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NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney took the lead in the pits on Lap 116 and held on until the end to win the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono, his second win of the season.

“I think this gives us great momentum heading into Indianapolis,” Blaney said. “A lot of drivers have stated how much ‘kissing the bricks’ means to them. Jeff Gordon once compared it to locking lips with his ex-wife Brooke.”

2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 2 at Pocono, but came up short to Ryan Blaney in the final start and settled for the runner-up spot.

“I had a few on-track battles with my old nemesis Alex Bowman,” Hamlin said. “Alex thinks he’s on my level. He’s not. People don’t hate him; they just really dislike him.”

3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished sixth at Pocono, posting his 14th top 10 of the year.

“My No. 45 Toyota featured the Money Lion paint scheme,” Reddick said. “When that’s on my car, Michael Jordan gets really excited, but only because he thinks it says ‘money line.’”

4. Christopher Bell: Bell ran in the top 10 for the majority of the day at Pocono and finished 12th.

“The No. 20 Rheem Toyota wasn’t the fastest car on the track,” Bell said, “but we still managed a top 12. That’s mostly thanks to my pit crew. It’s like they say: ‘Rheem work makes the dream work.’”

5. Kyle Larson: A late pit road speeding penalty cost Larson a lot of track position, and he finished 13th at Pocono.

“All it takes is one mistake to ruin your day,” Larson said. “And I made that mistake. Basically, I put the ‘O no’ in ‘Pocono.’”

6. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished ninth in the Great American Getaway 400.

“The broadcast of the race went head to head with that of the Spain vs England European Championship,” Elliott said. “I doubt there is much crossover in those two audiences. If you told the patrons down at the Dawsonville Pool Room that the European Championship was on TV, many would ask ‘Is it streaming?’”

7. William Byron: Byron finished fourth at Pocono, scoring his first top 5 since Iowa on June 16th.

“I haven’t won since Martinsville in early April,” Byron said. “I was in top form then, and I know I still have it in me. It’s like eating a Martinsville hot dog; it’s still going to be in you three months later.”

8. Alex Bowman: Bowman backed up his win at Chicago with a solid third-place result at Pocono.

“The words on my car say ‘Best Friends,’” Bowman said. “Best Friends has everything to do with the animal welfare organization, and nothing to do with my relationship with Bubba Wallace.”

9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 1 at Pocono and finished eighth in the Great American Getaway 400.

“I’m still looking for my first win of the season,” Truex said. “It would be awfully climactic if my first win of the season came at Phoenix in November to win the championship. It would be awfully anti-climactic if my first win came at Phoenix as someone else won the championship.”

10. Ross Chastain: Chastain suffered a steering issue on Lap 53, which sent him sliding into the turn 3 wall. The accident ended his day and Chastain finished 36th.

“When you’re fighting for a playoff spot,” Chastain said, “a terrible result like this can make you sick to your stomach, much like drinking Busch Light Peach.”

July 15, 2024
Ryan Blaney storms to second Cup victory of 2024 at Pocono

The number 12 was the lucky number of the day for Ryan Blaney as he muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse to his 12th NASCAR Cup Series career victory in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led the final 44 of 160 scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place and spent the majority of the event racing toward the front.

After surrendering points to pit before the first two stage’s conclusion as part of a pit strategy plan that was also enforced by every participant from start to finish, Blaney cycled into the lead following a late pit stop, where he pitted with the field, during a caution period with less than 45 laps remaining. The initial leader, Kyle Larson, was among four competitors who were penalized for speeding on pit road.

Despite having his momentum and steady launches from restarts with the lead stalled due to three late-race caution periods, Blaney capitalized on the final restart period with 23 laps remaining to rocket ahead of Alex Bowman amid a strong shove from Denny Hamlin. From there, Blaney kept both Hamlin and Bowman trailing by as far as a second before he claimed his second Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and gained added momentum with the 2024 Playoffs looming as he strives to defend his series championship.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 13, Ty Gibbs scored his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season and his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 170.039 mph in 52.929 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 169.661 mph in 53.047 seconds.

Before the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field with a new oil line attached to his No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Corey LaJoie also dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his suspension of the No. 7 Parity in Paris Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 following his qualifying run.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the Charlotte duos of Ty Gibbs and William Byron dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and in front of a tight two-by-two formation between the field until Gibbs tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane in Turn 1. Byron, however, fought back through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve as both he and Gibbs remained dead even in front of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. With the field navigating back to the frontstretch, Gibbs, who steered his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE towards the bottom of the track, managed to lead the first lap ahead of Byron.

As Gibbs cleared Byron during the second lap and entering Turn 1, Byron fended off Truex and Hamlin for the runner-up spot as Tyler Reddick tried to close in from fifth place. With Byron leading a parade of competitors that included Truex, Hamlin, Reddick, teammate Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney from the runner-up spot, Gibbs stretched his early advantage to more than a second by the fifth lap mark.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Byron as Truex, Hamlin and Reddick trailed in the top five. Behind, Blaney occupied sixth place ahead of Bowman, Kyle Larson, rookie Josh Berry and Christopher Bell while Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, rookie Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were scored in the top 15 ahead of rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was mired in 21st place ahead of Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Noah Gragon and Chase Briscoe while AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric and Corey LaJoie were mired in the top 30, with Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Cody Ware and JJ Yeley rounding out the 37-car field.

Four laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Noah Gragson, who was running in 24th place, spun and backed his No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he emerged with rear-end damage and retired from further competition. During the event’s first competition period, some of the drivers, including the front-runners led by Gibbs, remained on the track while the rest led by Bell pitted.

When the race restarted on Lap 17, the field jumbled up into two tight lanes through the frontstretch as Gibbs led the field through the first turn. Then as Josh Berry went up the track through Turn 1 and plummeted below the leaderboard, Gibbs, who also went wide in Turn 1, muscled his No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE into the lead. Teammate Hamlin would follow suit and overtake Byron for the runner-up spot just past the Tunnel Curve as Gibbs, who slipped to fifth place, went three wide with Blaney and Chase Elliott as they battled for the spot. Bowman trailed the trio of Blaney, Gibbs and Elliott through the frontstretch and Reddick navigated his way into third place as he passed Byron and then set his sights on owner Hamlin for more. By then, Berry pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green as Truex proceeded to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin by Lap 20.

At the Lap 25 mark, Truex stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hamlin as Reddick, Blaney and Byron trailed in the top five ahead of Gibbs, Elliott, Bowman, Zane Smith and Larson. Behind, Logano and Keselowski battled for 11th place as Bell, Erik Jones and Cindric were racing in the top 15. By then, Bubba Wallace pitted his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE under green as he was also able to blend back onto the track ahead of the leader Truex without losing a lap. Soon after, third-place Blaney along with Gibbs, Zane Smith, Larson, Cindric and Ross Chastain pitted their respective entries under green as part of a strategic move by Lap 27 while Truex retained the lead by a second over teammate Hamlin and by three seconds over third-place Reddick.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Truex claimed his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Hamlin followed suit in second place and by a second on the track while Reddick, Byron, Elliott, Bowman, Logano, Keselowski, Bell and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the front-runners led by Truex and including Hamlin, Reddick, Byron and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Logano, Keselowski and Bell remained on the track.

The second stage period started on Lap 35 as Logano and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Keselowski dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as Keselowski muscled his No. 6 Nexlizet Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead. As Logano went wide in Turn 1 while losing a bevy of spots in the process, Keselowski retained the lead in front of the field through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve before he navigated his way back to Turn 3 and the frontstretch, where he led the next lap as Erik Jones, Bell, Buescher and Hocevar followed suit in the top five.

Keselowski would proceed to lead the Lap 40 mark by a second over Jones as Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to pursue the lead in the top five. Behind, Chase Briscoe was up to sixth place ahead of Michael McDowell, Logano, Stenhouse and Elliott while Suarez, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, Hamlin and Justin Haley were in the top 15.

By Lap 45, Keselowski stretched his advantage to three seconds over runner-up Erik Jones while Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to trail in the top five and within six seconds. Behind, Elliott, the highest-running competitor on the track who pitted during the first stage break, muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into sixth place after he overtook Briscoe while McDowell, Logano and Hamlin followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Stenhouse was in 11th place ahead of Suarez, Busch, Gibbs and Blaney while Byron, LaJoie, Truex, Haley and Zane Smith were in the top 20 ahead of Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Reddick, Harrison Burton and Bowman.

On Lap 52, the caution flew when Ross Chastain, who slipped sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3, limped his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch before he went dead straight and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, where he proceeded to limp his damaged car to his pit stall. Despite his pit crew’s efforts to repair the car, Chastain’s event came to an end as his 2024 Cup Playoffs hopes were jeopardized.

During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service while the rest led by Gibbs, Cindric and Berry remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of teammate Truex, Byron, Blaney, Zane Smith, Elliott, Larson, Keselowski, Bowman and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Hocevar was penalized for an equipment interference, Gilliland was busted for speeding on pit road and Harrison Burton was penalized for a safety violation. In addition, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon would spend extra time in their respective pit stalls to have their brake serviced.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 58 featured a heated battle between Gibbs and Berry through the frontstretch. As the field began to fan out, Berry managed to muscle ahead with the lead as Hamlin battled teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot. With the field still fanning out from Long Pond Straightaway to the Tunnel Curve, Berry retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Gibbs, Hamlin, Byron and Cindric while Truex was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Blaney, Zane Smith and Keselowski.

Just past the Lap 65 mark, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while Gibbs settled in third place as he trailed the lead by nearly two seconds. Behind, Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Elliott trailed in the top five as Blaney, Truex, Keselowski, Cindric and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, however, Hamlin gained a strong run on Berry from Turn 3 to overtake him entering the frontstretch and move his No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE into the lead on Lap 67. Hamlin would then proceed to lead at the Lap 70 mark by a second over Berry while Elliott overtook Gibbs for third place.

On Lap 72, Cindric pitted his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse from the top 11 and he spent extra time in his pit stall while his pit crew filled up the car with enough fuel for the second stage’s conclusion. Back on the track, Gibbs fended off Blaney for fourth place while Hamlin continued to lead by two seconds over Berry as third-place Elliott started to close in on Berry for more. Gibbs would then pit under green from fourth place on Lap 75 before Berry, who was overtaken by Elliott earlier, pitted two laps later.

At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Hamlin, who was among many trying to conserve fuel, was leading by four seconds over Elliott as Blaney, Truex and Keselowski were racing in the top five ahead of Buescher, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson and Bowman. Meanwhile, Bell was in 11th place ahead of Logano, Reddick, LaJoie and Briscoe while Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Allmendinger, Stenhouse and Suarez trailed in the top 20 ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Burton, McDowell, Wallace and Gilliland. By then, Busch was mired in 30th place while Gibbs, Berry and Cindric were mired back from 33rd to 35th, respectively, despite remaining on the lead lap category.

With five laps remaining in the second stage period, Buescher surrendered his spot from the top 10 to pit his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, all while Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Elliott. Blaney and Truex would then surrender third and fourth place on the track, respectively, to pit with three laps remaining in the second stage period.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Hamlin captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott trailed in second place by five seconds while Keselowski, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Logano and Redick were scored in the top 10. By then, all who recently pitted, including Cindric, Truex, Gibbs, Blaney, Berr and Buescher remained on the lead lap as a total of 32 in the field of 37 were scored on the same lap as the leader Hamlin.

During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted for service while select names led by Buescher and including Berry, Blaney, Gibbs and Truex remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Reddick exited pit road first ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Larson and Erik Jones while Hamlin exited in 10th place behind Logano, Elliott, Bowman and Byron. Amid the pit stops, LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Buescher and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch as Buescher rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane through Turn 1. Behind, a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Blaney, Truex and Berry through Long Pond Straightaway, with Blaney continuing to battle Truex for the spot just past the Tunnel Curve while Berry was trying to fend off Larson for fourth place. Amid a series of jostles for late spots, Buescher stretched his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds as he led the next lap period.

With 55 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Blaney while third-place Truex trailed by two seconds. Keselowski and Larson followed suit in the top five as Gibbs, Reddick, Elliott, Logano and Hamlin were mired in the top 10. Buescher would continue to lead by more than a second over Blaney with 50 laps remaining as Berry pitted from the top 15 under green. Ultimately, Berry would lose a lap to the leaders following an extensive service due to the Tennessean sliding through his pit box.

With 46 laps remaining, the caution returned when Todd Gilliland, who fell off the pace through the frontstretch while running in the top 25, scraped his No. 38 C.H. REED Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1. During the caution period, the entire lead lap field led by Buescher, all of whom were within their fuel window to reach the scheduled distance, pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid more mixed strategies, Larson gained four spots to exit pit road in first place as he was followed by Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano, Byron, Truex, Bell and Keselowski. Shortly after, however, Larson along with teammate Elliott, Suarez and Gibbs were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding in Section 7 on pit road. As a result, Blaney cycled into the lead.

The start of the next restart period with 40 laps remaining did not last long when Kyle Busch, who restarted 16th, was turned by LaJoie, whom he was trying to block amid the three-wide battle, as he spun from the bottom apron entering Turn 1, shot back across the track and collided into both Preece and Stenhouse as Stenhouse spun backward and smacked the outside wall hard while Preece clipped Burton as both spun through the turn. Allmendinger, Hocevar and Cindric would also get involved in the carnage. The accident not only capped off Busch’s long event that commenced with starting at the rear of the field with a new oil line to his No. 8 Chevrolet, but it negatively affected his hopes of making the 2024 Cup Playoffs yet again as the Pocono wreck marked his fifth DNF in seven races and his sixth time finishing outside the top 20 over the last nine races.

As the event restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, Blaney, who received a strong shove from Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the outside lane during the previous restart period, received the same help from Bowman through the frontstretch for the current restart period as he muscled his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through Turn 1 while Bowman retained second ahead of Hamlin, Logano, Byron and Bell. The caution, however, would quickly return when Zane Smith, who was trying to charge his way into the top 15, got pinned in between Nemechek and McDowell resulting in McDowell hitting the outside wall in Long Pond Straightaway while both Smith and Nemechek were sent spinning and colliding into the inside wall.

The start of the next restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Blaney trying to fend off Bowman through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. A lap later, the caution returned due to fluid on the course as the pole-sitter Gibbs, who fell off the pace during the restart, was trying to limp his car back to his pit stall after his engine blew up with both smoke and fluid coming out of the exhaust pipe.

With the race restarting with 23 laps remaining, Blaney received a shove from Hamlin on the outside lane to edge ahead of Bowman entering the first turn and he would retain the lead through Long Pond Straightaway while Hamlin and Bowman battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano. Bell and Truex would battle for seventh place in front of Wallace and Keselowski as both Bowman and Hamlin battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano while Blaney, who led the next lap, stretched his advantage to more than half a second.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bowman as Bowman started to close back in on Blaney for the top spot. Behind, Hamlin retained third place ahead of Byron and Logano while Reddick, Truex, Keselowski, Wallace and Elliott were scored in the top 10 ahead of Bell, Buescher, Larson, Briscoe and Suarez.

Five laps later, Blaney stretched his advantage to more than a second over Bowman as Hamlin, Byron and Logano trailed within three seconds in the top five. Blaney would stabilize his advantage to a second over Bowman with 10 laps remaining as Hamlin, Byron and Logano continued to trail in the top five. By then, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Keselowski while Truex was back in eighth place as he was running ahead of Elliott and Wallace.

With five laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by more than two seconds in his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse over Hamlin, who overtook Bowman with a bold pass from the outside lane in Turn 3 three laps earlier. Meanwhile, Byron would retain fourth place just ahead of Logano, Reddick and Keselowski while eighth-place Truex trailed the lead by seven seconds. By then, Larson was mired in 12th place, Suarez was scored in 16th place and Elliott remained ahead of Wallace in ninth place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by more than a second over Hamlin. With Hamlin unable to narrow the deficit for a final time, Blaney was able to navigate his way around Pocono’s three tricky corners smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and cruised to his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.

With the victory, Blaney, who recorded his first Cup Series career victory while driving for Wood Brothers Racing in June 2017, notched his 12th career win in his 327th start in NASCAR’s premier series and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway four races ago. The victory also made Blaney the fifth competitor overall to achieve multiple victories through the first 21 scheduled events of the 2024 Cup Series season.

Blaney’s Pocono victory was also the fifth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the fifth overall for Ford’s Dark Horse stock car and the fourth of the 2024 season for Team Penske, with the Penske organization returning to Victory Lane at Pocono for the first time since the 2011 season.

Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I think just things are really kind of falling into place for us,” Blaney said on USA Network. “I feel like we’ve gotten to a great place on speed, the last two months especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us, which I thought we had a good shot at winning. So, it’s nice to just stick to the plan today. Kind of our plan was trying to have track position at the end because I knew our car was fast enough. Super proud of [crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler], the whole No. 12 boys. So cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win, so awesome to be back. It’s just as special to win here today. You love tracks that have a special meaning to you. Places you get your first win and things like that, so this place means so much to me. So proud of the effort. Looking forward to, hopefully, continuing this momentum into next week at the boss’ [Roger Penske] track up at Indy.”

Denny Hamlin, who led 31 laps compared to Blaney’s 44 and was striving for his record-setting eighth Pocono victory, settled in second place as he rallied from finishing no higher than 12th over his last five races on the schedule while Alex Bowman, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Chicago Street Course, finished in a strong third place.

“Never lose a race, just would always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said. “Track position’s such a big thing. When [Blaney] jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us and [it] certainly was gonna be hard to pass, and just not enough laps, really, of green [flag] there towards the end. Hats off to them. Great run. He kept great pace up there towards the front. It was really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in. Great job to this whole Mavis Tires & Brakes team. Shame we couldn’t get to Victory Lane, but another day.”

“[It’s] Hard to be satisfied when you restart on the front row, last restart and can’t get the job done,” Bowman said. “Proud of everybody on our Ally No. 48 [team]. We struggled with our car in traffic quite a bit and probably made most of our adjustments based on traffic and then, just got too free there at the end when we had some clear air. A good solid day for us. At least we’re pointed in the right direction. It’s been a good two weeks for us and going to a really historic racetrack that means a lot to me personally next week, so hopefully, we can get the job done there.”

Teammate William Byron muscled the red No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place result while Joey Logano ended up in fifth place.

Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were eight lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 21st event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over teammate Kyle Larson, 15 over Tyler Reddick, 20 over Denny Hamlin, 57 over William Byron, 63 over Martin Truex Jr. and 76 over Ryan Blaney.

Results.

1. Ryan Blaney, 44 laps led

2. Denny Hamlin, 31 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Alex Bowman

4. William Byron

5. Joey Logano, three laps led

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Brad Keselowski, 20 laps led

8. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

9. Chase Elliott

10. Bubba Wallace

11. Chris Buescher, 19 laps led

12. Christopher Bell

13. Kyle Larson

14. Erik Jones

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Daniel Suarez

17. Carson Hocevar

18. Austin Cindric

19. Corey LaJoie

20. Josh Berry, eight laps led

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Justin Haley

23. Austin Dillon

24. Michael McDowell, two laps down

25. Daniel Hemric- OUT, Suspension

26. Cody Ware – OUT, Overheating

27. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Engine, 21 laps led

28. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

29. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident

30. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

32. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

34. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

35. JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump

36. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 14, 2024
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.

July 1, 2024
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.

June 23, 2024
Ryan Blaney caps off dominant run with inaugural Cup Series victory at Iowa

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney made Iowa Speedway his “Field of Dreams” for the day after he muscled through to a dominant win in the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 on Sunday, June 16.

The 30-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, led four times for a career-high 201 of 350-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Kyle Larson and led for the first time on the second lap following an early lap skirmish with Larson.

With mixed strategies and tire wear ensuing throughout the event, Blaney, who spent the majority of the event running towards the front and won the first stage period, cycled back into the lead following a two-tire pit stop call during a late caution period with 92 laps remaining. Once he muscled away from the field during the event’s final restart period with 84 laps remaining, he proceeded to weave his way through lapped traffic and fend off a late charge from William Byron and his four fresh tires to triumph for the first time in the 2024 Cup Series season and place both himself and his No. 12 Team Penske Ford team into Playoff contention.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 15, Kyle Larson notched his fourth Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 20th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 136.458 mph in 23.084 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ryan Blaney, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 136.311 mph in 23.109 seconds.

Prior to the event, Christopher Bell and Austin Cindric dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after both wrecked their primary cars during Friday’s practice session.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As they continued to duel for the lead through Turns 3 and 4, Larson managed to edge Blaney to lead the first lap. Blaney, however, would assume the lead from Larson during the following lap amid contact with Larson through Turns 3 and 4 and proceeded to lead during the next two laps while the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for early spots.

On the third lap, the event’s first caution period flew after rookie Carson Hocevar got into the rear of teammate/rookie Zane Smith, which got Smith loose and resulted in him getting into teammate Corey LaJoie as LaJoie and his No. 7 Gainbridge/Iowa Hawkeyes Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry spun into the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. During the event’s first caution period, some drivers, including LaJoie, Erik Jones, Michael McDowell and Kaz Grala pitted while the rest, led by Blaney, remained on the track.

When the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, Larson managed to muscle ahead of Blaney and reassume the lead. With Larson ahead of the field with the lead by the Lap 10 mark, Chase Briscoe overtook Blaney for the runner-up spot as teammate Josh Berry and Tyler Reddick battled in the top five ahead of Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron and Daniel Suarez.

Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Larson extended his advantage, leading by more than a second over Blaney, while Briscoe, Reddick and Kyle Busch trailed in the top five. Behind, Josh Berry occupied sixth place ahead of Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, William Byron and Justin Haley while Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton were racing in the top 15 ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Alex Bowman. Meanwhile, Noah Gragson was mired in 21st ahead of Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie while Todd Gilliland, Martin Truex Jr., Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith and Christopher Bell were in the top 30 on the track.

Ten laps later, Larson stretched his advantage, leading by more than three seconds over Blaney while third-place Briscoe trailed by nine seconds. As Reddick and Berry occupied the top-five spots on the track, Suarez, Byron, Busch, Haley and Logano trailed in the top 10 while Truex, Wallace and Hamlin drifted back to 25th, 27th and 33rd, respectively. In addition, Keselowski, who started in the top five, was mired in 14th behind Ty Gibbs while Cindric and Bell, were up to 23rd and 24th, respectively, after starting at the rear of the field in backup cars,

Another 10 laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to three seconds over Blaney while Briscoe, Berry and Byron trailed in the top five by 10 seconds. By then, Hamlin, who was mired in 34th place, was lapped by the leaders while Chris Buescher, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Michael McDowell, Cindric, Allmendinger, Wallace and Austin Dillon were mired outside the top 20 on the track.

At the Lap 50 mark, Larson was mired in lapped traffic and had his advantage shrink to one-and-a-half seconds over runner-up Blaney while third-place Berry and fourth-place Byron trailed by nine seconds. With Briscoe trailing by 10 seconds in fifth place, LaJoie, who was involved in an early spin, was up to 19th place on four fresh tires while Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek and Stenhouse, all of whom were running within the top 30, were lapped by Larson.

A lap later, the event’s second caution period flew when AJ Allmendinger, who was racing in the mid-pack region, ran his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry straight into the outside wall in between Turns 1 and 2 after he blew a right-front tire. It marked his second wreck of the weekend at Iowa Speedway after he wrecked out of Saturday’s Xfinity Series event due to a blown right-front tire.

During the event’s second caution period, nearly all of the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for fresh tires and fuel while Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit road first and was followed by Blaney, Byron, Berry, LaJoie, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Wallace and Logano, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Justin Haley was penalized for equipment interference.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 58 featured Larson navigating his way past both Suarez and Keselowski for nearly a lap as he led the proceeding lap. With Larson continuing to lead by the Lap 60 mark, Blaney assumed the runner-up spot while Suarez was trying to fend off Berry, Byron, LaJoie, Keselowski, Logano, Busch and a bevy of competitors for third place. Blaney would then assume the lead from Larson on Lap 61 while Suarez retained third place ahead of Berry, Byron and LaJoie. Despite Ty Gibbs scraping the outside wall entering the backstretch, the event remained under green flag conditions.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Blaney, who was battling a potential cool suit issue amid the warm temperatures, fended off a late challenge from Larson to capture his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Suarez settled in third place while Byron, Berry, Logano, LaJoie, Keselowski, Elliott and Busch were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Suarez and including Keselowski and LaJoie, pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Daniel Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage period started on Lap 77 as Blaney and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as Larson rocketed ahead of Blaney to reassume the lead. With Larson leading, teammates Byron and Elliott battled for third place along with Logano while Busch was in sixth place ahead of Bowman, Chastain, Briscoe and McDowell. Meanwhile, Bell was up to 11th place while Berry was back in 12th.

Then on Lap 80, the caution returned after John Hunter Nemechek and Noah Gragson, both of whom were fighting outside the top 20 on the track, made contact entering Turn 4. Nemechek sent Gragson spinning sideways but Gragson managed to quickly straighten his No. 10 Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry without hitting the wall and continue. During the caution period, Larson, who radioed tire concerns, surrendered the lead to pit for fresh tires for his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry as Blaney returned atop the leaderboard.

With the event restarting under green on Lap 86, Blaney and Byron dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Blaney managed to clear Byron and muscle ahead through the backstretch. As Elliott got sideways entering the backstretch, Logano charged to the runner-up spot and began to intimidate teammate Blaney for the lead while Byron, Busch, Chastain and Bowman trailed in the top six. With a multitude of competitors jostling for spots within the mid-pack region, Blaney retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Logano just past the Lap 90 mark while Byron and Busch tried to close in.

At the Lap 100 mark, Blaney was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Logano followed by Byron, Berry and Elliott as Busch, Chastain, McDowell, Bowman and Suarez occupied the top 10. Behind, Briscoe was in 11th ahead of a hard-charging Larson while Wallace, Reddick and Ty Gibbs were battling in the top 15 ahead of Bell, LaJoie, Keselowski, Cindric and Hocevar. Meanwhile, Gragson was trapped in 23rd place behind Preece and Austin Dillon while Truex, Stenhouse, Haley, Gilliland, Nemechek, Hamlin and Buescher were mired in the top 30.

Fifteen laps later, Blaney stretched his advantage to lead by a second over teammate Logano while Byron, Elliott and Berry trailed by within two seconds in the top five. By then, Larson, who was aggressively weaving and carving his way through the field, had returned to the top-10 mark as he was running in eighth place ahead of teammate Bowman and Suarez while Busch and Chastain occupied sixth and seventh, respectively. Meanwhile, Bell, Wallace, Briscoe, Gibbs and Keselowski trailed in the top 15 while McDowell, who was running in the top 10, was pinned two laps down in 35th place after he pitted his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse to replace a flat right-front tire.

Another 10 laps later, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Logano just before Byron overtook Logano for the runner-up spot, with Elliott and Chastain trailing by within three seconds in the top five on the track. Blaney led by one-and-a-half seconds over Byron just past the Lap 130 mark and by a second at the Lap 140 mark. By then, Busch, who was running in the top 10, had pitted his No. 8 zone/Kwik Trip Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry under green on Lap 135.

By Lap 150, Blaney continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott as Byron, Logano and Larson followed suit in the top five. By then, Hamlin was mired a lap down for a second time in 27th place while Bell was up to sixth place as he had Berry, Chastain, Bowman and Wallace following suit.

Ten laps later, LaJoie and Austin Dillon made contact while battling within the top-20 mark that sent Dillon up the track towards Turns 3 and 4 but he kept his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry running straight as he then ran into the rear of LaJoie to express his displeasure over the contact. Amid the contact, Blaney retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Elliott while Byron, Larson and Bell trailed in the top five by nearly five seconds.

Then as Byron pitted his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry under green from third place on Lap 165, trouble struck for Chastain as he went up the track through Turns 1 and 2 with a flat right-front tire to his No. 1 Busch Light For the Farmers Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. Chastain, though, managed to limp his car to his pit stall without drawing a caution as LaJoie, Briscoe, Truex and Berry also pitted during the proceeding laps. Not long after, Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road.

By Lap 172 and with more green flag pit stops ensuing amid tire wear concerns within the field, Blaney surrendered the lead to pit his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green. Elliott, who led the proceeding lap, pitted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry during the following lap along with teammate Bowman, Gibbs, Grala and Austin Dillon before Larson pitted as Erik Jones limped his No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE entry to pit road with a flat tire.

As the event surpassed its halfway mark on Lap 175, more names including Logano, Gragson, Nemechek and Reddick would pit while Bell, who last pitted on Lap 54, cycled into the lead. Bell would then pit his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE entry on Lap 180 before Suarez and Haley pitted during the next scheduled lap. This moved Keselowski into the lead.

Then on Lap 181, the caution flew after Hemric made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, select names led by Keselowski and including Wallace, Hocevar, Gilliland, Buescher, Hamlin, Suarez, Haley and Hemric pitted while the rest led by Stenhouse, who pinned many competitors a lap down by remaining on the track during the previous green flag run, remained on the track.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 188, Stenhouse and Byron battled for the lead for nearly a lap until they nearly wrecked entering Turn 4, which allowed Larson to zip by both and return to the lead. With Larson leading, Berry moved his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry up to second place followed by Wallace and Elliott while Stenhouse was trying to fend off fifth place from a multitude of competitors. Larson would proceed to lead just past the Lap 190 mark while he was being intimidated by Berry.

By Lap 200, Larson extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Berry, who had Elliott pressuring him for the runner-up spot, while Blaney and Wallace occupied the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who was lapped twice, was up to sixth place followed by Buescher, Gilliland, Keselowski and Stenhouse while Byron was back in 12th place behind Haley. In addition, Busch was in 14th while battling Hocevar, Bell was in 17th behind Suarez and Bell, Logano was in 18th while trying to overtake Bell and Chastain, the first competitor a lap down, was mired in 19th. In addition, Reddick was in 24th and Briscoe was mired in 29th in front of Truex.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 210, Larson captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Berry fended off Elliott to retain second place ahead of Blaney and Wallace while Hamlin, Buescher, Gilliland, Keselowski and Haley were scored in the top 10. By then, 18 of 36 starters were scored a lap down while 19th-place Chastain was the recipient of the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down during the caution period.

During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Larson pitted while Buescher and Gilliland remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Keselowski exited pit road first after he only opted for a two-tire pit stop while Larson, Berry, Elliott, Suarez, Wallace, Hamlin, Blaney, Byron and Haley followed suit.

With 132 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Buescher and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Buescher maintained the lead ahead of Gilliland and Berry while Keselowski slipped to fourth. Then entering the frontstretch, the caution quickly returned after Larson, who was pinned in the middle of a three-wide battle with Keselowski and Suarez, got sideways after Suarez hit Larson, which resulted in Larson getting loose and coming across the path of Hamlin’s No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE.

Both wrecked against the outside wall, with Larson spinning across the frontstretch while the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Larson. The incident would cost Larson multiple laps as his pit crew went to work to repair the damage in his pit stall. With Larson then being assessed an additional two-lap penalty for having too many crew members over the pit wall, he would take his No. 5 Chevrolet to the garage for repairs but was granted permission to return to the track following his repairs due to meeting the minimum speed under the Damaged Vehicle Policy.

With the next restart period occurring with 123 laps remaining, Buescher and Berry dueled for the lead for a full lap as Berry, who was racing up the outside lane, led the proceeding lap before Buescher, who had Berry slide in front of him during the previous lap, slid in front of Berry in retaliation to reassume the lead during the next lap. Berry, however, kept intimidating Buescher for the lead while Busch, Gilliland, Keselowski and Byron trailed closely in the top six with 120 laps remaining. Berry would then muscle away from Buescher during the proceeding five laps while Byron carved his way up to third place as he was being trailed by Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Gilliland, Busch, Suarez and others.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Berry was leading by two seconds over a side-by-side battle between Blaney and Byron while Elliott and Buescher trailed in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Suarez, Logano, Haley and Busch. Meanwhile, Bowman occupied 11th place ahead of Chastain, Gilliland, Stenhouse and Bell while Wallace, Hocevar and McDowell occupied the remaining 18 competitors scored on the lead lap as Hamlin, who was in 19th, was lapped for a third time.

Nine laps later, the caution returned after Buescher, who was running in fifth, scrubbed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 after he lost a tire. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Berry returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Blaney exited pit road first after he opted for a two-tire pit stop along with teammate Logano and Stenhouse while Berry, the first competitor who opted for four fresh tires, followed suit in fourth ahead of Elliott, Byron, Suarez, Busch, Haley and Bowman.

The start of the next restart period with 84 laps remaining featured Blaney battling and having enough momentum to clear teammate Logano to lead the next lap while Stenhouse, Byron and Berry followed suit in the top five. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Busch, who was racing in the top 10, scrubbed the backstretch’s outside wall and he would pit under green with 80 laps remaining, which dropped him out of the lead lap category. Shortly after, Busch’s chances of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs took another hit after he took his car to the garage and retired due to another mechanical issue to his No. 8 Chevrolet. Amid Busch’s issues, Blaney retained the lead while Stenhouse and Byron overtook Logano to move into second and third, respectively.

With 60 laps remaining, Blaney continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Byron while Elliott, Stenhouse and Logano trailed in the top five. Blaney would stabilize his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Byron with 50 laps remaining while Elliott, Stenhouse and Logano continued to race in the top five.

With 35 laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Byron while third-place Elliott trailed by a second-and-a-half. As Stenhouse and Logano continued to race in the top five, Bell trailed in sixth place by seven seconds while Berry, Suarez, Chastain and Bowman were in the top 10, with Haley situated in 11th place ahead of Keselowski, McDowell, Gilliland and Truex.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney, who nearly had his steady advantage extinguished while mired in lapped traffic, most notably Ty Gibbs, extended his advantage back to nine-tenths of a second over Byron while Elliott, Byron’s teammate, trailed by a second as he started to close in on Byron for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bell moved up to fourth place ahead of Stenhouse and Logano while McDowell, who was racing in the top 15, pitted under green a few laps earlier to address a flat tire for the second time within the event. Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek would also pit under green as Blaney maintained the lead by a second over Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet with 15 laps remaining.

Under the final 10 laps of the event, Blaney, who was mired in more lapped traffic despite proceeding to lap Wallace and Gragson, maintained his lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Byron as Elliott continued to trail by a second in third place. Blaney, who would close in and lap Truex, would then have his advantage shrink to six-tenths of a second as Byron continued to close in on Blaney with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by seven-tenths of a second over Byron. With Byron unable to close the deficit even narrower, Blaney was able to cycle his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford smoothly around the Iowa circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.

With the victory, Blaney, who nearly won at World Wide Technology Raceway until he ran out of fuel while leading on the final lap two races ago, notched his 11th Cup Series career win and his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in late October 2023. By becoming the 10th competitor overall to record a victory through the first 17 events of the 2024 Cup season, Blaney has guaranteed himself a spot into the 2024 Playoffs as he will commence his pursuit to defend his series’ title.

As an added bonus, Blaney, who racked up the second victory of the season for Team Penske and the third ever for the Ford Mustang Dark Horse stock car, is the first competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. He claimed his first Craftsman Truck Series career win at Iowa in September 2012 and would win an Xfinity event at the 7/8-mile short track in August 2015.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Man, what a cool way to win here,” Blaney, who had 80 family members rooting for him in the grandstands, said on USA Network. “This place, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to my mom. We had a lot of people here tonight cheering us on. They wheeled us to that [win]. Overall, [I] really appreciate the whole No. 12 boys. Our car was really fast all night. We got a little bit better through the night with two [fresh] tires. It was a good call there. I didn’t know how well [the car] was going to hold on. I started to struggle a little bit at the end, but had to definitely hang on. So proud of the effort. It makes up a little bit from a couple weeks ago. I’m looking forward to seeing [the family members]. It’s always good to have family. I’ve been super lucky to have family that supported me through my career. It’s great that they’re still supporting me just as much as they did day one. It’s a cool weekend. Really cool to win the first Cup race here. I can’t wait we come back with many more years.”

Byron, who recorded his first Xfinity Series victory at Iowa in June 2017, settled in second place for his sixth top-five result of the season while teammate Elliott, who notched his first ARCA Menards Series East victory at Iowa in 2012, ended up in third place for his seventh top-five result of 2024.

“[Me and Blaney] were pretty even,” Byron said. “He was on two tires, so I think I had just a little bit fresher tires and was able to work the bottom [lane] through lapped traffic okay. [I] Felt like I was making marginal gains through [Turns] 1 and 2, but my tires were getting hot down there and I would just start sliding the rears around a little bit on entry. Really good effort by our team. We definitely need to put together some consistent runs and this is a good start. We’d love to be winning tonight, but Ryan [Blaney] and those guys were good, so congrats to them.”

“[The event] was a lot of surprises that [I] wasn’t really sure what to expect with the tire,” Elliott said. “The racetrack changed a lot, I thought, throughout the day. The lanes changed a lot. We were able to move around. I thought it was actually a much better race than I was anticipating being with the repave. I thought all of that was really good. Ultimately, really proud of our NAPA team and just continuing to put together solid days. Just need a little bit more to set the pace and be up there leading laps like I feel like we can. It’s nice to be in the fight and have a shot there in the closing laps.”

Christopher Bell rallied from starting at the rear of the field in a backup car to finish fourth followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as Joey Logano, rookie Josh Berry, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Brad Keselowski finished in the top 10.

There were 17 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 49 laps. In addition, 14 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 17th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by eight points over teammate Kyle Larson, 38 over Denny Hamlin, 54 over William Byron, 61 over Martin Truex Jr., 64 over Tyler Reddick and 90 over Ryan Blaney.

Results.

1. Ryan Blaney, 201 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. William Byron

3. Chase Elliott, one lap led

4. Christopher Bell, seven laps led

5. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps led

6. Joey Logano

7. Josh Berry, 32 laps led

8. Alex Bowman

9. Daniel Suarez, four laps led

10. Brad Keselowski, five laps led

11. Ross Chastain

12. Todd Gilliland

13. Justin Haley

14. Carson Hocevar

15. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down

16. Noah Gragson, one lap down

17. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

18. Chris Buescher, one lap down, 16 laps led

19. Austin Dillon, one lap down

20. Harrison Burton, one lap down

21. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

22. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

23. Michael McDowell, one lap down

24. Denny Hamlin, two laps down

25. Ty Gibbs, two laps down

26. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down

27. Ryan Preece, two laps down

28. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

29. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

30. Austin Cindric, three laps down

31. Zane Smith, three laps down

32. Erik Jones, three laps down

33. Kaz Grala, five laps down

34. Kyle Larson, 36 laps down, 80 laps led, Stage 2 winner

35. Kyle Busch – OUT, Water Pump

36. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ annual visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, for the USA Today 301. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 23, and at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

June 17, 2024
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Larson: Larson powered by Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher for the lead on Lap 102 at Sonoma and cruised to the win in the Toyota/Save Mart 350, earning his third win of the season.

“I was born in Elk Grove, California,” Larson said, “so it feels good to win in my home state. Sonoma is wine country, so I bet a lot of my fans raised a glass in my honor. I raised one in my opponents’ honor because they were ‘toast.’”

2. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fourth at Sonoma, posting his sixth top-five this season.

“I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of the Ross Chastain-Kyle Busch incident,” Elliott said. “Chastain and Busch are two of NASCAR’s biggest personalities. They’re unlike any other driver. They’re also unliked by any other driver.”

3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin’s day ended early at Sonoma when his engine blew on Lap 2. He finished last in the 38-car field.

“I’m not used to saying this,” Hamlin said, “but ‘I just beat your favorite driver (to our respective hauler for the post-race shower.)’”

4. Christopher Bell: Bell started 15th and finished ninth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“I was the only Joe Gibbs Racing driver in the top 10,” Bell said. “In fact, Denny Hamlin and Ty Gibbs finished last and next to last, respectively. Joe Gibbs is outraged that Denny’s engine blew so early. As far as his grandson Ty’s plight, well, he’s just ‘relatively’ upset.”

5. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 13th at Sonoma.

“The race featured two Australian Supercar drivers,” Keselowski said, “Will Brown and Cam Waters. Those guys finished 31st and 35th, respectively, which is well ‘down under’ where they’d have to finish for me to view them as threats.”

6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished seventh at Sonoma, posting his sixth top 10 of the year.

“The first half of the race was pure chaos,” Blaney said. “Incidentally, the term ‘pure chaos’ is the exact opposite of my father Dave Blaney, a man who’s so laid back he’s prone.”

7. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs smashed the Turn 11 wall on Lap 16, damaging his right front beyond repair and ending his day. He finished 37th.

“I consider myself a pretty good road course racer,” Gibbs said. “So the only thing more damaged than my car is my ego.”

8. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished eighth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“I led the most laps of any driver,” Reddick said. “And all I have to show for it is a measly top-10 finish, and a lousy t-shirt.”

9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex ran out of fuel on the final lap with the finish line in sight. Instead of taking the runner-up spot, Truex finished a disappointing 27th.

“If I had to give us a letter grade on the day,” Truex said, “I would give us an ‘E.’”

10. William Byron: Byron had an eventful day at Sonoma, with a number of issues leading to a 30th-place finish.

“It was just one of those days,” Byron said. “I think we’ve all had one of those days, or something similar. Kyle Busch had ‘1’ of those days at Sonoma when he was dumped by Ross Chastain.”

June 10, 2024
Larson executes late pit strategy for a wild Cup victory at Sonoma

After enduring an up-and-down process in his attempted double duty attempt in May, Kyle Larson rose to the occasion with a strategic NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 9.

The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led twice for 19 of 110 scheduled laps in an event where he dodged a series of on-track carnages within the first two stage periods. With pit strategies ensuing amongst every team and competitor throughout the event, Larson’s key path to victory occurred with 30 laps remaining as he pitted under green after leading the previous 10 laps. Returning to the track with fresh tires and a full tank of fuel, Larson then spent the next 21 laps carving his way back towards the front, where he would gain ground on the leaders Chris Buescher and Martin Truex Jr., both of whom pitted 13 laps earlier than Larson.

Then with nine laps remaining, Larson took advantage of both Buescher and Truex dueling each other for the lead through Turn 12 and Truex missing the Chute’s entrance turn moments after he assumed a brief lead to overtake both and reassume the top spot. Having the clean air to his advantage while stretching it, Larson was able to pace his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry smoothly around Sonoma’s 12-turn circuit for the final eight laps before he crossed the finish line in first place for his third Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and his second at his home track.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 8, Joey Logano notched his third Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 97.771 mph in 73.273 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Tyler Reddick, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 97.661 mph in 73.356 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Joey Logano launched his No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry ahead of the field through the uphill first turn before he led the way through the second turn, a pair of Turns from 3 to 3A and the Chute between Turns 4 and 7 as Tyler Reddick battled and fended off Ryan Blaney to retain second place. As the field proceeded to navigate through the Esses before making the sharp, right-hand turn in Turn 11 and back to the start/finish line in Turn 12, Logano proceeded to lead the first lap as Reddick, Blaney, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and William Byron followed suit in the top six.

Just past the second lap, the event’s first caution flew for fluid on the course after Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE went up in a billow of smoke just past the frontstretch, where he would manage to nurse his car through the uphill first turn before he parked his car in Turn 2 and became the first retiree of the event.

During the event’s first caution period, select names including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Hemric and Kaz Grala pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track. John Hunter Nemechek would also pit for repairs to his No. 42 Save Mart Toyota Camry XSE entry after he scrubbed the wall in Turn 1 due to slipping into Hamlin’s oil spill.

Following an extensive cleanup on the track due to Hamlin’s oil spill and a blown engine, the event restarted under green on the sixth lap. At the start, Logano fended off teammate Blaney to retain the lead through the first three turns while Reddick was able to overtake and reassume the runner-up spot from Blaney. As the field fanned out through the Chute before entering the Esses, including a series of right- and left-hand turns, Logano maintained a steady advantage over teammate Blaney and Reddick as Elliott, Larson and Daniel Suarez followed suit. Behind, Byron dropped to seventh as Ross Chastain, Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger were in the top 10.

The following lap, Martin Truex Jr., who was in 18th, spun in Turn 2 after he got turned by Will Brown. Not long after, Ross Chastain got loose and drove his No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sideways off the dirt course in Turn 8A while he was in eighth place. Amid both incidents, the event remained under green flag conditions as Logano was leading by nearly half a second over Reddick and more than a second over teammate Blaney.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Logano continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Reddick followed by Blaney, Elliott and Larson while Suarez, Byron, Bowman, AJ Allmendinger and Michael McDowell were running in the top 10. Behind, Ty Gibbs occupied 11th place ahead of Christopher Bell, rookie Carson Hocevar, Todd Gilliland and Corey LaJoie as Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Will Brown, Noah Gragson and Austin Dillon occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Chase Briscoe, Austin Cidnric, rookie Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Ryan Preece. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher was 27th ahead of Cam Waters, Erik Jones was mired in 30th in between rookie Josh Berry and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski was back in 33rd place ahead of Daniel Hemric and Truex was down in 37th behind John Hunter Nemechek.

Five laps later and with a series of battles ensuing around the circuit, the event’s second caution flew after Ty Gibbs, who was running in the top 10, hit the newly installed concrete walls in Turn 11, which broke his right front hub before he proceeded to drive through Turn 12 and slap the outside wall entering Turn 1, which left Gibbs with more right-side damage to his No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE entry. At the time of the caution, Logano maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Reddick while Blaney, Elliott and Larson continued to race in the top five. In addition, Byron, who went off the course in Turn 1, had pitted under green to address concerns of a loose wheel to his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry.

During the caution period and with pit strategy amongst the field ensuing, some led by Logano and including Allmendinger, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Preece, Zane Smith, Cam Waters, Berry, Erik Jones, Hemric, Justin Haley and Grala pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 18, Reddick launched his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Blaney and the field with the lead through the uphill first turn before navigating through the following three turns and the Chute. With the field fanning out and jostling for spots approaching the Esses, the caution quickly returned after Chase Briscoe, who was running in the top 15, got turned in Turn 8A, where he was clipped by Logano, who bumped Stenhouse and sent him for a spin, as Logano, who shredded the rear of Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, spun off and back onto the course through Turn 8 before he was hit in the rear by Harrison Burton, leaving all four competitors with damage to their respective entries.

Amid the caution period, select names including Bell, Will Brown, Buescher, Byron, Keselowski, Preece and Haley pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.

The event re-started under green with three laps remaining in the first stage period. At the start, Reddick and Blaney dueled for the lead through the first three turns before Reddick managed to muscle ahead entering Turn 3A and the Chute. As Reddick led Blaney, Larson, Elliott and Bowman through the Esses before Turn 11, McDowell was in sixth while Trackhouse Racing’s Suarez and Chastain battled for seventh place. In addition, LaJoie and Gilliland battled for ninth place ahead of Hocevar, Wallace and Gragson while Cindric and Allmendinger trailed in the top 15.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Reddick captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Blaney followed suit in second along with Larson, Elliott, Bowman and McDowell, respectively, while Chastain edged teammate Suarez to grab seventh place. LaJoie and Gilliland would round out the top 10 at the first stage’s conclusion.

Under the stage break, some including Kyle Busch, Truex, Preece, Hemric, Allmendinger, Logano, Haley, Stenhouse, Grala and Harrison Burton pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.

The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Reddick and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick and Blaney dueled for the lead through the uphill first turn and through Turn 2 before Reddick launched ahead entering Turn 3A. With Reddick leading through the Chute, Elliott tried to make a move to Blaney’s outside entering Turn 7, but he got loose amid light contact with Blaney. This allowed Larson to assume third place from teammate Elliott while Chastain trailed in fifth place through the Esses.

During the Lap 30 mark, Austin Cindric nearly flipped as he spun his No. 2 America’s Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse sideways off the course and through the uphill turn in the dirt entering Turn 2, but he managed to proceed without drawing a caution. Two laps later, however, the caution returned after Will Brown, who was battling electrical issues to his No. 33 Mobile X/Shaw and Partners Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, parked his car off the course in Turn 11 due to a potential engine issue that resulted in him falling off the pace entering Turn 11. At the time of caution, Reddick was leading ahead of Blaney, Larson, Elliott and Chastain.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 34 amid a stacked restart, Reddick and Blaney dueled amid close-quarters racing through the first four turns before Reddick managed to maintain the top spot and clear Blaney prior to entering the Chute. Meanwhile, Larson bumped and overtook Blaney for the runner-up spot entering the Esses while Chastain, Elliott, Gilliland and Bowman followed suit.

Shortly after, more on-track issues ensued as Bubba Wallace, who was running in the top 10, slipped his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE off the course and kicked up dirt in Turn 11. While Wallace recovered despite losing a handful of spots as the field stacked up, trouble ignited in front of him as Josh Berry got bumped and turned into the concrete walls by Erik Jones in Turn 11, which resulted in Berry locking up the tires and going dead straight into Bell, Truex, Byron and Dillon, as all but Truex spun. Cam Waters was also collected in the carnage while the rest of the field in the mid-pack region scattered and jammed on the brakes to avoid the carnage. The carnage drew the event back into a caution period as Reddick retained the race lead.

With the event restarting under green on Lap 39, Reddick retained the lead from Larson, Blaney and Chastain through the first four turns and the Chute, with Chastain bumping and battling Blaney for third place. Then through the Esses, the caution quickly returned after Austin Cindric got Noah Gragson sideways in Turn 8A, where Gragson then clipped Cindric and sent both into the tire barriers as McDowell was also sent into the tire barriers after getting caught in a mid-pack stack-up.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 42 featured Reddick muscling away from Larson to retain the lead as Chastain moved into third place from Blaney. While Bowman and Suarez rubbed fenders while battling for fifth place in front of Elliott before entering the Esses, Reddick kept his No. 45 entry racing in front of Larson to retain the lead during the ensuing lap while the rest of the field behind jostled for spots. By then, Austin Dillon took his No. 3 Get Bioethanol Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry to the garage.

Through the Lap 45 mark, Reddick was leading by six-tenths of a second over Larson while third-place Chastain trailed by nearly two seconds. Behind, Blaney and Bowman trailed in the top five while Suarez, Elliott, Buescher, Preece and Busch followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Zane Smith and Keselowski. Meanwhile, Logano, Burton, Gilliland, Stenhouse and Hemric were racing in the top 20 ahead of Hocevar, Cam Waters, Haley, Bell and Briscoe as Wallace, LaJoie, Grala, McDowell, Gragson and Byron were mired in the top 31.

At the Lap 50 mark, Reddick extended his advantage to two seconds over Larson while Blaney, who overtook Chastain for third place a few laps earlier, trailed by three seconds. With Chastain settling in fourth, Bowman retained fifth while Elliott overtook Suarez for sixth place.

A lap later, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry under green along with Elliott and Suarez. Larson would pit his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry during the following lap along with teammate Bowman, Chastain, and rookie Zane Smith before Reddick, the only competitor who has yet to pit, surrendered the lead to pit by Lap 53. Reddick’s pit stop moved Chris Buescher into the lead as he was followed by Preece, Truex, Busch and Allmendinger.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 55, which marked the event’s halfway point, Buescher captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Preece followed suit in second along with Truex, Busch and Allmendinger while Keselowski, Erik Jones, Gilliland, Logano and Burton were scored in the top 10. By then, a bevy of front-runners that included Larson, Chastain, Byron, Reddick, Blaney, Elliott, Suarez and Bowman were mired outside the top 25, with Reddick locking up his front tires and going off the course before entering the Chute after he made contact with Larson just after completing his green flag pit service.

With 51 laps remaining, where the entire lead lap field remained on the track, the final stage commenced as Buescher and Preece occupied the front row. At the start, Buescher launched ahead from the outside lane and retained the lead through the course’s first four turns before navigating his way through the Chute. Behind, Truex overtook Preece for the runner-up spot while Allmendinger and Busch battled for fourth place in front of Nemechek and Keselowski. With the field navigating through the various turns through the Esses, Buescher was leading by nearly a second over Truex with 50 laps remaining.

Shortly after, Preece, who was trying to battle Truex for the runner-up spot, slipped sideways and spun his No. 41 Caymus Vineyards Ford Mustang Dark Horse off the course in Turn 7, but the event remained under green as Preece dropped out of the top-10 running order. Meanwhile, Larson, who carved his way into the top 20, was trying to weave his way back to the front amid a series of jostles and on-track contact in the middle of the pack. Other front-runners mired in the mid-pack region with Larson included teammate Elliott, Chastain, Suarez, Reddick and Bowman while Buescher stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Truex.

With 43 laps remaining, the leader Buescher along with Truex, Busch, McDowell, Logano, Preece, Bowman, Wallace and Burton pitted their respective entries under green. More names including Gilliland, Erik Jones, Haley, Bell, Reddick and Berry pitted over the next two laps before Hocevar, Hemric and Suarez pitted with 40 laps remaining. By then, Allmendinger, who assumed the lead when Buescher pitted, was leading ahead of Larson, Stenhouse, Chastain and Elliott. Once Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry along with Chastain with 39 laps remaining, Larson cycled into the lead.

Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Larson was leading by four seconds over teammate Elliott as LaJoie, Blaney and Grala trailed as far as 18 seconds in the top five. Behind, Buescher, the first competitor with four fresh tires and fuel, trailed by 18 seconds in sixth place while Truex, Busch, Allmendinger and McDowell were racing in the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Chastain, Reddick, Erik Jones, Bell, Cindric, Suarez, Bowman and Haley.

Five laps later, the top-four competitors led by Larson and including teammate Elliott, LaJoie and Blaney continued to run on the track, though all have yet to make another pit stop, while Buescher trailed the four leaders by 20 seconds in fifth place. Meanwhile, Truex continued to trail the lead by 22 seconds in sixth place as Busch, Allmendinger, McDowell and Keselowski were in the top 10. Behind, Reddick, who was still trying to carve his way back to the front, was mired in 13th in between Chastain and Bell, Suarez was in 15th and Bowman was in 18th.

Not long after, Larson surrendered the lead to pit under green as teammate Elliott moved into the lead. Third-place Blaney pitted under green with 27 laps remaining before Elliott and LaJoie pitted during the following lap. Amid the pit stops, Buescher cycled his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry into the lead as Truex, Busch, Allmendinger and McDowell all cycled into the top five while Larson cycled his way back to sixth place.

With 20 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Truex while third-place Busch trailed by four seconds. Meanwhile, Larson, who was locked in a heated three-way battle with McDowell and Allmendinger three laps earlier, trailed in fourth place by less than six seconds while McDowell and Allmendinger followed suit in fifth and sixth, respectively. In addition, Chastain was in seventh ahead of Gilliland, Elliott and Keselowski while Reddick, Bell, Suarez, Blaney, LaJoie and Bowman trailed in the top 16.

Over the next handful of laps, Truex started to close in on Buescher for the lead as he cut the deficit as close to half a second. At the same time, Larson, who overtook Busch for third place, ignited his pursuit on the two leaders, with Larson having fresher tires than both Buescher and Truex, as he trailed both by four seconds. Despite having two series champions intimidating him through distinct approaches, Buescher continued to lead by half a second with 15 laps remaining.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the top three competitors were separated by eight-tenths of a second as Buescher retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Truex while Larson, who now has the top two leaders close in front of his windshield, was trying to navigate his way around Truex for the runner-up spot. Behind, McDowell trailed in fourth place by four seconds while Busch trailed in fifth place by six seconds.

Then approaching the final nine laps of the event, Truex attempted to stick his front nose beneath Buescher entering Turn 11 as Buescher missed his marks. Despite squeezing his way underneath Buescher through the turn, Buescher refused to surrender as he rubbed dead even with Truex through Turn 12. This allowed Larson to close in even more as Truex was able to overtake Buescher to move his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE entry into the lead in Turn 2. Larson, however, also overtook Buescher for the runner-up spot through Turn 2 as he pursued Truex for the lead. Then entering the Chute, Truex went wide after he missed his marked turn, which allowed Larson to make his move beneath Truex in Turn 7 as he assumed the lead. Larson would proceed to lead by two-tenths of a second over Truex while Buescher trailed in third place by a second.

With five laps remaining, Larson started to stretch his advantage as he was leading by eight-tenths of a second while third-place Buescher trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, McDowell started to close in on Buescher in his late attempt for third place while Busch trailed in fifth place by six seconds. Another lap later, McDowell, who radioed a potential flat tire to his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, overtook Buescher for third place as Chastain, Elliott, Allmendinger, Blaney and Reddick trailed in the top 10.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader while extending it to two seconds over Truex. As Chastain and Busch tangled for fifth place entering the Chute, Larson was able to cruise his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry smoothly around the 12-turn Sonoma circuit for a final time before he navigated his way back to Turn 12 and across the finish line to claim the checkered flag for his third Cup victory of the 2024 season and by four seconds.

With the victory, Larson, a product of Elk Grove, California, notched his 26th career win in NASCAR’s premier series, his second at Sonoma and his first since 2021. He also joined teammate William Byron and Denny Hamlin as competitors to notch three victories during the first 16 events of the 2024 schedule as the 2024 Sonoma victory marked the eighth of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the sixth for Hendrick Motorsports. The Sonoma victory marks Larson’s 20th driving the No. 5 Chevrolet entry for Hendrick Motorsports.

Larson’s Sonoma victory also occurred five days after he was granted a waiver to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. The waiver occurred due to Larson missing the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after on-track precipitations between both the Coke 600 and the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway spoiled his attempt to complete the Memorial Day “Double”, where he opted to start the Indy 500 and was unable to register a lap for the Coke 600 with the event being shortened and as Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier filled in for Larson’s Cup Series efforts.

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: Kyle Larson, driver of the #5 Valvoline Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on June 09, 2024 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images).

“I didn’t know what we were like doing as far as strategy,” Larson said on FOX. “I was just out there banging laps away. We studied all the strategies, but it’s like doing homework. I don’t really know what I’m looking at. I was like, ‘Well, [Buescher and Truex] have to pit another time, maybe.’ Then [the team] said we had to go race and pass those guys. I got a bit nervous. I knew I’d be quick from the get-go, but I thought once the tires would come up to [track temperature], it would even off too much. Thankful that we had enough grip. Thankful too that those guys got racing and Martin [Truex Jr.] never got clear really where I would get stuck in third. That really saved the race…just an awesome, awesome race car. Cool to win at home. [I’ll] Drink some wine here in a little bit and go celebrate.”

As Larson celebrated his Sonoma victory both on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane towards the circuit’s dragstrip, Truex, who was losing steady ground of Larson during the final lap, had his hopes of posting a strong runner-up finish spoiled after he ran out of fuel approaching the final stretch to the finish line. Truex’s misfortune allowed Michael McDowell to claim the runner-up spot while Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott and Ross Chastain finished in the top five.

As AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell and Todd Gilliland finished in the top 10, Kyle Busch nursed his No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry to a 12th-place result following his last-lap spin from Chastain, where he also ran out of fuel approaching the finish line. Truex ended up in 27th place as he struggled to coast his entry across the finish line to finish the race, drawing a caution as the event concluded.

There were 10 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 16th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson reassumes the lead in the regular-season standings following his Sonoma victory and he leads by 14 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 26 over Denny Hamlin, 49 over Tyler Reddick and 53 over Martin Truex Jr.

Results.

1. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led

2. Michael McDowell

3. Chris Buescher, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Chase Elliott, three laps led

5. Ross Chastain

6. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led

7. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

8. Tyler Reddick, 35 laps led, Stage 1 winner

9. Christopher Bell

10. Todd Gilliland

11. Corey LaJoie

12. Kyle Busch, one lap led

13. Brad Keselowski

14. Daniel Suarez

15. Alex Bowman

16. Zane Smith

17. Carson Hocevar

18. Ryan Preece

19. Erik Jones

20. Bubba Wallace

21. Joey Logano, 16 laps led

22. Austin Cindric

23. Kaz Grala

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Harrison Burton

26. Noah Gragson

27. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

28. Daniel Hemric, one lap down

29. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

30. William Byron, two laps down

31. Will Brown, three laps down

32. Josh Berry – OUT, Suspension

33. Justin Haley – OUT, Steering

34. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Transmission

35. Cam Waters – OUT, Accident

36. Austin Dillon – OUT, DVP

37. Ty Gibbs – OUT, DVP

38. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Engine

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the inaugural Iowa Corn 350 at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 16, and air at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network.

June 9, 2024
Chase Elliott scores upset Xfinity Series victory at Charlotte

Chase Elliott led the final 18 laps in the NASCAR Xfinity Series BetMGM 300 Saturday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway to claim his sixth career win in the series. It was his first victory at Charlotte, his first Xfinity win since February 2016 and the second time the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro has been to Victory Lane this season.

After a lackluster qualifying effort, Elliott started the race in 30th place but quickly advanced, gaining 11 spots by Lap 7. He continued to methodically make his way toward the front but the turning point of the race occurred when Ryan Ellis spun, bringing out the caution flag late in the race. Most of the teams elected to pit on Lap 171 but Elliott’s team was one of a few who had a full set of new tires.

Elliott quickly passed Ellis with 17 laps remaining and took the lead. There was one more pivotal restart and a battle with Brandon Jones for the lead but Elliott prevailed, winning the race by a margin of 0.500 seconds.

“My team did a really good job. Greg (Ives, crew chief) made a good call on the tires, and I think ultimately that was what won us the race,” Elliott said after the race.”

“Hats off to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports,” he added. “It’s super-special to win with the No. 17 on the car for the boss (Rick Hendrick) and Linda. Obviously, a great honor with the Ricky Hendrick scheme. It means a lot to all of us to be a part of this.”

Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 5 as Kyle Busch, Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson completed the top 10.

May 25, 2024
Chase Elliott to make 300th Cup career start in Coca-Cola 600

Competing in his ninth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chase Elliott is poised to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will make his 300th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Dawsonville, Georgia, and the son of the 1988 Cup Series champion Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Martinsville Speedway in late March 2015. By then, he was coming off his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, where he achieved the series’ championship, and was campaigning in the series for a second season to defend his title. He had also been named the driver of Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 24 Chevrolet entry for the 2016 Cup season, where he would be replacing four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon as Gordon was set to retire following the 2015 season. Driving the No. 25 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports during his Cup debut at Martinsville, Elliott started 27th and finished 38th after making contact with Brett Moffitt just past a Lap 60 restart, which damaged his entry’s front and rear ends along with the power steering. He would make his second start at Richmond Raceway three races later, where he would notch a season-best 16th place. His final three starts of the season occurred at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July and at Darlington Raceway in September, where he would finish 18th, 18th and 41st, respectively.

Assuming the steering wheel of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet in 2016, Elliott made early headlines by becoming the youngest pole-sitter of the Daytona 500 at age 20 and notching his first Cup career pole. Despite leading three laps, his bid for his first 500 victory came to an early end after he spun entering the frontstretch on Lap 18 and plowed through the tri-oval grass, which damaged the front end of the No. 24 Chevrolet and resulted with Elliott settling in 37th place. He would rebound during the following event at Atlanta Motor Speedway by achieving his first top-10 career result with an eighth-place finish before collecting two additional top-10 results during his next three starts. Beginning at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Elliott went on a nine-race stretch of finishing no lower than 12th as he accumulated eight top-10 results, a second career pole at Talladega Superspeedway in May, a third-place run at Dover Motor Speedway in May a fourth-place run at Pocono Raceway after leading a race-high 51 laps and a career-best runner-up finish at Michigan International Speedway in June. He also competed in his first All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May by virtue of achieving the Fan Vote title, where he ended up sixth. Despite finishing no higher than 15th twice during his next eight events, Elliott concluded the regular-season stretch by finishing second, 10th and 19th, respectively, in the final three events, which were enough for him to qualify for his first appearance in the Cup Series Playoffs.

During the 2016 Playoff opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Elliott led 75 laps and was in position of achieving his first Cup victory until a late caution period and an overtime shootout relegated Elliott to third place in the final running order. By finishing 13th and third during the following two Playoff events, he was able to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. With respective finishes of 33rd, 31st and 12th throughout the Round of 12, however, Elliott was eliminated from title contention. Nonetheless, he capped off his rookie Cup campaign by notching four consecutive top-12 results during the final four events of the season before finishing in 10th place in the final standings and locking up the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Despite going winless in his rookie Cup season, Elliott notched his first two career poles, 10 top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 358 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.6.

In a similar fashion to his rookie season, Elliott commenced his sophomore Cup season by notching his second consecutive Daytona 500 pole position and placing HMS’ No. 24 entry on the pole for the 500 for a third consecutive season. He would proceed to win the first Daytona Duel event and become the first competitor to win both a Daytona 500 pole and Duel event in the same season since Dale Earnhardt made the last accomplishment in 1996. During the 500, he led 39 laps and was leading in the closing laps until he started to run out of fuel with three laps remaining and drifted back to 14th place in the final running order. He would rally by notching a runner-up result at Michigan in June along with a total of six top-five results and 14 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough to make his second consecutive Playoffs based on points.

After finishing in second place during the 2017 Playoff opener at Chicagoland and 11th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, respectively, Elliott led a race-high 138 laps and was in position of achieving his first victory until he was overtaken by Kyle Busch amid lapped traffic and settling in the runner-up spot, though he managed to transfer from the Round of 16 to 12. After transferring into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of second, 16th and fourth throughout the Round of 12, Elliott was in another position of winning his first Cup event at Martinsville Speedway in late October as he led 123 laps and fended off Brad Keselowski during a late-race restart with four laps remaining. Then while leading the event with three laps remaining, Elliott was hit and sent spinning into the Turn 3 outside wall by Denny Hamlin, which plummeted Elliott down to 27th place in the final running order and both competitors to exchange harsh words prior to entering pit road. Faced in a “must-win” situation to keep his title hopes alive for the season, he rallied by finishing eighth and second during the final two Round of 8 events, but the results were not enough for him to make the Championship 4 cutline. With a fifth-place finish in the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Elliott ended up in fifth place in the final standings. By then, he earned two additional top-five results from his previous season (12), four additional top-10 results (21), 560 laps led and a new average-finishing result of 12.0.

The 2018 Cup season marked Elliott’s third consecutive season driving for Hendrick Motorsports, but first piloting his father’s number 9 alongside his entry in the Cup circuit as Hendrick assigned the number 24 to newcomer William Byron. Despite winning the second Daytona Duel event and starting on the second row for the 60th running of the Daytona 500, he ended up in 33rd place after being involved in a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Elliott would proceed to finish in the top 10 three times during his next seven starts before notching his eighth runner-up result of his career behind Kyle Busch at Richmond in April. Then after notching three additional top-five results and six top-10 results during his next 12 starts, Elliott scored his first elusive Cup Series career win in his 99th series start at Watkins Glen International after muscling away with the lead during a restart with 32 laps remaining and having enough fuel to fend off a late challenge from the reigning series’ champion Martin Truex Jr. By then, Elliott became the 16th different competitor to win while driving for Hendrick Motorsports as he also recorded the 250th Cup career victory for HMS.

Nabbing three additional top-nine finishes in the final four regular-season events of the 2018 season while also surpassing 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, Elliott commenced the Playoffs by finishing 36th, fourth and sixth, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 12. Then during the Round of 12 opener at Dover Motor Speedway, he fended off Hamlin during an overtime shootout to score his second Cup career win and automatically race his way into the Round of 8. He would gain extra momentum two races by notching his third career victory at Kansas Speedway. Elliott’s title hopes, however, evaporated after finishing seventh, sixth and 23rd, respectively, throughout the Round of 8 as he proceeded to finish seventh at Homestead and sixth in the final standings. Amid a season where he notched his first three career victories, he matched his accumulated top-10 results from his previous season at 21 and achieved an average-finishing result of 12.3.

After notching a runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in March and only a single additional top-10 result through nine events to commence the 2019 Cup Series season, Elliott notched his first victory of the season at Talladega Superspeedway after leading a race-high 45 laps and retaining the lead on the final lap prior to a multi-car wreck. He would proceed to finish in the top five four times during his next 11 starts before winning at Watkins Glen for a second consecutive season after leading a race-high 80 laps and fending off another late challenge from Truex. Concluding the regular-season stretch with three top-10 results in four races, Elliott finished fourth and 13th, respectively, during the Playoff’s first two events before claiming his third victory of the season at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October while rallying from an early collision into the first turn’s wall, which enabled him to transfer into the Round of 12. Despite transferring into the Round of 12 by a mere margin, he missed the cutline to make the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season after finishing no higher than 32nd throughout the Round of 8. With a 15th-place finish at Homestead, Elliott settled in 10th place in the final standings. Overall, he notched three victories, 11 top-five results, 15 top-10 results, 601 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1.

The 2020 Cup Series season was a memorable season for Elliott, who rallied from finishing no higher than 17th during the first two events on the schedule by finishing in the top seven during his next three starts. Then after finishing 38th and second during his next two events, he notched his first victory of the season at Charlotte in May. He proceeded to win the All-Star Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in July and accumulate seven top-10 results during his next 14 points-paying events before winning the inaugural Cup event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in August. With two additional top-five results during the final three regular-season events, Elliott finished 20th, fifth and seventh, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, which were enough for him to transfer into the Round of 12.

After winning for the third time of the 2020 season and second in a row at the Charlotte Roval in October to transfer into the Round of 8, Elliott then finished sixth and 20th during the Round of 8’s first two events before winning at Martinsville in November and racing his way into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career. Then during the finale at Phoenix, Elliott, who started at the rear of the field, led a race-high 153 laps and beat title rivals Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin to win both the finale and his first Cup Series championship. By then, Elliott became the 34th different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series and the second-youngest champion in the series at age 24. In addition to delivering the 13th Cup championship for Hendrick Motorsports, Chase Elliott and his father Bill joined the Pettys and the Jarretts as the third father-son duo to win a Cup title. Elliott’s championship season occurred as the Georgian achieved career-high stats in victories (five), top fives (15), top 10s (22) and laps led, (1,247), with the driver also securing an average-finishing result of 11.7.

Entering the 2021 Cup Series season as the reigning champion, Elliott commenced the season by finishing in the runner-up spot during the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. He would accumulate four top-five results and six top-10 results during his next 12 starts until notching his first victory of the season in the inaugural, rain-shortened series’ event at Circuit of the Americas. Proceeding by finishing second in his 200th Cup career start in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte followed by another runner-up result at Sonoma Raceway in June, both behind teammate Kyle Larson, Elliott then finished no higher than 12th during his next three events until notching his second Cup victory of the season at Road America, where he led a race-high 24 laps. Concluding the regular-season stretch with five top-10 results in six events, Elliott notched four top-10 results in nine Playoff events, which were enough for him to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Elliott finished in fifth place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings. Despite recording two victories, 15 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and 952 laps led throughout the 2021 season, he notched a career-best average-finishing result of 11.4.

Elliott commenced the 2022 Cup season by finishing in the top 10 six times through the first 10 events before winning for the first time of the season at Dover in May. Six races later, he would achieve a second Cup victory of the season at Nashville Superspeedway following a four-lap shootout before winning for the first time at his home track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July after assuming the lead with two laps remaining and fending off a final lap challenge from Corey LaJoie. He would then be awarded a victory at Pocono in late July in an event where he finished third, but was promoted to first place after initial winner Denny Hamlin and initial runner-up finisher Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing the post-race inspection process. Finishing in the top five twice during the final five regular-season events, Elliott secured his fifth victory of the season at Talladega in October and three top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, which were enough for him to transfer from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season. During the finale at Phoenix, however, Elliott was turned by title rival Ross Chastain during a restart with 113 laps remaining as he hit the inside wall and was unable to regain competitive form as he ended up in 28th place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings for a second consecutive season. Overall, the 2022 Cup season marked Elliott’s second time notching a career-high five victories as he also accumulated a total of 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, three poles, 857 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.5.

This past season marked Elliott’s difficult seasons to date that commenced with a 38th-place result in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after being collected in a multi-car wreck just past the halfway mark. Despite finishing in second place during the following scheduled event at Auto Club Speedway, Elliott would then miss the next six events on the schedule after fracturing his tibia following a snowboarding accident in Colorado. Returning at Martinsville in April, he muscled through 500 miles to finish 10th before finishing 12th, 11th, seventh and third, respectively, during his next four starts. Then during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May, Elliott was mired with another run-in with Denny Hamlin after Hamlin squeezed Elliott into the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which resulted with Elliott veering dead left and sending Hamlin head-on into the wall as Elliott would be suspended from competing in the following weekend’s event at World Wide Technology Raceway. Finishing fifth in his return to the track at Sonoma but needing a regular-season victory to make the Playoffs, Elliott would finish in the top five four times during his next 10 starts. The closet he came to winning was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August, where he finished in the runner-up spot and trailed race winner Michael McDowell by nine-tenths of a second. Despite finishing fourth during the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, Elliott missed the Playoffs for the first time in his career. He would finish in the top 10 five times throughout the Playoffs before settling in 17th place in the final driver’s standings.

Poised for a redemptive campaign in 2024, Elliott commenced the season by notching only a single top-10 result through the first eight events on the schedule. Then after finishing in the top five during his next two starts, he made a triumphant return to Victory Lane at Texas amid two overtime shootouts and a late battle with Ross Chastain, which snapped a 42-race winless drought and has placed Elliott in contention to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. Following the victory at Texas, Elliott earned two additional top-five results in his last four starts and is currently ranked in fourth place in the 2024 regular-season standings while trailing the points lead by 49 points

Through 299 previous Cup starts, Elliott has achieved one championship, 19 victories, 12 poles, 98 top-five results, 158 top-10 results, 5,226 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.9.

Chase Elliott is scheduled to make his 300th Cup Series career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 65th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 26. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to occur at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

May 22, 2024
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Kansas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Larson: Larson edged Chris Buescher by the slightest of margins to win the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas.

“That’s what you call winning by a fraction of a second,” Larson said. “For Chris Buescher, the operative word is ‘second.’”

2. Denny Hamlin: Denny Hamlin won Stage 1 at Kansas and finished fifth.

“I really had some bad luck in a few of my pit stops,” Hamlin. “It seems that your favorite driver was in my way as I tried to leave the pits.”

3. Chase Elliott: Elliott took third at Kansas, right behind the Kyle Larson-Chris Buescher photo finish for the win.

“A thing called ‘aero blocking’ is really a hot topic in NASCAR right now,” Elliott said. “Back in the good old days, ‘aero blocking’ was also a thing; only it was called ‘keeping the car behind you behind you.’”

4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished fourth in the AdventHealth 400.

“I made the bold strategy move to take four tires on the final pit stop,” Truex said. “I came up just short. If the race just could have gone one lap longer, there would not have been a Kyle Larson-Chris Buescher photo finish, and I would have ‘pictured’ myself as the winner.”

5. Chris Buescher: Buescher easily won Stage 2 at Kansas and battled Kyle Larson to the finish line, but came up short by just .001 seconds.

“That was the closest finish in NASCAR history,” Buescher said. “And I was unfortunately on the short end. It was truly a photo finish, so I guess I came up just a bit camera shy.”

6. William Byron: Byron was a non-factor at Kansas, coming home 23rd, one lap down.

“It was a tough day for me,” Byron said, “and a tough one for NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson, as well. He was in an accident on Lap 176 that collected several cars. I know Jimmie is co-owner of Legacy Motor Club; maybe he should change that name to ‘Tarnished Legacy Motor Club.”

7. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished seventh at Kansas.

“There were quite a few instances of five-wide racing at Kansas,” Bowman said. “Let me tell you, it helps to trust the other four drivers when you’re going five-wide. Some drivers, like Ross Chastain, will actually lobby for your trust. Like, he’ll say ‘Trust me, I’m gonna cause an accident.’”

8. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 12th at Kansas.

“Ford is still winless this season,” Blaney said. “‘Built Ford Tough’ is Ford’s motto. For NASCAR’s purposes, maybe that should be ‘In A Ford? Tough.’”

9. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 11th at Kansas.

“My car was primarily sponsored by Consumer Cellular,” Keselowski said. “As you might know, that’s cell phone service for old people, or people who remember my Cup championship.”

10. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished a disappointing 20th at Kansas.

“Jimmie Johnson gave the ‘Start your engines’ command from inside his car,” Reddick said. “One thing’s for sure, though: Jimmie won’t be inside his car when a race ends.”

May 5, 2024