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Reddick prevails amid double overtime shootouts for wild Cup victory at Michigan; assumes regular-season points lead

Amid the loss of his racing hero Scott Bloomquist earlier in the week, Tyler Reddick rose to the occasion on two overtime attempts to win the rain-postponed FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Monday, August 19.

The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led 15 of 206 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row based on a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book after the event’s qualifying session was canceled due to persistent precipitation. Despite running towards the front during the event’s early stages on Sunday, he along with most of the front-runners pitted early as part of strategic call and sacrificed the first round of stage points. He then cycled his way back to fifth place before the event was delayed and eventually postponed to Monday morning due to the on-track precipitation continuing for the remainder of Sunday.

At the event’s resumption on Monday, Reddick got shuffled back towards the top-20 mark. Despite the rough start, he kept his No. 45 McDonald’s/23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE intact as a host of his fellow competitors, including teammate Bubba Wallace, would encounter on-track incidents that spoiled their early strong starts. With pit strategies also ensuing, Reddick, who methodically carved his way back to the front, assumed the lead with 12 laps remaining following the event’s latest round of green flag pit stops.

Despite having his advantage stalled twice amid two late on-track incidents that sent the event into overtime twice, the Californian refused to surrender as he fended off William Byron during the latest overtime shootout to grab his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and assume the lead in the regular-season standings.

With on-track qualifying that was set to occur on Saturday, August 17, being canceled due to weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a metric formula from the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with 23XI Racing competitor Tyler Reddick.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced amid a delay period that spanned more than two hours due to on-track precipitation, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick dueled for the lead through the first two turns as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. Then as Hamlin and Reddick continued to duel for the lead in front of the packed field through the backstretch, Kyle Larson, who started in fourth place, gained a draft and made a three-wide pass beneath both Reddick and Hamlin to move into the lead entering Turns 3 and 4. The early advantage would allow Larson to rocket his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead as he led the first lap while Reddick and Hamlin were being challenged by Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell for top-three spots.

Over the next four laps and with a majority of the field running in a single-file line, Larson stabilized his early advantage as he was out in front of the field by as high as four-tenths of a second. Behind, Hamlin was scored in second place ahead of Reddick and Elliott while Bell settled in fifth ahead of Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain.

Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Larson retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin, the latter of which started to close in on Larson in his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE. Reddick, Elliott and Bell followed suit in the top five while Wallace, Byron, Blaney, Austin Dillon and Chastain were scored in the top 10. Behind, Chris Buescher occupied 11th place ahead of Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano while Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric trailed in the top 20 ahead of Ty Gibbs, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones and AJ Allmendinger. Meanwhile, rookie Josh Berry, who started 16th, had plummeted to 36th place, dead last.

Ten laps later, Larson continued to lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while third-place Reddick trailed the lead by six-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate, trailed in fourth place by a second as he was followed by Elliott while Bell, Byron, Blaney, Buescher and Chastain were mired in the top 10 ahead of Austin Dillon, Suarez, Keselowski, Logano and Truex.

Another five laps later, a two-competitor battle for the lead between Larson and Hamlin became a four-competitor battle for the lead as 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace cut their deficit to four-tenths and seven-tenths of a second while Larson retained the lead by within a tenth of a second over Hamlin. With fifth-place Elliott continuing to trail by more than a second, teammate Larson continued to fend off Hamlin’s repeated attacks through the turns and straightaways to lead by a narrow margin while Berry, who was still mired in 36th place, dead last, was lapped.

At the Lap 30 mark, Larson stabilized his lead to two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Wallace moved his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE past teammate Reddick’s No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE for third place. Behind, Bell overtook Elliott for fifth place as Blaney, Byron, Buescher and Chastain continued to trail in the top 10 ahead of Suarez, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Truex and Logano.

Then on Lap 34, Wallace gained a strong run and executed a three-wide pass beneath both Hamlin and Larson through the frontstretch to assume the lead entering Turn 1. As Wallace started to pull away, Hamlin, who managed to overtake Larson for the runner-up spot, proceeded to try to keep track of Wallace while Reddick started to challenge Larson for third place.

On Lap 37, the event’s first caution period flew when Hamlin, who closed in on Wallace in his bid for the lead through Turns 3 and 4, slowly slid up the track, got loose and spun his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE from the top to the bottom of the track and through the infield grass before he managed to brake his car and keep it from going back across the track and continued without sustaining any significant damage.

During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Wallace pitted for service while the rest led by Blaney, who assumed the race lead, and including Byron, Buescher, Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton remained on the track.

With the event restarting with three laps remaining in the first stage period, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Blaney muscled ahead from the outside lane as he was followed by Buescher and Byron. As the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for spots through the backstretch, Blaney retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Buescher and Byron while Elliott started to close in in his bid for the runner-up spot.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Blaney fended off the competition amid a bevy of jostling for spots to capture his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in second place ahead of teammate Byron, Wallace and Buescher while Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10. By then, all 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, some led by the leader Blaney and including Byron, Buescher, Keselowski, Suarez, Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton, all of whom remained on the track during the previous caution period, pitted for their first service of the day while the rest led by the new leader Elliott remained on the track.

Then after having the start of the second stage period waved off multiple times due to on-track precipitation steadily returning to the Michigan circuit, the field led by Elliott was directed back to pit road and placed in a red flag period on Lap 51.

With the rain delay period occurring beyond 6 p.m. ET and no sight of relief being detected before the day’s darkness scheduled at 8:20 p.m. ET, NASCAR postponed the remainder of the event to Monday, August 19. By then, Elliott was still scored the leader while Truex, Wallace, Bowman, Reddick, Kyle Busch, Larson, Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Logano were scored in the top 10, respectively.

Nearing 11 a.m. ET on Monday and with the weather clear from Sunday’s precipitation, the red flag lifted and the field led by Elliott returned under a cautious pace. During the pace laps, Hamlin spent time in his pit stall to have his car inspected due to Sunday’s spin as he dropped to the rear of the field.

The second stage period started on Lap 55 as Elliott and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott received a shove from Wallace on the outside lane to emerge ahead by a slight margin before Busch fought back from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch while Reddick slipped out of the top-10 mark, Elliott retained the lead from Busch, Wallace and Truex while Chase Briscoe followed suit in fifth.

Then on Lap 57 and with a variety of on-track battles ensuing around the field, Busch executed a move beneath Elliott and proceeded to slide in front of Elliott to lead for the first time in his No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. With Busch leading, Elliott retained second while Briscoe overtook Wallace and Truex for third place as Bell and Chastain joined the battle. With Wallace, Briscoe, Truex, Bell, Larson and Chastain all battling for third place amid the draft, Busch retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Elliott, who settled behind Busch’s rear bumper, by Lap 60.

Six laps later, Truex, who navigated his way past Wallace and Elliott to move up to second earlier, drew his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE into a side-by-side battle with Busch for the lead through the frontstretch before he muscled ahead of Busch with the top spot entering Turn 1. Behind, Elliott overtook Busch for the runner-up spot and proceeded to track Truex for the lead while both Wallace and Larson started to close in on the top-three leaders. With Wallace overtaking Busch for third place shortly after, Truex led the Lap 70 mark by two-tenths of a second over Elliott.

By Lap 80, Truex stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Elliott while Wallace, Larson and Busch all trailed in the top five within two seconds. In the process, Bell, Byron, Chastain, Logano and Bowman followed suit in the top 10. With Austin Cindric scrubbing the outside wall entering the frontstretch, but continuing while battling Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for a top-20 spot, the race remained under green flag conditions.

Four laps later, Wallace pitted his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE for four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel under green. Teammate Reddick, who was mired within the top 15 amid his rough start to the second stage period, would also pit before Larson pitted during the following lap. Elliott would then pit his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green along with Noah Gragson by Lap 87 before Chastain, Bowman, Corey LaJoie, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece followed suit during the next three laps. Amid the pit stops, Truex retained the lead by the Lap 90 mark.

Just past the Lap 90 mark, Busch and Byron pitted their respective Chevrolets after running towards the front before the leader Truex and teammate Bell pitted on Lap 92. AJ Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Josh Berry and Todd Gilliland would also pit their respective entries while Blaney cycled into the lead ahead of teammate Logano, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Hemric. Logano and Hemric would then pit on Lap 95 as Blaney retained the lead. Meanwhile and with more competitors pitting under green, Larson, the first competitor with fresh tires, cycled his way up to ninth place while Wallace, Truex, Elliott, Chastain, Byron and Busch followed suit.

At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Blaney, who pitted during the first stage break period on Sunday and continued to stretch his fuel tank as far as possible, pitted under green along with rookie Carson Hocevar as Ty Gibbs cycled into the lead. With Gibbs leading, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Larson and Truex were in the top five while Wallace, Elliott, Hamlin, Chastain and Byron were running in the top 10. Austin Dillon would then pit during the following lap along with the leader Gibbs as Keselowski cycled into the lead. Keselowski would then pit from the lead by Lap 103 along with Hamlin, which allowed Larson to cycle back into the lead on four fresh tires and fuel.

On Lap 106, a brief side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Larson and Truex, with the latter attempting to surge ahead from the inside lane, but the former was able to muscle back ahead from the outside lane.

Then on Lap 109, during which Larson maintained a steady advantage over Truex amid a brief side-by-side challenge, the caution flew due to a right-rear tire carcass coming off of Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Logano was limping his car below the apron to pit road from Turn 4. In the process, AJ Allmendinger spun his No. 16 LeafFilter Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch with a flat left-rear tire before he came to rest below the apron entering Turn 1 and would need a wrecker to have his car towed back to pit road due to the driver flat-spotting all tires. The tire issues for both Allmendinger and Logano occurred after Gilliland limped his Ford to pit road as he too had a flat right-rear tire.

During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Larson returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Ross Chastain remained on the track.

With the race restarting with five laps remaining in the second stage period, where Chastain and Busch occupied the front row, the two leaders dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Busch rocketed ahead of Chastain and maintained the lead while the field behind fanned out. Shortly after, the caution returned when Larson, who was running in ninth place and trying to carve his way back to the front, slid up the track, got sideways and spun in between Turns 3 and 4, where his car slid up towards the outside wall and was hit by Wallace while more names including Buescher, Bell, Briscoe, Logano and Gilliland all wrecked in Turn 4, with Larson sustaining the most damage to the front end of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and taking him out of contention. Bell, Gilliland and Logano would also be eliminated from further competition while Wallace and Buescher, two Playoff bubble drivers, continued.

The multi-car incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 120 to conclude under caution as Kyle Busch captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Chastain settled in second ahead of Gibbs, Byron and Austin Dillon while Keselowski, Truex, Erik Jones, Blaney and Cody Ware were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, select names led by Chastain pitted while the rest led by the leader Busch remained on the track.

With 75 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Busch and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Busch and Byron dueled for the lead for a full lap as Keselowski, Gibbs, Blaney and Austin Dillon followed suit. With Busch leading the following lap, Byron then would muscle his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead by the first two turns and he would lead the next lap period as the field behind fanned out and jostled for late spots around the corners and straightaways.

With less than 70 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs, who carved his way into second place earlier, started to ignite his challenge for the lead on Byron, though the latter retained the top spot by a tenth of a second through the turns and straightaways. Byron would proceed to stabilize his advantage to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs with 65 laps remaining while Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Blaney followed suit in the top five.

Just then, the caution returned when Corey LaJoie, who gained a strong draft on Noah Gragson while battling for a top-20 spot, made light contact with Gragson that sent LaJoie spinning sideways before his No. 7 Garner Trucking Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 went airborne and landed upside-down, where the car slid on its roof through the backstretch’s infield and even hit the infield wall before flipping once and coming to rest on all four wheels towards the infield grass. Amid the wild wreck, LaJoie, who slid on his side before flipping over once at the conclusion of Talladega Superspeedway event in April, emerged uninjured. During the caution period, some led by Busch pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

The start of the next restart period with 59 laps remaining featured Byron and Keselowski, who moved up to restart on the front row amid the choose rule, dueling for the lead in close-quarters racing through the first two turns before Elliott made a bold move beneath both to move into the lead entering the backstretch. With the field fanning out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Elliott maintained the lead ahead of teammate Byron while Keselowski, Gibbs and Reddick were up in the top five.

With 50 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by six-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by Gibbs, Reddick and Byron as Blaney, Truex, Busch, Buescher and Suarez trailed in the top 10. Behind, Chastain was scored in 11th place ahead of Bowman, Hocevar, Gragson and Austin Dillon while Erik Jones, Hamlin, Stenhouse, rookie Zane Smith and Preece occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Burton, Berry, Cody Ware, Hemric, McDowell and Wallace, all of whom were scored on the lead lap.

Four laps later, Byron peeled off the track from a top-five spot to pit his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for enough fuel to reach the event’s scheduled distance. Another two laps later, Truex pitted under green before Bowman would pit his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 not long after. In the process, Gibbs started to close in on Elliott for the lead while third-place Reddick tried to close in.

With 40 laps remaining, Reddick, who overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot, proceeded to overtake Elliott for the lead. With Reddick leading, Gibbs and Keselowski pitted their respective entries under green before the leader Reddick, Elliott and Blaney pitted under green with 38 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Busch cycled his way into the lead and he would proceed to lead with 35 laps remaining while Chastain, Buscher, Suarez, Hocevar and Austin Dillon were scored in the top six. A lap later, however, Busch pitted from the lead under green, where he only opted for two fresh tires, as Suarez cycled into the lead, where the latter would continue to lead with 30 laps remaining.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hocevar was leading ahead of Stenhouse, Burton, Preece and Erik Jones while Berry, Gragson, Hemric, Cody Ware and McDowell were scored in the top 10. With the top-10 competitors on the track needing to pit, Busch, the first competitor who recently pitted, was trying to fend off Reddick for 11th place and the eventual lead while Byron, Elliott, Gibbs, Truex and Keselowski followed suit.

Not long after, the leader Hocevar along with Gragson and Preece pitted under green as both Reddick and Byron overtook Busch on the track. By then, Suarez had pitted a few laps earlier as Stenhouse assumed the lead. Stenhouse would then pit from the lead as Burton cycled into the lead, where he would lead with 20 laps remaining.

Then with 16 laps remaining, Burton surrendered the lead to pit his No. 21 Motocraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green. By then, Hemric and Ware had pitted as Berry, the lone competitor who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead. Once Berry pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green with 13 laps remaining, Reddick cycled his No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE into the lead, where he was leading by less than two seconds over Byron.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Reddick was out in front by two seconds over Byron while Gibbs, Truex and Busch trailed in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Hamlin and McDowell. Meanwhile, Chastain, Hocevar, Buescher, Zane Smith and Austin Dillon trailed in the top 15 ahead of Suarez, Stenhouse, Burton, Erik Jones and Berry.

Four laps later, the caution flew when Truex, who was running in fourth place, had an incident in Turn 4, as Reddick’s steady advantage over Byron evaporated. During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while the rest, including Reddick and the front-runners, remained on the track. Amid the caution period, the event was sent into overtime.

The start of the first overtime period did not last long as Chastain, who was racing close towards the top-10 mark, got loose amid stacked conditions and spun in front of Zane Smith before he continued to spin through the infield backstretch and came to rest within the infield grass. Chastain’s spin occurred after Bowman had smacked the backstretch’s outside wall. Despite Chastain continuing and the rest of the field avoiding him, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt as Byron, who despite was told was low on fuel, emerged with the lead over Reddick from the inside lane.

The start of the second overtime attempt featured Byron and Reddick dueling for the lead until Reddick, who this time restarted on the inside lane and beneath Byron, muscled ahead entering the backstretch after he received a draft from Ty Gibbs. With Reddick leading, Byron then tried to use the draft to gain a run and overtake Reddick entering Turn 3, but Reddick retained the top spot as Gibbs closed in from third place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick remained as the leader by a narrow margin over Byron and Gibbs. Reddick then created a small gap between himself and Byron through the first two turns before entering the backstretch. With Byron closing back in through Turns 3 and 4, he was not able to get to Reddick’s rear bumper entering the frontstretch as Reddick proceeded to claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Byron.

With the victory, Tyler Reddick notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his first at Michigan and his second of the 2024 season, with his previous victory occurring at Talladega Superspeedway in April. As a result, he became the sixth competitor to notch multiple victories of the 2024 season while also delivering the second victory for 23XI Racing and the eighth for Toyota nameplate. With Reddick delivering Toyota’s first Cup victory at Michigan since 2015, he snapped Ford’s nine-race winning streak at the manufacturer’s backyard in the Irish Hills that starts in 2018.

Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

During his victory celebrations, Reddick, who is the new leader in the regular-season standings, dedicated his win to Scott Bloomquist, a dirt track and late models legend who was a mentor to Reddick and died in a plane accident three days ago.

“Just great teammate and fantastic push by Ty Gibbs [on the last restart],” Reddick said on USA Network. “That’s what it’s all about. The Toyota Racing family tries to take care of each other. It’s been really cool, but I can’t help it but sit here in Victory Lane and think of Scott Bloomquist. [He was a] Huge mentor to me and incredible role model and legend of dirt racing and motorsports. The last couple of days have been tough and this [win] really helps it and so, this win, I think, should go for him and his family, his friends and all that meant a lot to him…We did a really, really good job today and rebounded from [a bad restart earlier]. I think we were one of the last cars on the lead lap [during the] start of Stage 3, so great effort for us.”

William Byron had enough fuel to finish in second place and rally from finishing outside the top 10 during his last two races while Ty Gibbs rallied from a three-race slump to finish in third place for his sixth top-five result of the season and to remain above the top-16 cutline in the Playoff standings by 39 points in his efforts to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

I’ll relive that restart and what lane to choose overnight, for sure,” Byron, who ended up losing the lead and the race overall from restarting on the outside lane during the final overtime attempt, said. “It seems like always as the leader, you want to take the top [lane], but I’ve gotten beat twice here by the bottom [lane] and I have the lead on the bottom barely over [Reddick]. He had a better can than us. He was a little bit faster. Second sucks, but really proud of the effort, though. I feel like I’ve been trying to put weeks together like this and this is really good step. Everyone did a great job on the team. Strategy was awesome, car was awesome all day and really proud of the team.”

“I feel like we definitely were in contention [for the win], for sure,” Gibbs added. “I needed to get up sooner off of [Turn] 2 to clear [Byron]. Just missed it by a little bit. Then after that, it takes a lap to get wound back up after you lose momentum. I appreciate my guys bring me a great car. Definitely a little frustrating, but we’ll take it. It’s a good day and thanks to everybody that helps my program out.”

Kyle Busch, who led 24 laps and won the second stage period, finished in fourth place for his first top-five finish since finishing fourth at Dover Motor Speedway in April, though he remains 93 points below the top-16 cutline, while Michigan native Brad Keselowski finished in the top five on the track.

Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin and rookie Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 in the final running order. The sixth-place run was enough for Buescher to remain above the top-16 cutline by 16 points.

Notably, Chase Elliott finished 15th after leading 29 laps, Austin Dillon ended up 17th ahead of Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. fell back to 24th, though he remains above the top-16 cutline by 77 points. In addition, Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace finished 25th and 26th, respectively. As a result, Chastain holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by a single point over Wallace with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

There were 26 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 41 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 24th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over Chase Elliott, 28 over Denny Hamlin and 32 over Kyle Larson in his pursuit for his first Cup Series Regular Season Championship.

Results.

1. Tyler Reddick, 15 laps led

2. William Byron, 20 laps led

3. Ty Gibbs, two laps led

4. Kyle Busch, 24 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

6. Chris Buescher

7. Zane Smith

8. Daniel Suarez, seven laps led

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Carson Hocevar

11. Ryan Preece

12. Noah Gragson

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps led

14. Harrison Burton, five laps led

15. Chase Elliott, 29 laps led

16. Erik Jones

17. Austin Dillon

18. Ryan Blaney, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

19. Michael McDowell

20. Justin Haley

21. Cody Ware

22. Josh Berry, four laps led

23. Daniel Hemric

24. Martin Truex Jr., 28 laps led

25. Ross Chastain, one lap down, four laps led

26. Bubba Wallace, one lap down, five laps led

27. Alex Bowman, one lap down

28. Austin Cindric, two laps down

29. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down

30. AJ Allmendinger, six laps down

31. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Suspension

32. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

33. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

34. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 41 laps led

35. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

36. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 24, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 19, 2024
Kyle Busch achieves “net good day” result with fourth-place run at Michigan; maintains Playoff hopes

With two regular-season events remaining on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Kyle Busch rallied from a difficult summer stretch to maintain his Playoff qualification hopes by achieving a strong top-five result in the form of a fourth-place finish in the rain-postponed FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Monday, August 19.

The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, rolled off the starting grid in 13th place based on a random draw after the event’s qualifying session was canceled and determined through a metric formula from the NASCAR Rule Book. Through early mixed strategies, Busch, who initially was battling within the top 15 and 20 marks, netted five stage points at the conclusion of the first stage period by finishing in sixth place. Then just as he was set to restart inside the top 10 for the start of the second stage period, the event was delayed and postponed to Monday due to a steady increase of precipitation that canceled the remainder of on-track actions on Sunday.

Returning back to action on Monday, Busch moved up to restart alongside the leader Chase Elliott as part of the Choose Rule for the start of the second stage period on Lap 55. It would then only take two laps for the Las Vegas native to move his No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead, where he officially led for the first time on Lap 58. He would lead the next seven laps before he was overtaken by Martin Truex Jr.

While continuing to run towards the front throughout the second stage period, Busch, who was among a handful of competitors to remain on the track as part of a strategic call before a five-lap shootout to conclude the second stage period, would emerge ahead of Ross Chastain and retain the lead for a full lap before the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 4. With the second stage period officially concluding under caution, Busch proceeded to capture his first elusive stage victory of the 2024 season and grab both 10 stage points and a Playoff point towards his efforts to make the Playoffs.

As the race proceeded into the final stage period, Busch, who kept his car intact, pitted under green from inside the top 10 with less than 35 laps remaining amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops. With crew chief Randall Burnett opting for a two-tire pit call to give Busch an on-track advantage, the pit call initially worked to their advantage as Busch emerged as the highest-running competitor on the track who recently pitted. In the closing laps, however, he was overtaken by eventual winner Tyler Reddick and William Byron on the track.

Amid two overtime shootouts, Busch, who restarted in sixth place during the latest shootout, steered his way to a fourth-place finish for his third top-five result of the 2024 season, his first since finishing fourth at Dover Motor Speedway in late April and his 10th in 36 Cup starts overall at Michigan.

With the top-five finish, Busch, who came into Michigan 122 points below the top-16 cutline towards the Playoff standings, is 97 points behind with two regular-season events remaining on the 2024 schedule as he strives to make the Cup Series Playoffs for the 17th time in his career and second in a row driving for Richard Childress Racing.

“I wish I came out [of pit road] with about an eight-second lead. That might’ve helped a little bit,” Busch said on USA Network. “Overall, just net positive on the weekend and being better speed and upfront and having a shot anyways, but we ran top 10 all day. So really good call by [crew chief] Randall [Burnett] and the guys to get us that two tires, get us that more track position and just try to hold [the leaders] off as best we could. Overall, net good day.”

While Busch continues to pursue his first race victory of the 2024 season, which would extend his current race-winning streak to 20 consecutive seasons, the top-five result left him both pleased and optimistic about the recent competitiveness being generated from Richard Childress Racing that would enable Busch and his No. 8 Chevrolet team to win one or both of the remaining regular-season events on the schedule and automatically qualify for the 2024 Playoffs.

“This is how we would expect to run, this is how we want to run,” Busch added. “We want to run up front, top 10s and have opportunities to excel. Good pit calls helped us to be able to do that and just making a couple good moves on those late restarts right there that got us that. Nothing can translate from today into Daytona or Darlington set-up wise, vehicle dynamics, that sort of stuff, but good momentum rolling in the right direction. Just keep that going.”

Kyle Busch’s quest to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues next Saturday, August 24, at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, with the event’s broadcast time to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 19, 2024
Alan Gustafson to call 700th Cup event as crew chief at Michigan

The upcoming FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway is set to mark crew chief Alan Gustafson’s 24th NASCAR Cup Series event atop the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 pit box of the 2024 season. It will also mark a significant milestone achievement for the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief. By participating in this weekend’s Cup event at Michigan, Gustafson will call his 700th career race as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Ormond Beach, Florida, Gustafson was working on go-karts piloted by Casey Yunick, grandson of legendary car mechanic and designer Smokey Yunick, at eight years old. As a mechanic, he worked his way up to late models, legend cars and the Sports Cars Club of America region. After graduating from Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, Florida, Gustafson was pursuing a mechanical engineering degree at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University when he decided to relocate to Charlotte, North Carolina, and pursue a career in motorsports racing.

In 1996, Gustafson joined Gary Moore’s Goody’s Dash Series team as a crew chief for Jimmy Foster. A year later, he became a crew chief for Addington Racing’s NASCAR Truck Series before making the jump to the Xfinity Series to work as an engineer for Diamond Ridge Motorsports. Another two years later, Gustafson, who was working for Jimmy Foster, was recruited by former NASCAR championship-winning crew chief Gary DeHart to work in Hendrick Motorsports’ chassis department. By 2000, he was working as a full-time shock specialist for HMS’ No. 5 Chevrolet team piloted by two-time Cup champion Terry Labonte before being named lead engineer for the No. 5 team another two years later.

Entering the 2005 Cup season, Gustafson was named crew chief for the No. 5 Chevrolet team set to be piloted by Kyle Busch, who entered the season as a 2005 Cup rookie candidate. Throughout the 36-race schedule, Gustafson achieved his first two NASCAR victories as a crew chief, the first at Auto Club Speedway in September and the second at Phoenix Raceway in November with Busch. The duo went on to achieve a pole, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results, with Busch claiming the 2005 Rookie-of-the-Year title despite finishing 20th in the final standings.

Over the next two seasons, Gustafson remained as crew chief for Busch and the No. 5 team in the Cup circuit, where Busch achieved one victory apiece, made the Playoffs during both seasons and achieved a fifth-place result in the final standings in 2007. By then, Gustafson surpassed 100 Cup starts as a crew chief.

In 2008, Gustafson remained as crew chief for HMS’ No. 5 Chevrolet team piloted by Casey Mears, the reigning Coca-Cola 600 winner, who replaced Busch as Busch joined Joe Gibbs Racing for the upcoming season. Throughout the 36-race schedule, Gustafson and Mears only achieved one top-five result and six top-10 results before finishing in 20th place in the final standings.

The 2009 Cup season was a competitive season for Gustafson, who was paired with veteran driver Mark Martin as Martin returned to full-time Cup competition for the first time since 2005 and as the successor of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. It took the first eight scheduled races of the 2009 season for Gustafson to return to Victory Lane in the Cup circuit after Martin achieved a dominant win at Phoenix in April, which snapped Martin’s 97-race winless drought and a 74-race winless drought for Gustafson. The momentum continued for the driver, crew chief and the No. 5 team as they won at Darlington Raceway in May, Michigan International Speedway in June and Chicagoland Speedway in July. Martin and Gustafson then achieved a fifth victory of the season at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, which commenced the 2009 Cup Playoffs. They ended up as the championship runner-up to teammates Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus by 141 points. Nonetheless, they earned a total of five victories, seven poles, 14 top-five results and 21 top-10 results throughout the 36-race schedule.

Compared to the 2009 season, however, Martin and Gustafson were unable to pursue another shot at a championship in 2010 as they missed the Playoffs, went winless and only achieved a pole, seven top-five results and 11 top-10 results before finishing in 13th place in the final standings. By then, Gustafson surpassed 200 Cup starts as a crew chief.

For the 2011 season, Gustafson, who remained at HMS, transitioned from the No. 5 team to the No. 24 team as he was paired with four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon. Following a 28th-place run in the Daytona 500, Gustafson notched his first victory with Gordon at Phoenix in February, where Gordon rallied from an early wreck to dominate and fend off Kyle Busch to snap a 66-race winless drought. Gordon and Gustafson went on to achieve victories at Pocono Raceway in June and at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September along with a pole, 13 top-five results, 18 top-10 results and a spot in the 2011 Cup Playoffs before finishing in eighth place in the final standings.

From 2012 to 2013, Gordon, Gustafson and the No. 24 team achieved a total of three victories, four poles, 19 top-five results and 35 top-10 results, with a best points result of sixth place in 2013. Then in 2014, the duo recorded four victories throughout the 36-race schedule, including the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, which marked Gustafson’s first crown-jewel victory in NASCAR. Having earned three poles, 14 top-five results and 23 top-10 results along with the victories, Gordon and Gustafson were poised to contend for the title until a late run-in and brawl with Brad Keselowski ended their hopes for a championship prior to the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, thus relegating them back to sixth place in the final standings. By then, Gustafson surpassed 300 starts in the Cup Series.

In 2015, which marked Gordon’s 23rd and final full-time season as a NASCAR competitor, Gordon and Gustafson commenced the season by winning the pole position for the 57th running of the Daytona 500. They then rallied from a bumpy regular-season stretch to make the Playoffs and earn a spot in the Championship Round at Homestead following a sentimental victory at Martinsville Speedway in November, with Gordon earning one final opportunity to win his fifth title. During the finale, however, Gordon settled in sixth place on the track and third place in the final standings. Along with the Martinsville victory, Gordon and Gustafson achieved four poles, five top-five results and 21 top-10 results.

Following Gordon’s retirement, Gustafson remained as crew chief for HMS’ No. 24 Chevrolet team piloted by Chase Elliott, the 2014 Xfinity Series champion and the successor of the No. 24 entry. In their first run together, Elliott secured the pole position for the upcoming Daytona 500, thus becoming the youngest competitor to win the pole for the 500. Elliott, however, finished 37th after being involved in an early accident. Despite the slow start, Elliott and Gustafson managed to record two poles, 10 top-five results and 17 top-10 results. While they qualified for the 2016 Cup Playoffs, the duo were eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 and went on to finish in 10th place in the final standings. By the end of the season, Elliott captured the 2016 Cup Rookie of the Year title. In addition, Gustafson surpassed 400 Cup starts as a crew chief.

In 2017, Gustafson commenced the season by making history as he became the first crew chief since Ernie Elliott to achieve three consecutive Daytona 500 poles, with Chase Elliott zooming to his second consecutive 500 pole. After winning the first of two Can-Am Duel events at Daytona, Elliott and Gustafson were in striking position of winning the 500 until Elliott fell back to 14th after running out of fuel with two laps remaining. Despite several opportunities presented for Elliott, Gustafson and the No. 24 team to win, they endured a second winless season. Nonetheless, they earned 12 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and a Playoff spot before being eliminated from title contention prior to the finale and ending up in fifth place in the final standings. During the season, Gustafson was suspended for the Cup Playoff event at New Hampshire in September stemming from an L1-level post-race penalty report during the previous event at Chicagoland Speedway.

Gustafson remained as crew chief for HMS and Elliott in 2018, with Elliott piloting the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the new season. During the season, Gustafson was suspended for two races (Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway in April) stemming from an illegal rear window penalty report at Texas Motor Speedway the previous week. Nonetheless, Gustafson returned to Victory Lane in the Cup Series in nearly three seasons after Elliott achieved his first elusive Cup victory at Watkins Glen International in August. Earning a one-way ticket to the Playoffs, Elliott and Gustafson won at Dover International Speedway and at Kansas Speedway in October before finishing in sixth place in the final standings. By then, Gustafson surpassed 500 Cup career starts as a crew chief.

After a winless start through the first nine events of the 2019 season, Elliott and Gustafson achieved their first victory of the year at Talladega Superspeedway in April. They went on to win at Watkins Glen in August and at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in September before making the Playoffs and settling in 10th place in the final standings.

The 2020 Cup season was a season to remember for Gustafson, who commenced the season with two victories with Elliott throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During the Playoffs, Elliott went on to win at the Charlotte Roval in October and at Martinsville Speedway in November, which earned Elliott, Gustafson and the No. 9 Chevrolet team a spot in the Championship Round finale at Phoenix Raceway. During the finale, Elliott rallied from starting at the rear of the field to lead a race-high 153 of 312 and capture the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series championship along with the finale victory. The championship was a first for Gustafson in his 16th season as a crew chief along with the first for Elliott and the 13th overall for Hendrick Motorsports.

Commencing the 2021 season as the reigning champions, Gustafson and Elliott recorded their first elusive victory of the season during the series’ inaugural, rain-shortened event at Circuit of the Americas in May. They went on to win at Road America in July and record 15 top-10 results during the 26-race regular-season stretch amid Gustafson being suspended for Watkins Glen in August due to the No. 9 entry failing pre-race inspection twice before qualifying for the 2021 Cup Playoffs. With four top-10 results during nine Playoff events, Gustafson and Elliott were able to transfer all the way from the Round of 16 to the Championship 4 and receive an opportunity to defend their series title. During the finale at Phoenix, however, Elliott finished fifth on the track and ended up in fourth place in the final standings. By then, Gustafson had surpassed 600 events as a Cup crew chief.

In 2022, Gustafson and Elliott achieved their first victory of the season at Dover in May. They went on to win at Nashville Superspeedway in June, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway in July before securing their seventh consecutive berth to the Playoffs. Throughout the Playoffs, the duo rallied from a rough start in the Rounds of 16 and 12 by winning at Talladega in October and transferring to the Round of 8. They were also able to accumulate enough points to transfer to the Championship 4 round for a third consecutive season. Their aim for a second Cup title, however, came to an end when Elliott was involved in a late-race incident with title rival Ross Chastain and ended 28th on the track. This, in turn, kept him in fourth place in the final standings for a second consecutive season.

The 2023 season was a difficult season for both Gustafson and Elliott that started with the duo finishing 38th in the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a multi-car wreck in the closing laps of the second stage. Despite rallying during the following weekend at Auto Club Speedway by finishing second to Kyle Busch, Elliott was then absent for the following Cup event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after injuring his leg while snowboarding in Colorado. With Elliott absent, JR Motorsports’ Xfinity Series competitor Josh Berry and sportscar racer Jordan Taylor piloted the No. 9 HMS entry over the next six races. Then in March, all four Hendrick Motorsports crew chiefs, including Gustafson, were issued a four-race suspension and a combined $400,000 fine as a result of NASCAR confiscating and noting issues to the hood louvers on all four HMS entries during the Phoenix weekend. The organization was also docked 100 owner points and 10 Playoff points between the four entries, but following an appeal process during the final week of March, the points were reinstated while the fines and suspensions remained intact. With Gustafson serving his four-race suspension, lead engineer Tom Gray filled in as an interim crew chief for the No. 9 HMS entry.

After returning atop the No. 9 pit box along with Elliott at Martinsville in April, Gustafson navigated the No. 9 team to nine top-10 results for the final 18 regular-season events. The results, however, were not enough for Elliott, who was suspended from racing at World Wide Technology Raceway due to intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin during the previous event at Charlotte during the 18-race stretch, to garner enough points to make the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, which marked the first time the duo did not make the postseason bid for the title since being paired together. With five recorded top-10 results throughout the 10-race Playoff stretch, Gustafson and Elliott concluded the 2023 season in 17th place in the final standings.

Striving for redemption, Gustafson and Elliott commenced the 2024 campaign with three top-10 results and six top-15 results through eight scheduled events. Then at Texas in April, the duo snapped a one-year winless drought and returned to Victory Lane after Elliott survived two overtime shootouts to claim the victory under caution and guarantee himself and the No. 9 team a spot into the Playoffs. Since the Texas victory, the No. 9 team recorded eight top-10 results over a 14-race span and they currently sit in third place in this year’s regular-season standings while trailing the points lead by six points.

Through 699 previous Cup events, Gustafson has achieved one championship, 39 victories, 34 poles, 201 top-five results and 349 top-10 results while working with seven different competitors.

Alan Gustafson is scheduled to call his 700th Cup Series event as a crew chief this upcoming Sunday, August 18, at Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 13, 2024
Austin Dillon shakes up 2024 Cup Series Playoff field with controversial, final-lap victory at Richmond

The final result of the 2024 Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, August 11, will go down in the record books as Austin Dillon snapped a two-year winless drought and raced his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the race.

An in-depth analysis of Dillon’s victory, however, will paint a distinct perspective of how he achieved it as he ground axes with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both of whom were wrecked by Dillon on the final lap and final corner during an overtime attempt, that left both fuming and flabbergasted over Dillon’s path to victory.

With two laps remaining, Dillon, who had a strong run throughout the event and had overtaken Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps remaining, had a smooth path and a steady advantage to victory evaporate when a two-car incident involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece jumbled up the field for an overtime shootout.

Despite retaining the lead during the caution period’s pit sequence, Dillon lost the lead to Joey Logano at the start of the overtime shootout. Then on the final lap and approaching Turns 3 and 4 before the finish line, Dillon gassed his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry into the rear of Logano and sent the latter’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry spinning through the turns and towards the outside wall.

Dillon then steered dead left into the right rear of Denny Hamlin sending him hard against the frontstretch’s outside wall, as he zipped by both of them to claim the checkered flag in a dramatic finish for the ages.

Despite receiving harsh criticisms from his fellow competitors over the incident, the last-lap victory did not derail Austin Dillon’s relief as he leapfrogged his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs from outside the top-30 mark in the regular-season standings. It was his first win at Richmond and his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, August 10, Denny Hamlin notched his third Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 118.162 mph in 22.850 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Martin Truex Jr., who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 117.822 mph in 22.916 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Hamlin managed to muscle his No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Truex entering the frontstretch to lead the first lap. Hamlin retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Truex while rookie Josh Berry, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott trailed in the top five followed by the rest of the field, all of whom commenced the event on prime tires.

Through the first 10-scheduled laps and amid a series of early on-track battles, Hamlin was leading by half a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Bubba Wallace while Joey Logano, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher and William Byron were running in the top 10. Behind, Tyler Reddick was situated in 11th place ahead of Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain while Ty Gibbs, rookie Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Noah Gragson trailed in the top 20 ahead of rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones and Ryan Preece. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski was mired in 28th place behind Corey LaJoie and Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell was mired in 30th place and John Hunter Nemechek was in 32nd place behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ten laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while teammate Bell trailed in third place by two seconds. As Berry settled in fourth place, Logano cracked the top five ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Byron while Reddick, Blaney, Chastain, Ty Gibbs and Larson continued to trail in the top 15.

Another 15 laps later, Hamlin continued to lead ahead of teammates Bell and Truex, with the latter trailing by more than a second after the former overtook Truex for the spot through the backstretch. As Logano occupied fourth place, Wallace was up to fifth place after outlasting an earlier duel and on-track contact with Berry while Elliott, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Byron were running in the top 10. Reddick would then overtake Byron for 10th place a few laps later and Kyle Busch would be overtaken by Daniel Suarez for 18th place, which dropped Busch six places from his starting spot of 12th place, as Hamlin proceeded to stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell by Lap 40.

On Lap 45 and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Bell used the outside lane, starting in Turns 1 and 2, to muscle his No. 20 DeWalt Carpentry Solutions Toyota Camry XSE past Hamlin, where he cleared Hamlin by the frontstretch, as he assumed the lead for the first time. Soon after, teammate Truex joined the battle as he started to duel with Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Bell proceeded to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second by the Lap 50 mark.

Nearing the Lap 60 mark, Bell, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin and more than a second over teammate Truex while Logano and Wallace continued to trail in the top five, with Wallace trailing by more than four seconds. Behind, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Buescher followed suit from sixth to eighth, respectively, while Berry had dropped to ninth place ahead of Reddick, Byron, Blaney, Chastain, Larson, Suarez, Hocevar, Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Gilliland.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Bell captured his 10th Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in second and third, respectively, along with Logano and Wallace while Elliott, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Reddick and Berry were scored in the top 10. By then, 28 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap, including 28th-place Noah Gragson, while 29th-place Michael McDowell was awarded the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down. By then, however, top names including Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and newcomer Parker Retzlaff were pinned a lap down.

Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Bell pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Bell, who bumped and sent Erik Jones sideways as Jones was trying to enter his pit stall while Bell was exiting his, retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Hamlin and 19 while Logano, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Chastain, Reddick and Byron followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Wallace lost six spots as he exited pit road in 11th place while Ty Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell were the only two competitors to pit for option tires instead of prime tires.

The second stage period started on Lap 80 as teammates Bell and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Bell and Hamlin dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to duel for the following lap while Logano and Truex battled in close-quarters racing for third place. Despite Hamlin’s efforts to emerge ahead from the outside lane, Bell, who continued to run strong with slight damage to his front nose following his pit road contact with Erik Jones, fought back from the inside lane and refused to lift off the throttle as Truex and Logano continued to duel for third place in front of Austin Dillon and Elliott. Meanwhile, Suarez, racing on option tires, was up to eighth place after he restarted 16th as Hamlin just managed to clear Bell and have both lanes to his control with the lead by Lap 85.

Just past the Lap 90 mark, Suarez continued his fast march to the front as he overtook Bell for the runner-up spot on his option tires. He then started to close in on Hamlin for the lead before he used the outside lane to overtake Hamlin and move his No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead on Lap 93. Suarez would proceed to lead by more than two seconds over Hamlin at the Lap 100 mark while Bell, Logano, Truex, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Larson and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Reddick, McDowell, Wallace, Blaney and Byron. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in 16th place as he was ahead of Gibbs, Berry, Hocevar and Cindric on the track.

By Lap 115, Suarez, who started to reduce his fast race pace to preserve his option tires, retained the lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell while Hamlin, Logano and Truex trailed in the top five ahead of Elliott, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Chastain and Larson.

Five laps later, select names including Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Bell, Cindric, Daniel Hemric and rookie Zane Smith pitted under green before Suarez surrendered the lead to pit for prime tires by Lap 123. Truex and McDowell also pitted with Suarez as Hamlin cycled into the lead. Then as more names including Logano, Chastain, Wallace, Berry, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Buescher pitted under green during the proceeding laps, Buescher reversed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse back into his pit stall to have a left-front tire tightened as Elliott led by the Lap 125 mark.

Once Elliott pitted his No. 9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green by Lap 128, teammate Larson cycled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead as he was one of eight competitors who had not yet pitted under green while Bell, the first competitor who pitted, was in ninth place. More names including Byron, Kyle Busch and Blaney would pitted just past the Lap 130 mark while Larson continued to lead.

On Lap 144, Bell cycled into the lead as runner-up Larson, who has yet to pit, continued to run on the track ahead of Suarez and Reddick, the latter of whom has also yet to pit. Behind, Truex, Hamlin and Logano were running fifth to seventh, respectively, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had yet to pit, was in eighth place ahead of Chastain, McDowell, Wallace, Berry, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Elliott.

By Lap 149, Reddick pitted his No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE from the top three before Larson, who was aiming for a one-stop pit strategy for the second stage period and was coming off a Knoxville National victory, pitted a lap later. During the pit stops, where Nemechek and Stenhouse also pitted, Bell stretched his advantage to two seconds over Suarez while Truex, Hamlin and Logano were scored in the top five.

By Lap 160, Bell stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Suarez as they were followed by Truex, Hamlin and Logano while Chastain, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Wallace and Elliott were racing in the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Gilliland, Berry, Preece and Blaney. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in 23rd place, two spots behind Reddick, while Buescher was mired in 26th place ahead of Stenhouse and Keselowski. In addition, Kyle Busch was mired in 22nd place, Byron was in 16th place and Keselowski was scored a lap down in 28th place after he pitted for option tires.

A few laps later, select names including Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Cindric and Harrison Burton pitted under green before Berry, who was running in 13th place, pitted his No. 4 P&G Supports Our Military Ford Mustang Dark Horse by Lap 166. Zane Smith, Gilliland and Gragson pitted not long after as Bell retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second by Lap 170.

A lap after the Lap 170 mark, a series of front-runners, including Truex, Suarez, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Wallace, Buescher and Hocevar, pitted before Hamlin, Chastain, Logano, Blaney, Gibbs and the leader Bell pitted within the Lap 175 mark. Amid the pit stops, Truex, who pitted for prime tires, endured a slow pit service due to his pit crew having issues tightening the left-rear tire of Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE as the jack dropped.

Teammates Byron, Bowman and Elliott pit under green nearing the Lap 180 mark as Reddick cycled into the lead ahead of Larson, Suarez, Kyle Busch and Bell. With Kyle Busch pitting for option tires from the top five a few laps later, Reddick retained the lead by Lap 185 before he was overtaken by Suarez for the top spot.

At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Suarez was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell while Reddick, Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, McDowell and Wallace were racing in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Chastain, Hocevar, Keselowski, Berry, Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Ryan Preece, Gibbs and Kyle Busch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. With 21st-place Busch attempting to gain spots while on the option tires after he un-lapped himself and trying to rally from his slow pit stop earlier, notables, including Buescher, Alex Bowman and Cindric were scored a lap down.

Fifteen laps later, Suarez continued to lead by more than a second over Bell as Hamlin, Reddick and Logano followed suit in the top five. With Austin Dillon, McDowell, Wallace, Larson and Truex hovering in the top 10 on the track ahead of Hocevar, Chastain, Stenhouse, Byron and Elliott, Suarez retained the lead by a second on Lap 220.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 230, Suarez, coming off a one-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Bell settled in second ahead of Hamlin, Logano and Austin Dillon as McDowell, Reddick, Wallace, Hocevar and Elliott were scored in the top 10, with Elliott making contact with Truex to claim the final stage spot and point. By then, 16 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap while 16th-place Berry managed to fend off Kyle Busch to emerge as the first competitor who was scored a lap down and received the free pass.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Suarez returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and with a majority of the teams opting to pit for the option tires, Bell managed to edge Suarez off of pit road first while Hamlin, Logano, Austin Dillon, Reddick, McDowell, Wallace, Truex and Elliott followed suit in the top 10.

With 160 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Bell and Suarez occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Bell, who was racing on option tires, rocketed ahead with the lead from the inside lane while teammate Hamlin followed suit along with Logano, Reddick, Suarez and Dillon.

Suarez started to lose pace from the majority of the field with his standard tires, where he was placed in a tight four-wide action in the backstretch and dropped out of the top-10 category, Reddick and Dillon moved up into the top five ahead of Wallace, Chastain, Hocevar, McDowell and Truex as Bell retained the lead over teammate Hamlin with 155 laps remaining. Logano would then move his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the runner-up spot over Hamlin as Bell led with 150 laps remaining.

Then with 150 laps remaining, Truex’s strong event started to go south as he reported a loss of power to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE. He would then pit under green during the following lap and drop out of the lead lap category as his pit crew lifted the hood of the car and with smoke coming out. With Truex’s car then being pushed behind the wall a few laps later due to his engine issues, Bell continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second with 140 laps remaining.

As the event reached its final 125-lap mark, Bell stretched his advantage to a second over Logano as Hamlin, Reddick and Austin Dillon were scored in the top five. Behind, Wallace was in sixth place ahead of McDowell, Blaney, Chastain and Hocevar while Byron, Elliott, Berry, Stenhouse and Larson occupied the top 15 ahead of Suarez, Cindric, Buescher, Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman.

Three laps later, teammates Larson and Byron pitted under green before Hamlin pitted his No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE a few laps later. Logano would then pit along with Berry, Reddick, Wallace, McDowell, Dillon, Blaney, Chastain, Buescher and the leader Bell, all of whom opted to switch from option to primary tires. During the pit stops, Bell was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road along with Alex Bowman.

As Bell served his drive-through penalty with 115 laps remaining, Elliott, who had a brief advantage, pitted as Suarez cycled into the lead. Bell, who was pinned back in 15th place following his speeding penalty, would un-lap himself with 112 laps remaining as Suarez had a three-second advantage over Hamlin during the proceeding laps. Suarez would then pit from the lead under green with 107 laps remaining as Hamlin cycled into the lead. By then, Preece and Gibbs pitted their respective entries while Logano, Reddick, Austin Dillon and Wallace moved up into the top five.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by half a second over Logano followed by Austin Dillon, Reddick and Wallace while Chastain, Byron, McDowell, Larson and Berry were scored in the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Stenhouse, Bell, Blaney, Elliott and Kyle Busch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. Meanwhile, Suarez was the first competitor scored a lap down in 17th place following his green flag pit service.

Fifteen laps later, Hamlin slightly stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between Logano and Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot, with the former managing to retain the spot from the outside lane. Behind, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace trailed in the top five as Chastain, Byron, McDowell, Larson and Berry continued to run in the top 10. With Suarez back on the lead lap in 16th place, Busch was mired back in 26th place and off the lead lap category after pitting under green earlier.

Another 10 laps later, Hamlin’s lead extended to a second as Logano continued to fend off Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot. A few laps later, however, Dillon overtook Logano for the runner-up spot and he would proceed to shave off Hamlin’s advantage with a fast No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 70 laps remaining, where he trailed by two-tenths of a second and even got close to Hamlin’s rear bumper. By then, however, Logano pitted under green along with McDowell, Larson, Briscoe and Preece.

As Chastain and Byron pitted under green with 67 laps remaining, the leader Hamlin pitted along with Reddick, Wallace, Berry, Buescher, Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Elliott before Austin Dillon, who inherited a brief lead, pitted during the following lap. Amid the pit stops, Bell was leading with less than 60 laps remaining.

With 54 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Hamlin and Austin Dillon rocketed past Suarez, who has yet to pit, on the track, with Bell having pitted under green earlier. Dillon would proceed to keep Hamlin close within his sights as he trailed the lead by less than half a second with less than 50 laps remaining while Logano, Suarez, Reddick and Wallace followed suit in the top six. By then, 14 competitors were scored on the lead lap while Bell was mired a lap down in 15th place. Soon after, Blaney, who was running near the top five, pitted for option tires with 45 laps remaining while Suarez pitted five laps later.

Down to the final 35 laps of the event and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Hamlin maintained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Austin Dillon while Logano, Reddick and Wallace continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Chastain, Larson, McDowell, Berry and Byron were in the top 10 as Hocevar, Bell, Elliott and Stenhouse rounded out the 14-car field of those scored on the lead lap while Suarez and Blaney were the first two competitors pinned a lap down.

Over the next five laps, Austin Dillon pressured Hamlin for the lead through every corner, where he made contact with the latter for the top spot. Hamlin, however, managed to retain the top spot by a narrow margin with 30 laps remaining. Then a lap after Suarez zipped by Hamlin to un-lap himself on his tires, Dillon dueled with Hamlin for a full circuit with 29 laps remaining before he cleared Hamlin through the frontstretch and had control with the top spot during the following lap.

With 20 laps remaining, Austin Dillon extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Hamlin as Logano, Reddick and Wallace remained in the top five ahead of Chastain, Suarez, Larson, Hocevar and McDowell, with Suarez clocking in fast lap times on his option tires while the majority of the front-runners were running on primary tires. Suarez would navigate his way up to sixth place and trail the lead by 11 seconds while Dillon, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Hamlin with 15 laps remaining.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Austin Dillon continued to lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Hamlin as they were followed by Logano, Reddick and Wallace while sixth-place Suarez still trailed the lead by eight seconds.

Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime when Stenhouse and Preece made contact entering the first turn sending Preece spinning while Stenhouse hit the outside wall towards the first two turns. The incident, which occurred in front of Austin Dillon, erased Dillon’s steady advantage of three seconds over Hamlin.

During the caution period, the leaders led by Austin Dillon pitted for their final set of option tires. Following the pit stops, Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops pit crew executed a stellar pit service that allowed Dillon to exit pit road first as Logano, Hamlin, Reddick, Wallace, Suarez, Chastain, Blaney, Larson and Bell followed suit in the top 10.

The start of the first overtime attempt featured Logano gaining the advantage from the outside lane while Austin Dillon appeared to struggle to launch from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the first two turns, Logano managed to muscle ahead and clear Dillon to have both the lead and both lanes under his control through the backstretch

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader ahead of Austin Dillon as Hamlin, Reddick and Wallace followed suit. Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Dillon could not gain any ground on Logano. T

hen through Turns 3 and 4, Dillon stood on the gas and ran into the rear of Logano, which sent Logano spinning towards the outside wall as Dillon also went up the track. With Hamlin then trying to overtake both approaching the frontstretch, Dillon veered dead left into Hamlin’s right-rear corner and sent Hamlin hard against the outside wall, which left Hamlin with a crumbled right-rear tire as his wheel hub broke. This allowed Dillon to move back into the lead as he claimed the checkered flag with the victory just as the caution flew.

With the victory, Dillon, who recorded the 102nd career win for the number 3, tied Chris Buescher, Ward Burton, Dan Gurney, Alan Kulwicki, Tiny Lund, Dave Marcis, Jeremy Mayfield and Ralph Moody for 78th place on the all-time Cup Series wins list with five victories apiece. Dillon also snapped a 68-race winless drought that dates back to August 2022 at Daytona International Speedway as he also claimed his first short-track career victory and placed a Richard Childress Racing entry into Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series since teammate Kyle Busch made the last accomplishment at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023.

The Richmond victory made Dillon the 13th competitor overall to clinch a spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning throughout this year’s regular-season stretch as Dillon will make his sixth career appearance in NASCAR’s postseason battle for the championship.

“It’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had with a shot to win,” Dillon, who was emotional but defended his move, said on USA Network. “I felt like with two [laps] to go, we were the fastest car, obviously had to have a straightaway and Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.] wrecked [Preece]. I hate to do that [on Logano], but sometimes, you just got to [make it] happen. It’s been tough over the last two years, man. It means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it. [I was willing to do] Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. We just never give up. I can’t thank all the people that helped this team. You just got to get it done sometimes.”

While Dillon celebrated with his pit crew and family on the frontstretch, Logano, who ended up in 19th place in the final running order, was left fuming over Dillon’s move that resulted in both him and Denny Hamlin with wrecked race cars. Amid his frustration over NASCAR’s decision to not penalize Dillon while also not mincing his words during his post-race comments, he hinted a little clue of a potential payback in the coming weeks to Dillon as the 2024 Playoffs looms.

“It was chicken [expletive]. There’s no doubt about it,” Logano said. “[Dillon]’s four car lengths back. Not even close. Then he wrecks [Hamlin] and go along with it. Then, he’s gonna go up there and thank God and praise everything with his baby. It’s a bunch of BS. It’s not even freakin’ close. I get it, bump and run. I didn’t back up the corner at all. He came in there and drove through me. It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable. I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it, but from four car lengths back, he was never gonna make the corner and then, he wrecks the other car, [Hamlin] to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

Meanwhile, Hamlin, who was credited with the runner-up result at the moment of caution despite wrecking on the frontstretch, was left the most flabbergasted over the incident and even appeared to criticize NASCAR’s lack of action to penalize competitors for wrecking one another for victories while also both criticizing and recognizing the situation Dillon was in to make the move and get into the Playoffs from a driver’s perspective.

“It’s obviously foul, but it’s fair in NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “It’s just a different league where there is no penalties for rough driving or anything like that. It opens up the opportunity for Austin [Dillon] to be able to just do whatever he wants. The problem I had was that I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my own business and he turned left and hooked me in the right rear and blew my damn shoulder out. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened. He’s gonna be credited with the win, but obviously, he’s just not gonna go far. You got to pay your dues back on stuff like that, but it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate that I was part of it. It would’ve been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out on the last corner, but I understand it. Doesn’t mean I have to agree about it and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

Following the event, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, noted that the sanctioning body would review the final lap incident along with every audio and resource that played key roles in the incident, with any potential penalties to be announced this upcoming Tuesday.

Hamlin’s 23XI Racing competitors, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, came home in third and fourth while Ross Chastain navigated his way through to fifth place.

Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, rookie Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were 26 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 23 laps. In addition, 19 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 23rd event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by five points over Tyler Reddick, six over teammate Chase Elliott and 21 over Denny Hamlin.

Results.

1. Austin Dillon, 35 laps led

2. Denny Hamlin, 124 laps led

3. Tyler Reddick, eight laps led

4. Bubba Wallace

5. Ross Chastain

6. Christopher Bell, 122 laps led, Stage 1 winner

7. Kyle Larson, 17 laps led

8. Carson Hocevar, two laps led

9. Chase Elliott, five laps led

10. Daniel Suarez, 93 laps led, Stage 2 winner

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Kyle Busch

13. William Byron

14. Josh Berry

15. Michael McDowell

16. Brad Keselowski

17. Todd Gilliland

18. Chris Buescher

19. Joey Logano, two laps led

20. Noah Gragson, one lap down

21. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

22. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

23. Zane Smith, one lap down

24. Austin Cindric, one lap down

25. Ryan Preece, one lap down

26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

27. Justin Haley, two laps down

28. Alex Bowman, two laps down

29. Erik Jones, two laps down

30. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

31. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

32. Harrison Burton, three laps down

33. Riley Herbst, three laps down

34. Corey LaJoie, four laps down

35. Parker Retzlaff, six laps down

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

37. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Engine

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, August 18, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 12, 2024
Larson withstands two overtime attempts amid fuel-mileage battle for first Brickyard 400 victory

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

1. Kyle Larson, eight laps led

2. Tyler Reddick, 40 laps led

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Christopher Bell, two laps led

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

6. Todd Gilliland, one lap led

7. Austin Cindric

8. Daniel Suarez

9. Noah Gragson, three laps led

10. Chase Elliott, one lap led

11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

12. Carson Hocevar

13. Austin Dillon

14. Corey LaJoie

15. Ross Chastain, eight laps led

16. Michael McDowell, one lap led

17. Zane Smith

18. Cody Ware

19. Ty Dillon

20. Justin Haley

21. Brad Keselowski, 35 laps led

22. Chris Buescher

23. Ty Gibbs

24. Chase Briscoe

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

26. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

27. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down

28. Erik Jones, two laps down

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

30. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

31. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

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

33. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident

34. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

35. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

36. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

37. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

38. William Byron – OUT, Accident

39. BJ McLeod – OUT, Engine

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

July 21, 2024
Kyle Busch to make 700th Cup career start at Indianapolis

As the NASCAR Cup Series makes a historic return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s oval-shaped circuit for the Brickyard 400 after three years of competing on the circuit’s road-course layout, Kyle Busch is set to achieve a milestone start of his own. By competing in this weekend’s Brickyard 400, the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 will reach 700 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Busch made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at his home track, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, in March 2004. By then, he had made seven career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series and 10 in the Xfinity Series as he was also contending in the latter series for Hendrick Motorsports. Driving the No. 84 Chevrolet for HMS, Busch started 18th and finished 41st in his Cup debut after retiring early following an early incident. He made five additional Cup starts throughout the 2004 season and achieved a season-best 24th-place run at Auto Club Speedway in September.

The following season, Busch graduated to a full-time Cup role in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, where he replaced two-time series champion Terry Labonte as Labonte retired from full-time competition. After finishing 38th in his first Daytona 500 career start at Daytona International Speedway, Busch notched his first Cup career pole position at Auto Club in February, where he ended up in 23rd place, before he recorded a runner-up finish behind teammate Jimmie Johnson and in front of older brother, Kurt Busch, at Las Vegas in March. Throughout his next 21 starts, Kyle Busch recorded a total of seven top-10 results, including another runner-up result at Dover Motor Speedway in June. Then at Auto Club in September, he capitalized on a two-lap shootout to score his first Cup career win in his 31st series start and become the youngest winner in series’ history at age 20 years, four months and two days. Despite missing the 2005 Cup Playoffs, Busch would notch another runner-up result at Dover in September before capturing his second Cup career victory at Phoenix Raceway in November following a late duel against Greg Biffle. With a 20th-place finish in the final standings to coincide with nine top-five results, 13 top-10 results 362 laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.0, Busch captured the 2005 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title.

Busch would remain as the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for the following two Cup seasons. During the two-year span, he claimed one victory per season and made the Playoffs during both seasons. In 2006, he won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July amid a two-lap shootout and recorded one pole, 10 top-five results, 18 top-10 results, 571 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5 before settling in 10th place in the final standings. The following season, he fended off a hard-charging Jeff Burton to win at Bristol Motor Speedway in March and record the first victory for the Car of Tomorrow stock car as he also recorded the 200th NASCAR national touring series victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the 600th in the Cup circuit for Chevrolet. Busch would proceed to record 11 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 637 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.1 throughout the 2007 campaign before boosting to fifth place in the final standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

In June 2007, Busch was announced of his departure from Hendrick Motorsports at season’s conclusion, where he would be replaced by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Two months later, he announced his move to Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 18 Toyota Camry for the 2008 Cup season. Throughout the 26 regular-season stretch, Busch’s move to JGR made both the driver and team a lethal combination for the competition that commenced with top-four finishes through the first three-scheduled events. Then at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, the Las Vegas native led a race-high 173 laps en route to his first Cup victory of the season and first driving for JGR as he also recorded the first Cup Series win for the Toyota nameplate. Five races later, Busch rallied from losing a lap and nearly getting collected in an incident with Jamie McMurray to assume the lead with five laps remaining and retain the top spot prior to a multi-car wreck on the final lap to claim his second victory of the season at Talladega Superspeedway in May. Busch’s early hot streak extended throughout the regular-season stretch as he claimed victories at Darlington Raceway in May Dover Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway in June, Daytona, Chicagoland Speedway in July and at Watkins Glen International in August. To go along with a total of 17 top-10 results, Busch secured his spot into the 2008 Cup Playoffs as he also earned the top seed in his bid to win his first title. Throughout the Playoffs, however, Busch’s title hopes evaporated as he commenced the Playoffs with a 34th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September after plummeting from first place and being involved an early multi-car wreck followed by a last-place finish during the following event at Dover after his engine expired. Despite recording four top-10 results during the final eight events on the schedule, he could only climb his way up to 10th place in the final standings. Amid his early exit in the championship bid, Busch achieved a career-high eight victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 1,673 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.5 in his first season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Poised for another title bid in 2009, Busch commenced the season by finishing in 41st place in the 51st running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car wreck despite leading a race-high 88 laps. He would rally by finishing third at Auto Club before notching his first victory of the season at Las Vegas in an event where he rallied from starting at the rear of the field. Two races later, he won at Bristol for the second time in his career after leading a race-high 378 laps before collecting his third victory of the season at Richmond Raceway five races later in May, the latter victory making Busch the second competitor to win on a birthday date.

Busch would then endure a difficult summer stretch as he would only record three top-10 finishes in 13 events, results that eventually dropped him below the top-12 cutline to make the 2009 Playoffs. Despite claiming his fourth victory of the season at Bristol in August following a late battle with Mark Martin, Busch would end up 13th and fifth, respectively, during the final two regular-season events of the season, which resulted in him missing the Playoffs by eight points.

He would proceed to finish in the top 10 four times during the final 10 events on the schedule before settling in 13th place in the final standings. By then, Busch only earned half the total victories accumulated from the previous season (four) along with eight less top-five (nine) and top-10 (13) results as he capped off the season with an average-finishing result of 15.3 and 1,157 total laps led.

Busch would return to the Playoffs in 2010 as he claimed three victories throughout the regular-season stretch, starting at Richmond in May followed by Dover two races later and then at Bristol in August as part of his historic NASCAR top three national touring series sweep. Amid the three races where he was victorious, he racked up a total of 13 top-10 results. With four top-10 results recorded throughout the 2010 Cup Playoffs, Busch ended up in eighth place in the final standings as he also surpassed 200 Cup career starts. The following season, he would rack up four victories throughout the regular-season stretch (Bristol in March, Richmond in May, Kentucky Speedway in July and at Michigan International Speedway in August) along with 16 top-10 results. Then after recording only two top-10 results throughout the first seven Playoff events, including a strong runner-up result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October, Busch was suspended from competing in the Cup Playoff event at Texas Motor Speedway in November following his actions during the Truck Series event at Texas two days earlier, where he intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution at full speed. Returning for the final two events on the schedule, where he finished 36th and 23rd, respectively, Busch ended up in 12th place in the final standings. With seven victories recorded throughout the two-year span, which accumulated his wins total to 23, he also achieved three poles, 24 top-five results, 36 top-10 results, 2,726 laps led and average-finishing results within the top 15.

The 2012 Cup Series season initially commenced with a hot start for Busch as he rallied from two near spins to edge reigning three-time champion Tony Stewart by 0.013 seconds to win the non-points Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in February. After recording three top-10 results during the first eight events on the schedule, Busch claimed his first points victory of the season at Richmond after muscling away from the field during a nine-lap shootout. Despite finishing in the top four during his next three starts, he would then finish in the top 10 only three additional times during the following 13 events as he was left battling within the cutline to make the Playoffs. Despite notching back-to-back sixth-place finishes at Bristol and Atlanta between August and September that kept him within the cutline, Busch ended up in 16th place during the regular-season finale at Richmond, which left him three points below the cutline and out of the Playoffs for the first time since 2009. With his championship hopes of the season evaporated, Busch concluded the 2012 campaign on a strong note by finishing in the top seven in eight of the remaining 10 events before settling in 13th place in the final standings.

In the early stages of the 2013 Cup Series season, Busch finished in the top five twice during the first four-scheduled events before capitalizing on a last-lap skirmish involving teammate Denny Hamlin and ex-teammate Joey Logano to claim his first victory at Auto Club in March and deliver the first Auto Club Speedway win for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. Two races later, Busch achieved his second victory of the season at Texas in April, which marked his 300th Cup career start as he joined Ned Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Kasey Kahne as competitors to win on the milestone start. Despite recording eight top-10 results during his next 14 starts, Busch would record his third victory of the season at Watkins Glen in August following a late duel against Brad Keselowski before winning for the fourth time of the year at Atlanta in September, victories that enabled him to clinch his spot into the Playoffs. With a total of five top-five results and seven top-10 results recorded throughout the Playoffs, Busch settled in fourth place in the final standings. By then, he recorded three additional top fives (16) and two additional top 10s (22) compared to his previous season. Despite leading 209 less laps (1,227) compared to the previous season, Busch boosted his final average-finishing result from 13.3 to 12.7.

Like the 2013 season, Busch emerged victorious for the first time in 2014 at Auto Club, the fifth event on the schedule, amid a two-lap shootout that resulted with the driver of the No. 18 JGR Toyota navigating his way from fifth to first, which kept his winning streak in the Cup Series alive to 10 consecutive years. To go along with a total of nine top-10 results, including three runner-up results, throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he made the Playoffs for a seventh time. Despite transferring from the Playoff’s Round of 16 to 12 amid three consecutive top-10 results followed by two top-five runs during the first two Round of 12 events, Busch’s title hopes came to a crashing end during the Round of 8 finale at Talladega in October after he was involved in a late multi-car wreck and could only salvage his way up to 40th place in the final running order, which prevented him from advancing past the Round of 12. Managing only a single top-five finish during the final four-scheduled events, Busch ended up in 10th place in the final standings for the fourth time of his career and with an average-finishing result of 17.6 amid a total of 15 top-10 results.

The 2015 season was a breakthrough year for Busch that commenced with the driver potentially having his racing career ending following a harrowing accident during the Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona in February that resulted with the driver hitting head-on into a concrete wall and suffering both a massive compound fracture in his right leg and a minor fracture to his left foot. With the injuries causing Busch to miss the first 11 events on the schedule, he made his return at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race in May, where he ended up sixth. Needing at least one victory and enough garnered points to remain above the top-30 cutline in the standings that would guarantee him in Playoff contention as part of his medical waiver by NASCAR, Busch finished no higher than ninth in his first four races back in contention before accomplishing his first feat: a victory that occurred at Sonoma in June, which marked his 30th victory in the Cup Series and extended his winning streak to 11 seasons.

Despite finishing 17th during the next event at Daytona, Busch notched three consecutive victories at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. Managing four top-10 results, including two runner-up results, throughout the final six regular-season events in 2015, Busch was able to climb his way inside the top-30 cutline and make the Playoffs. Utilizing consistency throughout the Playoffs in the form of five top-five results and six top-10 results, he proceeded to transfer from the Round of 16 into the Championship 4 round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Then during the finale, Busch capitalized on a seven-lap restart to overtake Keselowski and fend off title rival Kevin Harvick to win both the finale and his first Cup Series championship. With the title occurring in his 11th season in competition, Busch became the 31st different competitor to win a championship in NASCAR’s premier series as he also delivered the first Cup title for Toyota and the fourth for Joe Gibbs Racing. In total, he accumulated five victories, one pole, 12 top-five results, 16 top-10 results, 736 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.8 in 25 starts, which made him the first competitor to win a championship despite not competing in every scheduled event since Richard Petty made the last accomplishment in 1971.

Commencing the 2016 Cup season as the reigning champion, Busch recorded four top-five finishes during the first five-scheduled events before notching back-to-back victories at Martinsville Speedway and at Texas in April. Four races later, he notched his third Cup victory of the season at Kansas Speedway in May before winning at Indianapolis for a second consecutive season nine races later. To coincide with 16 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Busch made the Playoffs for a ninth time. Implementing consistency throughout the Playoffs, he finished in the top eight in eight of the first nine Playoff events, which enabled him to transfer from the Round of 16 and back into the Championship 4 round for a second consecutive season. During the finale, however, Busch, who made a late pit stop, could only climb his way up to sixth place on the track, which resulted in him settling in third place in the final standings. Despite falling two spots short of defending his title, Busch concluded the 2016 campaign on a strong note with four victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 25 top-10 results, 1,379 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.5. By then, he also surpassed 400 Cup career starts.

The following two Cup seasons would feature Busch making competitive championship runs as he notched multiple victories and transferred all the way to the Championship 4 round. In 2017, Busch endured the first 20-scheduled events winless before notching his first victory at Pocono Raceway in July. In the midst of the winless streak, he achieved his first All-Star Race win at Charlotte in May, which marked his 12th attempt of winning the event’s million dollar prize. Busch would proceed to win at Bristol in August as part of his second triple series weekend sweep before winning the following Playoff events at New Hampshire, Dover and Martinsville. During the finale, however, Busch ended up in the runner-up spot both on the track and in the final standings to Martin Truex Jr. In 2018, Busch achieved a career-high eight victories, which marked his second time achieving the feat since 2008. His victories included winning three consecutive races at Texas, Bristol and Richmond in April before emerging triumphant for the first time at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600 in May. He would then bump and overtake Kyle Larson amid a last-lap skirmish to win at Chicagoland in early July before muscling away from teammate Daniel Suarez during a two-lap shootout to win at Pocono in late July.

Once the Playoffs commenced, Busch, who claimed the 2018 Cup Series regular-season title, would win at Richmond during the Round of 16 and at Phoenix during the Round of 8 finale in November, to which by then, he had made the Championship 4 round for a fourth consecutive season. Ultimately, he would end up in fourth place both during the finale at Homestead and in the final points standings in 2018. During the two-year span, Busch notched 13 victories, bringing his wins total to 51. He also recorded a total of 36 top-five results, 50 top-10 results, 12 poles, with 20,285 laps led and average-finishing results within the top 11, with the 2018 season generating career-high stats in top fives (22), top 10s (28) and average-finishing result (8.3) while the 2017 season generated the most poles (eight) and laps led (2,023) in a season.

For the 2019 season, which marked his 12th season driving for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Cup Series, Busch commenced the season by finishing in the runner-up spot during the 61st running of the Daytona 500 before finishing sixth at Atlanta, which marked his 500th Cup career start. Two races later, he secured his first victory of the season at Phoenix in March and backed it up with a dominant win at Auto Club, where he achieved his 200th NASCAR national touring series victory. As Busch proceeded to win at Bristol in April before winning at Pocono in June, he would accumulate a total of 21 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch before qualifying for his 12th appearance in the Playoffs and winning his second consecutive regular-season title. Then after finishing in the top 10 five times throughout the Playoffs that enabled him to transfer from the Round of 16 into the Championship 4 for a fifth consecutive time, Busch led a race-high 120 laps en route to his second Cup Series championship during the finale at Homestead.

With his accomplishment, Busch became the 16th different competitor to achieve multiple Cup Series titles as he also delivered the fifth championship to Joe Gibbs Racing and the third for Toyota. Overall, Busch capped off his second championship season with five victories, one pole, 17 top-five results, 27 top-10 results, 1,582 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.9.

Compared to the 2019 season, the 2020 Cup Series season generated a difficult season for Busch both during the regular-season stretch and throughout the Playoffs that prevented him from contending for his third series title. Despite recording 11 top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch that enabled him to make the 2020 Cup Playoffs, Busch finished no lower than sixth throughout the Round of 16 before transferring into the Round of 12. Then amid respective finishes of sixth, 27th and 30th throughout the Round of 12, he was eliminated from title contention. Busch quickly rallied during the second Round of 8 event by notching his first elusive Cup victory of the season at Texas in October following a late battle against Martin Truex Jr. and having enough fuel to snatch the victory, which extended his winning streak to 16 consecutive seasons. Managing respective finishes of ninth and 11th during the final two events on the schedule, Busch settled in eighth place in the final standings.

In 2021, Busch notched two victories that occurred during the regular-season stretch: the first at Kansas in May as he won on his birthday for a second time and the second at Pocono in July after overtaking teammate Denny Hamlin prior to the final lap while running on fumes with a low gas tank. Amid the victories, he also won the non-points Busch Clash at Daytona in February following a last-lap skirmish involving the reigning champion Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney. The pair of victories along with 16 top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch allowed Busch to make the Playoffs for a 14th season, which he would record five top-10 runs throughout the Playoffs and transferred past the Rounds of 16 and 12 before coming up three points short of transferring into the Championship 4 round, which resulted with the two-time champion settling in ninth place in the final points standings. By then, Busch had recorded a total of 14 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 334 laps led, an average-finishing result of 12.8 and surpassed 600 Cup career starts.

For the 2022 season, Busch’s lone victory of the season occurred during the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, where he capitalized on a final lap incident involving Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe to beat Reddick by 0.330 seconds. The victory not only marked Busch’s 60th in NASCAR’s premier series, but it also marked his 18th consecutive season of winning at least one event in a Cup season, a record feat that was also made by Richard Petty. Despite recording a total of 13 top-10 results, including his Bristol Dirt victory, throughout the regular-season stretch that enabled him to make the Playoffs, Busch was eliminated from title contention following respective finishes of 30th, 26th and 34th throughout the Round of 16. Managing four top-10 results throughout the final seven events on the schedule, Busch ended up in 13th place in the final standings in a season where he accumulated a total of 17 top-10 results, 627 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.7.

In September 2022, Busch announced his move to Richard Childress Racing to pilot the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the 2023 Cup season, where he replaced the departing Tyler Reddick. The move came amid a termination to Busch’s 15-year partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing due to longtime sponsor Mars, Incorporated departing NASCAR following the 2022 season and JGR unable to secure a primary sponsorship for Busch prior to the 2023 season. After ending up in 19th place during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 while being collected in a final lap, multi-car wreck, Busch achieved his first victory of the season and his first driving for RCR at Auto Club in February, which made him the new holder of the longest winning streak in Cup Series history at 19 consecutive seasons. Eight races later, he dodged a final lap, multi-car wreck to notch his second victory of the season at Talladega in April before grabbing his third Cup win at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, where he led a race-high 121 laps. The three regular-season victories along with a total of 14 top-10 results enabled Busch to make his 16th entrance into the Playoffs. Despite transferring into the Round of 12 amid no finishes lower than 20th throughout the Round of 16, Busch was unable to transfer into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of 34th, 25th and third throughout the Round of 12. Finishing as high as third for the final four events on the schedule, he concluded his first campaign with RCR in 14th place in the final standings. By then, he had also accumulated a total of 17 top-10 results, 241 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.0.

This season, Busch has started on pole position once, which occurred at Dover in late April and has finished in the top 10 six times through 21-scheduled events, with his best result being a third-place run at Atlanta in February. With his current average-finishing result being a 19.4, Busch is currently ranked in 18th place in the 2024 regular-season standings and trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Playoffs by 102 points as he also strives to collect his first victory of the 2024 season that would extend his record-setting wins of consecutive seasons to 20.

Through 699 previous Cup starts, Busch has achieved two championships, 63 victories, 34 poles, 248 top-five results, 378 top-10 results, 19,280 laps led and an average finishing result of 14.0. He is set to become the 20th competitor overall to reach 700 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. Should he win this weekend’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis, Busch would become the first competitor to win in a 700th Cup start.

Kyle Busch is scheduled to make his 700th Cup Series career start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 21. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 17, 2024
Chastain and Kyle Busch Playoff hopes jeopardized amid on-track incidents at Pocono

Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch both had a day to forget following separate on-track incidents of their own during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14, leaving their hopes of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs in jeopardy.

Chastain, who started in 19th place but was mired in 31st place after the first stage period on Lap 30 saw his race go south on Lap 53 when he slid sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3 while running in 21st place. Then while trying to nurse his car through the frontstretch, Chastain locked up his front tires and ended up going straight into the outside wall in Turn 1, which resulted in his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry sustaining more right-side damage. Despite driving back to pit road, the damage would be enough to conclude Chastain’s event in his pit stall and in 36th place, the next-to-last spot and strapped with his third DNF of the 2024 season.

With the result, Chastain, who came into Pocono 53 points above the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, is only 27 points above the cutline as he holds the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs ahead of Bubba Wallace with five regular-season events remaining on this year’s calendar. Chastain, the 2022 championship runner-up, is currently one of four competitors currently scored inside the cutline despite being winless through 21 scheduled events in 2024, including Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher. His last series victory occurred during the 2023 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway this past November. Currently, Chastain’s best result in 2024 is a fourth-place run generated at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March as he attempts to make his third consecutive appearance as a Playoff competitor.

“I just spun out,” Chastain said while describing the incident after being released from the infield care center. “I just flat spun out. We were all sliding around, but I just spun out. It felt like it happened in slow motion. Yeah, obviously frustrated with myself, but can’t take it back now.”

Compared to Chastain who remains above the cutline and in the position of making the Playoffs based on points, Kyle Busch’s 2024 Playoff hopes sit solely on winning one of the remaining five regular-season events as he trails the cutline by triple digits with few races and little time to gain the lost points week by week.

Busch’s long afternoon at Pocono occurred before the event’s start as his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team had to address an oil leak discovered on Busch’s Camaro ZL1 entry. Despite making the repairs in the garage stall before the car was pushed to pit lane for the starting grid, Busch, who qualified in 24th place, dropped to the rear of the field due to the unapproved adjustment.

Once he took the green flag, Busch managed to methodically carve his way to 20th place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 30. Lining up in 14th place for the start of the second stage period on Lap 35, Busch, who along with teammate Austin Dillon spent extra time on pit road to have the brakes serviced during a caution period that started on Lap 52, would fall back and be mired within the top 30 despite remaining on the lead lap when the stage concluded on Lap 95.

Being mired in the mid-pack region when the final stage commenced with 60 laps remaining, Busch, who would line up in 16th place during another restart period with 40 laps remaining, was then trying to block Corey LaJoie through the frontstretch as a pyramid of competitors racing him were fanning out to multiple lanes. With both Busch and LaJoie making contact during the process, LaJoie would then veer right, clip and send Busch for a spin towards the bottom of the track entering Turn 1. Busch’s car then came spinning back across the track, where he would tag Ryan Preece into Harrison Burton and collide sideways into Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which crumbled the right side of Busch’s No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. Despite trying to nurse his damaged car back to pit road, Busch then parked his car below the apron, removed the steering wheel and lowered his window net as he climbed out uninjured and had his car towed back to the garage.

The accident not only left Busch strapped with his fifth DNF of the 2024 season, but it also left the two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, with his 10th result outside the top 20 through 21-scheduled starts and his sixth over the previous eight races. In addition, Busch, who remains winless this season and came into Pocono trailing the top-16 cutline by 98 points, now trails the cutline by 102 points with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule. Busch’s last Cup victory occurred at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023 as he attempts to extend his current-record streak of winning at least one race a season to 20 consecutive years. Busch is also attempting to make his 17th career appearance in the Playoffs, with his last Playoff absence occurring in 2012.

Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

After being released from the infield care center, Busch minced his words and offered very little detail on his perspective over the incident with LaJoie, who finished 19th.

“I just want to give thanks to all of our partners, everybody at RCR, ECR, zone, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Lucas Oil, Chevrolet.. everybody that supports us. We’re having the opportunity to go out there and have some fun; try to continue to work on our program and build everything up. It’s just unfortunate circumstances. Thank you to Rowdy Nation, all the fans and everybody for their continued support. We’ll go back to work and get ready for Indianapolis.”

With Pocono Raceway in the rearview mirror, both Chastain and Busch shift their attention to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 and to regain the lost ground spilled from the Tricky Triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Busch enters the upcoming Brickyard 400 as a former winner of the event, with the Las Vegas native achieving back-to-back Brickyard 400 victories in 2015 and 2016. Since then, he has finished no higher than sixth over his last seven trips to Indianapolis as he attempts to become the fourth competitor to achieve at least three Brickyard 400 victories. Meanwhile, Chastain has yet to win at Indianapolis as he is scheduled to make his seventh start at the iconic venue this season. His current best result at Indy is 17th place, which occurred twice between 2020 and 2023. He nearly won at the Indianapolis road course venue in 2022 but used the off-track access road to move atop the leaderboard, where he would settle in second place behind Tyler Reddick before he was assessed a 30-second time penalty, which dropped him to 27th place in the final running order.

The bid to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for both Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch continues with the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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