Competing in his ninth full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chris Buescher is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, the driver of the No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse will make career start No. 300 in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Prosper, Texas, Buescher made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway in March 2015. By then, he was campaigning in his second full-time season in the Xfinity Series for Roush Fenway Racing. Driving the No. 34 Ford Fusion for Front Row Motorsports as an interim competitor for David Ragan, who was serving as an interim competitor for the injured Kyle Busch at Joe Gibbs Racing, Buescher started 33rd and finished a season-best 20th place in his Cup debut. He would pilot FRM’s No. 34 Ford for five additional Cup events, where he would earn three top-25 results at Martinsville Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and at Talladega Superspeedway, respectively.
Nearly a month after winning the 2015 Xfinity Series championship, Buescher was announced as a full-time Cup Series competitor in Front Row Motorsports’ No. 34 Ford for the 2016 season. Through the first 20 regular-season events, the Texan finished no higher than 14th place on the track, which occurred at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July, and was mired outside the top-30 mark in the standings. Then at Pocono Raceway in August, Buescher capitalized on a pit strategic call to assume the lead on Lap 127 and retain the lead prior to the event being red-flagged on Lap 138 and eventually being deemed official due to inclement weather, which resulted with NASCAR declaring Buescher the race winner as he notched his first Cup career in his 27th series start. With the victory, Buescher became the first Cup rookie candidate to win a NASCAR premier series event since Joey Logano won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2009 and he recorded the second career win for Front Row Motorsports.
Following the Pocono victory, Buescher, who still needed to race his way above the top-30 cutline in the standings to be eligible to make the Playoffs, finished fifth at Bristol two races later. Despite finishing 30th, fifth, 35th, 17th and 24th, respectively, during the final five regular-season events, Buescher managed to vault himself above the cutline and make his inaugural presence in the Playoffs. Following respective finishes of 28th, 30th and 23rd throughout the Round of 16, however, he was eliminated from title contention. Finishing no higher than 16th during the final seven events on the schedule, Buescher capped off his first full-time Cup campaign in 16th place in the final standings.
The 2017 season presented another new beginning for Buescher, who joined JTG-Daugherty Racing to pilot the team’s second entry, the No. 37 Chevrolet SS. After finishing no higher than 11th during the first 16 events on the schedule, he notched his first top-10 result of the season after finishing 10th at Daytona in July. He then finished ninth at Indianapolis two races later before finishing sixth at Michigan International Speedway another three races later. Amid the results, Buescher did not qualify for the 2017 Cup Series Playoffs. Managing a sixth-place finish at Kansas Speedway in October, Buescher settled in 25th place in the final standings. Despite recording zero top-five results throughout the 2017 season, he managed to double his top-10 results in a season from two to four and boost his average-finishing result from his rookie Cup season from 26.1 to 21.4.
Buescher would remain at JTG-Daugherty Racing for the following two Cup seasons. During the two-year stint, he accumulated a total of two top-five results, six top-10 results and 14 laps led, with his best on-track results being a pair of fifth-place finishes during both Daytona events in 2018. In 2018, Buescher ended up in 24th place in the final standings and recorded an average-finishing result of 21.0 as he also surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series. During the 2019 season, he gained four spots to 20th place at season’s end and boosted his average-finishing result to 17.8.
Two months prior to the 2019 season’s conclusion, Buescher was announced to return to Roush Fenway Racing to pilot the No. 17 Ford Mustang for the 2020 season, where he replaced Ricky Stenhouse Jr. as Stenhouse made the transition to JTG-Daugherty Racing. Buescher commenced the season by finishing in third place during the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 after dodging a final lap harrowing accident involving teammate Ryan Newman. He then only accumulated an extra top-five result at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in August, where he finished fifth, and a total of six top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were not enough for him to make the Playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. He would proceed to accumulate two additional top-10 results during the Playoffs before settling in 21st place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 19.6.
Throughout the 2021 Cup season, Buescher’s highest on-track result was a third-place finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October. He initially finished in second place during the regular-season finale at Daytona in August, but was demoted to last place after his car failed post-race inspection amid a rear sub-frame assembly violation. With a total of eight top-10 finishes and 93 laps led, Buescher, who did not make the 2021 Cup Playoffs, settled in 19th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 17.3. By then, he also surpassed 200 Cup career starts.
In 2022, Buescher, who commenced the season by winning the second Bluegreen Vacations Duel event at Daytona, settled in 16th place during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 before notching back-to-back top-10 results in March. At Dover Motor Speedway, the Texan nabbed his first Cup career pole position, where he would proceed to finish eighth. Then following a difficult May and early June period that included Buescher enduring a late rollover accident during the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte followed by missing the inaugural event at World Wide Technology Raceway due to a positive COVID-19 test, he recorded a strong runner-up finish at Sonoma Raceway. Despite finishing third at Richmond Raceway in August and earning four additional top-10 results during the final 10 regular-season events, he fell short of making the 2022 Cup Playoffs.
Buescher then rallied three races later by notching his second Cup career victory at Bristol in September after leading a race-high 169, including the final 61. The victory not only snapped a 222-race winless drought for Buescher, but it also snapped a five-year winless drought for the Roush organization as the Texan also recorded the first victory for the organization that had been rebranded to Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Finishing no higher than sixth during the final seven events on the schedule, Buescher settled in 21st place in the final standings. By then, he achieved double digits in top-10 results (10), led 194 laps throughout the season and recorded an average-finishing result of 17.9.
The 2023 Cup season was a career year for Buescher, who commenced the season by finishing fourth during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 after dodging a final lap multi-car wreck. After only recording a single top-10 result during his next nine starts, he then finished no lower than 18th during the following 12 regular-season events. Mired within the 12-race stretch were two top-five results and six top-10 results that kept Buescher and the No. 17 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing team in the mix of contending for a Playoff spot.
Then at Richmond in July, Buescher led 88 laps and fended off Denny Hamlin during a three-lap shootout to score his first victory of the season and the third of his Cup career, which also enabled Buescher to clinch his spot for the 2023 Cup Playoffs. The following weekend, he led a race-high 52 laps and fended off a late challenge from Martin Truex Jr. to achieve back-to-back Cup victories for the first time in his career at Michigan International Speedway. Three races later, Buescher capped off the regular-season stretch by winning at Daytona after assuming the lead during an overtime shootout and leading the final two laps amid a 1-2 finish for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, with teammate/owner Brad Keselowski settling in second place.
With two top-five results and three top-10 results achieved during the first six Playoff events of the 2023 season, Buescher managed to transfer from the Round of 16 to 8. Amid respective finishes of 11th, 21st and eighth throughout the Round of 8, however, his title hopes came to a late end as he was unable to transfer into the Championship 4 round.
Nonetheless, Buescher proceeded to lead 18 laps and finish fifth during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November, which was enough for him to settle in a career-best seventh place in the final standings. Along with a career-high three victories, Buescher achieved career-high stats in top fives (nine), top 10s (17) and laps led (255) along with a new average-finishing result (12.1).
Through 299 previous Cup starts, Buescher has achieved five victories, one pole, 20 top-five results, 59 top-10 results, 626 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.2. He has recorded four top-10 results through the first six events on the 2024 schedule, with his best result being a runner-up finish at Phoenix Raceway in early March. He is currently ranked in 12th place in the 2024 regular-season standings.
Buescher is scheduled to make his 300th Cup Series career start at Richmond Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400 on Easter Sunday, March 31, with the event’s broadcast time slated to occur at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. (March 26, 2024) – For decades, rumors have circulated that historic North Wilkesboro Speedway was the site of a secret moonshine still. Now some Wilkes County locals may have more reason to say ‘I told you so,’ as a possible moonshine cave has been discovered underneath the concrete frontstretch grandstands.
During grandstand cleaning and inspection last week, operations staff discovered cracks in the original concrete in section N toward Turn 1. Crews began removing seats to inspect the extent of the damage and evaluate needs for repair. During the process, an open area of approximately 700-square-feet was discovered underneath the aging concrete.
“When we began renovating and restoring North Wilkesboro Speedway in 2022, we’d often hear stories of how an old moonshine still was operated here on the property under the grandstands,” said Steve Swift, senior vice president of operations and development at Speedway Motorsports. “Well, we haven’t found a still (yet), but we’ve found a small cave and an interior wall that would have been the perfect location to not only make illegal liquor, but to hide from the law as well. We don’t know how people would have gotten in and out, but as we uncover more, there’s no telling what we might find.”
So far, approximately 600 seats have been removed from sections N and O, and Speedway Motorsports staff are evaluating next steps for foundation repair and concrete replacement in advance of the upcoming May 14-19 NASCAR All-Star Race Week.
“Now we have a race before the race,” Swift commented. “The area that’s been affected by the sinkhole is a frontstretch grandstand area with some of the best views of the track. We’ll have a lot of work to get done before NASCAR All-Star Race Week.”
After opening in 1947, North Wilkesboro Speedway became one of NASCAR’s original race tracks when it hosted the season finale for the inaugural Strictly Stock (now Cup) Series in 1949. The .0625-mile short track hosted NASCAR races until it closed in 1996. Following an extensive restoration, North Wilkesboro Speedway returned to the NASCAR Cup schedule on May 21, 2023, hosting the NASCAR All-Star Race.
TICKETS: NASCAR All-Star Race weekend ticket packages for all May 14-19 race week events are on sale now. Activities include Tuesday/Wednesday zMAX CARS Tour; All-Star Friday presented by Raymer Oil featuring NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series practice, the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge presented by Mechanix Wear and a Neal McCoy concert; Saturday’s Wright Brand 250 and All-Star Heat Races; and Sunday’s Warren Zeiders pre-race concert, NASCAR All-Star Open and NASCAR All-Star Race. Five-day full race week ticket packages start at just $259 while three-day NASCAR All-Star Race weekend ticket packages start at $229.
MORE INFO: Fans can connect with North Wilkesboro Speedway and get the latest news regarding NASCAR All-Star week and North Wilkesboro Speedway by following on Twitter and Instagram or becoming a Facebook fan.
1. William Byron: Byron assumed the lead on Lap 51 when Martin Truex Jr. pitted from the lead. Byron led the final 17 laps and cruised to the win in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, his second win of the season.
“I started on the pole,” Byron said, “and my Chevy was clearly the best on the track all day. Therefore, the outcome of the race was a ‘24-gone conclusion.’”
2. Christopher Bell: Bell won Stage 1 at COTA and tried his best to chase down William Byron for the lead late, but couldn’t catch the Hendrick driver and settled for the runner-up spot.
“Congratulations to William,” Bell said. “His road course acumen really showed and he was clearly the best driver on the track on Sunday. So, at least for a day, he was the ‘GOAT-A’ at COTA.”
3. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs took third in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit Of The Americas. Gibbs has top-10 or better finishes in five of six races this season.
“I can’t believe we went a whole race without a caution for cause,” Gibbs said. “What’s even more unbelievable is that NASCAR allowed it to happen. If there was ever the right time to throw a ‘phantom caution,’ the end of that race was the time. What this race lacked in excitement, it made up for in boredom.”
4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 10th in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix, posting his fourth top 10 of the season.
“I had to make a much too early pit stop for a tire situation,” Truex said. “It seemed I had a shattered tire rim. And that pit stop was punctuated by a ‘rim shot’ on the drums.”
5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney overcame a late spin to finish 12th in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
“Road course racing may not be my cup of tea,” Blaney said. “But like most NASCAR fans, I don’t drink my tea from a cup, I drink it from a bong.
“I’m still winless this season, but I’m posting solid results on every type of track we race on. And I’m thinking big picture. In other words, the Playoffs, and everybody knows what happened in the Playoffs last year: ‘The Menards were separated from the boys.’”
6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led three laps and finished 14th at COTA.
“My car featured the colors and scheme of Interstate Batteries,” Hamlin said.”Interstate Battery” is also known as what Ross Chastain does when he goes state to state to NASCAR tracks and drives into various cars.
7. Ross Chastain: Chastain led 10 laps on his way to a seventh-place finish in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
“Road course races are like buffets,” Chastain said. “That’s because they have an international flavor. And that’s what makes them so popular. Ask any NASCAR fan; they can definitely relate to a buffet.”
8. Tyler Reddick: Reddick was strong all day at Austin and finished fifth in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix.
“I was lucky enough to be a part of Michael Waltrip’s ‘Grid Walk,’” Reddick said. “And, I am unlucky enough to be nearly a foot shorter than Waltrip and ‘Grid Walk’ guest, University Of Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian.”
9. Kyle Larson: Larson finished 18th at COTA.
“I suffered a spin during Stage 2 that really cost me a lot of track position,” Larson said. “By ‘suffered,’ I mean ‘Christopher Bell did it.’ Bell also did the same to Kyle Busch. So that’s two of us he spun. That left us saying, ‘What the Hells, Bell?’”
10. Alex Bowman: Bowman took fourth at COTA as Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron snagged the win.
“The story of the day was the battle between Toyota and Chevrolet,” Bowman said. “So, I guess the only notable part of the Fords was the back seat.”
From starting on the pole position to racing his way to Victory Lane, William Byron rebounded from a four-race streak of not finishing in the top five to claiming his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season in the fourth annual EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 24.
“I feel like I made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 laps, just little micro errors and Christopher [Bell] was really fast there on the longer run,’’ Byron said on FOX. “This sport is just so hard and it’s so difficult week in and week out to show up and have fast cars. We’ve had a little bit of a rough stretch the last few weeks, but just put a lot of preparation in this past week and just thankful for the team I have around me and all the people back home as well. Just super thankful to have this opportunity. It’s just a lot of fun to win races and it’s really difficult, too. We’re gonna enjoy this one.’’
The 2024 Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 42 of 68 scheduled laps in an event where he led the field to the green flag from pole position. After leading the first 12 laps before surrendering the top spot to pit under green as part of a strategic move, Byron would cycle back to the lead on three additional occasions throughout the event, with his latest occurring on Lap 44 after he overtook Ross Chastain for the top spot.
Then after both pitting and beating Chastain off of pit road first in what would be the start of the final cycle of green flag pit stops with 24 laps remaining, Byron returned to the lead with 17 laps remaining. He would then fend off a late charge from Christopher Bell to become the first repeat winner of the 2024 season with his first victory at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 23, Byron secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 129.636 mph in 94.696 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 129.651 mph in 94.685 seconds.
Prior to the event, the following names that included Chris Buescher, Timmy Hill and Ryan Preece dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Byron and Gibbs battled for the lead as the field fanned out entering the first uphill turn. With Byron retaining the lead despite nearly missing the first turn, Tyler Reddick moved into the runner-up spot as he settled behind Byron while Gibbs battled teammate Christopher Bell and Corey LaJoie to retain third place. Byron would lead through a series of left and right-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9 as the field continued to fan out and jostle for early positions.
Amid the battles, Byron would continue to lead from Turn 10 to 19 as he navigated his way to Turn 20 and returned to the frontstretch to lead the first lap. By then, Bubba Wallace and Martin Truex Jr. pitted under green after both made contact with Corey LaJoie off Turn 11.
With the field remaining under green flag conditions, Byron would retain the lead by more than a second over Reddick and continue to lead by the fifth lap mark. Behind, Ty Gibbs trailed in third place ahead of teammate Bell and Ross Chastain while Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, Harrison Burton had plummeted below the leaderboard after he got bumped and sent for a spin by Ryan Preece in Turn 1.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Byron extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Ty Gibbs followed by teammate Bell while Reddick dropped to fourth place ahead of Chastain. By then, Allmendinger was in sixth ahead of Kyle Busch and Hamlin while Kyle Larson and Daniel Suarez were in the top 10.
A few laps later, green flag pit stops commenced as Reddick, Justin Haley, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Preece and Harrison Burton pitted. Amid the pit stops, Chase Briscoe served a pass-through penalty for cutting the corners in Turn 4. A multitude of names including Hamlin, Busch, Elliott and Shane van Gisbergen would pit during the proceeding laps before Byron surrendered the lead to pit on Lap 13. With Byron leading, Bell, who had yet to pit, cycled into the lead.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 15, Bell captured his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Suarez trailed in second followed by Michael McDowell, Cindric, Austin Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., all of whom have yet to pit, while Byron, Gibbs, Reddick and Chastain ended up in the top 10.
Under the stage break, select names that included Suarez, Dillon, Stenhouse, Daniel Hemric, Brad Keselowski and Kaz Grala pitted while the rest led by Bell and McDowell remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 18 as Bell and McDowell occupied the front row. Bell and McDowell battled for the lead through the first uphill turn as the field fanned out. With Byron nearly making contact with Bell through the turn, the latter retained the lead entering Turn 2. Byron overtook McDowell for the runner-up spot as McDowell went wide through the first turn while Gibbs and Reddick battled for fourth place,
Bell continued to lead through a series of left and right-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9 before he navigated through a hard braking, left-hand turn in Turn 11. With Bell leading the field back to the frontstretch, Byron retained second ahead of Reddick and Gibbs while Chastain occupied fifth place in front of Larson, Busch, Elliott, McDowell and Alex Bowman.
Two laps later, Byron battled and cycled past Bell from Turns 12 to 19 to reassume the lead. By then, Wallace was trying to rally from being spun by Brad Keselowski in Turn 15. More on-track carnage would ensue during the proceeding laps as rookie Josh Berry spun in Turn 11 while Larson would then get turned in Turn 11 after he got hit by Bell just past Lap 21.
Nearing the Lap 25, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Reddick as Gibbs, Chastain and Bell trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch occupied sixth place ahead of Allmendinger, Elliott, Bowman and Shane van Gisbergen while Hamlin, Justin Haley, rookie Carson Hocevar, Buescher and Joey Logano were battling in the top 15. By then, a bevy of names including Bell and Suarez pitted while Kamui Kobayashi spun in Turn 8 after getting bumped by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who also spun amid the on-track contact with Kobayashi.
During the proceeding laps, more green flag pit stops ensued as the leader Byron and a host of names pitted, with Denny Hamlin remaining on the track to inherit the lead in his No. 11 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Hamlin, who remained on the track, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Blaney settled in second ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Todd Gilliland, Preece and Keselowski while John Hunter Nemechek, Byron, Hemric and Berry ended up in the top 10.
During the stage break, some, including the leader Hamlin, pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.
With 35 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Byron and Chastain battled for the lead as the field fanned out entering the first uphill turn. Through the first turn, Byron locked his tires and went wide, allowing Chastain to overtake both Byron and Gibbs and move into the lead through the series of right and left-hand turns from Turns 2 to 9. Chastain managed to retain the lead through the final 12 turns as he led the following lap while Byron battled and overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot.
Five laps later, Chastain stabilized his advantage to within a second over Byron and nearly two seconds over Gibbs while Bowman was running fourth ahead of a battle between Elliott, Busch and Reddick for fifth. Soon after, however, Elliott was assessed a pass-through penalty for cutting the course in Turn 4. In addition, Busch spun in Turn 1 after getting hit by Bell’s No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE.
Then with 27 laps remaining, Byron made his move beneath Chastain’s No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 20 and battled dead even with him through the frontstretch to reclaim the lead. Another three laps later, Byron led Chastain to pit road for pit service under green, where the former managed to exit ahead of the latter following the service.
As the laps dwindled and with each of the front-runners and the field diving to pit road for green flag service, Byron cycled back as the leader with 17 laps remaining after initial leader Truex pitted. With Byron leading, teammate Alex Bowman moved into second while Gibbs cycled to third place.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Bowman while Gibbs, Reddick and Bell trailed in the top five. Byron would extend his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Bowman with 10 laps remaining as Gibbs started to gain ground on Bowman for second place.
With five laps remaining, Byron continued to lead in his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by more than three seconds over Gibbs. Meanwhile, Bell was running in third place while Bowman dropped to fourth ahead of Reddick, Allmendinger, Chastain, Buescher, Busch and Chase Briscoe.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained as the leader by more than a second over Bell, who overtook teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot two laps earlier. Despite Bell mounting a late charge to keep Byron close within his sights, Byron hit his marks on all 20 turns smoothly for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch victorious to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Byron achieved his 12th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his second of the season, his first since winning the 2024 Daytona 500 and his second on a road-course venue after winning at Watkins Glen International last August. He also became the first competitor to achieve multiple Cup victories in the 2024 campaign and the fourth competitor to win a Cup event at Circuit of the Americas in the series’ four-year run at the circuit.
Byron’s Circuit of the Americas victory was also the second ever for Hendrick Motorsports and the second NASCAR win of the weekend for the organization after teammate Kyle Larson won Saturday’s Xfinity event in Austin.
Bell, who led nine laps, settled in the runner-up spot despite having a heated post-race conversation with Kyle Busch who expressed his displeasure to Bell over the contact that sent Busch for a spin.
“Obviously once I got to [Byron], it was going to be tough to pass him,” Bell said. “I just needed a couple mistakes. William has been really, really good on the road courses and he was flawless when it mattered today. Obviously, [Kyle Busch]’s very upset, which he ended up turned around. I had no intentions of turning him. I’m sure we’ll talk it out before the next race.”
Ty Gibbs tied his career-best result in third place while Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick finished in the top five. AJ Allmendinger, Chastain, Buescher, Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. ended up in the top 10 in the final running order.
*Following the post-race inspection process, Justin Haley, who initially finished 17th, was demoted to 39th, dead last, due to his Rick Ware Racing entry not meeting minimum post-race weights.
There were 11 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured two cautions for four laps, both for stage break periods. In addition, 33 of 39 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the sixth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Martin Truex Jr. leads the regular-season standings by five points over Ty Gibbs, nine over Ryan Blaney, 14 over Denny Hamlin and 15 over Kyle Larson.
Results.
1. William Byron, 42 laps led
2. Christopher Bell, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. Ty Gibbs, one lap led
4. Alex Bowman
5. Tyler Reddick, one lap led
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. Ross Chastain, 10 laps led
8. Chris Buescher
9. Kyle Busch
10. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led
11. Joey Logano
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Chase Briscoe
14. Denny Hamlin, three laps led, Stage 2 winner
15. Bubba Wallace
16. Chase Elliott
17. Kyle Larson
18. Austin Cindric
19. Zane Smith
20. Shane van Gisbergen
21. John Hunter Nemechek
22. Carson Hocevar
23. Ryan Preece
24. Corey LaJoie
25. Austin Dillon
26. Todd Gilliland
27. Kaz Grala
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29. Kamui Kobayashi
30. Harrison Burton
31. Daniel Suarez
32. Erik Jones
33. Brad Keselowski
34. Noah Gragson, one lap down
35. Josh Berry, one lap down
36. Timmy Hill, two laps down
37. Daniel Hemric, two laps down
38. Michael McDowell – OUT, Steering
39. Justin Haley – Disqualified
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. The event is scheduled to occur next weekend on Easter Sunday, March 31, at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.
William Byron won the Busch Light Pole at Circuit of the Americas and will lead the field to green Sunday afternoon in the Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. It’s his first pole this season, his 13th career pole and his second-straight pole at the 3.426-mile track.
“I feel really happy with the way the week’s gone and I feel very fresh going into this race,” Byron said. “We’ve just got to go through the process of the race. Just manage the runs, have enough long-run speed. I feel we got a good balance with our car. We’ve been struggling to have smooth races, so this is a good start.”
The Hendrick Motorsports driver was fastest overall in his No. 24 Chevrolet during practice Saturday and he carried that momentum over to earn the top spot in the qualifying session with a lap of 94.696 mph.
Ty Gibbs will join him on the front row in the No. 54 Toyota as 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick will start third in the No. 45 Toyota. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell (No. 20 Toyota) and Spire Motorsports’ Corey LaJoie (No. 7 Chevrolet) claimed the remaining top five starting spots. It will be LaJoie’s best Cup Series career starting position.
Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10.
The highest qualifying Ford was the No. 2 Team Penske Ford driven by Austin Cindric who will start 11th. Rookie Shane van Gisbergen will start 12th in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. You can tune into the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Notes:
Kyle Larson was late to the qualifying session as the Hendrick Motorsports team had to change a rotor. Larson will start Sunday’s race in 15th.
Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi, who will be making his second NASCAR start, qualified 25th in the No. 50 23XI Racing Toyota.
NASCAR travels to Circuit of the Americas this weekend where all three national series will compete at the 3.41-mile track for the third consecutive year.
There have been three different Cup Series race winners at COTA – Hendrick Motorsport’s Chase Elliott (2021), Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain (2022) and defending race winner, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. Kyle Busch won the Xfinity Series race at COTA in 2021 and AJ Allmendinger has won the last two events, in 2022 and 2023.
Todd Gilliland won the inaugural Truck Series race in the Front Row Motorsports No. 38. Zane Smith drove to victory lane in the next two races at COTA in 2022 and 2023, also driving the No. 38.
Shane van Gisbergen, currently driving full-time in the Kaulig Racing No. 97 entry in the Xfinity Series, will also compete in the Cup Series race this weekend in the No. 16 Chevrolet.
NASCAR PressPass will be available post-qualifying and post-race for all series.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, March 22 3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice (Timed–20 minutes) All entries – FS1 4 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B/Multi-Vehicle/2 Rounds – FS1 5 p.m.: NASCAR Race Hub – FS1 5:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice (Timed-20 Minutes) All entries – FS1 6 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying, Impound, Group A & B/Multi-Vehicle/2 Rounds – FS1
Saturday, March 23 10 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Timed-2 Rounds) Groups A & B, 20 Minutes each FS2/PRN/SiriusXM 11:30 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound) Group A & B/Multi-Vehicle/2 Rounds FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
12:30 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1 1:30 p.m.: Truck Series XPEL 225 – Stages 12/26/42 Laps=143.22 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Purse: $794,098
4 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 – Stages 14/30/46 Laps=156.86 Miles FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $1,778,948
Sunday, March 24 2 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FS1 3 p.m.: NASCAR RaceDay – FOX 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Stages 15/30/68 Laps=231.88 Miles FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Purse: $9,740,789
1. Kyle Larson: Larson suffered a late pit lane penalty, damaging his hopes for a high finish, but salvaged a strong fifth-place at Bristol.
“The Bristol surface really did a number on tires,” Larson said. “So, it’s all about conserving your tires, which is difficult for race car drivers who just want to go fast. We have to toe the fine line between burning rubber without burning too much rubber.”
2. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex battled to the end, but couldn’t quite catch Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin and settled for second in the Food City 500.
“I think we’re all glad we’re not racing on dirt at Bristol,” Truex said. “I think the exciting racing that took place on Sunday is concrete evidence of the surface we should race on going forward.”
3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 163 laps, taking charge late and securing the win in the Food City 500, earning his first victory of the season.
“This race was all about tire management,” Hamlin said. “Luckily, I was able to manage mine best. That’s why, after the race, I requested that all queries for interviews be addressed as follows: ‘I’d like to speak to the manager.’”
4. Ryan Blaney: Blaney started on the pole and finished 16th in a wild Food City 500.
“I haven’t finished worse than 16th all year,” Blaney said. “I may be winless, but my consistency is unmatched. I guess that runs in the family because my father Dave also consistently did not win.”
5. Christopher Bell: Bell ran up front for most of the day at Bristol, but suffered a late flat tire and finished 10th in the Food City 500.
“Goodyear really had to stay busy to keep everyone supplied with tires,” Bell said. “There was a point in which every team was wondering if we would even get extra sets of tires. It went from ‘tire wear’ to ‘tire where?’”
6. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 15th at Bristol.
“My car featured the Busch Light Fishing paint scheme,” Chastain said. “Busch Light would like to remind people to not overdo it if you’re out on the water fishing while enjoying your Busch Light, lest you get ‘fish fried.’”
7. Chris Buescher: Buescher posted his third top-10 finish with a seventh in the Food City 500.
“The No. 17 Build Submarines Ford was strong all day at Bristol,” Buescher said. “Like every other driver, I ran much of the race worrying about whether I’d blow a tire or tires. So, I don’t know what was the biggest theme of the race, stress on tires, or stress about tires.”
8. William Byron: Disaster struck early for Byron at Bristol, as contact between Christopher Bell and Joey Logano sent Byron into the wall on Lap 20, resulting in a broken toe link. Byron finished 35th, eight laps down.
“I’m not happy about what happened,” Byron said. “Now, if you ask me about it, I’d rather not talk about it, which is the opposite of what Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s pool boy did in the 2022 Netflix series ‘God Forbid.’”
9. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs swept Stages 1 and 2 at Bristol, but tire troubles late cost him a chance for the win. He still posted a solid ninth in the Food City 500.
“Toyotas dominated at Bristol,” Gibbs said. “I’m sure that doesn’t make Ford and Chevy drivers happy. Their cars were made in America, but the drivers were mad in America.”
10. Chase Elliott: Eliott finished eight at Bristol.
“Tire wear created a lot of what is known as ‘marbles’ on the track,” Elliott said. “When you can actually see the pieces of your tires coming off and ending up on the track, that can be very scary. But as professional drivers, we have to deal with it. And the only way to deal with marbles on the track is to have marbles in your sack.”
In an event where tire management was the name of the game, Denny Hamlin implemented his racing roots by preserving his tires to the very end, which enabled him to fend off teammate Martin Truex Jr. and win a wild conclusion to the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 17.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led 13 times for a race-high 163 of 500-scheduled laps after starting in third place and quickly making his presence at the front known by leading for the first time on Lap 21. Then, amid a series of caution periods and tire wear issues that plagued several front-runners and stars, Hamlin preserved his tires and managed to carve his way through traffic and run up front.
He traded the lead on several occasions with his fellow competitors and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and stretched his worn tires further than his competitors before pitting under green with 53 laps remaining. After cycling back to the lead shortly after, he then managed to fend off a late challenge from Truex while leading 47 of the remaining 48 laps, which was enough for him to claim his first checkered flag of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, March 16, Ryan Blaney secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 124.954 mph in 15.356 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 124.792 mph in 15.376 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead to take the lead and managed to fend off both Berry and teammate Joey Logano for a full circuit around the Last Great Coliseum’s concrete surface to lead the first lap. Blaney and Berry battled dead even for the lead during the following two laps before Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Blaney who fell back to second in front of teammate Logano and Chase Briscoe while Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott joined the battle.
Through Laps 5 to 10, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney while Briscoe, Hamlin and Elliott were running in the top five. Behind, Michael McDowell moved up to sixth followed by Bubba Wallace and Truex while Logano fell back to ninth in front of Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and William Byron.
Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Berry was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin followed by Blaney, Elliott and Wallace while Chase Briscoe, Truex Jr., McDowell, Larson and Brad Keselowski were running in the top 10 ahead of Harrison Burton, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, William Byron and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen to 16th ahead of Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick.
A lap later, however, Hamlin overtook Berry for the lead. By then, Byron, who was running in the top 15, had fallen off the pace after he was hit by Logano, who was hit by Bell first, entering the backstretch, which resulted in Byron getting loose, scraping the backstretch’s outside wall and bumping across Bell before slipping towards the outside wall in Turn 3. Byron would pit with a broken toe link to his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the event’s first caution period flew on Lap 22 due to debris reported in between Turns 3 and 4.
During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted for service for the first time while Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid mixed strategies, Berry exited first with two fresh tires ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Truex, McDowell and Hamlin. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones was penalized for equipment interference.
When the event restarted under green on Lap 30, Reddick muscled ahead with the lead ahead of Berry and teammate Wallace. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, however, the caution quickly returned after Reddick received a bump from Berry and was pinned in a tight three-wide battle with Wallace and Berry for the lead entering the frontstretch that got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE spinning sideways in front of McDowell, Elliott and the field. With Reddick spinning below the track, he was then hit by rookie Zane Smith while Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger and rookie Carson Hocevar, all of whom were running towards the rear of the field, all wrecked across the frontstretch while stepping off the gas.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 38, Wallace fended off Berry from the outside lane to retain the lead while McDowell followed suit in a close third place. With Wallace still leading just past the Lap 40 mark, Hamlin and Elliott battled dead even for fourth place while Blaney and Ty Gibbs battled for sixth. Berry, however, would make his move beneath Wallace to reassume the lead through the frontstretch by Lap 41 while McDowell tried to follow suit. This allowed Hamlin to narrow the gap and challenge McDowell for third place, which he would succeed in doing so on Lap 44 while Blaney and Elliott joined the battle. Amid the early battles towards the front, Berry continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Wallace.
On Lap 47, Wallace cycled his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE past Berry to reassume the lead. Team owner Hamlin would quickly follow suit in second along with Blaney and Elliott as Berry settled in fifth by the Lap 50 mark, where Wallace would continue to lead. Three laps later, however, Hamlin assumed the lead in his No. 11 Express Oil Change Toyota Camry XSE following a strong move to the outside lane with four fresh tires entering the backstretch over Wallace. Blaney would also follow suit to move into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott while Wallace fell back to fourth as he was being challenged by Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe for more.
Just past the Lap 60 mark, Hamlin was overtaken by Elliott for the race lead in front of a stacked field jostling for positions amid two lanes. With Elliott leading in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Blaney battled Hamlin for second in front of Keselowski while Kyle Busch battled Wallace for fifth place.
Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the event’s second caution period flew due to debris reported across the frontstretch after Zane Smith blew a right-front tire. By then, Blaney had led Laps 65 to 68 before the lead was acquired by Kyle Busch, starting on Lap 69. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Busch returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Blaney and Elliott while Busch, Keselowski, Briscoe and Bell followed suit. Amid the pit stops, McDowell was penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall.
With the event restarting under green on Lap 79, Hamlin retained the lead after rocketing away from the field past the restart zone as Blaney and Elliott battled for second in front of Busch, Keselowski and Briscoe. With the field behind battling dead even amongst one another for spots, Hamlin would continue to lead until Blaney shoved his way into the lead through the frontstretch on Lap 83. Blaney would stretch his advantage to as high as two-tenths of a second during the following six laps until Hamlin cycled back into the lead on Lap 89. Behind, Kyle Busch prevailed in a tight battle with Elliott for third place as he tried to close in on the two leaders while Keselowski, Briscoe, Bell, Larson Ty Gibbs and Wallace followed suit in the top 10.
Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Hamlin stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Busch followed by Blaney, Elliott and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Gibbs, Larson and John Hunter Nemechek occupied the top 10 in front of Wallace, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Berry and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 16th ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Logano and Todd Gilliland while Ryan Preece, McDowell, Austin Cindric, LaJoie and Ross Chastain trailed in the top 25.
Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by over three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Busch as Blaney and Bell were running third and fourth, with teammates Elliott and Larson fending off Gibbs for fifth and sixth. Hamlin would then stretch his advantage to more than a second over Blaney, with he and Bell overtaking Busch by the Lap 115 mark. By then, Larson retained fifth in front of Gibbs while Elliott was overtaken by Keselowski and Buescher for seventh and eighth.
Then on Lap 120 and with the majority of the field being mired with tire wear concerns, Blaney overtook Hamlin for the lead as Gibbs and Larson followed suit while Hamlin went wide up the track in Turn 1. By then, Busch and Wallace were falling off the pace and losing a bevy of spots amid concerns of losing their tires towards the end of the first stage period. Gibbs then overtook Blaney for the lead on Lap 121 as he proceeded to lap Austin Cindric while Larson moved into the runner-up spot.
Two laps later, the caution flew after Busch spun in Turn 2 after he lost a right-tire tire to his No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, where Busch would proceed to reverse his entry through the backstretch before spinning it back to the front below the apron as he lost a lap to the leaders. Busch’s incident occurred after Hamlin had hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch due to getting bumped by Byron, with Hamlin also cutting a tire but proceeding straight.
Busch’s incident was enough for the first stage period to conclude under caution as Ty Gibbs captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Larson settled in second followed by Buescher, Keselowski and Nemechek while Blaney, Truex, Preece, Berry and Bell were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and for another round of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Larson edged Gibbs off of pit road to exit first while Keselowski, Blaney, Buescher and Nemechek followed suit.
The second stage period started on Lap 140 as Larson and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead with a brief advantage through the first two turns and the backstretch before Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE back into the lead during the following lap. John Hunter Nemechek would follow suit in second along with Berry, with the latter then battling Nemechek for second and challenging Gibbs for the lead by the Lap 145 while Larson fell back to fourth along with Nemechek. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr., who was quick to carve his way to the front, rocketed his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE into the lead by Lap 146 before teammate Gibbs cycled back into the lead by Lap 150. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries were running in the top five while Larson was battling for second in front of Bell, Truex and Hamlin.
On Lap 154 and with the field running stacked amongst one another through the high banks of Bristol, Larson assumed the lead. Gibbs would reassume the lead three laps later before teammate Hamlin cycled into the lead another two laps.
By Lap 175, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead four laps earlier, was leading by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Buescher while Keselowski, Larson, Logano, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Hamlin had fallen to 11th in front of Blaney, Haley, Daniel Suarez and Kaz Grala.
A lap later, the caution flew after Stenhouse, who was running in the top 20, was mired in a midfield stack-up that started with him making contact with McDowell through the backstretch before he made contact with Hemric and Zane Smith through Turn 4 as Stenhouse’s No. 47 Ball Park Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 emerged wobbling entering the frontstretch while Hemric and Smith hit the outside wall. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first followed by Gibbs and Truex while Bell, Gilliland, Larson, Logano and Keselowski followed suit. Not long after, Ty Gibbs made an extra pit stop for qualifying scuff tires to preserve his sticker tires.
As the field restarted under green on Lap 189, Buescher retained the lead from the outside lane over Bell and Truex. Buescher would continue to lead by the Lap 200 mark before Bell would zip by Buescher through the frontstretch during the following lap. Teammate Truex would follow suit in second over Buescher while Nemechek and Larson were running in the top five in front of a stacked field. A few laps later, Daniel Suarez nearly wrecked after making contact with Justin Haley through Turns 1 and 2 while battling for a top-10 spot, but he kept his car straight and dropped to 17th while the event remained under green flag conditions.
Twenty-five laps later and amid a series of jostling for positions occurring around the field, Truex cycled past teammate Bell for the lead. By then, teammate Gibbs carved his way back to third place followed by Nemechek and Keselowski while Logano was running sixth ahead of Berry, Hamlin, Grala and Larson.
Another three laps later, the caution flew after Kyle Busch, who was mired in 31st and a lap down, spun for a second time on his own in Turn 2. With nearly the entire field led by Bell pitting again, Bell retained the lead after exiting first with four fresh tires while Nemechek, Logano, Hamlin, Larson and Truex followed suit in the top six. Back on the track, however, Spire Motorsports’ LaJoie and Hocevar remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With the event restarting with 11 laps remaining to the second stage’s conclusion, LaJoie led the field entering the first turn before Bell used the four fresh tires to his advantage as he zipped his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE past the Spire entries for the lead. Logano would quickly follow suit in second along with Nemechek as the field stacked up while navigating past Hocevar and LaJoie.
On Lap 242, Logano gave Bell a bump through Turns 1 and 2 in his bid for the lead, but Bell withstood his ground as he retained the lead. Logano would give Bell another hit on the side during the following lap as they both battled dead even for the lead in front of Nemechek and Gibbs. With Logano claiming the lead and clearing Bell by Lap 245, Gibbs navigated his way past teammate Bell for second during the following lap while Keselowski and Nemechek battled Bell for third. In the process, Logano retained a narrow lead over Gibbs before Gibbs claimed the lead back on Lap 248.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 250, Ty Gibbs claimed his second consecutive Cup stage victory of the day and of the 2024 season. Keselowski overtook Logano through the frontstretch to claim second place while Nemechek, Bell, Truex, Hamlin, Larson, Wallace and Ryan Preece were scored in the top 10.
During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs peeled off the track to pit road. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road first with two fresh tires ahead of Logano, Truex, Bell, Gilliland, Nemechek and Keselowski, who was hit on the right front side by Austin Cindric while trying to exit his pit stall. Amid the tire concerns generated by all teams since the event’s start, Goodyear released an extra set of tires for all teams to use.
With 236 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Gibbs and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead over Truex while teammate Bell settled in third ahead of Logano, Nemechek and Keselowski. With the field stacked amid two lanes, Gibbs stretched his advantage to three-tenths of a second with 230 laps remaining. By then, Gilliland moved up to fourth as he was running in between Bell and Nemechek while Keselowski and Logano dropped to eighth and ninth as they were running behind Larson and Hamlin on the track. In addition, Ross Chastain was running 10th on two fresh tires as he was trying to retain the spot over Berry and Wallace.
With 115 laps remaining, Truex cycled past teammate Gibbs for the lead as teammate Bell trailed by half a second in third place. By then, teammate Hamlin was running in sixth place behind Nemechek and Larson while Berry and Haley cracked the top 10. In addition, Logano was plummeting in the leaderboard as he had dropped out of the top 20 while nearly making contact with teammate Blaney.
Down to the final 200 laps of the event, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while teammate Gibbs trailed by half a second in third place. Behind, Nemechek was in fourth place ahead of Hamlin, thus placing five Toyota competitors in the top five, while Keselowski, Larson, Berry, Gilliland and Haley were running in the top 10 ahead of Grala, Chastain, Blaney, McDowell and Wallace. Meanwhile, Logano dropped to 27th behind Austin Dillon and Buescher was in 20th while Elliott was mired in 23rd in between Hocevar and LaJoie.
Nine laps later, the caution flew after Berry, who was running in the top 10, slipped sideways and did a full 360 spin entering the backstretch, but managed to keep his No. 4 entry off the wall. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors led by Truex were running first through fourth in front of Keselowski, Larson and Nemechek. As the lead lap field led by Truex drove to pit road for service, Hamlin emerged with the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs followed by Larson while teammate Truex exited fifth ahead of Keselowski, Nemechek and Blaney.
With the event restarting under green with 178 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns before teammate Gibbs rocketed past Hamlin through the backstretch to return to the lead. Behind, Hamlin fended off teammates Bell and Truex to retain second while Larson tried to challenge Truex for fourth place as he was running ahead of Gilliland, Nemechek and McDowell. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin with 170 laps remaining.
With 160 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. With a three-wide action ensuing between Gilliland, Berry and Alex Bowman for top-15 spots and more battles ensuring around the Last Great Coliseum, Gibbs stabilized his narrow advantage to two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell, Larson, Keselowski and teammate Truex were running third to sixth with 150 laps remaining. Additionally, Haley was running seventh in front of McDowell, Blaney and Bubba Wallace while Kaz Grala and Nemechek settled in the top 12.
Through the final 135 laps of the event, Hamlin zipped by teammate Gibbs for the lead through the frontstretch. By then, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson each made separate contact with the outside wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions.
Two laps later, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to remain on the lead lap from the leader Hamlin, slipped up the track while avoiding Gilliland and made contact with Stenhouse, who was a lap down, that sent both for a spin in Turn 4 as Hamlin, Gibbs and Bell scattered to avoid the chaos. The caution period prompted the leaders to return to pit road for service, where Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs along with Larson, teammate Truex and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for an equipment interference penalty.
During the ensuing restart period with 121 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead after muscling away from teammates Bell and Gibbs, though Bell managed to muscle ahead and lead the proceeding lap before Hamlin reclaimed the top spot by the next lap as Gibbs battled teammate Bell in front of teammate Truex and Keselowski. As Hamlin retained the lead in front of his three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates with 110 laps remaining, Keselowski settled in fifth ahead of McDowell while Haley was running in seventh ahead of Blaney, Wallace and Nemechek.
Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead from teammate Hamlin a lap earlier, was leading ahead of teammates Bell, Hamlin and Truex, respectively, while Keselowski retained fifth ahead of McDowell, Haley, Nemechek, Wallace and Berry.
Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Bell as teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in the top four. Another nine laps later, Hamlin nearly took the lead from teammate Gibbs, but he had to move up the track to avoid hitting Gilliland as Gibbs retained the lead in front of Hamlin and Truex while Bell was in fourth ahead of Keselowski.
Not long after and with the concern of tire wear returning amongst the teams, Hamlin, who assumed the lead with 75 laps remaining, was leading over teammate Truex. By then, a bevy of competitors including Berry, Blaney, Bell, Larson and Gilliland were losing ground of the leaders due to tire wear. Gibbs would then lose ground of the lead as his tires were wearing out, which allowed Keselowski to move up to third place. With Briscoe also falling off the pace, Blaney fell off the pace after he lost a tire, which forced him to pit, and Larson pitted under green. Bell would then pit under green with 60 laps remaining due to a flat tire while Hamlin retained a narrow lead over teammate Truex as he was trying to preserve his tires.
With 55 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field being pinned a lap down after having made a pit stop under green for fresh tires, the top-six competitors led by Hamlin were scored on the lead lap. Two laps later, Hamlin surrendered the lead to pit under green as Hocevar made contact with the wall, though the event remained under green flag conditions. Teammate Truex would pit another two laps later along with Keselowski. Once Alex Bowman pitted from the lead with 49 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead.
Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over teammate Truex while Berry, Keselowski and Larson were scored in the top five ahead of Buescher, Bell, Nemechek, Haley and Bowman. Hamlin’s advantage would then shrink to three-tenths of a second over Truex with 30 laps remaining as they were mired in lapped traffic.
With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex as they both continued to be mired in lapped traffic. With Keselowski scored in third ahead of Berry and Larson, Hamlin managed to navigate his way through the lapped traffic to fend off Truex and retain the lead with 10 laps remaining.
Down to the final five laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Truex as both cleared a majority of the lapped traffic, but the latter kept the former within his sights.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained as the leader by half a second over Truex. With Truex unable to mount a final lap charge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for a final circuit, Hamlin was able to preserve his tires and navigate his way around the Bristol circuit smoothly for a final time as he claimed the checkered flag by a second over Truex.
With the victory, Hamlin, who became the fifth winner through the 2024 season’s first five events, recorded his 52nd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his fourth at Bristol, with the victory being his first in the spring, and his first since winning the Bristol Night Race last September. The 2024 Cup season marks Hamlin’s 18th season where he has achieved at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series as he also recorded the second consecutive victory in recent weeks for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.
Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“[Tire management], That’s what I grew up doing here in the short tracks of the whole mid-Atlantic [region],” Hamlin said on FOX. “South Boston [Speedway], Martinsville [Speedway], all those tracks. It’s just what I grew up doing. Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances, but obviously, the veteran in Martin [Truex Jr.], he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car. Great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them. Man, it feels so good to win at Bristol.”
Truex, who has finished in the top 15 through this season’s first four-scheduled events, came home with a strong runner-up result for his first top-five finish of the 2024 campaign.
“Just really proud of my team, everybody on our Auto-Owners Camry,” Truex said. “[Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a great job this weekend in having a plan coming here. I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol. The difference was just coming down to the pits so far behind Denny. I had to use mine [tires] up more than him on the last run and then, the last four or five laps of the race, my right rear [tire] was cored. We gave it a hell of an effort. I had a lot of fun today. Second always hurts a little, but it’s a really good run for us here. It’s been a great season so far for us.”
Keselowski settled in third place while Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished in the top five and as the final group of competitors to finish on the lead lap. John Hunter Nemechek, Buescher, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell, who were all a lap down, finished in the top 10.
Notably, Berry finished 12th, pole-sitter Blaney ended up 16th, Logano fell back to 22nd and Kyle Busch ended up 25th behind teammate Austin Dillon.
There were a race-record 54 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 98 laps. In addition, only five of the 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the fifth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson and Truex Jr. are tied for the regular-season lead in the points standings as they are both ahead by seven points over Ty Gibbs, eight over Ryan Blaney and 12 over Denny Hamlin.
Results.
1. Denny Hamlin, 163 laps led
2. Martin Truex Jr., 54 laps led
3. Brad Keselowski, one lap led
4. Alex Bowman, three laps led
5. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led
6. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down
7. Chris Buescher, one lap down, 17 laps led
8. Chase Elliott, one lap down, five laps led
9. Ty Gibbs, one lap down, 137 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
10. Christopher Bell, one lap down, 29 laps led
11. Michael McDowell, one lap down
12. Josh Berry, one lap down, 25 laps led
13. Chase Briscoe, two laps down
14. Ryan Preece, two laps down
15. Ross Chastain, two laps down
16. Ryan Blaney, two laps down, 14 laps led
17. Justin Haley, two laps down
18. Daniel Suarez, two laps down
19. Kaz Grala, two laps down
20. Erik Jones, two laps down
21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down, four laps led
22. Joey Logano, two laps down, five laps led
23. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down
24. Austin Dillon, two laps down
25. Kyle Busch, two laps down, five laps led
26. Todd Gilliland, three laps down
27. Carson Hocevar, three laps down
28. Daniel Hemric, four laps down
29. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, 15 laps led
30. Tyler Reddick, five laps down, four laps led
31. Austin Cindric, five laps down
32. Harrison Burton, five laps down
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down
34. Noah Gragson, six laps down
35. William Byron, eight laps down
36. Zane Smith – OUT, Engine
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, March 24, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Ryan Blaney captured the Busch Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday evening with a lap time of 15.356 seconds at 124.954 mph in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. It is his first pole at Bristol and the 10th of his career.
Qualifying was challenging as the resin on the inside lane of the concrete track seemed to deteriorate quickly, providing significantly less grip from start to finish during the session.
“Proud of this whole Menards group”, Blaney said. “Our Ford Mustang was fast all day – really good in Round 1 [of qualifying] and made some adjustments for the second round. The track really caught everybody by surprise, honestly. The time fall-off and grip loss behind the wheel was incredible, it was huge. So it was, like, who could not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?
“That was fun, it was fun working through it. I wish I could do it over again and try to make our car even better because I think there was still some more out there. Proud of everybody at Menards, Ford, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, Wabash, Wurth and everybody that makes it possible. It’s cool to get our first pole of the year and excited to get going tomorrow.”
“The track kind of caught everybody by surprise,” Blaney said. “The time fall-off and the grip loss behind the wheel was incredible. It was like, ‘Who can not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?’ Great to get our first pole of the year, and ready to go tomorrow.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry was second fastest in the No. 4 Ford (124.792 mph) and will start beside Blaney on the front row, claiming his best Cup Series career start.
“It means a lot,” Berry said after qualifying. “Obviously being at Bristol that’s really cool, but anywhere at this point it would mean a lot. These guys have been working really hard and they kept me jacked up and we’ve been putting in the work trying to get better. We just need a mistake-free day tomorrow. If we do that, we’ll be in contention.”
Denny Hamlin was third quickest (124.178 mph) in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano (123.746 mph) in the No. 22 Ford and Chase Elliott (122.882 mph) in the No. 8 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 in the qualifying session.
The green flag for the Food City 500 is set for 3:47 p.m. ET Sunday and will be televised on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM Radio.
The NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series head to Bristol Motor Speedway this weekend while the Xfinity Series enjoys a week off from competition.
Expect Cup Series qualifying to be intense as 78% of the Cup races at Bristol have been won by drivers starting 10th or better. Busch Light Pole Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, March 16 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Kyle Busch will have a busy weekend as he will also compete in the Truck Series event on Saturday, driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet entry as a prelude to the Cup Series race on Sunday. Busch holds the Truck Series qualifying record at Bristol (91.919 mph on 08/21/2014), has won the most poles (4), the most top-fives (7) and has the most wins (5).
NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-practice and qualifying.
All times are Eastern.
Saturday, March 16 3 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS1/SiriusXM Group 1: 15 Minutes – Group 2: 15 Minutes 3:40 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS1/SiriusXM All Entries: Single Vehicle/2 Laps (Impound)
5 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Group A: 20 Minutes – Group B: 20 Minutes 5:50 p.m.: Qualifying FS1/PRN/SiriusXM Group A & B: Single Vehicle/2 Laps/2 Rounds (Impound)
8 p.m.: Weather Guard Truck Race – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM Distance: 133.25 miles (250 Laps) Stages end on Laps 65, 130, 250 Purse: $761,274
Sunday, March 17 3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Food City 500 – FOX/PRN/SiriusXM Distance: 266.5 miles (500 laps) Stages end on Laps 125, 250, 500 Purse: $8,182,531
