Ryan Blaney returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway in the Great American Getaway 400. This was Blaney’s second NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) win in the last five races this season and the 12th of his career. The 2023 NASCAR champion won the inaugural NCS race last month at Iowa Speedway, and the Penske No. 12 Ford team could win the championship again this season.
The win also marks Team Penske’s 97th series win and Ford’s 733rd all-time in NCS competition.
“I am super proud of the whole 12 team. The Wabash Ford Mustang was amazing. I appreciate Menards, Body Armour, the Wurth Group, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, and everyone that makes this possible. It is so cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win. The crowd, you guys, were amazing. Thank you for being here all weekend.” Blaney said.
Race Notes
There were eight caution flags for 34 laps.
There were eight lead changes among eight drivers.
Blaney led the most laps with 41.
Martin Truex Jr. won stage one.
Denny Hamlin won stage two.
The race lasted 2 hours, 13 minutes, and 59 seconds.
The margin of victory was 1.312 seconds.
What went down behind Blaney
Denny Hamlin started fourth, led 31 laps, won stage 2, and drove his No. 11 Toyota Camry XSE to second place finish, 1.3 seconds back. This was Hamlin’s eighth top-five of the season.
“Hats off to this whole Mavis Tires and Brakes team. Dave (Sorbaro), the CEO and 100 associates were here today, so we were proud to host them. Would’ve loved to give them a victory, but second is close and at least, it’s good to get back on track. We’ve had some slides over the last month-and-a-half.” Hamlin said.
Alex Bowman and the No. 48 Ally Best Friends Camaro ZL1 team finished third. Bowman ran in the top-10 throughout most of the race most of the race and collected points in both stages. Bowman has six top-fives and 12 top-10s this season.
“Proud of my No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevy team. It was a good run; we just needed a little bit more to get to the No. 12 (Ryan Blaney). Once I abused the right-rear tire for so long, it made Denny’s (Hamlin) job pretty easy to get around me. But yeah, it was a solid third-place day.” Bowman said.
William Byron finished fourth, and Joey Logano finished fifth.
“We were just kind of okay. Definitely had a decent No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevy. Really good execution and everyone did a good job of just keeping their heads in it.” Bryon said. “Not every situation went our way with the strategy, but we were able to have decent restarts, especially at the end there, and just kind of maintained it to the end. Definitely a lot of things to dissect, but really proud of the team and just good to get a top-five, for sure.”
“Overall, a top five, you have to be somewhat happy with that. We had speed there toward the end of the race and I think we could have run in the top two. I don’t know if we could have been better than Ryan or not, but it just took us too long to get the balance right.” Logano said.
RFK Racing had a great day. Brad Keselowski finished seventh, Chris Buescher finished 11th, and both drivers led a series of laps.
It was another bad day for Kyle Busch. An on-track incident ended the day early for Busch, resulting in a 32nd finish.
“We ended up getting hit from behind and it ended our day early. That’s just racing these days and it’s what happens. I just want to give thanks to all of our partners.” Busch said. “It’s just unfortunate circumstances. Thank you to Rowdy Nation and all the fans for their continued support. We’ll go back to work and get ready for Indianapolis.”
What’s Next
The NCS heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the 30th running of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 21, at 2:30 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney took the lead in the pits on Lap 116 and held on until the end to win the Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono, his second win of the season.
“I think this gives us great momentum heading into Indianapolis,” Blaney said. “A lot of drivers have stated how much ‘kissing the bricks’ means to them. Jeff Gordon once compared it to locking lips with his ex-wife Brooke.”
2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin won Stage 2 at Pocono, but came up short to Ryan Blaney in the final start and settled for the runner-up spot.
“I had a few on-track battles with my old nemesis Alex Bowman,” Hamlin said. “Alex thinks he’s on my level. He’s not. People don’t hate him; they just really dislike him.”
3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished sixth at Pocono, posting his 14th top 10 of the year.
“My No. 45 Toyota featured the Money Lion paint scheme,” Reddick said. “When that’s on my car, Michael Jordan gets really excited, but only because he thinks it says ‘money line.’”
4. Christopher Bell: Bell ran in the top 10 for the majority of the day at Pocono and finished 12th.
“The No. 20 Rheem Toyota wasn’t the fastest car on the track,” Bell said, “but we still managed a top 12. That’s mostly thanks to my pit crew. It’s like they say: ‘Rheem work makes the dream work.’”
5. Kyle Larson: A late pit road speeding penalty cost Larson a lot of track position, and he finished 13th at Pocono.
“All it takes is one mistake to ruin your day,” Larson said. “And I made that mistake. Basically, I put the ‘O no’ in ‘Pocono.’”
6. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished ninth in the Great American Getaway 400.
“The broadcast of the race went head to head with that of the Spain vs England European Championship,” Elliott said. “I doubt there is much crossover in those two audiences. If you told the patrons down at the Dawsonville Pool Room that the European Championship was on TV, many would ask ‘Is it streaming?’”
7. William Byron: Byron finished fourth at Pocono, scoring his first top 5 since Iowa on June 16th.
“I haven’t won since Martinsville in early April,” Byron said. “I was in top form then, and I know I still have it in me. It’s like eating a Martinsville hot dog; it’s still going to be in you three months later.”
8. Alex Bowman: Bowman backed up his win at Chicago with a solid third-place result at Pocono.
“The words on my car say ‘Best Friends,’” Bowman said. “Best Friends has everything to do with the animal welfare organization, and nothing to do with my relationship with Bubba Wallace.”
9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex won Stage 1 at Pocono and finished eighth in the Great American Getaway 400.
“I’m still looking for my first win of the season,” Truex said. “It would be awfully climactic if my first win of the season came at Phoenix in November to win the championship. It would be awfully anti-climactic if my first win came at Phoenix as someone else won the championship.”
10. Ross Chastain: Chastain suffered a steering issue on Lap 53, which sent him sliding into the turn 3 wall. The accident ended his day and Chastain finished 36th.
“When you’re fighting for a playoff spot,” Chastain said, “a terrible result like this can make you sick to your stomach, much like drinking Busch Light Peach.”
William Byron capped off a day that started strong by notching a fourth-place run in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14.
The 2024 Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, who featured the bold red and black RAPTOR High Heat scheme on his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for the first time since Atlanta Motor Speedway in February, commenced the weekend on a strong note by posting his best qualifying lap at 169.661 mph in 53.047 seconds. The qualifying run was enough for him to start in second place as he shared the front row with fellow Charlotte competitor Ty Gibbs.
When the green flag waved, Byron made an early bid for the lead as he dueled with Gibbs during the opening lap. After being edged by Gibbs to lead the first lap, Byron would settle in second before he would be intimidated by Gibbs’ teammates Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin for more. Byron, who would remain on the track following the event’s first caution period on Lap 14 along with a majority of the front-runners, would proceed to settle in fourth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 30. Despite restarting outside the top 20 due to pitting during the first stage’s break period, Byron would methodically carve his way back to the front and finish in fourth place for a second time of the day as the second stage period concluded on Lap 95.
Restarting in 15th place as the final stage period commenced with 60 laps remaining, Byron would manage through a total of four caution periods and restarts, including the latest one with 23 laps remaining, to steer the No. 24 Chevrolet to a fourth-place result in the final running order. The result came as Byron prevailed in a late multi-car battle for the fourth spot that included Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr.
Byron’s fourth-place finish at Pocono marked his seventh top-five result through 21-scheduled starts of the 2024 season, his first at Pocono since finishing in third place in 2021 and his first since finishing in the runner-up spot at Iowa Speedway four races ago. It also came a day after he finished in third place while driving the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry during Saturday’s Xfinity Series event. Combined with his fourth-place finish and the stage points he accumulated, Byron swapped spots with Truex in the 2024 regular-season standings as he is ranked in fifth place while trailing points leader and teammate Chase Elliott by 57 points. Byron along with the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team led by crew chief Ryan “Rudy” Fugle are already guaranteed a spot in the 2024 Playoffs based on winning the Daytona 500, Circuit of the Americas and Martinsville Speedway earlier this season between February and April.
The result left the Charlotte native pleased despite being mired with four results of 15th or worse over his previous seven starts but striving to gain more ground before the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs commence in early September.
“This is definitely a really good result,” Byron said on USA Network. “We just kind of executed our way through the race. Not everything went our way, but for the most part, we did a good job with the circumstances and the restarts and everything. Just really proud of the effort. Our team did a great job. The RAPTOR Chevrolet was decent all day. Certainly good to get a fourth place and just, hopefully, work on the things that we need to work on going to Indianapolis, which is somewhat [a] similar track [to Pocono]. Looking forward to that. Just two good weeks, two good finishes in a row, so proud of that.”
With Pocono in the rearview mirror, Byron will attempt to win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 in what will be his eighth Cup start at the famed venue located near Downtown Indianapolis next weekend. Byron’s current best result at Indianapolis is fourth, which occurred in 2019. He achieved his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Indianapolis in July 2017 when he fended off former Brickyard 400 champion Paul Menard to win in what would be his first motorsports start at Indy.
Having won the 2024 Daytona 500 in car No. 24, Byron approaches Indianapolis with a unique goal of keeping the No. 24 victorious at Indianapolis in years that end with the number 4. Jeff Gordon, vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports, piloted the No. 24 car to victory during the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 before he would win his fourth in 2004 and his record-setting fifth in 2014.
Should Byron win this year’s Brickyard 400, he would become the first competitor to win both the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season since Jamie McMurray made the last accomplishment in 2010. McMurray along with Cup Series champions Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson are the only competitors to win both crown-jewel events in the same season.
William Byron’s 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule continues with the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch both had a day to forget following separate on-track incidents of their own during The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14, leaving their hopes of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs in jeopardy.
Chastain, who started in 19th place but was mired in 31st place after the first stage period on Lap 30 saw his race go south on Lap 53 when he slid sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3 while running in 21st place. Then while trying to nurse his car through the frontstretch, Chastain locked up his front tires and ended up going straight into the outside wall in Turn 1, which resulted in his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry sustaining more right-side damage. Despite driving back to pit road, the damage would be enough to conclude Chastain’s event in his pit stall and in 36th place, the next-to-last spot and strapped with his third DNF of the 2024 season.
With the result, Chastain, who came into Pocono 53 points above the top-16 cutline to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, is only 27 points above the cutline as he holds the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs ahead of Bubba Wallace with five regular-season events remaining on this year’s calendar. Chastain, the 2022 championship runner-up, is currently one of four competitors currently scored inside the cutline despite being winless through 21 scheduled events in 2024, including Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher. His last series victory occurred during the 2023 season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway this past November. Currently, Chastain’s best result in 2024 is a fourth-place run generated at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March as he attempts to make his third consecutive appearance as a Playoff competitor.
“I just spun out,” Chastain said while describing the incident after being released from the infield care center. “I just flat spun out. We were all sliding around, but I just spun out. It felt like it happened in slow motion. Yeah, obviously frustrated with myself, but can’t take it back now.”
Compared to Chastain who remains above the cutline and in the position of making the Playoffs based on points, Kyle Busch’s 2024 Playoff hopes sit solely on winning one of the remaining five regular-season events as he trails the cutline by triple digits with few races and little time to gain the lost points week by week.
Busch’s long afternoon at Pocono occurred before the event’s start as his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team had to address an oil leak discovered on Busch’s Camaro ZL1 entry. Despite making the repairs in the garage stall before the car was pushed to pit lane for the starting grid, Busch, who qualified in 24th place, dropped to the rear of the field due to the unapproved adjustment.
Once he took the green flag, Busch managed to methodically carve his way to 20th place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 30. Lining up in 14th place for the start of the second stage period on Lap 35, Busch, who along with teammate Austin Dillon spent extra time on pit road to have the brakes serviced during a caution period that started on Lap 52, would fall back and be mired within the top 30 despite remaining on the lead lap when the stage concluded on Lap 95.
Being mired in the mid-pack region when the final stage commenced with 60 laps remaining, Busch, who would line up in 16th place during another restart period with 40 laps remaining, was then trying to block Corey LaJoie through the frontstretch as a pyramid of competitors racing him were fanning out to multiple lanes. With both Busch and LaJoie making contact during the process, LaJoie would then veer right, clip and send Busch for a spin towards the bottom of the track entering Turn 1. Busch’s car then came spinning back across the track, where he would tag Ryan Preece into Harrison Burton and collide sideways into Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which crumbled the right side of Busch’s No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. Despite trying to nurse his damaged car back to pit road, Busch then parked his car below the apron, removed the steering wheel and lowered his window net as he climbed out uninjured and had his car towed back to the garage.
The accident not only left Busch strapped with his fifth DNF of the 2024 season, but it also left the two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, with his 10th result outside the top 20 through 21-scheduled starts and his sixth over the previous eight races. In addition, Busch, who remains winless this season and came into Pocono trailing the top-16 cutline by 98 points, now trails the cutline by 102 points with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule. Busch’s last Cup victory occurred at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023 as he attempts to extend his current-record streak of winning at least one race a season to 20 consecutive years. Busch is also attempting to make his 17th career appearance in the Playoffs, with his last Playoff absence occurring in 2012.
Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.
After being released from the infield care center, Busch minced his words and offered very little detail on his perspective over the incident with LaJoie, who finished 19th.
“I just want to give thanks to all of our partners, everybody at RCR, ECR, zone, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Lucas Oil, Chevrolet.. everybody that supports us. We’re having the opportunity to go out there and have some fun; try to continue to work on our program and build everything up. It’s just unfortunate circumstances. Thank you to Rowdy Nation, all the fans and everybody for their continued support. We’ll go back to work and get ready for Indianapolis.”
With Pocono Raceway in the rearview mirror, both Chastain and Busch shift their attention to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400 and to regain the lost ground spilled from the Tricky Triangle in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Busch enters the upcoming Brickyard 400 as a former winner of the event, with the Las Vegas native achieving back-to-back Brickyard 400 victories in 2015 and 2016. Since then, he has finished no higher than sixth over his last seven trips to Indianapolis as he attempts to become the fourth competitor to achieve at least three Brickyard 400 victories. Meanwhile, Chastain has yet to win at Indianapolis as he is scheduled to make his seventh start at the iconic venue this season. His current best result at Indy is 17th place, which occurred twice between 2020 and 2023. He nearly won at the Indianapolis road course venue in 2022 but used the off-track access road to move atop the leaderboard, where he would settle in second place behind Tyler Reddick before he was assessed a 30-second time penalty, which dropped him to 27th place in the final running order.
The bid to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for both Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch continues with the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
The number 12 was the lucky number of the day for Ryan Blaney as he muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse to his 12th NASCAR Cup Series career victory in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14.
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led the final 44 of 160 scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place and spent the majority of the event racing toward the front.
After surrendering points to pit before the first two stage’s conclusion as part of a pit strategy plan that was also enforced by every participant from start to finish, Blaney cycled into the lead following a late pit stop, where he pitted with the field, during a caution period with less than 45 laps remaining. The initial leader, Kyle Larson, was among four competitors who were penalized for speeding on pit road.
Despite having his momentum and steady launches from restarts with the lead stalled due to three late-race caution periods, Blaney capitalized on the final restart period with 23 laps remaining to rocket ahead of Alex Bowman amid a strong shove from Denny Hamlin. From there, Blaney kept both Hamlin and Bowman trailing by as far as a second before he claimed his second Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and gained added momentum with the 2024 Playoffs looming as he strives to defend his series championship.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 13, Ty Gibbs scored his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season and his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 170.039 mph in 52.929 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 169.661 mph in 53.047 seconds.
Before the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field with a new oil line attached to his No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Corey LaJoie also dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his suspension of the No. 7 Parity in Paris Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 following his qualifying run.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the Charlotte duos of Ty Gibbs and William Byron dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and in front of a tight two-by-two formation between the field until Gibbs tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane in Turn 1. Byron, however, fought back through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve as both he and Gibbs remained dead even in front of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. With the field navigating back to the frontstretch, Gibbs, who steered his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE towards the bottom of the track, managed to lead the first lap ahead of Byron.
As Gibbs cleared Byron during the second lap and entering Turn 1, Byron fended off Truex and Hamlin for the runner-up spot as Tyler Reddick tried to close in from fifth place. With Byron leading a parade of competitors that included Truex, Hamlin, Reddick, teammate Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney from the runner-up spot, Gibbs stretched his early advantage to more than a second by the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Byron as Truex, Hamlin and Reddick trailed in the top five. Behind, Blaney occupied sixth place ahead of Bowman, Kyle Larson, rookie Josh Berry and Christopher Bell while Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, rookie Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were scored in the top 15 ahead of rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was mired in 21st place ahead of Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Noah Gragon and Chase Briscoe while AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric and Corey LaJoie were mired in the top 30, with Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Cody Ware and JJ Yeley rounding out the 37-car field.
Four laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Noah Gragson, who was running in 24th place, spun and backed his No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he emerged with rear-end damage and retired from further competition. During the event’s first competition period, some of the drivers, including the front-runners led by Gibbs, remained on the track while the rest led by Bell pitted.
When the race restarted on Lap 17, the field jumbled up into two tight lanes through the frontstretch as Gibbs led the field through the first turn. Then as Josh Berry went up the track through Turn 1 and plummeted below the leaderboard, Gibbs, who also went wide in Turn 1, muscled his No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE into the lead. Teammate Hamlin would follow suit and overtake Byron for the runner-up spot just past the Tunnel Curve as Gibbs, who slipped to fifth place, went three wide with Blaney and Chase Elliott as they battled for the spot. Bowman trailed the trio of Blaney, Gibbs and Elliott through the frontstretch and Reddick navigated his way into third place as he passed Byron and then set his sights on owner Hamlin for more. By then, Berry pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green as Truex proceeded to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin by Lap 20.
At the Lap 25 mark, Truex stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hamlin as Reddick, Blaney and Byron trailed in the top five ahead of Gibbs, Elliott, Bowman, Zane Smith and Larson. Behind, Logano and Keselowski battled for 11th place as Bell, Erik Jones and Cindric were racing in the top 15. By then, Bubba Wallace pitted his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE under green as he was also able to blend back onto the track ahead of the leader Truex without losing a lap. Soon after, third-place Blaney along with Gibbs, Zane Smith, Larson, Cindric and Ross Chastain pitted their respective entries under green as part of a strategic move by Lap 27 while Truex retained the lead by a second over teammate Hamlin and by three seconds over third-place Reddick.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Truex claimed his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Hamlin followed suit in second place and by a second on the track while Reddick, Byron, Elliott, Bowman, Logano, Keselowski, Bell and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, the front-runners led by Truex and including Hamlin, Reddick, Byron and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Logano, Keselowski and Bell remained on the track.
The second stage period started on Lap 35 as Logano and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Keselowski dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as Keselowski muscled his No. 6 Nexlizet Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead. As Logano went wide in Turn 1 while losing a bevy of spots in the process, Keselowski retained the lead in front of the field through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve before he navigated his way back to Turn 3 and the frontstretch, where he led the next lap as Erik Jones, Bell, Buescher and Hocevar followed suit in the top five.
Keselowski would proceed to lead the Lap 40 mark by a second over Jones as Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to pursue the lead in the top five. Behind, Chase Briscoe was up to sixth place ahead of Michael McDowell, Logano, Stenhouse and Elliott while Suarez, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, Hamlin and Justin Haley were in the top 15.
By Lap 45, Keselowski stretched his advantage to three seconds over runner-up Erik Jones while Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to trail in the top five and within six seconds. Behind, Elliott, the highest-running competitor on the track who pitted during the first stage break, muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into sixth place after he overtook Briscoe while McDowell, Logano and Hamlin followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Stenhouse was in 11th place ahead of Suarez, Busch, Gibbs and Blaney while Byron, LaJoie, Truex, Haley and Zane Smith were in the top 20 ahead of Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Reddick, Harrison Burton and Bowman.
On Lap 52, the caution flew when Ross Chastain, who slipped sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3, limped his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch before he went dead straight and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, where he proceeded to limp his damaged car to his pit stall. Despite his pit crew’s efforts to repair the car, Chastain’s event came to an end as his 2024 Cup Playoffs hopes were jeopardized.
During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service while the rest led by Gibbs, Cindric and Berry remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of teammate Truex, Byron, Blaney, Zane Smith, Elliott, Larson, Keselowski, Bowman and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Hocevar was penalized for an equipment interference, Gilliland was busted for speeding on pit road and Harrison Burton was penalized for a safety violation. In addition, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon would spend extra time in their respective pit stalls to have their brake serviced.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 58 featured a heated battle between Gibbs and Berry through the frontstretch. As the field began to fan out, Berry managed to muscle ahead with the lead as Hamlin battled teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot. With the field still fanning out from Long Pond Straightaway to the Tunnel Curve, Berry retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Gibbs, Hamlin, Byron and Cindric while Truex was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Blaney, Zane Smith and Keselowski.
Just past the Lap 65 mark, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while Gibbs settled in third place as he trailed the lead by nearly two seconds. Behind, Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Elliott trailed in the top five as Blaney, Truex, Keselowski, Cindric and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, however, Hamlin gained a strong run on Berry from Turn 3 to overtake him entering the frontstretch and move his No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE into the lead on Lap 67. Hamlin would then proceed to lead at the Lap 70 mark by a second over Berry while Elliott overtook Gibbs for third place.
On Lap 72, Cindric pitted his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse from the top 11 and he spent extra time in his pit stall while his pit crew filled up the car with enough fuel for the second stage’s conclusion. Back on the track, Gibbs fended off Blaney for fourth place while Hamlin continued to lead by two seconds over Berry as third-place Elliott started to close in on Berry for more. Gibbs would then pit under green from fourth place on Lap 75 before Berry, who was overtaken by Elliott earlier, pitted two laps later.
At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Hamlin, who was among many trying to conserve fuel, was leading by four seconds over Elliott as Blaney, Truex and Keselowski were racing in the top five ahead of Buescher, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson and Bowman. Meanwhile, Bell was in 11th place ahead of Logano, Reddick, LaJoie and Briscoe while Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Allmendinger, Stenhouse and Suarez trailed in the top 20 ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Burton, McDowell, Wallace and Gilliland. By then, Busch was mired in 30th place while Gibbs, Berry and Cindric were mired back from 33rd to 35th, respectively, despite remaining on the lead lap category.
With five laps remaining in the second stage period, Buescher surrendered his spot from the top 10 to pit his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, all while Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Elliott. Blaney and Truex would then surrender third and fourth place on the track, respectively, to pit with three laps remaining in the second stage period.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Hamlin captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott trailed in second place by five seconds while Keselowski, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Logano and Redick were scored in the top 10. By then, all who recently pitted, including Cindric, Truex, Gibbs, Blaney, Berr and Buescher remained on the lead lap as a total of 32 in the field of 37 were scored on the same lap as the leader Hamlin.
During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted for service while select names led by Buescher and including Berry, Blaney, Gibbs and Truex remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Reddick exited pit road first ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Larson and Erik Jones while Hamlin exited in 10th place behind Logano, Elliott, Bowman and Byron. Amid the pit stops, LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.
With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Buescher and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch as Buescher rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane through Turn 1. Behind, a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Blaney, Truex and Berry through Long Pond Straightaway, with Blaney continuing to battle Truex for the spot just past the Tunnel Curve while Berry was trying to fend off Larson for fourth place. Amid a series of jostles for late spots, Buescher stretched his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds as he led the next lap period.
With 55 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Blaney while third-place Truex trailed by two seconds. Keselowski and Larson followed suit in the top five as Gibbs, Reddick, Elliott, Logano and Hamlin were mired in the top 10. Buescher would continue to lead by more than a second over Blaney with 50 laps remaining as Berry pitted from the top 15 under green. Ultimately, Berry would lose a lap to the leaders following an extensive service due to the Tennessean sliding through his pit box.
With 46 laps remaining, the caution returned when Todd Gilliland, who fell off the pace through the frontstretch while running in the top 25, scraped his No. 38 C.H. REED Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1. During the caution period, the entire lead lap field led by Buescher, all of whom were within their fuel window to reach the scheduled distance, pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid more mixed strategies, Larson gained four spots to exit pit road in first place as he was followed by Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano, Byron, Truex, Bell and Keselowski. Shortly after, however, Larson along with teammate Elliott, Suarez and Gibbs were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding in Section 7 on pit road. As a result, Blaney cycled into the lead.
The start of the next restart period with 40 laps remaining did not last long when Kyle Busch, who restarted 16th, was turned by LaJoie, whom he was trying to block amid the three-wide battle, as he spun from the bottom apron entering Turn 1, shot back across the track and collided into both Preece and Stenhouse as Stenhouse spun backward and smacked the outside wall hard while Preece clipped Burton as both spun through the turn. Allmendinger, Hocevar and Cindric would also get involved in the carnage. The accident not only capped off Busch’s long event that commenced with starting at the rear of the field with a new oil line to his No. 8 Chevrolet, but it negatively affected his hopes of making the 2024 Cup Playoffs yet again as the Pocono wreck marked his fifth DNF in seven races and his sixth time finishing outside the top 20 over the last nine races.
As the event restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, Blaney, who received a strong shove from Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the outside lane during the previous restart period, received the same help from Bowman through the frontstretch for the current restart period as he muscled his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through Turn 1 while Bowman retained second ahead of Hamlin, Logano, Byron and Bell. The caution, however, would quickly return when Zane Smith, who was trying to charge his way into the top 15, got pinned in between Nemechek and McDowell resulting in McDowell hitting the outside wall in Long Pond Straightaway while both Smith and Nemechek were sent spinning and colliding into the inside wall.
The start of the next restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Blaney trying to fend off Bowman through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. A lap later, the caution returned due to fluid on the course as the pole-sitter Gibbs, who fell off the pace during the restart, was trying to limp his car back to his pit stall after his engine blew up with both smoke and fluid coming out of the exhaust pipe.
With the race restarting with 23 laps remaining, Blaney received a shove from Hamlin on the outside lane to edge ahead of Bowman entering the first turn and he would retain the lead through Long Pond Straightaway while Hamlin and Bowman battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano. Bell and Truex would battle for seventh place in front of Wallace and Keselowski as both Bowman and Hamlin battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano while Blaney, who led the next lap, stretched his advantage to more than half a second.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bowman as Bowman started to close back in on Blaney for the top spot. Behind, Hamlin retained third place ahead of Byron and Logano while Reddick, Truex, Keselowski, Wallace and Elliott were scored in the top 10 ahead of Bell, Buescher, Larson, Briscoe and Suarez.
Five laps later, Blaney stretched his advantage to more than a second over Bowman as Hamlin, Byron and Logano trailed within three seconds in the top five. Blaney would stabilize his advantage to a second over Bowman with 10 laps remaining as Hamlin, Byron and Logano continued to trail in the top five. By then, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Keselowski while Truex was back in eighth place as he was running ahead of Elliott and Wallace.
With five laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by more than two seconds in his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse over Hamlin, who overtook Bowman with a bold pass from the outside lane in Turn 3 three laps earlier. Meanwhile, Byron would retain fourth place just ahead of Logano, Reddick and Keselowski while eighth-place Truex trailed the lead by seven seconds. By then, Larson was mired in 12th place, Suarez was scored in 16th place and Elliott remained ahead of Wallace in ninth place.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by more than a second over Hamlin. With Hamlin unable to narrow the deficit for a final time, Blaney was able to navigate his way around Pocono’s three tricky corners smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and cruised to his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.
With the victory, Blaney, who recorded his first Cup Series career victory while driving for Wood Brothers Racing in June 2017, notched his 12th career win in his 327th start in NASCAR’s premier series and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway four races ago. The victory also made Blaney the fifth competitor overall to achieve multiple victories through the first 21 scheduled events of the 2024 Cup Series season.
Blaney’s Pocono victory was also the fifth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the fifth overall for Ford’s Dark Horse stock car and the fourth of the 2024 season for Team Penske, with the Penske organization returning to Victory Lane at Pocono for the first time since the 2011 season.
Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“I think just things are really kind of falling into place for us,” Blaney said on USA Network. “I feel like we’ve gotten to a great place on speed, the last two months especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us, which I thought we had a good shot at winning. So, it’s nice to just stick to the plan today. Kind of our plan was trying to have track position at the end because I knew our car was fast enough. Super proud of [crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler], the whole No. 12 boys. So cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win, so awesome to be back. It’s just as special to win here today. You love tracks that have a special meaning to you. Places you get your first win and things like that, so this place means so much to me. So proud of the effort. Looking forward to, hopefully, continuing this momentum into next week at the boss’ [Roger Penske] track up at Indy.”
Denny Hamlin, who led 31 laps compared to Blaney’s 44 and was striving for his record-setting eighth Pocono victory, settled in second place as he rallied from finishing no higher than 12th over his last five races on the schedule while Alex Bowman, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Chicago Street Course, finished in a strong third place.
“Never lose a race, just would always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said. “Track position’s such a big thing. When [Blaney] jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us and [it] certainly was gonna be hard to pass, and just not enough laps, really, of green [flag] there towards the end. Hats off to them. Great run. He kept great pace up there towards the front. It was really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in. Great job to this whole Mavis Tires & Brakes team. Shame we couldn’t get to Victory Lane, but another day.”
“[It’s] Hard to be satisfied when you restart on the front row, last restart and can’t get the job done,” Bowman said. “Proud of everybody on our Ally No. 48 [team]. We struggled with our car in traffic quite a bit and probably made most of our adjustments based on traffic and then, just got too free there at the end when we had some clear air. A good solid day for us. At least we’re pointed in the right direction. It’s been a good two weeks for us and going to a really historic racetrack that means a lot to me personally next week, so hopefully, we can get the job done there.”
Teammate William Byron muscled the red No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place result while Joey Logano ended up in fifth place.
Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were eight lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 21st event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over teammate Kyle Larson, 15 over Tyler Reddick, 20 over Denny Hamlin, 57 over William Byron, 63 over Martin Truex Jr. and 76 over Ryan Blaney.
Results.
1. Ryan Blaney, 44 laps led
2. Denny Hamlin, 31 laps led, Stage 2 winner
3. Alex Bowman
4. William Byron
5. Joey Logano, three laps led
6. Tyler Reddick
7. Brad Keselowski, 20 laps led
8. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner
9. Chase Elliott
10. Bubba Wallace
11. Chris Buescher, 19 laps led
12. Christopher Bell
13. Kyle Larson
14. Erik Jones
15. Chase Briscoe
16. Daniel Suarez
17. Carson Hocevar
18. Austin Cindric
19. Corey LaJoie
20. Josh Berry, eight laps led
21. AJ Allmendinger
22. Justin Haley
23. Austin Dillon
24. Michael McDowell, two laps down
25. Daniel Hemric- OUT, Suspension
26. Cody Ware – OUT, Overheating
27. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Engine, 21 laps led
28. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident
29. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident
30. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident
31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident
32. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident
33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident
34. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident
35. JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump
36. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident
37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
The reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer struck gold with his first elusive victory of the 2024 season in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 13, following a wild four-lap dash to the finish.
The 26-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led twice for 25 of 90-scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place but ran up front throughout the event as he assumed the lead for the first time on Lap 26. After winning the second stage period, he would find himself shuffled back within the top-10 mark before he methodically carved his way back towards the front.
Then after pitting with 29 laps remaining under green before a late-race caution period eight laps later, Custer capitalized on the following restart period with 12 laps remaining to overtake Justin Allgaier for the lead with nine laps remaining. Despite having his momentum stalled due to another late-race caution period for rookie Shane van Gisbergen spinning in Turn 2, Custer fended off both Allgaier and William Byron to muscle ahead and capture his first Xfinity Series victory of the season for himself, the Ford nameplate and Stewart-Haas Racing as he continues his quest to defend his series’ title.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Sheldon Creed notched his second Xfinity career pole position and his first of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 167.255 mph in 53.810 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Brandon Jones, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying time at 166.334 mph in 54.108 seconds.
Before the event, the following names that included rookie Jesse Love, Josh Berry, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. In addition, Poole was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road due to unapproved adjustments made to Poole’s Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro following Friday’s inspection process.
When the green flag waved and the race started, the field jumbled up in tight two-by-two formation through the frontstretch as Sheldon Creed and Brandon Jones dueled for the lead through the first turn before they led the field through the Long Pond Straightaway. Creed then tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane through the Tunnel Curve, but Jones fought back on the inside lane just past the curve as they navigated through the final sets of turns and back to the frontstretch in front of Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier and William Byron. At the start/finish line, Creed managed to lead the first lap by a hair.
On the second lap and as both Creed and Jones continued to duel for the lead, the event’s first caution flew following a hard accident involving Dawson Cram in Turn 1, where Cram slid sideways towards the apron after he lost his brakes and collided rear-end into the outside wall at full speed.
Following an extensive cleanup process amid Cram’s incident, the event restarted under green on the sixth lap. At the start, Creed managed to fend off Jones from the outside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns and entering the Long Pond Straightaway. Behind, teammate Chandler Smith would muscle his way up to the runner-up spot before Allgaier would charge his way up to third place followed by William Byron as Jones slipped to fifth place.
Then on the eighth lap, Allgaier made his move beneath Creed to assume the lead through the frontstretch. At the same time, Chandler Smith moved to Creed’s outside to snatch the runner-up spot as Creed slipped to third place. Shortly after, Jones’ strong start evaporated as he pitted his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro to address a flat left-rear tire, which cost him a lap as he then endured a slow pit service. By then, Josh Berry, who was piloting the No. 15 AM Racing Ford Mustang in place of Hailie Deegan, who was released by the team earlier in the week, pitted with a flat tire.
Back on the track, a tight battle between Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger, Byron and Creed ensued for third place, with all nearly colliding past the Tunnel Curve. With all four proceeding without wrecking, Byron and Creed continued to duel for fourth place as Austin Hill joined the battle. With Custer in third place, Allgaier proceeded to lead the Lap 10 mark by nine-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith.
At the Lap 15 mark, Allgaier was leading by three seconds over Chandler Smith followed by Custer, Byron and Hill while AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Creed and Sammy Smith were running in the top 10. Behind, Sam Mayer occupied 11th place ahead of Parker Kligerman, Jeb Burton, Taylor Gray and Anthony Alfredo while Kyle Sieg, Corey Heim, Ryan Truex, Matt DiBenedetto and Parker Retzlaff trailed in the top 20 ahead of Josh Williams, Daniel Dye, Kyle Weatherman, Jesse Love and Jeremy Clements. Meanwhile, rookie Shane van Gisbergen was mired in 27th place behind Brennan Poole.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allgaier claimed his 11th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Byron and Allmendinger while Hill, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Creed were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, nearly the entire lap field led by Allgaier pitted for service while Jesse Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Anthony Alfredo was penalized for speeding on pit road. Soon after, Allgaier was also penalized and sent to the rear of the field due to an equipment interference, where the tire got loose and rolled into the next pit box.
The second stage period started on Lap 25 as Love and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the first two turns. With Byron rocketing his way up to third place ahead of Herbst and Chandler Smith through Long Pond Straightaway, Byron then joined the tight side-by-side battle for the lead between Custer and Love just past the Tunnel Curve before he fell off the pace through Turns 3 and 4. With Byron reporting a flat tire as he plummeted in the leaderboard while missing the pit road entrance, Custer, who rocketed ahead of Love through Turns 3 and 4, was leading as Chandler Smith, Herbst and Creed followed suit in the top five. A lap later, the caution returned due to debris being reported on the track and coming from Byron’s No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro, with the driver limping his car around the circuit as his tire carcass came off. Despite the early misfortune, Byron managed to pit for fresh tires and remain on the lead lap category.
The start of the next restart period on Lap 30 featured Custer and Chandler Smith dueling for the lead through the frontstretch and the first two turns before they navigated through the Long Pond Straightaway. With Custer retaining the lead, Hill made his way into the runner-up spot over Chandler Smith and Herbst while Love was in fifth place. Love was then overtaken by Creed for fifth place through Turns 1 and 2 during the following lap as Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger went three wide within the top 10 and just past the Tunnel Curve. By then and amid a series of on-track battles ensuing around the Pocono circuit, Custer stretched his advantage to more than a second over a tight battle for the runner-up spot involving Chandler Smith and Hill.
By Lap 35, Custer continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Chandler Smith with Hill keeping Smith closely within his sights. Herbst and Allmendinger were scored in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Love, Creed, Corey Heim and Sammy Smith while Mayer, Taylor Gray, Kligerman, Allgaier and Ryan Truex were running in the top 15. With Allgaier rallying from his pit road penalty to be scored in the top 15, Byron had carved his way back up to 18th place as he was battling Jeb Burton for more. In addition, Brandon Jones was scored outside the top 20 in his efforts to rally from losing a lap from his flat tire.
Two laps later, Love and Mayer pitted their respective entries from the top 11 under green. By then, Custer, who remained on the track, was leading by nearly four seconds at the Lap 38 mark with Chandler Smith, Hill, Herbst and Ryan Sieg trailing in the top five and by six seconds on the track.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Custer captured his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Chandler Smith trailed in second place by nearly four seconds along with Hill, Herbst and Ryan Sieg while Allmendinger, Creed, Sammy Smith, Heim and Allgaier were scored in the top 10. With Allgaier scored in 10th place, Byron had carved his way to 12th place behind Kligerman while Jones was in 18th place behind Parker Retzlaff.
During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Custer returned to pit road for service while select names led by Byron and including Alfredo, Mayer and Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Jeremy Clements was penalized for a safety violation.
With 44 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Alfredo occupied the front row. The final stage’s start, however, did not last long as a multi-car wreck erupted when Retzlaff got loose in Turn 1 and went up the track as he ran into Ryan Ellis, with both including Leland Honeyman and Poole wrecking against the outside wall. Amid the accident, Byron had retained the lead ahead of Mayer and Love while Chandler Smith, Hill and Custer were scored in the top six. During the caution period, select names including Allgaier, Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Jones and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.
With the race restarting with 40 laps remaining, Byron and Love battled for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. Then in Turn 1, Allmendinger slid sideways as he lightly rubbed fenders with Ryan Sieg, but he kept his car running straight below the apron and the race remained under green flag conditions as Love muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro out in front with the top spot. Love would proceed to lead with 35 laps remaining over Byron before the latter ignited a side-by-side battle through Long Pond Straightaway. By then, Hill tried to join the battle before Byron split his way through both to reassume the lead.
Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Byron was leading by four-tenths of a second over Hill as Custer, Ryan Sieg and Mayer were scored in the top 10. Behind, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Kligerman and Corey Heim were in the top 10 as Love pitted under green. Love, however, would be penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Byron would then pit from the lead with 29 laps remaining along with Custer and Taylor Gray. With a host of names pitting over the proceeding laps, Allgaier would cycle into the lead with 24 laps remaining.
Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Stephen Mallozzi stopping on the backstretch. During the caution period, some led by Allgaier and including teammate Sammy Smith and Alfredo remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. Soon after, the next restart period with 16 laps remaining did not last long due to Clements spinning and hitting the outside wall in Turn 2 after getting pinned in a three-wide battle, with Mason Massey also getting collected.
The next restart period with 12 laps remaining featured Allgaier muscling his No. 7 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the outside lane before Custer tried to mount a charge from the inside lane. Allgaier would retain the lead by two-tenths of a second over Custer as the field behind jostled for late positions with 10 laps remaining. Amid the battles, third-place Byron trailed the lead by nine-tenths of a second as Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top five.
With nine laps remaining, Custer trailed Allgaier by a tenth of a second as he started to close in on Allgaier for the lead. Then through Turn 1, Custer made his move beneath Allgaier and dueled with him through Long Pond Straightaway before he moved his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into the lead. He would proceed to lead with eight laps remaining and slowly begin to stretch his advantage before the caution returned due to Shane van Gisbergen spinning in Turn 2 after he got hit by Mayer.
The start of the next restart period with four laps remaining featured Custer and Allgaier dueling for the lead before Custer muscled ahead through Long Pond Straightaway. Allgaier then tried to fight back through the Tunnel Turn and Turn 2, but Custer muscled ahead with the lead through the frontstretch and led the next lap. Soon after, the two-car battle between Custer and Allgaier became a three-car battle as Byron closed in. Behind, van Gisbergen spun for a second time in Turn 2, but the race remained under green as Custer led by nearly half a second over both Allgaier and Byron.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier and by seven-tenths of a second over Byron. With both Allgaier and Byron losing ground and unable to narrow the deficit, Custer was able to cycle his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang smoothly around Pocono’s tricky turns for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity season.
With the victory, Custer, who came into Pocono as the leader in the regular-season standings, notched his 14th career win in the Xfinity circuit and his second at Pocono after he won his first in 2019. The victory was also his first since winning both the 2023 season-finale event and the series’ championship at Phoenix Raceway last November. The victory was also the first of the year for both Stewart-Haas Racing and the Ford nameplate.
“Man, you just try and manage it the best you can, but it’s just the luck of the draw on who gets the best push and everything,” Custer said on USA Network. “Man, that was some Doug Yates horsepower right there. We definitely had some [horsepower] on the straightaways today. Man, I just can’t say enough about these guys. They worked so hard this whole year and just haven’t had that final result. To finally get [a win], it’s so awesome. This is the second win here at Pocono for our team, so it’s awesome. We can really carry this momentum through the summer and into the Playoffs. I’ve been telling people [that] I’ve never been so frustrated [at] being the points leader. It was the weirdest feeling in the world. We’ve been so good pretty much all year, just top five [runs], and just haven’t been able to break through the year till now. It’s awesome to get [a win] now and I think we can really carry this.”
As Custer celebrated on the frontstretch, Allgaier was left disappointed on pit road after coming up four laps shy of netting his second victory of the season, though he had enough fuel to finish. The runner-up result marks the second time Allgaier has finished in the runner-up spot and first since Portland International Raceway in early June.
“I just feel like, unfortunately, we had the best car all day and at the end, the old tires were just a difference maker,” Allgaier said. “We did what we had to do with the penalty and being able to come through the field. We did all the right things. Obviously, William [Byron] gave me a great push on that last restart and it’s just so hard to keep the right front on [the car] on the long run like that. Really stinks to come out here second. I’ve led so many laps here. [I] Feel like this is same result every time, just not able to go to Victory Lane. Really proud of our team, proud of the effort. Just came up a little bit short and it’s going to sting for a while.”
William Byron came home in third place in his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season while pole-sitter Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray finished in the top five.
AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer completed the top 10 in the final running order.
There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 30 laps. In addition, 31 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 19th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 51 points over Allgaier, 59 over Chandler Smith and 76 over Austin Hill.
Results.
1. Cole Custer, 25 laps led, Stage 2 winner
2. Justin Allgaier, 30 laps led, Stage 1 winner
3. William Byron, 16 laps led
4. Sheldon Creed, seven laps led
5. Taylor Gray
6. AJ Allmendinger
7. Austin Hill, one lap led
8. Parker Kligerman
9. Sammy Smith
10. Sam Mayer
11. Riley Herbst
12. Ryan Sieg, four laps led
13. Brandon Jones
14. Anthony Alfredo
15. Chandler Smith
16. Corey Heim
17. Daniel Dye
18. Josh Williams
19. Ryan Truex
20. Kyle Sieg
21. Jeb Burton
22. Jesse Love, seven laps led
23. Kyle Weatherman
24. Matt DiBenedetto
25. Leland Honeyman
26. Brennan Poole
27. Josh Berry
28. Thomas Annunziata
29. Mason Massey
30. Jeremy Clements
31. Shane van Gisbergen
32. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down
33. Patrick Emerling, one lap down
34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Suspension
35. Stephen Mallozzi – OUT, Engine
36. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident
37. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Electrical
38. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the return of the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 20, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
Corey Heim struck back amid Christian Eckes’ lap-by-lap win at Nashville Superspeedway by claiming a dominant NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the rain-delayed CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono Raceway on Friday, July 12.
The 22-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for a race-high 55 of 70-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside Eckes on the front row based on a qualifying metric formula due to rain canceling the event’s on-track qualifying session. Despite getting quickly shuffled out of the top five and nearly getting turned on the opening lap, Heim made up the rough start by returning to the runner-up spot on the sixth lap. Then after taking the lead from Eckes for the first time on Lap 12, Heim quickly made himself and his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota team forces to be reckoned with as the driver proceeded to win the event’s first two stages, all while stretching his fuel tank through both periods.
After pitting for the first and only time prior to the final stage period, Heim quickly cycled his way past Jake Garcia to reassume the lead following a restart with 34 laps remaining. With the event eventually being red-flagged twice under the final 10 laps due to a steady increase of on-track precipitation before having enough sunlight to finish its scheduled distance, Heim capitalized on a three-lap shootout to muscle away from Grant Enfinger, Eckes and the field to cruise to his fifth Truck victory of the 2024 season and his first at Pocono, the track dubbed “The Tricky Triangle.”
With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday canceled due to precipitation, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a qualifying metric formula. As a result, Christian Eckes, winner of the previous Truck event at Nashville Superspeedway two weeks ago and the fastest during Friday’s practice session, was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with Corey Heim.
Prior to the event, rookie Layne Riggs started at the rear of the field in a backup truck after he wrecked his primary truck during Friday’s practice session. Bryan Dauzat and Justin Carroll also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.
When the green flag waved and the race started, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch as Christian Eckes, who started on the outside lane, retained the lead through the first turn before navigating his way through Long Pond Straightaway. Behind, teammate Tyler Ankrum and Ty Majeski charged their way up to second and third, respectively, as Daniel Dye, Grant Enfinger and Rajah Caruth, the latter of which made a three-wide attempt for the lead from third place, followed suit. Meanwhile, Corey Heim, who started on the inside lane from the front row, was backsliding as he nearly got turned through the Long Pond Straightaway. As the field continued to jostle for early spots through the Tunnel Curve before entering a final turn, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap followed by Ankrum as Majeski, Enfinger, Stewart Friesen and Heim followed suit in the top six while Caruth found himself backsliding.
Over the next three laps, Eckes extended his advantage to a second over Ankrum as Heim, who lost four spots at the start, charged his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back up to third place as he tried to close in on Ankrum for the runner-up spot. Eckes would proceed to lead the fifth lap mark by eight-tenths of a second over Ankrum with Heim closing in from third place as Daniel Dye and Majeski trailed in the top five. Behind, Grant Enfinger was in sixth place ahead of Stewart Friesen and Nick Sanchez while Ben Rhodes and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor followed suit.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes continued to lead in his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Heim, who overtook Ankrum’s No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado RST for the runner-up spot four laps earlier and made up a second deficit to Eckes. Behind, Ankrum trailed in third place by two seconds while Dye, Majeski, Enfinger, Sanchez, Friesen and the Gray brothers of Tanner and Taylor were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Rhodes was mired in 11th ahead of Jake Garcia, Chase Purdy, Matt Mills and Rajah Caruth while Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson, Connor Mosack and Lawless Alan were racing in the top 20 ahead of Bret Holmes, Kris Wright, Ty Dillon, Luke Fenhaus and Timmy Hill.
Shortly after, a tight side-by-side and crossover battle between Eckes and Heim ignited, with the former retaining the top spot by an advantage before the latter, who fended off a crossover move by Eckes through the Tunnel Curve, led for the first time on Lap 12. After assuming the lead on Lap 12, Heim, who wheeled his truck from the left to right to break off Eckes’ draft and run through the frontstretch, would stretch his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Eckes by Lap 13.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 15, Heim captured his fifth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes followed suit in second along with Ankrum, Dye and Enfinger while Majeski, Sanchez, Taylor Gray, Friesen and Tanner Gray were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, some including the top-six competitors that included Heim, Eckes, Ankrum, Dye, Enfinger and Majeski remained on the track while the rest led by Sanchez pitted. Among those who also remained on the track without pitting included Friesen, Taylor Gray, Caruth, Lawless Alan, Luke Fenhaus and Bayley Currey. During the pit stops, Mason Maggio had a tire roll away from his pit stall and was penalized while Zane Smith received a long service due to his pit crew addressing a broken right-rear shock to Smith’s No. 91 SpeedyCash.com Chevrolet Silverado RST.
The second stage period started on Lap 20 as Heim and Ankrum as occupied the front row. At the start, most of the field remained in two-by-two formation through the frontstretch and entering the first turn as Heim retained the lead. Behind, Eckes charged his way back to second as he was pursued by Daniel Dye while Ankrum slipped to fourth, all while the field behind jostled entering Long Pond Straightaway. Amid the battles around Pocono’s tricky turns, Heim retained the lead for the following lap while Eckes, who opted to restart on the second row before reclaiming the runner-up spot during the restart, followed suit along with teammate Dye, Ankrum, Enfinger and Majeski. Behind, Sage Karam’s No. 21 CRC Brakleen Ford F-150 was smoking amid contact with Ty Dillon, but the race remained under green flag conditions.
By Lap 25, Heim extended his advantage to more than a second over runner-up Eckes while Dye, Enfinger and Ankrum trailed in the top five and by five seconds. Behind, sixth-place Taylor Gray trailed by six seconds ahead of Majeski, Friesen, Chastain and Tanner Gray while Matt Mills, who was racing on four fresh tires after he pitted during the first stage break period, was in 11th place ahead of Caruth, Sanchez, Holmes, Rhodes, Connor Mosack, Chase Purdy, Fenhaus, Dean Thompson and Garcia.
With nearly three laps remaining until the second stage’s conclusion, Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez peeled off the racetrack to pit their respective entries under green. Meanwhile, Heim remained on the track as he was leading by nearly two seconds over Eckes as Dye and Enfinger battled for third place in front of Ankrum.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Heim notched his second Truck stage victory of the day and sixth of the 2024 season. Eckes trailed in second place by three seconds while Dye, Enfinger, Ankrum, Majeski, Chastain, Friesen, Tanner Gray and Matt Mills were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.
During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Heim pitted while select names including Jake Garcia, Thad Moffitt and Nick Sanchez remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Bayley Currey was penalized for having crew members over the pit wall too soon while Eckes, who entered pit road in second place, plummeted back to within the top 20 following a slow pit service. Not long after, Moffitt, who recently joined Young’s Motorsports, pitted, which left both Garcia and Sanchez strapped on the front row.
With 34 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Garcia and Sanchez occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out as wide as four lanes through the frontstretch as Garcia was being challenged by Mills for the lead entering Turn 1. Despite fending off Mills through the first two turns, Heim, who restarted fifth, quickly charged right to the rear bumper of Garcia through Long Pond Straightaway. Then after trailing Garcia through the Tunnel Curve, Heim used a bold move on the outside lane through the final turn to reassume the lead as he led the following lap. As Heim both retained and started to stretch his advantage on his four fresh tires, Garcia retained second ahead of Sanchez and Enfinger while Eckes zipped his way back into the top five following his slow pit service as he was battling Chastain for fifth place. Not long after, Garcia, who made on-track contact with Sanchez, pitted his No. 13 Quanta Services Ford F-150 under green with 31 laps remaining. Amid Garcia’s pit service, where he lost a bevy of spots and time due to a slow service, Heim retained the lead by nearly two seconds over Chastain with 30 laps remaining.
With 26 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Caruth spinning his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST in Turn 1 after he got loose underneath teammate Mosack while racing for ninth place, though Caruth was able to prevent his truck from hitting the wall. At the time of the caution, Heim had stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Chastain while Enfinger, Eckes, Purdy, Mills, Dye, Thompsons, Mosack and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sanchez, who pitted two laps earlier to top off on fuel, was mired back in 27th place as Garcia was down in 29th place. During the caution period, some led by Dye and including Mosack, Rhodes, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Bayley Currey, Timmy Hill, Ty Dillon, Caruth and Garcia pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.
With the event restarting with 22 laps remaining, where Heim and Enfinger occupied the front row, the field jumbled out and then fanned out through the frontstretch as Heim was pushed by Chastain to retain the lead. Behind, Enfinger retained second over Chastain while Eckes, Mills and Purdy followed suit in the top six through Long Pond Straightaway. With more jostling of spots occurring within the field, Heim continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Enfinger with 20 laps remaining while Chastain was fending off Eckes for third place. Behind, Mills and Purdy retained fifth and sixth, respectively, while Majeski was racing in seventh place ahead of a tight battle between teammates Thompson and Taylor Gray.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Heim stretched his advantage to a second over Enfinger as Eckes, Chastain and Taylor Gray followed suit in the top five. Behind, Mills occupied sixth place ahead of Purdy, Thompson, Sanchez and Friesen while Holmes, Crafton, Tanner Gray, Rhodes and Mosack were in the top 15 ahead of Caruth, Fenhaus, Dye, Ankrum and Currey. Meanwhile, Majeski, who made an unscheduled pit stops two laps earlier due to a power issue and needing a new battery to his No. 98 Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford F-150, was mired back in 32nd place as he also lost two spots in the process.
With 10 laps remaining, Heim stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over runner-up Enfinger as both third-place Chastain and fourth-place Eckes trailed by within 10 seconds. Eckes would then overtake Chastain for the runner-up spot shortly after as Chastain nearly got loose in Turn 1.
A lap later and amid a rapid decrease in temperature, the caution flew due to rain falling on the Pocono circuit. Another lap later, the field led by Heim was directed to pit road and the event was placed in a red flag period due to the on-track rain. Ten-and-a-half minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the field led by Heim returned to the track under a cautious pace amid a light drizzle before the continuation of the drizzles forced the field to return to pit road and placed in a second red flag period after just one caution lap. Approximately 24 minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the race resumed under a cautious pace with six laps remaining.
During the caution period, select names including Currey, Fenhaus, Garcia, Timmy Hill, Zane Smith, Layne Riggs, Lawless Alan and Sage Karam pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.
The start of the next restart period with three laps remaining featured a brief side-by-side battle between Heim and Eckes through the frontstretch until Eckes nearly got turned sideways by Chastain entering the first turn. This allowed Heim, who was getting pushed by Enfinger as Enfinger opted to restart behind Heim, to muscle ahead from the outside lane and lead through the first two turns. Behind, Enfinger battled Eckes for second place in front of Chastain and Taylor Gray through Long Pond Straightaway. With more battles and competitors fanning out to multiple lanes ensuing through the Tunnel Curve before navigating through the final turn, Heim began to stretch his advantage as he was leading by six-tenths of a second over Enfinger and a hard-charging Eckes.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim remained as the leader by nine-tenths of a second over Enfinger, who was trying to fend off Eckes for the spot in his No. 9 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST. With the latter two unable to generate a final lap charge nor decrease Heim’s large deficit, Heim was able to cruise his No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro around the Pocono circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and emerged victorious for his fifth checkered flag of the 2024 season.
With the victory, Heim, who was overtaken by former team owner/teammate Kyle Busch for the Pocono victory a year ago, notched his 10th Craftsman Truck Series career win in his 55th series start, his first since winning at World Wide Technology Raceway in early June and his eighth as a driver for TRICON Garage, with the organization claiming its fifth victory of the 2024 season.
The Pocono victory validated the strong driver-crew chief bond shared between Heim and Scott Zipadelli, the 2018 Truck Series championship-winning crew chief who claimed his 23rd series’ victory, as both continue to gain more bonuses prior to the start of the 2024 Playoffs two races from now, where both will attempt to contend for this year’s series title at Phoenix Raceway in November.
“[Scott Zipadelli and I]’ve had such a close bond,” Heim said on FS1. “He just does a phenomenal job giving me fast Safelite Tundra TRD Pros every week. This week wasn’t any different. This [truck] was badass. Got a badass crew, badass truck week in and week out. So proud of these guys. [I] Can’t say enough about five wins. It’s something that I never thought I’d achieve in a single season, but here we are and we got many more to go, so I’m pumped. It’s awesome…We’re focused on 2024. We got all the potential in the world right now. Just a phenomenal day for us.”
Grant Enfinger settled in second place for the second time of the 2024 season while Christian Eckes ended up in third place after leading the first 11 laps. Taylor Gray rallied from wrecking out at Nashville Superspeedway to finish in fourth place for his fourth top-five run of the season while Ross Chastain, the 2019 Truck Series winner at Pocono, survived to finish in fifth place in his fourth Truck start of the year.
Chase Purdy, Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Dean Thompson and Rajah Caruth completed the top 10 in the final running order.
Notably, Nick Sanchez settled in 13th place in front of Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Dye ended up in 16th place, Tanner Gray settled in 19th place behind Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith finished in 20th place in front of Jake Garcia and Ty Majeski ended up in 31st place, two laps down, following his late power issues.
With his 16th-place result, Daniel Dye, who notched top-four finishes during the event’s two stage periods and accumulated critical stage points, holds a one-point advantage over Tanner Gray for the 10th and final transfer spot to the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs with two regular-season races remaining on the schedule. As Ty Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes join Dye in being above the top-10 cutline based on points, others including Stewart Friesen, Matt Crafton, Chase Purdy, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson and rookie Layne Riggs join Tanner Gray as competitors currently scored outside the cutline.
There were three lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 17 laps. In addition, 29 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the 14th event of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season, Christian Eckes leads the regular-season standings by 32 points over Corey Heim.
Results.
1. Corey Heim, 55 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner
2. Grant Enfinger
3. Christian Eckes, 11 laps led
4. Taylor Gray
5. Ross Chastain
6. Chase Purdy
7. Stewart Friesen
8. Matt Crafton
9. Dean Thompson
10. Rajah Caruth
11. Matt Mills
12. Bret Holmes
13. Nick Sanchez
14. Tyler Ankrum
15. Connor Mosack
16. Daniel Dye
17. Bayley Currey
18. Ben Rhodes
19. Tanner Gray
20. Zane Smith
21. Jake Garcia, four laps led
22. Luke Fenhaus
23. Timmy Hill
24. Mason Massey
25. Ty Dillon
26. Kris Wright
27. Mason Maggio
28. Justin Carroll
29. Thad Moffitt
30. Layne Riggs, one lap down
31. Ty Majeski, two laps down
32. Lawless Alan, two laps down
33. Sage Karam, three laps down
34. Bryan Dauzat, five laps down
35. Stephen Mallozzi – OUT, Transmission
36. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Hub
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule is the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in Brownsburg, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, July 19, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway this week for a full schedule of racing. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series headlines Friday evening, followed by the Xfinity Series Saturday at 3 p.m. On Sunday afternoon the Cup Series takes center stage with The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com.
With Alex Bowman’s win at the Chicago Street course, 12 Cup Series drivers have secured a place in the 16-driver Playoff field – Bowman, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Austin Cindric.
Six Xfinity Series competitors have earned a spot in the 12-driver Playoff field via wins, including Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Justin Allgaier and Jesse Love. Cole Custer (the current points leader) is also eligible for the Playoffs, leaving 5 open spots.
Only four Truck Series drivers have guaranteed their place in the 10-driver Playoff field with wins – Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Rajah Caruth -leaving six remaining spots
NASCAR Press Pass will be live post-qualifying for the Cup Series and post-race for all series.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, July 12 2 p.m.: Truck Series Practice Timed/All Entries/20 minutes – FS2
2:30 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying Impound/All Entries/Single Vehicle/1 Lap – FS2
5:30 p.m.: Truck Series CRC Brakleen 175 Stages 15/30/70 Laps = 175 Miles FS1/MRN/SiriusXM 2023 race winner: Kyle Busch Purse: $757,128
Saturday, July 13 10 a.m.: Xfinity Series Practice Timed/All Entries/20 minutes – USA
10:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying Impound/All Entries/ Single Vehicle/1 Lap – USA
Noon: Cup Series Practice Timed/Group A & B – 20 Minutes Each Group USA/MRN/SiriusXM
12:45 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying Impound/Group A & B/Single Vehicle: 1 Lap/2 Rounds USA/MRN/SiriusXM
3 p.m.: Xfinity Series Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 race Stages 20/40/90 Laps = 225 Miles USA/MRN/SiriusXM 2023 race winner: Austin Hill Purse: $1,439,558
Sunday, July 14 2:30 p.m.: Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.com Stages 30/95/160 Laps = 400 Miles USA/MRN/SiriusXM 2023 race winner: Denny Hamlin Purse: $7,776,907
Competing in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Austin Cindric is poised to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup event at Pocono Raceway, the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse will make his 100th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.
A native of Mooresville, North Carolina, Cindric made his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series at the start of the 2021 season, where he attempted to qualify for the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. By then, he was the reigning Xfinity Series champion and was initially set on joining Wood Brothers Racing for the 2022 Cup season.
Piloting the No. 33 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, Cindric earned a transfer spot for the 500 based on his qualifying speed and despite finishing 16th in his Daytona Duel event. His Cup debut during the Daytona 500 came to a fiery end in 15th place after he was involved in a vicious multi-car wreck on the final lap that involved his Team Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.
He would then finish no higher than 22nd during his next three Cup scheduled starts at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway and Kansas Speedway. After finishing 25th at Circuit of the Americas, where he led four laps and finished in the top five during both stages, Cindric was poised for a strong run at Road America in July until he ended up 38th due to a late rear gear issue.
He capped off his part-time Cup campaign by claiming his first top-10 result in the series with a ninth-place run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in late July. By then, it was announced that Cindric would pilot Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford Mustang for the 2022 season, where he would replace Brad Keselowski. Keselowski, who was in his 12th year at Penske, would join Roush Fenway Racing as a driver and co-owner for the upcoming season.
Assuming command of the No. 2 car, Cindric rallied from missing the inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum by finishing second behind Keselowski in the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona. He then pulled an upset by winning the 64th running of the Daytona 500 and grabbing his first Cup Series career victory in his eighth series start after beating Bubba Wallace by 0.036 seconds in overtime while also blocking a late charge from teammate Ryan Blaney. I
n doing so, Cindric became the 41st different competitor to win the Great American Race, the ninth competitor to achieve a first-time win in the 500 and the second-youngest winner of the 500 at age 23. He also recorded the third Daytona 500 victory overall for Team Penske.
Following the 2022 Daytona 500 victory, Cindric notched his first Cup career pole for the following event at Auto Club Speedway, where he went on to finish 12th and lead the series standings for a second consecutive time. The North Carolina native would then notch only a single top-10 result, eighth at Circuit of the Americas, during the next 13 events on the schedule before posting a fifth-place result at Sonoma Raceway in June. F
rom there, Cindric managed to crack the top seven five times during the final 10 regular-season events on the schedule, including two third-place results and a runner-up finish at Indianapolis, before entering the 2022 Cup Playoffs as a Playoff competitor. Despite transferring from the Round of 16 to 12 amid three consecutive top-20 results, he missed the cutline to the Round of 8 after finishing 15th, ninth and 21st during the Round of 12’s three events.
Cindric went on to finish no higher than 11th during the final four events on the schedule before capping off his first full-time Cup campaign in 12th place in the final standings. By then, he was named the 2022 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient and had achieved a total of five top-five results, and nine top-10 results, with 86 laps led and an average finishing result of 16.3.
Cindric’s 2023 Cup season commenced on a low note, finishing in 23rd place after being involved in a final lap multi-car wreck. Following a 28th-place run during the following event at Auto Club Speedway, he posted two sixth-place finishes during his next four starts before finishing no higher than 13th during his next 11 starts. Managing another sixth-place result throughout the final nine regular-season events, Cindric did not make the Cup Series Playoffs for a second consecutive season.
Throughout the Playoffs, Cindric managed to claim his first and lone top-five result of the season by finishing fifth at Talladega Superspeedway in October before he finished ninth at Martinsville Speedway in November. Concluding the season in 35th place during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, Cindric capped off his sophomore Cup season in 24th place in the final driver’s standings. By then, he had only accumulated a single top-five result, five top-10 results, with 33 laps led and an average finish of 21.6.
This season, Cindric notched a strong fourth-place result at Atlanta in February but was mired with 11 finishes of 20th or worse for the remaining 14 of the first 15 scheduled events. Then at World Wide Technology Raceway in early June, he capitalized on teammate Blaney running out of fuel on the final lap to snap an 85-race winless drought and notch his second Cup career victory while also racing his way into Playoff contention. He has since finished no higher than 15th twice during his five previous starts. Despite trailing the regular-season points lead by 282 points, he remains in pursuit of his first Cup Series championship when the 2024 Playoffs commence.
Through 99 previous Cup starts, Cindric has achieved two victories, one pole, eight top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 247 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.7.
Austin Cindric is scheduled to make his 100th NASCAR Cup Series career start at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14, for the Great American Getaway 400. The event is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.
In his third full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Austin Hill is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway, the driver of the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.
A native of Winston, Georgia, Hill made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September 2019. By then, he was campaigning in his second full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series and first with Hattori Racing Enterprises, where he had achieved his first two series’ victories and was contending for the 2019 Truck Series title. Driving the No. 61 Toyota Supra for Hattori Racing Enterprises, Hill started 17th and finished ninth in his Xfinity debut.
The following two seasons, Hill, who continued to compete on a full-time basis for HRE in the Truck Series, made a total of 14 Xfinity starts in HRE’s No. 61 entry. During the stretch, the Georgian achieved his first top-five result in the series at Kansas Speedway in October 2020 after finishing fifth. He would also record a total of three top-10 results.
In late October 2021, Hill, who was announced to not be returning to Hattori Racing Enterprises for the 2022 season in early October, was announced as a full-time competitor of the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing for the upcoming Xfinity season, where he would contend for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. In his first event with RCR, Hill overtook AJ Allmendinger on the final lap and prior to a multi-car wreck to score his first Xfinity career win in the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. He would achieve two runner-up results, an additional six top-five results and a total of eight top-10 results during his next 16 starts before achieving his second career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track, in an event where he led a race-high 73 laps. Hill and the No. 21 RCR team would finish in the top five two additional times and in the top 10 and six additional times during the final nine regular-season events before the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced.
During the 2022 Playoffs, Hill managed to transfer into the Round of 8 following respective finishes of second, 14th and 29th during the Round of 12. Despite finishing no lower than ninth throughout the Round of 8, he did not transfer into the Championship 4 round. With a ninth-place finish during the season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway, Hill concluded his first full-time Xfinity season in sixth place in the final standings. With a total of two victories, a pole at Talladega Superspeedway in October, 11 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 329 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.0, Hill claimed the 2022 Xfinity rookie title.
Like the previous season, Hill commenced the 2023 Xfinity season on a high note by winning the season-opening at Daytona for a second consecutive time after emerging ahead of John Hunter Nemechek and Justin Allgaier amid a final lap wreck. He would claim a late victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway two races later before notching another home track win at Atlanta amid an overtime shootout another two races later. After recording seven additional top-five results and nine additional top-10 results during his next 13-scheduled starts, Hill capitalized on another overtime shootout during the following event to nab his fourth win of the season at Pocono Raceway. Managing four top-five finishes during the final seven regular-season events, the Georgian managed to claim the 2023 Xfinity Series’ regular-season championship over Nemechek and entering the Playoffs with momentum.
Despite finishing 33rd during the 2023 Playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway amid a late on-track incident involving teammate Sheldon Creed, Hill rallied with two consecutive top-10 results to transfer from the Round of 12 to 8. Following two consecutive top-10 finishes during the first two events in the Round of 8, he entered the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway three points above the cutline to transfer into the Championship 4 round.
At Martinsville, however, Hill, who led 22 laps and was leading amid an overtime shootout, had another on-track altercation with Creed, where he got bumped twice by Creed before rubbing fenders with him and ramming into the rear bumper of Creed on the final lap, which resulted in Hill wrecking as he was approaching the finish line. He ended up in 21st place on the track and outside of the finale cutline.
Although his championship hopes evaporated for a second consecutive season, Hill finished seventh at Phoenix before ending up in fifth place in the final standings. By then, Hill had doubled his wins total from the previous season at four, earned two extra poles for three total, five additional top-five results (16), three additional top-10 results (24), led a career-high 346 laps and notched a new average-finishing result of 9.0.
Re-signing with RCR for another Xfinity campaign this season, Hill commenced the season by winning the opening event at Daytona and becoming the first competitor to win three consecutive Daytona openers in the Xfinity circuit in 14 years. He would then go two-for-two after winning at Atlanta the following weekend before posting three consecutive top-four runs. With six additional top-10 runs posted in his previous 13 starts, Hill is currently ranked in fourth place in this year’s driver’s standings. He trails the regular-season lead by 60 points as he continues his pursuit of his first Xfinity Series championship.
Through 99 previous starts in the Xfinity Series, Hill has achieved eight victories, five poles, 36 top-five results, 60 top-10 results, 813 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.9.
Austin Hill is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 13, for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.
