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  • Austin Dillon denied final overturn of Richmond penalties, faces “must-win” scenario to make 2024 Cup Playoffs at Darlington

    Austin Dillon denied final overturn of Richmond penalties, faces “must-win” scenario to make 2024 Cup Playoffs at Darlington

    Austin Dillon and Richard Childress Racing have lost their second and final appeal process in overturning Dillon’s penalty of having his NASCAR Cup Series victory at Richmond Raceway stripped from Playoff eligibility during a ruling made by Bill Mullis, NASCAR’s Final Appeal Officer, on Monday, August 26.

    The news comes 12 days after Dillon’s 2024 Cup Series Playoff eligibility was revoked by NASCAR due to actions the Welcome, North Carolina native made four days earlier on August 11 at Richmond. During the event, he wrecked both Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin on the final lap and final turn during an overtime shootout to win the race and leapfrog a majority of the competition in the regular-season standings to clinch a Playoff berth. The actions Dillon made were a last resort to secure a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, with the driver, owner Richard Childress and crew chief Justin Alexander defending Dillon’s actions.

    Following the first announcement of his Playoff eligibility being revoked and Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team being docked 25 driver/owner points, Richard Childress Racing released a statement that cited the team’s intentions to appeal the penalties.

    The saga then continued this past Wednesday, August 21, when the National Motorsports Appeals Panel denied the team’s first appeal attempt and upheld the points deduction and revoked Playoff berth, but reduced Brandon Benesch’s, Dillon’s spotter who encouraged Dillon to wreck Hamlin approaching the finish line, suspension from three races to one. Richard Childress Racing, however, cited intentions to appeal the penalties to the Final Appeal Officer.

    Following the decision to deny Dillon and Richard Childress Racing’s final attempt to overturn the penalties, Mullis released a statement that explained his final ruling and supported the initial ruling made by the National Motorsports Appeals Panel:

    “The data presented today from SMT and IDAS systems indicate that more likely than not a rule violation did occur at Richmond Raceway on 8-11-24 by the No. 3 RCR car on the last lap of the race. [Rule 12.3.2.1.B Eligibility, race finishes must be unencumbered by violations of the NASCAR rules or other actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.]”

    With all appeal processes used and denied, Dillon, who is currently ranked in 29th place in the 2024 regular-season standings and has finished no higher than 17th in the two races following the Richmond victory, faces a “must-win” scenario ahead of this upcoming weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to race his way back into the 2024 Cup Series Playoff picture. Currently, he is 298 points below the top-16 cutline in the Playoffs standings.

    Dillon is one of several competitors who are currently below the top-16 cutline ahead of the regular-season finale at Darlington, a list that includes teammate Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland, Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Josh Berry, Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, Justin Haley, John Hunter Nemechek, Corey LaJoie and Zane Smith.

    With 13 of 16 Playoff spots filled by regular-season winners, including this past weekend’s winner Harrison Burton, the remaining three vacant spots are currently occupied by Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Chris Buescher on points, with the latter retaining the final transfer spot by 21 points over Bubba Wallace, 27 over Ross Chastain and 106 over Kyle Busch.

    Austin Dillon’s final attempt to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on the track continues this upcoming Sunday, September 1, at Darlington Raceway for the Cook Out Southern 500 and for the 2024 regular-season finale. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • NASCAR revokes Austin Dillon’s Playoff eligibility, fines Joey Logano amid controversial Cup finish at Richmond

    NASCAR revokes Austin Dillon’s Playoff eligibility, fines Joey Logano amid controversial Cup finish at Richmond

    NASCAR released the highly anticipated penalty report following this weekend’s Craftsman Truck & Cup Series actions at Richmond Raceway including the controversial finish during Sunday’s Cup event.

    Per the report, Austin Dillon, winner of Sunday’s Cook Out 400, has been stripped of his Playoff eligibility he initially achieved by winning the race. The penalty is a result of how the 2018 Daytona 500 champion from Welcome, North Carolina, claimed the victory, where he bumped and sent the leader Joey Logano for a spin through Turns 3 and 4 on the final lap. Dillon then veered dead left and sent Denny Hamlin, who was trying to overtake both, into the frontstretch’s outside wall and proceeded to claim the checkered flag for the victory, all during an overtime shootout.

    The on-track actions Dillon made were ones he chose to perform as last-resort actions to both win and race his way into the Playoffs, as he evoked while celebrating the victory on the frontstretch despite receiving harsh criticism from his fellow competitors, including Logano and Hamlin, and eventually leading to NASCAR emphasizing that Dillon crossed the line upon a three-day review.

    In addition to having his Playoff eligibility revoked, Dillon and his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team were docked 25 driver/owner points. As a result, Dillon, who jumped from 32nd to a guaranteed top-16 result in the standings, is strapped back in 31st place in the regular-season standings.

    “I think in all due respect to the appeal process, we looked at this and the totality of everything that happened as you enter Turn 3 and as the cars got to the start/finish line,” Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Competition, said. “So, as we look through all of that data, we came to the conclusion that a line had been crossed. Our sport has been based going for many, many years, forever, on good, hard racing. Contact has been acceptable. We felt like, in this case, that the line was crossed.”

    While Dillon received no race suspensions amid his actions, Brandon Benesch, Dillon’s spotter, was assessed a three-race suspension, beginning this weekend at Michigan, due to his concise vocalization of encouraging Dillon to “wreck him” in reference to Denny Hamlin approaching the finish line. Despite the phrase “wreck him” being heard through the in-car audio, team owner Richard Childress and Dillon’s crew chief Justin Alexander denied hearing the audio phrase while defending Dillon’s move.

    “If you look at at the crew chief and you look at the spotter, and view them as calming voices in the driver’s ear, in this case, we just felt like we’ve all listened to the audio,” Sawyer added. “We know exactly what was said. We just felt like that that’s not what we need spotters doing. That’s not what we need [from a] crew chief sitting on the box. They’re a calming voice to what the situation is in front of them, and they’re supposed to be spotting for the race, not making comments like were made, as we all know.”

    Nonetheless, Dillon is still credited as the official winner of last Sunday’s event at Richmond. He is also eligible to reclaim his 2024 Playoff eligibility status if he were to win any one of the remaining three regular-season events on the schedule, beginning this upcoming Sunday at Michigan International Speedway.

    In addition, Joey Logano, who ended up in 19th place after getting hit and spun by Dillon, has also been penalized with a $50,000 fine for violating NASCAR’s Member Code of Conduct policy. Logano’s penalty is a result of the 2018 Cup Series champion getting his damaged car sideways while nursing it through pit road following the checkered flag and nearly sideswiped several personnel, including officials, Dillon’s crew and family members near Dillon’s pit box while venting his frustration. Immediately after parking his car, a NASCAR official angrily confronted Logano inside of his cockpit for his actions before the confrontation simmered as Logano angrily exited his car and proceeded to call out Dillon for his actions to the media.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Some of this, we’ve got some work to do on our side,” Sawyer said while referencing Logano’s actions that led to the penalty. “There was a lot of people on pit road, and there always is. We have our officials out there. The drivers need to understand that. Totally understand the emotion — I get it, I’ve been there a few years back. But you have to respect the fact that we do have people on pit road. Our officials will be there, security will be there. We’ll do a better job on our side to make sure that families and young children and sponsors and of that nature are not on the hot side.”

    Meanwhile, Denny Hamlin, who ended up in the runner-up spot despite getting wrecked by Dillon approaching the finish line and was quick to criticize NASCAR for not taking immediate action to penalize competitors for wrecking one another for victories, was not penalized.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With Dillon currently bumped out of the 2024 Cup Series Playoff field, Chris Buescher, who exited Richmond three points below the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs, is now above the cutline on a tie-breaker against Ross Chastain. In addition, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace have each been elevated one spot up in the Playoff field.

    Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series event at Richmond, which served as the 2024 regular-season finale and was won by Ty Majeski, did not generate any team penalties.

    With the Craftsman Truck Series entering an off-week period, the NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to action following a four-week absence at Michigan International Speedway for the Cabo Wabo 250 this upcoming Saturday, August 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. The Cup Series also returns to action at Michigan for the FireKeepers Casino 400 on Sunday, August 18, at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on the pole at Richmond and had a win in hand on the final corner, but was intentionally wrecked by Austin Dillon. Hamlin finished second.

    “I’d like to sarcastically welcome Austin Dillon to the Playoffs,” Hamlin said, “and go ahead and wish him a fond farewell from the Playoffs after Bristol on September 21st.”

    2. Kyle Larson: Larson finished seventh at Richmond, posting his 12th top 10 of the season.

    “I won the Knoxville Nationals on the dirt on Saturday night,” Larson said. “I like racing on any type of track. It just goes to show that I’m the best driver in NASCAR; that is, unless some bad news ‘surfaces.’”

    3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished third in the Cook Out 400 at Richmond.

    “Austin Dillon was simply out of control,” Reddick said. “In his defense, he was just doing what Pop Pop told him to. But I think NASCAR needs to take a strong stand against this type of dangerous driving. I think it’s only fair that Dillon be suspended for the first three races of the Playoffs.”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell won Stage 1 at Richmond but was nabbed for speeding on pit road in Stage 3. The drive-through penalty likely cost him the win and he finished sixth.

    “Sometimes,” Bell said, “your car is so fast, you can’t help but go too fast. And sometimes, your car is so fast, NASCAR finds a way to penalize you just to make for a more competitive finish. And they definitely got what they asked for.”

    5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney came home 11th at Richmond.

    “I had a pretty good view of the crazy finish at the front,” Blaney said. “And I think NASCAR’s ambiguous reaction to Austin Dillon’s actions can be described with two words that have dual meanings: ‘fair game.’”

    6. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished ninth in the Cook Out 400.

    “This was the first points race in which we had two types of Goodyear tires to choose from,” Elliott said. “There was the ‘prime’ tire, which is the harder compound, and the ‘option’ tire, which is the softer compound. It definitely made things much more interesting, for drivers and fans alike. You could say the tire choice has ‘compounded’ interest.”

    7. William Byron: Byron finished 13th at Richmond.

    “Kyle Busch started the race with a wrap on his sprained wrist,” Byron said. “But he got some scissors in the pits and cut it off. I’m sure it still hurts though. So, Kyle is one driver who, should NASCAR decide to punish him, might actually be hurt by a ‘slap on the wrist.’”

    8. Brad Keselowski: Keselowski finished 16th at Richmond.

    “NASCAR racing is back after a two-week break for the Olympic Games,” Bowman said. “Now it’s back to the gold, silver, and bronze NASCAR fans are accustomed to, which is Gold Bond, The Silver Bullet Coors Light, and bronzer for their fake tans.”

    9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex suffered a blown engine on Lap 251 and finished 37th in the Cook Out 400 at Richmond.

    “My engine was ‘cooked,’” Truex said, “so I was ‘out.’”

    10. Bubba Wallace: Wallace came home fourth in the Cook Out 400, recording his fifth top 5 of the season.

    “Ross Chastain’s No. 1 car featured the image of a man in his underwear driving the car,” Wallace said. “It was the brainchild of Jockey, and obviously they overlooked the fact that they walked right into a cascade of ‘skid mark’ jokes.”

  • Austin Dillon shakes up 2024 Cup Series Playoff field with controversial, final-lap victory at Richmond

    Austin Dillon shakes up 2024 Cup Series Playoff field with controversial, final-lap victory at Richmond

    The final result of the 2024 Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, August 11, will go down in the record books as Austin Dillon snapped a two-year winless drought and raced his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the race.

    An in-depth analysis of Dillon’s victory, however, will paint a distinct perspective of how he achieved it as he ground axes with Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, both of whom were wrecked by Dillon on the final lap and final corner during an overtime attempt, that left both fuming and flabbergasted over Dillon’s path to victory.

    With two laps remaining, Dillon, who had a strong run throughout the event and had overtaken Hamlin for the lead with 29 laps remaining, had a smooth path and a steady advantage to victory evaporate when a two-car incident involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece jumbled up the field for an overtime shootout.

    Despite retaining the lead during the caution period’s pit sequence, Dillon lost the lead to Joey Logano at the start of the overtime shootout. Then on the final lap and approaching Turns 3 and 4 before the finish line, Dillon gassed his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry into the rear of Logano and sent the latter’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry spinning through the turns and towards the outside wall.

    Dillon then steered dead left into the right rear of Denny Hamlin sending him hard against the frontstretch’s outside wall, as he zipped by both of them to claim the checkered flag in a dramatic finish for the ages.

    Despite receiving harsh criticisms from his fellow competitors over the incident, the last-lap victory did not derail Austin Dillon’s relief as he leapfrogged his way into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs from outside the top-30 mark in the regular-season standings. It was his first win at Richmond and his fifth career win in NASCAR’s premier series.  

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, August 10, Denny Hamlin notched his third Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 118.162 mph in 22.850 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Martin Truex Jr., who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 117.822 mph in 22.916 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Hamlin and Truex dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Hamlin managed to muscle his No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Truex entering the frontstretch to lead the first lap. Hamlin retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Truex while rookie Josh Berry, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott trailed in the top five followed by the rest of the field, all of whom commenced the event on prime tires.

    Through the first 10-scheduled laps and amid a series of early on-track battles, Hamlin was leading by half a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Bubba Wallace while Joey Logano, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chris Buescher and William Byron were running in the top 10. Behind, Tyler Reddick was situated in 11th place ahead of Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain while Ty Gibbs, rookie Carson Hocevar, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Noah Gragson trailed in the top 20 ahead of rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones and Ryan Preece. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski was mired in 28th place behind Corey LaJoie and Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell was mired in 30th place and John Hunter Nemechek was in 32nd place behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Ten laps later, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over teammate Truex while teammate Bell trailed in third place by two seconds. As Berry settled in fourth place, Logano cracked the top five ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Byron while Reddick, Blaney, Chastain, Ty Gibbs and Larson continued to trail in the top 15.

    Another 15 laps later, Hamlin continued to lead ahead of teammates Bell and Truex, with the latter trailing by more than a second after the former overtook Truex for the spot through the backstretch. As Logano occupied fourth place, Wallace was up to fifth place after outlasting an earlier duel and on-track contact with Berry while Elliott, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Byron were running in the top 10. Reddick would then overtake Byron for 10th place a few laps later and Kyle Busch would be overtaken by Daniel Suarez for 18th place, which dropped Busch six places from his starting spot of 12th place, as Hamlin proceeded to stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell by Lap 40.

    On Lap 45 and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Bell used the outside lane, starting in Turns 1 and 2, to muscle his No. 20 DeWalt Carpentry Solutions Toyota Camry XSE past Hamlin, where he cleared Hamlin by the frontstretch, as he assumed the lead for the first time. Soon after, teammate Truex joined the battle as he started to duel with Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Bell proceeded to stretch his advantage to eight-tenths of a second by the Lap 50 mark.

    Nearing the Lap 60 mark, Bell, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin and more than a second over teammate Truex while Logano and Wallace continued to trail in the top five, with Wallace trailing by more than four seconds. Behind, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Buescher followed suit from sixth to eighth, respectively, while Berry had dropped to ninth place ahead of Reddick, Byron, Blaney, Chastain, Larson, Suarez, Hocevar, Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Gilliland.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Bell captured his 10th Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in second and third, respectively, along with Logano and Wallace while Elliott, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Reddick and Berry were scored in the top 10. By then, 28 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap, including 28th-place Noah Gragson, while 29th-place Michael McDowell was awarded the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down. By then, however, top names including Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Harrison Burton, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric, Riley Herbst and newcomer Parker Retzlaff were pinned a lap down.  

    Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Bell pitted for a first round of service. Following the pit stops, Bell, who bumped and sent Erik Jones sideways as Jones was trying to enter his pit stall while Bell was exiting his, retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Hamlin and 19 while Logano, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Buescher, Chastain, Reddick and Byron followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Wallace lost six spots as he exited pit road in 11th place while Ty Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell were the only two competitors to pit for option tires instead of prime tires.

    The second stage period started on Lap 80 as teammates Bell and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Bell and Hamlin dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to duel for the following lap while Logano and Truex battled in close-quarters racing for third place. Despite Hamlin’s efforts to emerge ahead from the outside lane, Bell, who continued to run strong with slight damage to his front nose following his pit road contact with Erik Jones, fought back from the inside lane and refused to lift off the throttle as Truex and Logano continued to duel for third place in front of Austin Dillon and Elliott. Meanwhile, Suarez, racing on option tires, was up to eighth place after he restarted 16th as Hamlin just managed to clear Bell and have both lanes to his control with the lead by Lap 85.

    Just past the Lap 90 mark, Suarez continued his fast march to the front as he overtook Bell for the runner-up spot on his option tires. He then started to close in on Hamlin for the lead before he used the outside lane to overtake Hamlin and move his No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead on Lap 93. Suarez would proceed to lead by more than two seconds over Hamlin at the Lap 100 mark while Bell, Logano, Truex, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Larson and Buescher were scored in the top 10 ahead of Reddick, McDowell, Wallace, Blaney and Byron. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in 16th place as he was ahead of Gibbs, Berry, Hocevar and Cindric on the track.

    By Lap 115, Suarez, who started to reduce his fast race pace to preserve his option tires, retained the lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell while Hamlin, Logano and Truex trailed in the top five ahead of Elliott, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Chastain and Larson.

    Five laps later, select names including Chase Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Bell, Cindric, Daniel Hemric and rookie Zane Smith pitted under green before Suarez surrendered the lead to pit for prime tires by Lap 123. Truex and McDowell also pitted with Suarez as Hamlin cycled into the lead. Then as more names including Logano, Chastain, Wallace, Berry, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Buescher pitted under green during the proceeding laps, Buescher reversed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse back into his pit stall to have a left-front tire tightened as Elliott led by the Lap 125 mark.

    Once Elliott pitted his No. 9 Coca-Cola Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green by Lap 128, teammate Larson cycled his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead as he was one of eight competitors who had not yet pitted under green while Bell, the first competitor who pitted, was in ninth place. More names including Byron, Kyle Busch and Blaney would pitted just past the Lap 130 mark while Larson continued to lead.

    On Lap 144, Bell cycled into the lead as runner-up Larson, who has yet to pit, continued to run on the track ahead of Suarez and Reddick, the latter of whom has also yet to pit. Behind, Truex, Hamlin and Logano were running fifth to seventh, respectively, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had yet to pit, was in eighth place ahead of Chastain, McDowell, Wallace, Berry, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Elliott.

    By Lap 149, Reddick pitted his No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE from the top three before Larson, who was aiming for a one-stop pit strategy for the second stage period and was coming off a Knoxville National victory, pitted a lap later. During the pit stops, where Nemechek and Stenhouse also pitted, Bell stretched his advantage to two seconds over Suarez while Truex, Hamlin and Logano were scored in the top five.

    By Lap 160, Bell stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Suarez as they were followed by Truex, Hamlin and Logano while Chastain, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Wallace and Elliott were racing in the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Gilliland, Berry, Preece and Blaney. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in 23rd place, two spots behind Reddick, while Buescher was mired in 26th place ahead of Stenhouse and Keselowski. In addition, Kyle Busch was mired in 22nd place, Byron was in 16th place and Keselowski was scored a lap down in 28th place after he pitted for option tires.

     A few laps later, select names including Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Cindric and Harrison Burton pitted under green before Berry, who was running in 13th place, pitted his No. 4 P&G Supports Our Military Ford Mustang Dark Horse by Lap 166. Zane Smith, Gilliland and Gragson pitted not long after as Bell retained the lead by nine-tenths of a second by Lap 170.

    A lap after the Lap 170 mark, a series of front-runners, including Truex, Suarez, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Wallace, Buescher and Hocevar, pitted before Hamlin, Chastain, Logano, Blaney, Gibbs and the leader Bell pitted within the Lap 175 mark. Amid the pit stops, Truex, who pitted for prime tires, endured a slow pit service due to his pit crew having issues tightening the left-rear tire of Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE as the jack dropped.

    Teammates Byron, Bowman and Elliott pit under green nearing the Lap 180 mark as Reddick cycled into the lead ahead of Larson, Suarez, Kyle Busch and Bell. With Kyle Busch pitting for option tires from the top five a few laps later, Reddick retained the lead by Lap 185 before he was overtaken by Suarez for the top spot.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Suarez was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell while Reddick, Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, McDowell and Wallace were racing in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Chastain, Hocevar, Keselowski, Berry, Byron, Elliott, Blaney, Ryan Preece, Gibbs and Kyle Busch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. With 21st-place Busch attempting to gain spots while on the option tires after he un-lapped himself and trying to rally from his slow pit stop earlier, notables, including Buescher, Alex Bowman and Cindric were scored a lap down.

    Fifteen laps later, Suarez continued to lead by more than a second over Bell as Hamlin, Reddick and Logano followed suit in the top five. With Austin Dillon, McDowell, Wallace, Larson and Truex hovering in the top 10 on the track ahead of Hocevar, Chastain, Stenhouse, Byron and Elliott, Suarez retained the lead by a second on Lap 220.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 230, Suarez, coming off a one-year contract extension with Trackhouse Racing, captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Bell settled in second ahead of Hamlin, Logano and Austin Dillon as McDowell, Reddick, Wallace, Hocevar and Elliott were scored in the top 10, with Elliott making contact with Truex to claim the final stage spot and point. By then, 16 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap while 16th-place Berry managed to fend off Kyle Busch to emerge as the first competitor who was scored a lap down and received the free pass.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Suarez returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and with a majority of the teams opting to pit for the option tires, Bell managed to edge Suarez off of pit road first while Hamlin, Logano, Austin Dillon, Reddick, McDowell, Wallace, Truex and Elliott followed suit in the top 10.

    With 160 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Bell and Suarez occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Bell, who was racing on option tires, rocketed ahead with the lead from the inside lane while teammate Hamlin followed suit along with Logano, Reddick, Suarez and Dillon.

    Suarez started to lose pace from the majority of the field with his standard tires, where he was placed in a tight four-wide action in the backstretch and dropped out of the top-10 category, Reddick and Dillon moved up into the top five ahead of Wallace, Chastain, Hocevar, McDowell and Truex as Bell retained the lead over teammate Hamlin with 155 laps remaining. Logano would then move his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the runner-up spot over Hamlin as Bell led with 150 laps remaining.

    Then with 150 laps remaining, Truex’s strong event started to go south as he reported a loss of power to his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE. He would then pit under green during the following lap and drop out of the lead lap category as his pit crew lifted the hood of the car and with smoke coming out. With Truex’s car then being pushed behind the wall a few laps later due to his engine issues, Bell continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second with 140 laps remaining.

    As the event reached its final 125-lap mark, Bell stretched his advantage to a second over Logano as Hamlin, Reddick and Austin Dillon were scored in the top five. Behind, Wallace was in sixth place ahead of McDowell, Blaney, Chastain and Hocevar while Byron, Elliott, Berry, Stenhouse and Larson occupied the top 15 ahead of Suarez, Cindric, Buescher, Kyle Busch and Alex Bowman.

    Three laps later, teammates Larson and Byron pitted under green before Hamlin pitted his No. 11 FedEx Rewards Toyota Camry XSE a few laps later. Logano would then pit along with Berry, Reddick, Wallace, McDowell, Dillon, Blaney, Chastain, Buescher and the leader Bell, all of whom opted to switch from option to primary tires. During the pit stops, Bell was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road along with Alex Bowman.

    As Bell served his drive-through penalty with 115 laps remaining, Elliott, who had a brief advantage, pitted as Suarez cycled into the lead. Bell, who was pinned back in 15th place following his speeding penalty, would un-lap himself with 112 laps remaining as Suarez had a three-second advantage over Hamlin during the proceeding laps. Suarez would then pit from the lead under green with 107 laps remaining as Hamlin cycled into the lead. By then, Preece and Gibbs pitted their respective entries while Logano, Reddick, Austin Dillon and Wallace moved up into the top five.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by half a second over Logano followed by Austin Dillon, Reddick and Wallace while Chastain, Byron, McDowell, Larson and Berry were scored in the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Stenhouse, Bell, Blaney, Elliott and Kyle Busch, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. Meanwhile, Suarez was the first competitor scored a lap down in 17th place following his green flag pit service.

    Fifteen laps later, Hamlin slightly stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over a side-by-side battle between Logano and Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot, with the former managing to retain the spot from the outside lane. Behind, 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace trailed in the top five as Chastain, Byron, McDowell, Larson and Berry continued to run in the top 10. With Suarez back on the lead lap in 16th place, Busch was mired back in 26th place and off the lead lap category after pitting under green earlier.

    Another 10 laps later, Hamlin’s lead extended to a second as Logano continued to fend off Austin Dillon for the runner-up spot. A few laps later, however, Dillon overtook Logano for the runner-up spot and he would proceed to shave off Hamlin’s advantage with a fast No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 70 laps remaining, where he trailed by two-tenths of a second and even got close to Hamlin’s rear bumper. By then, however, Logano pitted under green along with McDowell, Larson, Briscoe and Preece.

    As Chastain and Byron pitted under green with 67 laps remaining, the leader Hamlin pitted along with Reddick, Wallace, Berry, Buescher, Keselowski, Harrison Burton and Elliott before Austin Dillon, who inherited a brief lead, pitted during the following lap. Amid the pit stops, Bell was leading with less than 60 laps remaining.

    With 54 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Hamlin and Austin Dillon rocketed past Suarez, who has yet to pit, on the track, with Bell having pitted under green earlier. Dillon would proceed to keep Hamlin close within his sights as he trailed the lead by less than half a second with less than 50 laps remaining while Logano, Suarez, Reddick and Wallace followed suit in the top six. By then, 14 competitors were scored on the lead lap while Bell was mired a lap down in 15th place. Soon after, Blaney, who was running near the top five, pitted for option tires with 45 laps remaining while Suarez pitted five laps later.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Hamlin maintained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Austin Dillon while Logano, Reddick and Wallace continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Chastain, Larson, McDowell, Berry and Byron were in the top 10 as Hocevar, Bell, Elliott and Stenhouse rounded out the 14-car field of those scored on the lead lap while Suarez and Blaney were the first two competitors pinned a lap down.

    Over the next five laps, Austin Dillon pressured Hamlin for the lead through every corner, where he made contact with the latter for the top spot. Hamlin, however, managed to retain the top spot by a narrow margin with 30 laps remaining. Then a lap after Suarez zipped by Hamlin to un-lap himself on his tires, Dillon dueled with Hamlin for a full circuit with 29 laps remaining before he cleared Hamlin through the frontstretch and had control with the top spot during the following lap.

    With 20 laps remaining, Austin Dillon extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Hamlin as Logano, Reddick and Wallace remained in the top five ahead of Chastain, Suarez, Larson, Hocevar and McDowell, with Suarez clocking in fast lap times on his option tires while the majority of the front-runners were running on primary tires. Suarez would navigate his way up to sixth place and trail the lead by 11 seconds while Dillon, who was mired in lapped traffic, continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Hamlin with 15 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Austin Dillon continued to lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Hamlin as they were followed by Logano, Reddick and Wallace while sixth-place Suarez still trailed the lead by eight seconds.

    Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime when Stenhouse and Preece made contact entering the first turn sending Preece spinning while Stenhouse hit the outside wall towards the first two turns. The incident, which occurred in front of Austin Dillon, erased Dillon’s steady advantage of three seconds over Hamlin.

    During the caution period, the leaders led by Austin Dillon pitted for their final set of option tires. Following the pit stops, Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops pit crew executed a stellar pit service that allowed Dillon to exit pit road first as Logano, Hamlin, Reddick, Wallace, Suarez, Chastain, Blaney, Larson and Bell followed suit in the top 10.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Logano gaining the advantage from the outside lane while Austin Dillon appeared to struggle to launch from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the first two turns, Logano managed to muscle ahead and clear Dillon to have both the lead and both lanes under his control through the backstretch

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader ahead of Austin Dillon as Hamlin, Reddick and Wallace followed suit. Through the first two turns and the backstretch, Dillon could not gain any ground on Logano. T

    hen through Turns 3 and 4, Dillon stood on the gas and ran into the rear of Logano, which sent Logano spinning towards the outside wall as Dillon also went up the track. With Hamlin then trying to overtake both approaching the frontstretch, Dillon veered dead left into Hamlin’s right-rear corner and sent Hamlin hard against the outside wall, which left Hamlin with a crumbled right-rear tire as his wheel hub broke. This allowed Dillon to move back into the lead as he claimed the checkered flag with the victory just as the caution flew.

    With the victory, Dillon, who recorded the 102nd career win for the number 3, tied Chris Buescher, Ward Burton, Dan Gurney, Alan Kulwicki, Tiny Lund, Dave Marcis, Jeremy Mayfield and Ralph Moody for 78th place on the all-time Cup Series wins list with five victories apiece. Dillon also snapped a 68-race winless drought that dates back to August 2022 at Daytona International Speedway as he also claimed his first short-track career victory and placed a Richard Childress Racing entry into Victory Lane in NASCAR’s premier series since teammate Kyle Busch made the last accomplishment at World Wide Technology Raceway in June 2023.

    The Richmond victory made Dillon the 13th competitor overall to clinch a spot into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning throughout this year’s regular-season stretch as Dillon will make his sixth career appearance in NASCAR’s postseason battle for the championship.

    “It’s been two years and this is the first car I’ve had with a shot to win,” Dillon, who was emotional but defended his move, said on USA Network. “I felt like with two [laps] to go, we were the fastest car, obviously had to have a straightaway and Ricky [Stenhouse Jr.] wrecked [Preece]. I hate to do that [on Logano], but sometimes, you just got to [make it] happen. It’s been tough over the last two years, man. It means a lot. I hate it, but I had to do it. [I was willing to do] Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. We just never give up. I can’t thank all the people that helped this team. You just got to get it done sometimes.”

    While Dillon celebrated with his pit crew and family on the frontstretch, Logano, who ended up in 19th place in the final running order, was left fuming over Dillon’s move that resulted in both him and Denny Hamlin with wrecked race cars. Amid his frustration over NASCAR’s decision to not penalize Dillon while also not mincing his words during his post-race comments, he hinted a little clue of a potential payback in the coming weeks to Dillon as the 2024 Playoffs looms.

    “It was chicken [expletive]. There’s no doubt about it,” Logano said. “[Dillon]’s four car lengths back. Not even close. Then he wrecks [Hamlin] and go along with it. Then, he’s gonna go up there and thank God and praise everything with his baby. It’s a bunch of BS. It’s not even freakin’ close. I get it, bump and run. I didn’t back up the corner at all. He came in there and drove through me. It’s ridiculous that that’s the way we race. Unbelievable. I get bump and runs. I do that. I would expect it, but from four car lengths back, he was never gonna make the corner and then, he wrecks the other car, [Hamlin] to go with it. What a piece of crap.”

    Meanwhile, Hamlin, who was credited with the runner-up result at the moment of caution despite wrecking on the frontstretch, was left the most flabbergasted over the incident and even appeared to criticize NASCAR’s lack of action to penalize competitors for wrecking one another for victories while also both criticizing and recognizing the situation Dillon was in to make the move and get into the Playoffs from a driver’s perspective.

    “It’s obviously foul, but it’s fair in NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “It’s just a different league where there is no penalties for rough driving or anything like that. It opens up the opportunity for Austin [Dillon] to be able to just do whatever he wants. The problem I had was that I got hooked in the right rear again. I’m just minding my own business and he turned left and hooked me in the right rear and blew my damn shoulder out. I don’t know. The record book won’t care about what happened. He’s gonna be credited with the win, but obviously, he’s just not gonna go far. You got to pay your dues back on stuff like that, but it’s worth it because they jump 20 positions in points. So I understand all that. There’s no ill will there. I get it. I just hate that I was part of it. It would’ve been fun if I was not one of the two guys that got taken out on the last corner, but I understand it. Doesn’t mean I have to agree about it and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

    Following the event, Elton Sawyer, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition, noted that the sanctioning body would review the final lap incident along with every audio and resource that played key roles in the incident, with any potential penalties to be announced this upcoming Tuesday.

    Hamlin’s 23XI Racing competitors, Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, came home in third and fourth while Ross Chastain navigated his way through to fifth place.

    Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, rookie Carson Hocevar, Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 26 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 23 laps. In addition, 19 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 23rd event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by five points over Tyler Reddick, six over teammate Chase Elliott and 21 over Denny Hamlin.

    Results.

    1. Austin Dillon, 35 laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin, 124 laps led

    3. Tyler Reddick, eight laps led

    4. Bubba Wallace

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Christopher Bell, 122 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Kyle Larson, 17 laps led

    8. Carson Hocevar, two laps led

    9. Chase Elliott, five laps led

    10. Daniel Suarez, 93 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    11. Ryan Blaney

    12. Kyle Busch

    13. William Byron

    14. Josh Berry

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Brad Keselowski

    17. Todd Gilliland

    18. Chris Buescher

    19. Joey Logano, two laps led

    20. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    21. Chase Briscoe, one lap down

    22. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    23. Zane Smith, one lap down

    24. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    25. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    27. Justin Haley, two laps down

    28. Alex Bowman, two laps down

    29. Erik Jones, two laps down

    30. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

    31. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

    32. Harrison Burton, three laps down

    33. Riley Herbst, three laps down

    34. Corey LaJoie, four laps down

    35. Parker Retzlaff, six laps down

    36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    37. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, August 18, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • 23XI Racing’s Reddick, Wallace left with mixed emotions, miffed at Austin Dillon amid top-five runs at Richmond

    23XI Racing’s Reddick, Wallace left with mixed emotions, miffed at Austin Dillon amid top-five runs at Richmond

    For 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace, the sight of Austin Dillon igniting a controversial, final-lap chaos that included wrecking their team owner Denny Hamlin and leapfrogging his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the Cook Out 400 left both with mixed feelings despite both emerging with stellar top-five results.

    For Reddick, who started in 10th place, he led eight of 408 over-scheduled laps in an event mired with various tire and pit strategies. Using pit strategy to remain in contention within the top-five and 10 marks while fighting the balance and adjustments of his No. 45 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE, the Corning, California, native was running in fourth place with two laps remaining when the event was sent into overtime following a two-car incident involving Ryan Preece and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. with two laps remaining.

    Restarting in fourth place for the overtime shootout, Reddick retained the spot during the overtime shootout and navigated his way past a spinning Joey Logano and a wrecking Denny Hamlin through the frontstretch to initially finish in second place behind Austin Dillon, who wrecked the latter two to win the race. Ultimately, Reddick would end up in third place in the final running order after Hamlin was awarded the runner-up spot for maintaining race pace despite wrecking on the frontstretch.

    Reddick’s third-place result marked his fourth top-three finish over the last five races and his 10th top-five result through 23 scheduled events. He is currently guaranteed a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at Talladega Superspeedway in April. He is also trailing Kyle Larson by five points for the lead in the regular-season standings with three regular-season events remaining on the calendar.

    Despite being dealt with handling issues throughout the event, Reddick took away the positives from his top-three result at Richmond as he continues to set his sights towards achieving his first Cup Series championship.

    “I feel like a year ago when we were here [at Richmond], we were really, really strong,” Reddick said on USA Network. “We had pace capable of winning the race. The handling was there and tonight, our handling wasn’t really great. We fought through it. We stayed in the mix. [Crew chief] Billy Scott, everybody on this No. 45 team did a great job on strategy. Overall, it was a good night for 23XI [Racing]. Wild way to end the night.”

    Like Reddick, Wallace and his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE team executed for a second consecutive race by gaining valuable points to remain in Playoff contention.

    The Mobile, Alabama, native rolled off the starting grid in eighth place and gained six stage points by finishing fifth after the first stage period. Despite dropping to 11th place amid a slow pit service during the stage break, Wallace bounced back amid various pit and tire strategies that ensued throughout the second stage period to settle in eighth place and gain three additional stage points.

    Throughout the final stage period, Wallace raced in the top 10 and eventually worked his way into the top five, where he was running in fifth place during the event’s regulation before the event was sent into overtime. Retaining and restarting in fifth place for the overtime shootout, Wallace dodged the final lap carnage involving Logano and Hamlin to initially cross the finish line in third place before he was shuffled back to fourth.

    With the result, Wallace, who finished fifth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the previous Cup-scheduled event in July, notched his fifth top-five result and his ninth top-10 result of the 2024 Cup Series season.

    The good news for Wallace was that the fourth-place result allowed the Alabama native to boost back above the top-16 cutline after he initially came into Richmond seven points below the cutline. The bad news, however, was that Austin Dillon’s victory that leaped Dillon from below the top-30 cutline in the regular-season standings and now has him automatically locked into the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs places Wallace on the bubble as he holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by three points over both Chris Buescher and Ross Chastain.

    Despite being left frustrated with the outcome and lingering within the cutline by a mere margin, Wallace, like teammate Reddick, took away the positives gained from Richmond as he set his sights on the final three regular-season events to make his second consecutive Playoffs.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “We knew we had to work coming in here, obviously being below [the cutline],” Wallace added. “Our team did just that. We fought hard. Man, we did not have the best day on pit road. Not from a lack of effort. I appreciate [my pit crew] getting better all night. They showed up when it mattered on the last stop. Kept us in it. Just executed all night. I appreciate the effort from my team. Nice to walk away here with a top-five finish. Still got a long way to go. Just got to keep fighting.”

    Amid the positives, Reddick and Wallace, both of whom had front row seats of the final lap carnage, were not shy to express their opinions over the incident that left their team owner, Denny Hamlin, with a wrecked race car after he was turned by Dillon approaching the finish line not long after the latter bumped and sent Joey Logano for a spin, all as last lap resorts to win and secure a spot into the Playoffs.

    “Joey [Logano] stole the words right from me,” Reddick added. “That was unbelievable. Racing hard for the win is one thing. Just plainly right hooking somebody is another. I know that sounds pretty biased coming from me about my boss, but if I was in his spot, I’d be pretty upset about it too. [NASCAR] put so much emphasis on winning races, people are gonna lose their minds and just do ridiculous stuff. That was pretty crazy.”

    “Man, I guess you can dump somebody and right rear somebody and be OK,” Wallace, who quickly reversed his congratulations to Dillon, added. “That’s funny how that works. In [the Playoff cutline] by three, got beat by the 3 [Austin Dillon] over a chicken [expletive] move.”

    The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season for 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace continues next Sunday, August 18, at Michigan International Speedway for the FireKeepers Casino 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Christian Eckes claims 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Championship

    Christian Eckes claims 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Championship

    Christian Eckes capped off the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular-season stretch by officially capturing his first regular-season championship with a runner-up finish in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, August 10.

    The 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion from Greenville, New York, came into the regular-season finale at Richmond with a 50-point advantage over Corey Heim in the standings. He commenced the weekend on a strong note by notching his third Truck Series pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 118.655 mph in 22.755 seconds.

    Eckes led the first 12 laps of the main event before he was overtaken by Ty Majeski for the lead. Despite restarting in fourth place during the event’s first caution period on Lap 56 and amid early pit and tire strategies, Eckes used his four fresh tires to quickly bolt his way back to the lead. Once in clear air, Eckes proceeded to capture the first stage victory on Lap 70, which also marked his eighth stage victory of the 2024 campaign. With the stage victory, Eckes garnered enough points to automatically clinch the regular-season title.

    For the remainder of the event, Eckes, who retained the lead at the start of the second stage period on Lap 79 through 115, battled towards the front and kept his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST intact amid a series of on-track incidents, various shuffles within the field and late-race restarts.

    During the final restart period with eight laps remaining, Eckes attempted to make a three-wide move on eventual winner Ty Majeski and Grant Enfinger for the lead. Despite navigating his way past Enfinger in the closing laps, he lost ground to Majeski and would take the checkered flag in second place while trailing Majeski by nine-tenths of a second.

    With the runner-up spot, Eckes officially wrapped up the regular-season title by 74 points and became the eighth competitor overall to claim the championship since the Playoff’s inception in 2016. The regular-season championship was also the first for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing as Eckes also became the first Chevrolet competitor to claim the title since Johnny Sauter made the last accomplishment in 2018.

    With an additional 15 Playoff points awarded to him and his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet team, Eckes will commence the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs in second place in the Playoff standings with 2,038 points, where he only trails Corey Heim by three points entering the Playoff opener at the Milwaukee Mile two weeks from now.

    The 2024 season marks Eckes’ fourth full-time campaign in the Truck Series, second driving the No. 19 entry for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and third consecutive season making the Playoffs as the New York native strives to make the Championship 4 round and contend for the series title after missing the cutline a year ago.

    “Confidence is high, for sure,” Eckes said on FS1. “I feel like we’re in better position than we were last year and I thought we were in a pretty good position last year too, so just overall proud of the team. We didn’t have quite we needed today. I was just way too tight all race, but overall proud of everybody and just ready to get these next seven races underway.”

    To add with the confidence, Eckes, who is in his second season driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, took note of the points he garnered over the 16-race regular-season stretch highlighted with three victories, 10 top-five results and 15 top-10 results for an average-finishing result of 5.9.

    “The points are good, for sure,” Eckes added. “I’ve said it multiple times today, I missed [the Championship 4] by, I think, four points last year than six points the year before, so any kind of points you can get is definitely crucial when you get to those final rounds. Excited about that, but more excited to get this [Playoff] underway.”

    Eckes’ opponents for the 2024 Truck title include teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye, both of whom made the Playoffs based on points, as all three will square off against Corey Heim, Ty Majeski, Nick Sanchez, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger, Taylor Gray and the reigning series’ champion Ben Rhodes.

    Christian Eckes’ pursuit of the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series championship behinds on August 25 at the Milwaukee Mile for the LiUNA! 175, with the event’s broadcast time slated to commence at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Daniel Dye claims final Playoff berth over Tanner Gray with top-10 run at Richmond

    Daniel Dye claims final Playoff berth over Tanner Gray with top-10 run at Richmond

    With an eighth-place finish in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway, the final regular-season event on the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule, Daniel Dye claimed the final transfer spot into this year’s Playoffs by a mere margin over Tanner Gray and will race for his first series’ championship two weeks from now.

    Dye, a 20-year-old native from DeLand, Florida, came into the regular-season finale at Richmond trailing Gray by five points after he previously finished 29th at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in mid-July compared to Gray’s 20th-place result. Ironically, Dye’s deficit at Indianapolis occurred after the Floridian was a single point above Gray for the final transfer spot into the Playoffs after Dye finished three spots ahead of the New Mexican native at Pocono Raceway in 16th place.

    During the regular-season finale weekend at Richmond, Dye struck first by qualifying in 13th place while Gray lined up in 26th place on the starting grid. For the majority of the event, Dye was running within the top 10 and he proceeded to finish sixth in the first stage period and third in the second stage period. With his results, he garnered a total of 13 stage points while Gray collected none as he and his No. 15 Operation 300 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro team were mired outside the top 20 on the track.

    Then despite losing a bevy of spots during a pit stop amid a late-race caution period with 26 laps remaining, which allowed Gray, who was a lap down earlier, to narrow the deficit back down to a single point, Dye used four fresh tires to carve his way back to the front while Gray, whose fresh tires was beginning to wear, slid backward after he restarted within the top-12 mark.

    Following the final restart period with eight laps remaining, Dye powered his No. 43 Champion Container Chevrolet Silverado RST across the finish line in eighth place for his sixth top-10 result of the 2024 season. When all was said and done, Dye emerged with the 10th and final transfer spot into the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs as Gray could only march his way up to 12th place in the final running order, which was enough for Dye to overtake him in the standings and left Gray on the outside looking in.

    With his accomplishment, Dye, who is competing in his first season with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and notched a career-best runner-up result at Nashville Superspeedway in June that kept him within striking distance of making the Playoffs, became the first competitor to rally from a deficit to jump above the Playoff cutline during the series’ regular-season finale. He joins the 2024 Truck Series regular-season champion Christian Eckes and Tyler Ankrum as one of three McAnally-Hilgemann Racing competitors who will contend for this year’s drivers’ title. Dye also joins Rajah Caruth and Taylor Gray as newcomers to the Truck Series Playoffs.

    Amid his success at Richmond, Dye evoked his game plan on remaining focused on his own goal and garnering as many points as possible that enabled him to make the Playoffs as he enters a seven-race postseason stretch to the championship seeded in 10th place in the Playoff standings with 2,001 points and trailing points leader Corey Heim by 40 points.

    “I said earlier in the week, I really didn’t want to know what was going on with everybody else,” Dye said. “As soon as you start playing defense, you kind of get in the way of your potential. So no, after we got quite a bit of stage points to get a swell, I started thinking about it a little bit more so we maybe didn’t have to be as aggressive, but no, I asked one question the whole time. Then it’s just, when you’re behind, you’ve got to be on offense. If you’re in by 15 or 20 [points] coming into the race, maybe play a little defense, but when you’re out by five, you’ve got to go to work.”

    Amid Dye’s relief, Tanner Gray was left disappointed on pit road after having an up-and-down season, similar to Dye’s, resulting in the New Mexican being the first competitor that was scored outside of the Playoff cutline. For this season, Gray joins teammate Dean Thompson as the only two full-time TRICON Garage competitors who will not contend for this year’s title while Gray’s younger brother, Taylor, and Corey Heim will after the latter two made the Playoffs.

    Gray, the 2018 NHRA Pro Stock champion who is campaigning in his fifth full-time season in the Truck Series, took note of the inconsistent results he garnered throughout this season along with the on-track issues at Richmond that resulted in him missing his first opportunity to make his first series’ Playoffs.

    “We just weren’t good enough all day,” Tanner Gray said. “We just didn’t have the speed, didn’t have the balance and I didn’t do a good enough job. Really frustrated. When you come into a race where you’re on the cut like this, you just got to be better. We weren’t tonight. Congrats to Daniel [Dye]. They were better and they were better coming down the stretch when it mattered. We just made too many mistakes overall throughout the season. Just too sloppy, so we got to clean it up and I got to clean up a lot of things on my end.”

    Daniel Dye’s 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff run commences at The Milwaukee Mile for the LiUNA! 175 on August 25, with the event’s broadcast time to commence at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Majeski rallies to win regular-season finale at Richmond for second consecutive Truck victory of 2024

    Majeski rallies to win regular-season finale at Richmond for second consecutive Truck victory of 2024

    Three weeks after breaking through with his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory of the 2024 season at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Ty Majeski capped off the regular-season stretch by doubling down with a second consecutive victory in recent weeks in the Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, August 10.

    The 29-year-old Majeski from Seymour, Wisconsin, led three times for 70 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside pole-sitter Christian Eckes on the front row and rallied from having brief issues launching at the start to assume the lead for the first time on Lap 13. Then after opting to remain on track on old tires during the event’s first caution period on Lap 51, Majeski endured a handful of challenges that hindered his performance that began as he struggled to keep pace on his worn tires during the following restart on Lap 63 and lost a bevy of spots. Just as he pitted for fresh tires during the first stage break period, he was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    Restarting at the tail end of the field for the start of the second stage period, Majeski would spend a majority of the event methodically charging his way back to the front as the event endured a series of caution periods and pit strategies amongst the field. Having marched his way back into the top 10 within the closing stages, Majeski used fresh tires and capitalized on a late-race skirmish involving Grant Enfinger and William Sawalich to return atop the leaderboard during a late-race restart with 20 laps remaining. Amid an additional caution period and late-race restart with eight laps remaining, Majeski fended off Enfinger amid contact to remain out in front of the field and cruise to his second consecutive Truck Series victory of the 2024 season while also entering the Playoffs with early momentum.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Christian Eckes secured the pole position with a pole-winning lap at 118.655 mph in 22.755 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Majeski as he clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 118.033 mph in 22.875 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Christian Eckes rocketed his No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST ahead with the lead from the inside lane. In the process, Grant Enfinger followed suit in second while Ty Majeski, who struggled to launch from the outside lane, was trying to retain third place from William Sawalich. Amid the early jostles of spots around the track, where a three-wide action occurred between Sawalich, Layne Riggs and Taylor Gray for fourth place through the backstretch, Eckes proceeded to lead the first lap from Enfinger as Majeski, Taylor Gray, Riggs and Sawalich followed suit in the top six.

    During the second lap, Majeski, who regained pace amid his rocky start, navigated his way past Enfinger for the runner-up spot as Taylor Gray was trying to fend off Layne Riggs, William Sawalich, Nick Sanchez and Ben Rhodes for fourth place. While Gray continued to occupy his spot as both Majeski and Enfinger railed in second and third, respectively, Eckes retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second by the fifth lap mark.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Eckes was leading by three-tenths of a second over Majeski followed by Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs while Rhodes, Sawalich, Corey Heim, Nick Sanchez and Daniel Dye were scored in the top 10 on the track. Behind, Kaden Honeycutt occupied 11th place ahead of teammate Bayley Currey, Tyler Ankrum, Jake Garcia and Stewart Friesen while Rajah Caruth, Ty Dillon, Matt Crafton, newcomer Connor Hall and Connor Zilisch trailed in the top 20 ahead of Matt Mills, Timmy Hill, Dean Thompson, Lawless Alan, Tanner Gray and Chase Purdy.

    A few laps later, Majeski dueled with Eckes in a side-by-side battle for the lead and the former would continue to battle Eckes before he pulled his No. 98 Soda Sense Ford F-150 ahead from the outside lane on Lap 13. By Lap 17, Majeski stretched his advantage to a second over Eckes and he would stabilize his advantage to a second while third-place Enfinger trailed Eckes by four-tenths of a second. Behind, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in the top five.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Majeski retained the lead by more than a second over Eckes while Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs continued to trail in the top five on the track. Rhodes, Heim, Sawalich, Dye and Sanchez followed suit in the top 10 as Honeycutt, Currey, Ankrum, Friesen and Crafton followed suit in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Majeski, who was starting to lap the competitors running towards the bottom of the leaderboard, stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over Eckes as Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Taylor Gray, Rhodes and Dye, all three of whom were currently scored inside the top-10 cutline in their efforts to make the 2024 Playoffs, were running in the top nine on the track while Friesen and Crafton, both of whom came into Richmond trailing the cutline by 16 and 43 points, respectively, were mired within the top 15. In addition, Tanner Gray, who came into the event five points above the cutline with the final transfer spot, was scored nine points below the cutline as he was mired in 23rd place in front of teammate Dean Thompson.

    By Lap 50, Majeski lost a second to his advantage, but he was still leading by more than two seconds over Eckes as top-five competitors Taylor Gray, Enfinger and Riggs trailed the lead by four seconds. Five laps later, Taylor Gray would overtake Eckes for the runner-up spot. By then, Taylor’s older brother, Tanner, was lapped by Majeski as he was mired in 22nd place.

    Six laps later, the event’s first caution period flew when Matt Mills lost a right-front tire and went dead straight into the Turn 4 outside wall from 15th place. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by runner-up Taylor Gray pitted for four fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by the leader Majeski and including Ankrum and Connor Zilisch remained on the track.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 63, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch as Eckes used the outside lane and four fresh tires to blast by Ankrum through the first two turns before he then quickly dispatched Majeski for the lead through the backstretch. By the following lap and amid a series of on-track shuffles, Eckes was leading ahead of Taylor Gray and Enfinger while Majeski plummeted to seventh place on his old tires as Rhodes, Riggs and Dye all overtook him. Majeski would then drop to 18th place just past the Lap 65 mark as Ankrum and Zilisch also plummeted in the leaderboard on their old tires while Eckes retained the lead by less than half a second over Taylor Gray.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 70, Eckes captured his eighth Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Taylor Gray settled in second ahead of Enfinger, Rhodes and Riggs while Dye, Matt Crafton, Heim, Sanchez and Rajah Caruth were scored in the top 10.

    Amid the battles towards the front, Tanner Gray, who restarted in 22nd place and was trying to emerge as the first competitor a lap down at the first stage’s conclusion, had dropped to 28th place and was the seventh competitor scored a lap down as 22nd-place competitor Bret Holmes received the free pass. As a result, he was left with a 22-point disadvantage to Dye in the battle for the cutline. Meanwhile, Eckes’ first stage victory was enough for him to clinch the regular-season championship while runner-up Taylor Gray garnered enough stage points to clinch his spot into the Playoffs based on points.

    Under the first stage break, some led by Majeski and including Zilisch and Ankrum pitted while the rest led by Eckes remained on the track. During the pit stops, Majeski was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation and was sent to the rear of the field before the second stage’s start.

    The second stage period started on Lap 79 as Eckes and Taylor Gray occupied the front row. At the start, Eckes muscled away from the field and the inside lane to retain the lead while Gray and Enfinger battled for the runner-up spot in front of Riggs, Rhodes, Dye and Heim. Amid a series of battles around the track, Heim overtook Dye for sixth place and Crafton trailed in eighth place. In the process, Eckes’ advantage stabilized to more than half a second over Enfinger while third-place Taylor Gray trailed by a second as he was ahead of Riggs and Rhodes. With Friesen mired in 13th place, Purdy and Tanner Gray were back in 26th and 27th, respectively.

    By Lap 90, Eckes was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Enfinger as Taylor Gray, Riggs and Rhodes trailed by four seconds in the top five. Heim, Dye, Crafton, Ty Dillon and Sanchez would follow suit in the top 10 as Conner Jones, Zilisch, Ankrum, Caruth and Honeycutt were mired in the top 15. Meanwhile, Majeski was trying to rally his way into the top 20 amid his tire violation while Friesen and Tanner Gray were running 16th and 24th, respectively.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Eckes’ advantage decreased to three-tenths of a second over Enfinger while Taylor Gray, Riggs and Rhodes continued to run in the top five ahead of Heim, Dye, Ty Dillon, Crafton and Conner Jones. Over the next five laps, Eckes, who was slowly catching lapped traffic, kept leading by above half a second over Enfinger as Taylor Gray kept the two leaders close within his front windshield.

    Then on Lap 115, Enfinger overtook Eckes and moved his No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead through the frontstretch. Enfinger continued to lead by three-tenths of a second by the following lap as Taylor Gray, who tracked the two leaders, passed Eckes for the runner-up spot during the ensuing lap. As Enfinger retained the lead by three-tenths of a second towards the Lap 120 mark, Riggs and Rhodes followed suit in the top five while Ankrum was up to sixth place ahead of Heim, Dye, Ty Dillon and Zilisch.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Enfinger continued to lead by a narrow margin over Taylor Gray before Gray used a bold move beneath Enfinger, who was trapped behind Jake Garcia, entering Turn 1 to grab the lead. Gray stretched his advantage to half a second on the following lap as Eckes trailed by a second in third place while Riggs and Ankrum were in the top five.

    Then on Lap 127, the caution flew when Matt Crafton, who was running in the top 15, spun in Turn 4 after he slipped underneath Kaden Honeycutt, where Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Ford F-150 spun from the middle to the bottom of the track and made light contact with the inside wall as Crafton continued. During the caution period, a majority of the lead lap field led by Taylor Gray pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Dillon, who pitted during the first stage’s break period, remained on the track. Friesen and Currey would also remain on the track while Enfinger beat Taylor Gray off of pit road first as he lined up in fourth place on the track.

    The start of the following restart period on Lap 135 featured the field getting jumbled up and fanning out through the frontstretch as Friesen jumped ahead with a brief advantage over Dillon on the inside lane. With the field fanning out to four lanes, Enfinger used the four fresh tires to bolt his way to the front from the outside lane as he carved his way back into the lead just past the first two turns.

    Eckes followed suit along with Dye, Riggs, Heim and others while Friesen, Dillon and Currey plummeted down the leaderboard on their old tires. Amid the scrambling for spots, Enfinger stretched his advantage to more than half a second with the second stage’s conclusion approaching.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 140, Enfinger, who clinched his spot into the Playoffs based on points, claimed his first Truck stage victory of the 2024 season. Eckes followed suit in second along with teammate Dye, Riggs and Heim while Rhodes, Caruth, Ankrum, Taylor Gray and Conner Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, Dye had a 28-point advantage over 23rd-place Tanner Gray for the final transfer spot into the Playoffs, though Gray was awarded the free pass for being the first competitor scored a lap down, while Friesen, Crafton, Riggs, Purdy, Dean Thompson and Jake Garcia all trailed the cutline by 39+ points.

    During the stage break, some including Friesen, Currey, Jake Garcia, Kaden Honeycutt, Nick Sanchez, Tanner Gray, Ty Dillon, Crafton and Stefan Parsons pitted while the rest led by Enfinger remained on the track.

    With 101 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Enfinger and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, Enfinger and Eckes dueled for the lead in front of Riggs while Heim made contact with Dye while trying to force his way beneath him and have a shot at a top five. Shortly after, the caution quickly returned for a multi-truck wreck that erupted between Turns 3 and 4 when Purdy bumped and sent Ty Dillon running into the rear of Dean Thompson, which resulted in Thompson spinning up the track and in front of oncoming traffic as Sawalich, Stefan Parsons, Keith McGee, rookie Thad Moffitt, Bayley Currey, Mason Massey and Crafton all sustained damage to their respective entries.

    As the event restarted under green with 85 laps remaining, Enfinger rocketed away with the lead as the field fanned out approaching the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Enfinger led Rhodes, who navigated past Eckes for the spot, as Ankurm and Riggs battled for fourth place in front of Heim and Caruth. The caution, however, returned for the following lap after Lawless Alan spun in Turn 3 amid contact with Crafton and Bayley Currey.

    Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted under green with 73 laps remaining. At the start, Enfinger and Rhodes dueled for the lead as Ankrum, Heim and Caruth all made three-wide moves of their own approaching the first turn. Enfinger would then clear Rhodes and muscle ahead to retain the lead as Eckes would navigate his way into the runner-up spot over Rhodes during the following lap. Amid the late-race battles, Enfinger retained the lead by half a second over Eckes, Rhodes, Riggs and Ankrum while Majeski was up to seventh place behind Heim. The caution, however, would return with 69 laps remaining due to Conner Jones falling off the pace and nearly coming to a stop just past the frontstretch as the Virginia native missed the pit road entrance. During the caution period, some including Heim, Caruth, Sawalich, Purdy, Sanchez and Tanner Gray pitted for fresh tires while the rest led by Enfinger remained on the track.

    With the event restarting under green with 63 laps remaining, Enfinger fended off Rhodes to retain the lead from the outside lane as Heim used the four fresh tires to storm his way back to the front while running on the outside lane. With Tanner Gray also using his fresh tires to try to move up the leaderboard despite being mired in 16th place, Enfinger retained the lead by nearly a second over Rhodes with 60 laps remaining as Heim was making his way into the top five. Heim would then overtake Ankrum for fourth place and he would gain ground on Eckes while Majeski, Riggs, Friesen, Ty Dillon and Dye were mired in the top 10.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Enfinger was leading by less than two seconds over a hard-charging Heim while Rhodes, Eckes, Majeski, Ankrum, Riggs, Friesen, Dillon and Crafton were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dye, who slipped to 12th place, was 12 points above the cutline with the final transfer spot over Tanner Gray, who was still mired in 16th place and trying to overtake Friesen for the spot. In the process, Taylor Gray was back in 17th place while Sanchez was mired in 22nd place behind Purdy, Garcia and Stefan Parsons.

    Ten laps later, Enfinger stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over runner-up Heim while Majeski trailed the lead by four seconds as he navigated his way up to third place. With teammate Rhodes and Eckes trailing in the top five, Riggs was down in sixth place while Sawalich, Ankrum, Crafton and Caruth were in the top 10. By then, Dye was down in 13th place behind Dillon and Zilisch while Tanner Gray was in 15th place behind Friesen.

    Another eight laps later, Heim drew his truck alongside Enfinger as both dueled for the lead before Enfinger muscled ahead to retain the lead and pull away from Heim by two-tenths of a second during the following lap. Heim would then challenge Enfinger a second time for the lead with 30 laps remaining before he prevailed and had the top spot to his control for the following lap. With Heim leading Enfinger, Majeski trailed in third place by two seconds while Riggs and Sawalich were in the top five.

    Then following another caution with 26 laps remaining due to Kaden Honeycutt spinning in Turn 4 after he got hit by Stefan Parsons, the entire lead lap field led by Heim pitted for service, with most pitting for a final set of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Sawalich exited pit road first with only two fresh tires while Enfinger, Heim, Majeski and Eckes, all of whom opted for four fresh tires, exited in the top five. Amid the pit stops, Dye, who pitted from the top 10, exited pit road outside the top 20, which left him with only a one-point advantage over Tanner Gray as Gray was scored in 12th place.

    During the following restart with 20 laps remaining, Enfinger tried to bolt away from Sawalich as the field fanned out approaching the first turn. Sawalich, however, slipped up the track and made contact with Enfinger through the first two turns. This allowed Majeski to overtake both for the lead as Enfinger was left to battle Riggs for the runner-up spot in front of Eckes and Heim. As Sawalich began to drop in the leaderboard, Enfinger and Riggs continued to battle hard for the runner-up spot during the proceeding laps. Eckes would join the battle between Enfinger and Riggs while Heim was being overtaken by Ankrum, Taylor Gray, and Dillon. Behind, Dye was up to 11th place on fresh tires while Tanner Gray down to 21st place on older tires to Dye.

    With 15 laps remaining, Majeski was leading by more than a second over Enfinger and Riggs. The following lap, however, the caution returned after Holmes hit and send Zilisch into the outside wall in Turn 2, with Zilisch backing his No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Silverado RST into the wall and retiring due to the damage. During caution, few including Tanner Gray, pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.

    Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Enfinger jumped ahead from Majeski. Then while trying to clear and block Majeski, Majeski kept his foot in the gas and nearly turned Enfinger, which got Enfinger loose and stalled his momentum as Majeski, who then got hit and nearly turned by Enfinger entering Turn 3, powered back into the lead. The contact allowed Eckes to challenge Enfinger for the runner-up spot as Riggs and Taylor Gray tried to join the battle. Over the next two laps, a four-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Enfinger, Eckes, Riggs and Taylor Gray, with neither giving an inch. Meanwhile, Majeski managed to pull away and he would retain the lead by half a second over Enfinger with five laps remaining as Eckes, Taylor Gray and Riggs remained in close pursuit within the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Majeski remained the leader by nine-tenths of a second over Eckes as Enfinger, Riggs and Taylor Gray trailed closely behind. Having no competition lurking close enough to his rear bumper, Majeski cycled his Ford around Richmond smoothly for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch victorious for his second checkered flag of the 2024 Truck Series season.

    With the victory, Majeski notched his fifth career win in the Craftsman Truck Series division and his first at Richmond Raceway. The victory was also the second of the 2024 season for both ThorSport Racing and the Ford nameplate as Majeski, who qualified for his third consecutive Playoffs, will commence his pursuit for his first Truck Series championship over a seven-race Playoff stretch that begins at the Milwaukee Mile two weeks from now.

    “[The win] feels good,” Majeski said on FS1. “We’ve had great ThorSport trucks here at Richmond the last two years. Found different ways to lose’em. We tried to do it again tonight. Another mistake, we really need to clean that stuff up before Playoff time, but so proud of these guys sticking behind me. [I] Wouldn’t be able to it without [owners] Duke and Ronda Thorson. They gave me a huge opportunity a few years ago and I’m having the time of my life racing for this team. Proud of these ThorSport Racing guys. We work so hard at the shop. We’re proud to do this from Sandusky, Ohio and we’re gonna try and bring another trophy back home.”

    Behind Majeski, Christian Eckes, the 2024 Truck Series Regular Season Champion, settled in second place followed by Taylor Gray and Grant Enfinger, all of whom are among 10 competitors who have made the Playoffs. Meanwhile, rookie Layne Riggs finished in fifth place but was among several who did not make the Playoffs.

    Tyler Ankrum and Ben Rhodes finished sixth and seventh as both are in the Playoffs along with Daniel Dye, who rallied from an up-and-down season to clinch the 10th and final berth to the Playoffs by 12 points over 12th-place finisher Tanner Gray. Ty Dillon and Connor Hall finished in the top 10 on the track.

    Notably, Corey Heim, Rajah Caruth and Nick Sanchez, all of whom ended up 16th, 17th and 30th on the track, will compete in the Playoffs for this year’s championship while top names including Stewart Friesen, Chase Purdy, Ty Dillon and Matt Crafton did not make the Playoffs, with the latter having his streak of making the Playoffs for eight consecutive seasons and since the Playoff’s inception 2016 came to an end.

    There were 12 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 69 laps. In addition, 21 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ty Majeski, 70 laps led

    2. Christian Eckes, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Taylor Gray, five laps led

    4. Grant Enfinger, 98 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Layne Riggs

    6. Tyler Ankrum

    7. Ben Rhodes

    8. Daniel Dye

    9. Ty Dillon, four laps led

    10. Connor Hall

    11. Stefan Parsons

    12. Tanner Gray

    13. Jake Garcia

    14. Kaden Honeycutt

    15. Matt Crafton

    16. Corey Heim, six laps led

    17. Rajah Caruth

    18. Lawless Alan

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Chase Purdy

    21. Bret Holmes

    22. William Sawalich, one lap down, three laps led

    23. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    24. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    25. Stewart Friesen, two laps down

    26. Mason Massey, three laps down

    27. Justin Carroll, three laps down

    28. Mason Maggio, four laps down

    29. Connor Zilisch – OUT, Accident

    30. Nick Sanchez – OUT, Clutch

    31. Conner Jones – OUT, Electrical

    32. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    33. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    34. Keith McGee – OUT, Accident

    35. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    36. Jerry Bohlman – OUT, Too Slow

    The 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs is set to commence at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin, for the LiUNA! 175. The event is scheduled to occur on August 25 and air at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Hamlin wins “unexpected” Cup Series pole, his third of 2024 at Richmond

    Hamlin wins “unexpected” Cup Series pole, his third of 2024 at Richmond

    Denny Hamlin was left stunned on pit road after he rallied from a slow practice session and barely transferred into the final round of qualifying to secure his third Busch Light Pole Award of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season for Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, August 10.

    The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, was one of 10 competitors to transfer from two qualifying group rounds to the final round. During the process, Hamlin was the fifth and final competitor to transfer from the Group A qualifying round and was ranked in 11th place during the event’s lone practice session earlier on Saturday. Once in the final round, he posted his best qualifying lap at 118.162 mph in 22.850 seconds, which was enough to claim the top-starting spot over teammate Martin Truex Jr. at his home track.

    With the accomplishment, Hamlin, who notched his third Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season, secured his first top-starting spot since Nashville Superspeedway in June, his fourth at Richmond and his 43rd career pole, which keeps him in 13th place on the all-time Cup poles list and leaving him two shy of tying Hall of Famer Buck Baker for 12th place on the list. The pole award was also the sixth of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing and the eighth for the Toyota nameplate.

    In addition, Hamlin, a five-time Richmond winner, will attempt to sweep both Richmond Cup events in a season after he won at his home track in April. The last time Hamlin won the fall Richmond event was in September 2016.

    “We were the slowest car in the first round [of qualifying],” Hamlin said. “The team made great adjustments. That’s the bottom line to it. [The crew] told me if I backed up my time, we’d have a shot at [the pole]. Certainly, a great job to this whole FedEx Camry team. Certainly, unexpected given the practice and first round qualifying we had.”

    Joining Hamlin on the front row will be teammate Martin Truex Jr., a three-time Richmond winner who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 117.822 mph in 22.916 seconds as he is scheduled to make his final Cup start at Richmond on Sunday.

    Rookie Josh Berry will start in the top four for the fourth time this season after he qualified in third place. Berry will share the second row with Chase Elliott while Christopher Bell and Austin Dillon, the fastest competitor during the event’s practice session, will line up in the third row. Chris Buescher, Bubba Wallace, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick completed the top-10 starting spots while Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch, both of whom were among the remaining 27 competitors to not transfer into the final round of qualifying, will start 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Notably, William Byron, Ty Gibbs and Kyle Larson will start 13th through 15th, respectively, while Alex Bowman will start 17th. In addition, rookies Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith will line up in Row 10, Ross Chastain qualified 22nd as he will share Row 11 with teammate Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe qualified 25th and Brad Keselowski will take the green flag in 29th.

    Amid the star-studded lineup, Parker Retzlaff, an Xfinity Series regular for Jordan Anderson Racing, will round out the 37-car field in 37th place for his Cup Series debut on Sunday.

    All 37 Cup competitors entered for this weekend’s main event made the show.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Denny Hamlin, 118.162 mph, 22.850 seconds
    2. Martin Truex Jr., 117.822 mph, 22.916 seconds
    3. Josh Berry, 117.601 mph, 22.959 seconds
    4. Chase Elliott, 118.105 mph, 22.861 seconds
    5. Christopher Bell, 117.570 mph, 22.965 seconds
    6. Austin Dillon, 117.770 mph, 22.926 seconds
    7. Chris Buescher, 117.463 mph, 22.986 seconds
    8. Bubba Wallace, 117.591 mph, 22.961 seconds
    9. Joey Logano, 117.096 mph, 23.058 seconds
    10. Tyler Reddick, 117.488 mph, 22.981 seconds
    11. Ryan Blaney, 119.095 mph, 22.671 seconds
    12. Kyle Busch, 118.069 mph, 22.868 seconds
    13. William Byron, 119.090 mph, 22.672 seconds
    14. Ty Gibbs, 117.925 mph, 22.896 seconds
    15. Kyle Larson, 119.016 mph, 22.686 seconds
    16. Noah Gragson, 117.837 mph, 22.913 seconds
    17. Alex Bowman, 118.796 mph, 22.728 seconds
    18. Austin Cindric, 117.801 mph, 22.920 seconds
    19. Carson Hocevar, 118.723 mph, 22.742 seconds
    20. Zane Smith, 117.447 mph, 22.989 seconds
    21. Daniel Suarez, 118.718 mph, 22.743 seconds
    22. Ross Chastain, 116.929 mph, 23.091 seconds
    23. Todd Gilliland, 118.582 mph, 22.769 seconds
    24. Corey LaJoie, 116.893 mph, 23.098 seconds
    25. Chase Briscoe, 118.385 mph, 22.807 seconds
    26. Ryan Preece, 116.600 mph, 23.156 seconds
    27. Erik Jones, 118.214 mph, 22.840 seconds
    28. Michael McDowell, 115.731 mph, 23.330 seconds
    29. Brad Keselowski, 117.976 mph, 22.886 seconds
    30. Ty Dillon, 115.716 mph, 23.333 seconds
    31. Harrison Burton, 117.596 mph, 22.960 seconds
    32. Daniel Hemric, 115.577 mph, 23.361 seconds
    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 117.524 mph, 22.974 seconds
    34. Riley Herbst, 115.281 mph, 23.421 seconds
    35. John Hunter Nemechek, 117.402 mph, 22.998 seconds
    36. Justin Haley, 115.207 mph, 23.436 seconds
    37. Parker Retzlaff, 116, 435 mph, 23.189 seconds