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  • Harrison Burton shakes up 2024 Cup Playoffs with first career victory at Daytona; delivers 100th win for Wood Brothers Racing

    Harrison Burton shakes up 2024 Cup Playoffs with first career victory at Daytona; delivers 100th win for Wood Brothers Racing

    After enduring a series of trials and challenges while struggling to be competitive in 97 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series level, Harrison Burton responded back in an emphatic style by scoring his first career victory and delivering a landmark win for Wood Brothers Racing amid an overtime shootout in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 24.

    The 23-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, led only the final lap of 164 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in 20th place and maneuvered his way through both stage periods and a series of late-race carnages that included pole winner Michael McDowell getting airborne on one late incident before rookie Josh Berry rolled over during the following incident.

    Then while restarting alongside Kyle Busch on the front row at the start of an overtime shootout, Burton, who lost ground to Busch at the start of the final lap, received a huge draft from Parker Retzlaff to overtake Busch through the backstretch. With the lead in his grasp for two final turns, Burton then pulled two blocks on Busch entering the frontstretch’s tri-oval. He had enough steam underneath the hood of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to steer to his first elusive Cup Series victory that enabled him to automatically race his way into the 2024 Playoffs and deliver the milestone 100th win for the Wood Brothers.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, August 23, Michael McDowell notched his fourth Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season after posting a fast pole-winning lap at 183.165 mph in 49.136 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Todd Gilliland, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 182.801 mph in 49.234 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland dueled for the lead in front of the field that was stacked amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the majority of the field continued to run in a pack of two, McDowell led the first lap by a hair from the inside lane over Gilliland as he had Joey Logano drafting him while Gilliland had drafting help from Ryan Preece.

    During the next four laps, the field slowly began to fan out to three stacked lanes as McDowell, who continued to run in the inside lane, retained the lead throughout the four-lap stretch over teammate Gilliland, Logano and Preece. By then, a third drafting lane towards the outside wall led by Austin Cindric started to charge towards the front as Cindric had Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon drafting him.

    This caused McDowell to go on defense as he tried to block and retain the lead through three lanes, but Logano capitalized on McDowell’s move to the outside lane, starting on the backstretch, to lead the sixth lap mark. Rookie Josh Berry then went three wide on both Logano and McDowell through the frontstretch to challenge for the lead from the inside lane, which caused Logano to lose ground and get shuffled out of the top five as Berry and McDowell dueled for the lead on the seventh lap.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the entire 40-car field separated by less than three seconds amid three stacked lanes within the draft, Keselowski scored the lead ahead of Logano, McDowell, Berry and Gilliland while Cindric, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez were running in the top 10. With a series of on-track shuffling towards the front ensuing over the next five laps, Logano carved his way back to the front as he was pursued by McDowell, Keselowski, Berry, Gilliland, Byron, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Buescher and Kyle Larson by Lap 15.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Gilliland was drafted into the lead by teammate McDowell from the outside lane as Keselowski, Logano and Berry were scored in the top five ahead of Cindric, Blaney, Byron, Austin Dillon and Larson. Behind, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain followed suit in the top 15 while Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones were mixed in the top 20 ahead of Chase Elliott, Daniel Hemric, Martin Truex Jr., BJ McLeod, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Cody Ware and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen and John Hunter Nemechek trailing in the top 35.

    Five laps later, the top 39 of 40 starters were separated by four seconds while the top 25 were separated by less than a second, all of whom were racing amid three tight lanes within the draft, as Gilliland continued to lead ahead of teammate McDowell, Keselowski, Cindric and Berry.

    Just past the Lap 30 mark, Logano carved his way back to the lead as he was followed by teammate Blaney, Larson and Kyle Busch while Keselowski kept pursuit from the outside lane. Logano and Keselowski would proceed to duel for the lead for the following two laps as the front-runners began to fan out and draft aggressively in their march to the front.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 35, Berry, who received a strong push from Buescher towards the outside lane amid three stacked lanes, starting from the backstretch, fended off Logano and Buescher at the start/finish line to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Logano and Buescher followed suit in second and third, respectively, while Cindric, Blaney, Gilliland, Keselowski, McDowell, Byron and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 39 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap while the event had featured 13 lead changes and six different competitors leading at least one lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Berry pitted for a first round of pit service, Other drivers led by Corey LaJoie and including BJ McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., rookie Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Preece, Daniel Hemric, Shane van Gisbergen, rookie Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remained on the track.

    Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of Buescher, Cindric, Berry, Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Keselowski, Gilliland and McDowell. During the pit stops, Daniel Suarez had fire blazing out of his No. 99 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he left his pit stall, which he then cycled for a full lap before he returned to his pit stall while still blazing in flames and escaped the cockpit uninjured. The cause of the fire was spilled fuel that was run over by Hamlin as the spark then carried forth into Suarez’s entry.

    During the caution laps, a multitude of names that included Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Chase Briscoe, Cody Ware, Austin Hill, Noah Gragson, LaJoie, Austin Dillon, van Gisbergen, McLeod, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, Stenhouse, Truex and Hocevar pitted to top off with fuel as they were shuffled to the rear of the field.

    The second stage period started on Lap 41 as Logano and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Logano received a draft from teammate Cindric and Berry from the outside lane to emerge ahead of Buescher, who continued to run on the inside lane and lead the following lap as he had Ross Chastain drafting him.

    With the field quickly fanning out to three packed lanes over the next four laps, Bubba Wallace, who did not record stage points during the first stage’s conclusion, maneuvered his way to the front as he challenged Buescher, Logano, Cindric and Keselowski for the lead as Chastain, Berry and Larson followed suit within the top eight.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps and a series of on-track shuffling ensuing at the front, Chase Briscoe, who carved his way to the front a few laps earlier, was leading by a hair over Wallace as Hemric, Logano, Buescher, Austin Hill, Keselowski, Cindric, Berry and LaJoie were mired in the top 10 ahead of Chastain, Gilliland, Larson, Gragson, McDowell, Burton, Preece, Kyle Busch, Blaney and Haley. Meanwhile, Elliott, Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin and Byron were mired in the top 25 as the top 38 competitors were separated by a second amid three packed lanes.

    Five laps later, Wallace, who reassumed the lead three laps earlier, retained the lead ahead of Buescher while Keselowski and Logano dueled for third place in front of the stacked field. Wallace proceeded to transition from the outside to the inside lane as he fended off Buescher and Logano for the top spot while LaJoie was trying to formulate a run from a third drafting lane toward the outside lane. Amid a series of on-track shuffling over the next four laps, Wallace retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors opting to run towards the outside lane and behind Wallace

    Then on Lap 59, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in the backstretch when Gragson, who was trying to carve his way towards the top-10 mark, was aggressively pushed into Chastain and Haley by LaJoie, where a stack-up caused LaJoie to get Gragson turned sideways and clip both Nemechek and Chastain as Truex, Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Hill, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Byron, Elliott, Larson, Hemric, Preece, Blaney, Austin Dillon and Reddick all wrecked. The multi-car wreck took a hit on Chastain’s hopes of remaining in Playoff contention as he lost one lap in the process of having his car still in contention to race while top names including Preece, Hamlin, Gragson and Elliott retired from further competition.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Wallace pitted, primarily for fuel, while a select few led by Hocevar remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Wallace, Berry, Cindric, Gilliland, McDowell, Burton and Blaney. Hocevar would then pit after leading a lap under caution while Reddick, Hill and Erik Jones remained on the track in the top three spots. The latter three would then pit shortly after, which enabled Buescher to cycle back into the lead.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 66 featured teammates Buescher and Keselowski dueling for the lead against one another before Buescher muscled ahead with strong drafting help from Logano on the outside lane through the first two turns. With Buescher and Logano drafting their way to first and second on the track, Keselowski followed suit along with Wallace, Cindric and Burton while Berry was trying to mount a charge from the inside lane as he had drafting help from Gilliland. By Lap 68, however, the majority of the field migrated to a long single-file line towards the outside lane as Buescher led the way ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Wallace and Cindric.

    Just past the Lap 70 mark, Buescher continued to lead ahead of a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane as he was pursued by Logano, Keselowski, Wallace, Cindric, Burton, Kyle Busch, van Gisbergen, Haley and Gilliland. Behind, McDowell, Blaney, McLeod, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Nemechek, Hill, Zane Smith and Berry occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Austin Dillon, Byron, Briscoe, Larson and Cody Ware. By Lap 73, however, the field quickly fanned out to two drafted lanes as Wallace received a draft from Kyle Busch while transitioning to the inside lane to reassume the lead. The field then fanned out to three lanes on Lap 75 as Logano overtook Gilliland to aggressively move into the lead as teammate Cindric, Haley, Blaney and Reddick quickly made their way to the front as Buescher, Wallace and Kyle Busch were getting shuffled out of the top-10 mark.

    On Lap 77, Cindric, who was running towards the front, nearly got sideways on the backstretch after he got hit on the side by Larson while being drafted by teammate Blaney, but he managed to keep his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse straight despite getting shuffled out of the lead group as the race remained under green flag conditions.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 80 and a series of on-track shuffling ensuing at the front, Larson was leading by a hair over Gilliland and Logano while Busch, Blaney, Keselowski, McDowell, Reddick, Buescher and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-31 competitors were separated by four seconds as the top 18 were separated by under a second.

    Then on Lap 80, the caution returned when Erik Jones fell off the pace due to blowing a flat right-front tire to his No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE. Behind Jones, van Gisbergen, who was announced as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing in 2025, had his No. 16 Safety Culture Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 billowing in thick smoke through the backstretch as his car, which also ended up in flames, came to an end with an engine failure, where he then managed to park his car and escape uninjured.

    During the extensive caution period, some led by Gilliland and including Busch, McDowell and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green flag conditions on Lap 88, Loganon and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and ahead of an aggressive field dueling amid two stacked lanes. While Logano had teammate Blaney drafting him from the outside lane, Larson gained the upper hand from the inside lane as he led the next lap with drafting help from Keselowski and Buescher as Gilliland and Busch closed in to join the draft.

    By Lap 90, Larson continued to lead ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Buescher and Blaney as Wallace started to ignite a third drafting lane towards the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Reddick. With the top 21 competitors separated by a second, Keselowski and Larson dueled for the lead in front of the stacked pack for the following lap.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Logano held off a three-wide challenge from teammate Blaney and Keselowski to capture his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson and Gilliland followed suit behind the three Ford leaders while Haley, Busch, Byron, Buescher and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-31 competitors were scored on the lead lap while the event had featured 31 lead changes.

    During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Logano pitted while a select few led by Keselowski and Stenhouse remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Chastain managed to cycle his way back onto the lead lap while Keselowski and Stenhouse would pit for fuel not long after.

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as McDowell and Berry occupied the front row. McDowell launched ahead with the lead from the outside lane as he was drafted by Busch and Burton. Berry led the inside lane ahead of Haley and Cindric. McDowell would proceed to lead the following lap as he transitioned between the inside and outside lane to keep Berry behind him. In the process, Haley moved into second place during the next lap period while Berry settled in third ahead of Cindric and Busch as the top 32 competitors were separated by within two seconds.

    With less than 54 laps remaining and the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside lane, McDowell was leading ahead of Haley, Berry, Cindric, Busch, Burton, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Larson and Austin Dillon while Hemric, Austin Hill, Briscoe, Logano, Wallace, Blaney, Bell, Gibbs, Bowman and Erik Jones followed suit in close-quarters racing within the top 20. Meanwhile, Chastain was mired in 30th place along with Keselowski while Buescher was in 22nd in between Bell and Gilliland.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the field both fanned and stacked out to two lanes, McDowell continued to lead ahead of Haley, Nemechek, Berry, Larson, Cindric, Busch, Logano, Burton and Hemric while the top 30 competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

    Ten laps later, Haley, who aggressively overtook McDowell for the top spot a lap earlier, was leading two stacks of competitors vying for spots amid the draft, with Cindric, McDowell, Logano, Berry, Nemechek, Keselowski, Larson, Buescher and Busch mingled in the top 10 ahead of Cody Ware, Burton, Bell, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Wallace, Hill, Briscoe, Gilliland and Blaney.

    Five laps later and with the majority of the field migrating towards the outside lane in a long single-file line, Haley continued to lead ahead of Berry, Nemechek, Larson, Busch, Cindric, McDowell, Logano, Burton and Cody Ware as the top-25 competitors were separated by less than two seconds and the top 32 separated by three seconds.

    Another five laps later, Haley retained the lead ahead of Berry, Nemechek, Larson and Busch with a majority of the lead lap field remaining in a long single-file line towards the outside lane while Cody Ware was trying to ignite a charge from the inside lane with drafting help from Bell and Wallace. By then, Truex was pinned multiple laps down after he pitted his car under green.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Haley, who threw a series of blocks while transitioning from the inside and outside lane, retained the lead ahead of Berry while Bell muscled his way up to third place as he was followed by Nemechek, Larson, Wallace, Busch, Hemric, Cindric and Keselowski, with the top-30 competitors separated by less than two seconds. Three laps later, however, the field began to fan out aggressively to three stacked lanes as Nemechek challenged Haley for the lead from the outside lane.

    Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew.= when Nemechek, who was vying for the lead amid a three-wide battle with Busch and Haley, received a hard bump from Larson in the middle lane that caused Nemechek to turn across the right-front fender of Haley and send Nemechek’s No. 42 Pye Barker Toyota Camry XSE spinning below the backstretch’s asphalt, though Nemechek managed to keep his car off the wall and continue as no one else wrecked. At the moment of caution, Busch emerged as the leader ahead of Cindric, Larson, McDowell, Berry and Keselowski.

    During the caution period and with the field assessing their fuel situation to the finish, the entire lead lap field led by Busch pitted, primarily for fuel. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first, followed by Keselowski, Larson, McDowell, Busch, Logano, Blaney, Berry, Briscoe and Wallace. Within the pit stops Bell made contact with McLeod while exiting his pit stall.

    The start of the following restart period with 16 laps remaining featured Keselowski and Cindric dueling for the lead through the first two turns amid a wave of shoves towards the front, with Cindric having drafting help from Larson while Keselowski had drafting help from McDowell. Cindric would then prevail from the outside lane as he led the next lap ahead of Larson before Keselowski fought back.

    Shortly after, however, Keselowski was penalized for a restart violation, where he pulled ahead of the leader Cindric from the inside lane when he was not in control of the restart to launch ahead. Keselowski, however, remained on the track and towards the front before he yielded and served a pass-through penalty through pit road with 12 laps remaining. With Keselowski serving his penalty, the field fanned out to three stacked lanes as Cindric battled McDowell for the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the top 27 competitors were separated by less than a second amid three stacked lanes as Cindric, Larson and McDowell all dueled for the lead from the top, middle and bottom lanes, respectively. Amid the battles, Berry and Busch were scored in the top five as Logano, Wallace, Bowman, Reddick and Blaney were mingled in the top 10.

    A lap later, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in Turn 1 when McDowell, who led the previous lap and transitioned towards the outside lane to block Cindric, got sideways off the front nose of Cindric as he spun to the bottom of the track. McDowell received a huge hit on the driver’s side by Logano as McDowell’s No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse went airborne and nearly flipped. The car managed to land back on all four wheels while sliding back up the track and clipping the rear deck lid of Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the process.

    Amid the carnage, a multitude of names including Logano, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Wallace, Reddick, Haley, Byron, Blaney, Stenhouse, Buescher and Hill were all involved. Meanwhile, Cindric escaped with the lead while Berry, Busch, Bell, Austin Dillon and Zane Smith were scored in the top six.

    During the caution period, some including McLeod, Nemechek, Wallace, Joey Gase, Briscoe, Reddick, LaJoie and Chastain pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    With three laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Cindric and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Berry dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Cindric muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the backstretch. Cindric and Berry continued to battle dead even for the lead for the following two turns as Cindric led the following lap by a hair, with Busch, Byron, Bell and Burton closely mixed in the top six.

    Then, with two laps remaining entering the backstretch, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime following another multi-car wreck that started when a stackup at the front resulted in Busch bumping Cindric as Cindric went up the track and made contact with both Berry and Byron. It sent Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up into the outside wall hard while Cindric and Berry were sent sliding toward the backstretch’s infield.

    Amid the spins, Berry’s No. 4 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse then went airborne and rolled over on its roof as the car slid down the backstretch and smacked the inside wall hard head-on before the car spun several times on its top and came to rest while still upside-down. Among those involved included Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Gilliland, Austin Dillon, Nemechek and Austin Hill while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage.

    Amid the wild ride, Berry, who had the on-track safety crews roll the car back on all four wheels, managed to climb out and emerge uninjured with the driver giving thumbs up. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch escaped with the lead ahead of Burton while Bell, Retzlaff, Nemechek and Keselowski were scored in the top six as the event was placed in a red flag period for nearly seven minutes.

    When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, Kyle Busch and Burton opted to restart alongside one another for the first overtime attempt, with Busch having Bell, Cody Ware and Keselowski lining up behind him on the inside lane while Burton had Retzlaff, Nemechek and Gibbs lining up behind him on the outside lane.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Busch and Burton dueling for the lead until Busch rocketed his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead with drafting help from Bell’s No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE on the inside lane. Busch would retain the lead through the backstretch and he started to muscle ahead of both Burton and Bell entering Turns 3 and 4 with a reasonable advantage.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Burton and Bell with the field behind continuing to stack up and draft aggressively amid two lanes. Then as Busch was trying to keep Bell drafting him from the inside lane, Harrison Burton rocketed his No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead with a strong push from Parker Retzlaff from the outside lane.

    Then as Burton maintained the lead through Turns 3 and 4, he went up the track to block Busch. He blocked Busch again while transitioning back to the inside lane, going below the double yellow lines in the process. With Burton keeping his car straight and fending off Busch’s last corner efforts, he managed to beat Busch to the finish line by 0.047 seconds to claim his first triumph in the Cup Series.

    With the victory, Burton became the 205th competitor overall to win in NASCAR’s premier series, the first competitor to record a first Cup victory in 2024 and the first competitor to record a first Cup victory while driving for the Wood Brothers Racing team since Ryan Blaney made the last accomplishment at Pocono Raceway in June 2017. Ironically, Burton, who won in his 98th Cup career start, became the first competitor to record a first Cup win in Daytona’s 400-lap feature since William Byron did so in 2020 where he also achieved the feat in his 98th series start.

    Speaking of Wood Brothers Racing, the historic organization accomplished its seven-year battle of notching its elusive 100th victory in the Cup Series as Burton, who became the 19th competitor overall to win while driving for the Wood Brothers, drove the team’s No. 21 Ford to its first Daytona win since Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500.

    As a result of his first Cup Series victory, Burton, who came into the event strapped in 34th place in the regular-season standings, earned a one-way ticket to the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, which will mark his first opportunity and the Wood Brother’s third overall to contend in the Cup’s postseason elimination-style battle for the championship. Burton also became the 13th competitor overall to be guaranteed a 2024 Playoff berth by winning throughout the regular-season stretch.

    “I don’t know. I cried the whole victory lap,” Burton, who fought tears of emotions, said while celebrating with his team, family and father Jeff on the frontstretch, on NBC. “Obviously, [I] got fired from the shove. I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them [win No.] 100 on my way out is amazing. We’re in the Playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”

    The victory was a personal one for Burton, who is set to be a free agent after this season. With Josh Berry set to replace Burton in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in 2025, Burton’s racing status for next season remains undetermined, though he strives to conclude the 2024 season strong.

    “It’s amazing,” Burton added. “It’s been the hardest three years of my life. Obviously, the hardest three years for some of these [No. 21] guys’ lives. To win the way that we just did, to beat the best in the business, Kyle Busch, across the line, it’s pretty fantastic. I made a bet with Jeremy [Bullins], my crew chief, that if we won, we’re staying here and driving home, so we’ll be at a bar somewhere! Come find us and we’re gonna celebrate this one!”

    Behind Burton, Kyle Busch, who led eight laps, recorded a strong runner-up result for his fourth top-five result of the 2024 season. Despite being left satisfied with his run, Busch trails the Playoff cutline by 106 points and is still left in a “must-win” situation entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to keep his Playoff hopes alive.

    “I just finished second. It’s all good,” Busch said. “We were really, really, really lucky tonight to miss a few of them crashes. All good. Just real proud of everybody, [crew chief] Randall [Burnett], all the guys. Everybody at [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines]. They did a great job and brought a fast car. [It] Wasn’t meant to be, so we’ll take this and got a good little stretch here going with these last three weeks and hope that we can do what we need to do in next week’s [race].”

    Christopher Bell came home in third place followed by Cody Ware, who recorded his first top-five result in the Cup Series, while Ty Gibbs battled back to finish in fifth place.

    Bubba Wallace also rallied to finish in sixth place followed by Parker Retzlaff and Brad Keselowski, who spun through the frontstretch’s tri-oval after crossing the finish line while Daniel Hemric and Chris Buescher completed the top-10 results in the final running order.

    With three spots into the 2024 Cup Series Playoff standings being vacant entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington, Martin Truex Jr. sits 58 points above the cutline and Ty Gibbs sits 39 points above the cutline. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot in the Playoffs by 21 points over Bubba Wallace and 27 over Ross Chastain.

    There were 40 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 20 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 25th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Kyle Larson, 18 over Chase Elliott, 68 over Ryan Blaney, 80 over William Byron and 86 over Christopher Bell.

    Results.

    1. Harrison Burton, one lap led

    2. Kyle Busch, eight laps led

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. Cody Ware

    5. Ty Gibbs

    6. Bubba Wallace, 16 laps led

    7. Parker Retzlaff

    8. Brad Keselowski, eight laps led

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Chris Buescher, 10 laps led

    11. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

    12. Ross Chastain

    13. Zane Smith

    14. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

    15. John Hunter Nemechek

    16. Alex Bowman

    17. Erik Jones

    18. Austin Cindric, 15 laps led

    19. BJ McLeod

    20. Joey Gase

    21. Kyle Larson, one lap down, five laps led

    22. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    23. Todd Gilliland, two laps down, five laps led

    24. Martin Truex Jr., three laps down

    25. Austin Hill – OUT

    26. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

    27. William Byron – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    28. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

    29. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

    30. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

    31. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    32. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    34. Corey LaJoie, 32 laps down

    35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Engine

    36. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident

    37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    38. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident

    39. Ryan Preece – OUT, DVP

    40.  Daniel Suarez – OUT, Fire

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which will serve as this year’s regular-season finale and officially determine the 16-car field for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 1, during Labor Day weekend and air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Shane van Gisbergen promoted to full-time Cup Series ride with Trackhouse Racing in 2025

    Shane van Gisbergen promoted to full-time Cup Series ride with Trackhouse Racing in 2025

    Shane van Gisbergen was announced as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 88 Chevrolet entry that starts with the 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

    The news comes as the three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, is currently campaigning in his first full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division with Kaulig Racing while under a development contract with Trackhouse Racing. Throughout the 2024 season, van Gisbergen has also made four Cup Series starts with Kaulig. He is scheduled to make seven additional starts for the remainder of the 2024 season, beginning this weekend at Daytona International Speedway before returning next weekend at Darlington Raceway.

    The announcement of his full-time Cup Series promotion fulfills van Gisbergen’s dreams of accomplishing the feat that started when he leaped into the NASCAR competition by storm in July 2023 when he won in his Cup Series debut at Chicago. The dream grew bigger as he then transitioned from racing in the V8 Supercar Championship Series to NASCAR at the start of this season, where he notched his first three Xfinity Series career victories and is set to compete in the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs for a championship. The New Zealander is also vying for this year’s Xfinity Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    “This is what I have planned for and I am ready,” van Gisbergen said. “I know there is a tough learning curve ahead, but the best way to learn is to go out and do it. I feel I have made progress running the Xfinity Series this year with Kaulig Racing and I can’t thank everyone there enough. I look forward to the Cup Series. Those drivers and teams are the best in the world and it will be an honor to be part of their races.”

    Van Gisbergen’s dreams also mark a milestone moment for Justin Marks, owner and founder of Trackhouse Racing who will be fielding three full-time Cup entries for the first time ever in 2025. He debuted Trackhouse as a single-car team with Daniel Suarez in 2021 before the team expanded to two cars in 2022 with Ross Chastain, both of whom have won and are set to remain at Trackhouse next season.

    In 2022, Marks launched PROJECT91 to provide opportunities for international racing stars to compete in NASCAR’s premier series. After debuting the project with former Formula 1 champion Kimi Räikkönen at Watkins Glen International in 2022 before running again at Circuit of the Americas in early 2023, van Gisbergen was named the project’s second competitor for a total of two races in 2023, including his debut victory at Chicago.

    “This is a big day in so many ways for Trackhouse Racing, Shane, Chevrolet and race fans around the world,” Marks added. “This is an important step for our organization and it’s a credit to the men and women at Trackhouse Racing whose hard work and success the last few years has led to us expanding to three Cup teams in 2025. It’s also a big step up for Shane who took a chance on Trackhouse Racing, moved here from New Zealand and now joins the most competitive stock car racing series in the world. Everyone will get to watch one of the world’s racing superstars compete in the NASCAR Cup Series next year.”

    As part of van Gisbergen’s Cup entry team in 2025, where the No. 88 is set to return as a full-time number for the first time since 2020., Stephen Doran will be serving as his crew chief. Doran, a native of Butler, Pennsylvania, is currently serving as crew chief for Zane Smith and the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team in the Cup Series. He previously worked at Petty Enterprises and Stewart-Haas Racing.

    Through 232 recorded starts in the Cup Series, Trackhouse Racing has accumulated a combined seven victories, two poles, 41 top-five results, 78 top-10 results and 2,062 laps led with four competitors, including van Gisbergen. The team’s best result in the standings is second place which was posted by Chastain in 2022 as they continue the pursuit for a first championship in NASCAR’s premier series.

    With his plans for next season set, Shane van Gisbergen’s part-time Cup Series stint in 2024 continues with the upcoming Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway that will occur on Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. His full-time Xfinity Series stint with Kaulig Racing continues at Darlington Raceway next Saturday, August 31, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • McDowell rockets to fourth Cup pole of 2024 at Daytona; Front Row Motorsports sweep front row

    McDowell rockets to fourth Cup pole of 2024 at Daytona; Front Row Motorsports sweep front row

    Front Row Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland rocketed their way to the front row starting spots for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, August 23, with McDowell soaring to his fourth Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 season.

    McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion from Glendale, Arizona, was one of 10 from a list of 40-entered competitors to transfer into the second of two qualifying rounds consisting of one timed lap per round, with the top-10 competitors posting the 10-fastest lap times during the first round. At the conclusion of the first qualifying, McDowell and teammate Todd Gilliland had posted identical qualifying lap times at 182.86 mph in 49.218 seconds, where their times were both the fastest and the initial track record at Daytona in Next Gen cars.

    During the final round, McDowell, who was the next-to-last competitor of 10 to post a qualifying lap, soared his No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry right back to the top of the leaderboard with a track qualifying record of 183.165 mph in 49.136 seconds in a Next Gen car.

    As a result, McDowell notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series pole position of his career and his third on a superspeedway venue, all occurring in 2024. He will also start on pole position for the first time since doing so at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. The pole award also marks the fifth overall for Front Row Motorsports as McDowell, who is campaigning in his final season with the organization before moving to Spire Motorsports in 2025, strives to race his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule. Currently, he is 157 points below the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Playoffs.

    “I’m just proud of everybody at Front Row Motorsports,” McDowell said on USA Network. “To have both cars on the front row is amazing. Just a testament to how hard everybody’s working at Front Row Motorsports. We know we got two shots left here [to make the Playoffs]. This is a big weekend for us, so to have both cars upfront is really important. Hopefully, we can stay up front, control the race and give ourselves a fighting chance to get into these Playoffs.”

    Joining McDowell on the front row for Saturday’s main event will be teammate Todd Gilliland, who was the last competitor to qualify during the final round of qualifying and posted the second-best lap at 182.801 mph in 49.234 seconds. Like McDowell, Gilliland faces a “must-win” situation to make the 2024 Playoffs as he and his No. 38 Grillo’s Pickles Ford Mustang Dark Horse team are 151 points below the top-16 cutline.

    Joey Logano, who posted the third-fastest qualifying lap at 182.341 mph in 49.358 seconds, will share the second row with Ryan Preece, who posted the fourth-best qualifying lap at 182.312 mph in 49.366 seconds. Rookie Josh Berry will start in fifth place with his best qualifying lap being scored at 182.197 mph in 49.397 seconds while Chase Briscoe will line up in sixth place with a qualifying lap at 182.194 mph in 49.398 seconds as Ford competitors claimed the top-six starting spots.

    William Byron, the highest-qualifying Chevrolet competitor, will start in seventh place while Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott round out the top 10 starting spots, respectively.

    Notably, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski will share the sixth row in 11th and 12th, respectively, while Chris Buescher, the reigning Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner, will start in 13th place as he shares the seventh row alongside Ryan Blaney. In addition, Austin Dillon will start 16th, Martin Truex Jr. will start 17th in his final full-time Cup start at Daytona, Bubba Wallace will line up in 18th place ahead of team owner Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain will occupy the 24th starting spot ahead of Michigan winner Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs.

    During the first qualifying round, Erik Jones was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying time after her forfeited his run due to an issue to his No. 43 Dollar Family Toyota Camry XSE entry. As a result, he will round out the 40-car grid by starting Saturday’s main event in 40th place, dead last.

    *All 40 entered competitors made the main event.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Michael McDowell, 183.165 mph, 49.136 seconds
    2. Todd Gilliland, 182.801 mph, 49.234 seconds
    3. Joey Logano, 182.341 mph, 49.358 seconds
    4. Ryan Preece, 182.312 mph, 49.366 seconds
    5. Josh Berry, 182.197 mph, 49.397 seconds
    6. Chase Briscoe, 182.194 mph, 49.398 seconds
    7. William Byron, 182.057 mph, 49.435 seconds
    8. Austin Cindric, 181.998 mph, 49.451 seconds
    9. Kyle Larson, 181.899 mph, 49.478 seconds
    10. Chase Elliott, 181.752 mph, 49.518 seconds
    11. Kyle Busch, 181.613 mph, 49.556 seconds
    12. Brad Keselowski, 181.543 mph, 49.575 seconds
    13. Chris Buescher, 181.51 mph, 49.584 seconds
    14. Ryan Blaney, 181.499 mph, 49.587 seconds
    15. Noah Gragson, 181.408 mph, 49.612 seconds
    16. Austin Dillon, 181.40 mph, 49.614 seconds
    17. Martin Truex Jr., 181.17 mph, 49.677 seconds
    18. Bubba Wallace, 181.123 mph, 49.69 seconds
    19. Denny Hamlin, 181.006 mph, 49.722 seconds
    20. Harrison Burton, 180.999 mph, 49.724 seconds
    21. Alex Bowman, 180.937 mph, 49.741 seconds
    22. Daniel Suarez, 180.843 mph, 49.767 seconds
    23. Austin Hill, 180.835 mph, 49.769 seconds
    24. Ross Chastain, 180.825 mph, 49.772 seconds
    25. Tyler Reddick, 180.817 mph, 49.774 seconds
    26. Ty Gibbs, 180.752 mph, 49.792 seconds
    27. Christopher Bell, 180.745 mph, 49.794 seconds
    28. Daniel Hemric, 180.650 mph, 49.820 seconds
    29. Parker Retzlaff, 180.647 mph, 49.821 seconds
    30. Zane Smith, 180.563 mph, 49.844 seconds
    31. John Hunter Nemechek, 180.552 mph, 49.847 seconds
    32. Shane van Gisbergen, 180.426 mph, 49.882 seconds
    33. Cody Ware, 180.274 mph, 49.924 seconds
    34. Corey LaJoie, 180.263 mph, 49.927 seconds
    35. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 179.795 mph, 50.057 seconds
    36. Justin Haley, 179.766 mph, 50.065 seconds
    37. Carson Hocevar, 179.176 mph, 50.079 seconds
    38. BJ McLeod, 177.441 mph, 50.721 seconds
    39. Joey Gase, 175.114 mph, 51.395 seconds
    40. Erik Jones, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

    The 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway is scheduled to occur on Saturday, August 24, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing assessed L2 Penalty for Engine Seal Violations at Bristol in March

    Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing assessed L2 Penalty for Engine Seal Violations at Bristol in March

    Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE team was issued a L2-level penalty for violating Sections 14.7.1.E&F and 14.7.1.1.B&E of the NASCAR Rule Book, all of which pertain to meeting specific engine seal requirements.

    The issue involves Hamlin’s race-winning entry at Bristol Motor Speedway earlier in March, where he led a race-high 163 of 500-scheduled laps en route to his first Cup points-paying victory of the 2024 season and ultimately resulting in NASCAR declaring that the team’s car did not meet the requirements involving the engine seal.

    As a result of the penalty, Hamlin was docked 75 driver/owner points along with 10 Playoff points. Crew chief Chris Gabehart was fined $100,000.

    Per the NASCAR Rule Book, Section 14.7.1.E states all race-winning engines “will be long block sealed by NASCAR and must be completely inspected by NASCAR before the engine may be disassembled by the team. If the team chooses to use the long block sealed race-winning engine again before being inspected, the engine must be used in the same vehicle number the next time it is used.”

    Section 14.7.1.F states the long block engine assembly seals of a long block sealed engine must not be altered, removed or replaced.

    Section 14.7.1.1.B states that “seals must not be removed without prior approval by NASCAR.”

    Section 14.7.1.1.E states that “if a race-winning engine is sealed and presented for post-race inspection at a later date with damaged, altered or missing seals, an L2 Penalty will be assessed.”

    With the penalties, Hamlin, who was trailing the 2024 regular-season lead in the standings by 28 points, now trails the lead by 103 points, which also drops him from third to sixth in the regular-season standings. In addition, his Bristol victory in March will not count towards any eligibility for any Playoff or non-points events.

    Amid the announcement, David Wilson, President of TRD [Toyota Racing Development] USA, released a statement, where he and TRD took responsibility for Hamlin’s penalty while explaining the actions that were taken and resulted in the penalties being levied by NASCAR.

    “As the engine builder for our partner NASCAR Cup Series teams, TRD is solely responsible for the handling and disposition of all our engines pre- and post-race. Despite procedures being in place, Denny’s race-winning engine from Bristol was mistakenly returned to our Costa Mesa facility, disassembled and rebuilt instead of being torn down and inspected by NASCAR per the rule book.

    “Although we know with absolute certainty that the engine was legal and would have passed inspection, we left NASCAR in an impossible position because they were not given the opportunity to properly inspect our engine. We have reviewed our processes and have implemented several additional steps to ensure that this never happens again. TRD takes full responsibility for this grievous mistake, and we apologize to Denny, Chris, Coach Gibbs, the entire JGR organization, NASCAR and our fans.”

    The good news for Hamlin is that he is still locked into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at Richmond Raceway and Dover Motor Speedway, both in April, and is set to pursue his first Cup championship in his 19th full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Hamlin also now has two regular-season events remaining on the 2024 schedule to make up the Bristol victory removed from Playoff eligibility, beginning this upcoming weekend at Daytona International Speedway and next weekend at Darlington Raceway before the 2024 Playoffs commence at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8.

    Denny Hamlin’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the upcoming Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur this Saturday, August 24, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing denied Overturn of Richmond Penalties from Appeals Panel

    Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing denied Overturn of Richmond Penalties from Appeals Panel

    Richard Childress Racing lost its appeal process in overturning Austin Dillon’s penalty of having his NASCAR Cup Series victory at Richmond Raceway stripped from Playoff eligibility following a hearing from the National Motorsports Appeals Panel on Wednesday, August 21.

    Dillon’s penalty stems from August 11, where he wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap and final corner to win at Richmond during an overtime shootout, actions Dillon mentioned as last-resort actions to race his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

    Three days after the victory, however, NASCAR stripped Dillon’s Playoff eligibility, citing that he “crossed the line” with the actions he made to wreck both Logano and Hamlin on the final corner. In addition, his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team were docked 25 driver/owner points while Dillon’s spotter, Brandon Benesch, was assessed a three-race suspension for encouraging Dillon to wreck the leaders to win. Amid the penalties, Dillon was still credited as the official Richmond winner.

    Following the penalties that were handed down to Dillon and Richard Childress Racing, the organization released a statement, citing their plans to appeal the penalties.

    A week since, the National Motorsports Appeals Panel, which overheard and reviewed the appeal process made by Dillon and Richard Childress Racing, ruled that both had violated the Member Code of Conduct Penalty Options and Guidelines from the NASCAR Rule Book. Therefore, the loss of points and the Richmond victory not being credited towards Playoff eligibility for Dillon remained intact. The panel did reduce spotter Brandon Benesch’s suspension from three to one race.

    In addition to the decision being made, the panel, which included Tom DeLoach, Kelly Housby and Tommy Wheeler, released the following statement of their decision.

    “NASCAR represents elite motorsports and, as such, its drivers are expected to demonstrate exemplary conduct if its series’ championships are to be validated. In this case, the ‘line’ was crossed.”

    As a result of the penalties remaining intact, Dillon remains mired within the top-30 mark in the 2024 regular-season stretch and in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

    Not long after the decision was made, Richard Childress Racing released a statement that expressed the team’s disappointment with the outcome and plans to appeal to the National Motorsports Final Appeal Officer, which is permitted per the NASCAR Rule Book.

    In the meantime, Austin Dillon’s on-track quest to race his way back into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs continues this upcoming Saturday, August 24, at Daytona International Speedway for the Coke Zero Sugar 400, the penultimate regular-season event on this year’s schedule. The event’s airtime is slated to commence at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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

    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.

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

    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.

  • NASCAR postpones remainder of Cup Series event at Michigan to Monday due to inclement weather

    NASCAR postpones remainder of Cup Series event at Michigan to Monday due to inclement weather

    The remainder of the 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, the site of the 24th event of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, has been postponed to Monday, August 19, and the coverage will resume at 11 a.m. ET on USA Network.

    The news comes as the event, which was scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 18, endured and ultimately lost a daylong battle against Mother Nature, with on-track precipitation initially delaying the event’s start for more than two hours. The precipitation had also been present for the majority of the weekend and caused the event’s practice and qualifying sessions to be canceled, with the starting lineup determined through the NASCAR Rule Book.

    Once the event commenced under green flag conditions at 4:55 p.m. ET on Sunday, it reached the conclusion of the first stage period that ended on Lap 45 and was won by the reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney.

    Prior to the start of the second stage period, however, the event was waved off from restarting under green flag conditions multiple times due to on-track precipitation slowly and steadily returning to the Michigan venue. After running select laps under caution, NASCAR then directed the field to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period on Lap 51 of 200.

    With no signs of relief being detected within the forecast that would allow the event to reach the halfway mark before Sunday evening at 8:20 p.m. ET, which would be at Lap 100 or Lap 120 for the conclusion of the second stage period, the event’s postponement was announced just past 6 p.m. ET.

    This season marks the second consecutive time that the Cup Series’ annual event at Michigan has been postponed to the following day after its initial scheduled date of Sunday. It also marks the third consecutive season where the event has been delayed due to on-track precipitation overall. A year ago, the Cup Michigan event was postponed from Sunday to Monday after completing 74 of 200 laps, where Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Chris Buescher would proceed to win the event.

    Currently, Chase Elliott, the 2020 Cup Series champion who is pursuing his first victory at Michigan, is the leader when the race resumes on Monday morning. Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ross Chastin, Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano are all scored in the top 10, respectively. In addition, all 36 starters are scored on the lead lap.

    Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2024 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway is set to resume on Monday, August 19, at 11 a.m. ET on USA Network.

  • AJ Allmendinger returning as full-time Cup Series competitor with Kaulig Racing in 2025

    AJ Allmendinger returning as full-time Cup Series competitor with Kaulig Racing in 2025

    Kaulig Racing took to social media to reveal that veteran AJ Allmendinger will be returning to the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time competitor with the organization in 2025.

    The news comes as the 42-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, is currently competing on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series with Kaulig after spending the previous season in the Cup Series with the organization. Through 20 scheduled starts this season, Allmendinger has recorded three top-five results, 10 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.9, where he is ranked in sixth place in the regular-season standings. In addition to his full-time Xfinity role, Allmendinger has made 10 starts in Kaulig’s No. 16 “all-star” entry, where his best results are three sixth-place results, including this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

    Allmendinger, a former Champ Car competitor, made his Cup Series debut with Red Bull Racing at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2007. Since then, he has made a total of 440 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series from 2007 to 2023, with his previous starts coming with Michael Waltrip Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, Team Penske, Phoenix Racing, JTG Daugherty Racing and Kaulig Racing, which he began making Cup starts with the latter organization in 2021.

    Throughout the 440 starts at the Cup Series level, Allmendinger notched his first career victory at Watkins Glen International in 2014, which also marked the first victory for JTG-Daugherty Racing, and went on to qualify for his first Cup Series Playoffs before settling in a career-best 13th place in the final standings. Seven years later, the Californian capitalized on an overtime shootout to score his second victory and the first for Kaulig Racing in the Cup level at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course as a part-time competitor. This past October, he piloted Kaulig’s No. 16 entry to his third and latest Cup victory at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

    In addition to having three Cup Series victories within his resume, Allmendinger has accumulated four poles, 20 top-five results, 78 top-10 results, 635 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.7 in NASCAR’s premier series. He has also made 14 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series and won 17 races in the Xfinity Series, 15 of which came while driving for Kaulig between 2019 and 2023.

    With Allmendinger set to be elevated back to full-time Cup racing in 2025 in the No. 16 Chevrolet entry, the rest of Kaulig’s racing program for next season, including the Xfinity Series teams and the No. 31 Cup Series entry that is currently being piloted by Daniel Hemric, have yet to be determined.

    For this upcoming weekend at Michigan International Speedway, Allmendinger is set to pull double duty between the Xfinity and Cup Series divisions for the 10th time this season and his 11th Cup start of the 2024 season. In 22 previous Cup starts at Michigan, Allmendinger’s best results are a pair of 11th-place finishes, which occurred in June 2010 and August 2011. He recorded an Xfinity victory at Michigan in August 2021 with Kaulig Racing in a season where he notched a career-high five victories, made the Championship 4 round and finished in a career-best fourth place in the final drivers’ standings.

    With his plans for next season set, AJ Allmendinger’s 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign continues this Saturday, August 17, at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250, where the event’s broadcast time will commence at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. Allmendinger will then make his 11th of select Cup starts the following day, August 18, for the FireKeepers Casino 400 which will air at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Michigan – August 2024

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Michigan – August 2024

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Michigan International Speedway this weekend with only three races to go in the Cup Series regular season and six to go in the Xfinity Series.

    The ARCA Menards Series will get the racing action started Friday evening with the Henry Ford Health 200.

    Six active Cup Series drivers have previous wins at the 2-mile track:
    Joey Logano – 3
    Kyle Larson – 3
    Denny Hamlin – 2
    Chris Buescher – 1
    Kyle Busch – 1
    Ryan Blaney – 1

    Only two previous Xfinity Series winners are competing at Michigan – AJ Allmendinger (2021) and John Hunter Nemechek (2023). But it’s much more likely that we will see a new driver in Victory Lane as there have been 13 different drivers in Victory Lane, dating back to 2010.

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is off and returns to competition on August 25 at Milwaukee Mile Speedway.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Aug. 16
    1:30 – 2:15 p.m.: ARCA Practice/All Entries/No TV
    2:30 – 2:50 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying/All Entries/No TV – Canceled due to rain
    Impound/Timed/20 Minutes

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Practice (NBC Sports App)
    All Entries/Group 1 and 2 – 15 Minutes Each Group
    4:10 p.m.: Xfinity Qualifying (NBC Sports App)
    Impound/All Entries/Single Vehicle /1 Lap

    6 p.m. — ARCA Henry Ford Health 200 race
    100 laps, 200 miles
    FS1, FloRacing, MRN, SiriusXM

    Saturday, Aug. 17
    12:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice
    Group A & B/20 Minutes Each Group
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    1:20: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound)
    Group A & B: Single Vehicle /1 Lap /2 Rounds
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Cabo Wabo 250 race
    Stages 30/60/125 Laps = 250 Miles
    Purse: $1,367,917
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM

    Sunday, Aug. 18
    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series FireKeepers Casino 400 race
    Stages 45/120/200 Laps = 400 Miles
    Defending Race Winner: Chris Buescher
    Purse: $7,902,750
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM