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  • Ross Chastain snaps yearlong winless drought with victory at Kansas

    Ross Chastain snaps yearlong winless drought with victory at Kansas

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, 52 laps led

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

    3. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

    4. Ryan Blaney, three laps led

    5. Ty Gibbs, five laps led

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

    7. Christopher Bell, 122 laps led

    8. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    9. Chase Elliott

    10. Zane Smith, three laps led

    11. Chris Buescher

    12. Austin Dillon

    13. Daniel Suarez

    14. Joey Logano, three laps led

    15. Corey LaJoie

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. Bubba Wallace

    18. Noah Gragson

    19. Kyle Busch, 29 laps led

    20. Daniel Hemric

    21. Ty Dillon

    22. Brad Keselowski, four laps led

    23. Harrison Burton

    24. Chase Briscoe

    25. Tyler Reddick, seven laps led

    26. Kyle Larson

    27. Todd Gilliland

    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    29. Michael McDowell

    30. John Hunter Nemechek

    31. Kaz Grala

    32. Carson Hocevar

    33. Justin Haley, one lap down

    34. Austin Cindric, four laps down

    35. Erik Jones, four laps down

    36. Jimmie Johnson, 10 laps down

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

    38. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. William Byron +34

    2. Ryan Blaney +28

    3. Christopher Bell +28

    4. Kyle Larson +18

    5. Denny Hamlin +11

    6. Alex Bowman +8

    7. Chase Elliott +4

    8. Joey Logano +4

    9. Tyler Reddick -4

    10. Daniel Suarez -14

    11. Chase Briscoe -25

    12. Austin Cindric -29

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

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule at Kansas Speedway and Playoff Updates

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule at Kansas Speedway and Playoff Updates

    All times are Eastern.

    NASCAR travels to Kansas Speedway this weekend with a full schedule of competition.
    The ARCA Menards Series will headline Friday’s events with the Reese’s 150 at 5:30 p.m. It will be followed by the Craftsman Truck Series Kubota Tractor 200 at 8:30 p.m., the last race in the series Round of 10.

    The Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 is the featured race on Saturday and the first event in the series Playoffs Round of 12.

    The Cup Series will close out the weekend with the Hollywood Casino 400 Presented by ESPN BET as their Round of 12 begins.

    Friday, Sept. 27

    1:10 p.m.: ARCA Practice
    2:10 p.m.: ARC Qualifying
    3:30 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS2
    4 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2
    5:30 p.m.: ARCA Reese’s 150 – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    8:30 p.m.: Truck Series Kubota Tractor 200 – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Truck Series Race

    Saturday, Sept. 28

    11:05 a.m.: Xfinity Practice – NBC Sports App
    11:35 a.m.: Xfinity Qualifying – NBC Sports App

    1:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    1:45 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Cup Series Qualifying

    4:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Xfinity Series Race

    Sunday, Sept. 29
    3 p.m.: Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400
    USA/MRN/ SiriusXM/ NBC Sports App
    NASCAR Press Pass: Post Cup Series Race

    Playoff Standings:

    Kyle Larson won the Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway and advanced to the Round of 12 in the Playoffs, along with Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Austin Cindric, Daniel, Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe.
    Harrison Burton, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Brad Keselowski were eliminated from the Playoffs.

    Cup Series Playoffs Round of 12 (Kansas, Talladega, Charlotte)
    Kyle Larson +39
    Christopher Bell +24
    Tyler Reddick +20
    William Byron +14
    Ryan Blaney +11
    Denny Hamlin +7
    Chase Elliott +6
    Joey Logano +4

    Austin Cindric -4
    Daniel Suarez -6
    Alex Bowman -7
    Chase Briscoe -7

    Xfinity Series Playoffs Round of 12 (Kansas, Talladega, Charlotte)
    Justin Allgaier +27
    Cole Custer +21
    Austin Hill +18
    Chandler Smith +17
    Shane van Gisbergen +10
    Jesse Love +6
    Sam Mayer +4
    Riley Herbst +3

    Sheldon Creed -3
    AJ Allmendinger -4
    Sammy Smith -9
    Parker Kligerman -12

    Truck Series Playoffs Round of 10 (Milwaukee Mile, Bristol, Kansas)
    Christian Eckes +95
    Corey Heim +80
    Nicholas Sanchez +63
    Ty Majeski +58
    Rajah Caruth +35
    Tyler Ankrum +25
    Taylor Gray +23
    Grant Enfinger +7

    Daniel Dye -7
    Ben Rhodes -12

  • Briscoe, Hamlin and Suarez claim final Round of 12 berths in 2024 Cup Playoffs

    Briscoe, Hamlin and Suarez claim final Round of 12 berths in 2024 Cup Playoffs

    Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez maintained their 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship hopes for another three weeks as the trio capped off the Round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race with on-track results that enabled them all to transfer into the Playoff’s Round of 12 on Saturday, September 21.

    For Briscoe, who raced his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs overall after winning the regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway, the Playoffs commenced on a rough note for the Mitchell, Indiana, native after he was involved in a harrowing accident by T-boning into Playoff contender Kyle Larson on Lap 55 of 260 during the Playoff’s opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Strapped with a 21-point deficit with a 38th-place result from Atlanta, Briscoe redeemed himself during the following Playoff event at Watkins Glen International as he dodged a series of on-track carnages that affected a bevy of Playoff contenders to finish in sixth place. The top-10 run enabled him to boost his way up above the top-12 cutline and with a six-point advantage entering the Round of 16 finale at Bristol.

    Once Briscoe took the green flag from fifth place at Bristol, he proceeded to rack up a total of seven stage points with a pair of top-10 runs recorded during both stage periods. Briscoe’s strong night of racing within the top-10 mark then hit a minor roadblock during the final caution period that started with 172 laps remaining when he dropped to within the top-15 mark amid a slow pit service from his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team.

    From the start of the final restart period with 163 laps remaining, Briscoe made up the lost ground by racing his way back into the top 10. Keeping his car intact for the remainder of the event, Briscoe steered his No. 14 Ford without a rearview camera to an eighth-place result, which was enough for him to claim the 12th and final transfer spot into the Playoff’s Round of 12 by 11 points.

    With his accomplishment, Briscoe, who also transferred past the Round of 12 and as high as up to the Round of 8 during his first Playoff bid in 2022, continues to set his sights on making the Championship 4 round and contending for a Cup Series championship for Stewart-Haas Racing, with the organization set to be rebranded to Haas Factory Team and downsized to a single entry for the 2025 season while Briscoe prepares to transition to Joe Gibbs Racing.

    “Honestly, [the race] wasn’t really stressful,” Briscoe said after the race on USA Network. “Even when we had that bad pit stop, we came out 13th or 14th and I felt like I could drive [the car] back up there. Overall, a great night for us. Hopefully, people will start taking us [seriously]. I truthfully feel like we can battle for the championship, so hopefully, tonight proved that. [I] Hate that we had to dig ourselves out of a hole after Atlanta, but hopefully, we can go on to Kansas and start this next round strong. I feel like we can beat anybody on any given day when we put it together from start to finish.”

    After initially being placed under a microscope with back-to-back finishes outside the top 20 that nearly had his championship hopes of the 2024 season diminished, Denny Hamlin responded by finishing fourth at Bristol and racing his way into the Round of 12 by 15 points.

    Taking the green flag from eighth place and with a six-point deficit to start the Bristol event, Hamlin took care of business for the first half of the event by racking up a total of 13 stage points with finishes of eighth and third, respectively, during the first two rounds.

    Restarting inside the top-five mark at the start of the final stage period with 240 laps remaining, Hamlin kept his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota racing towards the front like he had been throughout the first half of the event. Despite being overtaken by his 23XI Racing competitor Bubba Wallace for third place in the closing laps, Hamlin would retain a fourth place on the track as he leaped his way back inside the top-12 cutline and maintained his title hopes with an automatic pass to the Round of 12.

    With his accomplishment, Hamlin, who is in his 19th consecutive season in the Cup Series level, transferred into the Round of 12 for the 10th time in his career. In a season where he notched three regular-season victories, he now sets his sights forward and in pursuit of a first elusive Cup Series championship.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “My aspiration was to win [the race],” Hamlin said. “It looked like [Larson] was better than all of us. Solid car. I thought we were really good towards the middle stages and then there at the end, [I] just got too loose and couldn’t hang on to what we had there. Overall, top-five day. Good stage points. Kind of in the mix. Just not really as good as what we’ve been here in the last couple of times, but overall, thank this whole FedEx Toyota team for giving me something I can move on with. It’s all offense from this point forward.”

    Lastly, Daniel Suarez was left feeling like a sole survivor after utilizing a 36-point advantage he had before Bristol to transfer his way into the Round of 12 by a mere 11 points amid a struggling event that was capped off with a 30th-place run.

    Suarez, who finished second and 13th, respectively, throughout the Round of 16’s first two events, rolled off the starting grid in 35th place and proceeded to spend the first half of the event both inside and outside of the top-30 mark on the track. By then, he was lapped twice by the leader Larson and was unable to recover to score any stage points during the event’s two stage periods, but he remained within contention of claiming a final berth into the Round of 12.  

    Despite cycling his way back to gain one of his lost laps earlier, Suarez would fall four laps behind Larson. During the closing laps, however, he battled Ty Gibbs, who was trying to overthrow Suarez in the Playoff standings and prevented him from overtaking him as Gibbs needed more spots from the top-10 mark to gain more points on Suarez. With Gibbs fading in the closing laps and eventually dropping to 15th place when the checkered flag flew, Suarez, who dropped to 31st place and was flirting between being scored outside and inside the Playoff cutline, was able to remain inside the cutline.

    With the battle for his title hopes continuing into the Round of 12, Suarez, who also transferred as high as into the Round of 12 during his first Playoff run in 2022, expressed his relief on capping off his long weekend and event with a griding duel to fend off Ty Gibbs for a Playoff transfer spot. He also emphasized and recognized the strong Playoff start generated by him and his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet team that enabled them to not lose any additional points.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Tonight] was a struggle,” Suarez said. “Since yesterday when we unloaded the car for first practice, we just didn’t have the speed. With the short amount of practice, qualifying and going through the race, if you don’t have the speed out of the trailer, it’s very, very difficult to bring [the car] back to speed. We made it better, but it wasn’t good enough. We were running 30th, 28th, 32nd all night long and that was all we had. Luckily, we had a great [run at] Atlanta, decent [finish] at Watkins Glen after a broken wheel. We were able to build a [points] cushion and we definitely used every single point out of that cushion. I can only control so much. I can only control what the No. 99 can do and everything else is out of my hands. I wasn’t fast enough to run away from [Gibbs], so I had to play games to be able to affect him as much as possible in a clean way. Luckily, it worked out good. We have to relax a little bit and focus on the next round.”

    With the Round of 16 in the rearview mirror, Chase Briscoe, Denny Hamlin and Daniel Suarez join Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick, William Byron and Joey Logano as 12 competitors to square off against one another throughout the Playoff’s Round of 12 as all continue their pursuit for the 2024 Cup Series championship.

    The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff’s Round of 12 is scheduled to commence next Sunday, September 29, at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400 which will air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr. fall short of transferring into Playoff’s Round of 12

    Ty Gibbs, Martin Truex Jr. fall short of transferring into Playoff’s Round of 12

    The 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21, delivered mixed emotions from the Joe Gibbs Racing camp. As Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin raced their way into the Playoff’s Round of 12, teammates Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. were the first two competitors left on the outside looking in as their championship hopes of the season evaporated.

    After finishing 17th and 22nd, respectively, during the Round of 16’s first two events, Gibbs, who came into Bristol with a six-point advantage and clinging onto the final transfer spot to the Round of 12, was in position to transfer into the next round as he spent a majority of the first stage period racing within the top-10 mark.

    Then, despite racking up three stage points by finishing eighth after the first stage period, Gibbs’ Playoff run hit a roadblock due to the Charlotte native speeding on pit road and being sent to the rear of the field. Despite dropping below the cutline in the Playoff standings and spending a majority of the second stage period being mired outside the top-20 mark, Gibbs remained within striking contention as he proceeded to cap off the second stage period in 18th place.

    Throughout the final stage period, Gibbs would methodically carve his way from the top-20 mark to racing inside the top-10. As the laps dwindled amid a long green-flag run to the finish, however, Gibbs’ handling started to give in, which dropped the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota out of the top 10 mark. When the checkered flag flew, Gibbs crossed the finish line in 15th place, one lap down, and was the first competitor to be left outside of the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings by 11 points.

    The early exit from the Playoffs left Gibbs disappointed as this season marks his first time qualifying for a Cup Series Playoffs, where he made the postseason on the strengths of seven top-five results and 11 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch. Having notched the 2023 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, Gibbs now has seven races remaining on the 2024 schedule to notch his first career victory in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “It was just unfortunate there,” Gibbs said on USA Network. “I felt like we were really good [in] practice and qualifying. [I was] Just a little bit too loose tonight. [The car] fired off too tight. Just unfortunate. Speeding penalty’s on me. My fault. Proud of these [No. 54] guys, all the effort they’ve given me and we’ll keep hammering down.”

    Like Gibbs, teammate Martin Truex Jr. was also hampered with a pit road speeding penalty, the latter of which occurred late in the event, that cost him an opportunity to transfer past the Playoff’s Round of 16.

    Truex, who came into Bristol 14 points below the cutline after finishing 35th and 20th, respectively, throughout the Round of 16, had a strong performance being generated on the track. With finishes of fourth and second in both stage periods and accumulating 16 stage points, he was in a prime position of both racing his way into the next Playoff round and contending for the victory.

    Then during a late caution period before the final restart period with 130 laps remaining, Truex’s strong night of racing within the top five evaporated as he was penalized for speeding on pit road after he initially exited pit road in second place behind Kyle Larson. After restarting towards the tail end of the field following his pit road penalty, Truex never recovered as he would eventually be lapped by Larson. Ultimately, he would proceed to finish in 24th place and as the 14th competitor scored a lap down, which was enough to make him the second competitor in line to be eliminated from the Playoffs and missing it by 21 points.

    The disappointment of not transferring into the Round of 12 was apparent on Truex’s face, with the competitor accepting the blame for the late error that cost him and his No. 19 Toyota team a spot into the next Playoff round. The disappointment was also apparent as the 2017 Cup Series champion will not contend for a second title in his 19th and final full-time season competing in NASCAR’s premier series. Like Gibbs, Truex, whose last Cup victory occurred at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2023, has seven races remaining on this year’s schedule to claim at least one race victory in his final full-time campaign.

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “It’s really tough when it’s 0.09 miles per hour that screws your whole chance at a good season up,” Truex said. “I don’t know how that happened. It’s on me. Obviously, it’s my mistake. [The No. 19 team] said that we were gonna have to run second or third there to have a chance [of advancing] and I don’t know if we could’ve done it, but it would’ve been nice to see. Just really sad for my guys. They work so hard. We had a really strong car tonight. We got a lot of stage points. We did what we needed to do there. [I] Hate that I screwed it up. It would’ve been fun to have a fighting chance. From here, we’ll just go on and try to race hard and hopefully get back to Victory Lane before it’s all said and done.”

    Overall, Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. join Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton as the first four set of competitors to be eliminated from the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs following the Round of 16.

    With their championship hopes of the season diminished, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season for both Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. continues with the next scheduled event at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 29, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Night Race

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Night Race

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stages 1 and 2 and led 462 of 500 laps on his way to a dominant win in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

    “I think I sent a message to the rest of the field,” Larson said. “And I also sent a message to Max Verstappen. That message to Max was this: You may be able to ‘F’ in a press conference, but you can’t ‘F’ with me.”

    2. Christopher Bell: Bell finished fifth in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

    “I clinched a spot in the Round Of 12 early in Stage 2,” Bell said. “That didn’t mean I took my foot off the gas. I had it floored, but it didn’t seem to matter, because Kyle Larson throttled everybody.”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished fourth at Bristol and secured a spot in the Playoffs Round Of 12.

    “I really dug myself a hole in the first two playoff races,” Hamlin said. “Had I not advanced, that would have been convenient because I would have just buried my championship hopes.”

    4. Joey Logano: Logano spun in Stage 2 running 12th, ending his hopes for a win, and finished 28th.

    “Having already qualified for the Round Of 12,” Logano said, “I raced at Bristol with no pressure. So I had nothing to worry about, even when that loose cannon Austin Dillon was behind me.”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished second at Bristol.

    “You can best believe the folks down at the Dawsonville Pool Room were watching the race,” Elliott said. “And viewed through their beer goggles, they probably thought I won.”

    6. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe was strong all night at Bristol and recorded an eight, good enough to move him into the Round Of 12.

    “Daniel Hemric’s No. 31 Chevy had Mountain Dew and Doritos sponsorship,” Bell said. “Is it really smart for those companies to advertise their product at a NASCAR race? I mean, most NASCAR fans already have those products. They call it ‘breakfast.’”

    7. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished 20th at Bristol, easily advancing to Round 2 of the Playoffs.

    “You have to be on your toes for 500 miles at Bristol,” Reddick said. “It’s a grueling race. When it was done, I was pooped. That’s better than what happened at Darlington, when after the race, what I said was ‘I pooped.’”

    8. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished sixth at Bristol.

    “They call Bristol Motor Speedway the ‘Last Great Colosseum,’” Blaney said. “Does that make us all gladiators? If so, I’m guessing the Romans would not have been entertained, because there was not a lick of fighting.”

    9. Alex Bowman: Bowman started on the pole and finished ninth at Bristol. He advanced to the Round Of 12.

    “I was actually able to clinch in Stage 2,” Bowman said. “So I didn’t have to sweat it out like some drivers. That’s not to say I didn’t sweat. I did. And me talking about my sweat was way more exciting than a race that Kyle Larson made sooo boring.”

    10. Chris Buescher: Buescher finished 14th in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race.

    “As far as tire wear goes,” Buescher said, “the difference in the Bristol spring and the Bristol fall race was like night and day.”

  • Larson thunders to dominant Cup victory at Bristol Night Race; Playoff’s Round of 12 field set

    Larson thunders to dominant Cup victory at Bristol Night Race; Playoff’s Round of 12 field set

    Kyle Larson annihilated his competition and thundered his way into the Playoff’s Round of 12 with a dominant victory in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led four times for a race-high 462 of 500-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside teammate Alex Bowman on the front row. From the moment Larson first assumed the lead on Lap 33 from Bowman, the race was his to lose.

    He proceeded to sweep both stage periods, maintain the top spot following every pit service performed by his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team and rocket away from the field through every restart he was leading, including the final one with 163 laps remaining. He lapped all but nine of 37 starters to cruise to his fifth Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and convincingly transfer his way into the second round of the 2024 Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, September 20, Playoff contender Alex Bowman notched his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the fifth of his career with a pole-winning lap at 126.720 mph in 15.142 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender and teammate Kyle Larson, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 126.378 mph in 15.183 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced under the lights, Alex Bowman muscled ahead from teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron through the first two turns and the backstretch. He navigated his way through Turns 3 and 4, where he led the first lap, while Playoff contender Martin Truex Jr. was up to second place in front of Larson. As Larson proceeded to overtake Truex for the runner-up spot during the following lap, Byron battled Playoff Christopher Bell to retain fourth place.

    Four laps later, the event’s first caution period flew when John Hunter Nemechek got loose after he nearly made contact with the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, and then proceeded to spin and make rear-end contact with the outside wall in Turn 4.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 10, Bowman muscled ahead from the field to retain the lead while Truex and Larson battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Byron and Bell trailed in the top five ahead of Playoff contender Chase Briscoe and rookie Carson Hocevar as Bubba Wallace, Corey LaJoie and Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Chase Elliott followed suit.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Bowman was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Larson as Truex, teammate Byron and Briscoe were scored in the top five ahead of Hocevar, Bell, Wallace, Hamlin and LaJoie. Behind, Ty Gibbs, Elliott, Playoff contender Joey Logano, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece were running in the top 15 ahead of Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Ross Chastain, AJ Allmendinger and Playoff contender Tyler Reddick. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Suarez were mired within the top-30 as Playoff rookie Harrison Burton was mired outside the top-30 mark.

    Ten laps later, Bowman maintained a steady advantage of two-tenths of a second over teammate Larson while Playoff contenders Truex, Byron and Briscoe followed suit in the top five. Another four laps later, Larson used the outside lane to navigate his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 past Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and assume the lead. Larson would proceed to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Bowman at the Lap 40 mark while Truex, Byron and Briscoe continued to trail in the top-five mark ahead of Bell.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic and made contact with Nemechek while lapping him a few laps earlier, was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Bowman followed by Truex, Byron and Bell while Briscoe, Hocevar, Wallace, Hamlin and Gibbs occupied the top-10 spots. Behind, LaJoie, Elliott, Logano, Gragson and Preece were running in the top 15 as Blaney, McDowell, Chastain, Reddick and Allmendinger were racing in the top 20 ahead of Chris Buescher, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Watkins Glen International. With 12 of 16 Playoff contenders running inside the top-20 mark on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders including Cindric, Keselowski, Suarez and Harrison Burton were mired in 24th, 27th, 28th and 30th, respectively.

    Fifteen laps later, the top-eight spots on the track were occupied by Playoff contenders as Larson led Bowman, Truex, Byron, Bell, Briscoe, Hamlin and Gibbs, respectively. With Playoff Suarez lapped by Larson in 31st place, Keselowski and Burton were in jeopardy of being lapped while mired in 27th and 28th, respectively, while Cindric was still in 23rd place. As the remaining Playoff contenders including Elliott, Logano, Blaney and Reddick were mired in the top-20 mark on the track, Larson continued to lead at the Lap 75 mark.

    By Lap 85, Larson stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over teammate Bowman as Playoff contenders Truex, Byron, Bell, Briscoe, Hamlin and Gibbs all followed suit in the top eight while trailing the lead by within four seconds. Behind, both Wallace and Hocevar continued to run as the highest-running non-Playoff contenders on the track and in the top-10 mark while Playoff contender Harrison Burton was about to be lapped by Larson.

    At the Lap 100 mark, nine of the top-10 spots on the track were occupied by Playoff contenders as Larson extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over teammate Bowman as Truex, Bell, Byron, Briscoe, Hamin, Gibbs and Elliott were all in the mix. By then, Wallace was the highest non-Playoff contender on the track in ninth place. Meanwhile, teammates Blaney and Logano were racing 13th and 14th, respectively, while Reddick and Cindric continued to trail in 19th and 23rd, respectively. In addition, Keselowski was trying to fend off the leader Larson to remain on the lead lap in 27th place while Burton and Suarez, both of whom were scored a lap down, were mired in 30th and 31st, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Larson continued to lead by more than one-and-a-half seconds over teammate Bowman while Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE up to third place ahead of teammate Truex and Byron. Behind, Blaney moved up to 11th place and Cindric gained two spots to 21st place while Keselowski was scored a lap down in 27th place. With nine Playoff contenders continuing to occupy nine top-10 spots on the track while jostling amongst one another for positions, Larson kept his lead to more than a second by the Lap 115 mark.  

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 125, Larson, who came into the event 26 points above the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, captured his 11th Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Bowman followed suit in second ahead of a bevy of Playoff contenders that included Bell, Truex, Byron, Hamlin, Briscoe, Gibbs and Elliott while Wallace retained 10th place. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Blaney, Logano, Reddick, Cindric, Keselowski, Burton and Suarez were mired in 11th, 14th, 19th, 21st, 27th, 29th and 30th, respectively, as the latter three were scored a lap down.

    With his third-place result in the first stage period that awarded him eight stage points, Christopher Bell clinched his spot into the Round of 12 in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, thus joining Joey Logano as the former continues his pursuit for his first championship in NASCAR’s premier series.

    Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Larson pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after he exited pit road first while being followed by Bell, Bowman, Truex, Byron, Gibbs, Hamlin, Wallace, Briscoe and Elliott, respectively. Amid the pit stops, Playoff Ty Gibbs along with rookie Josh Berry and Kyle Busch were all sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Rookie Zane Smith was also penalized for pitting outside of his pit box.

    The second stage period started on Lap 135 as Larson and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Larson fended off Bell to retain the lead as he proceeded to lead the following lap. With the field behind jostling for spots, Larson proceeded to lead through the Lap 140 mark while Bell, Truex and Bowman followed suit in the top four. Behind, Byron and Wallace battled for fifth place as Hamlin tried to fend off Briscoe, Logano, Elliott and Blaney for seventh place.

    Through the first 150 scheduled laps, Playoff contenders occupied the top 11 spots on the track as Larson was leading ahead of rivals Bell, Truex, Bowman and Hamlin while Wallace was the lone non-Playoff contender in the mix in sixth place. Behind, Briscoe, Byron, Logano, Blaney and Elliott followed suit in the top 11 while Cindric and Reddick trailed in 17th and 18th, respectively. As Gibbs was mired in 24th following his pit road speeding penalty, the remaining Playoff contenders including Keselowski, Burton and Suarez were mired in 27th, 29th and 34th, respectively.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Bell while Truex, Hamlin, Bowman and Briscoe trailed within four seconds in the top-six mark on the track. As Wallace slipped to seventh, he remained ahead of Blaney, Byron, Elliott and Logano.

    Another 10 laps later, Larson continued to lead by a second in Bell as Truex, Hamlin, Bowman and Briscoe continued to follow suit in the top six ahead of Wallace, Blaney, Byron, Elliott and Logano. Meanwhile, Cindric and Reddick were mired in 17th and 18th, respectively, and Gibbs was still mired in 23rd place as he was in jeopardy of being lapped by Larson.

    Towards the Lap 185 mark, Larson, who continued to weave his way through lapped traffic, had his advantage decrease to four-tenths of a second over Bell while Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE up to third place ahead of Truex, Bowman and Briscoe. By then, Suarez, who was mired in 33rd place, was lapped for a second time by Larson as Larson, who proceeded to lead the Lap 190 mark, was slowly catching Gibbs, who was still racing in 23rd place, to pin him a lap down.

    At the Lap 200 mark, Larson retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Bell as the latter was having teammate Hamlin closing in for the runner-up spot. By then, Playoff contenders Briscoe, Bowman, Blaney, Elliott, Byron and Logano continued to run inside the top-11 mark on the track while Wallace remained as the highest non-Playoff contender in seventh place. By then, Reddick, Cindric and Gibbs continued to trail in 17th, 18th and 23rd, respectively, while Keselowski, Burton and Suarez were off the lead lap category in 28th, 30th and 32nd, respectively.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson slightly stretched his advantage to a second over Bell as third-place Hamlin trailed teammate Bell by only four-tenths of a second. Behind, Briscoe moved his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse up to fourth place ahead of Truex, Bowman and Blaney as Wallace, Elliott, Byron and Logano followed suit in the top 11.

    Another 10 laps later and with the frustrations mounting within several Playoff contenders, Larson, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Bell, with Hamlin, Briscoe, Truex, Bowman and Blaney following suit in the top seven. By then, Byron was mired in 10th place ahead of Logano and Gibbs was only up to 21st place while Keselowski, Suarez and Burton were still mired in 28th, 31st and 34th, respectively. With Keselowski scored a lap down, both Suarez and Burton were pinned two laps down.

    Then on Lap 237, Playoff rookie Harrison Burton’s hopes of transferring into the Round of 12 evaporated as he took his No. 21 Ford Motorcraft/Quick Lane Mustang Dark Horse behind the pit wall due to a power steering issue. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, Larson maintained his steady advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Hamlin as Bell dropped to third place in front of Briscoe and Truex by the Lap 240 mark.

    Then on Lap 243, the caution flew when Playoff contender Joey Logano, who was running in 11th place and had already guaranteed himself a spot into the Round of 12, slipped sideways while running in between the lapped competitor of Ryan Preece and Bubba Wallace exiting Turn 2 as he proceeded to spin and hit the frontstretch’s inside wall head-on, though he managed to proceed while dragging sparks beneath his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service while Playoff contender Tyler Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit road first ahead of Hamlin, Truex, Bell, Wallace, Briscoe, Bowman, Blaney, Elliott and Byron, respectively.   

    With the race restarting under green with two laps remaining in the second stage period, Larson wasted no time using the fresh tires to his advantage as he rocketed away from Reddick to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Behind, Truex made his way into second place as Reddick was trying to fend off Hamin and Bell for the following lap.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 250, which marked the halfway point of the overall event, Larson captured his 12th Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the night. Truex followed suit in second ahead of Hamlin, Reddick and Bell while Wallace, Bowman, Briscoe, Blaney and Elliott were scored in the top 10. With nine of the remaining 15 Playoff contenders on the track finishing in the top 10 and racking up a second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Byron, Cindric, Gibbs, Keselowski, Suarez and Logano were mired in 11th, 16th, 18th, 26th, 30th and 32nd, respectively.

    With a combined 13 stage points by finishing second and seventh during the event’s first two stage periods, pole-sitter Alex Bowman joined Christopher Bell and Joey Logano as a third Playoff competitor to be guaranteed early automatic passes to the Playoff’s Round of 12.

    During the stage break, Reddick, who gained seven points at the second stage’s conclusion, pitted for fresh tires to his No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    With 240 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Larson and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Larson used the outside lane to fend off Truex through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Larson retaining the lead for the proceeding laps ahead of Truex, the latter’s teammates Hamlin and Bell followed suit along with Wallace in the top five while Briscoe challenged Bell for fifth place. With nine Playoff contenders running in the top 10 spots on the track, Larson retained the lead by six-tenths of a second with 230 laps remaining.

    With 215 laps remaining, Larson stretched his lead to a second over Truex while non-Playoff contender Wallace was up to third place ahead of a bevy of Playoff contenders that included Hamlin, Briscoe, Bell, Elliott, Blaney and Bowman. With non-Playoff contenders Ross Chastain and Corey LaJoie following suit ahead of Playoff contender Byron, Gibbs was mired in 18th place ahead of Cindric, Allmendinger and Reddick while Keselowski, Logano and Suarez all trailed by a lap down in 28th, 30th and 33rd, respectively.

    Down to the final 200 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Truex as Wallace, Hamlin, Briscoe, Bell, Elliott, Blaney, Bowman and Chastain remained in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Byron retained 12th place, Gibbs gained only a single spot to 17th place and Cindric was still mired in 19th place ahead of Reddick. As Keselowski, Logano and Suarez continued to trail outside the top-25 mark on the track while not scored on the lead lap category, Larson lapped Suarez’s No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and placed the latter two laps down.

    Twenty-five laps later, Larson stretched his advantage to three seconds over Truex as Playoff contenders Briscoe, Hamlin and Elliott followed suit in the top five on the track. Behind, Wallace settled in sixth ahead of Blaney, Bell, Chastain and Bowman as Playoff contenders Byron, Gibbs, Cindric and Reddick were running 13th, 16th, 18th and 21st, respectively. As Keselowski was behind the leaders by a lap in 28th, Logano and Suarez were running 31st and 32nd while scored two laps down.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie, who was running in 11th place, received contact from the lapped competitor of Josh Berry that got LaJoie loose and veering into the outside wall in Turn 2 as his No. 7 Mattress Warehouse Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came to a sliding halt with damage towards the inside lane.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Larson exited pit road first ahead of Truex, Hamlin, Elliott, Blaney, Wallace, Bowman, Bell, Chastain and Byron while Briscoe lost a bevy of spots due to a slow pit service to have the right-front tire changed. Soon after, Truex, who spent the majority of the event running towards the front, was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    The start of the following restart period with 163 laps remaining featured Larson rocketing away to retain the lead as teammate Elliott launched his No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the runner-up spot. Wallace would then follow suit into third place as Hamlin was trying to fend off teammate Bell, Blaney and Byron for fourth place. Hamlin then capitalized on Wallace sliding up the track to retake fourth place as Larson proceeded to lead with 160 laps remaining.

    With 150 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to a second over teammate Elliott as Hamlin, Bell and Blaney were scored in the top five. Behind, Briscoe, who was trying to rally from his slow pit service, was up to sixth place after he overtook Wallace while Ty Gibbs was up into eighth place ahead of Byron and Bowman.

    Fifteen laps later, Larson continued to lead ahead of teammate Elliott while Hamlin was trying to fend off teammate Bell for third place as Briscoe was up into fifth place. Larson would proceed to lead by more than a second over teammate Elliott with 120 laps remaining as Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe remained in the top five ahead of Blaney, Wallace, Gibbs, Bowman and Byron.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Larson stretched his advantage to nearly three seconds over teammate Elliott as Hamlin, Bell, Briscoe, Blaney, Wallace, Gibbs, Bowman and McDowell were scored in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Byron dropped to 13th place as he was three spots ahead of Cindric and seven spots ahead of Reddick while Truex was mired in 24th place. Meanwhile, Keselowski was mired in 26th place and trapped a lap down and Logano was two laps down in 29th place while Suarez, who currently held sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12 by a mere margin over Gibbs, was running three laps down in 31st place.

    Twenty-five laps later, Larson lapped 24th-place Truex while retaining the lead by two seconds over teammate Elliott and Bell. Behind, Hamlin trailed by four seconds in fourth place while Briscoe trailed by five seconds in fifth place.

    Another 15 laps later, Larson, who had guaranteed himself into the Playoff’s Round of 12, had his advantage slightly decreased to one-and-a-half seconds over teammate Elliott as Playoff contenders Bell, Hamlin, Briscoe and Blaney followed suit in the top six. Behind, Wallace remained as the highest-running Playoff contender in seventh place ahead of Playoff contenders Gibbs and Bowman while the remaining Playoff contenders that included Byron, Cindric, Reddick, Truex, Keselowski, Logano, Suarez and Burton were mired in 13th, 16th, 20th, 24th, 25th, 29th, 31st and 35th, respectively.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Larson stretched his advantage back up to two seconds over teammate Elliott, with eight Playoff contenders occupying the top 10 spots on the track. By then, Brad Keselowski pitted his No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green for fuel, which pinned him three laps from the lead and had his hopes of advancing into the Round of 12 being jeopardized, as Larson lapped Reddick, who was mired in 20th place.

    As Larson proceeded to lead by more than two seconds over teammate Elliott with 40 laps remaining, Suarez, who was mired in 30th place despite being three laps down, was currently occupying the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12 by six points over Gibbs, who was strapped in ninth place and unable to navigate past Suarez on the track. With Truex, Keselowski and Burton scored below the cutline, Hamlin and Briscoe were both above the cutline by eight and six points, respectively.

    With 30 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to three seconds over teammate Elliott and four seconds over Hamlin while Suarez, who remained in 30th place and was three laps down, maintained a nine-point advantage over Gibbs, whose No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE was losing the handling and had dropped to 11th place on the track, for the final transfer spot into the Round of 12.

    With Larson adding another second to his advantage as he was now leading by four seconds over teammate Elliott with 20 laps remaining, Suarez maintained his advantage for the final transfer spot into the Round of 12 by 10 points over Gibbs, who was down to 13th place on the track, as Byron, Hamlin and Briscoe were also in position to transfer by 21, 14 and 11 points, respectively.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson, who lapped Gibbs seven laps earlier, extended his advantage to five seconds over teammate Elliott as only 12 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap. By then, Gibbs dropped to 15th place and was losing ground to Suarez, who retained 30th place on the track while three laps down, as Suarez, Byron, Hamlin and Briscoe were all still above the cutline over Gibbs, Truex, Keselowski and Burton.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by six seconds over teammate Elliott. With no challengers closing in from behind, Larson was able to smoothly and quickly navigate his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around the Bristol circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his fifth checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.

    With the victory, Larson, whose son Owen saluted the fans as the driver took him for a parade victory lap, notched his 28th NASCAR Cup Series career victory in his 359th series’ start, his second at Bristol under the lights and his first since winning the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past July. The victory was the 12th of the 2024 season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the 10th for Hendrick Motorsports, with the organization notching its fifth victory at the Bristol Night Race feature.

    As a result of his Bristol Night Race victory, Larson, who is coming off finishes of 37th and 12th from the first two events of the Playoff’s Round of 16, clinched a berth into the Round of 12 as he continues his pursuit for his second Cup Series championship.

    “I’ve had a lot of good cars since I’ve come to Hendrick Motorsports,” Larson said on the frontstretch on USA Network. “That was just great execution all weekend by the team. Practice good. You got to qualify good [and] we did that. [I] Just had a great car. Thanks to the whole No. 5 team. They’re the best in the business. We dominated a lot of races, but we might not close them all out, so it was really good to close one out with this HendrickCars.com Chevy. Just a phenomenal car. [I] Could kind of manage my stuff and then really pass some cars there at the end.”

    As an added bonus, Larson set a record for the most laps led by a Hendrick Motorsports competitor in a race at 462. The total laps Larson led are the most recorded by a Bristol Cup race winner since the late Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough led 496 laps in April 1977.

    “That’s pretty awesome,” Larson said of his record feat. “There’s been some legendary Hall of Famers [who have] raced for Hendrick Motorsports. We’ve all grown up watching Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson dominate. Pretty cool to add my name up to another record at Hendrick Motorsports. Just very fortunate to be with that group. It’s so much fun and especially racing in front of you fans under the lights at Bristol. This is my favorite track and I hope you guys enjoyed that race there and enjoyed the methodical lap traffic run.”

    Teammate Chase Elliott, who came into Bristol with a 30-point cushion, also transferred into the Round of 12 by finishing second while Bubba Wallace, who inked a multiyear contract extension to remain at 23XI Racing, capped off a stellar night as a non-Playoff contender by finishing third. Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell finished in the top five as both also transferred into the Round of 12.

    Ryan Blaney, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain completed the top 10 spots on the track as all were also the final five set of competitors to finish on the lead lap.

    Larson, Elliott, Hamlin and Bell join Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano and Daniel Suarez as the 12 competitors who transfer into the Playoff’s Round of 12. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs was the first competitor to be eliminated from the Playoffs as he missed the cutline by 11 points and teammate Martin Truex Jr. was also unable to recover from his late pit road speeding penalty. By being eliminated from the Playoffs, Truex, the 2017 Cup Series champion, will not battle for a championship in his final full-time racing season. Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton were also eliminated from Playoff contention.

    There were eight lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 36 laps.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 462 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Chase Elliott

    3. Bubba Wallace, one lap led

    4. Denny Hamlin

    5. Christopher Bell

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. Ryan Preece

    8. Chase Briscoe

    9. Alex Bowman, 34 laps led

    10. Ross Chastain

    11. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    12. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    13. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    14. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    15. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    16. Zane Smith, one lap down

    17. William Byron, one lap down

    18. Carson Hocevar, one lap down

    19. Daniel Hemric, one lap down

    20. Tyler Reddick, one lap down, three laps led

    21. Austin Dillon, one lap down

    22. Justin Haley, one lap down

    23. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    24. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down

    25. Kyle Busch, two laps down

    26. Brad Keselowski, three laps down

    27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    28. Joey Logano, four laps down

    29. Josh Berry, four laps down

    30. Erik Jones, four laps down

    31. Daniel Suarez, four laps down

    32. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

    33. John Hunter Nemechek, nine laps down

    34. Josh Bilicki, 33 laps down

    35. Harrison Burton, 78 laps down

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

    37. Kaz Grala – OUT, Steering

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Joey Logano – Advanced

    2. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    3. Christopher Bell – Advanced

    4. Alex Bowman – Advanced

    5. Chase Elliott – Advanced

    6. Austin Cindric – Advanced

    7. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

    8. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    9. William Byron – Advanced

    10. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    11. Chase Briscoe – Advanced

    12. Daniel Suarez – Advanced

    13. Ty Gibbs – Eliminated

    14. Martin Truex Jr. – Eliminated

    15. Brad Keselowski – Eliminated

    16. Harrison Burton – Eliminated

    The Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, September 29, at Kansas Speedway for the Hollywood Casino 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Bowman locks up Busch Light Pole Award for Bristol Night Race

    Bowman locks up Busch Light Pole Award for Bristol Night Race

    Alex Bowman notched his first Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Friday, September 20.

    The 31-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, the ninth-fastest competitor during the event’s lone practice session earlier on Friday, was one of 10 competitors from two qualifying groups to transfer into the final qualifying round for the pole position. During the final round, Bowman posted his best qualifying lap at 126.720 mph in 15.142 seconds, which was enough to place his No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry atop the leaderboard and in the top starting spot for Saturday night’s main event at Thunder Valley.

    With his accomplishment, Bowman notched his fifth career pole at the NASCAR Cup Series level, his first at Bristol Motor Speedway and his first since winning the pole position for the 2023 Daytona 500. In addition, Bowman recorded the second Cup pole award for the Chevrolet nameplate in recent weeks and he became the first Hendrick Motorsports competitor to start on the pole position since teammate Kyle Larson started first at the Chicago Street Course in July.

    With Saturday’s main event at Bristol serving as the third and final Round of 16 events in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, Bowman is currently ranked in fourth place in the Playoff standings and is 41 points above the top-12 cutline after finishing fifth and 18th, respectively, during the first two events of the first Playoff round. With the Arizona native also set to remain at Hendrick Motorsports for the 2025 season, he strives to advance into the Round of 12 for the first time since the 2022 season and continue his pursuit of his first championship in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “We’re, obviously, in a pretty good spot in points,” Bowman said on USA Network. “We qualified like 400th here in the spring, so definitely studied hard and worked hard to try to come here and be better. We were OK in practice. I feel like I struggled on the top of [Turns] 1 and 2 a little bit. [I] Had a really awesome car in qualifying. Just really proud of everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. They gave me a really fast Ally No. 48 Camaro. That’s what mattered today.”

    Kyle Larson, Bowman’s teammate at Hendrick Motorsports and another Playoff contender, will start alongside Bowman on the front row after he posted his best qualifying lap at 126.378 mph in 15.183 seconds. Teammate William Byron will start in third place with his best qualifying lap at 126.695 mph in 15.145 seconds, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports Playoff contenders in the top three starting spots.

    Playoff contenders Martin Truex Jr. and Chase Briscoe will start in the top five and ahead of sixth-place starter Christopher Bell, who is also in the Playoffs. With Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott grabbing eighth and 10th place on the starting grid, rookie Carson Hocevar and teammate Corey LaJoie were the only two non-Playoff contenders to qualify in the top 10 as they will start seventh and ninth, respectively.

    The remaining Playoff contenders include Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Daniel Suarez will start 13th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, 23rd, 27th, 34th and 35th, respectively.

    Currently, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr. and Harrison Burton are the four Playoff contenders who are scored below the cutline while both Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs occupy the final two transfer spots into the Playoffs by six points.

    *All 37 entered competitors made the main event.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Alex Bowman, 126.720 mph, 15.142 seconds
    2. Kyle Larson, 126.378 mph, 15.183 seconds
    3. William Byron, 126.695 mph, 15.145 seconds
    4. Martin Truex Jr., 126.220 mph, 15.202 seconds
    5. Chase Briscoe, 126.486 mph, 15.170 seconds
    6. Christopher Bell, 125.889 mph, 15.242 seconds
    7. Carson Hocevar, 126.096 mph, 15.217 seconds
    8. Denny Hamlin, 125.666 mph, 15.269 seconds
    9. Corey LaJoie, 125.166 mph, 15.330 seconds
    10. Chase Elliott, 125.248 mph, 15.320 seconds
    11. Bubba Wallace, , 125.477 mph, 15.292 seconds
    12. Ross Chastain, 124.727 mph, 15.384 seconds
    13. Ty Gibbs, 125.428 mph, 15.298 seconds
    14. Ryan Preece, 124.565 mph, 15.404 seconds
    15. Tyler Reddick, 125.330 mph, 15.310 seconds
    16. Noah Gragson, 124.355 mph, 15.430 seconds
    17. Chris Buescher, 125.256 mph, 15.319 seconds
    18. Michael McDowell, 124.323 mph, 15.434 seconds
    19. AJ Allmendinger, 124.954 mph, 15.356 seconds
    20. Joey Logano, 124.250 mph, 15.443 seconds
    21. Daniel Hemric, 124.946 mph, 15.357 seconds
    22. Ryan Blaney, 124.058 mph, 15.467 seconds
    23. Brad Keselowski, 124.889 mph, 15.364 seconds
    24. Todd Gilliland, 123.953 mph, 15.480 seconds
    25. Josh Berry, 124.776 mph, 15.378 seconds
    26. Justin Haley, 123.746 mph, 15.506 seconds
    27. Austin Cindric, 124.662 mph, 15.392 seconds
    28. John Hunter Nemechek, 123.491 mph, 15.538 seconds
    29. Kyle Busch, 124.654 mph, 15.393 seconds
    30. Austin Dillon, 123.364 mph, 15.554 seconds
    31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 124.058 mph, 15.467 seconds
    32. Erik Jones, 123.356 mph, 15.555 seconds
    33. Zane Smith, 123.554 mph, 15.530 seconds
    34. Harrison Burton, 123.277 mph, 15.565 seconds
    35. Daniel Suarez, 123.411 mph, 15.548 seconds
    36. Kaz Grala, 122.084 mph, 15.717 seconds
    37. Josh Bilicki, 118.518 mph, 16.190 seconds

    The 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway is scheduled to occur this Saturday, September 21, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Weekend schedule for Bristol – September 2024

    NASCAR Weekend schedule for Bristol – September 2024

    This weekend NASCAR travels to Bristol Motor Speedway for some short track racing.

    Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race is the final event in the Round of 16 Cup Series Playoffs. At the conclusion of the race, four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention.

    The following drivers are currently below the cutline:

    1. Denny Hamlin – 6 points
    2. Brad Keselowski -12 points
    3. Martin Truex Jr. – 14 points
    4. Harrison Burton – 20 points

    This will be the final race of the regular season for the Xfinity Series and will determine which 12 drivers will advance to the series Playoffs.

    The Craftsman Truck Series Round of 10 in the Playoffs continues this weekend at Bristol. Layne Riggs won the first event at The Milwaukee Mile.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available after Cup Series qualifying, post-Cup Series race and post-Xfinity Series race.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, Sept. 19
    1:00 p.m.: ARCA Practice, All Entries
    2:00 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying, Timed, Impound

    3:00 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS2
    2 Groups, 15 minutes each
    3:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2
    Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps

    5:00 p.m.: ARCA Bush’s Beans 200
    200 LAPS, 106.6 miles – FS1/MRN

    8:00 p.m.: Truck Series UNOH 200
    Stages 55/110/200 Laps = 106.6 miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    Friday, Sept. 20
    2:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    Timed, 2 Groups, 15 Minutes Each – USA
    2:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Impound
    All Entries, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps – USA

    4:00 p.m.: Cup Series Practice, Timed, 45 Minutes
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound
    Groups A & B: Single Vehicle, 2 Laps, 2 Rounds
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM

    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Food City 300
    Stages 85/170/300 Laps = 159.9 Miles
    CW/PRN/SiriusXM
    $1,680,574

    Saturday, Sept. 21
    7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race
    Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $9,222,417

  • Bubba Wallace inks multiyear contract to remain at 23XI Racing in Cup competition

    Bubba Wallace inks multiyear contract to remain at 23XI Racing in Cup competition

    Bubba Wallace ceased all uncertainties of his future plans by inking a new multiyear contract extension to continue to drive the No. 23 Toyota Camry XSE entry for 23XI Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series division, an announcement that was posted by 23XI Racing via social media.

    The news comes as the 30-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, is currently campaigning in his seventh consecutive full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series and fourth in recent seasons with 23XI Racing.

    Despite missing the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, Wallace, who is ranked in 19th place in the drivers’ standings, has recorded five top-five results and 10 top-10 results through 28-scheduled starts. Amid a two-year winless drought, the Alabama native’s current season stats of top fives and top 10s are tied with the most he has accumulated in a season with the 2022 and 2023 seasons, thus giving him additional opportunities to both add and set new career-high stats to both categories with eight races remaining to the 2024 season.

    “From day one Bubba has been an integral part of 23XI,” 23XI Racing said in a release statement through social media. “We’re excited to announce that he has signed a multi-year renewal and will continue to play a key role in helping 23XI grow and succeed. #ForwardTogether“

    Wallace, who made his Cup Series debut as an interim competitor for Richard Petty Motorsports in select events in 2017 before spending the next three seasons as a full-time competitor for the Petty organization, first joined 23XI Racing, an organization founded and co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan and fellow Cup competitor Denny Hamlin, as the team’s first competitor in 2021. During the season, Wallace made history by becoming the second African-American competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall, where he notched the first Cup victory for himself, veteran crew chief Bootie Barker and 23XI Racing. The following season, he notched his second Cup career victory at Kansas Speedway, which currently stands as his latest victory in the series.

    This past season, Wallace made the Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in his career. Despite falling short of transferring past the Round of 12, he would settle in a career-best 10th place in the final championship standings. By then, he recorded a personal-best average-finishing result of 15.9 and led a career-high 285 laps in a season.

    Through 247 current starts in the Cup Series, Wallace has accumulated two victories, three poles, 21 top-five results, 42 top-10 results, 658 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.0. He has also made a total of 88 starts in the Xfinity Series and won a total of six races apiece in both the Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series East, the latter two divisions in which he became the African-American competitor to win in both.

    With his future set, Bubba Wallace’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues with the upcoming Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur this Saturday, September 21, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Ben Beshore to call 100th Cup event at Bristol

    Ben Beshore to call 100th Cup event at Bristol

    In his return as a full-time crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Ben Beshore, who works atop the pit box of the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by John Hunter Nemechek, is poised to achieve a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Beshore will call his 100th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of The York, Pennsylvania, Beshore, who earned an engineering degree from Virginia Tech, previously worked for Brewco Motorsports in a variety of roles before becoming a race engineer for Roush Fenway Racing in 2007. Seven years later, he joined Joe Gibbs Racing and continued to work as a race engineer for Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team.

    During the 2017 season, Beshore made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series crew chief at Pocono Raceway in June. The role was an interim one for Beshore, who was filling in for the suspended Adam Stevens after Stevens was suspended for four events due to a wheel that came off of Busch’s car amid an early pit stop during the previous event at Dover Motor Speedway.

    During the Pocono event, Busch, who started on the pole and led a race-high 100 laps, ended up in ninth place. Beshore would then navigate Busch and the No. 18 team to a seventh-place result at Michigan International Speedway and a fifth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway, respectively, before he was suspended from participating at Daytona International Speedway in July amid a lug nut infraction as Busch’s No. 18 entry had two loose lug nuts following the post-race inspection process at Sonoma.

    After returning to his role as race engineer for the remainder of the 2017 season and the entire 2018 season, Beshore scaled back to the Xfinity Series to work as a crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 Toyota entry that was piloted by seven different competitors throughout the 2019 season. During the season, he notched four victories, all occurring with Busch, and led the No. 18 team to a 12th-place finish in the final owner’s standings. The following season, Beshore was paired with Harrison Burton in the Xfinity circuit. Together, the duo notched four victories, 15 top-five results, 22 top-10 results, 291 laps and an average-finishing result of 10.0. After qualifying for the 2020 Xfinity Series Playoffs before being eliminated following the Round of 12, Burton would settle in eighth place in the final standings and claim the 2020 Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    In 2021, Beshore returned to the Cup Series and reunited with Kyle Busch as he was named as the full-time crew chief of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota entry. In their first event together, Busch won the Busch Clash at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course after he overtook Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott amid a last-lap tussle. The duo recorded two top-five results and five top-10 results during the first 10-scheduled events before Beshore achieved his first Cup points-paying victory at Kansas Speedway in May. Busch, who celebrated his 36th birthday on race day, fended off the field and a hard-charging Kevin Harvick during a two-lap shootout. Beshore and Busch would then achieve a second victory of the season at Pocono Raceway in June after Busch overtook teammate Denny Hamlin prior to the final lap and had enough fuel to coast the No. 18 Toyota across the finish line in first place. To go along with an additional seven top-five results and nine top-10 results for the remaining 15 regular-season events, the duo qualified for the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs.

    After recording three top-nine results throughout the 2021 Playoff’s first six events, Beshore and Busch were able to transfer from the Round of 16 to 8. Then, Beshore was suspended from participating in the Round of 8 opener at Texas Motor Speedway following a lug nut infraction with two loose lug nuts amid the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course post-race inspection process. Returning for the following Playoff event at Kansas Speedway in mid-October, Busch finished 28th and second at Martinsville Speedway throughout the Round of 8 but missed the cutline to the Championship 4 round by three points. The duo would proceed to finish seventh in the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway in November before Busch settled in ninth place in the final standings.

    Beshore’s 2022 season started on a rough note after he was suspended from the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as a result of another lug nut infraction involving two loose lug nuts stemming from the 2021 finale at Phoenix. Returning atop the pit box for the 64th running of the Daytona 500, Beshore’s season with Busch commenced with a sixth-place finish followed by four additional top-10 results during the next seven events on the schedule. Then at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April, Beshore and Busch notched their first victory of the season after Busch overtook a spinning Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe on the final lap to notch his 60th series victory. Despite finishing in the top five four additional times for the final 15 regular-season events, Beshore and Busch secured a spot into the Cup Series Playoffs for a second consecutive season.

    Their title hopes, however, came to an early end after finishing no higher than 26th throughout the Round of 16. Then coming off two consecutive third-place finishes at the Charlotte Roval and Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, Beshore was suspended for four races for a loose wheel violation that occurred at Las Vegas. The suspension would cause Beshore to miss the remainder of the 2022 Cup Series season as Busch, who was down to his final four events with Joe Gibbs Racing, ended up in 13th place in the final standings.

    This past season, Beshore returned to the Xfinity Series to work as the crew chief of the No. 20 JGR Toyota team piloted by John Hunter Nemechek. Together, the duo notched a season-high seven victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 24 top-10 results, 1,083 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.5. In addition to making the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs, they transferred all the way into the Championship 4 round and contended for the title at Phoenix. However, Nemechek got shuffled during an overtime shootout and ended up in 28th place after being involved in a final lap accident, which relegated Nemechek to fourth place in the final standings.

    Nine days after the 2023 season concluded, Beshore was promoted back to the Cup Series as a crew chief for Legacy Motor Club’s No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE entry piloted by Nemechek, who made his return to the Cup circuit following a three-year absence. Through 28 scheduled events, the duo of Beshore and Nemechek recorded only three top-10 results, with their highest finish being a sixth-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway in March. With an average-finishing result of 24.7, they are mired in 34th place in the 2024 drivers’ standings with eight races remaining on the schedule.

    Through 99 previous Cup appearances, Beshore has achieved three victories, one pole, 23 top-five results and 42 top-10 results while working with a total of two competitors.

    Ben Beshore is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series career event as a crew chief in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 21, with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.