Hamlin on the front row. Brad Keselowski will start in third place followed by Kevin Harvick and Alex Bowman, who was revealed as the newest driver of the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2021 season a day ago.
Austin Dillon, who currently sits 21 points below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, will start in sixth place followed by Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch. Teammates Clint Bowyer and Aric Almirola will line up in 11th and 12th.
Starting in positions 13-26 are William Byron, Erik Jones, Ryan Newman, Tyler Reddick, Ty Dillon, Ryan Preece, John Hunter Nemechek, Matt DiBenedetto, Chris Buescher, Brennan Poole, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Blaney, Quin Houff and Bubba Wallace.
Starting in positions 27-38 are Timmy Hill, Cole Custer, Joey Gase, Jimmie Johnson, Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, J.J. Yeley, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Gray Gaulding, James Davison and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
The Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course will occur on Sunday, October 11, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
1. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished seventh at Charlotte and heads to Round 2 in second, five points behind Kyle Busch.
“Last year,” Truex said, “Jimmie Johnson cost me the win here. He made an insane attempt to pass for the lead on the final corner. It didn’t end well for either of us. Things haven’t ended well for Jimmie in years.”
2. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 37th in the Bank Of America Roval 400, 10 laps down.
“I decided to call it a day when the race was red-flagged to allow clean up after a multi-car crash,” Busch said. “It was too hot to sit in the car any longer, and I was already three laps down. That was me saying ‘Bu-bye.’ That’s called ‘quitting while you’re behind.’”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 19th at Charlotte.
“Charlotte’s ‘roval’ is one of the trickiest tracks in NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “It requires a great deal of concentration. One lapse and you will find yourself driving straight into a barrier. Then winning.”
4. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished third at Charlotte and heads to the next round of the playoffs fifth in the points.
“I think NASCAR needs more road courses,” Harvick said. “Just so we can use the word ‘chicane’ more often. If you asked NASCAR fans if they know what a ‘chicane’ is, they would tell you ‘No.’ But chances are they would know they don’t like it.”
5. Chase Elliott: Elliott recovered from crashing head-on into a tire barrier while leading to win at Charlotte’s roval.
“That’s called ‘driving the brakes off’ the car,” Elliott said. “Luckily, my airbag didn’t deploy.”
6. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished fifth in the Bank Of America Roval 400.
“You really have to work to navigate Charlotte’s roval,” Keselowski said. “There are 17 turns; couple that with in-car temperatures in the 120s and the only way to describe it is ‘turn and burn.’”
7. Joey Logano: Logano finished 10th at Charlotte and starts Round 2 of the playoffs fourth in the points, 17 behind Kyle Busch in first.
“I only needed to finish 29th or better to advance to the next round,” Logano said. “So, ‘Admission Accomplished.’”
8. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 at Charlotte and finished 13th.
“I had a pit lane penalty,” Larson said. “I left my pit box while a crew member was trying to remove tape from the front of the car. That’s a violation and I was penalized a lap. I guess a ‘drive through’ penalty would have made more sense.”
9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished eighth at Charlotte.
“Not many people think I can win the championship,” Blaney said. “But before I can wrap my arms around the Monster Energy Cup championship trophy, I have to embrace the role of underdog. It almost sounds like a romance novel. Hey, whatever gets your engine revving.”
10. Alex Bowman: Bowman claimed a spot in Round 2 of the playoffs with a gutsy runner-up finish at Charlotte. On an oppressively hot day, Bowman required medical treatment for heat exhaustion after the race.
“I was dizzy,” Bowman said. “So, like Bubba Wallace, I was ‘spinning.’
“I’m currently feuding with Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace. If they want to come after me, I welcome it. If they feel froggy, they should jump, or as it’s known on the roval, ‘wheel hop.’ It would be the only way they can impact the playoffs.”
Martin Truex Jr. came into the final Round of 16 with momentum after collecting two of the three wins in the first round. Coming into the Charlotte Roval Truex was looking to sweep the entire round for the first time in his career.
Things were looking great for the No. 19 team until final practice on Saturday afternoon. Truex’s Toyota Camary engine expired in the backstretch chicane, forcing Truex and his team to change the motor and sending the team to a backup car.
The disappointment carried over to Sunday’s race where the New Jersey native missed the chicane and had to stop the on the front stretch. From there, the team struggled in the race trying to play pit strategy to gain track position. Truex was unable to get any top-10 stage finishes and wound up a disappointing seventh-place finish after winning the first two races in the Round of 16.
“It was up and down for sure,” Truex said to PRN Radio. “To start from the back like that, get penalized from the beginning for avoiding a wreck for missing the chicane is pretty stupid. Started way behind there, made our way up to second. Just didn’t have a good enough car or to take the lead. Then I just got really lose at the end. We probably should have got tires, but we didn’t expect all those cautions at the end.”
Truex will be seeded in the second position, five points behind his teammate Kyle Busch.
