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  • Joey Logano crowned third Cup Series championship at Phoenix

    Joey Logano crowned third Cup Series championship at Phoenix

    Two years after elevating his racing status to a new level by winning his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, Joey Logano elevated his status to another level and in an elite category of three-time champions in NASCAR’s premier series by claiming a dominant victory in the 2024 finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led twice for 107 of 312-scheduled laps in a finale where he started on the front row alongside Martin Truex Jr. and grabbed the lead for the first time amid an early restart on Lap 10. Logano would claim the first stage victory before he dropped to fifth place in the running order after enduring a slow pit service from his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team during the stage break. Nonetheless, Logano spent the remainder of the finale racing towards the front while battling amongst his Championship 4 contenders William Byron, Tyler Reddick and teammate Ryan Blaney.

    Then during the finale’s final restart period with 54 laps remaining, Logano, who restarted in fifth place, gained two spots for a full lap before he made a bold three-wide pass beneath Byron and Christopher Bell to assume the lead in both the race and the championship battle. Despite having teammate Ryan Blaney inching up on him through every turn and straightaway while cutting away his advantage, Logano had enough horsepower to fend off Blaney to win the 2024 finale and claim his third Cup Series championship in seven seasons in the process.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, November 9, Martin Truex Jr. notched his 25th and final Cup Series pole position as a full-time competitor with a pole-winning lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Championship 4 contender Joey Logano, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 134.690 mph in 26.728 seconds. Logano’s three Championship 4 rivals that included William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney qualified eighth, 10th and 17th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, Jeb Burton, who was driving the No. 50 Team AmeriVet Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple inspection failures and was also forced to serve a stop-and-go penalty at the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, Martin Truex Jr. muscled his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg while Joey Logano and Ross Chastain dueled for second place in front of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron. Logano would fend off Chastain for the runner-up spot through the first two turns while Byron and Tyler Reddick were in the midst of a seven-car battle for fourth place through the backstretch. Amid the early battles within the field, Truex led the first lap.

    Shortly after, the finale’s first caution period flew when Ty Gibbs, who was racing in seventh place through Turns 3 and 4, went up the racetrack and scrubbed the frontstretch’s outside wall. Despite dropping to 12th place, Gibbs initially kept his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE running straight before he broke loose through the dogleg and veered dead right into the frontstretch’s outside wall again, which knocked him out of contention amid the hard wreck.

    Following an extensive caution period, the finale restarted under green on the ninth lap. At the start, Truex and Logano dueled for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg and in front of the field that fanned out. Logano then started to gain the edge from the outside lane and he emerged slightly ahead through the backstretch before he cleared Truex entering Turn 3. As Logano led the 10th lap mark, a four-wide action for seventh place occurred between Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin while Ross Chastain retained third place ahead of Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and William Byron. Reddick would prevail in the four-wide action for seventh place, which he assumed, while Hamlin was still dueling against Larson and Cindric for eighth place in front of rookie Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney.

    Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Logano was leading by more than a second over Truex while Bell, Byron and Elliott followed suit in the top five. Behind, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Cindric while Blaney was up to eighth place ahead of Larson and Chastain. Logano would continue to lead the finale by more than a second over Truex by the Lap 30 mark while his title rivals Byron, Reddick and Blaney trailed from fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, on the track.

    At the Lap 45 mark, Logano’s early advantage decreased to less than half a second over Truex, though the former was able to stabilize the lead while third-place Bell trailed by more than a second. By then, Byron retained fourth place and he trailed the lead by three seconds while Reddick was being challenged by Blaney for sixth place. Reddick would continue to fend off Blaney for sixth place on the track while Logano retained the lead over Truex by Lap 50.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Logano, who is pursuing his third Cup Series championship, captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Truex followed suit in second ahead of Bell, Byron and Elliott while Blaney, Redick, Hamlin, Larson and Cindric were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Logano pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Elliott exited pit road first and assumed the lead as he was followed by Bell, Byron, Blaney, Logano, Hamlin, Truex, Reddick, Larson and Chris Buescher. Amid the pit stops, Logano endured a slow pit service, which cost him four spots on pit road. In addition, Corey LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Not long after, the finale was placed in a red flag period for nearly six minutes after the Toyota Camry XSE pace car made a late left-hand swerve from the track to the pit road’s entrance and got sideways, which resulted in the pace car hitting the sand barrels while the leader Elliott barely avoided the pace car.

    Following the repairs made towards the pit road entrance, the second stage period started on Lap 71 as Elliott and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Bell outdueled Elliott through the first two turns to muscle his No. 20 DeWalt/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE ahead through the backstretch. Bell proceeded to lead the next lap ahead of Elliott while title rivals Blaney and Byron dueled for third place in front of Logano, Hamlin, Truex and Reddick. By Lap 75, three of the four Championship 4 contenders that included Blaney, Byron and Logano were racing from third to fifth, respectively, on the track and Reddick was battling Larson for eighth place while Bell continued to lead.

    By Lap 85, Bell stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Blaney had third place to his possession over Byron. Behind, Logano trailed in fifth place and Reddick was mired in 10th place while Bell proceeded to stretch his lead to a second on Lap 90.

    Just past the Lap 100 mark, Bell continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott while third-place Blaney, who was leading the championship battle, trailed the race lead by two seconds. Behind Blaney was Byron, who was mired in between Blaney and Logano while Reddick continued to trail in 10th place.

    Fifteen laps later, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Hamlin pitted his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE. By then, Daniel Suarez had pitted while Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, rookie Zane Smith, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Corey LaJoie, Elliott, Byron and Logano would all pit behind Hamlin. Reddick and teammate Bubba Wallace would pit under green by Lap 117 as more names including Cindric, Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Dillon and Blaney all followed suit.

    Towards the Lap 120 mark and with more names pitting, the top-six competitors led by Larson and including Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland and Daniel Hemric have yet to pit while Bell trailed by more than 25 seconds. As select names from the list, including Hocevar, Larson and Bowman, pitted, Bell cycled back into the lead on Lap 127. By then, he had Blaney trailing him by less than a second while Byron and Logano were mired within the top-eight mark.

    Nearing the Lap 140 mark, Bell extended his lead to more than two seconds over Blaney while third-place Byron trailed by nearly four seconds. Meanwhile, Logano, who trailed the lead by more than five seconds in fourth place on the track, received teammate Austin Cindric’s jackman due to his regular jackman feeling unwell and was taken to the infield care center. As Reddick continued to be mired as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 10th place, Bell stabilized his lead to more than two seconds by Lap 140.

    At the Lap 150 mark, Bell retained the lead by within two seconds over Blaney. Behind, Byron retained third place as he trailed the lead by more than four seconds while fourth-place Logano followed suit as he started to challenge Byron for third place. Logano would then duel and overtake Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by Lap 152 while Bell’s lead decreased to more than a second over Blaney.

    By Lap 160, Blaney started to reel in on Bell, who was navigating through lapped traffic, for the lead as he trailed by within half a second. Then after tracking Bell over the next 17 laps, Blaney used the outside lane entering the frontstretch to duel with Bell for the lead. They remained dead even for the following lap before Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in both the race and the championship battle. With Blaney fending off Bell, Logano started to close in from third place.

    Starting from Lap 180, Bell challenged Blaney for the lead through every corner and straightaway as they started to catch lapped traffic. Despite gaining the advantage through the turns from the inside lane, Bell would get fended off by Blaney as Logano joined the battle.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Blaney, who made a daring three-wide pass in between the lapped competitors of Briscoe and LaJoie, fended off Bell and Logano to capture his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Byron and Hamlin followed suit in the top five while Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Truex and Reddick were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Blaney returned to pit road for another round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Bell exited pit road first and was followed by Blaney, Byron, Logano, Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Hamlin.

    With 118 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Bell and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Bell cleared both Blaney and Logano to retain the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Reddick, who restarted in 10th place, used the outside lane to muscle his No. 45 Tame the Beast Toyota Camry XSE up alongside Buescher for sixth place. Then through the backstretch, Reddick made slight contact with Buescher as Buescher nearly turned Elliott, but all three kept their cars running straight as Reddick gained the sixth-place spot. He then overtook Larson for the following lap. By then, all four Championship 4 contenders were racing second through fifth, respectively, on the track as Bell retained the lead.

    With 110 laps remaining, Bell stretched his advantage to more than a second over Logano, who dueled and overtook teammate Blaney for the spot and the championship battle, while Byron and Reddick continued to follow suit in the top five on the track. Bell would stabilize his lead to seven-tenths of a second over Logano with 100 laps remaining while Blaney, Byron and Reddick continued to trail Logano in the title battle.

    Down to the final 85 laps of the finale, Bell continued to lead by more than a second over Logano, who had teammate Blaney pressuring him for the top spot in the championship battle. Behind, Byron trailed by three seconds while Reddick, who was overtaken by Larson, trailed in sixth place by more than seven seconds.

    Then with 78 laps remaining, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as both Bell and Logano pitted their respective entries. A bevy of names including Bowman, Blaney, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Buescher, Truex, Hocevar, Hamlin, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Suarez, Josh Berry, Zane Smith, Cindric, Chastain all pitted during the ensuing laps while Byron, who opted to remain on the track and stretch his fuel tank as far as possible, was leading.

    Then with 65 laps remaining, Byron pitted his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the lead under green as teammates Larson and Elliott remained on the track and cycled to first and second, respectively. Not long after Byron exited pit road following his completed pit service, the caution flew with 63 laps remaining when Zane Smith spun and wrecked backward against the Turn 1 outside wall.

    During the caution period, some including Larson, Elliott, Bell, Blaney, Logano and Reddick pitted while Byron remained on the track as he inherited the lead.

    As the finale restarted under green with 54 laps remaining, Byron retained a narrow advantage over teammate Larson through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Bell gained a run through the first two turns and dueled beneath Byron through the backstretch. Both Byron and Bell would continue to duel through Turns 3 and 4 before Logano made it a three-wide battle for the lead through the frontstretch. Logano then used the frontstretch’s dogleg to motor his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead entering Turn 1 while Larson challenged both teammate Byron and Bell for the runner-up spot. Byron would prevail in the three-car battle as he claimed the runner-up spot ahead of Bell while Blaney and Larson dueled for third place. Larson, Bell and Blaney then went three wide against one another for third place before Larson prevailed while Logano retained the lead with 50 laps remaining.

    With 40 laps remaining, Logano retained the lead in both the finale and the championship battle by one-and-a-half seconds over Byron while third-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Blaney occupied fourth place ahead of Bell and Reddick while Wallace, Elliott, Buescher and Gragson were in the top 10. Over the next 10 laps, Blaney would move up to third place on the track, where he trailed the lead by nearly three seconds, and Reddick would retain sixth place, where he trailed the lead by six-and-a-half seconds, while Logano continued to lead by less than two seconds over Byron with 30 laps remaining.

    Then with 23 laps remaining, Blaney, who was the fastest competitor on the track, dueled and overtook Byron for the runner-up spot, where he just managed to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Byron during the following lap. By then, teammate Logano continued to lead the championship battle by more than two seconds and he would retain the two-second advantage over a hard-charging Blaney with 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the finale, Logano’s advantage decreased to nine-tenths of a second over Blaney, who continued to shave off Logano’s lead through every corner and straightaway while Logano was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic. By then, Byron trailed the lead by more than two seconds while Reddick trailed by eight seconds in sixth place on the track.

    Five laps later, Logano continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney, who had his Team Penske teammate within sight and reach, while third-place Byron trailed by four seconds. Over the next two laps, Blaney cut the deficit from Logano to half a second and three-tenths of a second before he got to Logano’s rear bumper through the backstretch with seven laps remaining.

    Then with six laps remaining, Blaney tried to make his move beneath teammate Logano through the first two turns, but Logano stood on the gas and retained the lead by within a tenth of a second through the backstretch. He then tried to make a move to the outside lane entering Turn 3, but Logano used the inside lane to retain the lead. For the following lap, Blaney lost a little ground to Logano as the latter led by two-tenths of a second. Logano’s advantage then slightly grew to three-tenths of a second over the next lap as teammate Blaney, who kept Logano within sight, was trying to regain his momentum to get close to Logano’s rear bumper.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano, who was mired behind lapped traffic, remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Then as Blaney tried to gain a run to Logano through the frontstretch, he over-drove the first turn and nearly hit the outside wall. This allowed Logano to muscle ahead by nearly half a second through the backstretch. Blaney then stood on the gas and tried to get a run to Logano’s right rear, but it was not enough as Logano managed to cycle back ahead entering the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second over Blaney to win both the finale and his third Cup Series championship.

    With his third championship in seven seasons, Logano became the 10th competitor overall to reach three titles in NASCAR’s premier series and the first to claim a third Cup championship since Tony Stewart achieved his in 2011. The championship was the fifth overall for Team Penske, the organization’s third in a row in recent seasons, and the third for veteran crew chief Paul Wolfe.

    By winning the finale, Logano notched his fourth Cup Series victory of the 2024 season, his third at Phoenix and the 36th of his career. The 2024 season marks the 10th time in 11 seasons that the current Playoff-elimination format featured the championship-winning competitor win the finale as Logano had previously accomplished both the finale victory and the title during the 2018 and 2022 seasons.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I love the Playoffs,” Logano said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I love it, man. What a race. What a Team Penske battle there at the end. [I] Had a good restart and was able to get in front of [Blaney]. He had a lot of long-run speed there. That was all I had there to hold him off. Man, three [championships]. That’s really special to get to [three titles]. What a team to fight through today. We threw a little bit of adversity throughout the race. [Crew chief] Paul Wolfe, I mean, what a crew chief do I have. I got the best team. I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I got the best team. Together, we’re very well-rounded and can show up when it matters the most. We get a mentally tough team that can make things happen when it matters.”

    “[Spotter] Coleman Pressley, he was telling me where [Blaney] was,” Logano added. “He’s up there [in the spotter stands] telling me [the] best lanes to run and it’s a balance of putting dirty air on [Blaney] and running the fastest laps for my Ford. We just got a little too tight there at the end and I couldn’t really wrap the bottom as good as I wanted to. A one-two [finish] for Team Penske, three championships in a row since this Next Gen car. [I] Couldn’t be more proud of everyone at the shop that’s built these things. The race [for the championship] started in Vegas for us and the amount of work and effort that went into building this race car right here, the amount of time. I mean, I don’t think anyone works harder than us. We were up at six this morning going over stuff, but the guys just want it bad and I’m glad we delivered. It was looking iffy there for a minute, but that late-race restart [with 54 laps remaining] was really the difference maker. Gosh, I’m so proud of the team.”

    As Logano celebrated with his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team on the championship stage, teammate Blaney, Byron and Reddick were left disappointed on pit road as the trio fell short of achieving their championships.

    By finishing in second place both on the track and in the final standings, Blaney, who made his second consecutive appearance in the Championship 4 round, fell one spot short of becoming the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006-10. Nonetheless, Blaney, who capped off the season with three victories, extended his congratulations to teammate Logano for delivering another Cup Series championship to team owner Roger Penske.

    “Yeah, [I’m] just worn out,” Blaney said. “[I] Just couldn’t quite get there. I tried really hard to do so. Just [the last] restart didn’t really work out. [Logano] just got too far away from me and it took me a while to pass a couple guys. [I] Just could never get by Joey and just ran out of time, but congrats to him. Congrats to the No. 22 team and Pennzoil and Ford. They put together a great Playoffs and we’re happy. If we’re going to race somebody, I’m happy it was [Logano] for the championship and happy to be one, two for [owner] Roger [Penske]. Three in a row for Roger. Super amazing. On my side, I hate it for Menards,…everybody who really puts a lot of effort into our program. Just super fast. Just didn’t quite have enough there at the end. At least, a Penske car won it, but yeah, heck of a battle. [I] Hope the fans enjoyed it and yeah, hopefully, we come back even stronger next year.”

    William Byron, who also made his second consecutive Championship 4 appearance, capped off his seventh full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series highlighted with three victories and the 2024 Daytona 500 victory in third place both on the track and in the final standings. Tyler Reddick, who made his first Championship 4 appearance and notched a total of three victories and the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Championship, could only climb his way up as high to sixth place in the final running order, which left him strapped in fourth place in the final standings.

    “We just needed a little bit more,” Byron said. “I felt like we gave it all we had and that’s something to be proud of. We just didn’t have enough to go fight with the Penske guys. [Crew chief] Rudy [Fugle] made a great call. I was really proud of that. That was cool to give us a shot at the front row and ultimately, it netted out better. Just not quite enough, but so proud of this team. It’s been a great year. To make the Championship 4 and win the [Daytona] 500 is awesome. I know what we need to work on and we’ll go at it next year.”

    “I think we definitely got our [Tame the] Beast Camry better throughout the day,” Reddick added. “[Blaney, Byron, and Logano] were able to pull away over time. It was a good year for us and everyone at 23XI [Racing]. To get to the Championship 4 and have a shot at [the title] was nice. We got to get a little bit better here at Phoenix. Obviously, we’re definitely motivated to do that knowing [the] championship’s sited here. Good year for us. Proud of the effort. It’s a lot to do. All the preparation, all the work that goes into this. It takes everybody. We were close. We were just not quite good enough, unfortunately.”

    Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, both of whom were eliminated from the Playoffs a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, finished in the top five on the track at Phoenix. Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate at 23XI Racing, settled in seventh place while Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Martin Truex Jr. finished 17th in his 693rd and final start as a full-time Cup Series competitor while Carson Hocevar claimed the 2024 Rookie-of-the-Year title by finishing 18th. Chris Buescher, who ended up in ninth place at Phoenix, emerged as the highest non-Playoff contender in the standings in 17th place over Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch, the latter of whom concluded a Cup Series season winless for the first time in his career.

    In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing capped off its 16-year journey in the Cup Series with all four of its competitors (Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece) finishing the finale, Harrison Burton finished 16th in his final event with Wood Brothers Racing, Daniel Hemric finished 23rd in his final event with Kaulig Racing and Michael McDowell ended up 31st in his final event with Front Row Motorsports.

    There were 16 lead changes for nine different leaders. The finale featured four cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 19 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, 107 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ryan Blaney, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. William Byron, 19 laps led

    4. Kyle Larson, 13 laps led

    5. Christopher Bell, 143 laps led

    6. Tyler Reddick

    7. Bubba Wallace

    8. Chase Elliott

    9. Chris Buescher

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Denny Hamlin

    12. Noah Gragson

    13. Austin Cindric

    14. Alex Bowman, one lap led

    15. Brad Keselowski

    16. Harrison Burton

    17. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    18. Carson Hocevar

    19. Ross Chastain

    20. Todd Gilliland, one lap down, one lap led

    21. Kyle Busch, one lap down

    22. Erik Jones, one lap down

    23. Daniel Hemric, one lap down

    24. Josh Berry, one lap down

    25. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    26. Jimmie Johnson, two laps down

    27. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    28. Justin Haley, two laps down

    29. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    30. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down

    31. Michael McDowell, three laps down

    32. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    34. Kaz Grala, four laps down

    35. JJ Yeley, six laps down

    36. Chad Finchum, 10 laps down

    37. Ryan Preece, 10 laps down

    38. Jeb Burton, 18 laps down

    39. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident

    40. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Joey Logano

    2. Ryan Blaney

    3. William Byron

    4. Tyler Reddick

    5. Christopher Bell

    6. Kyle Larson

    7. Chase Elliott

    8. Denny Hamlin

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Martin Truex Jr.

    11. Austin Cindric

    12. Daniel Suarez

    13. Brad Keselowski

    14. Chase Briscoe

    15. Ty Gibbs

    16. Harrison Burton

    The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 2, 2025, for the annual Busch Light Clash. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2025, and will officially commence a new season of competition.

  • Carson Hocevar named 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year

    Carson Hocevar named 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year

    Carson Hocevar has officially been named the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

    The 21-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, made his Cup Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023, where he filled in as an interim competitor for Corey LaJoie in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry as LaJoie was filling for the suspended Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry. By then, Hocevar was campaigning in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Niece Motorsports. Starting 26th, Hocevar ended up in 36th place, dead last, in his Cup debut after he blew a right-front tire through the frontstretch, hit the outside wall and slid into the Turn 1 outside wall within the Lap 90 mark.

    For eight of the remaining 10 events of the 2023 Cup Series season, Hocevar piloted the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Legacy Motor Club. During the 10-race stint, Hocevar achieved a season-best 11th-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in September and a total of five top-20 results. In the midst of Hocevar’s part-time Cup campaign, he made the Championship 4 round in the Truck Series and settled in third place in the final standings despite racking up a total of four victories throughout the season.

    In October 2023, Hocevar announced his graduation to the Cup Series on a full-time basis, where he would replace Ty Dillon to drive the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Spire Motorsports, where he would be paired with veteran crew chief Luke Lambert. Hocevar commenced his first full-time Cup campaign on a low note after he was involved in a multi-car wreck on the fifth lap that sidelined him in 40th place, dead last. The Michigan native would rebound during the following event at Atlanta Motor Speedway by finishing 19th before he recorded back-to-back 15th-place finishes between Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, respectively. Another five races later, he recorded his first top-10 result in the Cup Series by finishing 10th at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

    Then after finishing no higher than 17th over his next five starts, Hocevar recorded a strong eighth-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. He would proceed to finish in the top 20 10 times over his next 11 starts before he achieved a career-best starting spot of second place for the 2024 Cup Series regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway for the Southern 500 in September. Hocevar, however, would end up in 33rd place after being involved in two separate incidents. By then, he missed the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs as he was ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings.

    For the remaining 10 events on the 2024 Cup schedule, Hocevar racked up an additional seven top-20 results and two top-10 results. Mired within the results, he achieved his first top-five result by notching a career-best third-place run at Watkins Glen International in September. The Michigan native would also record a ninth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-October before he settled in 18th place during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, which was enough for him to wrap up the 2024 rookie title in NASCAR’s premier series as he ended up in 21st place in the final championship standings. With a total of 23 top-20 results recorded throughout the 36-race schedule, Hocevar final average-finishing result was 18.3.

    By claiming the 2024 rookie title, Hocevar became the first Michigan native to achieve a Cup rookie title since Erik Jones made the last accomplishment in 2017 and the first Chevrolet competitor to do so since Daniel Hemric made the previous accomplishment in 2019. Hocevar also became the first competitor from the Spire Motorsports organization to claim the Cup rookie title.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Hocevar’s closest rival for this year’s Cup rookie title was Josh Berry, who commenced the season by succeeding the 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick in Stewart-Haas Racing’s iconic No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry. Berry, who recorded two third-place results and a total of four top-10 results, ended up in 27th place in the final standings. Hocevar’s other rivals for the rookie title included teammate Zane Smith and Kaz Grala. Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion who campaigned in his first full-time Cup season with Spire Motorsports, settled in 30th place in the final standings on the strengths of a career-best runner-up result at Nashville Superspeedway in June along with a total of two top-five results and four top-10 results. Meanwhile, Grala, who campaigned on a part-time basis between Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing, recorded a total of three top-20 results in 24 starts.

    “Being named Sunoco Rookie of the Year is special,” Hocevar said. “I got beat out for Rookie of the Year in the CRAFTSMAN Truck series, and I didn’t run in the Xfinity Series full time so to win the award in the NASCAR Cup Series is a huge accomplishment for our whole team. It definitely didn’t come easy. Josh [Berry] has won a bunch of Xfinity races, and the No. 4 team won tons of races and a championship with [crew chief] Rodney [Childers] and [Kevin] Harvick. We also had Zane [Smith] in contention, who raced for Spire Motorsports and has won several Truck Series races and a championship. It was a good group of accomplished drivers vying for it, and it means a lot to come out on top. We ran really strong at the end of the year and were able to pull away in terms of points. These last several weeks show our capabilities as a team.”

    With the rookie title achieved, Hocevar, who is under a multi-year deal with Spire Motorsports, is set to return for a second full-time Cup Series campaign in 2025 and with goals to race his way into Victory Lane for the first time and make the Playoffs.

    “This award will be something that will live with me my whole career, and I’m proud to be known as the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year,” Hocevar added. “There’s an elite list of guys who have won it, and many of them went on to win races and championships. The award is something you only have one shot at. You can never go back and try to win Rookie or the Year later down the line. It is the only thing like that in racing. It is cool to win something so significant this year, and the mission is now to get the No. 77 car to Victory Lane and in the playoffs in 2025.”

    The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, for the Busch Light Clash on February 2, 2025. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway scheduled for February 16, 2025, to commence a new season of competition.

  • Ryan Blaney earns redemptive Cup victory at Martinsville; William Byron Awarded Final Championship 4 Berth

    Ryan Blaney earns redemptive Cup victory at Martinsville; William Byron Awarded Final Championship 4 Berth

    Amid a whirlwind of emotions among the remaining playoff contenders battling for the final two Championship 4 spots, Ryan Blaney emerged triumphant with a thrilling late-race victory in the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, November 3. This hard-fought win not only brought him a sense of elation and redemption but also secured his place in the championship fight for the final race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.

    The reigning Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led three times for 32 of the 500-scheduled laps after starting in 14th place and methodically marching up the leaderboard. He then racked up six crucial stage points by finishing fifth following the first stage period. Blaney would then lead his first 16 laps and accumulate an additional nine stage points during the second stage period where he finished second behind Brad Keselowski. He also survived the stage’s four caution periods and executing a pit strategy for track position towards the front in the closing stages of the second stage.

    Blaney restarted in the top 10 for the start of the final stage period with 230 laps remaining and spent the majority of the period racing toward the front. He endured back-to-back restarts amid back-to-back cautions within the final 100 laps and used the final restart period with 87 laps remaining to march his way to the front.

    After outdueling Playoff contender Chase Elliott for the lead with 14 laps remaining, Blaney stormed away and cruised to his third checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season. The victory all but punched Blaney’s ticket back to the Championship 4 round and awarded him an opportunity to defend his series title against teammate Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick and William Byron. Byron was awarded the final Playoff berth after Christopher Bell’s Playoff berth was revoked due to “wall-riding” the final corner that initially enabled him to gain the final upper hand to the finale.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, November 2, Martin Truex Jr., the fastest competitor during the event’s practice session on Saturday, notched his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season in his penultimate start as a full-time competitor with a pole-winning lap at 96.190 mph in 19.686 seconds. Joining Truex on the front row was Playoff contender Chase Elliott, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 95.840 mph in 19.758 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names that included Austin Cindric, Corey LaJoie and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. By then, Hamlin was already scheduled to start in 37th place, dead last, after he opted not to qualify due to repairs made to his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry after he crashed due to a stuck throttle during Saturday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Martin Truex Jr. rocketed his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE ahead from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he led the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind jostled for early spots through two stacked lanes, Truex cycled back to the frontstretch and led the first lap while Chase Elliott maintained the runner-up spot ahead of Playoff teammate William Byron, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe.

    Over the next four laps, Truex maintained a steady advantage over Elliott despite getting bumped by the latter through every corner. Behind, Byron retained third place ahead of Gibbs and Briscoe while Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Playoff contender Kyle Larson followed suit in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Truex was leading by four-tenths of a second over Elliott while Byron, Gibbs, Briscoe, Preece, Burton, Bowman, Austin Dillon and Larson continued to follow suit in the top 10. With three of eight Playoff contenders racing in the top 10 on the track in the event’s early stages, Playoff contender Ryan Blaney was mired in 11th place while his Playoff teammate Joey Logano was in 13th place ahead of Playoff contender Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin was mired in 34th place as he was racing behind Playoff contender and his 23XI Racing competitor Tyler Reddick.

    Fifteen laps later, Truex stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Elliott while third-place Byron trailed by more than a second. With Briscoe and Preece racing in the top five, Larson retained 10th place ahead of Blaney while Logano and Bell retained 13th and 14th, respectively. Towards the rear of the field, Hamlin was up to 31st place while Reddick was back in 34th place.

    Another 10 laps later, Truex, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over runner-up Elliott and by more than a second over third-place Byron. Behind, Blaney and Larson swapped spots as Blaney was in 10th place while Logano and Bell remained in 13th and 14th, respectively. Meanwhile, Hamlin cracked the top-30 mark as he was in 30th place while Reddick was strapped in 34th place.

    Then on Lap 41, Elliott and Truex dueled for the lead, starting from the first two turns, as Elliott made his move beneath Truex. After dueling with him through the backstretch, Elliott then muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 past Truex for the lead through Turns 3 and 4 as he assumed the lead for the following lap. With Elliott leading, Truex retained second over Byron as Briscoe and Preece started to close in.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Elliott slightly grew his lead by four-tenths of a second over Truex while teammate Byron trailed in third place by more than a second. As Briscoe and Preece followed suit in the top five, Blaney made his way up to eighth place while Larson was in 11th place. With Logano and Bell remaining in the top 15, Hamlin was up to 28th place while Reddick, who was lapped, retained 34th place.

    Ten laps later, Byron, who overtook Truex for the runner-up spot three laps earlier, was racing in second place in his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he trailed teammate Elliott by one-and-a-half seconds. As both Briscoe and Preece overtook Truex to move up to third and fourth, respectively, Hamlin, who was still racing in the top five, was up to 27th place and he would proceed to overtake Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for 26th place during the following lap.

    On Lap 65, Truex pitted his No. 19 Toyota under green from fifth place. By then, Reddick had also pitted despite losing two laps as Elliott stretched his lead to more than three seconds over teammate Byron. Not long after, Truex was assessed a drive-through penalty for driving too fast while entering pit road prior to his pit service. As Hamlin marched his way up to 23rd place behind Erik Jones on the track, Elliott stabilized his lead to two seconds over Byron at the Lap 75 mark as both Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher pitted under green.

    Shortly after, the event’s first caution period flew when Playoff contender Christopher Bell made contact with Corey LaJoie in between Turns 1 and 2 as both spun through the turns, though both managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to their respective cars. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Eliott pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Elliott exited pit road first ahead of teammate Byron as Briscoe, Preece, Todd Gilliland, Blaney, Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Larson and Joey Logano followed suit in the top 10.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 85, teammates Elliott and Byron dueled for the lead for a full lap as Byron led the next lap by a fender from the outside lane. Elliott would continue to duel with Byron during the next lap until he used the inside lane to motor ahead of Byron through the frontstretch and have both lanes under his control. With Elliott leading Byron, Briscoe followed suit ahead of Preece and Gilliland while Blaney and Larson were in sixth and eighth by the Lap 90 mark. Behind, Hamlin was up to 16th place, where he was four spots ahead of teammate Bell, while Logano was in 11th place.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Byron while Briscoe, Preece and Gilliland continued to race in the top five ahead of Blaney, Larson, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Logano. By then, Hamlin cracked the top 15 as he was in 15th place behind Daniel Hemric and teammate Bell was back in 21st place behind Bubba Wallace while Reddick, who was still a lap down, was strapped in 34th place.

    Ten laps later, Elliott stretched his advantage to more than a second over Byron as Briscoe and Preece continued to follow suit in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Blaney cracked the top five as he was in fifth place while Larson was also up to sixth place. Over the next 10 laps, Bell was locked in a heated battle with Noah Gragson for 20th place as both raced in front of Michael McDowell and Hamlin retained 15th place while Logano was up to ninth place. By then, Elliott retained the lead by more than a second over Byron.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 130, Elliott, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic and came into Martinsville 43 points below the top-four cutline in his efforts to make the Championship 4 round, captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season after fending off a last-lap bump from teammate Byron. Byron followed suit in second ahead of Briscoe, Preece and Blaney while Larson, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Logano and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Hamlin, Bell and Reddick were mired in 15th, 21st and 35th, respectively, with Reddick falling two laps behind.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Elliott returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Elliott retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Byron while Briscoe, Blaney, Preece, Bowman, Larson, Logano, Keselowski and Austin Dillon followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 141 as teammates Elliott and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Byron used the outside lane to assume the lead from Elliott through the backstretch. With Byron proceeding to clear Elliott entering Turn 3 and lead the following lap, Blaney dueled with Briscoe for third place, but the latter retained the spot as Preece, Larson and Bowman followed suit. The caution would then return on Lap 144 when Daniel Suarez, who was racing towards the top-15 mark, got clipped by Hemric, who got bumped and boxed in between rookie Josh Berry and Austin Cindric, as Suarez spun his No. 99 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turn 2. The incident occurred just behind Hamlin, who was up to 12th place, while Bell barely squeezed his way through the incident.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 151, Byron retained the lead from teammate Byron and proceeded to lead the following lap while having both lanes under his control. Behind, Larson, who attempted to make a bold move beneath Preece for additional spots, was in sixth place ahead of Logano and Blaney retained fourth place behind Briscoe while Hamlin continued to race in 12th place. With Bell mired in 16th place, Byron stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott by Lap 155.

    The caution would then return on Lap 156 when Harrison Burton, who was in the top 20, got bumped by rookie Carson Hocevar entering Turn 3 as Burton spun the No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 4 as he barely made contact with Austin Dillon in the process. During the caution period, some led by Hemric pitted while the rest led by Byron, including the Playoff contenders, remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 164, teammates Elliott and Byron dueled for the lead for a third consecutive restart period and they remained dead even for the lead for a full lap while Larson got sideways and nearly turned by Preece exiting the frontstretch as Larson cracked the top five. Byron would proceed to muscle ahead of Elliott to lead under authority as Briscoe followed suit while Blaney, Larson, Preece, Logano, Bowman, Ross Chastain and Hamlin were in the top 10.

    By Lap 175, Byron was leading by six-tenths of a second over Elliott while Briscoe, Blaney and Larson followed suit in the top five. Behind, Preece was back in sixth place ahead of Bowman, Chastain, Logano and Hamlin while Keselowski, Cindric, Berry, Bell and Gilliland were in the top 15 ahead of Gilliland, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Hocevar and Ty Gibbs. Meanwhile, Reddick was strapped two laps down in 35th place as Byron stabilized his lead to six-tenths of a second over Elliott by Lap 180. By then, Blaney dueled and overtook Briscoe for third place as he trailed the lead by two seconds while Larson also trailed the lead by two seconds in fifth place.

    On Lap 183, the caution flew when the pole-sitter Martin Truex Jr., who was racing towards the rear of the field, got bumped and spun in front of Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek in Turn 4 as he would lose a lap to Byron. The incident occurred as Larson had overtaken Briscoe for fourth place. During the caution period, mixed strategies ensued as some led by Byron and including Larson, Elliott and Logano pitted while the rest led by Blaney and including Hamlin and Bell remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Elliott endured a slow pit service as the rear tire changer was slow to tighten the right-rear tire.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 191 featured Blaney muscling his No. 12 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Hamlin dueled with Keselowski for the runner-up spot. Blaney would proceed to lead the next lap ahead of Keselowski, Hamin, Austin Dillon and Bell while Larson was making bold moves entering the corners to charge back to the front on his four fresh tires. With Byron also trying to march back to the front, Blaney retained the lead over Keselowski and Hamlin before the caution returned on Lap 195 as Hocevar, who was trying to race back into the top 15, bumped Hemric into Gilliland as the latter two spun towards the outside wall in Turn 2 while the field behind scattered to avoid the incident.

    During the next restart period on Lap 202, Blaney and Keselowski dueled for the lead in front of Hamlin and Ausitn Dillon until Keselowski led the next lap by a hair at the next lap period. Keselowski would continue to fight with Blaney for the lead amid a heated duel through every corner and straightaway before he cleared Blaney through the backstretch on Lap 204. Behind, Hamlin was in third place while Bell motored his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE into fourth place. Behind Ausitn Dillon and Gragson, Byron powered his way into seventh place as teammate Larson followed suit. As the field continued to jostle for on-track spots, Keselowski retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney by Lap 210.

    Then on Lap 220, the battle for the lead ignited as Blaney bumped and was trying to navigate his way past Keselowski for the top spot through every corner and straightaway. Keselowski, however, would retain the top spot in his No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse while Hamlin, Bell and Larson followed suit in the top five. Behind, Byron battled Austin Dillon for sixth place while Elliott motored his way back up to 13th place in front of Logano. Keselowski would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Blaney, who was beginning to become aggravated, by Lap 230 while Blaney’s Playoff rivals Hamlin, Bell, Larson and Byron followed suit in the top six as Hamlin trailed Blaney by a second. By then, Elliott was battling Briscoe for 12th place while Logano continued to follow suit in 14th place.

    Towards the Lap 240 mark, Keselowski retained the lead by within two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney while third-place Hamlin followed suit by more than a second. Behind, Bell, Larson and Byron retained fourth through sixth, respectively, on the track as both Elliott and Logano retained 12th and 14th, respectively, on the track. Meanwhile, Reddick was strapped two laps down in 35th place as Keselowski proceeded to lead the event’s halfway mark on Lap 250.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 260, Keselowski, who had not pitted in 126 laps, fended off Blaney to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Blaney followed suit in second along with Hamlin while Larson, Byron, Bell, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Gragson and Preece were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Elliott, Logano and Reddick were scored in 12th, 13th and 35th, respectively. By then, Bell and Byron occupied the two vacant spots to the Championship 4 round while Larson, Hamlin, Blaney and Elliott trailed below the cutline.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Keselowski exited pit road first as he was followed by Larson, Byron, Hamlin, Bowman, Blaney, Austin Dillon, Preece, Logano and Elliott. Amid the pit stops, Bell endured a slow pit service and he would pit a second time to have a loose lug nut addressed. In addition, Blaney nearly clipped one of Hocevar’s pit crew members while trying to exit his pit stall while both Larson and Hamlin nearly made contact with one another.

    With 230 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Keselowski and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski motored ahead from the inside lane as teammates Larson and Byron battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Hamlin battled Bowman for fourth place in front of Blaney and Austin Dillon as Blaney would then use the outside lane to duel with Bowman for fifth place. As Hamlin challenged Larson for third place, Keselowski retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Byron with 225 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 220 laps of the event, Keselowski maintained the lead by within three-tenths of a second over Byron as Larson, Hamlin and Blaney all followed suit in the top five. With Elliott and Logano racing in 10th and 12th, respectively, Bell was mired in 28th place and trying to navigate through tight traffic following his slow pit service during the previous caution period.

    Ten laps later, Keselowski’s lead stabilized to three-tenths of a second over Byron while third-place Larson followed suit by six-tenths of a second. Behind, Blaney and Hamlin battled fiercely for fourth place while Elliott and Logano continued to race in 10th and 12th, respectively. Meanwhile, Bell carved his way up to 25th place, which currently placed him in a tie with Larson for the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round in the Playoff standings.

    Another 10 laps later, Bell moved back above the top-four cutline over Larson by a single point as the former assumed 24th place on the track. Bell would then pick up 23rd place during the following lap as Keselowski continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron while Larson, Blaney and Hamlin all trailed by within less than three seconds. Not long after, Elliott, who ran into the rear of Buescher through the backstretch as Buescher pitted under green, was scored in the top 10 as he continued without sustaining any significant front-nose damage.

    With 175 laps remaining, Keselowski slightly stretched his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Byron as Larson, Blaney and Hamlin continued to trail in the top five. Meanwhile, Bell, who was racing within the Playoff cutline, was up in 21st place while Elliott and Logano were mired in 10th and 13th, respectively. Keselowski’s lead would decrease to six-tenths of a second over Byron as Blaney started to close in on Byron with 160 laps remaining.

    Then with 155 laps remaining, Blaney bumped the lapped competitor of Shane van Gisbergen, who then slid up and made contact with Byron through the first two turns. This allowed Blaney to move into the runner-up spot over Byron while Keselowski retained the lead by above half a second. Meanwhile, Bell was in 20th place after he rubbed fenders with Austin Cindric while Larson and Hamlin remained in the top five.

    Six laps later, Elliott strategically pitted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the top 10, which resulted in him losing a lap as Blaney started to close in on Keselowski for the lead. Over the following 14 laps, Keselowski, who navigated his way through lapped traffic, fended off Blaney to retain the lead as Bell, who was in 19th place, was scored the final competitor on the lead lap. Blaney then tried to use the lapped competitor of Zane Smith to overtake Keselowski for the lead with 133 laps remaining, but the move did not work as Keselowski retained the top spot. Keselowski then lapped Bell with 130 laps remaining as Hamlin pitted from fourth place.  

    With 128 laps remaining and as more competitors started to peel off the track to pit under green, teammates Byron and Larson would pit their respective Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets as Blaney then pitted during the following lap. The leader Keselowski would pit one lap after Blaney. Following the pit stops, Byron managed to cycle ahead of Keselowski and Blaney on the track. With 120 laps remaining, Bell pitted under green as Elliott, who was in 10th place prior to the pit stops and had pitted nearly 30 laps ago, strategically cycled into the lead.

    Down to the final 110 laps of the event, Elliott, who continued to remain on the track and stretching his fuel tank to the furthest, was leading by more than a second over teammate Byron. Meanwhile, Keselowski trailed in third place by two seconds while Blaney, Larson and Hamlin followed suit in the top six. Meanwhile, Bell, who was scored a lap down, was in 23rd place while Logano was back in 13th place.

    Then with 103 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Hocevar, who was racing in 14th place, spinning in Turn 2 after he got hit by Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. During the caution period, some led by Elliott and including Keselowski, Blaney, Hamlin and Logano pitted while the rest led by Byron and including teammate Larson remained on the track. Bell would also pit despite being trapped a lap down.

    The start of the ensuing restart period with 94 laps remaining did not last long as a wheel rolled off of the right front of Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 just as the field entered Turns 3 and 4. At the moment of caution, Larson had managed to muscle ahead of teammate Byron and was ruled the leader.

    The start of the next restart period with 87 laps remaining was successful as Larson fended off teammate Byron to lead the field for a full cycle. As Larson led the following lap over Byron and Cindric, teammate Elliott dueled with Preece for fourth place while Hamlin was in sixth place in front of Briscoe, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Blaney. Shortly after, Bell moved into the free pass position in 19th place as Larson retained a steady lead over a four-car battle involving Byron, Cindric, Elliott and Hamlin with 80 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott, who overtook teammate Byron for the runner-up spot a few laps earlier. With Larson leapfrogging up above the cutline by leading the race, Byron currently occupied the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round over Bell, who was still strapped in 19th place while scored a lap down. Elliott, however, would slowly begin to close in on teammate Larson with fresher tires as the latter retained the top spot by seven-tenths of a second with 70 laps remaining.

    With 60 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his late advantage to more than a second over Elliott as both were placed in a “must-win” situation to make the Championship 4 field. Behind, teammate Byron trailed by three seconds as he was ahead of Cindric, Blaney and Hamlin while Bell retained 19th place. Despite getting mired in lapped traffic over the next 10 laps, Larson stabilized his lead to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Larson, who lapped 18th-place Bubba Wallace, continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott. By then, Bell, who was still in 19th place, was not in the free pass position as he was currently scored three points behind Byron, who lost third place to Blaney two laps earlier. Not long after, Reddick, who is already guaranteed a spot to the Championship 4 despite running towards the rear of the field while multiple laps down, took his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    With 25 laps remaining, Larson maintained the top spot in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Elliott, who was told to commence his charge for the lead several laps earlier. In the process, Blaney, who was placed in a “must-win” situation, closed in as he trailed the lead by six-tenths of a second while Byron lost fourth place to Cindric. This decreased Byron’s points advantage to two to Bell as both Austin Dillon and Hamlin slowly closed in on him for positions.

    Then a lap later, Elliott bumped and overtook teammate Larson for the lead. Blaney would then bump and overtake Larson for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch during the following lap before Larson returned the favor with another bump. Amid their bumps, Blaney assumed the runner-up spot, which allowed Elliott to move above the cutline while Larson dropped below the cutline.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney while third-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds. With Cindric in fourth place, Byron maintained fifth place over both Hamlin and Austin Dillon while Bell was still strapped in 19th place and a lap down. A lap later, however, Blaney dueled with Elliott for the lead through the frontstretch and he would muscle ahead of Elliott entering the backstretch. This moved Blaney above the cutline and dropped Elliott below the cutline while Byron’s points advantage decreased to one over Bell as Hamlin overtook Byron for fifth place in his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE on the track.

    With 10 laps remaining, Blaney grew his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while Byron was trying to fend off Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, the latter two dueling dead even before Byron, for sixth place. As Blaney proceeded to add another second to his advantage with five laps remaining, Byron was left to fend off Dillon, Chastain and Keselowski for sixth place in his hopes to maintain his Playoff hopes for the finale over Bell.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained in the lead by more than two seconds over Elliott. With a clear racetrack in front of him and both Elliott and Larson unable to close back the deficit, Blaney was able to cycle back to the frontstretch victorious for his third checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.

    With the victory, Blaney, who came into Martinsville 38 points below the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings, notched his 13th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, his second in a row in the fall Martinsville event and his first since winning at Pocono Raceway in July. The Martinsville victory was also the 11th of the 2024 season for the Ford nameplate and the seventh for Team Penske as Blaney redeemed himself following last weekend’s last-lap defeat from Tyler Reddick at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Above all, Blaney, who is in his ninth consecutive season as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series, punched his ticket into the 2024 Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season as he will strive to defend his series title in next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I don’t know, man,” Blaney, who was emotional, said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I tried to save my rear tires early. I started struggling with my rears when I would get [into] traffic the run before. I think it kind of paid off for us. So proud of the effort by everybody on the No. 12 group for never giving up and to have another shot at a championship is really special. [I’ll] Try to go back-to-back next week. I’m worn out. I got nothing left [today]. Good battle. The car hung on longer than most and [I] could really make some ground. [The No. 12 team] just worked on the car all night, so I really appreciate them. Let’s go.”

    Meanwhile, drama unfolded on the final lap as Bell overtook Wallace, who had fallen off the pace over the last several laps as he radioed a potential flat tire to his No. 23 Xfinity Toyota Camry XSE, through the backstretch for 18th place. Bell then got loose entering Turn 3 as he made the pass and hit the outside wall, where he would proceed to drive and throttle up his car while scraping the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 to cycle back to the frontstretch and cross the finish line ahead of Wallace while Byron managed to fend off Dillon, Chastain, Keselowski and Logano for sixth place. In the change of events, Bell overtook Byron in the Playoff standings to claim the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 round in a tiebreaker over Byron due to achieving a higher result of second place throughout the Round of 8 compared to Byron.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Following an extensive review of the final-lap actions made between Byron and Bell while also evaluating the radio conversations between Wallace, Chastain and Austin Dillon as all three were racing with both Byron and Bell for positions in the closing laps, NASCAR levied Bell a safety violation for using the outside wall to accelerate and scrape his way into the Championship 4 round. Despite Bell’s move being similar to the move Ross Chastain made, where the latter throttled up against the Turns 3 and 4 outside wall to gain spots and make the Championship 4 round in 2022, NASCAR had banned the wall-ride maneuver from competitors prior to the start of the 2023 season.

    As a result, Bell was demoted from 18th to 22nd in the final running order, which left him four points out of the Championship 4 field and not reaching the final Playoff round for a third consecutive season. Bell’s demotion allowed Byron to claim the final Championship 4 berth for a second consecutive season as he will compete for his first Cup Series championship next weekend at Phoenix.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I’m not happy for anything, but the rule is what it is for the crossover gate over [in Turns 3 and 4] and riding the wall,” Byron said. “It is what it is. I will go race and just proud of my team. We had a really, hard-fought day, overall. Proud of that.”

    “I don’t know what to say,” Bell said. “I understand that the rule was made to prevent people from riding the wall, but my move was completely different than what Ross’s [Chastain] was. I got loose getting into the corner and slid right into the fence. I don’t know what else to say.”

    With Byron and race winner Blaney joining Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick as the four finalists who will contend for the 2024 Cup Series championship, Bell joins teammate Denny Hamlin and Byron’s Hendrick teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott as the bottom four contenders whose championship hopes came to an end. The outcome also eliminated Joe Gibbs Racing’s hopes of claiming this year’s title with both Bell and Hamlin out of the Playoffs.

    There were 15 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 66 laps. In addition, 17 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ryan Blaney, 32 laps led

    2. Chase Elliott, 129 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Kyle Larson, 71 laps led

    4. Austin Cindric

    5. Denny Hamlin

    6. William Byron, 51 laps led

    7. Austin Dillon

    8. Ross Chastain

    9. Brad Keselowski, 170 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    10. Joey Logano

    11. Noah Gragson

    12. Shane van Gisbergen

    13. Alex Bowman

    14. Ryan Preece

    15. Chase Briscoe

    16. Josh Berry

    17. Daniel Hemric

    18. Bubba Wallace, one lap down, six laps led

    19. Erik Jones, one lap down

    20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    21. Zane Smith, one lap down

    22. Christopher Bell, one lap down

    23. Daniel Suarez, two laps down

    24. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down, 41 laps led

    25. Carson Hocevar, two laps down

    26. Todd Gilliland, two laps down

    27. Kaz Grala, three laps down

    28. Kyle Busch, three laps down

    29. Justin Haley, three laps down

    30. Chris Buescher, three laps down

    31. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down

    32. Ty Gibbs, five laps down

    33. Michael McDowell, 10 laps down

    34. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Brakes

    35. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Oil Pressure

    36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Engine

    37. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Brakes

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

    2. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    3. Joey Logano – Advanced

    4. William Byron – Advanced

    5. Christopher Bell – Eliminated

    6. Kyle Larson – Eliminated

    7. Denny Hamlin – Eliminated

    8. Chase Elliott – Eliminated

    The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to conclude next Sunday, November 10, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, where a champion will be crowned. The event’s broadcast is slated to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Ross Chastain snaps yearlong winless drought with victory at Kansas

    Ross Chastain snaps yearlong winless drought with victory at Kansas

    Ross Chastain served as the spoiler of the day at Kansas Speedway as he snapped a yearlong winless drought to win the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday, September 29, in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12 opener.

    The 31-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, led five times for 52 of 267 scheduled laps in an event where he started in 20th place and made steady gains throughout the event to race his way to the front before he led for the first time with 90 laps remaining.

    Then, after swapping the lead on several occasions with Kyle Busch before Busch spun from the lead with 32 laps remaining, Chastain, who dropped out of the lead when he pitted with a majority of the field during the ensuing caution period, used two late-race restarts to navigate his way back to the lead.

    Grabbing the lead for the final time with 20 laps remaining, he fended off a late charge from Playoff contender William Byron to win for the first time in the 2024 Cup Series season and spoil the hopes of 12 Playoff contenders aiming to earn an early automatic pass through to the Round of 8.

    On-track qualifying on Saturday, September 28 determined the starting lineup as Playoff contender Christopher Bell notched his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season and his third in a row at Kansas after he posted a pole-winning lap at 179.336 mph in 30.111 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Ty Gibbs, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 179.099 mph in 30.151 seconds.

    Before the event, Playoff contender Chase Elliott dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change in his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports/UniFirst Chevrolet entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Christopher Bell muscled ahead of teammate Ty Gibbs with a strong start from the inside lane. He then quickly transitioned his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE back up to the outside lane as the field started to fan out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch.

    The event’s first caution flew when Harrison Burton and Ty Dillon made contact amid a tight four-wide battle in the midfield region. Their contact resulted in both spinning and wrecking as they clipped rookie Josh Berry while Jimmie Johnson piled into Dillon on the backstretch. Amid the accident, Chase Elliott, who made light contact with the outside wall while also being pinned in the four-wide battle, managed to dodge the incident and gained multiple spots.

    As the event restarted under green on the sixth lap, teammates Bell and Gibbs dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as the field fanned out for a second time through the backstretch. With the field navigating through the backstretch, a small stack-up ensued outside the top-10 mark as both Martin Truex Jr. and Michael McDowell scrubbed the outside wall while racing behind Playoff contenders Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson, but they all managed to keep their cars running straight. In addition, the event remained under green flag conditions as Bell led the following lap ahead of Gibbs and Playoff contender Tyler Reddick.

    Shortly after, Gibbs launched an early battle on teammate Bell for the lead, but the latter maintained the top spot through every turn and straightaway. Amid a series of early on-track battles, Bell proceeded to lead at the Lap 10 mark by three-tenths of a second over Gibbs while third-place Reddick trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Playoff contender William Byron, who overtook Playoff rival Joey Logano for fifth place, proceeded to battle and overtake Kyle Busch for fourth place while Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Kyle Larson followed suit in the top 11.

    On Lap 18, the event’s second caution flew when Larson, who was racing within the top-10 mark on the track, blew a right-rear tire and went dead straight to scrub his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 against the outside wall in Turn 2. Despite his incident, Larson was able to continue and remain on the lead lap after having the flat tire removed.

    During the second caution period of the event, the entire field led by Bell peeled off the track to pit for service. Following the pits and amid mixed strategies, Bell retained the lead after he exited pit road first and with only two fresh tires ahead of teammate Gibbs while Reddick, Logano, Byron, McDowell, Hamlin, Bowman, rookie Carson Hocevar and Todd Gilliand followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, McDowell was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The start of the following restart period on Lap 24 featured Joey Logano steering his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse beneath Bell and Gibbs amid a three-wide battle for the lead exiting the frontstretch, where Logano nearly muscled ahead through the first two turns before Bell got to Logano’s right-rear quarter panel and stalled his momentum. This allowed Bell to rocket back into the lead with drafting help from teammate Gibbs through the backstretch as Logano was being challenged by Byron for third place. With the field fanning out through the frontstretch, Reddick was up to fifth place as Bell retained the lead over Gibbs, Byron and Logano.

    Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Bell was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Byron, who overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot, as Playoff contenders Logano, Reddick, Hamlin, Bowman and Blaney followed suit in the top eight ahead of Hocevar and Playoff contender Austin Cindric. With eight of the remaining 12 Playoff contenders racing inside the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe, Elliott and Larson were mired in 13th, 22nd, 23rd and 32nd, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Bell stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Byron’s No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Gibbs retained third place ahead of a bevy of Playoff contenders that included Logano, Hamlin, Reddick, Bowman, Blaney and Cindric. By then, Suarez and Elliott were racing inside the top-20 mark, Briscoe dropped three spots to 26th place and Larson was still mired in 31st place. In addition, Erik Jones made an unscheduled pit stop after he scrubbed the outside wall entering the backstretch.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Bell retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Byron while teammate Gibbs trailed by a second in third place. Playoff contenders Logano, Hamlin, Blaney, Reddick, Cindric and Bowman followed suit in the top-nine mark ahead of Hocevar and Truex while Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Haley trailed in the top 15. By then, Suarez, Elliott and Briscoe trailed in 19th, 20th and 26th, respectively, while Larson was scored the final competitor on the lead lap in 34th place.

    Seven laps later, Larson, who was still mired in 34th place, was lapped by the leader Bell while runner-up Byron continued to trail Bell by seven-tenths of a second. Bell retained the lead by six-tenths of a second at the Lap 60 mark and by four-tenths of a second at the Lap 65 mark while Byron retained second place during both segments. Meanwhile, Gibbs remained in third place ahead of Logano, Hamlin, Blaney, Cindric, Reddick and Bowman while Truex was in 10th place by nearly a second over Hocevar.

    By Lap 70, Bell stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Byron while Logano moved up to third place from Gibbs. Behind, Truex and Bowman swapped spots for ninth place as Blaney, Hamlin, Cindric and Reddick were running fifth through eighth, respectively. Meanwhile, Elliott was mired in 19th place behind Kyle Busch, Briscoe was mired in 25th place, Suarez had plummeted to 29th place and Larson was the fourth competitor scored a lap down in 34th place.

    Then two laps later, Bell scrubbed the outside lane through the first two turns. This allowed Byron, who had been methodically gaining ground on Bell, to rocket past him and assume the lead. Logano would also overtake Bell for the runner-up spot through the backstretch while Bell maintained third place as he regained his pace. Bell, however, would be overtaken by Blaney for third place during the following lap as Byron drove away with the lead. With Byron leading just past the Lap 75, he would proceed to lap 30th-place Suarez.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Byron fended off both Logano and Blaney to claim his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney followed suit in second and third, respectively, while Hamlin, Bell, Gibbs, Cindric, Truex, Bowman and Hocevar were scored in the top 10. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders racking up a first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Reddick, Elliott, Briscoe, Suarez and Larson were scored in 14th, 19th, 25th, 30th and 35th, respectively, with the latter two pinned a lap down.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of Byron and Blaney while Bell, Gibbs, Truex, Hamlin, Hocevar, Brad Keselowski and Cindric followed suit in the top 10. By then, Larson had pitted to have his damaged defuser repaired. Soon after, Playoff contender Austin Cindric made another pit stop to address a loose right-rear wheel.

    The second stage period started on Lap 86 as Logano and Byron occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Byron fended off Logano through the first two turns and the backstretch to maintain the lead. Behind, Bell rocketed his way back up into second place and he issued his challenge on Byron for the lead during the following lap as Logano and Gibbs followed suit. Logano then reclaimed second place from Bell, who briefly stepped off the gas through Turns 3 and 4, prior to Lap 88, as Gibbs overtook Bell for third place. Amid a bevy of on-track battles, Byron retained the lead by the Lap 90 mark.

    On Lap 97, the caution returned when Erik Jones, who was multiple laps down, got loose and spun his No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE through the frontstretch, where he then got his car stuck in the frontstretch’s grass. By then, Byron was leading by two seconds over Logano as Gibbs, Hamlin and Bell were racing in the top five ahead of Blaney, Bowman, Hocevar, Truex and Kyle Busch.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Kyle Busch exited pit road first with two fresh tires as Bell, Logano, Byron, Gibbs, Bowman, Blaney, Hocevar, Truex and Keselowski followed suit in the top 10. By then, Larson made additional pit stops to have his car repaired.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 104, Kyle Busch received a strong push from Logano from the outside lane to muscle ahead of Bell and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Busch leading the following lap, Bell battled and fended off Logano for the runner-up spot before Ty Gibbs and Byron challenged Logano for third place in front of Bowman and Blaney. Bell overtook Busch for the lead during the following lap and fended off Busch and Logano for the top spot through the first two turns. Gibbs joined the battle with Logano and Busch for the runner-up spot. Also, Byron was challenged by teammate Bowman for fifth place as Bell retained the lead.

    Just past the Lap 110 mark, Bell was leading Logano and Busch within eight-tenths of a second while Gibbs, Bowman, Byron and Blaney all trailed under two seconds from fifth through eighth, respectively, on the track. Meanwhile, Elliott was up to 15th place, Hamlin was mired in 17th after he had a slow pit service during his previous pit service, Cindric was down in 19th place, Reddick was mired in 21st place and Briscoe occupied 24th place in front of Suarez. In addition, Larson was still trapped a lap down in 33rd place.

    Two laps later, Busch, who scrapped the backstretch’s outside wall, had dropped to seventh place as Gibbs, Bowman, Byron and Blaney all overtook him for spots towards the front. By then, Bowman, who had hit Busch when Busch scrapped the outside wall, remained on the track in fifth place as Bell maintained the lead over Logano and Gibbs. Soon after, Logano, Gibbs and Gibbs all fiercely battled for the runner-up spot, with Logano managing to occupy the spot by Lap 120 ahead of Byron and Gibbs as Blaney joined the battle in fourth place.

    By Lap 125, Bell extended his advantage to more than a second over Logano as Byron, Blaney and Bowman were scored in the top five. Behind, Gibbs, who scrubbed the outside wall, had dropped to sixth place while Truex, Chastain, Kyle Busch and rookie Zane Smith were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Bell stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Logano as Playoff contenders Blaney, Byron and Bowman followed suit in the top five ahead of Truex, Gibbs, Chastain, Zane Smith and Hamlin. Behind, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Chris Buescher and Cindric were racing in the top 15 as Ryan Preece, Todd Gilliland, Hocevar, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Tyler Reddick were mired in the top 20, with Suarez and Briscoe racing in 23rd and 24th, respectively. By then, 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap as Larson was still trapped a lap down in 32nd place.

    Then on Lap 141, Blaney caught Bell and battled the latter dead even through the frontstretch before the former muscled his No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang Dark Horse out in front and he proceeded to lead the following lap. Another lap later, the caution flew when Daniel Hemric, who was announced to be replaced by Ty Dillon at Kaulig Racing for the 2025 season, got loose and hit the outside wall entering the backstretch, where he would proceed to spin his No. 31 South Point & Hotel Casino Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track through the first two turns as he cut a tire. Hemric’s incident served as a big break for Larson, who was the recipient of the free pass and cycled back on the lead lap.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field, led by Blaney, pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Zane Smith exited pit road first with two fresh tires followed by Bell, Logano, Gibbs, Truex, Blaney, Bowman, Byron, Hamlin and Elliott, the latter nine of which opted for four fresh tires. Not long after, Hamlin made another trip to pit road to have a wheel on his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE tightened as he dropped to the rear of the field.

    The start of the following restart period on Lap 148 did not last as both John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Haley spun in the backstretch, an incident that started when Haley veered left and made contact with Nemechek as Larson dodged the incident. By then, Bell had reclaimed the lead from Zane Smith while Gibbs, Logano and Blaney were scored in the top five.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 153, Bell raced away from the field to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Smith then tried to gain a run underneath Bell entering Turns 3 and 4, but Bell retained the lead with four fresh tires and a stronger car while Bowman overtook Gibbs and Blaney to boost his way up to third place. As Byron was trying to fend off Chastain, Truex, Logano and Hocevar for sixth place, Elliott commenced his charge to reach the top-10 mark while Bell maintained a reasonable lead by Lap 155.

    On Lap 156, the caution returned when Playoff contender Austin Cindric, who was running in 13th place, bumped into the side of Kyle Busch, spun his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse down the backstretch’s infield, and made light contact with the inside wall. Despite losing a lap amid repairs, Cindric was able to continue. During the caution period, some led by Zane Smith and including Playoff contenders Logano, Reddick and Suarez pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track. Logano would then make another trip to pit road to address a loose wheel.

    With four laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green as Bell and Bowman dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Bowman muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead from the inside lane. Bell followed suit in second through the backstretch until he scrubbed the outside wall entering Turns 3 and 4, allowing Gibbs, Blaney, Byron and Chase Briscoe to overtake him. Bell proceeded to lose more spots through the frontstretch and eventually dropped out of the top-10 mark as Bowman retained the lead.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165 amid a series of on-track battles, Bowman fended off Gibbs to claim his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Gibbs followed suit in second ahead of Blaney, Byron and Keselowski while Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Truex, Elliott and Briscoe were scored in the top 10. With five of 12 Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10 on the track and racking up a second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Hamlin, Reddick, Bell, Suarez, Logano, Larson and Cindric were mired in 11th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 27th and 34th, respectively.

    During the stage break, some led by Bowman and including fellow Playoff contenders Byron, Elliott, Hamlin, Briscoe, Bell, Blaney and Larson pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman exited pit road first ahead of Blaney, Byron, Keselowski, Briscoe, Hamlin, Bell, Noah Gragson, Elliott and Haley.

    With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started as Gibbs and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar received a shove from Truex on the inside lane to storm ahead with the lead through the first two turns until Gibbs came rocketing back to battle alongside Hocevar for the lead through the backstretch. Hocevar then managed to clear Gibbs entering the frontstretch and lead the following lap while Kyle Busch, Truex and Chastain went three wide for third place. Behind, Bubba Wallace and Chris Buescher battled for sixth place as the field fanned out through the frontstretch while jostling for late spots.

    With 90 laps remaining and as a flurry of on-track battles ensued, Chastain dueled and overtook Hocevar for the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns. Behind, Kyle Busch overtook Gibbs for third place as Truex followed suit in fifth. Meanwhile, Reddick and Byron were the two highest Playoff contenders in sixth and seventh while Bowman carved his way to ninth place after restarting within the top-20 mark. Behind, Playoff contenders Hamlin, Suarez and Logano were mired in the top 14 while Elliott, Bell, Briscoe, Blaney and Larson were mired in the top 26.

    Ten laps later, Chastain retained the lead while Kyle Busch, who overtook Hocevar for the runner-up spot five laps earlier, trailed Chastain by four-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Truex was up to third place ahead of Byron, the highest-running Playoff contender, and Hocevar while Gibbs, Reddick, Bowman, Buescher and Hamlin were scored in the top 10 ahead of Zane Smith, Wallace, Suarez, Logano, Elliott, Keselowski, Bell, Blaney, Gilliland and Austin Dillon. Meanwhile, Briscoe and Larson were mired in 23rd and 25th, respectively, while Cindric was trapped a lap down in 34th.

    Another four laps later, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green and from the top 20 due to a loose wheel. With Blaney dropping out of the lead lap category, Busch started to challenge Chastain for the lead, though the latter used the outside wall to maintain the top spot with a reasonable gap ahead of Busch.

    Then with 67 laps remaining, Busch gained a run beneath Chastain and emerged with a slight lead exiting the backstretch. Chastain, however, came rocketing back alongside Busch while using the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 as both dueled for the top spot through the frontstretch. With Chastain managing to lead the following lap, he would proceed to retain the top spot through every corner and straightaway while Busch was trying to regain the ground he briefly lost.

    Busch would then execute his pass on Chastain while sliding in front of him entering Turns 3 and 4 with 63 laps remaining and he would lead the following lap while Chastain pulled a crossover move to return the favor through the frontstretch. Despite nearly getting locked into a side-by-side battle with Busch through the frontstretch, Busch prevailed in the battle and pulled away to have both lanes under control. As Busch led, where he would proceed to lead with 60 laps remaining, Logano pitted under green.

    With 59 laps remaining and a late cycle of green flag pit stops commencing, Ty Gibbs pitted his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE. Buscher would pit his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse during the following lap along with Truex, Byron, Bowman, Hamlin, Suarez and Zane Smith before the leaders Busch and Chastain pitted together during the next lap. As more pit stops occurred with less than 55 laps remaining, Reddick, who was among several competitors who had yet to pit, was leading ahead of Bell, Keselowski, Wallace and Gilliland while Busch and Chastain were both racing just outside the top 10 mark.

    With 50 laps remaining, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace pitted under green, with the former sustaining a flat tire to his No. 45 DraftKings Toyota Camry XSE. The pit stops for both Reddick and Wallace handed the lead to Bell as Keselowski and Ty Dillon followed suit in second and third while Busch and Chastain cycled up into fourth and fifth. Once Bell and Keselowski pitted over the next three laps, Busch cycled back into the lead with 47 laps remaining while Chastain trailed in second place by seven-tenths of a second.

    Then with 42 laps remaining, Chastain overtook Busch for the lead through the frontstretch as Busch went up the track and barely scrubbed the outside wall in Turns 3 and 4 during the previous lap. Chastain then mirrored Busch’s scrape of the wall through Turns 3 and 4, which allowed Busch to reassume the lead with 41 laps remaining and he would stretch his advantage to half a second during the next lap period.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Busch was leading by six-tenths of a second over Chastain while Truex trailed in third place by more than a second. Behind, Playoff contenders Byron, Bowman, Hamlin and Blaney were running fourth through seventh, respectively, while Gibbs, Buescher and Elliott were racing in the top 10 ahead of Redick and Suarez. With seven of 12 Playoff contenders racing in the top-12 mark on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Logano, Bell, Larson, Briscoe and Cindric were mired in 16th, 18th, 19th, 26th and 34th, respectively.

    Then three laps later, Busch’s potential road to victory was foiled as he tried to lap Briscoe through Turns 1 and 2. With Briscoe fending off Busch’s momentum from the outside wall and moving his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse up the track to prevent Busch from receiving clean air, Busch then slapped the outside wall in the backstretch and got loose before he spun his No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track. With the caution flying, Chastain assumed the lead while Busch was able to continue without losing a bevy of spots.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Chastain returned to pit road for service while Keselowski remained on the track as he inherited the lead. Following the pit stops, Truex exited pit road first as Chastain, Bowman, Byron, Gibbs, Blaney, Busch, Buescher, Reddick and Suarez, all of whom opted for four fresh tires, exited in the top 10.

    The start of the following restart period with 26 laps remaining featured Truex gaining the momentum from the outside lane and with four fresh tires and he assumed the lead through the first two turns. Keselowski was then starting to fade on his two tires as Bowman, Chastain and Byron quickly rocketed past him to move up to second through fourth. As the field fanned out while Keselowski continued to plummet through the backstretch, Truex maintained the lead for the following lap while Bowman and Chastain battled dead even for second in front of Byron. The caution then returned during the following lap as Hocevar spun after he was hit by Gilliland in the backstretch. Hocevar also made contact with Briscoe before spinning his No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 within the midfield region.

    With the event restarting under green with 20 laps remaining, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Chastain dueled with Truex, where he would rocket away with the top spot entering the backstretch while Truex was left to battle Bowman and Byron for the runner-up spot. Byron would gain the runner-up spot from Truex through Turns 3 and 4 while Bowman was left to battle Gibbs and Blaney for fourth place. As Hamlin used the frontstretch’s apron to muscle his way back into the top-10 mark amid a flurry of on-track battles within the field, Chastain maintained a reasonable advantage over Byron and Truex for the following two laps.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Chastain continued to lead by less than half a second over a hard-charging Byron while Truex, Blaney and Gibbs were in the top five. With Truex trying to fend off Blaney for third place and Gibbs maintaining fifth place ahead of Playoff contenders Bowman, Bell and Hamlin, Chastain remained ahead with the top spot by half a second with 10 laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Chastain maintained an advantage of four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Byron while third-place Truex trailed by more than a second. Behind, Blaney and Gibbs remained in the top five ahead of Bowman, Bell, Hamlin, Elliott and Zane Smith while Reddick, who scraped the wall earlier, continued to run on the track in 25th place in front of Larson.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chastain remained in the lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron. After trailing Chastain through the first two turns and the backstretch, Byron then tried to use the inside lane to get close to Chastain, but the latter kept his car running towards the outside wall. With the momentum on his side, Chastain rocketed his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 away from Byron and returned to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second over Byron.

    With the victory, Chastain, who missed the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, notched his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Kansas and his first since winning the 2023 finale at Phoenix Raceway.

    The victory was the 13th of the year for the Chevrolet nameplate and the second for Trackhouse Racing, with this season marking the second time where Trackhouse’s Nos. 1 and 99 entries visited Victory Lane at least once in the same Cup season. Chastain also joined Chris Buescher as a non-Playoff competitor to win throughout the first four Playoff events of the 2024 season.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “For us on this No. 1 team, it’s what Cup racing’s all about,” Chastain, who smashed a watermelon on the frontstretch, said on USA Network. “It’s what [team owner] Justin Marks bought into NASCAR with Trackhouse to do stuff like this, to disrupt [the Playoffs]. There’s been times this year where we couldn’t have disrupted the Minnow Pond outside of Darlington [Raceway], let alone a Cup race. It’s hard, it’s really tough, so to come and do this, I’d say there’s times where I didn’t think after practice and qualifying, we had what it took. I thought we’ve been way stronger here in the past. It didn’t feel great all day, but our Kubota Chevy, it was better as the rubber went down and the adjustments were great. We haven’t left. We haven’t went away. Nobody’s slowed us down other than ourselves and today, we were the fastest car.”

    With Chastain winning the race, William Byron ended up as the highest-finishing Playoff contender of the event in second place for his first top-two result since Michigan International Speedway last August and after finishing no higher than ninth over his last five starts. Despite being left disappointed over falling one spot short of winning the Playoff’s Round of 12 opener for a second consecutive season, Byron also remained optimistic as he continues his push to return to the Championship 4 and contend for his first Cup Series championship.

    “I feel like [Chastain] got the restart he needed to and I was in the second row just trying to clear those guys,” Byron said. “Once I got clear of them, my balance is OK, just a little bit tight, but kind of inching up on [Chastain]. I needed probably for [the event] to be a longer run being in second but damn it. I wanted that one really bad. It just sucks, man. You’re so close and you know going to Talladega, you know what that is. Sucks, but proud of the effort. [The team] Brought an awesome car. Proud of all my guys. They’ve been working their tails off and we’ve gotten a lot of BS over the summer from the outside. I know how good this team is and I know what we’re capable of, so this is a great day to build on. Looking forward to Talladega. We’re usually good there and we’ll just see how that goes.”

    Martin Truex Jr., who led five laps, came home in third place in his final start at Kansas as a full-time competitor, Ryan Blaney made a late rally to finish fourth and Ty Gibbs capped off a strong race in fifth place.

    Playoff contenders Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott finished sixth through ninth, respectively, while rookie Zane Smith achieved a 10th-place result. Notably, Kyle Busch, who led 26 laps and was on the verge of notching his first elusive victory of the season, fell back to 19th place in the final running order.

    “I’m numb,” Busch, who was left dejected on pit road at the event’s conclusion, said. “I don’t know what to do.”

    With half of the remaining 12 Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson and Austin Cindric finished 13th, 14th, 24th, 25th, 26th and 34th, respectively.

    As a result, Reddick, Suarez, Briscoe and Cindric are below the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings with two Round of 12 events remaining on the schedule while Elliott and Logano are both above the cutline by four points.

    There were 30 lead changes for 15 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 47 laps. In addition, 32 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, 52 laps led

    2. William Byron, 24 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

    4. Ryan Blaney, three laps led

    5. Ty Gibbs, five laps led

    6. Alex Bowman, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    7. Christopher Bell, 122 laps led

    8. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    9. Chase Elliott

    10. Zane Smith, three laps led

    11. Chris Buescher

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Daniel Suarez

    14. Joey Logano, three laps led

    15. Corey LaJoie

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Noah Gragson

    19. Kyle Busch, 29 laps led

    20. Daniel Hemric

    21. Ty Dillon

    22. Brad Keselowski, four laps led

    23. Harrison Burton

    24. Chase Briscoe

    25. Tyler Reddick, seven laps led

    26. Kyle Larson

    27. Todd Gilliland

    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    29. Michael McDowell

    30. John Hunter Nemechek

    31. Kaz Grala

    32. Carson Hocevar

    33. Justin Haley, one lap down

    34. Austin Cindric, four laps down

    35. Erik Jones, four laps down

    36. Jimmie Johnson, 10 laps down

    37. JJ Yeley – OUT, Electrical, one lap led

    38. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. William Byron +34

    2. Ryan Blaney +28

    3. Christopher Bell +28

    4. Kyle Larson +18

    5. Denny Hamlin +11

    6. Alex Bowman +8

    7. Chase Elliott +4

    8. Joey Logano +4

    9. Tyler Reddick -4

    10. Daniel Suarez -14

    11. Chase Briscoe -25

    12. Austin Cindric -29

    The second Round of 12 event in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway for the YellaWood 500. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, October 6, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Chris Buescher outduels Shane van Gisbergen in overtime for wild Cup victory at Watkins Glen

    Chris Buescher outduels Shane van Gisbergen in overtime for wild Cup victory at Watkins Glen

    In a season mired with missed opportunities that resulted in him missing the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by a single points position, Chris Buescher took advantage of the chance to cap off this season on a strong note by winning the Go Bowling at The Glen (Watkins Glen International) on Sunday, September 15, amid a wild overtime shootout and a final lap bump and pass on Shane van Gisbergen.

    The 2015 Xfinity Series champion from Prosper, Texas, led three times for 19 of 92 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 24th and utilized pit strategy to methodically carve his way up the leaderboard. With a bevy of Playoff contenders encountering on-track issues from start to finish, Buescher, who pitted prior to the second stage’s conclusion, utilized fresher tires than the leaders to briefly lead for the first time with 33 laps remaining before he pitted two laps later. He then cycled back to the lead with 17 laps remaining during a late round of green flag pit stops.

    Then among three late-race caution and restart periods, including the third and latest restart that sent the event into overtime, Buescher, who had maintained the lead during all restart periods, was bumped out of the lead by van Gisbergen, who proceeded to lead the penultimate lap while Buescher remained within striking distance. Van Gisbergen then made the slightest contact with the guardrails through the Bus Stop that got him loose through the curbs and the turns, which enabled Buescher to reassume the lead amid another round of contact between both through the Inner Loop. With van Gisbergen unable to return the favor within the course’s final pair of turns, Buescher drove away to claim his first victory of the 2024 Cup Series season and become the first non-Playoff competitor to win a Playoff event this season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 14, Ross Chastain notched his first Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after he posted a pole-winning speed at 122.279 mph in 72.130 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Martin Truex Jr., who posted the second-fastest qualifying speed at 122.052 mph in 72.264 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Todd Gilliland and rookie Carson Hocevar dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Ross Chastain launched ahead with an early advantage through the frontstretch and he maintained the top spot through the opening set of turns through the Esses and the backstretch while the field behind jostled for early spots amid multiple lanes.

    Then through the Bus Stop corner, early trouble struck as Corey LaJoie bumped and sent Kyle Busch, who was running towards the top-15 mark, for a spin towards the middle of the turn, where he clipped Playoff contender Christopher Bell as Bell spun while his teammate and Playoff contender Denny Hamlin clipped Busch and sustained damage to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE entry after he got bumped by Ryan Preece. Among other competitors who were involved included Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace, both of whom hit the guardrails while going off the course, while Busch’s wrecked No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry was left stalled in the Inner Loop turn.

    During the chaos, Ryan Blaney, the reigning Cup Series champion and a 2024 Playoff contender, drove his No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry off the course and came to a stop due to a broken steering column as a result of hitting Brad Keselowski while avoiding the opening lap carnage. The issue was enough for NASCAR to rule Blaney out of contention to continue without having completed the first lap, though Blaney was left heated at NASCAR for not allowing his team to repair the car despite not sustaining any significant damage from the carnage. By then, Bell continued without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE entry while Hamlin and Busch dropped out of the lead lap category with damage to their respective entries.

    When the race restarted under green on the fifth lap, Chastain, who led the opening four laps under caution, rocketed ahead with another strong start through the frontstretch and the Esses while the rest of the field behind fanned out. In the process, Allmendinger, who restarted in the top five, was dropping off the pace due to a mechanical issue with his No. 13 Go Bowling Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. With Allmendinger dropping out of contention, the rest of the field navigated smoothly through the backstretch, Bus Stop, Inner Loop and the final set of turns from Turns 5 to 7 as Chastain retained the lead and led the following lap.

    Over the next three laps, Chastain stabilized his early advantage to six-tenths of a second over Truex while van Gisbergen, Bowman and Playoff contender Chase Briscoe were running in the top five ahead of Playoff competitors Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Elliott. With Michael McDowell occupying ninth place, he was ahead of five Playoff contenders that included Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs while Erik Jones occupied 15th place ahead of Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric and Corey LaJoie.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chastain continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Truex while van Gisbergen, Bowman and Briscoe continued to run in the top five ahead of Cindric, Suarez, Elliott, McDowell and Reddick. By then, 11 of 15 remaining Playoff contenders on the track were running in the top 14 on the track while Brad Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Bell were mired back from 25th to 27th, respectively. In addition, Denny Hamlin was mired a lap down in 34th place following repairs to his No. 11 Toyota.

    Five laps later, Chastain extended his advantage to three seconds over van Gisbergen, who overtook Truex for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, while Bowman and Briscoe battled for fourth place in front of Suarez. Behind, Cindric, Elliott, McDowell and Reddick were racing in the top 10 ahead of Larson, Logano, Zane Smith, Byron and Ty Gibbs while Keselowski, Bell, Burton and Hamlin all continued to be mired outside the top-20 mark.

    Another lap later, McDowell pitted his No. 34 Benebone Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green from ninth place. A host of names that included van Gisbergen, Logano, Zane Smith, Byron, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, rookie Carson Hocevar, Noah Gragson, rookie Josh Berry, Justin Haley, Keselowski, Juan Pablo Montoya, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Todd Gilliland and Austin Dillon pitted during the next lap period before the leader Chastain pitted his No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry on Lap 18. As a result, Truex cycled into the lead as he was followed by Bowman, Briscoe, Suarez and Cindric while Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Truex, who came into the event 19 points below the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, notched his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff rivals Bowman, Briscoe, Suarez, Cindric, Elliott, Reddick and Larson followed suit in the top eight, respectively, while non-Playoff competitors Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Logano, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Keselowski, Bell, Burton and Hamlin were scored in 17th, 20th, 21st, 25th, 28th, 30th and 34th, respectively. Despite being mired a lap down, Hamlin was able to fend off Kyle Busch to be the first competitor scored a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion and receive the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, some led by Truex, including a host of competitors who remained on the track before the first stage’s conclusion, pitted while the rest led by Chastain, including those who pitted prior to the stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. Among the Playoff contenders who pitted with Truex included Bowman, Briscoe, Suarez, Cindric, Elliott, Reddick and Larson.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Chastain and McDowell occupied the front row in front of van Gisbergen and Logano. At the start, Chastain fended off both McDowell and van Gisbergen through the frontstretch and the first set of turns including the Esses as the field fanned out while navigating up the Esses. With Suarez making contact and sending Reddick for a spin in the first turn amid a stack-up as the race remained under green flag conditions, Chastain would proceed to lead the first through the backstretch, the Bus Stop and the Inner Loop before he navigated his way through the final set of turns and led the following lap.

    Over the next five laps, starting on Lap 26, and with most of the field settling in a long single-file line, Chastain increased his advantage to as high as a second over van Gisbergen before the advantage shrunk to two-tenths of a second by Lap 29. Chastain would stabilize his lead to two-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen by the Lap 30 mark while McDowell, Logano, Zane Smith, LaJoie, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Hocevar and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Gragson, Bell, Berry, Montoya and Nemechek. By then, Playoff contenders Burton, Truex, Briscoe and Bowman were mired just inside the top-20 mark while Elliott, Cindric, Larson, Suarez and Keselowski were mired in the top-30 mark. In addition, Reddick was down in 33rd place in front of team owner Hamlin.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Chastain maintained the top spot by eight-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen while McDowell and Logano battled fiercely for third place. Behind, Zane Smith trailed in fifth place ahead of teammate LaJoie while Ty Gibbs, Byron, Hocevar and Buescher were running in the top 10. By then, Bell was in 13th as Burton, Briscoe, Truex and Bowman were mired inside the top-20 mark. With Elliott, Cindric, Larson and Keselowski trailing back in 22nd, 24th, 25th and 28th, respectively, Reddick was still mired in 32nd in front of Suarez and Hamlin.

    A lap later, a host of names including Buescher, Montoya, Erik Jones, Larson, Justin Haley, Keselowski and Kaz Grala pitted under green. More names including McDowell, Zane Smith, LaJoie, Noah Gragson, Bell, Berry, Nemechek, Truex, Gilliland, Elliott, Hemric, Cindric, Austin Dillon and Reddick pitted during the following lap before the caution flew due to Suarez spinning and getting his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry stuck in the gravel trap in Turn 6. During the pit stops, Keselowski was penalized for a second time, this time for an uncontrolled tire violation as a tire rolled out of his pit stall. Larson was also penalized for causing vehicle interference.

    With the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 40 officially concluding under caution, Chastain, who was unable to enter pit road to pit under green before the caution being flown for teammate Suarez spinning and instead remained on the track, proceeded to claim his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Van Gisbergen, who was also trying to pit with Chastain, followed suit in second along with Playoff contenders Logano, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Burton, Briscoe and Bowman while Ryan Preece and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Bell, Truex, Cindric, Elliott, Larson, Keselowski, Reddick and Suarez were mired in 20th, 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 33rd and 35th, respectively.

    During the stage break, some led by Ty Gibbs and Byron pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    With 48 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Chastain and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the frontstretch, Chastain maintained the top spot ahead of van Gisbergen and a hard-charging Briscoe while the rest of the field scrambled while bumping and navigating through the Esses, the backstretch and the Bus Stop corner. With the field still jostling for spots through the Inner Loop and the final set of turns, Chastain led the following lap ahead of van Gisbergen, Briscoe, McDowell and LaJoie.

    At the halfway mark with 45 laps remaining, Chastain retained the lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen, Briscoe, McDowell and LaJoie while Buescher, Hocevar, Montoya, Gragson and Logano were running in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Nemechek, Berry, Bell, Elliott, Cindric, Haley, Bowman, Kaz Grala and Hemric. By then, Playoff contenders Ty Gibbs, Byron, Hamlin, Burton, Keselowski, Larson, Reddick and Suarez were mired outside the top 20.

    A lap later, the caution returned when Hamlin, who was pinned in a tight three-wide battle with Keselowski and Larson just outside the top-20 mark towards the entry of the Esses, was sent sideways and into the guardrails by Keselowski as he sustained more damage to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE entry. Despite continuing, the incident jeopardized Hamlin’s hopes of advancing to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs following his final lap accident at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    During the caution period, some including Logano, Keselowski and Larson pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. Hamlin also pitted to continue to have more repairs made to his entry.

    The start of the next restart period with 41 laps remaining featured Chastain rocketing away from the field with the lead through the frontstretch and the first set of turns leading up to the Esses as the field scrambled for late spots. The field proceeded to navigate through the backstretch, the Bus Stop and the Esses smoothly as van Gisbergen and McDowell tried to keep the leader Chastain within close pursuit. As Chastain led the following lap, LaJoie and Buescher were scored in the top five while Briscoe was trying to fend off Hocevar and teammate Gragson for sixth place while Truex and Montoya were up into the top 10.

    With 35 laps remaining, Chastain retained a narrow lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging van Gisbergen as McDowell, Buescher, LaJoie, Hocevar, Gragson, Briscoe, Truex and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, the following Playoff contenders that included Bell, Cindric, Bowman, Byron and Ty Gibbs were mired in the top-20 mark while Reddick, Logano, Larson, Keselowski, Suarez and Burton were mired in the top-30 mark. Meanwhile, Hamlin was down in 34th place.

    Two laps later, Buescher, who had fresher tires than the leader Chastain, rocketed past Chastain through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead. By then, van Gisbergen was down in third place and losing the spot to McDowell entering the first turn while LaJoie and Hocevar followed suit in the top six. Another lap later, Chastain and van Gisbergen pitted for fresh tires and fuel before Buescher pitted from the lead during the following lap.

    With 30 laps remaining, some including Montoya, Byron, Hocevar, Erik Jones and Haley pitted under green as Bell was bumped and sent for a spin by Austin Dillon in Turn 7 while trying to enter pit road. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, Bell pitted along with Nemechek and Ty Gibbs. As the pit stop cycle continued with a bevy of names including Gragson and Elliott pitting, McDowell retained the lead before he pitted with 25 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Logano was leading ahead of Zane Smith as third-place Larson pitted under green. By then, Cindric, LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Austin Dillon and Gilliland had pitted. Shortly after, Zane Smith pitted from the runner-up. With Buescher cycling his way up the leaderboard, he would then overtake Logano for the lead with 17 laps remaining while Keselowski, van Gisbergen, Hocevar and Chastain trailed in the top six. As Kaz Grala crashed in Turn 7 with help from Hemric, the race remained under green flag conditions.

    With 15 laps remaining, Buescher extended his advantage to four seconds over Logano as van Gisbergen, Keselowski and Hocevar were scored in the top five ahead of Chastain, McDowell, Preece, Briscoe and LaJoie. By then, Playoff contenders Truex, Byron and Elliott were scored in the top-14 mark on the track while Cindric, Bowman and Larson were trailing in the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs, Suarez, Bell, Reddick and Burton were mired in the top-30 mark while Hamlin was back in 33rd place.

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 6 as a result of Playoff contender Harrison Burton blowing a left-rear tire and leaving debris scattered in the turn. By then, Keselowski and Logano had pitted while Buescher was leading ahead of a hard-charging van Gisbergen. During the caution period, some including Playoff contenders and teammates Bowman, Byron and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Buescher remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Playoff contender Reddick.

    With the race restarting with seven laps remaining, Buescher and Hocevar, both of whom restarted on the front row in front of van Gisbergen and Chastain, dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and the first turn as the field fanned out entering the Esses. In the midst of the battles, Buescher maintained the lead in front of Hocevar and van Gisbregen through the backstretch. Just then, the caution returned when Logano made contact with Keselowski in the Esses resulting in Keselowski turning into Byron and Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry coming off the ground and on top of the left side of Keselowski’s No. 6 King’s Hawaiian Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry while being pinned towards the guardrails as both were left with heavily damaged race cars.

    The start of the next restart period with three laps remaining did not last long as Elliott and Berry, both of whom were running in the middle of the pack, were bumped into one another by Gilliland entering the Esses, which in turn ignited an accordion effect as both hit the guardrails along with Truex and Logano while Reddick was sent sideways and in front of Kyle Busch. Amid the incident, Buescher had maintained the lead ahead of Hocevar, Chastain, van Gisbergen, McDowell and Briscoe while the event was sent into overtime.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Buescher and Hocevar dueling for the lead through the frontstretch until van Gisbergen gave Buescher a little tap entering the first turn. The contact caused both Buescher and Hocevar to go wide as van Gisbergen made a three-wide pass on both to assume the lead through the Esses. With van Gisbergen leading, Buescher remained within striking distance of the former up the Esses and through the backstretch, Bus Stop and Inner Loop corners while the field behind jostled for late spots.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Buescher while Chastain was trying to fend off Hocevar and a bevy of competitors for third place. From the first turn to the backstretch, van Gisbergen maintained a reasonable lead over a hard-charging Buescher.

    Then through the Bus Stop, van Gisbergen made the slightest of contact with the right-side guardrails, which got him through the corner and the curbs as Buescher quickly closed the gap. Buescher then veered to the right and despite van Gisbergen’s effort to defend, made contact with the leader as he muscled his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry into the lead through the Inner Loop. Van Gisbergen then tried to close the gap back through a brief straightaway leading up to Turn 6, but he got loose in Turn 6 and had to step out of the gas to keep his No. 16 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry running straight in Turn 7. With van Gisbergen losing ground after going sideways, Buescher was able to smoothly navigate his way through Turn 7 and muscle back to the frontstretch victorious and to his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season by nine-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen.

    With the victory, Buescher, who missed the 2024 Playoff field by a single points position amid a strong regular-season stretch, notched his sixth NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 321st series start, his first both at The Glen and on a road course venue, and his first since winning the 2023 regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway. The victory was also the ninth of the season and the fourth in recent weeks for the Ford nameplate while Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing notched its second Cup victory of the 2024 season and first since teammate/co-owner Brad Keselowski won at Darlington Raceway in May. As an added bonus, this season marks the first time where Roush’s Nos. 17 and 6 entries won in the same Cup season since 2011.

    Buescher’s Cup victory at The Glen over van Gisbergen marked the first time a last-lap pass for the win was made since Joey Logano made the last accomplishment over Kevin Harvick in 2015. It also marked the first time a non-Playoff competitor won a Playoff event since AJ Allmendinger made the last accomplishment last October at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

    “I thought we lost it there on the last [restart],” Buescher said on the frontstretch on USA Network. “Man, to stay right there with [van Gisbergen]. [The Bus Stop] was the spot that he was better than us and he missed it, so I tried to cross over. He went to cut. Just hard racing there. Just such an awesome finish. To be that good for so much at the end of the race, all race. To get a win, it’s good. We came here to be [Playoff] spoiler. We’re going to do that. Man, we would’ve like to have won a couple of weeks ago, but this is huge. It’s such a big win for us. Everybody at [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing]’s worked so hard. To finally get a road course win, we’ve been so close so many times. To finally pull that off is fantastic.”

    Meanwhile, as Buescher celebrated in Victory Lane, van Gisbergen, who only led the penultimate lap, managed to smile despite being left “gutted” after capping off his strong run with his first top-two result of the season. His previous best result through his last seven Cup starts was 20th, which occurred at Circuit of the Americas in March. The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is scheduled to compete at Talladega Superspeedway and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, which will also mark his final pair of races of the season and with Kaulig Racing overall before he graduates to a full-time Cup campaign in 2025 with Trackhouse Racing.

    “I knew Chris [Buescher] was really going to send it and push me if [he] could get there,” van Gisbergen said. “As I turned [the car] and got a bit loose and clipped the inside wall, just driver error. I’m gutted. [The] WeatherTech Camaro was really good. The race was awesome with Ross [Chastain] and Chris and the others at the end. I’m gutted we couldn’t get [the win]. I had a lot of fun, but I’m pretty angry at myself. It was just a little bump to get [Buescher] wide [during the overtime shootout] and I knew I was going to get it back, so that’s why I was pushing so hard. It is what it is, but just gutted.”

    Rookie Carson Hocevar notched a career-best third-place result ahead of the pole-sitter Ross Chastain, who led a race-high 51 laps, while rookie Zane Smith achieved his second Cup career top-five result by finishing fifth.

    Chase Briscoe was the highest-finishing Playoff contender in sixth place while Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece and Playoff contender Austin Cindric finished in the top 10.

    The remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and William Byron ended up finishing 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 34th, respectively.

    As a result, the four Playoff competitors who enter next weekend’s Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway below the top-12 cutline are Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Harrison Burton. Currently, Hamlin is six points behind Chase Briscoe and teammate Ty Gibbs for the 12th and final transfer spot into the Round of 12 while Keselowski, Truex and Burton trail the cutline by 12, 14 and 20 points, respectively.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions 21 for laps. In addition, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Chris Buescher, 19 laps led

    2. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap led

    3. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

    4. Ross Chastain, 51 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Zane Smith

    6. Chase Briscoe

    7. Michael McDowell, seven laps led

    8. Corey LaJoie, two laps led

    9. Ryan Preece

    10. Austin Cindric

    11. Noah Gragson

    12. Kyle Larson

    13. Daniel Suarez

    14. Christopher Bell

    15. Joey Logano, six laps led

    16. Todd Gilliland

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Alex Bowman, one lap led

    19. Chase Elliott

    20. Martin Truex Jr., four laps led, Stage 1 winner

    21. John Hunter Nemechek

    22. Ty Gibbs

    23. Denny Hamlin

    24. Harrison Burton

    25. Josh Berry

    26. Brad Keselowski

    27. Tyler Reddick

    28. Austin Dillon

    29. Justin Haley

    30. Kyle Busch

    31. Daniel Hemric

    32. Juan Pablo Montoya, one lap down

    33. Erik Jones, two laps down

    34. William Byron, two laps down

    35. Kaz Grala, five laps down

    36. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Transmission

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    38. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Joey Logano – Advanced

    2. Christopher Bell +46

    3. Austin Cindric +43

    4. Alex Bowman +41

    5. Daniel Suarez +36

    6. Tyler Reddick +30

    7. Chase Elliott +30

    8. Ryan Blaney +29

    9. Kyle Larson +26

    10. William Byron +25

    11. Chase Briscoe +6

    12. Ty Gibbs +6

    13. Denny Hamlin -6

    14. Brad Keselowski -12

    15. Martin Truex Jr. -14

    16. Harrison Burton -20

    The Round of 16 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, September 21, at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and where the first of three elimination processes will occur. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

    NASCAR 2024 Rookie Mid-season Review

    As the 2024 regular season for NASCAR’s top three national touring series approaches its final set of events before the Playoffs commence, the battle for the Rookie-of-the-Year title intensifies as a handful of rising stars attempt to ascend the racing ladder and establish their marks as future NASCAR stars.

    With 22 races complete and 14 remaining on the 2024 Cup Series schedule, Josh Berry holds a slim advantage of five points over Carson Hocevar in the rookie Cup standings while Zane Smith and Kaz Grala both trail by triple digits.

    For the majority of the season, the battle for this year’s Cup rookie title has been primarily between Berry and Hocevar, both of whom are also campaigning in their first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Berry, a native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, is piloting the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry for Stewart-Haas Racing, where he succeeded the 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick following two full-time campaigns in the Xfinity Series. Meanwhile, Hocevar, a native of Portage, Michigan, is driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Spire Motorsports after spending the previous three seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series with Niece Motorsports.

    After finishing no higher than 11th while also being plagued by seven finishes of 20th or worse through the first 12 scheduled events, Berry rebounded by notching four top-10 results over the next seven races, including two stellar third-place results, that enabled him to move atop the rookie standings.

    Berry, however, is coming off four consecutive finishes of 20th or worse that have him currently situated in 22nd place in the regular-season standings. Berry’s misfortunes have allowed Hocevar to remain within striking distance of toppling Berry for the title. Hocevar, however, has rallied from being involved in an early multi-car wreck during the 66th running of the Daytona 500 to post three top-20 results, including two 15th-place runs, over his next three starts. He has since accumulated 10 additional top-20 runs, including two top-10 finishes, over his next 18 starts and is coming off a 12th-place run at Indianapolis.

    Berry has accumulated the most top-10 results of this year’s rookie class at four and is two spots ahead of Hocevar in 22nd place in the regular-season standings as Hocevar holds the best average-finishing result at 19.4 thanks to his consistent runs of top-20 results.

    Despite both rookies being strapped in “must-win” situations to make the 2024 Playoffs, their year-long battle of who will claim the season-ending prestigious honor of  Cup Series Rookie of the Year remains to be determined.

    Meanwhile, Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion from Huntington Beach, California, driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, trails both Berry and Hocevar in 33rd place in the standings and the rookie lead by 140 points. Despite notching a career-best second place at Nashville Superspeedway in June, Smith has an average-finishing result of 26th place as he has finished outside the top-20 mark 14 times, which leaves him grinding his gears and striving for more to be more competitive and consistent. In comparison to Berry and Hocevar, Smith’s plans for the 2025 season are unknown, though he is expected to remain on the radar for a ride for years to come.

    Kaz Grala, a fourth Cup rookie candidate of the 2024 season from Boston, Massachusetts, is mired in 35th place in this year’s standings and he trails the rookie lead by 222 points. Thus far, he has racked up three top-20 results in 16 of 26-planned events as he continues to hone his development from the Truck and Xfinity Series divisions to NASCAR’s premier series. Amid Grala’s contention to claim the rookie title, his plans for next season remain undetermined.

    Transitioning to the Xfinity Series, Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen are the top two rookie competitors through 20 scheduled events. With six races remaining until the Playoff field is determined, Love and van Gisbergen are set to square off against one another for both the rookie and the driver’s title as both are guaranteed Playoff berths by winning in their first Xfinity campaign.

    The Xfinity rookie candidate who commenced the season on a strong note was Love, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion who is piloting the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro entry for Richard Childress Racing. Starting in February, Love roared out of the gate to become the first rookie driver to record poles in the first two scheduled races. Despite having his first opportunity of winning spoiled amid a fuel-mileage overtime shootout at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February, the Menlo Park, Californian redeemed himself seven races later by emerging triumphant for the first time at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Before his first career victory, Love had racked up two top-five results and five top-10 results as he was also ranked in the top five in the regular-season rankings. While he is currently ranked in seventh place in the Xfinity standings amid two additional top-five results in his previous 11 starts, Love leads the rookie standings by 87 points as he continues to pursue more victories and momentum before contending for his first Xfinity title. Should Love claim this year’s Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title, he would join an elite class of competitors who have done so while driving for Richard Childress Racing, including teammate Austin Hill, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Since June, however, van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 97 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing, has marched his way into the spotlight that started when he recorded his first career win at Portland International Speedway. The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, would proceed to claim his second series victory in back-to-back weeks at Sonoma Raceway before grabbing a third career victory at the Chicago Street Course, the venue where he won in his Cup Series debut a year ago and leaped into NASCAR stardom.

    Amid his road-course dominance that currently has him ranked with the most victories amongst Xfinity regulars, the New Zealander continues to search for more pace to be more competitive on oval-shaped circuits. Despite coming off a strong fourth-place run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which marks his third top-six result on oval-shaped circuits this season, van Gisbergen has 11 ovals mixed with two additional road-course events remaining to leap-frog Love as the top rookie competitor of the 2024 season.

    The third-ranked Xfinity rookie candidate is Leland Honeyman, a native of Phoenix, Arizona, who is 310 points behind in a season where he has notched an average-finishing result of 23.3, a career-best fourth-place run at Talladega in April and is mired in 19th place in the standings. The 2024 season marks Honeyman’s first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit as he is driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro for Young’s Motorsports, but needing to gain more ground to be within striking distance of both Love and van Gisbergen at this season’s conclusion.

    Hailie Deegan, a native of Temecula, California, entered this season as a full-time rookie candidate with AM Racing. But, she was replaced by Joey Logano in early July amid a 17-race stretch where she finished no higher than 12th and was strapped with an average finishing result of 26.8. Following the replacement, Deegan has since parted ways and currently has no additional NASCAR plans scheduled for the remainder of the 2024 season.

    Dawson Cram, a native of San Diego, California, had initially entered this season as a full-time Xfinity rookie candidate with JD Motorsports. Through July, however, he did not compete in five events, all being road-course venues and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and recently drove a single event for Mike Harmon Racing and Faction46 between the Xfinity and Truck Series, respectively. In addition, JD Motorsports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and laid off staff members in July, with the No. 4 Chevrolet owners’ points acquired by Alpha Prime Racing. With Cram appearing to declare for points for the remainder of this year’s Truck season, his plans for the remainder of this season remain to be determined.

    With a single regular-season event remaining on this year’s Craftsman Truck Series schedule, eight overall, the series’ rookie title appears to be within the firm grasp of Layne Riggs, who holds a triple-digit advantage between his main rivals Conner Jones and Thad Moffitt amid a mediocre campaign.

    Riggs, a native of Bahama, North Carolina, who joined forces with Front Row Motorsports for his first full-time Truck campaign in the No. 38 Ford F-150, has only racked up three top-five results and four top-10 finishes through 15-scheduled starts. Mired within the strong results are nine finishes of 20th or worse as he has had several strong starts spoiled by on-track incidents. While the results currently have him ranked in 16th place in the driver’s standings, he trails the top-10 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs by 75 points, which places him in a “must-win” situation to make this year’s Truck Playoffs. Despite having a steady advantage in the rookie standings, the next goal for Riggs is to implement a consistent conclusion to the 2024 season while setting his sights on a stronger start for 2025 and beyond.

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Riggs’ closest rival for the title is Conner Jones, a native of Fredericksburg, Virginia, who is embarking on a 13-race schedule with ThorSport Racing after spending the previous season campaigning in his first nine series’ starts. Through eight starts, Jones has recorded three top-15 finishes and five top-20 results, with his best result being an 11th-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. In addition to trailing Riggs in the rookie standings by 173 points, Jones’ current average-finishing result is 20.3, which is four spots higher than the result he concluded with following the 2023 season (24.7). With four races remaining in his part-time campaign this season, the sky remains the limit for Jones to gain his first top-10 result in the series.

    Meanwhile, Thad Moffitt, a native of Trinity, North Carolina, trails the rookie lead by 188 points in a season where he graduated to the Truck Series level, initially on a full-time basis with Faction46. Over the last two races, however, Moffitt has been competing with Young’s Motorsports following the shutdown of Faction46 due to financial issues. Prior to the previous two races, Moffitt was absent from competing at Nashville Superspeedway in late June due to a medical issue. These factors are pieces to the puzzle of a struggling season for Moffitt, who has finished no higher than 18th and has been mired with finishes outside the top 20 during his remaining 14 starts. Having made steady ground with consistent runs as an ARCA Menards Series competitor, the task at hand for Moffitt to be competitive within NASCAR’s top three national touring series, beginning with the Truck Series, remains tall and long for him to achieve.

    With the closing stretch of the 2024 NASCAR season inbound following a two-week break due to the Paris Olympics Games, the Craftsman Truck Series season resumes on August 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 at Richmond Raceway for the Clean Harbors 250, which serves as this year’s regular-season finale. The Cup Series season also resumes at Richmond Raceway for the Cook Out 400 on August 11 at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network while the Xfinity Series season returns to action at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250 on August 17 at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Larson withstands two overtime attempts amid fuel-mileage battle for first Brickyard 400 victory

    Larson withstands two overtime attempts amid fuel-mileage battle for first Brickyard 400 victory

    Two months after having a Memorial Day Double Duty attempt spoiled due to Mother Nature despite campaigning in his first Indianapolis 500 attempt, Kyle Larson earned his redemption at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by winning his first Brickyard 400 title on Sunday, July 21, amid two overtime attempts.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led twice for eight of 167 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fifth place and endured a race-long afternoon featuring various pit strategies from start to finish as he was shuffled from the front to the middle of the pack and vice versa.

    Running in third place as he tracked Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney for the win in the closing laps while also trying to conserve his fuel tank to the finish, an opportunity presented itself for Larson, who rallied from an early slow pit service, to strike after a late on-track incident involving Kyle Busch sent the event into overtime. Then after Keselowski ran out of fuel before the first overtime attempt, Larson, who moved up and started alongside Blaney on the front row, managed to snatch the lead from Blaney before a multi-car wreck sent the event into a second overtime attempt. Then during the latest overtime attempt, Larson fended Blaney and held off a late charge from pole-sitter Tyler Reddick for one lap just before Ryan Preece wrecked on the backstretch, generating a race-ending caution on the final lap. From there, Larson had enough fuel in his low tank to claim the checkered flag and add the Brickyard 400 to his extensive racing list of accomplished victories in the event’s historic return.

    With on-track qualifying on Saturday, July 20, to determine the starting lineup, Tyler Reddick notched his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 181.932 mph in 49.469 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Denny Hamlin, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.492 mph in 49.589 seconds.

    Before the event, Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse after scraping the outside wall during his qualifying run. Martin Truex Jr. was also sent to the rear of the field before the event’s start due to an inspection violation from an unapproved adjustment that occurred on Saturday. To go along with starting at the rear of the field, Truex was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road at the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin dueled for the lead through the first two turns and ahead of a tight two-by-two formation from within the field before Reddick muscled his No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE ahead entering the backstretch. With the field behind jostling for early spots for two remaining turns, Reddick proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Hamlin while Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell and William Byron followed suit in the top six.

    As Martin Truex Jr. served his pass-through penalty through pit road prior to the second lap, Reddick retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Elliott, Larson, McDowell and Byron followed suit in the top six. With nearly the entire field running in a single-line formation through every turn and straightaway, Reddick remained in front by seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Reddick stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott followed by Hamlin, Larson and McDowell while Byron, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek were racing in the top 10. Behind, Austin Dillon trailed in 11th place ahead of Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton while Christopher Bell, Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher and Noah Gragson were mired in the top 20 ahead of Chase Briscoe, rookie Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski, Todd Gilliland and rookie Carson Hocevar. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson occupied 26th place ahead of rookie Josh Berry, Daniel Suarez, Ty Dillon and Erik Jones while Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric were mired in the top 35. In the process, Truex trailed in 39th place, dead last, by 41 seconds.

    Ten laps later, Reddick continued to lead by half a second over Elliott as he also led an eight-car breakaway that included Hamlin, Larson, McDowell, Blaney, Byron and Gibbs, with the latter trailing the lead by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, ninth-place Stenhouse led a second wave of competitors comprising of nine competitors, including Nemechek, Austin Dillon, Logano, Bowman, Wallace, Burton, Bell and LaJoie, all of whom were separated by four seconds of one another, with Stenhouse trailing the lead by 14 points, while 18th-place runner Buescher led a third wave of competitors comprising of nearly the rest of the field as Buescher trailed by lead by 21 seconds. In the process, AJ Allmendinger dropped to 38th place and was pinned a lap down due to pitting a few laps earlier under green to address his ill-handling No. 16 Campers Inn RV Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. In addition, Truex was mired in 37th place and trailing the lead by more than 40 seconds.

    Anther three laps later, pit strategies commenced as Hamlin surrendered third place to pit his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE under green. The following lap, teammates Elliott, Larson, Byron and Bowman pitted their respective Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. In the process, Hamlin managed to cycle his way past all four Hendrick drivers as they were exiting pit road while Reddick extended his advantage to more than a second over Blaney by the Lap 25 mark.

    Blaney would then pit his No. 12 Menards Toyota Camry XSE from the runner-up spot as Stenhouse, Burton, Buescher and Truex all pitted their respective entries. Soon after, Elliott was penalized for a blend line violation, where Elliott attempted to cross the blend line and enter the track early in Turn 2, which was a violation and forced Elliott to pilot his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through pit road at pit road speed. Amid Elliott’s penalty, Reddick continued to lead by more than a second over McDowell while Gibbs, Nemechek and Austin Dillon were scored in the top five.

    By Lap 35, Reddick stabilized his advantage to over McDowell as Gibbs, Nemechek, Logano, Wallace, Bell, Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson and Chase Briscoe followed suit in the top 10. By then, more names including Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Berry, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Justin Haley, Jimmie Johnson, Hocevar, Daniel Hemric and Ross Chastain all pitted under green. More names including Gragson, Ty Gibbs and Cindric pitted during the proceeding laps before Reddick surrendered the lead to pit under green on Lap 37. McDowell, who inherited the lead in the process, pitted his No. 34 Horizon Ford Mustang Dark Horse the following lap as more names including Nemechek, Wallace, Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Logano and Suarez all pitted. Amid the pit stops, Austin Cindric was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, Christopher Bell, who inherited the lead, pitted under green along with LaJoie as Brad Keselowski assumed the lead. Then once Keselowski pitted under green by Lap 41, Hamlin, who managed to overtake Reddick as a result of pitting earlier and gaining the lost ground on the track when Reddick pitted latter, cycled into the lead as Larson, Blaney, Byron and Reddick were scored in the top five.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 50, Hamlin fended off a late charge from Larson to capture his sixth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson settled in second place ahead of Blaney, Byron and Reddick while McDowell, Bowman, Gibbs, Stenhouse and Gragson were scored in the top 10. By then, 33 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap while select notables including Ty Dillon and Cindric were scored a lap down. Meanwhile, both Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing competitors including Keselowski and Buescher were also off the lead lap category due to late issues. Keselowski was mired in 36th place after he was assessed a late blend line violation penalty. Meanwhile, Buescher was in 38th place after pitting under green with smoke coming from his No. 17 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops, where mixed strategies ensued, Gibbs and Wallace exited pit road first and second following two tire services. Hamlin followed suit on four fresh tires along with Larson, Burton, Byron, Bowman, Bell, Stenhouse and Blaney. Soon after, Ross Chastain and Erik Jones pitted to top off their respective entries on fuel.

    The second stage period started on Lap 55 as Reddick and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick briefly muscled ahead of McDowell through the first turn until Nemechek, who restarted behind Reddick, made his move beneath Reddick and assumed the lead entering Turn 2 and the backstretch. With Nemechek leading the race, the rest of the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes and dueled in close-quarters racing for a full lap. A majority of competitors racing in the mid-pack region continued to fan out and duel against one another for positions before all settled in a long single-file line by Lap 57.

    Amid the early battles, Nemechek retained the lead and he would proceed to lead at the Lap 60 mark by a second-and-a-half while Reddick, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, McDowell and Wallace occupied the top-six spots on the track. With Logano, Hamlin, Byron and Larson rounding out the top 10, Blaney was mired in 11th ahead of Gibbs, Gilliland, Hocevar and Bell while Elliott was back in 18th place behind Jimmie Johnson. In addition, Truex was up to 22nd place as he was racing behind Bowman and Gragson.

    By Lap 65, Nemechek continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick while Kyle Busch, LaJoie and McDowell continued to run in the top five ahead of Wallace, Logano, Hamlin, Byron and Larson.

    Two laps later, the caution flew due to a tire carcass that came off of the left rear of Cody Ware’s No. 15 Peoria TT Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the backstretch. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Busch and Wallace remained on the track. Not long after, Larson pitted for a second time to ensure the right-rear tire of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was tightened. McDowell and Haley had also pitted with Larson.

    With the race restarting on Lap 73, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Busch, who was running tight on fuel, rocketed ahead of Wallace and Gilliland with the lead through the first two turns. Entering the backstretch, however, the caution quickly returned when Preece, who was in 18th place, made contact with both Burton and Byron, where Preece got squeezed in between both, as Byron, who had made earlier contact with Chase Briscoe entering the backstretch, veered right into the outside wall before he came back across the middle of the track and got T-boned by Allmendinger as Byron spun his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and hit the inside wall head-on while Allmendinger also made contact with the wall. The incident was enough to knock Burton, Allmendinger and Byron out of contention while Preece continued.

    During the caution period, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Wallace and Gilliland remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 78 featured a side-by-side duel between Wallace and Elliott through the first two turns as both continued to drag-race against one another through the backstretch. Wallace would then manage to muscle his No. 23 U.S. Air Force Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Elliott through Turn 3 while Hamlin went three-wide on Logano and Gilliland to boost his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE into third place. With LaJoie missing his lane and going wide while losing a handful of spots in the process, Wallace would proceed to lead the halfway mark on Lap 80 as Elliott, Hamlin, Gilliland, Nemechek, Logano, Reddick, Blaney, Stenhouse and Bell were scored in the top 10 while LaJoie fell back to 11th place in front of Briscoe and Truex.

    At the Lap 85 mark, Wallace stretched his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while third-place Elliott only trailed Elliott by six-tenths of a second. A lap later, Gilliland surrendered fourth place to pit his No. 38 gener8tor Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, but he lost a lap in the process due to a slow pit service as Wallace continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott at the Lap 90 mark. With Hamlin occupying third place, Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney were scored in the top five as Nemechek, Reddick, Stenhouse, Truex and Bell were running in the top 10.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage period, Logano surrendered a top-five spot to pit his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, where he would then manage to regain speed and remain on the lead lap ahead of the leader Wallace, who continued to lead Elliott on the track.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 100, Wallace captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott followed suit in second ahead of Hamlin, Blaney and Nemechek while Reddick, Stenhouse, Truex, Bell and Briscoe were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 39 starters, including Logano, were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Wallace pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track. Not long after, Reddick pitted for a second time to address a loose left front wheel.

    With 56 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Hamlin and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin rocketed ahead with the lead while Stenhouse quickly overtook Nemechek to take the runner-up spot. As the field behind jostled for spots through the backstretch, the caution then flew when Truex, who was mixed in a tight three-wide battle with Larson and Chastain for sixth place exiting the backstretch, made contact with Larson, which got Truex loose as he slid his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE sideways and slapped the outside wall in Turn 3. In the process, Josh Berry got hit by Ty Gibbs and he ended up sliding and hitting the outside wall, which damaged the front nose of the No. 4 Panini/Caitlin Clark Ford Mustang Dark Horse and took Berry out of contention while Truex continued.

    During the caution period, some including LaJoie, Reddick, Erik Jones, Wallace, Gilliland, Preece and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 51 laps remaining did not last a single corner as Hocevar, who was running in the middle of the pack, made contact with Blaney, which generated a domino effect as Blaney then got turned into Austin Dillon and made contact with Jimmie Johnson, who made contact with Logano in the process as both Johnson and Logano wrecked hard against the Turn 1 outside wall while Blaney, Dillon and Hocevar continued. At the moment of caution, Hamlin had retained the lead while Nemechek, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Chastain were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, some led by Hamlin, who was on the edge of a fuel window, pitted while the rest led by Nemechek and Chastain remained on the track. By the time his pit service was complete, where he spent a little extra time in his pit stall to top off on fuel, Hamlin was the sixth competitor to exit pit road and dropped to 19th place in the running order.

    As the race restarted under green with 46 laps remaining, Chastain gained a strong launch from the outside lane to boost his No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead over Nemechek through Turn 1. With Chastain leading through Turn 2 and the backstretch, Nemechek followed suit in second ahead of Alex Bowman, who boosted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into third place ahead of teammates Larson and Elliott while Gragson, Hocevar, Reddick, Keselowski and Justin Haley were mixed into the top 10. By the following lap, Hamlin moved up to 15th place as Suarez executed a bold three-wide move over both Briscoe and Stenhouse for 22nd place during the next lap.

    With 40 laps remaining and a majority of the field monitoring their fuel tank and strategy for the finish, Chastain was leading by two-tenths of a second over Nemechek followed by Bowman, Larson and Elliott while Gragson, Hocevar, Reddick, Keselowski and Haley occupied the top 10 on the track ahead of Blaney, Daniel Hemric, Gibbs, Zane Smith and Hamlin. Meanwhile, Bell, Gilliland, McDowell, Wallace and Preece were in the top 20 ahead of Kyle Busch, Suarez, Cindric, Briscoe and Stenhouse while Austin Dillon, LaJoie, Ty Dillon, Cody Ware and Erik Jones were mired in the top 30.

    Two laps later, Nemechek and Bowman pitted their respective entries from second and third, respectively. Both of their pit stops occurred a lap after McDowell had pitted as the leader Chastain along with Haley pitted during the next lap. As a result, Larson assumed the lead ahead of teammate Elliott and Gragson before he pitted under green with 37 laps remaining, which handed the lead to Elliott.

    Then just as Elliott and Reddick pitted their respective entries under green, the caution returned with 36 laps remaining due to Truex spinning from the bottom to the top of the track entering Turn 3, where he hit the wall and flat-spotted his left-rear tire. By then, Gragson was leading ahead of Hocevar, Keselowski, Blaney and Hemric. During the caution period, Gibbs pitted his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE while pit road was closed due to an engine concern, and the hood was lifted as his pit crew diagnosed the issue before Gibbs, who was still dealing with the issue, proceeded. During the caution period, Gragson and Hocevar pitted while the rest led by Keselowski and Blaney remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with 31 laps remaining, Keselowski and Hemric led the field to the green flag as both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch before Keselowski drifted up and cleared Hemric to lead in his No. 6 Body Guard Ford Mustang Dark Horse through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Blaney moved up to second and Hemric battled Zane Smith for third place while the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions through two and three lanes deep. As a series of battles continued to occur around every turn and straightaway, Keselowski retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Blaney with approximately 30 laps remaining as Smith, Hemric and Hamlin trailed in the top five.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Keselowski continued to lead by half a second over Blaney while Smith, Hemric and Hamlin continued to follow suit in the top five. Behind, Bell, Gilliland, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Wallace occupied the top 10 as Preece, Larson, Suarez, Reddick and Stenhouse trailed in the top 15 ahead of Briscoe, LaJoie, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Chastain.

    Five laps later and with the entire field running in a single-file line, Keselowski stabilized his lead to four-tenths of a second over Blaney as Smith, Hemric, Hamlin, Bell, Gilliland, Busch, Cindric and Larson followed suit in the top 10, with Reddick, Wallace, Preece, Suarez and Briscoe scored in the top 15.

    Another two laps later, a heated battle between Larson and Busch ignited as both swapped spots before Busch overtook Larson to assume seventh place. With Gilliland being dispatched by both, Busch was trying to close in on Bell for sixth place and Reddick trailed Larson in ninth place while Keselowski continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney, Smith, Hemric and Hamlin. Larson would then overtake Busch again on the track for seventh place with 16 laps remaining before he overtook Bell for sixth place with 15 laps remaining as he proceeded to set his sights on Hamlin.

    Then with 13 laps remaining, Larson gained a huge advantage to overtake Hamlin for fifth place through the first two turns. Hamlin would then fend off Busch for sixth place while Larson continued his march to the front as he had Keselowski, Blaney, Smith and Hemric in front of him. Larson overtook Smith for fourth place while Hamlin was being blocked by Smith, as Blaney was trying to gain a run to overtake Keselowski for the lead with 10 laps remaining. By then, the top-four competitors including Keselowski, Blaney, Hemric and Larson were separated by eight-tenths of a second as Larson was trying to gain a run on Hemric for third place while Blaney could not gain a run on Keselowski for the lead.

    With nine laps remaining, Larson overtook Hemric for third place just past the backstretch. With Hemric then pitting under green, Larson started to gain a run on Blaney for the runner-up spot while Keselowski continued to lead during the next lap.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Keselowski continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Blaney as Larson followed suit by less than half a second, with the latter two continuing to intimidate one another and the leader Keselowski questioning whether he had enough fuel to finish. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in fifth place behind Smith while Reddick was in seventh place behind Kyle Busch.

    Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew and the race was sent into overtime when Kyle Busch, who was trying to gain a run on Hamlin for fifth place exiting the backstretch, went up the track and made contact with Hamlin as Busch spun his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up towards the outside wall and made contact with the wall. During the caution period, some led by Zane Smith and including Hamlin, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Haley, Cody Ware and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest led by Keselowski and including Blaney and Larson remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Larson and Blaney occupying the front row as Keselowski peeled off the racetrack as he ran out of fuel. At the start, Larson and Blaney dueled for the lead in front of the stacked field into Turn 1 just before the caution returned for a vicious multi-car wreck just past the frontstretch when Hemric bumped and sent Nemechek into the inside wall, where both came back across the track and collected Bowman, Briscoe and Hamlin while the rest of the competitors running in the mid-pack region scattered to avoid the carnage. Amid the carnage, Larson had assumed the lead from Blaney, who was left fuming on the radio and the advantage Larson gained to start on the preferred inside lane after Keselowski ran out of fuel, just as the race was placed into a red flag period for 17 minutes.

    Once the track was cleared and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, none of the front-runners led by Larson and Blaney pitted while a select few, including Haley and Briscoe, pitted.

    The start of the second overtime attempt featured Larson and Blaney occupying the front row, where Larson dueled and muscled ahead of Blaney to retain the lead through the first two turns as Reddick bolted his way past Blaney for the runner-up spot. As Larson led the field through the backstretch, trouble ignited as Preece got bumped by Chase Elliott and spun towards the inside wall just entering the backstretch. Amid Preece’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Larson proceeded to lead through the next two turns.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Blaney trailed by nine-tenths of a second. Then two corners later, the caution flew and the race ended as Preece was unable to limp his No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang Dark Horse away from his wreckage. With the caution ending the race, Larson was able to coast his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around the Indianapolis circuit for a final time with enough fuel in his tank before he made his way back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for his first victory at the Brickyard and fourth of the 2024 Cup Series season.

    With the victory, Larson achieved his 27th career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his first since winning at Sonoma Raceway in June and his third crown-jewel victory overall, including the Coca-Cola 60 and the Southern 500, as he became the first four-time race winner of the 2024 season. The victory was the 10th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the ninth of the season for Hendrick Motorsports (HMS, with HMS notching its 11th career win at Indianapolis as Larson became the 16th competitor overall to win the Brickyard 400, while crew chief Cliff Daniels achieved his 20th career victory as a Cup Series crew chief.

    “[The Brickyard 400 win]’s for sure up there [on my list of accomplishments],” Larson said on the frontstretch on NBC. “This is just such a prestigious place and such hallowed ground. Pretty neat just to get an opportunity to race here on the oval again. What a job by our [No. 5] team. [They] Never gave up at all. We had the pit stop issue there early on and just fought and dug and had things work out. I love you, Indiana fans. I know you guys love me, too. How about we come back next May and try to kiss these bricks on the IndyCar? I’d love to do [the double again]. We’ll work on it, so I hope we can announce something soon and see you all next May.”

    The 2024 Brickyard 400 victory also served both as a redemptive and proud moment for Larson, who was unable to complete a Memorial Day Double Duty attempt between the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May due to on-track precipitation that caused him to miss the latter event while he ended up finishing in 18th place during the Indy 500 while driving for Arrow McLaren’s NTT IndyCar Series team. Ironically, Larson’s race-winning No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sported the exact blue, white and papaya orange scheme he attempted to compete with at the Coca-Cola 600, but Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier ended up competing in when Larson opted to race the Indy 500 before traveling to Charlotte for the 600-mile event.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The Brickyard 400 victory] does [make up the month of May], I guess a little bit,” Larson added. “I wished we could’ve gotten to do both [races] and run the [Coca-Cola] 600 because we had a phenomenal papaya orange car for that race, too, but I think everything just comes full circle and everything’s meant to be. Today definitely felt meant to be for us, with the way strategy was working out, Brad [Keselowski] running out of fuel, me inheriting the front row, all that. A lot had to fall into place and thankfully, it did. I just can’t believe it. It’s just surreal to win here and can’t wait to kiss these bricks with my team, [owner] Rick Hendrick, whose here finally, my family, my friends, everybody. My parents are here, so we’ll be celebrating these next couple weeks.”

    As Larson celebrated on the frontstretch and kissed the yard of bricks with his team, Ryan Blaney, who ended up in third place behind Tyler Reddick, was left displeased over having a first Brickyard 400 victory slip from his grasp through two overtime attempts.

    “[Losing]’s no fun,” Blaney said. “We had a really good shot to win today. Gosh, our car was fast. I thought we put ourselves in a great spot. I knew [Keselowski] was probably gonna run out if [the race] went green. We came down to the [first overtime] restart and I couldn’t believe [Keselowski] stayed out. I knew there was no way they were gonna make it, so I obviously chose the top [lane] because [Keselowski] might run out in the restart zone and he runs out coming to the green, so he gets to go to pit road and [Larson] gets promoted [to the inside lane front row]. Luck of the day right there, I guess. I don’t know. I don’t even know what to be mad about. I’m mad at losing this race because I thought we were in a perfect position. It stinks to lose’em that way, but appreciate the effort. I hate we don’t get to celebrate with Mr. [Roger] Penske and everyone at [Team] Penske here. That stings a lot…[I’m] Not going to sleep very good tonight, I can tell you that. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

    Meanwhile, Reddick was pleased with his runner-up result that marks his third top-three result in a span of four races in 2024 and keeps him in the hunt for the regular-season championship, though he was also left a little disappointed over falling short of having a perfect weekend at the Brickyard after winning the pole and being the fastest during Friday’s practice session.

    “It was a great recovery for us,” Reddick said. “Obviously, a lot of cars and a lot of things had to happen for us to get second. Honestly, it was a good day, but obviously the return to the Brickyard, it’s tough coming up short one spot, but once we got off Turn 2 there, I knew I was pretty much it and [Larson] was gonna have to make a mistake. Glad we got a good recovery. Another solid points day. In a big picture, it was a great day for our team.”

    Christopher Bell came home in fourth place while Bubba Wallace, who won the second stage, recorded a strong fifth-place result as he is currently only seven points below the top-16 cutline in his efforts to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

    Todd Gilliland, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Noah Gragson and Chase Elliott completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 18 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 24 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 22nd event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 15 over Tyler Reddick, 43 over Denny Hamlin and 73 over Ryan Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, eight laps led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 40 laps led

    3. Ryan Blaney

    4. Christopher Bell, two laps led

    5. Bubba Wallace, 26 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Todd Gilliland, one lap led

    7. Austin Cindric

    8. Daniel Suarez

    9. Noah Gragson, three laps led

    10. Chase Elliott, one lap led

    11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    12. Carson Hocevar

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Corey LaJoie

    15. Ross Chastain, eight laps led

    16. Michael McDowell, one lap led

    17. Zane Smith

    18. Cody Ware

    19. Ty Dillon

    20. Justin Haley

    21. Brad Keselowski, 35 laps led

    22. Chris Buescher

    23. Ty Gibbs

    24. Chase Briscoe

    25. Kyle Busch, one lap down, five laps led

    26. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

    27. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down

    28. Erik Jones, two laps down

    29. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

    30. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    31. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    32. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    33. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident

    34. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

    35. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    37. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    38. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    39. BJ McLeod – OUT, Engine

    The NASCAR Cup Series’ teams and competitors will be taking the next two weekends off due to the Paris Summer Olympics before returning to action at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, for the Cook Out 400. The event is scheduled to occur on August 11 and air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network. 

  • Carson Hocevar fined, docked by NASCAR for wrecking Harrison Burton under caution at Nashville

    Carson Hocevar fined, docked by NASCAR for wrecking Harrison Burton under caution at Nashville

    Carson Hocevar has been fined $50,000 and docked 25 points in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series driver’s standings for violating the sport’s Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines sections from the NASCAR Rule Book after he sent Harrison Burton for a spin under caution during this past weekend’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

    The incident involving Hocevar’s actions at Nashville occurred with 58 laps remaining when the caution flew due to Austin Dillon hitting and sending Brad Keselowski backward against the outside wall in Turn 2, eliminating Keselowski from contention. Then just ahead of Keselowski’s carnage and with the field reducing pace under the caution period, Hocevar bumped and clipped the right-rear quarter panel of Burton’s No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry and sent Burton for a spin through the backstretch while Hocevar, who barely made contact with Todd Gilliland’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, proceeded. Hocevar, who is campaigning in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series for Spire Motorsports, finished in 16th place, one spot ahead of Gilliland. Burton would end up in 28th place after he was eliminated in a multi-car wreck during the event’s second of a record five overtime attempts.

    With his docked points, Hocevar, who was ranked in 22nd place in the driver’s standings, drops to 24th place in the standings. Currently, the 21-year-old Hocevar from Portage, Michigan, and is competing for the Rookie-of-the-Year title, trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs by 181 points with seven regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    Additional penalties levied from this past weekend’s triple-header weekend at Nashville involved two Craftsman Truck Series crew chiefs who were fined $2,500 for a single unsecured lug nut discovered on their respective entries. The fined penalties involved Jon Leonard, crew chief for the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry piloted by Matt Mills, and Jeriod Prince, crew chief for the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry piloted by Matt Crafton. During this past Friday’s Truck Series event at Nashville, Mills ended up in eighth place while Crafton settled in 23rd place.

    With the Craftsman Truck Series entering a one-week break, the NASCAR Xfinity and Cup Series’ teams return to action for this upcoming weekend’s second annual Chicago Street Course events in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The Xfinity Series’ The Loop 110 is set to occur on Saturday, July 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC while the Cup Series’ Grant Park 165 is set to occur on Sunday, July 7, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, nine laps led

    2. Zane Smith

    3. Tyler Reddick, 16 laps led

    4. Ryan Preece

    5. Chris Buescher

    6. Ryan Blaney, 26 laps led

    7. Bubba Wallace

    8. Kyle Larson

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Noah Gragson

    11. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

    12. Denny Hamlin, 70 laps led

    13. Justin Haley

    14. Alex Bowman

    15. Austin Cindric

    16. Carson Hocevar

    17. Todd Gilliland

    18. Chase Elliott

    19. William Byron

    20. Corey LaJoie

    21. Chase Briscoe

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Ty Gibbs, two laps led

    24. Martin Truex Jr.

    25. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

    26. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    27. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    28. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    29. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    31. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    32. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

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

    34. Erik Jones – OUT, Suspension

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

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

    37. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    38. Chad Finchum – OUT, Electrical

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

  • Bell perseveres through dry and slick conditions for dramatic Cup victory at New Hampshire

    Bell perseveres through dry and slick conditions for dramatic Cup victory at New Hampshire

    Christopher Bell survived a war of attrition both from Mother Nature that resulted with him racing on wet tires in the closing stages and through a series of late on-track chaos, including an overtime shootout, to win the rain-delayed USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, June 23.

    The 2024 Coca-Cola 600 champion from Norman, Oklahoma, led three times for a race-high 149 of 305 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place based on a performance metric formula due to the event’s qualifying session being canceled due to on-track precipitation. After assuming the lead from Chase Elliott on Lap 42, Bell would win the first stage period on Lap 70. Despite losing the lead on Lap 126 during an exchange of green flag pit stops, he remained in contention towards the front and was scored in ninth place when the event was placed in a red flag period due to a heavy round of precipitation with 82 laps remaining.

    Amid a weather delay period that spanned more than two hours, Bell, who along with the rest of the field switched from dry to wet-weathered tires when the race resumed with 73 laps remaining, reassumed the lead from Tyler Reddick, who was leading during the red flag period, with 60 laps remaining. Despite having his momentum halted five times due to a series of on-track carnages that ensued, including the fifth and latest one that sent the field into overtime, Bell had enough horsepower and grip from the wet tires to speed away from Chase Briscoe and Josh Berry for two laps before cruising to his third NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday, June 22, being canceled due to on-track precipitation, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a performance metric formula. As a result, Chase Elliott was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Ryan Blaney, winner of last weekend’s Cup Series event at Iowa Speedway.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced half an hour early due to potential weather concerns, Chase Elliott rocketed his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 away from the field from the outside lane as he assumed an early advantage through the first two turns and through the backstretch. As Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney battled for the runner-up spot, Elliott led the first lap while the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for early spots.

    During the next four laps, Elliott retained a comfortable advantage over Bell while Ross Chastain and Joey Logano battled Blaney for third place. Behind, rookie Josh Berry occupied sixth place while Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman and William Byron battled for seventh place in front of Martin Truex Jr. and Tyler Reddick. With Chastain and Logano overtaking Blaney to move up to third and fourth while Bowman fended off teammate Byron for seventh place, Elliott’s advantage was scored at two seconds by the fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Elliott continued to lead by two seconds over Bell followed by Logano, Chastain and Berry while Blaney, Bowman, Byron, Truex and Reddick were scored in the top 10. Behind, Todd Gilliland was in 11th place ahead of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson and Ty Gibbs while rookie Carson Hocevar, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Justin Haley and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell and Austin Dillon. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones trailed in the top 30 while Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Hemric, Ty Dillon and Kaz Grala rounded out the 36-car field.

    Ten laps later, Elliott stretched his early advantage to three seconds over Bell while Logano, Berry and Blaney followed suit in the top five. With Chastain retaining sixth place ahead of Truex, Bowman, Reddick and Byron, Hamlin and Gilliland swapped spots as Hamlin moved into 11th place while Gibbs, Larson and Keselowski followed suit.

    Another 10 laps later, Elliott stabilized his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Bell while third-place Logano trailed by nearly five seconds. Meanwhile, Berry, who was the fastest competitor on the track earlier, retained fourth place as he trailed Elliott by five seconds while Blaney trailed the lead by six seconds in fifth place. In addition, Truex was in sixth place after he overtook Chastain for the spot a few laps earlier, Hamlin cracked the top 10 as he was up to ninth place while Byron dropped to 12th place.

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, Bell decreased Elliott’s advantage to two-tenths of a second as Elliott was lapping the competitors running at the rear of the field. With select names including Ty Dillon, Grala, Hemric and Kyle Busch lapped, Bell then drew his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE into a side-by-side battle with Elliott for the following lap before he prevailed for the top spot by Lap 42. Amid the battle for the lead, Logano, Berry and Blaney continued to run in the top five while Truex was trying to gain more ground from sixth place.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Bell extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Elliott while Logano, Blaney, Berry and Truex all trailed within four seconds in the top six. By then, Daniel Suarez and rookie Zane Smith joined Busch, Hemric, Grala and Ty Dillon as competitors to be lapped while Chastain, Hamlin, Bowman and Reddick occupied the top 10 spots on the track.

    By Lap 60, Bell stretched his advantage to another second to two seconds over Elliott as third-place Logano trailed Elliott by half a second. In addition, teammate Blaney only trailed Logano by four-tenths of a second while Berry followed suit in fifth. With Truex retaining sixth ahead of teammate Hamlin and Chastain, Bowman and Reddick continued to round out the top 10 while Gibbs, Byron, Larson, Bubba Wallace and Gilliland occupied the top 15.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Bell, who situated himself behind 27th-place Chase Briscoe, cruised to his seventh Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Behind, Logano managed to overtake Elliott on the final lap and final corner to capture second place followed by Blaney and Berry as Truex, Hamlin, Chastain, Reddick and Bowman were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for the first time. Following the pit stops, Bell retained the lead after he exited pit road first followed by Logano, Truex, Berry, Elliott, Blaney, Hamlin, Chastain, Gilliland and McDowell. Amid the pit stops, McDowell, who opted for a two-tire pit stop along with teammate Gilliland, was penalized for removing equipment from his pit box.

    The second stage period started on Lap 77 as Bell and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Bell fended off Logano through the first two turns to retain the lead while Elliott and Truex battled for third place. With Berry and Hamlin trailing closely in fifth and sixth, respectively, Bell continued to lead. Soon after, a tight three-wide battle between Elliott, Truex and Berry ensued for third place, with Berry prevailing from the outside lane through the first two turns. Berry and Truex then pressured Logano for the runner-up spot and they were able to overtake Logano just past the Lap 81 mark while Elliott pursued in fifth place. By then, Bell’s advantage grew to nearly a second.

    By Lap 85, Bell was leading by a second over Berry while Truex, Logano and Hamlin followed suit in the top five. Behind, Elliott, who was struggling with the handling of his No. 9 Chevrolet, was overtaken by Blaney for sixth place while Bowman, Gibbs and Wallace were racing in the top 10 ahead of Larson, Chastain, Reddick, Byron and Gilliland.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Bell continued to lead by two seconds over teammate Truex, who overtook Berry for the runner-up spot five laps earlier, while Logano and Hamlin were running in the top five. Behind, Blaney, Elliott, Gibbs, Bowman and Wallace continued to run in the top 10 while Larson, Chastain, Reddick, Byron, Gilliland, Chris Buescher, LaJoie, Hocevar, Justin Haley and Keselowski trailed in the top 20. By then, Gragson, Cindric and Briscoe were running 24th to 26th, respectively, while Kyle Busch and Suarez were mired a lap down in 32nd and 34th, respectively.

    Fifteen laps later, Bell stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Truex, who got the deficit as low as eight-tenths of a second earlier, while third-place Berry trailed by more than three seconds. Meanwhile, Logano and Hamlin trailed by five seconds in the top five as Blaney, Elliott, Gibbs, Bowman and Wallace were running in the top 10. Amid the battles towards the front, Kyle Busch was mired in 31st place behind teammate Austin Dillon and in jeopardy of going a second lap down.

    Another four laps later, a cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Austin Cindric, who received the free pass during the first stage break period, pitted his No. 2 AutoTrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Harrison Burton, who was pinned a lap behind the leaders, would also pit shortly after before a bevy of names including Truex pitted by the Lap 125 mark. The leader Bell would also pit on Lap 124.

    By Lap 135, Gilliland, who has yet to pit, was leading by 10 seconds over a tight battle between Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Truex, both of whom were set to battle for the lead, while teammate Hamlin and Logano trailed by 13 seconds in the top five. Truex then executed a strong overtake on teammate Bell from the outside lane for the runner-up spot by Lap 136 while Gilliland continued to lead. Gilliland would proceed to lead by the Lap 140 mark despite his advantage to Truex decreasing to six seconds.

    Then on Lap 141, the caution flew after Daniel Hemric, who was racing outside the top 30, spun his No. 31 Poppy Bank Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering Turn 2. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Gilliland and including Truex and Bell pitted while the rest led by Hamlin and including Logano and LaJoie remained on the track. Prior to the field pitting, Alex Bowman pitted when pit road was closed due to smoke coming out of his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The issue would result in Bowman’s car being taken to the garage and eventually retiring in 36th place, dead last.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 148 featured Hamlin and Logano battling dead even for the lead for a full lap as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. With Hamlin prevailing and fending off Logano through the frontstretch, LaJoie and Bell battled for third place through the backstretch before Truex made it a tight three-wide battle through the frontstretch as Elliott tried to join the battle. LaJoie would then be overtaken by Truex, Bell and Elliott despite maintaining his momentum from the outside lane while Hamlin maintained the lead at the halfway mark on Lap 152, which made the event official.

    Then on Lap 153, the caution returned after both Kyle Busch and Noah Gragson wrecked in Turn 2, with the former sliding into the latter and making left-rear contact with the outside wall. During the caution period, some including William Byron pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 159, Hamlin and Logano dueled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch while Truex was trying to split in between both. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Hamlin would fend off teammate Truex and Logano to retain the lead by the following lap while Bell and Blaney tried to pressure Logano for third place. In addition, Hamlin was trying to fend off teammate Truex for the lead.

    At the Lap 170 mark, Hamlin’s No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE was ahead by eight-tenth of a second over teammate Truex’s No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota Camry XSE while third-place Logano’s No. 22 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang Dark Horse trailed by more than a second. Bell and Blaney followed suit in the top five while Gilliland, Larson, Elliott, Berry and Chastain were racing in the top 10 ahead of Buescher, Haley, Gibbs, Reddick, LaJoie, Wallace, Gragson, Byron, Cindric and Preece.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Hamlin fended off teammate Truex to capture his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Logano settled in third ahead of Bell and Blaney while Gilliland, Larson, Berry, Elliott and Chastain were scored in the top 10. By then, 28 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Hamlin pitted for service while Tyler Reddick and McDowell remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit road first ahead of Gilliland, Gragson, Cindric and Burton, all of whom elected for a two-tire pit service, while Hamlin exited in sixth place and as the first competitor on four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Truex endured a slow pit service due to issues having the right-rear tire tightened as he emerged in 26th place.

    With 108 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Reddick and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick launched ahead from McDowell and Larson to lead through the first two turns. The caution, however, quickly returned after Logano sent Elliott for a spin in Turn 2 due to locking up his left-front tire while both were battling just outside the top 10, with Elliott limping back to pit road with a flat left-front tire and Logano with a broken toe link, an issue that would result with him dropping out of the lead lap category.

    The start of the next restart period with 102 laps remaining featured Reddick fending off McDowell to retain the lead while Larson was trying to overtake McDowell for the runner-up spot. With the field fanning out, Larson quickly went to work in battling Reddick for the lead until the caution returned with 101 laps remaining as LaJoie spun amid contact with Ryan Preece in the backstretch.

    As the event restarted under green with 96 laps remaining, Reddick and McDowell battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as Reddick then received a bump from Larson to muscle ahead for the following lap. Larson, who quickly overtook McDowell for the runner-up spot, then battled Reddick dead even for the lead while Hamlin charged his way up to third place on four fresh tires. Hamlin and Larson would then battle fiercely for the runner-up spot as Blaney, McDowell and Gilliland battled for fourth place while Reddick retained the lead. The caution would then fly with 92 laps remaining after Truex got bumped by Keselowski and sent for a spin toward the frontstretch’s outside wall.

    With the event restarting with 87 laps remaining, Reddick muscled his No. 45 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE ahead from Hamlin and Blaney entering the first two turns as Haley threw a three-wide move while trying to move up into the top five. Another two laps later and with Reddick still maintaining a steady advantage over Blaney and Hamlin, the caution returned due to Kyle Busch getting sideways after he was hit by Preece and before he received another bump from Stenhouse that sent him spinning towards the frontstretch’s inside wall.

    Then with 82 laps remaining, the field led by Reddick was directed to pit road as the event was placed in a red flag period due to rain, which had been slowly approaching since the start of the final stage period, falling around the circuit.

    Following a delay that spanned more than two hours, where the rain heavily increased before dissipating and where a lightning strike was reported eight miles away, the field led by Reddick returned to the track under a cautious pace. By then, all competitors had the tires on their respective entries changed to wet tires due to the wet conditions that were still present around the circuit. During the caution laps, Kyle Busch’s long event came to an abrupt end after he hit the outside wall in Turn 3 and damaged the right side of his No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Not long after, LaJoie spun his No. 7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entering the backstretch while running at the rear of the field under a cautious pace.

    When the event restarted under green with 73 laps remaining, Reddick rocketed away from the field as Blaney and Gilliland battled for second in the front of the field that fanned out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. With the field still fanned out through the frontstretch, Larson used the inside lane to charge his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 way up to third and Bell made his way into the runner-up spot while Reddick maintained the lead. Reddick would continue to lead by a second over a side-by-side battle between Larson and Bell with 70 laps remaining.

    With 67 laps remaining, the caution flew after Chastain, who was in sixth place, received a bump from Haley and spun his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 4, though he kept his car off the wall and was dodged by oncoming traffic, including Truex. During the caution period, some including Keselowski, Grala, LaJoie and Nemechek pitted, though all teams were not granted permission to change from wet to slick tires, while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Chastain, who had also pitted, had his wet tires changed but was ordered by NASCAR to have the wet tires reinstalled on his car.

    The start of the next restart period with 60 laps remaining featured Reddick retaining the lead through the first two turns until Bell used the inside lane to rocket ahead with the lead through the backstretch. With Bell leading Reddick, Larson boosted his way up to third place followed by Blaney, Gilliland and McDowell as the field fanned out through every turn and straightaway.

    With 50 laps remaining, Bell was leading by nearly three seconds over Blaney followed by Larson while Buescher was up to fourth place. Reddick slipped to fifth as he was racing ahead of Gilliland, Berry, Briscoe, McDowell and Elliott while Haley, Gibbs, Preece, Hamlin, Truex, Burton, Erik Jones, Gragson, Hocevar and Austin Cindric trailed in the top 20 followed by Stenhouse, Wallace, Austin Dillon, Byron and Keselowski.

    Following another caution period with 46 laps remaining as LaJoie spun from 30th place in Turn 1 and another restart period with 39 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead from Blaney and Larson as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. Behind the leaders, Briscoe, who was mired outside the top 20 during the red flag period, marched his No. 14 Zep Ford Mustang Dark Horse up to sixth place while battling McDowell for the spot as Reddick and Berry were in the top five.

    The caution, however, would fly with 37 laps remaining when Gragson, who slid sideways below the apron in Turn 1, spun and clipped Wallace as Wallace veered head-on into the outside wall in Turn 1 and into the path of Austin Dillon with Gragson also colliding sideways into both as Cindric and Erik Jones also wrecked while trying to avoid the chaos. Following the incident, Wallace pulled his damaged No. 23 DraftKings Toyota Camry XSE in front of Gragson, who was receiving service in his pit stall, to express his displeasure over the incident before he limped his car to his respective pit stall and retired. During the caution period, the field led by Bell pitted under a non-competitive pit stop format, where the competitors were allowed to retain their respective positions and pit for a fresh set of wet weather tires.

    With the event restarting with 27 laps remaining, Bell rocketed ahead from the outside lane as Blaney tried to follow suit. Larson then battled Blaney for the runner-up spot as Reddick was being pressured by McDowell for fourth place. As a tight battle between McDowell, Reddick, Briscoe and Haley ensued for fourth place, Bell proceeded to lead by less than half a second with fewer than 25 laps remaining while Berry was trying to catch Reddick and teammate Briscoe for sixth place.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Bell extended his advantage to a second over Blaney while Larson, McDowell and Berry trailed within two seconds. Behind, Haley was in sixth ahead of Briscoe, Reddick, Gilliland and Buescher while Burton, Elliott, Ty Dillon, Truex and Stenhouse followed suit in the top 15.

    Following another late-race caution with 18 laps remaining due to Hocevar spinning his No. 77 Delaware Life Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 3, the field led by Bell returned for another cycle of non-competitive pit stops and for another new set of wet tires. The start of the next restart period with nine laps remaining, however, did not last long as McDowell, who restarted alongside Bell on the front row, got loose underneath Blaney in Turn 1 as both performed a synchronous spin in Turn 2 without getting hit by oncoming traffic. With the event returning to caution conditions, Bell had escaped with the lead while Berry, Larson, Briscoe, Buescher and Haley followed suit in the top six.

    During the proceeding restart with four laps remaining, Briscoe, who restarted alongside Bell on the front row, briefly battled with Bell through the frontstretch until Bell rocketed back ahead from the outside lane. In the ensuing process, Berry overtook teammate Briscoe for the runner-up spot through the backstretch and he commenced his charge on Bell for the lead while Buescher, Larson and Reddick followed suit in the top six. Just as Berry started to close in on Bell for the lead through the frontstretch with two laps remaining, the caution returned due to Keselowski spinning and stalling his No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 1. Keselowski’s incident was enough to send the event into overtime despite darkness looming around the circuit.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Bell received another strong restart from the outside lane while teammates Berry and Briscoe battled for the runner-up spot in front of Larson, Buescher and Reddick. With Briscoe and Berry battling dead even, Bell continued to muscle away with the top spot.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by eight-tenths of a second ahead of a side-by-side battle between Berry and Briscoe. With the gap too far for both Berry and Briscoe to close back in, Bell was able to cruise his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE smoothly around the New Hampshire circuit for a final time on his wet tires before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claim his third checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.

    With the victory, Bell, winner of NASCAR’s first oval event to conclude on wet tires and the fourth three-time race winner of the 2024 season, scored his ninth Cup Series career win, his first since winning the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and his second at New Hampshire, with his first occurring in 2022. He also became the first competitor to sweep an Xfinity-Cup race weekend at New Hampshire since Brad Keselowski made the last accomplishment in 2014 as Bell won Saturday’s Xfinity event at the Magic Mile.

    Bell’s victory was also the seventh of the season for the Toyota nameplate and the sixth of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing while his crew chief Adam Stevens notched his 37th career win in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “You never know how this [race]’s gonna shake out whenever you change [the tires], so many things like that,” Bell said on USA Network. “Personally, I love adverse conditions because you’re always trying to think outside the box. Whenever we went back out, I was feeling around and felt like the normal Loudon groove was really slippery. I tried to just run down or run up, and [crew chief] Adam [Stevens] put the tune on this thing and it was turning really good. This is really cool because Rheem has won a lot here and we always have Watts on the car too. That is just really, really special. Hey [race fans], this [race] didn’t get shortened!”

    Meanwhile, Briscoe edged teammate Berry in a photo finish to claim the runner-up spot for his best result of the season thus far as Berry settled in third place for the second time in 2024.

    The runner-up finish prevailed in Briscoe’s efforts to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs as he gained 19 points and is 25 points below the top-16 cutline to be eligible for the Playoffs with eight regular-season events remaining on the schedule. The result also left Briscoe, who is still seeking a ride for the 2025 season amid Stewart-Haas Racing’s closure at the conclusion of the 2024 season, smiling on pit road after he was mired a lap down and running in the mid-pack region prior to the change of weather and track conditions.

    “The rain saved us, for sure,” Briscoe said. “We were terrible in the dry [conditions]. We knew typically on the road courses, even ovals that we ran in the rain, we’ve been pretty good. Truthfully, I didn’t expect to drive up to second, but really good recovery for our Zep Ford. To come away with a chance at a win. It was fun, racing up there at the end and slipping and sliding around. If you would’ve told me two hours ago that we would run second, I don’t think I would’ve believed you, but overall, a great day for us and definitely needed one to turn the ship around. It’s been a real struggle. Good overall day, for sure.”

    Like Briscoe, Berry was also left satisfied with the third-place run in an event where he started 10th and executed a strong performance on the track both on dry and wet conditions. Currently, Berry, who is also searching for a ride in 2025, is 73 points below the top-16 cutline to make his first Playoff appearance.

    “The rain was a new opportunity for us and we capitalized,” Berry said. “The car was really good that second half. We cut up right through there, so just started out the day really strong and ended it strong too. Really solid day. A lot to be proud of. We’re gonna keep digging.”

    Larson came home in fourth place while Chris Buescher rounded out the top five. Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemechek, Martin Truex Jr. and Ross Chastain finished in the top 10.

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 85 laps. In addition, 29 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 18th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott are tied for the regular-season points lead as both are ahead in the standings by 40 points over Denny Hamlin, 48 over Martin Truex Jr., 60 over Tyler  Reddick and 65 over Christopher Bell.

    Results.

    1. Christopher Bell, 149 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Chase Briscoe

    3. Josh Berry

    4. Kyle Laron

    5. Chris Buescher

    6. Tyler Reddick, 53 laps led

    7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Martin Truex Jr.

    10. Ross Chastain

    11. Ryan Preece

    12. Todd Gilliland, 19 laps led

    13. Erik Jones

    14. Harrison Burton

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Ty Gibbs

    17. Carson Hocevar

    18. Chase Elliott, 41 laps led

    19. Austin Cindric

    20. Ty Dillon

    21. Daniel Suarez

    22. Kaz Grala

    23. Corey LaJoie

    24. Denny Hamlin, 43 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    25. Ryan Blaney

    26. William Byron

    27. Noah Gragson

    28. Brad Keselowski

    29. Justin Haley

    30. Zane Smith, one lap down

    31. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

    32. Joey Logano, three laps down

    33. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    34. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

    35. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

    36. Alex Bowman – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the fourth annual running of the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 30, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.