Tag: Phoenix Raceway

  • Anthony Alfredo fined, docked points following on-track actions at Phoenix

    Anthony Alfredo fined, docked points following on-track actions at Phoenix

    Anthony Alfredo has been fined $25,000 and docked 25 driver points for violating Sections 4.4.B pertaining to the Member Code of Conduct section from the NASCAR Rule Book.

    The fine and dock in points comes three days after the 25-year-old Alfredo from Ridgefield, Connecticut, was penalized for his on-track behavioral actions during the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway.

    On Lap 62 of 200 during the finale, Alfredo, who was battling Stefan Parsons for 20th place, was squeezed into the outside wall entering the frontstretch. Alfredo quickly retaliated by veering his No. 5 Dead On Tools/Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the left, where he turned and sent Parsons’ No. 45 Prime Bites Mini Muffins/Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro sideways across the track and slapping the outside wall on the right side hard. In the process, Greg Van Alst steered to the left and spun to avoid the carnage.

    Ultimately, Parsons would retire in 38th place, dead last, while Van Alst would also retire in 37th place due to a suspension issue. Meanwhile, Alfredo was held two laps in his pit stall for reckless driving. After serving his two-lap penalty, Alfredo continued until his event concluded on Lap 154, where he blew a flat right-front tire and wreck against the Turn 1 outside wall. The incident capped off his event in 36th place in the final running order.

    Despite being docked 25 driver points, Alfredo concluded the 2024 Xfinity Series season in 15th place in the final standings, which ties his career-best result in the standings to the 2022 season. The 15th-place result in this year’s final standings comes on the strengh of two top-five results, a career-high seven top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 18.5, his best as a full-time Xfinity competitor.

    Amid a strong campaign to his third full-time season in the Xfinity Series, Alfredo’s plans for the 2025 NASCAR remains to be determined.

    There were no additional penalties levied to any competitor and organizations following this weekend’s triple-header finales across the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Xfinity Series and Cup Series divisions.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano won Stage 1 and held off Ryan Blaney in the closing laps to win at Phoenix and claim his third Cup championship.

    “I’m already excited for next season,” Logano said. “If I win the Cup championship next year, I’ll likely be known as the ‘four-time, four-eyed champion.’”

    2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 2 but came up just short in his quest for his second Cup championship, finishing second to Joey Logano.

    “I was attempting to be the first back-to-back Cup champion since Jimmie Johnson in 2010,” Blaney said. “I don’t mind at all being mentioned in the same breath with Jimmie, as long as it’s the 2010 Jimmie and not the current Jimmie.”

    3. William Byron: Byron finished third at Phoenix as Joey Logano won the race and the Cup championship.

    “Congratulations to Joey,” Byron said. “That’s three Cup championships in the last seven years. I feel like me and all the other drivers should sue him for monopolizing championships.”

    4. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished sixth at Phoenix, coming up short in his attempt to win his first NASCAR championship.

    “Winning the championship would have been a great way to stick it to NASCAR,” Reddick said. “Especially after they revoked our charter after we sued them. But now I guess we’ll see how courts rule. I doubt we’ll win, especially because we’ll be facing a handpicked judge known as the Honorable Richard Petty.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 11th at Phoenix.

    “It’s really been a trying year for me,” Hamlin said. “If I’ve learned one thing, it’s don’t sue NASCAR. That’s because NASCAR is omnipotent, which is probably because someone who runs NASCAR is impotent.”

    6. Christopher Bell: Bell came home fifth at Phoenix.

    “I think it was cool that everyone was able to say their goodbyes to Martin Truex, Jr.,” Bell said. “I apologize if I made that sound like Martin is dying; he’s not. Martin’s not going to be on death’s bed; he’s going to be on home’s couch.”

    7. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 14th at Phoenix.

    “The pace car hit the barriers trying to enter pit road at the start of Stage 2,” Bowman said. “That caused a red flag. I don’t know who was driving that pace car, but I bet he handed Juan Pablo Montoya a beer and told him to hold it right before that accident.”

    8. Kyle Larson: Larson finished fourth at Phoenix as three Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 8.

    “It’s been a long season,” Larson said. “And I plan on having a quiet off-season. Which means I plan to do a lot of SIM racing and hope I can be quiet.”

    9. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished eight at Phoenix, posting his 19th top 10 of the year.

    “Noah Gragson’s No. 10 car has ‘Nitro Circus’ sponsorship,’” Elliott said. “I’m not really sure what that ‘Nitro Circus’ is referring to, but back at the Dawsonville Pool Room, ‘Nitro Circus’ is what happens when someone gets hold of some dental anesthesia and shares it with everyone at the bar.”

    10. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex started on the pole at Phoenix and finished 17th.

    “It’s gonna be tough to walk away from this sport,” Truex said. “That’s why I’m not walking; I’m driving.”

  • Joey Logano crowned third Cup Series championship at Phoenix

    Joey Logano crowned third Cup Series championship at Phoenix

    Two years after elevating his racing status to a new level by winning his second NASCAR Cup Series championship, Joey Logano elevated his status to another level and in an elite category of three-time champions in NASCAR’s premier series by claiming a dominant victory in the 2024 finale at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led twice for 107 of 312-scheduled laps in a finale where he started on the front row alongside Martin Truex Jr. and grabbed the lead for the first time amid an early restart on Lap 10. Logano would claim the first stage victory before he dropped to fifth place in the running order after enduring a slow pit service from his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team during the stage break. Nonetheless, Logano spent the remainder of the finale racing towards the front while battling amongst his Championship 4 contenders William Byron, Tyler Reddick and teammate Ryan Blaney.

    Then during the finale’s final restart period with 54 laps remaining, Logano, who restarted in fifth place, gained two spots for a full lap before he made a bold three-wide pass beneath Byron and Christopher Bell to assume the lead in both the race and the championship battle. Despite having teammate Ryan Blaney inching up on him through every turn and straightaway while cutting away his advantage, Logano had enough horsepower to fend off Blaney to win the 2024 finale and claim his third Cup Series championship in seven seasons in the process.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, November 9, Martin Truex Jr. notched his 25th and final Cup Series pole position as a full-time competitor with a pole-winning lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Championship 4 contender Joey Logano, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 134.690 mph in 26.728 seconds. Logano’s three Championship 4 rivals that included William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney qualified eighth, 10th and 17th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, Jeb Burton, who was driving the No. 50 Team AmeriVet Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, dropped to the rear of the field due to multiple inspection failures and was also forced to serve a stop-and-go penalty at the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, Martin Truex Jr. muscled his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg while Joey Logano and Ross Chastain dueled for second place in front of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron. Logano would fend off Chastain for the runner-up spot through the first two turns while Byron and Tyler Reddick were in the midst of a seven-car battle for fourth place through the backstretch. Amid the early battles within the field, Truex led the first lap.

    Shortly after, the finale’s first caution period flew when Ty Gibbs, who was racing in seventh place through Turns 3 and 4, went up the racetrack and scrubbed the frontstretch’s outside wall. Despite dropping to 12th place, Gibbs initially kept his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE running straight before he broke loose through the dogleg and veered dead right into the frontstretch’s outside wall again, which knocked him out of contention amid the hard wreck.

    Following an extensive caution period, the finale restarted under green on the ninth lap. At the start, Truex and Logano dueled for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg and in front of the field that fanned out. Logano then started to gain the edge from the outside lane and he emerged slightly ahead through the backstretch before he cleared Truex entering Turn 3. As Logano led the 10th lap mark, a four-wide action for seventh place occurred between Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Austin Cindric and Denny Hamlin while Ross Chastain retained third place ahead of Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott and William Byron. Reddick would prevail in the four-wide action for seventh place, which he assumed, while Hamlin was still dueling against Larson and Cindric for eighth place in front of rookie Carson Hocevar and Ryan Blaney.

    Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Logano was leading by more than a second over Truex while Bell, Byron and Elliott followed suit in the top five. Behind, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Cindric while Blaney was up to eighth place ahead of Larson and Chastain. Logano would continue to lead the finale by more than a second over Truex by the Lap 30 mark while his title rivals Byron, Reddick and Blaney trailed from fourth, sixth and seventh, respectively, on the track.

    At the Lap 45 mark, Logano’s early advantage decreased to less than half a second over Truex, though the former was able to stabilize the lead while third-place Bell trailed by more than a second. By then, Byron retained fourth place and he trailed the lead by three seconds while Reddick was being challenged by Blaney for sixth place. Reddick would continue to fend off Blaney for sixth place on the track while Logano retained the lead over Truex by Lap 50.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Logano, who is pursuing his third Cup Series championship, captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Truex followed suit in second ahead of Bell, Byron and Elliott while Blaney, Redick, Hamlin, Larson and Cindric were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Logano pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Elliott exited pit road first and assumed the lead as he was followed by Bell, Byron, Blaney, Logano, Hamlin, Truex, Reddick, Larson and Chris Buescher. Amid the pit stops, Logano endured a slow pit service, which cost him four spots on pit road. In addition, Corey LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Not long after, the finale was placed in a red flag period for nearly six minutes after the Toyota Camry XSE pace car made a late left-hand swerve from the track to the pit road’s entrance and got sideways, which resulted in the pace car hitting the sand barrels while the leader Elliott barely avoided the pace car.

    Following the repairs made towards the pit road entrance, the second stage period started on Lap 71 as Elliott and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Bell outdueled Elliott through the first two turns to muscle his No. 20 DeWalt/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE ahead through the backstretch. Bell proceeded to lead the next lap ahead of Elliott while title rivals Blaney and Byron dueled for third place in front of Logano, Hamlin, Truex and Reddick. By Lap 75, three of the four Championship 4 contenders that included Blaney, Byron and Logano were racing from third to fifth, respectively, on the track and Reddick was battling Larson for eighth place while Bell continued to lead.

    By Lap 85, Bell stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Blaney had third place to his possession over Byron. Behind, Logano trailed in fifth place and Reddick was mired in 10th place while Bell proceeded to stretch his lead to a second on Lap 90.

    Just past the Lap 100 mark, Bell continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott while third-place Blaney, who was leading the championship battle, trailed the race lead by two seconds. Behind Blaney was Byron, who was mired in between Blaney and Logano while Reddick continued to trail in 10th place.

    Fifteen laps later, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Hamlin pitted his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE. By then, Daniel Suarez had pitted while Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, rookie Zane Smith, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Corey LaJoie, Elliott, Byron and Logano would all pit behind Hamlin. Reddick and teammate Bubba Wallace would pit under green by Lap 117 as more names including Cindric, Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Dillon and Blaney all followed suit.

    Towards the Lap 120 mark and with more names pitting, the top-six competitors led by Larson and including Hocevar, Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland and Daniel Hemric have yet to pit while Bell trailed by more than 25 seconds. As select names from the list, including Hocevar, Larson and Bowman, pitted, Bell cycled back into the lead on Lap 127. By then, he had Blaney trailing him by less than a second while Byron and Logano were mired within the top-eight mark.

    Nearing the Lap 140 mark, Bell extended his lead to more than two seconds over Blaney while third-place Byron trailed by nearly four seconds. Meanwhile, Logano, who trailed the lead by more than five seconds in fourth place on the track, received teammate Austin Cindric’s jackman due to his regular jackman feeling unwell and was taken to the infield care center. As Reddick continued to be mired as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 10th place, Bell stabilized his lead to more than two seconds by Lap 140.

    At the Lap 150 mark, Bell retained the lead by within two seconds over Blaney. Behind, Byron retained third place as he trailed the lead by more than four seconds while fourth-place Logano followed suit as he started to challenge Byron for third place. Logano would then duel and overtake Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 by Lap 152 while Bell’s lead decreased to more than a second over Blaney.

    By Lap 160, Blaney started to reel in on Bell, who was navigating through lapped traffic, for the lead as he trailed by within half a second. Then after tracking Bell over the next 17 laps, Blaney used the outside lane entering the frontstretch to duel with Bell for the lead. They remained dead even for the following lap before Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through the frontstretch as he assumed the lead in both the race and the championship battle. With Blaney fending off Bell, Logano started to close in from third place.

    Starting from Lap 180, Bell challenged Blaney for the lead through every corner and straightaway as they started to catch lapped traffic. Despite gaining the advantage through the turns from the inside lane, Bell would get fended off by Blaney as Logano joined the battle.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Blaney, who made a daring three-wide pass in between the lapped competitors of Briscoe and LaJoie, fended off Bell and Logano to capture his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Byron and Hamlin followed suit in the top five while Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Truex and Reddick were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Blaney returned to pit road for another round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Bell exited pit road first and was followed by Blaney, Byron, Logano, Buescher, Larson, Elliott, Truex, Reddick and Hamlin.

    With 118 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Bell and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Bell cleared both Blaney and Logano to retain the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Reddick, who restarted in 10th place, used the outside lane to muscle his No. 45 Tame the Beast Toyota Camry XSE up alongside Buescher for sixth place. Then through the backstretch, Reddick made slight contact with Buescher as Buescher nearly turned Elliott, but all three kept their cars running straight as Reddick gained the sixth-place spot. He then overtook Larson for the following lap. By then, all four Championship 4 contenders were racing second through fifth, respectively, on the track as Bell retained the lead.

    With 110 laps remaining, Bell stretched his advantage to more than a second over Logano, who dueled and overtook teammate Blaney for the spot and the championship battle, while Byron and Reddick continued to follow suit in the top five on the track. Bell would stabilize his lead to seven-tenths of a second over Logano with 100 laps remaining while Blaney, Byron and Reddick continued to trail Logano in the title battle.

    Down to the final 85 laps of the finale, Bell continued to lead by more than a second over Logano, who had teammate Blaney pressuring him for the top spot in the championship battle. Behind, Byron trailed by three seconds while Reddick, who was overtaken by Larson, trailed in sixth place by more than seven seconds.

    Then with 78 laps remaining, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as both Bell and Logano pitted their respective entries. A bevy of names including Bowman, Blaney, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Buescher, Truex, Hocevar, Hamlin, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Suarez, Josh Berry, Zane Smith, Cindric, Chastain all pitted during the ensuing laps while Byron, who opted to remain on the track and stretch his fuel tank as far as possible, was leading.

    Then with 65 laps remaining, Byron pitted his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the lead under green as teammates Larson and Elliott remained on the track and cycled to first and second, respectively. Not long after Byron exited pit road following his completed pit service, the caution flew with 63 laps remaining when Zane Smith spun and wrecked backward against the Turn 1 outside wall.

    During the caution period, some including Larson, Elliott, Bell, Blaney, Logano and Reddick pitted while Byron remained on the track as he inherited the lead.

    As the finale restarted under green with 54 laps remaining, Byron retained a narrow advantage over teammate Larson through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Bell gained a run through the first two turns and dueled beneath Byron through the backstretch. Both Byron and Bell would continue to duel through Turns 3 and 4 before Logano made it a three-wide battle for the lead through the frontstretch. Logano then used the frontstretch’s dogleg to motor his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead entering Turn 1 while Larson challenged both teammate Byron and Bell for the runner-up spot. Byron would prevail in the three-car battle as he claimed the runner-up spot ahead of Bell while Blaney and Larson dueled for third place. Larson, Bell and Blaney then went three wide against one another for third place before Larson prevailed while Logano retained the lead with 50 laps remaining.

    With 40 laps remaining, Logano retained the lead in both the finale and the championship battle by one-and-a-half seconds over Byron while third-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Blaney occupied fourth place ahead of Bell and Reddick while Wallace, Elliott, Buescher and Gragson were in the top 10. Over the next 10 laps, Blaney would move up to third place on the track, where he trailed the lead by nearly three seconds, and Reddick would retain sixth place, where he trailed the lead by six-and-a-half seconds, while Logano continued to lead by less than two seconds over Byron with 30 laps remaining.

    Then with 23 laps remaining, Blaney, who was the fastest competitor on the track, dueled and overtook Byron for the runner-up spot, where he just managed to muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Byron during the following lap. By then, teammate Logano continued to lead the championship battle by more than two seconds and he would retain the two-second advantage over a hard-charging Blaney with 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the finale, Logano’s advantage decreased to nine-tenths of a second over Blaney, who continued to shave off Logano’s lead through every corner and straightaway while Logano was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic. By then, Byron trailed the lead by more than two seconds while Reddick trailed by eight seconds in sixth place on the track.

    Five laps later, Logano continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney, who had his Team Penske teammate within sight and reach, while third-place Byron trailed by four seconds. Over the next two laps, Blaney cut the deficit from Logano to half a second and three-tenths of a second before he got to Logano’s rear bumper through the backstretch with seven laps remaining.

    Then with six laps remaining, Blaney tried to make his move beneath teammate Logano through the first two turns, but Logano stood on the gas and retained the lead by within a tenth of a second through the backstretch. He then tried to make a move to the outside lane entering Turn 3, but Logano used the inside lane to retain the lead. For the following lap, Blaney lost a little ground to Logano as the latter led by two-tenths of a second. Logano’s advantage then slightly grew to three-tenths of a second over the next lap as teammate Blaney, who kept Logano within sight, was trying to regain his momentum to get close to Logano’s rear bumper.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano, who was mired behind lapped traffic, remained as the leader by two-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Then as Blaney tried to gain a run to Logano through the frontstretch, he over-drove the first turn and nearly hit the outside wall. This allowed Logano to muscle ahead by nearly half a second through the backstretch. Blaney then stood on the gas and tried to get a run to Logano’s right rear, but it was not enough as Logano managed to cycle back ahead entering the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second over Blaney to win both the finale and his third Cup Series championship.

    With his third championship in seven seasons, Logano became the 10th competitor overall to reach three titles in NASCAR’s premier series and the first to claim a third Cup championship since Tony Stewart achieved his in 2011. The championship was the fifth overall for Team Penske, the organization’s third in a row in recent seasons, and the third for veteran crew chief Paul Wolfe.

    By winning the finale, Logano notched his fourth Cup Series victory of the 2024 season, his third at Phoenix and the 36th of his career. The 2024 season marks the 10th time in 11 seasons that the current Playoff-elimination format featured the championship-winning competitor win the finale as Logano had previously accomplished both the finale victory and the title during the 2018 and 2022 seasons.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I love the Playoffs,” Logano said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I love it, man. What a race. What a Team Penske battle there at the end. [I] Had a good restart and was able to get in front of [Blaney]. He had a lot of long-run speed there. That was all I had there to hold him off. Man, three [championships]. That’s really special to get to [three titles]. What a team to fight through today. We threw a little bit of adversity throughout the race. [Crew chief] Paul Wolfe, I mean, what a crew chief do I have. I got the best team. I don’t know if I’m the best driver, but I got the best team. Together, we’re very well-rounded and can show up when it matters the most. We get a mentally tough team that can make things happen when it matters.”

    “[Spotter] Coleman Pressley, he was telling me where [Blaney] was,” Logano added. “He’s up there [in the spotter stands] telling me [the] best lanes to run and it’s a balance of putting dirty air on [Blaney] and running the fastest laps for my Ford. We just got a little too tight there at the end and I couldn’t really wrap the bottom as good as I wanted to. A one-two [finish] for Team Penske, three championships in a row since this Next Gen car. [I] Couldn’t be more proud of everyone at the shop that’s built these things. The race [for the championship] started in Vegas for us and the amount of work and effort that went into building this race car right here, the amount of time. I mean, I don’t think anyone works harder than us. We were up at six this morning going over stuff, but the guys just want it bad and I’m glad we delivered. It was looking iffy there for a minute, but that late-race restart [with 54 laps remaining] was really the difference maker. Gosh, I’m so proud of the team.”

    As Logano celebrated with his No. 22 Team Penske Ford team on the championship stage, teammate Blaney, Byron and Reddick were left disappointed on pit road as the trio fell short of achieving their championships.

    By finishing in second place both on the track and in the final standings, Blaney, who made his second consecutive appearance in the Championship 4 round, fell one spot short of becoming the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson won five consecutive titles from 2006-10. Nonetheless, Blaney, who capped off the season with three victories, extended his congratulations to teammate Logano for delivering another Cup Series championship to team owner Roger Penske.

    “Yeah, [I’m] just worn out,” Blaney said. “[I] Just couldn’t quite get there. I tried really hard to do so. Just [the last] restart didn’t really work out. [Logano] just got too far away from me and it took me a while to pass a couple guys. [I] Just could never get by Joey and just ran out of time, but congrats to him. Congrats to the No. 22 team and Pennzoil and Ford. They put together a great Playoffs and we’re happy. If we’re going to race somebody, I’m happy it was [Logano] for the championship and happy to be one, two for [owner] Roger [Penske]. Three in a row for Roger. Super amazing. On my side, I hate it for Menards,…everybody who really puts a lot of effort into our program. Just super fast. Just didn’t quite have enough there at the end. At least, a Penske car won it, but yeah, heck of a battle. [I] Hope the fans enjoyed it and yeah, hopefully, we come back even stronger next year.”

    William Byron, who also made his second consecutive Championship 4 appearance, capped off his seventh full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series highlighted with three victories and the 2024 Daytona 500 victory in third place both on the track and in the final standings. Tyler Reddick, who made his first Championship 4 appearance and notched a total of three victories and the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Championship, could only climb his way up as high to sixth place in the final running order, which left him strapped in fourth place in the final standings.

    “We just needed a little bit more,” Byron said. “I felt like we gave it all we had and that’s something to be proud of. We just didn’t have enough to go fight with the Penske guys. [Crew chief] Rudy [Fugle] made a great call. I was really proud of that. That was cool to give us a shot at the front row and ultimately, it netted out better. Just not quite enough, but so proud of this team. It’s been a great year. To make the Championship 4 and win the [Daytona] 500 is awesome. I know what we need to work on and we’ll go at it next year.”

    “I think we definitely got our [Tame the] Beast Camry better throughout the day,” Reddick added. “[Blaney, Byron, and Logano] were able to pull away over time. It was a good year for us and everyone at 23XI [Racing]. To get to the Championship 4 and have a shot at [the title] was nice. We got to get a little bit better here at Phoenix. Obviously, we’re definitely motivated to do that knowing [the] championship’s sited here. Good year for us. Proud of the effort. It’s a lot to do. All the preparation, all the work that goes into this. It takes everybody. We were close. We were just not quite good enough, unfortunately.”

    Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, both of whom were eliminated from the Playoffs a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, finished in the top five on the track at Phoenix. Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate at 23XI Racing, settled in seventh place while Chase Elliott, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Martin Truex Jr. finished 17th in his 693rd and final start as a full-time Cup Series competitor while Carson Hocevar claimed the 2024 Rookie-of-the-Year title by finishing 18th. Chris Buescher, who ended up in ninth place at Phoenix, emerged as the highest non-Playoff contender in the standings in 17th place over Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch, the latter of whom concluded a Cup Series season winless for the first time in his career.

    In addition, Stewart-Haas Racing capped off its 16-year journey in the Cup Series with all four of its competitors (Josh Berry, Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson and Ryan Preece) finishing the finale, Harrison Burton finished 16th in his final event with Wood Brothers Racing, Daniel Hemric finished 23rd in his final event with Kaulig Racing and Michael McDowell ended up 31st in his final event with Front Row Motorsports.

    There were 16 lead changes for nine different leaders. The finale featured four cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 19 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, 107 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ryan Blaney, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. William Byron, 19 laps led

    4. Kyle Larson, 13 laps led

    5. Christopher Bell, 143 laps led

    6. Tyler Reddick

    7. Bubba Wallace

    8. Chase Elliott

    9. Chris Buescher

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Denny Hamlin

    12. Noah Gragson

    13. Austin Cindric

    14. Alex Bowman, one lap led

    15. Brad Keselowski

    16. Harrison Burton

    17. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    18. Carson Hocevar

    19. Ross Chastain

    20. Todd Gilliland, one lap down, one lap led

    21. Kyle Busch, one lap down

    22. Erik Jones, one lap down

    23. Daniel Hemric, one lap down

    24. Josh Berry, one lap down

    25. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    26. Jimmie Johnson, two laps down

    27. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    28. Justin Haley, two laps down

    29. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

    30. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down

    31. Michael McDowell, three laps down

    32. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    34. Kaz Grala, four laps down

    35. JJ Yeley, six laps down

    36. Chad Finchum, 10 laps down

    37. Ryan Preece, 10 laps down

    38. Jeb Burton, 18 laps down

    39. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident

    40. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Joey Logano

    2. Ryan Blaney

    3. William Byron

    4. Tyler Reddick

    5. Christopher Bell

    6. Kyle Larson

    7. Chase Elliott

    8. Denny Hamlin

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Martin Truex Jr.

    11. Austin Cindric

    12. Daniel Suarez

    13. Brad Keselowski

    14. Chase Briscoe

    15. Ty Gibbs

    16. Harrison Burton

    The NASCAR Cup Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on February 2, 2025, for the annual Busch Light Clash. This event will be followed by the 67th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which is scheduled to occur on February 16, 2025, and will officially commence a new season of competition.

  • Justin Allgaier perseveres for first Xfinity championship; Riley Herbst wins 2024 finale at Phoenix

    Justin Allgaier perseveres for first Xfinity championship; Riley Herbst wins 2024 finale at Phoenix

    As Riley Herbst sent Stewart-Haas Racing off on a winning note in the organization’s final NASCAR Xfinity Series event by winning the 2024 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9, Justin Allgaier emerged as the biggest winner of the night by rallying from starting at the rear of the field in a backup car, being nabbed with a pair of midrace penalties that pinned him a lap down and muscling his way back to the front through two overtime attempts to capture his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.

    The 40-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, commenced the finale weekend on a sour note after he was one of several competitors who slid and wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall during Friday’s practice session after he slipped up into Brennan Poole’s spilled oil, the latter of which suffered a mechanical issue. Despite taking the green flag in 37th place of the 38-car field, Allgaier methodically carved his way up through the leaderboard and emerge in sixth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 45. Amid two caution periods and ensuing restarts throughout the second stage period, Allgaier, who made multiple on-track contacts with Riley Herbst in the closing laps of the stage period that resulted with the Illinois veteran potentially having a left-rear tire going flat, managed to cap off the stage in 10th place.

    Then during the start of the final stage period with 100 laps remaining, Allgaier, who restarted in the top-14 mark, was assessed a restart violation penalty for steering his No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron and pulling out of line from the field prior to reaching the start/finish line. As Allgaier served a pass-through penalty through pit lane, things went from bad to worse when he was penalized a second time, this time for speeding on pit road. Losing a lap to the leaders, Allgaier would spend a majority of the final stage period trying to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down and place himself in the free pass position.

    As a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced with 55 laps remaining, Allgaier, who opted to remain on the track with a different pit strategy from the leaders and cycled back on the lead lap, thrusted himself back into the championship battle after Anthony Alfredo wrecked with 46 laps remaining. Pitting during the caution period, Allgaier, who restarted within the top-12 mark, used the following restart period and fresh tires with 38 laps remaining to march his way to the front. Thirty-two laps later, Allgaier overtook title contender Cole Custer to assume the lead in the championship battle.

    Despite being overtaken by Custer on pit road and dropping to fifth place on the track amid a late-race caution with three laps remaining and sent the finale into overtime, Allgaier reassumed the top spot in the championship battle back from Custer, who was being blocked by title contender Austin Hill, before another late-race incident sent the finale into a second overtime attempt. During the latest attempt, Allgaier rubbed fenders with rookie Jesse Love to assume the lead in the race as he also retained the lead in the championship standings. Despite being overtaken by Herbst on the final lap for the race win, Allgaier managed to nurse his car to a runner-up result, which was enough to claim his long-awaited first championship in his 14th season competing in the Xfinity Series division.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, William Sawalich claimed his first Xfinity career pole position in his third series start after he posted a pole-winning lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Sheldon Creed, who posted his best qualifying lap at 133.432 seconds. The four Championship 4 contenders that include Austin Hill, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier are set to start fifth, seventh, ninth and 37th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Aric Almirola and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars after all wrecked their primary cars during Friday’s practice session. Sammy Smith also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Allmendinger, the latter of which due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as teammates William Sawalich and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead entering the first two turns. As Championship 4 contender Austin Hill was trying to battle Chandler Smith for fourth place while also trying to fend off teammate Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and title rival Cole Custer through the backstretch, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead to lead the first lap.

    Over the next four laps, Creed stretched his early advantage to as high as nearly half a second as Riley Herbst made his way into the runner-up spot. Behind, Chandler Smith moved up to third place in front of Sawalich and Hill while Mayer, Love, Custer, Daniel Dye and Connor Zilisch were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Championship 4 contenders AJ Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier were up to 19th and 25th, respectively, as both continued their early march from the rear of the field.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Herbst, who overtook Creed for the lead a lap earlier, was leading in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang by three-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between teammates Creed and Chandler smith while Sawalich and Hill were in the top five ahead of Love, Mayer, Custer, Zilisch and Dye. Behind, Allgaier and Allmendinger were in 18th and 19th, respectively, while Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeffrey Earnhardt and rookie Shane van Gisbergen were racing in the top 15.

    Just past the Lap 20 mark, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Chandler Smith while third-place Creed trailed by more than four seconds. Herbst would proceed to stabilize his lead to more than a second by the Lap 30 mark as both Smith and Creed retained second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill continued to race as the highest-running Championship 4 contender on the track in fourth place while his closest-title rival Custer was mired in seventh place behind Sawalich and Mayer. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10 as he was up to ninth place while Allmendinger was mired in 18th place.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Herbst claimed his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith, Creed, Hill and Sam Mayer were scored in the top five while Allgaier, Custer, Sawalich, Aric Almirola and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 10. By then, Allmendinger was still mired in 18th place and as the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Herbst retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Hill, Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith, Love, Mayer, Almirola, Sawalich and Allgaier. Amid the pit stops, Shane van Gisbergen was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Herbst and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Herbst and Hill dueled for the lead in front of a three-wide battle for third place between Custer, Creed and Chandler Smith entering the first two turns. Then as Hill tried to make a move beneath Herbst for the lead through the turns, Custer used the outside lane to overtake both entering the backstretch. Custer would proceed to navigate his No. 00 Haas/Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang back to the frontstretch and lead the following lap as he was followed by teammate Herbst, Hill, Mayer, Chandler Smith and Allgaier. With Allmendinger making his way into the top 12, Custer led the next lap and teammate Herbst retained second while Hill was trying to fend off Mayer, Allgaier and Chandler Smith for third place.

    At the Lap 60 mark, Herbst, who overtook teammate Custer for the lead a lap earlier, was leading by three-tenths of a second while Mayer, Hill and Allgaier followed suit in the top five. The caution would then return two laps later after Anthony Alfredo, who was battling Stefan Parsons for 20th place, got squeezed into the frontstretch’s outside wall by Parsons, which resulted with Alfredo turning left, clipping and sending Parsons into the outside wall as the latter wrecked while Greg Van Alst spun behind Parsons’ carnage. Following the incident, Alfredo was assessed a two-lap penalty for reckless driving.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 74 featured the leaders and the field fanning out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Herbst barely fended off teammate Custer to retain the lead through the first two turns. With Mayer making his way into the runner-up spot behind Herbst entering the backstretch, Allgaier muscled through into third place while Custer was trying to fend off Hill for fourth place. As Herbst led the following lap, Hill was overtaken by Almirola, Creed and Chandler Smith through the frontstretch while Custer battled and overtook Allgaier for third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. The caution then returned on Lap 76 when Chandler Smith, who was racing in seventh place, made contact and got loose underneath teammate Creed in Turn 1 as he spun his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra from the top to the bottom of the track.

    During the caution period, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Jeb Burton, Dylan Lupton, Daniel Dye, Matt DiBenedetto, Brandon Jones, Brennan Poole and van Gisbergen remained on the track while the rest led by Herbst pitted.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 82, Creed and Love dueled for the lead in front of the field through the frontstretch. Creed and Love remained dead even for the lead in front of Allmendinger and Jeb Burton through the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out to four and five lanes as a bevy of competitors who either pitted or did not pit during the previous caution period scrambled for positions. As Creed led the following lap, Allmendinger remained as the highest-running Championship 4 contender in third place while Allgaier and Custer, both of whom were racing on fresh tires, carved their way up to sixth and seventh, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill was trapped outside the top-10 mark and trying to navigate his way back to the front.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Herbst, who made multiple on-track contacts with Allgaier five laps earlier, overtook Creed a lap prior to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second in the finale. Creed settled in second ahead of Almirola, Love and Custer while Zilisch, Allmendinger, Mayer, Sawalich and Allgaier, the latter of whom nursed his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the finish with a potentially flat left-rear tire, settled in the top 10. By then, Custer emerged as the highest-running Championship contender while Hill was the lowest Championship 4 contender on the track in 14th place.

    During the stage break, some including Creed, Love, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, DiBenedetto, Dye, Dylan Lupton, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen and Poole pitted while the rest led by Herbst and including Custer and Hill remained on the track.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Herbst and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst rocketed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang away from Almirola and teammate Custer through the frontstretch’s dogleg. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch, Herbst proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer made his way up to third place behind Custer. By then, Hill and Allmendinger were in the top 10 and Allgaier was in 12th place.

    Shortly after, however, Allgaier was penalized for diving his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro below the frontstretch’s apron prior to reaching the start/finish line to start the final stage period. As Allgaier served his drive-through penalty, Herbst retained the lead over teammate Custer with 95 laps remaining. Not long after serving his drive-through penalty to serve his restart violation penalty, Allgaier was assessed a second drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road while serving his first. Compared to the first penalty, the second one caused Allgaier to drop out of the lead lap category as Herbst retained the race lead with less than 90 laps remaining. By then, Custer, who was in second place, was leading the championship battle as he was five spots ahead of Allmendinger and 13 spots ahead of Hill.

    With 80 laps remaining, Herbst was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Custer while Mayer, Creed and Zilisch were in the top five ahead of Love, Allmendinger, Almirola, Chandler Smith and Sawalich. As Hill was mired in 16th place, Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down in 29th place as he was trying to catch Jeremy Clements to be the first competitor scored a lap down.

    Fifteen laps later, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than four seconds over teammate Custer, the latter of whom continued to lead the championship battle, while Creed, Mayer and Love were scored in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, Allmendinger, Custer’s closest championship rival, was scored in seventh place on the track and trailing the championship lead by less than six seconds while Zilisch, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Almirola were in the top 10. Behind, Hill was scored in 15th place while Allgaier was scored the second competitor a lap down behind Ryan Sieg and in 27th place.

    Another 10 laps later, a late cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as the leader Herbst pitted. Love, Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones would also pit before Sawalich, Hill, Allmendinger, Zilisch, Mayer, Almirola, Josh Williams, Custer and van Gisbergen pitted over the next four laps. As more names including Creed pitted with 50 laps remaining, Dye was leading ahead of Parker Kligerman. By then, both along with Allgaier, the latter of whom cycled back on the lead lap, have yet to pit while Herbst carved his way up to third place.

    With 46 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Alfredo blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 hard. Alfredo’s incident served as a pivotal moment for Allgaier, who was scored on the lead lap despite not having yet pitted while Kligerman, who had pitted shortly before Alfredo wrecked, lost a lap in the process. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and Brandon Jones pitted while the rest led by Herbst remained on the track.

    Down to the final 38 laps of the event, Herbst rocketed away from Love to retain the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As Custer battled Zilisch for third place, his title rivals Allmendinger, Hill and Allgaier were battling within the top 10. A few laps later, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Hill were racing eighth to 10th, respectively, while Custer retained third place on the track and the lead in the championship battle. Meanwhile, teammate Herbst continued to lead the race by seven-tenths of a second over Love with 35 laps remaining.

    With 25 laps remaining, Herbst continued to lead the race by more than two seconds over Love as third-place Custer, who retained the lead in the championship battle, started to close in on Love for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Allgaier carved his way up to sixth place as he trailed Custer for three spots and Hill was mired in eighth place on the track behind Creed while Allmendinger was racing in 11th place behind Almirola and Brandon Jones.

    Two laps later, Custer engaged in a side-by-side battle with Love for the runner-up spot on the track in an effort to generate a gap between himself and Allgaier for the championship battle. Love, however, would not yield the spot to Custer, which allowed Zilisch and Mayer, Allgaier’s teammates at JR Motorsports, to join the battle while Allgaier was slowly narrowing the deficit to Custer. Love would continue to retain second place over Custer as both Zilisch and Mayer would begin to challenge Custer for third place while Allgaier was trying to gain ground on teammate Mayer with 20 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Herbst stabilized his race lead to more than three seconds over Love while Custer retained third place ahead of Zilisch and Mayer. Meanwhile, Allgaier, who retained sixth place, trailed Custer by nearly a second while Hill was up to seventh place and trailing Allgaier by a second. By then, Allmendinger was strapped in 11th place.

    Two laps later, Allgaier overtook teammate Mayer for fifth place on the track. By then, he still trailed Custer on the track for the championship battle by a second as Custer continued to fend off Zilisch for third place. Hill then started to close in on Mayer for sixth place on the track and he also had Allgaier within his sights while Herbst grew his lead to four seconds with 10 laps remaining.

    Then with eight laps remaining, the battle for the championship brewed as Zilisch overtook Custer for third place on the track. As Custer fought back through the backstretch, Zilisch then got loose underneath Custer and made slight contact with the latter, which caused both to briefly fall off the pace entering Turns 3 and 4 as Allgaier zipped by teammate Zilisch for fourth place on the track with seven laps remaining. Allgaier then proceeded to drive up to Custer’s rear bumper through the first two turns and the backstretch before he made his move beneath Custer and overtook him through Turns 3 and 4. By then, Allgaier assumed the lead in the championship standings over Custer with six laps remaining.

    Over the next three laps, Allgaier started to generate a reasonable gap between himself and Custer as he also started to battle Love for the runner-up spot on the track while Herbst maintained a healthy advantage on the track.

    Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to an incident involving Leland Honeyman in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Herbst pitted. Following the pit stops, Hill, who pitted for only two scuff tires for his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro, exited first as he was followed by Love, Herbst, Custer, Allgaier, Almirola, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Zilisch and Creed. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier endured a slow pit service, which allowed Custer to overtake him on pit road.

    The start of the first overtime attempt did not last long as Parker Retzlaff spun and wrecked in Turn 2. Prior to Retzlaff’s incident, Love had assumed the race lead and Allgaier, who restarted in fifth place, bolted his way up to second place on the track and first in the championship battle while Hill, who created a roadblock for Custer while trying to launch on his two scuff tires, had dropped to sixth place. By then, Custer had dropped to seventh place while Allmendinger was mired in 10th place. With Retzlaff’s incident, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt.

    The start of the second overtime attempt featured Allgaier and Love dueling for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Allgaier went up the track and made contact against Love’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro, which resulted with both rubbing against one another in smoke and Herbst getting squeezed towards the outside wall entering the first turn. Amid the contact, Allgaier muscled ahead and barely fended off Herbst, Almirola and Hill through the first two turns to muscle ahead entering the backstretch while Love was trying to regain ground. By then, Hill, who got loose after making contact with Almirola, had dropped to seventh place on the track as he was losing ground of Allgaier for the championship battle. Both Custer and Allmendinger were also losing ground of Allgaier on the track.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained in the lead in both the race and the championship battle while runner-up Herbst closed in on him despite developing a left-rear tire rub. Amid the tire smoke, Herbst would then gain a run beneath Allgaier, who had all the markings on his left-rear tire rubbed off, through the backstretch and overtake him for the race lead. As Herbst proceeded to claim the checkered flag to win the finale, Allgaier would have enough muscle to finish in second place and claim the championship over Custer, Allmendinger and Hill.

    With the title, Allgaier, a 25-time race winner in the Xfinity Series who is in his 14th season as a full-time Xfinity competitor and who quietly clinched a Championship 4 round berth by points a week ago at Martinsville Speedway, became the 34th competitor overall to win a championship in the Xfinity Series and the first Illinois native to accomplish the feat. He also delivered the fourth driver’s championship and the first owner’s championship in the Xfinity division for JR Motorsports, the latter of which achieved its first Xfinity title since the 2018 season with Tyler Reddick. The 2024 Xfinity championship was also a first for crew chief Jim Pohlman.

    Overall, the 2024 season marks the eighth time in nine seasons where the current Playoff-elimination format featured a first-time champion in the Xfinity Series as Allgaier, who made his seventh Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, previously finished a career-best runner up in the final standings during the 2020 and 2023 seasons.

    As he celebrated with his pit crew, team owners, including Dale Earnhardt Jr., and family on the frontstretch, Allgaier was asked if he had counted himself out of the championship battle amid his pair of on-track obstacles that pinned him a lap down and way behind his title rivals.

    “Yeah, [I counted myself out] like 10 times,” Allgaier, who fought tears of emotions, said on the CW Network. “You fans are awesome. I don’t think I have a voice left because I was yelling. I’ve been doing this a long time and these people that are standing around me. There’s no words. It’s understated what [Hendrick engine shop and Chevrolet] what they’ve done. [My family] have given up so much for me to come do this job and God’s good, man. I said it all weekend, I don’t know what the plan is. I don’t know what that looks like, but He’s got a reason for everything and tonight is truly that. It’s mind-blowing.”

    No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro
    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “This team never gave up,” Allgaier, who will return to JR Motorsports and attempt to defend his series title in 2025, added. “[Crew chief] Jim Pohlman, his leadership skills are second and none. He told me all weekend that we were going to have a chance. Man, we tried to give it away every which way we could. I was as fast as Xfinity Internet, but on pit road, not on the racetrack where I needed to be. I just wanted to make it exciting for all you fans, all you fans at home. All the men and women, all five of our race teams [at JR Motorsports], just the effort that we’ve put in. I’m at a loss for words and we’re going to celebrate this one, for sure. It’s unbelievable. I just cannot say thank you enough to everybody that’s ever helped me in my career to get to this point. Seven times in the Championship 4 and we finally got it done.”

    As Allgaier proceeded to celebrate his first championship on the championship stage, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, could only manage a smile on pit road as he settled in eighth place in the final running order of the finale and in the runner-up spot in the final standings. Despite coming up one spot short of defending his series title, Custer is set to move back up to the Cup Series and drive for the newly formed Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “I think any driver can do something a little bit different,” Custer said. “I tried to go high, tried to go to the middle, tried to go everywhere I could. But [Hill] made his car pretty wide, which is his right. We’re all going for a championship. It just sucks that it ended up screwing us over worse than it did [Allgaier] and he was able to slip by. Man, I can’t say congratulations enough to Justin and all those guys. He’s definitely a deserving champion. They were fast all night. I hate it came down to tire strategies and stuff like that, but man, I can’t say enough about our group. Everything they’ve done over the last two years, [crew chief Jonathan Toney], everybody in [the Stewart-Haas Racing] shop works so hard. I wish we could have ended up with a championship for [Stewart-Haas Racing], but it just wasn’t meant to be on those restarts.”

    Meanwhile, AJ Allmendinger, who clinched a Championship 4 berth by winning the Playoff’s Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway three weeks ago, managed a ninth-place result in the finale and settled in third place in the final standings. Austin Hill, who made his first Championship 4 appearance as a title contender, fell back to 10th place in the final running order as he was relegated to fourth place in the final standings. While Hill is set to return to Richard Childress Racing for another full-time Xfinity campaign in 2025, Allmendinger is set to move back up to the Cup Series with Kaulig Racing next season.

    “We just struggled all night,” Allmendinger said. “First off, congrats to Justin [Allgaier], Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] and the No. 7 crew. Justin’s been working at it for a long time. Really cool that he got [the title]. [I] Wished that we could’ve been, at least, in the fight for [the title]. We were off from the start, loose the whole time. I didn’t know what else to do to try to make [the car] faster. Just disappointing that we never really were in the fight. I thought strategy-wise, we could, kind of, steal it, maybe, or the team championship. Disappointing, but proud to be here at least.”

    “We had to try something [strategy-wise],” Hill added. “Lot of hard racing out there. I want to say congrats to the No. 7 team. Justin Allgaier’s being doing this a really long time. To see him finally get it done, I’m very happy for him. He’s a great guy to be around. Hats off to JR Motorsports for getting it done.”

    Amid the championship battle, Riley Herbst, who led a race-high 167 of the 213 over-scheduled laps, celebrated a race victory as he notched his third career win in the Xfinity Series, second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. The victory was also the last for the Stewart-Haas Racing organization as the team will be rebranded to Haas Factory Team in 2025. It also comes as Herbst’s 2025 racing plans remain to be determined.

    Riley Herbst
    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I’ve been telling people since Daytona that if we got to Phoenix, we’d be the champion,” Herbst, who finished seventh in the final standings, said in Victory Lane. “Everybody looked at me like I was crazy. That’s gone now. We didn’t make [the Championship 4 round], but I’m just so proud of all these guys, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. It was a really, really tough week last week. We had a lot of emotional people at the shop. [Stewart-Haas Racing] was home for me for four years. It’s built me to what I am now and that’s a winning racecar driver in the Xfinity Series. So proud of [crew chief] Davin [Restivo] and all the guys on the No. 98 team. It’s been a hell of a run the last four years. Thank you so much to every man and woman at Stewart-Haas Racing. I love you guys all so much. We’ll see what next year holds.”

    Aric Almirola, who was contending for the owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s NO. 20 Toyota team, settled in third place on the track as he fell one spot short to Allgaier in the category. Connor Zilisch and Chandler Smith finished in the top five while Rookie-of-the-Year recipient Jesse Love, Sheldon Creed, Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Hill completed the top 10.

    There were 21 lead changes for eight different leaders. The finale featured seven cautions for 53 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Riley Herbst, 167 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, four laps led

    3. Aric Almirola

    4. Connor Zilisch

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Jesse Love, six laps led

    7. Sheldon Creed, 20 laps led

    8. Cole Custer, seven laps led

    9. AJ Allmendinger

    10. Austin Hill, five laps led

    11. Sam Mayer

    12. Shane van Gisbergen

    13. William Sawalich

    14. Parker Kligerman, two laps led

    15. Sammy Smith

    16. Jeb Burton

    17. Daniel Dye, two laps led

    18. Brandon Jones

    19. Dylan Lupton

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Josh Bilicki

    22. Blaine Perkins

    23. Ryan Sieg

    24. Brennan Poole

    25. Ryan Ellis

    26. Matt DiBenedetto

    27. Joey Gase

    28.  Patrick Emerling, one lap down

    29. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    30. Garrett Smithley, one lap down

    31. Leland Honeyman, three laps down

    32. Dawson Cram, four laps down

    33. Josh Williams, five laps down

    34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine

    36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    37. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Suspension

    38. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Justin Allgaier

    2. Cole Custer

    3. AJ Allmendinger

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Sheldon Creed

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Jesse Love

    9. Sam Mayer

    10. Parker Kligerman

    11. Sammy Smith

    12. Shane van Gisbergen

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 15, 2025, for a new season of competition.

  • Martin Truex Jr. claims Cup Series pole in final full-time start at Phoenix

    Martin Truex Jr. claims Cup Series pole in final full-time start at Phoenix

    Martin Truex Jr. will start his final NASCAR Cup Series event as a full-time competitor on the pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9.

    Practice and Qualifying

    The 2017 Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, commenced the 2024 weekend finale at Phoenix as the second-fastest competitor of the series’ lone practice session on Friday, November 8. After two qualifying group rounds, he was one of 10 drivers that transferred to the final qualifying session.

    Truex posted his best qualifying lap at 134.741 mph in 26.718 seconds and claimed the top-starting spot over Championship 4 contender Joey Logano.

    In addition to winning the pole position, Truex will sport a special throwback scheme on his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry. It will mirror the scheme of his first Cup career start at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October 2004, notched his 25th career pole in NASCAR’s premier series, his second in a row in recent weeks after he started on pole last weekend at Martinsville Speedway and his third at Phoenix.

    Sunday’s Cup Series Championship event at Phoenix is set to mark Truex’s 693rd and final start as a full-time competitor in NASCAR’s premier series. Truex is currently ranked in 10th place in the 2024 driver’s standings and will continue his pursuit of his first elusive victory of the season.

    “[The pole]’s very cool,” Truex said. “Honestly, you always want to be known as the guy that can go fast in any track, in any situation. Pressure is always pretty high for qualifying. You have to go out there and nail that perfect lap. You only get one shot at it these days. It is fun to go out there and beat everyone in anything. It feels good. It’s very cool, but the big prize is tomorrow. Hopefully, we can get that one.”

    Top Ten

    Joining Truex on the front row will be Joey Logano, the highest-starting Championship 4 contender with his best qualifying lap occurring at 134.690 mph in 26.728 seconds as he will contend for his third Cup Series championship for Sunday’s main event.

    Chevrolet competitors Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will start in the top five and they will be followed by Ty Gibbs and Christopher Bell on the starting grid.

    William Byron, who is contending for his first Cup title, will start in eighth place after a qualifying lap of 134.218 mph in 26.822 seconds. Championship 4 contender, Tyler Reddick, will start in 10th place. He will share the fifth row with Harrison Burton.

    Reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney is the fourth Championship 4 finalist. He will start in 17th place, despite being the fastest during Friday’s practice session.

    All 40 competitors entered for Sunday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Martin Truex Jr., 134.741 mph, 26.718 seconds
    2. Joey Logano, 134.690 mph, 26.728 seconds
    3. Ross Chastain, 134.268 mph, 26.812 seconds
    4. Kyle Larson, 134.308 mph, 26.804 seconds
    5. Chase Elliott, 134.228 mph, 26.820 seconds
    6. Ty Gibbs, 134.273 mph, 26.811 seconds
    7. Christopher Bell, 133.373 mph, 26.992 seconds
    8. William Byron, 134.218 mph, 26.822 seconds
    9. Harrison Burton, 132.188 mph, 27.234 seconds
    10. Tyler Reddick, 134.118 mph, 26.842 seconds
    11. Austin Cindric, 134.590 mph, 26.748 seconds
    12. Chase Briscoe, 134.635 mph, 26.739 seconds
    13. Justin Haley, 134.554 mph, 26.755 seconds
    14. Denny Hamlin, 134.605 mph, 26.745 seconds
    15. Carson Hocevar, 134.389 mph, 26.788 seconds
    16. Alex Bowman, 134.378 mph, 26.790 seconds
    17. Ryan Blaney, 134.263 mph, 26.813 seconds
    18. John Hunter Nemechek, 134.078 mph, 26.850 seconds
    19. Erik Jones, 133.834 mph, 26.899 seconds
    20. Corey LaJoie, 134.068 mph, 26.852 seconds
    21. Noah Gragson, 133.690 mph, 26.928 seconds
    22. Daniel Hemric, 133.909 mph, 26.884 seconds
    23. Jimmie Johnson, 133.531 mph, 26.960 seconds
    24. Chris Buescher, 133.740 mph, 26.918 seconds
    25. Kyle Busch, 133.492 mph, 26.968 seconds
    26. Derek Kraus, 133.605 mph, 26.945 seconds
    27. Brad Keselowski, 133.190 mph, 27.029 seconds
    28. Zane Smith, 133.531 mph, 26.960 seconds
    29. Bubba Wallace, 132.690 mph, 27.131 seconds
    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 133.161 mph, 27.035 seconds
    31. Kaz Grala, 132.587 mph, 27.152 seconds
    32. Todd Gilliland, 132.251 mph, 27.221 seconds
    33. Ryan Preece, 132.528 mph, 27.164 seconds
    34. Daniel Suarez, 131.805 mph, 27.313 seconds
    35. Michael McDowell, 132.086 mph, 27.255 seconds
    36. Austin Dillon, 130.586 mph, 27.568 seconds
    37. JJ Yeley, 129.627 mph, 27.772 seconds
    38. Chad Finchum, 127.895 mph, 28.148 seconds
    39. Josh Berry, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds
    40. Jeb Burton, 0.000 mph, 0.000 seconds

    The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Sunday, November 10, and air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • William Sawalich wins first Xfinity pole for 2024 finale at Phoenix

    William Sawalich wins first Xfinity pole for 2024 finale at Phoenix

    William Sawalich notched his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 9.

    The two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, posted his best qualifying lap at 134.168 mph in 26.832 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over teammate Sheldon Creed, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 133.432 mph in 26.980 seconds.

    With the pole position, Sawalich, who is set to make his third career start in the Xfinity circuit and in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota Supra entry, will lead the field to the green flag for Saturday’s 2024 finale at Phoenix. He is set to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing on a full-time Xfinity basis in 2025, where he will be piloting the No. 18 Toyota Supra entry.

    Speaking of Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota entry, Sheldon Creed, who is making his final start with the Gibbs organization before he transitions to the Haas Factory Team in 2025, will share the front row with teammate Sawalich. The 2024 Xfinity finale is set to mark Creed’s fifth time starting on the front row this season as he aims to capture his first elusive victory in the series.

    Riley Herbst and Chandler Smith will start third and fourth, respectively, while Austin Hill will be the highest-starting Championship- 4 contenders in fifth place as he strives to win his first Xfinity Series championship.

    Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are rookie Jesse Love, Championship 4 finalist Cole Custer, Sam Mayer, Championship 4 finalist AJ Allmendinger and Parker Retzlaff.

    Notably, Justin Allgaier, the fourth Championship 4 finalist, will start in 37th place of the 38-car field and in a backup car. This is a result of Allgaier wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session after he ran over spilled fluid from Brennan Poole’s entry, slid and pounded the outside wall hard against Turns 1 and 2. Aric Almirola, who is contending for the 2024 Xfinity owner’s championship for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota team, was also involved in the practice carnage as he will start in 38th place, dead last, in a backup car.

    All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. William Sawalich, 134.168 mph, 26.832 seconds
    2. Sheldon Creed, 133.432 mph, 26.980 seconds
    3. Riley Herbst, 132.989 mph, 27.070 seconds
    4. Chandler Smith, 132.915 mph, 27.085 seconds
    5. Austin Hill, 132.523 mph, 27.165 seconds
    6. Jesse Love, 132.343 mph, 27.202 seconds
    7. Cole Custer, 132.270 mph, 27.217 seconds
    8. Sam Mayer, 132.178 mph, 27.236 seconds
    9. AJ Allmendinger, 132.139 mph, 27.244 seconds
    10. Parker Retzlaff, 132.042 mph, 27.264 seconds
    11. Matt DiBenedetto, 131.868 mph, 27.300 seconds
    12. Anthony Alfredo, 131.690 mph, 27.337 seconds
    13. Daniel Dye, 131.651 mph, 27.345 seconds
    14. Stefan Parsons, 131.454 mph, 27.386 seconds
    15. Sammy Smith, 131.372 mph, 27.403 seconds
    16. Jeb Burton, 131.324 mph, 27.413 seconds
    17. Shane van Gisbergen, 131.081 mph, 27.464 seconds
    18. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 130.976 mph, 27.486 seconds
    19. Josh Williams, 130.957 mph, 27.490 seconds
    20. Ryan Ellis, 130.785 mph, 27.526 seconds
    21. Connor Zilisch, 130.766 mph, 27.530 seconds
    22. Jeremy Clements, 130.657 mph, 27.553 seconds
    23. Ryan Sieg, 130.577 mph, 27.570 seconds
    24. Dylan Lupton, 130.572 mph, 27.571 seconds
    25. Blaine Perkins, 130.482 mph, 27.590 seconds
    26. Leland Honeyman, 130.359 mph, 27.616 seconds
    27. Dawson Cram, 130.086 mph, 27.674 seconds
    28. Brennan Poole, 129.767 mph, 27.742 seconds
    29. Kyle Sieg, 129.534 mph, 27.792 seconds
    30. Patrick Emerling, 129.450 mph, 27.810 seconds
    31. Parker Kligerman, 129.231 mph, 27.857 seconds
    32. Josh Bilicki, 128.834 mph, 27.943 seconds
    33. Brandon Jones, 128.599 mph, 27.994 seconds
    34. Joey Gase, Owner Points
    35. Greg Van Alst, Owner Points
    36. Garrett Smithley, Owner Points
    37. Justin Allgaier, Owner Points
    38. Aric Almirola, Owner Points

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, November 9, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Ty Majeski dominates for first Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    Ty Majeski dominates for first Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    Ty Majeski stormed to his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship by securing a dominant victory in the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 8.

    After starting on the pole, the 30-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led a race-high 132 of 150-scheduled laps in the season-finale event. He led the first 38 laps before he was overtaken by Championship 4 contender Corey Heim. Majeski finished the first stage in second place at the conclusion of the first stage. He regained the lead during the first stage’s pit stop period and before the start of the second stage, Majeski prevailed after a mid-stage battle with Heim on the track to claim the second stage victory.

    Majeski would then lead the field to the start of the final stage period with 52 laps remaining. During three caution periods due to on-track carnages and three restart periods throughout the final stage, Majeski retained the lead through every restart period. He executed the final one with 27 laps remaining to his advantage as he motored away from Heim along with Championship 4 finalists Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger. Majeski capped off the 2024 season with his third Craftsman Truck Series victory this year and his first championship in his third full-time series campaign.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Championship 4 finalist Ty Majeski claimed the final pole position of the 2024 season and the sixth of the season with a pole-winning lap at 138.180 mph in 26.053 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Championship 4 finalist Corey Heim, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 138.021 mph in 26.083 seconds. Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger, the remaining two Championship 4 finalists, lined up in fourth and fifth, respectively.

    Before the event, Lawless Alan dropped to the rear of the field in a backup after he wrecked his primary truck during the finale’s qualifying session.

    When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Ty Majeski led the way through the first two turns. Majeski pulled away through the backstretch and led the first lap. His Championship 4 rivals Corey Heim and Christian Eckes followed suit in second and third, respectively.

    Over the next four laps, Majeski stretched his early advantage to more than a second over Heim and Eckes while Nick Sanchez and Stewart Friesen followed suit in the top five. Behind, Dean Thompson retained sixth place ahead of Connor Mosack, Championship 4 finalist Grant Enfinger, Kaden Honeycutt and rookie Layne Riggs. Conner Jones, Chase Purdy, Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor were racing in the top 16.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Majeski continued to lead by two seconds over Heim while third-place Eckes trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Sanchez and Friesen remained in the top five. Enfinger, who lost three spots despite starting in fifth place, was up to seventh place behind Thompson. Majeski stabilized his lead to more than two seconds over Heim and by nearly six seconds over Eckes 10 laps later as Enfinger drove his way back to fifth place behind Sanchez.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Majeski’s lead decreased to six-tenths of a second over Heim as the latter started to close in on the former for the top spot. Majeski slightly increased his lead to nine-tenths of a second over Heim at the Lap 35 mark before Heim assumed the lead from Majeski entering the backstretch on Lap 39. By then, Eckes retained third place and trailed the lead by more than four seconds. Enfinger retained fifth place behind Sanchez but trailed the lead by more than 10 seconds.

    On Lap 41, the finale’s first caution period flew when Frankie Muniz got bumped by William Sawalich as he slid sideways in Turn 3 as Heim barely avoided McGee’s sideways truck. Muniz’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45, to officially conclude under caution as Heim claimed his 10th Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Majeski, Eckes, Sanchez and Enfinger followed suit in the top five while Thompson, Mosack, Riggs, Conner Jones and Friesen were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, they pitted for the first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Majeski reassumed the lead as he exited pit road first. He was followed by Eckes, Heim, Sanchez and Enfinger. Amid the pit stops, Heim endured slow pit service after he was forced to reverse his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into his pit stall to ensure his pit crew could change the left-side tires. Enfinger barely clipped his rear tire changer while entering his pit stall.

    The second stage period started on Lap 54 as Majeski and Eckes occupied the front row. The field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as Majeski and Eckes dueled for the lead. Majeski would then use the outside lane to muscle his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 ahead and gain the lead through the first two turns as Heim muscled through into second place ahead of Eckes and Sanchez. As the field continued to fan out through the backstretch, Majeski led the next lap over Heim while Eckes, Sanchez, Thompson and Enfinger followed suit in the top six.

    On Lap 58, the caution returned when Jack Wood, who was racing outside the top 25, got sideways after making contact with Bayley Currey who was racing in a three-wide battle with Matt Crafton. It resulted in Wood spinning and backing his No. 91 Mongoose Chevrolet Silverado RST into the outside wall in Turn 2. The incident and damage to the rear end of Wood’s truck were enough to make Wood the first retiree of the finale. During the caution period, Crafton and Daniel Dye pitted while the rest of the field, led by Majeski, remained on the track.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 64, a four-wide battle for the lead ensued between Majeski, Heim, Sanchez and Thompson through the frontstretch’s dogleg. Heim muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the first two turns and Majeski closed to Heim’s rear bumper entering the backstretch. Majeski tried to make a move beneath him, but Heim transitioned to the outside lane and fended off Majeski to retain the lead. With Heim leading the race, Majeski retained second ahead of Sanchez and Eckes while Riggs moved up into the top five. Riggs then challenged Eckes for fourth place while Mosack, Enfinger and Thompson closed in from sixth to eighth, respectively. By then, Thompson was penalized for a restart violation.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Majeski, who overtook Heim for the lead five laps earlier despite making contact with the latter, extended his advantage to more than a second over Heim. Sanchez, in third place, trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Riggs and Eckes trailed in the top five ahead of Mosack, Friesen, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Purdy. Ben Rhodes, Rajah Caruth, Tanner Gray, Conner Jones, Kaden Honeycutt, Daniel Dye, William Sawalich, Tyler Ankrum, Matt Crafton and Stefan Parsons followed suit in the top 20.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Majeski had stretched his advantage to more than three seconds and captured his seventh Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Heim followed suit in second while Riggs, Sanchez, Eckes, Mosack, Enfinger, Taylor Gray, Friesen and Rhodes were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Majeski returned to pit road for service. After the pit stops, Majeski retained the lead after he exited pit road first while Sanchez, Eckes, Riggs, Heim, Mosack, Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Caruth and Tanner Gray followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Crafton was penalized for improper fueling to his No. 88 Menards Ford F-150.

    With 52 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Majeski and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg as both Sanchez and Majeski dueled in front of the field entering the first two turns. Majeski and Sanchez would continue to duel for the lead entering the backstretch in front of Heim and Riggs before Mosack, who was racing in the top six behind Eckes, ran up the track and hit the outside wall.

    As the field scattered to avoid hitting Mosack, Tyler Ankrum then got bumped by Sawalich as he spun his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST back across the middle of the backstretch, which triggered a multi-truck wreck that involved Sawalich, Andres Perez de Lara, Stefan Parsons, Friesen, Frankie Muniz, Spencer Boyd and rookie Thad Moffitt. The carnage was enough to place the finale in a red flag period for more than six minutes. By then, Heim, who restarted in fifth place and had moved up to third place before the caution, was penalized for a restart violation, after he steered his No. 11 Safelite Toyota to the left and below the frontstretch’s apron before reaching the start/finish line.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, some of the drivers, including Mosack, Friesen and Currey, pitted while the rest of the field, led by Majeski, remained on the track.

    The next restart period began with 43 laps remaining and featured Majeski as he fended off Sanchez, Eckes and Riggs through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns. Majeski proceeded to lead Riggs through the backstretch while Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Enfinger, Caruth and Eckes all followed suit. Meanwhile, Heim, who restarted 19th after serving his penalty, was up to 16th place. As Heim proceeded to climb his way into the top 14, Majeski held a narrow lead over Riggs with 40 laps remaining as Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Eckes followed suit in the top six.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Conner Jones, who was racing in 11th place, spun in Turn 2 after he made contact with teammate Jake Garcia amid close-quarters racing and was nearly hit by teammate Ben Rhodes while sliding towards the outside wall. The incident occurred in front of Heim, who made his way into 11th place. During the caution period, some of the drivers, including Enfinger and Eckes, pitted while the rest, led by Majeski, remained on the track.

    During the next restart period with 33 laps remaining, Majeski and Riggs led the field to the start as Majeski muscled ahead from the outside lane through the frontstretch’s dogleg. Heim went to the apron to gain spots towards the top-five mark entering the first two turns, as Majeski muscled away from the field entering the backstretch. But the caution quickly returned as Riggs made contact with Sanchez in a battle for the runner-up spot and spun his No. 38 Love’s Travel Stops Ford F-150 in Turn 2. Nathan Byrd also spun as he jammed on the brakes to avoid Riggs.

    The following restart period with 27 laps remaining featured Majeski muscling ahead of a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot. Heim, Sanchez and Daniel Dye battled through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns before Heim muscled his way into the runner-up spot entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out, Majeski led the following lap ahead of a hard-charging Heim while Sanchez, Eckes and Dye were in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Enfinger was mired in ninth place as Majeski stretched his advantage to a second over Heim. Eckes would then charge his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST into third place on the track. With his fresh tires and only 24 laps remaining, it placed three Championship 4 finalists in the top three on the track while Dye was assessed a restart violation penalty.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the finale, Majeski was leading both the race and the championship battle by more than a second over Heim while third-place Eckes trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Enfinger was in sixth place behind Sanchez and Taylor Gray while Honeycutt, Mosack, Tanner Gray and Rhodes were in the top 10.

    Five laps later, Majeski added another second to his advantage as he led by more than two seconds over Heim while Eckes trailed in third place by three-and-a-half seconds. By then, Enfinger moved his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST up to fifth place despite trailing the lead by more than seven seconds. Majeski, who was posting the fastest lap times on the track, continued to extend his advantage to more than three seconds over Heim with 10 laps remaining.

    With five laps remaining, Majeski stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Heim while Eckes continued to trail in third place by five seconds. Meanwhile, Enfinger trailed in fifth place on the track by nine seconds while Sanchez was mired in fourth place.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained in the lead both in the race and the championship battle by more than four seconds over Heim. Heim was unable to narrow the gap between himself and Majeski for a final lap charge. Majeski smoothly navigated his No. 98 Road Ranger Ford F-150 around the Phoenix circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and win both the race and his first Truck Series championship.

    With his first title, Majeski also claimed his sixth career race victory and became the 21st competitor overall to win a championship in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series division. He was also the third consecutive Ford competitor to win a Truck championship in recent seasons and the seventh to achieve a first title under the series’ current inception of the Playoff-elimination format.

    Majeski also delivered both the sixth Truck driver’s championship and the third owner’s championship for ThorSport Racing while veteran crew chief Joe Shear Jr. notched his second title in the series.

    The 2024 season marks the fourth time over the previous seven seasons that the championship-winning competitor won the season-finale event on a schedule and the third time over the last five seasons that it occurred at Phoenix Raceway. Majeski’s 2024 championship comes in his third full-time Truck season driving for ThorSport Racing, a team whom Majeski drove for in select events in 2021 before he was elevated to a full-time ride in 2022.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “God, I can’t believe it,” Majeski said on the frontstretch on FS1. “Just huge thank you to [team owners] Duke and Rhonda Thorson. Joe Shear Jr., he’s one bad dude. This is so much fun racing with this group. So proud to have the opportunity to drive these great race trucks. There’s a lot of time in my career where this [championship] looks like a far dream and Duke and Ronda really gave me my third opportunity after I had two opportunities that failed. Man, I can’t thank them enough. We have had a lot of ups and downs and just so proud of these guys.”

    During his championship interview, Majeski, a five-time ARCA Midwest Tour champion who grew up competing in late models and short-track events, evoked an inspiring message to short-track racers striving to emerge as a future NASCAR champion.

    “[Winning]’s possible,” Majeski said. “You just need to find a way to set yourself apart from everybody else. I did that by working in the shop. [I] Started as an engineer at ThorSport [Racing] in 2021 with three or four races, didn’t know what it was going to turn into and now, we’re champions. Man, this is special. We’re going to celebrate this one.”

    As Majeski celebrated both the race victory and his first championship on the stage with his team, the remaining three Championship 4 finalists including Corey Heim, Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger were left disappointed on pit road as the trio fell short of winning their first title in the series.

    Heim, the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota entry, ended up in the runner-up spot both on the track and in the final standings and was left surprised by the late restart violation penalty. He admitted though that he could not keep pace with Majeski to battle for the title amid his late-race rally. Heim, who capped off the season with a series-leading six victories, will return to the Truck Series with TRICON Garage for the 2025 season as he strives to make another run for his first championship.

    “It’s hard to even be upset,” Heim said. “I did almost everything right except for that restart violation, but we were able to get our track position back pretty quick and make the most of it. I just had nothing for [Majeski] all day. He was so fast. I’m just proud of myself for not driving through the fastest truck like I drove through last year by [Carson] Hocevar and we’re going to go with our heads up high. A six-win season, career highs for myself, my team, organization, everybody. Just one sport short of the championship.”

    Meanwhile, the late pit stops for both Eckes and Enfinger did not pay dividends for either driver as Eckes settled in third place on the track and in the final standings while Enfinger came home in fifth place on the track and fourth place in the final standings.

    “[I] Just didn’t have enough today,” Eckes, who achieved four race victories, a season-high 11 stage victories and is set to graduate to the Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing in 2025, said. “[Majeski] and [Heim] were just stronger than us. We threw a Hail Mary with the tires and I thought for a second I would be able to catch them and just didn’t have enough. I wish we could have finished [the season] off with a championship, but just came up a little short. So proud of my guys and we’ll move on to 2025.”

    “Honestly, [I needed] just more speed,” said Enfinger, who notched back-to-back victories during the Round of 8 and will be remaining with CR7 Motorsports for the 2025 Truck Series season.

    “Really proud of the CR7 Motorsports group. All we’ve overcome all year. I feel like we came here with the right mindset, the right game plan and honestly, pretty much the right execution for the stuff in our control. We just flat out didn’t have the speed tonight…It is a special year. Definitely disappointing performance for us tonight, but overall, proud of everything we did. We just flat out didn’t have the short-run speed. I think after 15 laps, we were respectable, but just couldn’t go on the short run.”

    Nick Sanchez finished in fourth place, which was enough to settle in fifth place in the final standings and his final campaign in the Truck Series with Rev Racing as he is set to move up to the Xfinity Series with Big Machine Racing in 2025. Taylor Gray, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack, Ben Rhodes and Layne Riggs, the latter of whom claimed the 2024 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were seven lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 43 laps. In addition, 22 of 35 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 132 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Corey Heim, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Christian Eckes

    4. Nick Sanchez

    5. Grant Enfinger, two laps led

    6. Taylor Gray

    7. Kaden Honeycutt

    8. Connor Mosack

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Layne Riggs

    11. Tanner Gray

    12. Chase Purdy

    13. Rajah Caruth

    14. Jake Garcia

    15. Dean Thompson

    16. Brett Moffitt

    17. Conner Jones

    18. Stewart Friesen

    19. Matt Crafton

    20. Dawson Sutton

    21. Bayley Currey

    22. Timmy Hill

    23. Stefan Parson, one lap down

    24. Daniel Dye, one lap down

    25. Matt Mills, two laps down

    26. Nathan Byrd, three laps down

    27. Thad Moffitt, three laps down

    28. Spencer Boyd, four laps down

    29. Keith McGee, four laps down

    30. Lawless Alan, four laps down

    31. Andres Perez de Lara – OUT, Accident

    32. William Sawalich – OUT, Accident

    33. Tyler Ankrum – OUT, Accident

    34. Frankie Muniz – OUT, Accident

    35. Jack Wood – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Ty Majeski

    2. Corey Heim

    3. Christian Eckes

    4. Grant Enfinger

    5. Nick Sanchez

    6. Taylor Gray

    7. Rajah Caruth

    8. Tyler Ankrum

    9. Ben Rhodes

    10. Daniel Dye

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 14, 2025, for a new season of competition.

  • Ty Majeski claims final Truck Series pole of 2024 at Phoenix

    Ty Majeski claims final Truck Series pole of 2024 at Phoenix

    Ty Majeski commenced his pursuit for his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship on a high note by winning the pole position for the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 8.

    The 30-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, commenced the weekend by being the third-fastest competitor during the series’ lone practice session on Thursday, November 7. During Friday’s qualifying session, he posted a pole-winning lap at 138.180 mph in 26.053 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over Corey Heim, the latter of whom clocked in his best qualifying lap at 138.021 mph in 26.083 seconds.

    By claiming the series’ final pole position of the 2024 season, Majeski notched his sixth pole position of the year, the 14th of his Truck Series career and his first since starting in first place at Kansas Speedway in late September. The 2024 season marks Majeski’s third consecutive full-time campaign in the series, all while driving for ThorSport Racing, and their second time making the Championship 4 round as he attempts to claim his first title in the series.

    Majeski will share the front row with Corey Heim, a Championship 4 finalist who is also striving for his first series’ title after ending up in fourth place in the final standings a year ago. Heim, who is set to remain at TRICON Garage for the 2025 Truck Series season, was the fastest competitor during the event’s practice session on Thursday.

    Christian Eckes and Grant Enfinger, both of whom are contending in the Championship 4 round and squaring off against themselves along with Majeski and Heim, will start fourth and fifth, respectively. The only non-Championship 4 finalist to start in the top five is Stewart Friesen, who will line up in third place after he posted his best qualifying lap at 136.809 mph in 26.314 seconds.

    Dean Thompson, Nick Sanchez, Kaden Honeycutt, Connor Mosack and Chase Purdy rounded out the top 10 starting spots for the finale.

    All 35 competitors entered for Friday’s finale at Phoenix earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Ty Majeski, 138.180 mph, 26.053 seconds
    2. Corey Heim, 138.021 mph, 26.083 seconds
    3. Stewart Friesen, 136.809 mph, 26.314 seconds
    4. Christian Eckes, 136.467 mph, 26.380 seconds
    5. Grant Enfinger, 136.348 mph, 26.403 seconds
    6. Dean Thompson, 135.952 mph, 26.480 seconds
    7. Nick Sanchez, 135.947 mph, 26.481 seconds
    8. Kaden Honeycutt, 135.916 mph, 26.487 seconds
    9. Connor Mosack, 135.895 mph, 26.491 seconds
    10. Chase Purdy, 135.890 mph, 26.492 seconds
    11. Layne Riggs, 135.839 mph, 26.502 seconds
    12. Tyler Ankrum, 135.461 mph, 26.576 seconds
    13. Conner Jones, 135.201 mph, 26.627 seconds
    14. Taylor Gray, 135.064 mph, 26.654 seconds
    15. Tanner Gray, 135.064 mph, 26.654 seconds
    16. Daniel Dye, 135.044 mph, 26.658 seconds
    17. William Sawalich, 134.948 mph, 26.677 seconds
    18. Bayley Currey, 134.831 mph, 26.700 seconds
    19. Rajah Caruth, 134.736 mph, 26.719 seconds
    20. Ben Rhodes, 134.338 mph, 26.798 seconds
    21. Jack Wood, 134.318 mph, 26.802 seconds
    22. Matt Crafton, 134.013 mph, 26.863 seconds
    23. Stefan Parsons, 133.804 mph, 26.905 seconds
    24. Brett Moffitt, 133.670 mph, 26.932 seconds
    25. Dawson Sutton, 133.615 mph, 26.943 seconds
    26. Andres Perez de Lara, 133.571 mph, 26.952 seconds
    27. Jake Garcia, 132.363 mph, 27.198 seconds
    28. Matt Mills, 131.661 mph, 27.343 seconds
    29. Timmy Hill, 131.411 mph, 27.395 seconds
    30. Spencer Boyd, 130.199 mph, 27.650 seconds
    31. Frankie Muniz, 128.797 mph, 27.951 seconds
    32. Keith McGee, Owner Points
    33. Nathan Byrd, Owner Points
    34. Thad Moffitt, Owner Points
    35. Lawless Alan, Owner Points

    The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway is set to occur on Friday, November 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Christopher Bell muscles to first Cup victory of 2024 at Phoenix

    Christopher Bell muscles to first Cup victory of 2024 at Phoenix

    Christopher Bell was not to be denied. His fast No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry enabled him to rally from restarting towards the middle of the pack during a late-race restart period to leading the final 41 laps en route to a strong victory in the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 10. 

    The 29-year-old Bell from Norman, Oklahoma, led twice for 50 of 312-scheduled laps in an event where he started 13th and spent the first stage period running within the top 15 before his car came to life during the second stage period, which allowed him to carve his way to the front and claim the second stage victory over Toyota teammate Tyler Reddick.  

    Despite losing ground for the lead following a slow pit stop prior to the start of the final stage, Bell, who dodged a series of cautions and on-track incidents during the final stage’s start, pitted along with the majority of the front-runners for fresh tires and fuel during a late caution period with less than 98 laps remaining. During the final restart with 92 laps remaining, Bell used the four fresh tires to his advantage and methodically navigated his way back towards the front. Once teammate Martin Truex Jr. pitted for fresh tires and fuel with 41 laps remaining, the lead was all Bell’s as the Oklahoma native maintained a sizeable gap between himself and Chris Buescher and teammate Ty Gibbs for the remainder of the event, which was enough for him to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season. 

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 9, Denny Hamlin claimed his first Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 132.655 mph in 27.138 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 132.227 mph in 27.226 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, rookie Josh Berry dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments and repairs made to his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry after he spun and hit the wall during his qualifying attempt. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Hamlin and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and entering the first two turns until Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE into the lead from the outside lane entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out to as large as four lanes, Gibbs proceeded to lead the first lap while Erik Jones battled and overtook Hamlin for the runner-up spot. 

    Through the second to fifth lap marks, Gibbs maintained a steady lead that would grow to half a second over Erik Jones and teammate Hamlin while Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott followed suit in the top five. Behind, William Byron trailed in sixth ahead of Chase Briscoe and rookie Carson Hocevar while Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr. and Noah Gragson battled for ninth place in front of Daniel Suarez and Kyle Larson. 

    Then approaching the sixth lap, the event’s first caution flew after Derek Kraus spun sideways on the bottom lane through Turn 2 and back across the track entering the backstretch before he was hit by both Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric, the latter of which would retire from further competition. During the event’s first caution period, some including Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 12, Gibbs muscled ahead of the field to retain the lead on the inside lane while Reddick ignited a three-wide battle on Hamlin and Erik Jones for the runner-up spot. Jones would use the outside lane to fend off both Toyota teammates for second place as Elliott and Byron trailed closely in the top six. In addition, Briscoe and Hocevar battled for seventh place along with McDowell while Gibbs stretched his early advantage by nearly half a second over Jones by the Lap 15 mark. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by four-tenths of a second over Jones followed by Hamlin, Reddick and Chase Elliott while William Byron, Michael McDowell, Carson Hocevar, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Martin Truex Jr. was in 11th ahead of Noah Gragson, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez and Christopher Bell while Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek trailed in the top 20. Meanwhile, Josh Berry was mired in 21st ahead of Chris Buescher, Joey Logano, Ryan Preece and Alex Bowman while Todd Gilliland, Corey LaJoie, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric and Justin Haley rounded out the top 30. 

    Ten laps later, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Jones while Hamlin and Reddick trailed by within one-and-a-half seconds. Elliott would trail the top-four competitors by more than two seconds and teammate Byron would trail by more than three seconds as Gibbs maintained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Jones, who was slowly closing in on the leader, by the Lap 40 mark. 

    By Lap 50, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Reddick, who moved into the runner-up spot, followed by Hamlin while Jones fell back to fourth place. In the process, Hendrick Motorsports’ Elliott and Byron remained in fifth and sixth, respectively, as they trailed the lead by more than two seconds while McDowell, Blaney, Briscoe and Truex were running in the top 10 ahead of Larson, Gragson, Hocevar, Suarez and Keselowski. 

    Seven laps later, Reddick, who navigated his way around Phoenix’s racing lanes to narrow the gap between himself and Gibbs, drew himself into a side-by-side battle with Gibbs for the lead through the backstretch and the frontstretch. Gibbs would try to fight back from the outside lane, but Reddick used the inside lane to muscle his No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the top spot. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Reddick, who capitalized late on his battle with Ty Gibbs, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season as he also stretched his advantage to six-tenths of a second. Gibbs settled in second followed by Hamlin, Jones and Elliott while Byron, Blaney, McDowell, Briscoe and Truex were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Reddick pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin emerged as the new race leader after he exited pit road first from the first pit box while Reddick, Byron, Elliott, Gibbs, Blaney, Briscoe, Larson, Keselowski and Jones followed suit in the top 10. Not long after, Larson pitted his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for a second time due to a left-rear tire issue while Hocevar also pitted again for a loose wheel. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 69 as Hamlin and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Mavis Brakes Plus Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead as the front-runners dived below the frontstretch dog-leg and fanned out entering the first two turns. With Hamlin leading the race, Reddick maintained the runner-up spot while a three-wide action for third place involving Gibbs, Byron and Elliott ensued in front of Blaney. In the process, Keselowski was in seventh ahead of another three-wide battle involving Truex, Briscoe and Jones while Hamlin was leading just past the Lap 70 mark. 

    Through the first 80 scheduled laps, Hamlin extended his advantage to a second over Reddick followed by Elliott, Gibbs and Byron while Blaney, Truex, Keselowski, Bell and Gragson trailed in the top 10 ahead of Erik Jones, Suarez, Briscoe, Bowman and McDowell. Hamlin would stretch his lead to more than two seconds over Reddick by the Lap 90 mark while Elliott, Gibbs and Byron remained in the top five. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Reddick followed by Elliott, Byron and Gibbs while Truex, Bell, Blaney, Keselowski and Gragson were scored in the top 10. Behind, Erik Jones trailed in 11th followed by Suarez, Briscoe, Bowman and McDowell while Buescher, Wallace, Chastain, Preece and Larson were running in the top 20 ahead of Nemechek, Logano, LaJoie, Kyle Busch and Berry. 

    Fifteen laps later, Hamlin stabilized his lead to more than a second over Reddick as Elliott and Byron remained in the top four. Meanwhile, Bell carved his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE into fifth place followed by teammate Truex while teammate Ty Gibbs dropped to seventh. 

    Shortly after, green flag pit stops commenced as Blaney pitted his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse along with Chastain and Larson. More names like Byron, Bell, Truex, Keselowski, Bowman, Wallace, Buescher, Preece, Logano, LaJoie, Daniel Hemric, Elliott, Gibbs, Briscoe, Nemechek, rookie Zane Smith, Justin Haley and Reddick would pit during the ensuing laps, starting from Lap 116, before Hamlin pitted from the lead on Lap 119. 

    Just past the Lap 120 mark and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop under green, Todd Gilliland, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Hocevar and Kraus, all of whom have yet to pit, while Hamlin, the first competitor who pitted and who nearly made contact with Suarez while trying to enter his pit stall, trailed in sixth place as he also had Reddick closing in on him for position. 

    On Lap 133, Reddick, who overtook Hamlin through the first two turns a lap earlier, used the outside lane to rocket past Gilliland for the race lead. Hamlin would quickly follow suit for the runner-up spot as Byron and Bell trailed in the top five within six seconds. By then, Stenhouse and Hocevar remained on the track in sixth and seventh, respectively, while Kyle Busch was scored a lap down after he pitted under green. 

    Just past the Lap 145 mark, Reddick stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Hamlin as Gilliland, who led 14 laps, continued to run on the track in third place ahead of Bell, Byron and Truex. Reddick would maintain his lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Bell and Byron overtook Gilliland for third and fourth by Lap 150. 

    By the halfway mark on Lap 156, Reddick continued to lead within a second over Hamlin while Bell, Byron and Truex trailed in the top five ahead of Gilliland, Blaney, Elliott, Keselowski and Gragson, all of whom were running in the top 10 and trailing the lead by 14 seconds. Reddick would maintain the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Bell trailed in third place by more than a second as Gilliland pitted under green by the Lap 165 mark. 

    By Lap 175, Reddick, who was mired in lapped traffic as he was trying to lap Logano, retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bell, who nearly overtook Reddick for the lead entering the first two turns, while third-place Hamlin trailed by nearly a second as Byron and Truex trailed from a distance in the top five. Bell would then capitalize on his charge to overtake Reddick for the lead through the first two turns with four laps remaining to the second stage’s conclusion. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Bell captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Reddick trailed in second followed by Hamlin, Byron and Truex while Blaney, Elliott, Gragson, Keselowski and Chris Buescher were scored in the top 10. By then, 19 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Ryan Preece, who was running 19th, managed to fend off Logano to emerge as the first competitor scored a lap down and receive the free pass.  

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin benefitted from having the first pit box towards the exit of pit road for a second time as he exited first followed by Reddick, Byron, Elliott, Blaney and Truex. Amid the pit stops, Harrison Burton was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With 118 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Hamlin and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, the front-runners fanned out and dived through the frontstretch dog-leg as Hamlin maintained the lead in front of a side-by-side battle between Reddick and Byron for the runner-up spot. With the field still fanning out across multiple lanes from the backstretch through the frontstretch, Hamlin maintained the lead in front of Reddick and Byron. The caution, however, would return two laps later after Kyle Busch, who was mired in 25th, got loose through Turn 2 and was bumped by Zane Smith into Kaz Grala before Busch spun his No. 8 zone Premium Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 within the middle of the track through the backstretch.  

    During the following restart with 110 laps remaining, the front-runners dived through the frontstretch dog-leg as Reddick overtook Hamlin for the lead. With the field fanning out through the backstretch, Reddick was leading by nearly half a second over Hamlin followed by Blaney, Byron and Truex as Ross Chastain, who was running in the middle of the pack, scraped the outside wall towards the frontstretch, though the event remained under green flag conditions. 

    With 107 laps remaining, the caution returned after Logano, who was scored as the first competitor a lap down, received a huge bump by Nemechek entering Turn 1 that sent his No. 22 Hunt Brother’s Pizza Ford Mustang Dark Horse spinning below the apron before he came back across the track and was hit by Corey LaJoie, with Kraus, Zane Smith and Berry also involved as Logano’s long afternoon came to a late end. 

    As the event restarted with 100 laps remaining, the leaders dived through the frontstretch dog-leg as Reddick battled and fended off Hamlin to retain the lead. With Hamlin fighting back during the following lap by drawing even with Reddick, Truex joined the tight three-car battle for the lead while Byron maintained fourth place in front of a three-wide battle involving Gragson, Keselowski and Wallace as Blaney and Bell battled for ninth.  

    The caution, however, returned with 98 laps remaining after Hamlin, who was battling Reddick for the lead, got loose underneath Reddick entering Turn 1 as he slid into Reddick and spun sideways from the middle to the bottom lane through Turn 2 while the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Hamlin. During the caution period, a majority of the front-runners led by Reddick pitted for fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by Truex remained on the track. 

    With the event restarting with 92 laps remaining, the field fanned out and dived through the frontstretch dog-leg as Truex maintained the lead in front of the field. During the following lap, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over Preece, Gilliland, Chastain and Buescher while Ty Gibbs, who pitted for two fresh tires and a full tank of fuel, carved his way up to seventh place. Amid the tight battles between those who pitted and those who did not, Wallace, who was getting pinned in between Briscoe and Erik Jones while battling for a top-10 spot, got loose and got Jones’ No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE sideways entering Turn 1, which resulted with Jones making contact with the outside wall and plummeting in the leaderboard, though the event remained under green flag conditions. 

    Back at the front of the pack, Ty Gibbs continued to use the two fresh tires to his advantage as he carved his way up to third place while Truex continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Preece with 90 laps remaining. By then, names like Chastain, McDowell, Gilliland, Buescher, Briscoe, Keselowski and Suarez were running in the top 10 while front-runners Reddick, Bell, Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin and Byron were mired in 12th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 20th, respectively. 

    With 75 laps remaining, Truex was leading by two seconds over Preece as Ty Gibbs was trying to close in and overtake Preece for the runner-up spot. Behind, Chastain was running in fourth place ahead of Buescher, Keselowski and McDowell while Bell carved his way up to eighth place with four fresh tires in front of Gilliland and Briscoe. By then, Reddick was mired in 12th while Blaney was in 14th. Meanwhile, Hamlin was in 16th while Wallace was back in 18th.  

    Fifteen laps later, Truex, who continued to hold strong on old tires and with questions arising on how much fuel he had to make it to the scheduled distance, was still leading as he stretched his advantage to four seconds over teammate Ty Gibbs, who overtook Preece for the runner-up spot six laps earlier. Behind, Chastain was in fourth while Bell navigated his way into the top five on his four fresh tires. Bell would then overtake both Preece and Chastain to move his strong race car into third place another two laps later as he trailed his teammate by less than six seconds. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Truex continued to lead by five seconds over teammate Bell, who overtook teammate Ty Gibbs for the runner-up spot on four fresh tires and with enough fuel for the scheduled distance as he was running faster lap times compared to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. Behind, Chastain and Buescher were running in the top five ahead of Preece, Keselowski, McDowell and Gilliland while Reddick was able to navigate his way back into the top 10 as he was in 10th followed by Gilliland, Gragson, Blaney, Suarez and Hamlin.  

    Nine laps later, Truex surrendered the lead to pit his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE under green for fresh tires and a full tank of fuel as he ended up a lap down. This allowed teammate Bell to assume the race lead as he was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Ty Gibbs while Chastain, Buescher and Keselowski were scored in the top five. As Preece pitted under green, Truex would manage to overtake teammate Bell to un-lap himself while the latter stretched his advantage by more than four seconds over teammate Gibbs with 30 laps remaining. By then, Reddick was up to eighth place ahead of Blaney and Gragson while Hamlin was in 11th. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Bell stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Gibbs while Buescher, Chastain and Keselowski continued to hold strong in the top five. Behind, Reddick moved his Mobil 1 entry up to seventh behind McDowell, Blaney was in eighth ahead of Briscoe and Gragson, Hamlin was still mired in 11th, Larson was in 14th and Byron was mired in 18th behind Truex.  

    Five laps later, Bell stretched his lead slightly to five seconds over teammate Gibbs while third-place Buescher trailed by less than six seconds. Bell would extend his lead by another second to six seconds over Buescher, who overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot, with 10 laps remaining as Keselowski and Chastain battled fiercely for fourth place. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Bell maintained the lead by more than six seconds over Buescher and teammate Gibbs while Keselowski and Chastain continued to run in the top five ahead of Blaney and McDowell. Behind, Briscoe, Truex and Reddick battled for eighth while Gragson and Hamlin battled for 11th.  

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell remained as the leader by more than five seconds over Buescher’s No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. With the gap between the leader and the runner-up spot large, Bell was able to navigate his way around the Phoenix circuit smoothly for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season. 

    With the victory, Bell, who became the fourth winner through the first four events of the 2024 Cup season, captured his seventh Cup Series career victory and his first at Phoenix as he extended his winning streak in the Cup circuit to four consecutive seasons. Bell also registered the first Cup victory of the 2024 season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota nameplate while also recording the first official victory for Toyota’s Camry XSE stock car. 

    “This one feels really good,” Bell said on the frontstretch on FOX. “A credit to my engineers, my crew chief and all the mechanics on this [No. 20 car]. You don’t get cars like that very often as you know. Just super, super proud to be on this No. 20 car. This Rheem Camry was amazing today. I feel like we have [a] capability of running races like this a lot. Hopefully, this [win] is the first of many this year.” 

    Buescher, whose previous best result in the Cup Series is ninth during the first three events on this year’s schedule and who is coming off an early accident last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway due to a loose wheel that resulted in the suspension of two of his crew members, settled in the runner-up spot followed by Ty Gibbs, who led 57 laps and notched a career-best result.  

    “[The runner-up finish]’s huge,” Buescher said. “We’ve talked a lot internally. We’ve been able to lead, at any point, on all three races leading up to this. We didn’t quite get there today but certainly, a great finish for our BuildSubs.com Ford Mustang. Really proud of everybody. I know we had a rough go last weekend. This [finish] was good to get everybody back together and prove that we’re in this together. We’re gonna win or lose these things as a team. That was almost a win today.” 

    Keselowski came home in fourth place while Blaney edged Chastain to finish fifth. 

    Chastain, Truex, McDowell, Briscoe and Reddick finished in the top 10. 

    Notably, Hamlin, who led the most laps at 68 along with his 23XI Racing driver Reddick, ended up 11th ahead of Noah Gragson, Larson settled in 14th, Wallace ended up 16th, Byron finished 18th ahead of teammates Elliott and Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch capped off his long afternoon in 22nd. In addition, Carson Hocevar emerged as the highest-finishing rookie candidate in 15th place.  

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 40 laps. In addition, 21 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the fourth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Ryan Blaney leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over both Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr., 17 over William Byron and 21 over both Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs. 

    Results. 

    1. Christopher Bell, 50 laps led, Stage 2 winner 

    2. Chris Buescher 

    3. Ty Gibbs, 57 laps led 

    4. Brad Keselowski 

    5. Ryan Blaney 

    6. Ross Chastain 

    7. Martin Truex Jr., 55 laps led 

    8. Michael McDowell 

    9. Chase Briscoe 

    10. Tyler Reddick, 68 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

    11. Denny Hamlin, 68 laps led 

    12. Noah Gragson 

    13. Daniel Suarez 

    14. Kyle Larson 

    15. Carson Hocevar 

    16. Bubba Wallace 

    17. Todd Gilliland, 14 laps led 

    18. William Byron 

    19. Chase Elliott 

    20. Alex Bowman 

    21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    22. Kyle Busch, one lap down 

    23. Ryan Preece, one lap down 

    24. Justin Haley, one lap down 

    25. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down 

    26. Josh Berry, two laps down 

    27. Harrison Burton, two laps down 

    28. Daniel Hemric, two laps down 

    29. Zane Smith, three laps down 

    30. Kaz Grala, three laps down 

    31. Erik Jones, seven laps down 

    32. Austin Dillon, eight laps down 

    33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident 

    34. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident 

    35. Derek Kraus – OUT, Accident 

    36. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the return of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Weekend schedule for Phoenix Raceway

    Weekend schedule for Phoenix Raceway

    The NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to Phoenix Raceway this weekend while the Craftsman Truck Series enjoys a week off.

    Hendrick Motorsports driver, William Byron, is the defending Cup Series winner at the 1-mile track. Sammy Smith captured his first Xfinity Series win at Phoenix in 2023 for Joe Gibbs racing and is looking to repeat after his move to the No. 8 for JR Motorsports this year.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, March 8
    3:30 p.m.: ARCA Practice – No TV
    4:30 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying – No TV
    5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – FS1/MRN/ SiriusXM
    8 p.m.: ARCA General Tire – 150 – FS1/MRN

    Saturday, March 9
    12:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS2/SiriusXM
    1 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – FS2/SiriusXM
    2:10 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Call 811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200 – FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 200 miles (200 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 45, Stage 2 ends on Lap 90, Final Stage ends on Lap 200
    Purse: $1,448,204

    Sunday, March 10
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Shriners /Children’s 500 – FOX/MRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 312 miles (312 laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 60, Stage 2 ends on Lap 185, Final Stage ends on Lap 312
    Purse: $7,806,252