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  • Chase Elliott snaps one-year winless drought by claiming a wild Cup victory at Texas

    Chase Elliott snaps one-year winless drought by claiming a wild Cup victory at Texas

    After striving to rebound on the track following a difficult 2023 season, Chase Elliott made a triumphant return to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series division for the first time in over a year after motoring his way to win the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 14, amid two overtime shootouts.

    The 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led three times for 39 of 276 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 24th but implemented an early strategic move by remaining on the track during an early cycle of green flag pit stops and leading for the first time on Lap 41. An ensuing caution on Lap 50 for an on-track incident played into the favors for Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, where they then pitted and proceeded to claim a top-10 result and a handful of stage points during the first stage period.

    Then amid a bevy of on-track chaos, caution periods and dramatic restarts, Elliott, who maneuvered his way through the chaos, was left to fend off Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain through three late-race restarts, the latter two being overtime shootouts. After Hamlin wrecked during the first restart with two laps remaining, Elliott managed to muscle ahead of Chastain during the second overtime shootout and take the white flag to start the final lap before Chastain got wrecked by William Byron, which concluded the event under caution and delivered Elliott an emotional return to the Cup Series Victory Lane for the first time both at Texas and in 42 races.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, April 13, Kyle Larson notched his third consecutive Cup pole position in recent weeks and the 250th series pole for Hendrick Motorsports after he posted a pole-winning lap at 190.369 mph in 28.366 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 190.134 mph in 28.401 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. Kaz Grala and Jimmie Johnson, who also wrecked during the practice session, also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Kyle Larson muscled ahead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the lead through the first two turns. With the field behind fanning out and jostling for early positions, Larson proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Ty Gibbs while Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe trailed in the top five. Larson would proceed to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Gibbs by the fifth lap mark. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by a second over Gibbs followed by Bell, Reddick and Briscoe while Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Martin Truex Jr. occupied 11th place ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain and rookie Carson Hocevar while Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Daniel Suarez and rookie Zane Smith were running in the top 20. 

    Ten laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to a second over Gibbs while Bell, Reddick and Briscoe continued to run in the top five ahead of Blaney, Byron, Cindric, Wallace and McDowell.  

    Just past the Lap 30 mark, Larson continued to lead by nearly a second over Gibbs as Bell, Reddick and Blaney trailed in the top five. Behind, Byron occupied sixth place ahead of Briscoe, who was running ahead of Cindric while Wallace and Hamlin were in the top 10 ahead of Bowman, McDowell, Chastain, Truex and Hocevar. 

    By Lap 35 and with the leader Larson starting to approach lapped traffic, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Hamlin, who was running 10th, pitted his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE. More names including Cindric, Wallace, McDowell, Truex, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson pitted during the proceeding lap before the leader Larson led a bevy of front runners to pit road for service by Lap 37.  

    On Lap 40 and with the cycle of green flag pit stops still occurring, Gibbs, who led the previous five laps, pitted as Chase Elliott cycled into the lead. Behind, Todd Gilliland, Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric, all of whom have yet to pit, were running second to fourth, respectively, while Larson was running fourth as he was trying to cycle his way back to the front. 

    Then on Lap 50, the event’s first caution period flew after Jimmie Johnson, who was running 36th, got sideways and spun his No. 84 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE in Turn 4. The caution occurred as Elliott, Todd Gilliland, Hill and Hemric had yet to pit. During the caution period, select names that included Elliott, Gilliland, Hill, Wallace, Blaney, Hemric, Truex, Chastain and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track. Truex would then pit for a second time to address a loose wheel along with teammate Gibbs. 

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 55, Larson muscled ahead from Bell to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Reddick, Hamlin and Briscoe trailing in the top five as Byron dropped to sixth, Larson would continue to lead just past the Lap 60 mark. 

    Nearing the Lap 75 mark, Larson was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Bell while Hamlin, Reddick and Briscoe continued to run in the top five ahead of Elliott, a hard-charging Blaney, McDowell, Byron and Wallace. By then, Truex was in 13th and Gibbs was mired in 21st ahead of Nemechek. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Bell settled in second ahead of teammate Hamlin, Reddick and Briscoe while Blaney, Elliott, McDowell, Byron and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. 

    Under the stage break, select names led by Blaney remained on the track while the rest led by Larson pitted for service, where Truex would then manage to beat Larson off of pit road following his pit service. Amid the pit stops, Gilliland was penalized for equipment interference while Zane Smith was also penalized for removing equipment from his pit stall. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 88 as Blaney and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney and Hill battled for the lead through the first two turns. Blaney would then muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead from Hill as Gibbs and Buescher followed suit in third and fourth, respectively, while Larson was scored in fifth place on four fresh tires. As Blaney led through the Lap 90 mark, Elliott occupied sixth place ahead of teammate Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin, Truex and Bell while Larson overtook Buescher and Gibbs to boost up to third place. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, the caution returned when Bell, who was running 10th, snapped sideways and backed his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE into the outside wall in Turn 4. Amid Bell’s incident, a chain reaction within the middle of the field ensued as Alex Bowman got turned before he received a hard hit by John Hunter Nemechek, thus leaving all three competitors with significant damage to their respective cars. By then, Blaney was leading by a narrow margin over a hard-charging Larson while Hamlin, Gibbs and Elliott were running in the top five. In addition, Hill, who was running towards the front, had pitted his No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry due to a steering issue, an issue that would send Hill to the garage. 

    During the caution period, nearly the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service while Gilliland remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Truex, Elliott, McDowell, Reddick and Chastain, respectively, as Blaney exited out of pit road in eighth place ahead of Byron and Wallace. Amid the pit stops, Buescher was penalized for equipment interference.  

    As the event restarted on Lap 106, the field fanned out through the first two turns, where Wallace lost a bevy of spots as he went wide through the turns following contact with Gibbs. Back at the front, Larson would overtake Gilliland to reassume the lead through the frontstretch and during the following lap. Truex and Hamlin would follow suit in second and third, respectively, while Reddick and Chastain battled for fifth. Meanwhile, Larson retained the lead by nearly a second over Truex by the Lap 110 mark. 

    Then following another caution period that started on Lap 113 after Hocevar, who was mired in 23rd, spun in Turn 1, trouble struck for the leader Larson, who lost a right-rear wheel on the track entering Turn 1. The issue cost Larson two laps for a penalty as Hamlin cycled into the lead followed by teammate Truex, Gilliland, Reddick and Chastain. 

    During the following restart period on Lap 118, the field fanned out again through the first two turns as teammates Hamlin and Truex battled for the lead. Hamlin would fend off Truex to retain the lead by the Lap 120 mark, where Larson then returned following his two-lap penalty. By Lap 121, however, the caution returned after rookie Josh Berry spun his No. 4 Miner Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 2 after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came across Berry’s nose, which got the latter loose, from 12th place. 

    With the event restarting on Lap 125, teammates Hamlin and Truex battled for the lead for a second time, with Hamlin prevailing after nearly a full lap of battle while the rest of the field behind also fanned out and jostled for positions. Behind, Ross Chastain nearly made contact with Reddick as he claimed third place followed by Gilliland while Reddick was overtaken by Gilliland, McDowell, Blaney and Elliott amid his near-contact with Chastain. Amid the battles, Hamlin retained the lead by nearly a second over teammate Truex while third-place Chastain trailed by a second in third place by Lap 130. 

    At the halfway mark in between Laps 133 and 134, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Chastain, who overtook Truex for the spot, while Front Row Motorsports’ Gilliland and McDowell trailed in fourth and fifth ahead of Blaney, Elliott, Byron, Joey Logano and Reddick. Behind, Stenhouse occupied 11th place ahead of Ryan Preece, Briscoe, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson while Austin Cindric, Zane Smith, Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski followed suit in the top 20. 

    A few laps later, the caution returned after Berry spun and wrecked against the outside wall in Turn 2 for a second time. Compared to his first incident, Berry’s latest incident was enough for the Tennessee native to steer his car to the garage and retire with a DNF. During the caution period, some led by Chastain remained on the track while the rest led by Hamlin and Truex pitted. 

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 142, Chastain and McDowell battled for the lead in front of a stacked field for nearly a full lap until the caution quickly returned after McDowell snapped sideways while running on the outside lane and backed his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse hard into the outside wall as the field scattered to avoid McDowell’s wrecked car. The caution enabled Larson to acquire one of his two lost laps in the process. 

    With 18 laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Chastain muscled his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead through the first two turns while Stenhouse and Jones battled for second in front of Wallace, Keselowski, Hocevar and Hamlin. Jones would overtake Stenhouse during the following lap as Chastain extended his advantage to more than a second, all while Wallace retained fourth in front of Hocevar, Keselowski and Hamlin. 

    By Lap 155, Chastain continued to lead by nearly a second over Jones while Wallace, Keselowski and Stenhouse trailed in the top five. Behind, Chase Briscoe, the first competitor running on four fresh tires, was mired in ninth behind Hocevar, Harrison Burton and Blaney while Hamlin was in 10th and trying to fend off teammate Ty Gibbs for the spot. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Chastain captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Wallace, who overtook Jones for the runner-up spot earlier, settled in second followed by Blaney, Erik Jones and Briscoe while Keselowski, Burton, Stenhouse, Gibbs and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while Reddick, Hamlin and Byron mired from 11th to 13th, respectively. In addition, Truex was mired back in 21st in between Logano and Daniel Suarez. 

    During the stage break, some led by Chastain pitted while the rest led by Wallace remained on the track. By then, Larson, who was the first competitor scored a lap down during the second stage’s conclusion, cycled back onto the lead lap. 

    With 95 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Wallace and Briscoe occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace and Briscoe battled for the lead through the first two turns until Harrison Burton stretched the battle to three lanes as he made his bid for the top spot. Then through Turns 3 and 4, the caution returned after Wallace got loose and slipped his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE up the track, where he slid sideways as Briscoe also got sideways in his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse and was sent for a spin as both he and Wallace dropped within the leaderboard while Burton assumed the lead ahead of Reddick, Hamlin, Elliott and Zane Smith. 

    During the following restart with 90 laps remaining, Burton rocketed ahead and retained the lead from both Hamlin and Reddick through the first two turns. Behind, Elliott fended off Zane Smith and Byron to retain fourth in front of a stacked field while Burton was trying to fend off Reddick for the lead, but Reddick prevailed with 88 laps remaining. The caution, however, returned a lap later after Blaney, who was running 15th, spun and wrecked hard against the Turn 2 outside wall amid contact with Preece. 

    As the event restarted with 83 laps remaining, Reddick and Burton battled for the lead until Reddick retained the lead in front of the field. Behind, Hamlin would then move into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott, teammate Byron and Zane Smith while Burton dropped to sixth in front of Gibbs. With numerous contenders trying to aggressively carve their way back to the front amid a stacked field, Reddick retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over owner Hamlin with 80 laps remaining. 

    With 70 laps remaining, Reddick was leading by a second-and-a-half in his NO. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE over Hamlin followed by Elliott, Byron and Smith while Gibbs, Gragson, Truex, Buescher and Stenhouse were running in the top 10 ahead of Erik Jones, Burton, Chastain, Keselowski, Preece, Logano, Austin Cindric, John Hunter Nemechek, Gilliland and Corey LaJoie. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in 23rd in front of Kyle Busch, Wallace and Briscoe, Jimmie Johnson was in 28th behind Hocevar and Austin Dillon was mired in 30th in between Daniel Suarez and Daniel Hemric. 

    Ten laps later, Reddick extended his advantage to five seconds over Hamlin while Elliott, Byron and Smith continued to run in the top five, but trail by within 11 seconds. Behind, teammates Gibbs and Truex battled for sixth place in front of Stenhouse, Noah Gragson, Chastain and Jones while Logano, Keselowski, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top 15 spots. 

    Then with approximately 55 laps remaining, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Byron pitted followed by teammate Elliott and Gragson. By then, Cindric, Justin Haley and Buescher pitted before the leader Reddick pitted with 54 laps remaining along with Hamlin, Stenhouse, Smith, Gibbs and Jones. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin overtook Reddick and exited ahead of him on pit road after the latter endured a slow pit stop towards the right-rear end. With more names including Truex and Stenhouse pitting, Chastain, whose previous pit stop occurred with 99 laps remaining, was leading. Chastain would then pit with 50 laps remaining along with Larson as Joey Logano cycled into the lead. 

    With 40 laps remaining, Logano, who last pitted with 92 laps remaining and has yet to make another pit stop to finish, continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by Preece, LaJoie and Busch while Briscoe, Suarez, Hocevar, Austin Dillon and Hemric were racing in the top 10. Behind, Reddick was running 13th ahead of Hamlin, both of whom were racing on four fresh tires, while Truex was mired towards the rear of the field after making a second pit stop under green to address a loose wheel. 

    A lap later, the caution flew after Nemechek snapped sideways while battling Cindric and backed his No. 42 Romco Toyota Camry XSE into the outside wall in Turn 4, which sent him into the garage area and out of the event. During the caution period, some led by Logano pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track as Reddick cycled back into the lead.  

    Down to the final 33 laps of the event, the field restarted under green. At the start, Reddick received a push from Elliott to briefly muscle ahead of Hamlin until Elliott made his move and overtook both to assume the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Elliott leading, Hamlin settled in second ahead of Chastain while Reddick slipped to fourth in front of a multi-car battle between Byron, Keselowski, Briscoe, Preece, Suarez and Busch. 

    With 25 laps remaining, Elliott retained the lead by nearly a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin. Two laps later, however, Hamlin battled and overtook Elliott amid a fierce battle for the lead. Another lap later and just as Hamlin muscled ahead of Elliott entering the backstretch, Reddick, who was trying to muscle his way back to the lead, slid into the outside wall towards the backstretch and dropped from third to eighth, though the event remained under green flag conditions. 

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by six-tenths of a second over Elliott while Brad Keselowski, who was slowly clocking in lap times that were faster than Hamlin and Elliott, trailed in third place by seven-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, fourth-place Chastain trailed by three seconds along with teammate Suarez while Byron, Reddick, Briscoe, Preece and Logano followed suit in the top 10.  

    Then two laps later, the caution flew after Stenhouse, who was locked into a fierce battle with Ty Gibbs, went wide through Turns 1 and 2 before he slid his No. 47 Boost by Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the outside wall and spun before coming to a stop in Turn 2. During the caution period, select names including Wallace, Jones, Bell, Gragson, Burton, Truex and Jimmie Johnson pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track. 

    Just as the event restarted under green with eight laps remaining, the caution quickly returned after Zane Smith and Larson made contact that sent Larson loose and sliding up toward the outside wall in Turn 1. At the moment of caution, Elliott managed to reassume the lead from Hamlin while Chastain, Keselowski and Byron were scored in the top five. 

    Then during the following restart with two laps remaining, the event was sent into overtime after Hamlin, who battled dead event with Elliott for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch, slipped sideways in between Turns 3 and 4 and spun as he backed his car into the outside wall. Amid the carnage, Elliott escaped with the lead while Chastain, Keselowski, Byron and Suarez were scored in the top five. 

    The start of the first overtime period did not last long as Burton and Kaz Grala wrecked in Turn 1, where Elliott fended off Chastain to retain the lead followed by Keselowski, Byron and Suarez. The start of the second overtime period generated a different outcome as Elliott and Chastain battled dead even through the first two turns and the backstretch before Elliott cleared Chastain to assume the lead and have both lanes to his control entering the frontstretch. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started amid a bevy of on-track battles, Elliott remained as the leader by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Chastain. Then in the backstretch, Byron, who charged his way up to third, turned Chastain sideways into the outside wall in the backstretch as Chastain was left spinning across the middle of the track. The incident was enough for NASCAR officials to display the caution and conclude the event under caution as Elliott, who muscled his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 away from the carnage, was able to coast his car back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag for a triumphant return to the Cup Series Victory Lane. 

    With the victory, Elliott, who became the sixth winner through the first nine events on the 2024 schedule, recorded his 19th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his first at Texas Motor Speedway and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022 as he snapped a 42-year winless drought in the process. The victory, which also snapped a one-year winless drought for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 team led by championship-winning crew chief Alan Gustafson, marks the sixth of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the fifth for Hendrick Motorsports as Elliott placed himself in a guaranteed spot of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. 

    During his victory celebration on the frontstretch, Elliott, who piloted his sponsor Hooters to the race win, took a moment to recognize the late Alan Kulwicki, who piloted his own-operated Hooters-sponsored entry to the 1992 Cup Series championship by beating Chase Elliott’s father, Bill, during the season-finale event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, by doing a Polish Victory Lap, Kulwicki’s on-track trademark victory celebration, across the frontstretch.  

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Man, [the win] couldn’t feel any better,” Elliott, who received a chorus of cheers from the grandstands, said on FS1. “[Sponsor] Hooters has been a partner of ours for a number of years now and it’s been a dream of mine to pay respect to the late Alan Kulwicki. Driving this car to victory and being able to do a Polish Victory Lap. Just really crazy how things came full circle there in that moment. It was pretty emotional for me. [Kulwicki] beat dad [Bill Elliott] back in the day and here we are sharing his sponsor and having an opportunity to win today. Just couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and the path that hasn’t always been fun, but certainly have enjoyed working with our guys. We’ve been working really hard and really well together. We’ve enjoyed the fight together.”

    Following an extensive review of the finishing order amid the final lap caution, Brad Keselowski, who is still seeking his first Cup victory since 2021 and his first as a co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, ended up in second place followed by William Byron while Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez ended up in the top five.

    Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace rallied from their on-track incident to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, while Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and rookie Carson Hocevar ended up in the top 10.

    Notably, Joey Logano ended up 11th, Ty Gibbs settled in 13th ahead of teammate Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell finished 17th, Kyle Larson came home in 21st and Jimmie Johnson finished 29th in his second Cup start of the 2024 season. In addition, Denny Hamlin settled in 30th while Ross Chastain, who was unable to limp his damaged car to the finish line, ended up 32nd with a DNF.

    There were 23 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 16 cautions for 72 laps. In total, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the ninth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 18 points over Martin Truex Jr., 29 over Denny Hamlin, 33 over Chase Elliott and 39 over William Byron. 

    Results. 

    1. Chase Elliott, 39 laps led

    2. Brad Keselowski

    3. William Byron

    4. Tyler Reddick, 37 laps led

    5. Daniel Suarez

    6. Chase Briscoe

    7. Bubba Wallace, five laps led

    8. Austin Dillon

    9. Kyle Busch

    10. Carson Hocevar

    11. Joey Logano, 14 laps led

    12. Ryan Preece

    13. Ty Gibbs, five laps led

    14. Martin Truex Jr.

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Ty Dillon

    17. Christopher Bell, one lap led

    18. Noah Gragson

    19. Erik Jones

    20. Daniel Hemric

    21. Kyle Larson, 77 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    22. Corey LaJoie

    23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    24. Justin Haley

    25. Austin Cindric

    26. Zane Smith

    27. Kaz Grala

    28. Harrison Burton, seven laps led

    29. Jimmie Johnson

    30. Denny Hamlin, 37 laps led

    31. Todd Gilliland, three laps led

    32. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident, 33 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    33. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led, 17 laps led

    34. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident 

    35. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    37. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Hill – OUT, Steering, one lap led

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 21, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Byron scores emotional Cup victory in Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary weekend at Martinsville

    Byron scores emotional Cup victory in Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary weekend at Martinsville

    In Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary weekend at a historic venue where the team achieved its first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series division, Hendrick’s three of four competitors notched a historic 1-2-3 finish as William Byron prevailed in an overtime shootout amid a late battle against teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott to win the Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday, April 7. 

    Byron commented about the significance of the victory after the race.

    “It’s awesome and it’s way bigger than me,” Byron said after the race. “There are so many men and women that this is a tribute to with all the hard work in the shop. It’s just a really good environment to work in. They have built something so special over the years, and I am thankful to be a part of it and drive the No. 24. It’s pretty special.”

    The 2024 Daytona 500 champion from Charlotte, North Carolina, led twice for a race-high 88 of 415 over-scheduled laps in an event where he along with teammates Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson each sported commemorative ruby red paint schemes to their respective entries to celebrate the anniversary weekend. Despite qualifying in 18th place, Byron methodically worked his way up the leaderboard in his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and through the field, where he would eventually race his way into the top 10 and claim a pair of eighth-place runs during the event’s first two stage periods. 

    While battling in the top five with 103 laps remaining, Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle utilized a strategic pit call as they were the first duo to pit under green before the front-runners pitted a lap later. This allowed Byron to gain momentum and competitive speed upon returning to the track as he would spend the proceeding laps overtaking teammates Elliott and Larson along with Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace on the track before he assumed the race lead from Daniel Suarez for the first time with 74 laps remaining.

    After initially leading the race with a two-second advantage over teammate Elliott, Byron’s steady drive to victory was briefly halted with three laps remaining when John Hunter Nemechek wrecked and sent the event into overtime. Amid an extensive caution period and the start of the overtime shootout, Byron, who remained on the track along with a majority of the field on their current tires, was not to be denied. He fended off a late bump and challenge from Elliott along with teammate Larson in overtime to claim his third NASCAR Cup Series triumph of the 2024 season and lead a historic 1-2-3 finish to cap off Hendrick Motorsports’ 40th anniversary weekend of its first win.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, April 6, Kyle Larson secured his second consecutive Cup pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 96.034 mph in 19.718 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Bubba Wallace, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 96.029 mph in 19.719 seconds, thus missing the pole position by 0.001 seconds. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Kyle Larson fended off Bubba Wallace on the inside lane through the first two turns to retain the lead, where he proceeded to lead the first lap in his ruby red No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while the field behind fanned out to two lanes while jostling for early spots. Larson would proceed to lead the second to fifth lap marks while Wallace retained second ahead of Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano amid the early on-track battles.  

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by half a second over Wallace followed by Elliott, Briscoe and Truex while Logano, rookie Josh Berry, Ryan Blaney, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Alex Bowman was in 11th ahead of Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland while William Byron, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece, Erik Jones, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Carson Hocevar and rookie Zane Smith trailed in the top 25. 

    Ten laps later, as Larson was approaching the rear of the field, he stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over Wallace while Elliott, Briscoe and Truex continued to run in the top five. Meanwhile, Logano, Berry, Blaney, Hamlin and Busch also continued to run in the top 10 while Byron gained three spots as he was running 13th, two spots behind teammate Bowman. 

    Another 15 laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Wallace despite being mired in lapped traffic. By then, Elliott, Briscoe and Truex remained in the top five ahead of Logano, Berry, Blaney, Hamlin and Busch while names that included Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon, Josh Williams, Michael McDowell and Harrison Burton were lapped by Larson. 

    At the Lap 50 mark, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace as Elliott, Briscoe and Truex continued to trail in the top five. Meanwhile, Byron, who had carved his way up to the top 10 earlier, was running ninth behind Logano, Berry and Hamlin, Bowman was running 11th behind Kyle Busch and Blaney had fallen to 12th.  

    Fifteen laps later, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Wallace followed by Elliott, Briscoe and Truex while Byron moved up to eighth place as he was racing behind Logano and Hamlin. Behind, Bowman retained 11th ahead of Blaney, Chastain, Keselowski and Austin Cindric while Gilliland, Tyler Reddick, Ty Gibbs, Ryan Preece and Erik Jones occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell was mired in 23rd in between Stenhouse and Hocevar, Noah Gragson was in 26th and running ahead of Chris Buescher and John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Dillon, who was racing while reunited with crew chief Justin Alexander, was down in 32nd.  

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season after leading all the scheduled laps thus far from pole position. Wallace, who challenged Larson for the first stage victory on the final lap, trailed in second place ahead of Elliott, Briscoe and Truex while Logano, Hamlin, Byron, Berry and Busch were scored in the top 10. By then, 25 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap as Buescher, Gragson, Corey LaJoie and John Hunter Nemechek were lapped. 

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Joey Logano exited pit road first with the lead after only opting for a two-tire pit stop as Larson, Wallace, Elliott, Hamlin, Gilliland, Truex, Byron, Briscoe and Bowman followed suit in the top 10, with the majority of the field pitting for four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Gilliland was penalized for taking a wedge wrench out of his pit box and onto the track while Stenhouse, who was penalized for speeding on pit road, was turned by Elliott while trying to enter his pit box. Soon after, Blaney, who nearly ran over one of his pit crew members, pitted for a second time to have a lug nut on his No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang Dark Horse tightened and for a wedge adjustment. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 93 as Logano and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Logano rocketed ahead with the lead while Wallace and Larson, who struggled to launch in the restart zone, battled for the runner-up spot, with Wallace managing to move in front of Larson during the following lap. Soon after, Hamlin pressured Larson for third place, which he was able to do by Lap 97 as Larson was forced to settle in fourth in front of teammates Elliott and Byron. Amid the battles, Logano retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Wallace by the Lap 100 mark. 

    By Lap 110, Logano stabilized his advantage to half a second over Wallace while racing on two fresh tires while Hamlin, Larson and Elliott trailed in the top five ahead of Byron, Briscoe, Bowman, Truex and Busch. Meanwhile, Bell, who was running in the middle of the pack, limped his No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE to pit road after a wedged right-front tire due to a fallen lug nut caused Bell to run his car up the track twice a lap earlier, though he managed to keep his car off of the wall. Not long after, the caution returned due to debris reported on the track. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 119, Logano muscled his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead from Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE through the first two turns to retain the lead as Hamlin challenged Wallace for the runner-up spot through Turns 3 and 4. Wallace, however, would fend off Hamlin entering the frontstretch to retain the runner-up spot while all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors, led by Larson, were running fourth through seventh on the track, with Elliott, Bowman and Byron following suit, respectively. As Briscoe and Chastain were racing in eighth and ninth, respectively, while Berry and Truex battled for 10th, Logano retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Wallace by the Lap 125 mark. 

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Logano retained the lead by half a second over Wallace while Hamlin, Larson, Elliott, Bowman and Byron followed suit from third to seventh, respectively. Logano would stabilize his advantage to half a second over Wallace at the Lap 150 mark while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than a second. In addition, Hendrick Motorsports’ four-car organization led by Larson and followed by Elliott, Bowman and Byron continued to run fourth to seventh, respectively, while Briscoe, Chastain and Berry were racing in the top 10. 

    By Lap 160, Logano was mired in lapped traffic but continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Wallace, who was being pressured by Hamlin for the spot while Larson tried to join the battle in fourth place. Larson’s teammates Elliott, Bowman and Byron remained in fifth through seventh, respectively, along with Briscoe, who trailed the lead by two seconds as Hamlin moved his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE into the runner-up spot three laps later.  

    Then on Lap 170, Hamlin muscled his way around Logano for the lead while Wallace and Larson followed in close pursuit in third and fourth, respectively. Hamlin would quickly stretch his advantage to a second four laps later as Wallace battled and overtook Logano, who was beginning to struggle on his two fresh tires, for the runner-up spot another lap later, with Larson and Elliott following suit. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 180, Hamlin, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Richmond Raceway, captured his second stage victory of the 2024 season. Wallace followed suit in second along with Larson and Elliott while Logano fended off Bowman to claim fifth place as Briscoe, Byron, Chastain and Berry were scored in the top 10. By then, 26 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Logano returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first. He was followed by Elliott, Wallace, Larson and Bowman while Briscoe, Logano, Blaney, Byron and Chastain exited in the top 10 amid a congested pit road, where Logano nearly got sandwiched in between Bowman and Byron while exiting pit road while Ty Gibbs rammed into the side of Kyle Busch’s No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while exiting his pit stall. Amid the pit stops, Daniel Suarez was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With 207 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Hamlin and Chase Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin and Elliott battled dead even for the lead in front of Wallace and Larson through the first two turns and through the backstretch, where Elliott managed to use the outside lane to his advantage through Turns 3 and 4 and muscle his No. 9 ruby red UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead. With Elliott leading the event over Hamlin, Wallace started to challenge Hamlin for the runner-up spot as Larson, Logano, Bowman, Byron and Briscoe followed suit in the top eight. 

    At the halfway mark with 200 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Wallace, Larson and Bowman while Logano, Briscoe, Byron, Blaney and Reddick were running in a long single-file line in the top 10. Behind, Chastain was in 11th ahead of Truex, Gilliland, Ty Gibbs and Hocevar while Erik Jones, Busch, Preece, Cindric and Berry occupied the top 20. 

    Two laps later and with the field slowly fanning out to three lanes, the caution returned after Bell, who was running multiple laps down, spun in Turn 4 after getting loose underneath Kaz Grala. During the caution period, some including Truex, Gibbs, Busch, Brad Keselowski, Daniel Hemric, Grala and Josh Williams pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track. 

    As the event restarted under green with 191 laps remaining, Elliott retained the lead following a strong start on the inside lane while Hamlin also fended off Wallace, Larson and Bowman to retain the runner-up spot. As Elliott, Hamlin, Wallace, Larson and Bowman formed a single-file line towards the inside lane in the proceeding laps, Logano and Byron battled dead even for sixth place in front of Briscoe, who was being pressured by Gilliland and Blaney for more while Reddick, Chastain, Preece, Hocevar and Jones swapped battles within the top 15. 

    With less than 175 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Hamlin while third-place Wallace also trailed by more than two seconds ahead of Elliott’s teammates Larson, Bowman and Byron. Elliott, however, would have his advantage decreased to a second over Hamlin as he started to approach lapped traffic with 160 laps remaining. 

    With 150 laps remaining, Elliott slightly stretched his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while third-place Wallace trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Elliott’s teammates Larson, Byron and Bowman trailed by within two seconds in fourth through sixth, respectively, while Logano, Gilliland, Briscoe and Blaney were racing in the top 10. 

    Two laps later, Hamlin ignited his challenge on Elliott for the lead. After Elliott got pinned behind the lapped competitor of Josh Williams, Hamlin managed to lead Elliott by a mere margin with 147 laps remaining. With Elliott and Hamlin still battling dead even for the lead through every corner and straightaway during the proceeding laps, Wallace and Larson battled for third in front of Byron and Bowman. After a long tussle, Hamlin managed to run Elliott up the track in between Turns 3 and 4 to muscle ahead of him with 142 laps remaining. 

    As the event was down to its final 125 laps, Hamlin, who weaved his way through lapped traffic, extended his advantage to more than a second over Elliott while third-place Wallace trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Larson was trying to fend off teammate Byron for fourth place while teammate Bowman trailed by more than three seconds in sixth place. In the process, Logano, Gilliland, Briscoe and Blaney continued to run in the top 10. 

    Then with 103 laps remaining, green flag pit stops ignited as Byron pitted from fifth place. Not long after, Elliott, Wallace and Larson pitted together before the leader Hamlin pitted along with Bowman and more with 102 laps remaining. By the time Hamlin exited his pit stall and pit road, Elliott just managed to overtake Hamlin on the track while Larson, Wallace and Byron battled behind with 100 laps remaining.  

    Then with 96 laps remaining and with the front-runners mired in lapped traffic, Elliott shoved Stenhouse and Nemechek out of his path while trying to fend off Hamlin. Amid the battles, teammates Byron and Larson made their move beneath Hamlin and overtook him on the track during the next few laps, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports competitors within close distance of one another while Hamlin was being blocked by the lapped competitor of Stenhouse. In the process and with green flag pit stops still ensuing, Briscoe, who was one of several competitors who had yet to pit, was leading ahead of Cindric before he pitted with 93 laps remaining as Cindric moved into the lead. Meanwhile, Byron started to pressure teammate Elliott for the position, where he succeeded in overtaking him in his No. 24 ruby red AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track with 90 laps remaining. 

    With 74 laps remaining and with most of the field having made a pit stop under green, Byron overtook Suarez, who had yet to pit, for the race lead. Teammate Elliott would follow suit in second place while Larson moved into third place two laps later, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top three on the track. Meanwhile, Hamlin trailed the race lead by more than two seconds in fifth place while Wallace trailed by more than four seconds in sixth place. In addition, Bowman, the fourth Hendrick Motorsports competitor in his No. 48 ruby red Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, trailed by more than five seconds in seventh place. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron was leading by more than a second over teammate Elliott and by two seconds over teammate Larson while Hamlin, Blaney and Wallace followed suit in the top six. Behind, Bowman trailed by six seconds in seventh place while Logano, Briscoe and Gilliland occupied the top-10 spots ahead of Reddick, Erik Jones, Preece, Chastain and Chris Buescher, all of whom were scored on the lead lap. 

    Fifteen laps later, Byron extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammates Elliott and Larson while fourth-place Hamlin trailed by nearly five seconds. Behind, Blaney also trailed by more than five seconds in fifth place while Wallace, Bowman, Logano, Briscoe and Gilliland were racing in the top 10. 

    Another 10 laps later, Byron, who was trying to lap Buescher, stabilized his lead to two and three seconds over both teammates Elliott and Larson while Hamlin, Blaney and Wallace continued to trail in the top six by seven seconds. Byron would continue to lead by more than a second over teammate Elliott and by more than two seconds over teammate Larson with 15 laps remaining. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron, who was trying to lap Ross Chastain, retained the lead by over teammates Elliott and Larson within one and two seconds, with Byron slowly having his large advantage decrease amid the lapped traffic. Meanwhile, Hamlin trailed in fourth place by more than four seconds while Blaney, Wallace and Bowman trailed in the top seven by as large as eight seconds as Byron stabilized his lead to two seconds with five laps remaining. 

    Then with three laps remaining, the caution flew after John Hunter Nemechek, who was lapped by Byron a lap earlier, scrubbed the outside wall after losing the right front of his No. 42 Skip Barber Racing School Toyota Camry XSE, which ended up on fire, through Turns 3 and 4 as Byron’s steady advantage over teammates Elliott and Larson evaporated.  

    During the extensive caution period, some led by Hamlin and including Reddick, Erik Jones and Preece pitted for fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by Byron, Elliott and Larson remained on the track. 

    At the start of the first overtime period, teammates Byron and Elliott battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns until Byron managed to muscle ahead through the backstretch as he then withstood a bump from Elliott to maintain the lead through Turns 3 and 4. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained as the leader over teammate Elliott while Blaney challenged Larson for third place. With Elliott nearly running wide through Turns 1 and 2, Larson made his move beneath Elliott for the runner-up spot as Blaney and Wallace followed suit. In the process, Byron pulled away entering Turns 3 and 4 and was able to cycle back to the frontstretch victorious, where he claimed his third checkered flag of the 2024 Cup season much to the delight of a bevy of Hendrick Motorsports’ fans and employees gathering and watching the event in tents above the backstretch. 

    With the victory, Byron, who delivered Hendrick Motorsports’ 300th Cup Series victory last September at Texas Motor Speedway, became the first three-time race winner of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season as he recorded his 13th career win in his 224th start in NASCAR’s premier series and his second at Martinsville. The Martinsville victory was the 29th overall for Hendrick Motorsports, which keeps the organization as the winningest one of all time at Martinsville, as the organization also racked up its 305th win in the Cup circuit and the fourth of the 2024 campaign. 

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I just want to thank Chase [Elliott] for racing me clean [in overtime],” Byron said on FS1. “He gave me a shot, which was expected, but we all finished it off. Just so proud of everyone at Hendrick Motorsports. [I] Grew up a big Hendrick fan and to be here for the 40th anniversary and all that goes into just this organization, all the people, it’s all about the people, and just want to thank Mr. [Rick] Hendrick and [wife] Linda [Hendrick] and everyone involved. It’s pretty awesome, pretty badass to win at Martinsville. We’ve been struggling at the short tracks and just kept inching up on it and I got a great team. They just kept my head in it. It stunk to do a restart there at the end like that, but it’s the way it goes.” 

    “You just can’t script it any better,” Jeff Gordon, vice chairman and co-owner of Hendrick Motorsports, added. “The race the way it played out, to get that green flag stop was it. Our cars were just so good on the short runs. We just needed to get that track position. Then that last restart, oh my god, I did not want to see that. Then I was just so hoping we could get the 1-2-3 [finish]. These three guys as well as [Alex] Bowman, they just drove their butts off. Great race, but how about that William Byron and that No. 24 car? Every time we have a milestone day or opportunity or moment, he steps up. This is gonna be a huge one for him and the organization.”

    Like Byron and Gordon, teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, both of whom ended up second and third, respectively, were left pleased with their top-three results and capping off the 1-2-3 finish for Hendrick Motorsports’ historic victory. As an added bonus, Hendrick Motorsports also became the first organization to place three entries in the first three finishing results at Martinsville Speedway. In total, Byron, Larson and Elliott led a combined 238 of 415 laps en route to the 1-2-3 finish of today’s Martinsville event.

    “[It’s] Really special to get a 1-2-3 [finish] there with William [Byron], Chase [Elliott] and I,” Larson said. “Just a great day for Hendrick Motorsports. It’s been a great 40 seasons for them. Really cool to have 1,500 people here from Hendrick Motorsports to celebrate. Congrats to William. He did a really good job. [He] Kind of schooled us all there after that green flag stop. He did a really good job passing all of us. Then, he was able to set a good pace and still get through traffic good. Solid day. Just an awesome day.” 

    “Obviously, number one, congrats to William and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports,…all the people that put this together for us,” Elliott added. “[Hendrick Motorsports] have an unbelievable program and I think we’re all proud to call it home. It was awesome hosting over a thousand folks from Hendrick today, employees and their families. Glad one of us could get it done. Obviously, I wished we could’ve gotten it done selfishly like anybody would, but nice to have a couple solid weeks and to be in contention there for a win. I haven’t been in contention to win one for a while, so it was fun to kind of get to that last restart and it actually mattered. [I] Enjoyed that aspect and certainly hungry for more.”  

    Bubba Wallace was the highest non-Hendrick competitor on the track in fourth place while Ryan Blaney rallied from struggling at the start to finish fifth. Logano and Reddick came home in sixth and seventh, respectively, followed by Alex Bowman, the fourth Hendrick Motorsports competitor. Preece and Briscoe completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Denny Hamlin ended up 11th. In addition, Kyle Busch finished 16th, Martin Truex Jr. ended up 18th behind rookie Carson Hocevar, Suarez ended up 22nd and Josh Berry ended up 25th behind Brad Keselowski after being penalized late for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 51 laps. In addition, 14 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the eighth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 14 points over Martin Truex Jr., 17 over Denny Hamlin, 48 over both William Byron and Ryan Blaney and 51 over Chase Elliott.

    Results. 

    1. William Byron, 88 laps led

    2. Kyle Larson, 86 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Chase Elliott, 64 laps led

    4. Bubba Wallace 

    5. Ryan Blaney 

    6. Joey Logano, 84 laps led 

    7. Tyler Reddick 

    8. Alex Bowman 

    9. Ryan Preece 

    10. Chase Briscoe, eight laps led

    11. Denny Hamlin, 66 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Erik Jones 

    13. Todd Gilliland 

    14. Ross Chastain 

    15. Chris Buescher, one lap down 

    16. Kyle Busch, one lap down 

    17. Carson Hocevar, one lap down 

    18. Martin Truex Jr., one lap down 

    19. Ty Gibbs, one lap down 

    20. Noah Gragson, one lap down 

    21. Michael McDowell, one lap down 

    22. Daniel Suarez, one lap down, 13 laps led 

    23. Austin Cindric, one lap down, six laps led

    24. Brad Keselowski, one lap down 

    25. Josh Berry, two laps down 

    26. Kaz Grala, two laps down 

    27. Josh Williams, two laps down 

    28. Daniel Hemric, two laps down 

    29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down 

    30. Justin Haley, two laps down 

    31. Zane Smith, three laps down 

    32. Corey LaJoie, three laps down 

    33. Harrison Burton, three laps down 

    34. Austin Dillon, three laps down 

    35. Christopher Bell, four laps down 

    36. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident 

    37. David Starr – OUT, Steering

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 14, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Richmond

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin outgunned Martin Truex, Jr. on an overtime restart and held on to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond, earning his second win of the season.

    “As a native of Virginia,” Hamlin said, “it’s always heartwarming to race in my home state. Mostly because there’s less people booing me here than in the other states. Granted, it’s still a lot, but still less.”

    2. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex dominated the latter part of the Toyota Owners 400, but a late caution flag allowed Denny Hamlin to take the lead on an overtime restart. Truex settled for second and showed his frustration by banging doors with Kyle Larson in the closing laps.

    “To use an Easter analogy,” Truex said, “I’m hopping mad. But everyone knows I’m not a hothead, so the chances of this ‘Joe Gibbs Racing driver going ‘JGR’ on another driver are pretty slim. To be clear, the ‘JGR’ in that context means ‘Joey Gase Rage.’”

    3. William Byron: Byron finished seventh at Richmond, recording his fourth top-10 result of the year.

    “It’s not often that NASCAR races on Easter Sunday,” Byron said. “There was a time when if you would have suggested that NASCAR should race on Easter, you would have been crucified.”

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell finished sixth at Richmond.

    “There are so many products sponsoring NASCAR cars,” Bell said. “There’s bourbon, beer, pharmaceuticals, and even Sunny D. Mix them all together, and you get a cocktail known as the ‘Tim Richmond.”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fifth at Richmond as Hendrick Motorsports placed three cars in the top 10.

    “I’m still looking for my first win since Talladega in October of 2022,” Elliott said. “While the good folks down at the Dawsonville Pool Room have plenty to say ‘Cheers’ about, I’d like to give them something to cheer about.”

    6. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs finished 16th in the Toyota Owners 400, only his second finish outside the top 10 this season.

    “After last week’s snorefest at COTA,” Gibbs said, “it was good to give fans an exciting race. I’ve learned to never underestimate NASCAR. They even found a way to make road course racing boring. You could call the race at COTA the ‘Brickyard 400 Of Road Course Races.’”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney struggled for much of the night at Richmond on his way to a 19th-place finish.

    “We really didn’t bring our ‘A’ game to Richmond,’” Blaney said. “We brought a lot of other letters, like ‘S,’ ‘O,’ ‘B,’ ‘M,’ and ‘F,’ but definitely not ‘A.’”

    8. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 15th at Richmond.

    “Because of moisture on pit lane,” Chastain said, “we had to have what is known as ‘uncompetitive pit stops’ early in the race. Apparently, that’s where Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. got the idea to make it an uncompetitive race until the very end.”

    9. Kyle Larson: Larson was strong all night at Richmond, starting on the pole, winning Stage 1, and leading 144 laps on his way to a third in the Toyota Owners 400.

    “I did everything but close the deal,” Larson said. “I had a lot of deals ‘closed’ back in the spring of 2020.”

    10. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished 10th at Richmond, posting his fourth top 10 of the year.

    “My No. 45 Toyota was primarily sponsored by SiriusXM,” Reddick said. “A quick glance of a NASCAR crowd evokes a similar phrase—-‘Serious XL.’”

  • Hamlin fends off teammate Truex to score dramatic overtime Cup victory at Richmond

    Hamlin fends off teammate Truex to score dramatic overtime Cup victory at Richmond

    Denny Hamlin spoiled teammate Martin Truex Jr.’s dominant run under the lights at Richmond Raceway and in front of his home crowd by capturing a wild overtime victory in the Toyota Owners 400 on Easter Sunday, March 31. 

    The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led twice for 17 of 407 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 11th and managed through early wet-weather conditions, late pit stop strategies under green flag conditions and a methodical drive to the front.

    Initially set for a third-place finish in the event’s scheduled distance, an opportunity struck for Hamlin after Kyle Larson spun off of Bubba Wallace’s front nose with two laps remaining. Following a swift service from his pit crew that enabled him to beat teammate Truex and Joey Logano off of pit road first, Hamlin then took care of business during an overtime shootout, where he fended off Truex and muscled away from him, Logano and Larson for two laps to score his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 30, Kyle Larson secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 120.332 mph in 22.438 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Chase Elliott, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 120.321 mph in 22.440 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, the competitors rolled off pit road and onto the track at a cautious pace with wet-weathered tires attached due to extensive rain that lingered throughout the day and with the event deemed wet from the rain for the start of the race. This made the pit stops at the start of the event deemed non-competitive, which meant that all competitors would exit pit road in the same order following the pit stops until pit road is deemed dried. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced following an extensive pace lap session, Larson motored his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead with the lead through the first two turns until Elliott made his move on the outside lane exiting the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4, which allowed him to lead the first lap over Larson while Todd Gilliland and Alex Bowman battled for third place.  

    As the field continued to navigate around Richmond with enough grip to their respective cars amid the wet-weather tires, Elliott retained the lead and stabilized it for nearly half a second by the fifth lap mark while Larson retained second ahead of Gilliland, Bowman and Bubba Wallace, with Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs giving chase within the top 10. A lap later, however, Larson managed to cycle past teammate Elliott to assume the lead for the first time. 

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson led by seven-tenths of a second over teammates Elliott and Bowman while Gilliland and Wallace followed suit in the top five. Behind, Truex, Chastain, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Gibbs were racing in the top 10 while Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek, William Byron, Tyler Reddick, rookie Josh Berry, Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were running in the top 20. 

    Fifteen laps later and with the track slowing drying, Larson retained the lead by a second over Wallace while Bowman, Truex and Elliott trailed in the top five. Behind, Gilliland dropped to sixth ahead of Chastain, Logano, Buescher and Preece while Hamlin and Byron were mired in 12th and 13th behind Suarez. 

    Another five laps later, the event’s competition caution flew as Larson was still leading by a second over Wallace. By then, NASCAR deemed the track dry and allowed the teams to pit for slick tires. Once pit road became accessible for the field following a brief jet-drying period, the field led by Larson pitted through a non-competitive pace for the slick tires, which allowed the competitors running in their respective positions to retain their spots as Larson retained and exited pit road first ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Bowman and Chastain. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 48 following an extensive caution period, Larson and Wallace battled dead even for the lead for a full lap as Wallace, who was running his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE on the outside lane and trying to pin Larson on the bottom on the track while remaining in the driest line as far as possible, led the proceeding lap by a hair. With Wallace and Larson battling in tight quarters for the lead through and past the Lap 50 mark, Bowman followed suit in third while Truex and Gilliland trailed in the top five. Following their intense early battle, Larson managed to rocket ahead of Wallace and have the lead under his authority by Lap 53.    

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Larson, who was clocking in fast lap times on the dry tires, was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Wallace followed by Bowman, Truex and Gilliland while Elliott trailed in sixth ahead of Logano, Chastain, Suarez and Buescher.  

    Three laps later, the event’s second caution period flew after Josh Berry, who caught Suarez for ninth place, bumped and sent Suarez for a smoky slide entering Turn 1 before Suarez spun his No. 99 Quaker State Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 below the track as he was dodged by oncoming traffic. Suarez’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 70 to end under caution as the leader Larson captured his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Wallace followed suit in second followed by Bowman, Truex and Logano while Gilliland, Elliott, Chastain, Berry and Preece were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the field led by Larson returned to pit road for service, with pit road deemed dry enough for competitive pit stops. Following the pit services, Larson retained the lead after he exited first while Wallace, Bowman, Truex, Elliott, Logano, Chastain, Berry, Preece and Gilliland followed suit. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 79 as Larson and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead with a slight advantage over Wallace through the first two turns and the backstretch until Larson cleared him and had both lanes under his control during the following lap. With Larson leading Wallace and the field behind jostling for positions, Truex overtook Bowman for third while Logano was trying to fend off Berry and Elliott for fifth place ahead of Chastain, Gilliland and Preece.  

    By Lap 90, Larson stretched his advantage to a second over Wallace followed by Truex, who trailed the lead by one-and-a-half seconds, while Berry was up to fourth place ahead of Bowman. Larson would continue to lead by more than two seconds over Wallace at the Lap 100 mark while Truex, Berry and Logano were scored in the top five. By then, Christopher Bell was scored in 10th place as he was running in front of Noah Gragson, Buescher, Tyler Reddick, Preece and Ty Gibbs as Hamlin was mired in 17th in between Brad Keselowski and William Byron, who lost a bevy of spots on pit road during the first stage break period after getting blocked by Preece in his pit stall. In addition, Kyle Busch was in 20th behind teammate Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney was mired in 27th behind rookie Carson Hocevar and Chase Briscoe was in 30th ahead of Harrison Burton and Suarez. 

    On Lap 122 and with Larson leading by six-tenths of a second over Truex, green flag pit stops commenced as Hamlin, Keselowski, Briscoe and Michael McDowell pitted along with Berry, Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Preece and Kaz Grala. Truex would pit by Lap 124 and a bevy of names including Buescher, Chastain, Reddick, Byron, Erik Jones, Daniel Hemric, Bell, Austin Dillon, Elliott, Logano, Austin Cindric and others pitted during the proceeding laps as Larson continued to lead just past the Lap 130 mark. 

    Nearing the Lap 140 mark, Larson, who had yet to pit and who was being overtaken by a handful of competitors who pitted and were trying to un-lap themselves, continued to run on the track as the leader as he was ahead of runner-up Wallace by more than five seconds. Behind, Bowman was running third ahead of Gilliland while Truex, the first competitor on four fresh tires, charged his way up to fifth place. 

    On Lap 150, Larson peeled off the racetrack to pit under green as Wallace cycled into the lead before Wallace pitted on Lap 152. This cycled Truex into the lead while Bowman, Berry, Logano and Bell also cycled into the top five. 

    Fifteen laps later, Truex was leading by more than six seconds over both Berry and Logano while fourth-place Bell trailed by more than 10 seconds and fifth-place Buescher trailed by more than 13 seconds. Meanwhile, Keselowski, Elliott, Larson, Hamlin and Gibbs were scored in the top 10 while 16 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap, among which included Byron, Gragson, Chastain, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones. Meanwhile, Wallace was scored as the first competitor a lap down as he was running ahead of Preece, Blaney and Briscoe while Bowman was mired back in 23rd.  

    Another four laps later, the caution flew after Kyle Busch, who was running as the final competitor in 15th place, went up the racetrack and made contact with the outside wall n between Turns 1 and 2. The caution occurred just as Wallace had overtaken Truex to cycle back on the lead lap while Erik Jones was the beneficiary of the caution period and received the free pass and cycled back on the lead lap. 

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Truex, who nearly made contact with Wallace as Wallace was trying to enter his pit stall, retained the lead as he exited pit road first while Logano, Berry, Bell, Buescher and Larson followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Gibbs and Preece were both penalized for speeding on pit road while Justin Haley was penalized for his crew jumping over the wall too soon. 

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 177, Truex fended off Logano and Berry to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns while Blaney, who was mired in the middle of the pack, got out of the racing groove and got loose after he checked up behind Wallace and nearly got turned by teammate Cindric. With the field scattering and jostling for positions just past the Lap 185 mark, Truex retained the lead by half a second over Berry and by more than a second over third-place Logano while Larson and Hamlin followed suit in the top five. 

    At the halfway mark on Lap 200, Truex continued to lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Berry followed by Logano, Larson and Hamlin while Bell, Buescher, Byron, Wallace and Reddick pursued in the top 10. Behind, Keselowski was up to 11th ahead of Gragson, Elliott, Busch and Erik Jones while Chastain, Briscoe, Gibbs, Bowman and Suarez trailed in the top 20. Gilliland, Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trailed as the final set of competitors scored on the lead lap while Harrison Burton was scored the first competitor a lap down in 24th ahead of Cindric and John Hunter Nemechek. 

    Fifteen laps later, Truex stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Berry while Logano, Larson and Hamlin continued to run in the top five ahead of Bell, Buescher, Byron, Wallace and Reddick. 

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 230, Truex, who edged Bowman at the start/finish line to pin him a lap down, claimed his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Berry followed suit in second along with Logano, Larson and Hamlin while Bell, Buescher, Wallace, Byron and Reddick were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Truex retained the lead after exiting first followed by Larson, Hamlin, Logano, Bell, Berry, Wallace, Byron, Keselowski and Buescher. 

    With 160 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Truex and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Truex rocketed ahead of Larson through the first two turns to retain the lead and have both lanes to his control through the backstretch while the field behind fanned out. As Truex led the field, Larson was trying to fend off Logano and Hamlin in second place while Bell trailed in fifth ahead of Wallace, Berry and Byron. 

    Twenty laps later, Truex was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Larson as Logano, Hamlin and Bell were scored in the top five while Wallace, Berry, Byron, Keselowski and Reddick trailed in the top 10, with 19 of 36 starters scored on the lead lap. 

    Another 20 laps later, Truex stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Larson as Logano, Bell and Hamlin were mired in the top five. Behind, Wallace retained sixth ahead of Berry, Byron, Keselowski and Reddick while Buescher, Elliott, Noah Gragson, Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones trailed in the top 15. 

    Within 115 laps remaining, green flag pit stops ensued as Keselowski pitted from ninth place. Byron, Reddick, Buescher, Elliott and Gragson would pit before the leader Truex pitted two laps later followed by Larson, Byron, Logano, Hamlin, Berry, Busch, Gibbs, Erik Jones, Gragson, Bowman, Wallace and others. Once the leader Bell pitted his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE with 106 laps remaining, teammate Truex cycled back into the lead, though he had Larson closing within his rearview mirror. 

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Truex, who was mired in lapped traffic, was leading by three-tenths of a second over Larson while third-place Hamlin trailed by six-tenths of a second as he started to close in on the two leaders. Logano and Wallace trailed by less than four seconds in the top five while Byron, Bell, Keselowski, Buescher, and Elliott were running in the top 10. Shortly after, however, Bell was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding during his latest pit service. 

    Twenty-five laps later, Truex retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Larson and by more than a second over third-place Hamlin. Behind, Logano and Wallace continued to run fourth and fifth, respectively, while Byron, Keselowski, Buescher, Elliott and Berry were racing in the top 10. 

    With less than 70 laps remaining, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Reddick pitted along with Byron, Buescher, Elliott, Keselowski and Berry, who made another cycle around the track after he missed the pit entry. Truex would pit from the lead with 65 laps remaining along with Larson, Logano, Wallace and others as Larson managed to exit pit road ahead of Truex. Four laps later, however, Truex made his move beneath Larson through the frontstretch to overtake him for position entering Turn 1. He would then overtake teammate Hamlin to un-lap himself along with Larson before Hamlin pitted from the lead with 55 laps remaining. Teammate Bell would then pit from the lead during the following lap, which completed the green flag pit cycle and allowed Truex to cycle back into the lead with 53 laps remaining. 

    With 40 laps remaining, Truex extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Larson while Logano, Wallace and Hamlin were racing in the top five. Truex would stretch his advantage to more than three seconds over Logano with 30 laps remaining while Larson slipped to third as he trailed by more than four seconds while running ahead of Hamlin and Wallace. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Truex, who was slowly having his lap times decrease as he continued to be mired in lapped traffic, among which included Austin Cindric and Chastain, continued to lead by more than a second over Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse while third-place Hamlin trailed within two seconds as he started to intimidate Logano for the runner-up spot. Behind, Larson retained fourth over Wallace while Byron, Keselowski, Elliott, Berry and Buescher trailed in the top 10, with Bell mired in 11th. 

    With 10 laps remaining, Truex’s advantage decreased to six-tenths of a second over Logano with teammate Hamlin trailing within a second. Despite the latter two gaining ground on Truex, Truex, who lapped Chastain, managed to keep his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE out in front. Logano, however, would narrow the deficit to four-tenths of a second behind Truex while Hamlin was starting to lose ground as he trailed by a second with five laps remaining.  

    Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime after Wallace bumped and sent Larson, who was running fourth and got loose, for a spin through the frontstretch. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin managed to beat teammate Truex, who had a slow pit service, and Logano off of pit road first while Larson, Byron and Elliott followed suit in the top six. Amid the pit stops, Wallace also endured a slow pit service on the left side as he dropped out of the top 10. 

    At the start of the overtime period, where teammates Hamlin and Truex occupied the front row, Truex tried to side-draft Hamlin’s No. 11 Mavis Tires & Brakes Toyota Camry XSE through the first two turns, but Hamlin, who slightly went up the track through the turns, managed to muscle ahead of Truex through Turns 3 and 4. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin was leading ahead of teammate Truex, who was being pressured by Logano and Larson for the runner-up spot. With Logano acquiring the runner-up spot and trying to narrow the gap to himself and Hamlin through the backstretch, Hamlin managed to muscle ahead through Turns 3 and 4 and beat Logano by two-tenths of a second to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season. 

    With the victory, Hamlin notched his 53rd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series in his 657th series start, his fifth at Richmond and his first since winning at his home track in April 2022. He also joined William Byron as drivers to achieve multiple Cup victories seven events into the 2024 season while also recording the third victory of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.

    “This is a team win, for sure,” Hamlin, who praised his pit crew, said on FOX. “This trophy needs to go to each one of these pit crew members. They just did an amazing job. They’ve been killing it all year. Man, we’ve got some good runs with [sponsor Mavis Tires & Brakes]. Such a great feeling when you know you can come in and have a pit crew like that.” 

    Logano, who had finished no higher than ninth during the first six events on the schedule, notched a strong runner-up result followed by Larson and Truex, where the former rubbed and edged Truex at the finish line to claim third place moments after Truex had veered left and ran into the side of Larson through the backstretch. 

    Seconds after the checkered flag, however, Truex proceeded to ram into the side of Larson and both rubbed fenders through the frontstretch before Truex then proceeded to run into the rear of teammate Hamlin as a gesture of displeasure for Hamlin running him up the racetrack in the first two turns during the overtime shootout. 

    “It’s unfortunate,” Truex said. “Unfortunately, [losing] has happened here a few times over the years. We were in a great spot, had a great Auto-Owners Camry all night long and the guys did a really good job. Just got beat of the pits and then, [Hamlin] jumped the start and then just used me up in Turn 1. Definitely sucks, but good solid day. Another car capable of winning, so we’ll just have to come back next week, try to get them again.” 

    “I will take a third [place finish] after what could’ve been a lot worse there on the frontstretch [when I spun],” Larson said. “I think [Truex] was just mad. He was mad that [Hamlin] used him up on the restart. That’s probably where it really started from and then, [Logano] got to his inside in [Turns] 1 and 2. I got in behind [Logano] and he just turned left across my nose, had me off the apron off of [Turn] 2 and I don’t know if he thought I piled it in there, but then he door-slammed me down the middle of the backstretch, so I figured in [Turns] 3 and 4, I was gonna use him up a little bit. I think he’s just more mad at Denny, but I was the closest one to take his anger out on. I’m guessing the replay looks the way I kind of saw it in Turns 1 and 2 and then, he’ll realize that and probably be alright.” 

    Elliott came home in fifth place while Bell, Byron, Keselowski, Buescher and Reddick finished in the top 10. 

    Notably, rookie Josh Berry notched his second top-12 result of the season by finishing 11th, Wallace ended up 13th, Chastain settled in 15th ahead of Ty Gibbs and Bowman, Blaney rallied to finish 19th ahead of Kyle Busch and Suarez ended up 22nd.

    There were 16 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 54 laps. In addition, all 36 starters finished the event while 22 of 36 finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the seventh event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Martin Truex Jr. continues to lead the regular-season standings by 14 points over Kyle Larson, 18 over Denny Hamlin, 34 over Ty Gibbs and 51 over Ryan Blaney. 

    Results. 

    1. Denny Hamlin, 17 laps led

    2. Joey Logano 

    3. Kyle Larson, 144 laps led, Stage 1 winner 

    4. Martin Truex Jr., 228 laps led, Stage 2 winner 

    5. Chase Elliott, five laps led 

    6. Christopher Bell, nine laps led 

    7. William Byron 

    8. Brad Keselowski 

    9. Chris Buescher 

    10. Tyler Reddick  

    11. Josh Berry, two laps led 

    12. Noah Gragson 

    13. Bubba Wallace, two laps led 

    14. Erik Jones 

    15. Ross Chastain 

    16. Ty Gibbs 

    17. Alex Bowman 

    18. Chase Briscoe 

    19. Ryan Blaney 

    20. Kyle Busch 

    21. Todd Gilliland 

    22. Daniel Suarez 

    23. Austin Cindric, one lap down 

    24. Austin Dillon, one lap down  

    25. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down 

    26. Michael McDowell, one lap down 

    27. Carson Hocevar, one lap down 

    28. Ryan Preece, one lap down 

    29. Ty Dillon, one lap down 

    30. Daniel Hemric, two laps down 

    31. Kaz Grala, two laps down 

    32. Justin Haley, two laps down 

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down 

    34. Harrison Burton, two laps down 

    35. Zane Smith, three laps down 

    36. Corey LaJoie, three laps down 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, for the Cook Out 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 7, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FS1. 

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson suffered a late pit lane penalty, damaging his hopes for a high finish, but salvaged a strong fifth-place at Bristol.

    “The Bristol surface really did a number on tires,” Larson said. “So, it’s all about conserving your tires, which is difficult for race car drivers who just want to go fast. We have to toe the fine line between burning rubber without burning too much rubber.”

    2. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex battled to the end, but couldn’t quite catch Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin and settled for second in the Food City 500.

    “I think we’re all glad we’re not racing on dirt at Bristol,” Truex said. “I think the exciting racing that took place on Sunday is concrete evidence of the surface we should race on going forward.”

    3. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 163 laps, taking charge late and securing the win in the Food City 500, earning his first victory of the season.

    “This race was all about tire management,” Hamlin said. “Luckily, I was able to manage mine best. That’s why, after the race, I requested that all queries for interviews be addressed as follows: ‘I’d like to speak to the manager.’”

    4. Ryan Blaney: Blaney started on the pole and finished 16th in a wild Food City 500.

    “I haven’t finished worse than 16th all year,” Blaney said. “I may be winless, but my consistency is unmatched. I guess that runs in the family because my father Dave also consistently did not win.”

    5. Christopher Bell: Bell ran up front for most of the day at Bristol, but suffered a late flat tire and finished 10th in the Food City 500.

    “Goodyear really had to stay busy to keep everyone supplied with tires,” Bell said. “There was a point in which every team was wondering if we would even get extra sets of tires. It went from ‘tire wear’ to ‘tire where?’”

    6. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 15th at Bristol.

    “My car featured the Busch Light Fishing paint scheme,” Chastain said. “Busch Light would like to remind people to not overdo it if you’re out on the water fishing while enjoying your Busch Light, lest you get ‘fish fried.’”

    7. Chris Buescher: Buescher posted his third top-10 finish with a seventh in the Food City 500.

    “The No. 17 Build Submarines Ford was strong all day at Bristol,” Buescher said. “Like every other driver, I ran much of the race worrying about whether I’d blow a tire or tires. So, I don’t know what was the biggest theme of the race, stress on tires, or stress about tires.”

    8. William Byron: Disaster struck early for Byron at Bristol, as contact between Christopher Bell and Joey Logano sent Byron into the wall on Lap 20, resulting in a broken toe link. Byron finished 35th, eight laps down.

    “I’m not happy about what happened,” Byron said. “Now, if you ask me about it, I’d rather not talk about it, which is the opposite of what Jerry Falwell, Jr.’s pool boy did in the 2022 Netflix series ‘God Forbid.’”

    9. Ty Gibbs: Gibbs swept Stages 1 and 2 at Bristol, but tire troubles late cost him a chance for the win. He still posted a solid ninth in the Food City 500.

    “Toyotas dominated at Bristol,” Gibbs said. “I’m sure that doesn’t make Ford and Chevy drivers happy. Their cars were made in America, but the drivers were mad in America.”

    10. Chase Elliott: Eliott finished eight at Bristol.

    “Tire wear created a lot of what is known as ‘marbles’ on the track,” Elliott said. “When you can actually see the pieces of your tires coming off and ending up on the track, that can be very scary. But as professional drivers, we have to deal with it. And the only way to deal with marbles on the track is to have marbles in your sack.”

  • Hamlin manages tire wear to claim dramatic Cup victory at Bristol

    Hamlin manages tire wear to claim dramatic Cup victory at Bristol

    In an event where tire management was the name of the game, Denny Hamlin implemented his racing roots by preserving his tires to the very end, which enabled him to fend off teammate Martin Truex Jr. and win a wild conclusion to the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 17. 

    The three-time Daytona 500 champion from Chesterfield, Virginia, led 13 times for a race-high 163 of 500-scheduled laps after starting in third place and quickly making his presence at the front known by leading for the first time on Lap 21. Then, amid a series of caution periods and tire wear issues that plagued several front-runners and stars, Hamlin preserved his tires and managed to carve his way through traffic and run up front.

    He traded the lead on several occasions with his fellow competitors and Joe Gibbs Racing teammates and stretched his worn tires further than his competitors before pitting under green with 53 laps remaining. After cycling back to the lead shortly after, he then managed to fend off a late challenge from Truex while leading 47 of the remaining 48 laps, which was enough for him to claim his first checkered flag of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series. 

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, March 16, Ryan Blaney secured his first Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 10th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 124.954 mph in 15.356 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 124.792 mph in 15.376 seconds. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead to take the lead and managed to fend off both Berry and teammate Joey Logano for a full circuit around the Last Great Coliseum’s concrete surface to lead the first lap. Blaney and Berry battled dead even for the lead during the following two laps before Berry muscled his No. 4 SunnyD Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Blaney who fell back to second in front of teammate Logano and Chase Briscoe while Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott joined the battle. 

    Through Laps 5 to 10, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Blaney while Briscoe, Hamlin and Elliott were running in the top five. Behind, Michael McDowell moved up to sixth followed by Bubba Wallace and Truex while Logano fell back to ninth in front of Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and William Byron. 

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Berry was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin followed by Blaney, Elliott and Wallace while Chase Briscoe, Truex Jr., McDowell, Larson and Brad Keselowski were running in the top 10 ahead of Harrison Burton, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, William Byron and Christopher Bell. Meanwhile, Logano had fallen to 16th ahead of Kyle Busch, rookie Zane Smith, Austin Cindric and Tyler Reddick. 

    A lap later, however, Hamlin overtook Berry for the lead. By then, Byron, who was running in the top 15, had fallen off the pace after he was hit by Logano, who was hit by Bell first, entering the backstretch, which resulted in Byron getting loose, scraping the backstretch’s outside wall and bumping across Bell before slipping towards the outside wall in Turn 3. Byron would pit with a broken toe link to his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as the event’s first caution period flew on Lap 22 due to debris reported in between Turns 3 and 4. 

    During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted for service for the first time while Reddick remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid mixed strategies, Berry exited first with two fresh tires ahead of Wallace, Elliott, Truex, McDowell and Hamlin. Amid the pit stops, Erik Jones was penalized for equipment interference. 

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 30, Reddick muscled ahead with the lead ahead of Berry and teammate Wallace. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, however, the caution quickly returned after Reddick received a bump from Berry and was pinned in a tight three-wide battle with Wallace and Berry for the lead entering the frontstretch that got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE spinning sideways in front of McDowell, Elliott and the field. With Reddick spinning below the track, he was then hit by rookie Zane Smith while Daniel Hemric, Corey LaJoie, AJ Allmendinger and rookie Carson Hocevar, all of whom were running towards the rear of the field, all wrecked across the frontstretch while stepping off the gas. 

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 38, Wallace fended off Berry from the outside lane to retain the lead while McDowell followed suit in a close third place. With Wallace still leading just past the Lap 40 mark, Hamlin and Elliott battled dead even for fourth place while Blaney and Ty Gibbs battled for sixth. Berry, however, would make his move beneath Wallace to reassume the lead through the frontstretch by Lap 41 while McDowell tried to follow suit. This allowed Hamlin to narrow the gap and challenge McDowell for third place, which he would succeed in doing so on Lap 44 while Blaney and Elliott joined the battle. Amid the early battles towards the front, Berry continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Wallace. 

    On Lap 47, Wallace cycled his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE past Berry to reassume the lead. Team owner Hamlin would quickly follow suit in second along with Blaney and Elliott as Berry settled in fifth by the Lap 50 mark, where Wallace would continue to lead. Three laps later, however, Hamlin assumed the lead in his No. 11 Express Oil Change Toyota Camry XSE following a strong move to the outside lane with four fresh tires entering the backstretch over Wallace. Blaney would also follow suit to move into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott while Wallace fell back to fourth as he was being challenged by Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Briscoe for more. 

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Hamlin was overtaken by Elliott for the race lead in front of a stacked field jostling for positions amid two lanes. With Elliott leading in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Blaney battled Hamlin for second in front of Keselowski while Kyle Busch battled Wallace for fifth place. 

    Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the event’s second caution period flew due to debris reported across the frontstretch after Zane Smith blew a right-front tire. By then, Blaney had led Laps 65 to 68 before the lead was acquired by Kyle Busch, starting on Lap 69. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Busch returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Blaney and Elliott while Busch, Keselowski, Briscoe and Bell followed suit. Amid the pit stops, McDowell was penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall. 

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 79, Hamlin retained the lead after rocketing away from the field past the restart zone as Blaney and Elliott battled for second in front of Busch, Keselowski and Briscoe. With the field behind battling dead even amongst one another for spots, Hamlin would continue to lead until Blaney shoved his way into the lead through the frontstretch on Lap 83. Blaney would stretch his advantage to as high as two-tenths of a second during the following six laps until Hamlin cycled back into the lead on Lap 89. Behind, Kyle Busch prevailed in a tight battle with Elliott for third place as he tried to close in on the two leaders while Keselowski, Briscoe, Bell, Larson Ty Gibbs and Wallace followed suit in the top 10. 

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Hamlin stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Busch followed by Blaney, Elliott and Keselowski while Bell, Briscoe, Gibbs, Larson and John Hunter Nemechek occupied the top 10 in front of Wallace, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher, Berry and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 16th ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Logano and Todd Gilliland while Ryan Preece, McDowell, Austin Cindric, LaJoie and Ross Chastain trailed in the top 25. 

    Ten laps later, Hamlin continued to lead by over three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Busch as Blaney and Bell were running third and fourth, with teammates Elliott and Larson fending off Gibbs for fifth and sixth. Hamlin would then stretch his advantage to more than a second over Blaney, with he and Bell overtaking Busch by the Lap 115 mark. By then, Larson retained fifth in front of Gibbs while Elliott was overtaken by Keselowski and Buescher for seventh and eighth. 

    Then on Lap 120 and with the majority of the field being mired with tire wear concerns, Blaney overtook Hamlin for the lead as Gibbs and Larson followed suit while Hamlin went wide up the track in Turn 1. By then, Busch and Wallace were falling off the pace and losing a bevy of spots amid concerns of losing their tires towards the end of the first stage period. Gibbs then overtook Blaney for the lead on Lap 121 as he proceeded to lap Austin Cindric while Larson moved into the runner-up spot.  

    Two laps later, the caution flew after Busch spun in Turn 2 after he lost a right-tire tire to his No. 8 FICO Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, where Busch would proceed to reverse his entry through the backstretch before spinning it back to the front below the apron as he lost a lap to the leaders. Busch’s incident occurred after Hamlin had hit the outside wall entering the frontstretch due to getting bumped by Byron, with Hamlin also cutting a tire but proceeding straight.

    Busch’s incident was enough for the first stage period to conclude under caution as Ty Gibbs captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Larson settled in second followed by Buescher, Keselowski and Nemechek while Blaney, Truex, Preece, Berry and Bell were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and for another round of fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Larson edged Gibbs off of pit road to exit first while Keselowski, Blaney, Buescher and Nemechek followed suit.  

    The second stage period started on Lap 140 as Larson and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead with a brief advantage through the first two turns and the backstretch before Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 SiriusXM Toyota Camry XSE back into the lead during the following lap. John Hunter Nemechek would follow suit in second along with Berry, with the latter then battling Nemechek for second and challenging Gibbs for the lead by the Lap 145 while Larson fell back to fourth along with Nemechek. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr., who was quick to carve his way to the front, rocketed his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE into the lead by Lap 146 before teammate Gibbs cycled back into the lead by Lap 150. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing entries were running in the top five while Larson was battling for second in front of Bell, Truex and Hamlin.  

    On Lap 154 and with the field running stacked amongst one another through the high banks of Bristol, Larson assumed the lead. Gibbs would reassume the lead three laps later before teammate Hamlin cycled into the lead another two laps.  

    By Lap 175, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead four laps earlier, was leading by nearly two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex followed by Berry, teammate Bell and Buescher while Keselowski, Larson, Logano, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Hamlin had fallen to 11th in front of Blaney, Haley, Daniel Suarez and Kaz Grala. 

    A lap later, the caution flew after Stenhouse, who was running in the top 20, was mired in a midfield stack-up that started with him making contact with McDowell through the backstretch before he made contact with Hemric and Zane Smith through Turn 4 as Stenhouse’s No. 47 Ball Park Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 emerged wobbling entering the frontstretch while Hemric and Smith hit the outside wall. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service and fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first followed by Gibbs and Truex while Bell, Gilliland, Larson, Logano and Keselowski followed suit. Not long after, Ty Gibbs made an extra pit stop for qualifying scuff tires to preserve his sticker tires. 

    As the field restarted under green on Lap 189, Buescher retained the lead from the outside lane over Bell and Truex. Buescher would continue to lead by the Lap 200 mark before Bell would zip by Buescher through the frontstretch during the following lap. Teammate Truex would follow suit in second over Buescher while Nemechek and Larson were running in the top five in front of a stacked field. A few laps later, Daniel Suarez nearly wrecked after making contact with Justin Haley through Turns 1 and 2 while battling for a top-10 spot, but he kept his car straight and dropped to 17th while the event remained under green flag conditions. 

    Twenty-five laps later and amid a series of jostling for positions occurring around the field, Truex cycled past teammate Bell for the lead. By then, teammate Gibbs carved his way back to third place followed by Nemechek and Keselowski while Logano was running sixth ahead of Berry, Hamlin, Grala and Larson. 

    Another three laps later, the caution flew after Kyle Busch, who was mired in 31st and a lap down, spun for a second time on his own in Turn 2. With nearly the entire field led by Bell pitting again, Bell retained the lead after exiting first with four fresh tires while Nemechek, Logano, Hamlin, Larson and Truex followed suit in the top six. Back on the track, however, Spire Motorsports’ LaJoie and Hocevar remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With the event restarting with 11 laps remaining to the second stage’s conclusion, LaJoie led the field entering the first turn before Bell used the four fresh tires to his advantage as he zipped his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE past the Spire entries for the lead. Logano would quickly follow suit in second along with Nemechek as the field stacked up while navigating past Hocevar and LaJoie.  

    On Lap 242, Logano gave Bell a bump through Turns 1 and 2 in his bid for the lead, but Bell withstood his ground as he retained the lead. Logano would give Bell another hit on the side during the following lap as they both battled dead even for the lead in front of Nemechek and Gibbs. With Logano claiming the lead and clearing Bell by Lap 245, Gibbs navigated his way past teammate Bell for second during the following lap while Keselowski and Nemechek battled Bell for third. In the process, Logano retained a narrow lead over Gibbs before Gibbs claimed the lead back on Lap 248.  

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 250, Ty Gibbs claimed his second consecutive Cup stage victory of the day and of the 2024 season. Keselowski overtook Logano through the frontstretch to claim second place while Nemechek, Bell, Truex, Hamlin, Larson, Wallace and Ryan Preece were scored in the top 10. 

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Gibbs peeled off the track to pit road. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead after exiting pit road first with two fresh tires ahead of Logano, Truex, Bell, Gilliland, Nemechek and Keselowski, who was hit on the right front side by Austin Cindric while trying to exit his pit stall. Amid the tire concerns generated by all teams since the event’s start, Goodyear released an extra set of tires for all teams to use. 

    With 236 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Gibbs and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead over Truex while teammate Bell settled in third ahead of Logano, Nemechek and Keselowski. With the field stacked amid two lanes, Gibbs stretched his advantage to three-tenths of a second with 230 laps remaining. By then, Gilliland moved up to fourth as he was running in between Bell and Nemechek while Keselowski and Logano dropped to eighth and ninth as they were running behind Larson and Hamlin on the track. In addition, Ross Chastain was running 10th on two fresh tires as he was trying to retain the spot over Berry and Wallace. 

    With 115 laps remaining, Truex cycled past teammate Gibbs for the lead as teammate Bell trailed by half a second in third place. By then, teammate Hamlin was running in sixth place behind Nemechek and Larson while Berry and Haley cracked the top 10. In addition, Logano was plummeting in the leaderboard as he had dropped out of the top 20 while nearly making contact with teammate Blaney. 

    Down to the final 200 laps of the event, Truex was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Bell while teammate Gibbs trailed by half a second in third place. Behind, Nemechek was in fourth place ahead of Hamlin, thus placing five Toyota competitors in the top five, while Keselowski, Larson, Berry, Gilliland and Haley were running in the top 10 ahead of Grala, Chastain, Blaney, McDowell and Wallace. Meanwhile, Logano dropped to 27th behind Austin Dillon and Buescher was in 20th while Elliott was mired in 23rd in between Hocevar and LaJoie. 

    Nine laps later, the caution flew after Berry, who was running in the top 10, slipped sideways and did a full 360 spin entering the backstretch, but managed to keep his No. 4 entry off the wall. By then, all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors led by Truex were running first through fourth in front of Keselowski, Larson and Nemechek. As the lead lap field led by Truex drove to pit road for service, Hamlin emerged with the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs followed by Larson while teammate Truex exited fifth ahead of Keselowski, Nemechek and Blaney. 

    With the event restarting under green with 178 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns before teammate Gibbs rocketed past Hamlin through the backstretch to return to the lead. Behind, Hamlin fended off teammates Bell and Truex to retain second while Larson tried to challenge Truex for fourth place as he was running ahead of Gilliland, Nemechek and McDowell. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Gibbs stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin with 170 laps remaining.  

    With 160 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell trailed in third place by eight-tenths of a second. With a three-wide action ensuing between Gilliland, Berry and Alex Bowman for top-15 spots and more battles ensuring around the Last Great Coliseum, Gibbs stabilized his narrow advantage to two-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin while teammate Bell, Larson, Keselowski and teammate Truex were running third to sixth with 150 laps remaining. Additionally, Haley was running seventh in front of McDowell, Blaney and Bubba Wallace while Kaz Grala and Nemechek settled in the top 12.  

    Through the final 135 laps of the event, Hamlin zipped by teammate Gibbs for the lead through the frontstretch. By then, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson each made separate contact with the outside wall, but the event remained under green flag conditions.  

    Two laps later, the caution returned after Cindric, who was trying to remain on the lead lap from the leader Hamlin, slipped up the track while avoiding Gilliland and made contact with Stenhouse, who was a lap down, that sent both for a spin in Turn 4 as Hamlin, Gibbs and Bell scattered to avoid the chaos. The caution period prompted the leaders to return to pit road for service, where Hamlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Bell and Gibbs along with Larson, teammate Truex and Keselowski. Amid the pit stops, Larson was penalized for an equipment interference penalty. 

    During the ensuing restart period with 121 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead after muscling away from teammates Bell and Gibbs, though Bell managed to muscle ahead and lead the proceeding lap before Hamlin reclaimed the top spot by the next lap as Gibbs battled teammate Bell in front of teammate Truex and Keselowski. As Hamlin retained the lead in front of his three Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota teammates with 110 laps remaining, Keselowski settled in fifth ahead of McDowell while Haley was running in seventh ahead of Blaney, Wallace and Nemechek. 

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Gibbs, who reassumed the lead from teammate Hamlin a lap earlier, was leading ahead of teammates Bell, Hamlin and Truex, respectively, while Keselowski retained fifth ahead of McDowell, Haley, Nemechek, Wallace and Berry.  

    Fifteen laps later, Gibbs continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Bell as teammates Hamlin and Truex followed suit in the top four. Another nine laps later, Hamlin nearly took the lead from teammate Gibbs, but he had to move up the track to avoid hitting Gilliland as Gibbs retained the lead in front of Hamlin and Truex while Bell was in fourth ahead of Keselowski. 

    Not long after and with the concern of tire wear returning amongst the teams, Hamlin, who assumed the lead with 75 laps remaining, was leading over teammate Truex. By then, a bevy of competitors including Berry, Blaney, Bell, Larson and Gilliland were losing ground of the leaders due to tire wear. Gibbs would then lose ground of the lead as his tires were wearing out, which allowed Keselowski to move up to third place. With Briscoe also falling off the pace, Blaney fell off the pace after he lost a tire, which forced him to pit, and Larson pitted under green. Bell would then pit under green with 60 laps remaining due to a flat tire while Hamlin retained a narrow lead over teammate Truex as he was trying to preserve his tires. 

    With 55 laps remaining and with nearly the entire field being pinned a lap down after having made a pit stop under green for fresh tires, the top-six competitors led by Hamlin were scored on the lead lap. Two laps later, Hamlin surrendered the lead to pit under green as Hocevar made contact with the wall, though the event remained under green flag conditions. Teammate Truex would pit another two laps later along with Keselowski. Once Alex Bowman pitted from the lead with 49 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled back into the lead. 

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over teammate Truex while Berry, Keselowski and Larson were scored in the top five ahead of Buescher, Bell, Nemechek, Haley and Bowman. Hamlin’s advantage would then shrink to three-tenths of a second over Truex with 30 laps remaining as they were mired in lapped traffic.  

    With 20 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over teammate Truex as they both continued to be mired in lapped traffic. With Keselowski scored in third ahead of Berry and Larson, Hamlin managed to navigate his way through the lapped traffic to fend off Truex and retain the lead with 10 laps remaining.  

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Truex as both cleared a majority of the lapped traffic, but the latter kept the former within his sights.  

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin remained as the leader by half a second over Truex. With Truex unable to mount a final lap charge on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for a final circuit, Hamlin was able to preserve his tires and navigate his way around the Bristol circuit smoothly for a final time as he claimed the checkered flag by a second over Truex. 

    With the victory, Hamlin, who became the fifth winner through the 2024 season’s first five events, recorded his 52nd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his fourth at Bristol, with the victory being his first in the spring, and his first since winning the Bristol Night Race last September. The 2024 Cup season marks Hamlin’s 18th season where he has achieved at least one victory in NASCAR’s premier series as he also recorded the second consecutive victory in recent weeks for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.  

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[Tire management], That’s what I grew up doing here in the short tracks of the whole mid-Atlantic [region],” Hamlin said on FOX. “South Boston [Speedway], Martinsville [Speedway], all those tracks. It’s just what I grew up doing. Once it became a tire management race, I really liked our chances, but obviously, the veteran in Martin [Truex Jr.], he knew how to do it as well. We just had a great car. Great team. The pit crew just did a phenomenal job all day. Can’t say enough about them. Man, it feels so good to win at Bristol.” 

    Truex, who has finished in the top 15 through this season’s first four-scheduled events, came home with a strong runner-up result for his first top-five finish of the 2024 campaign. 

    “Just really proud of my team, everybody on our Auto-Owners Camry,” Truex said. “[Crew chief] James [Small] and the guys did a great job this weekend in having a plan coming here. I guess this tire management thing fit into my wheelhouse here at Bristol. The difference was just coming down to the pits so far behind Denny. I had to use mine [tires] up more than him on the last run and then, the last four or five laps of the race, my right rear [tire] was cored. We gave it a hell of an effort. I had a lot of fun today. Second always hurts a little, but it’s a really good run for us here. It’s been a great season so far for us.” 

    Keselowski settled in third place while Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson finished in the top five and as the final group of competitors to finish on the lead lap. John Hunter Nemechek, Buescher, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell, who were all a lap down, finished in the top 10. 

    Notably, Berry finished 12th, pole-sitter Blaney ended up 16th, Logano fell back to 22nd and Kyle Busch ended up 25th behind teammate Austin Dillon. 

    There were a race-record 54 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 98 laps. In addition, only five of the 36 starters finished on the lead lap. 

    Following the fifth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson and Truex Jr. are tied for the regular-season lead in the points standings as they are both ahead by seven points over Ty Gibbs, eight over Ryan Blaney and 12 over Denny Hamlin. 

    Results. 

    1. Denny Hamlin, 163 laps led 

    2. Martin Truex Jr., 54 laps led 

    3. Brad Keselowski, one lap led 

    4. Alex Bowman, three laps led 

    5. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led 

    6. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down 

    7. Chris Buescher, one lap down, 17 laps led 

    8. Chase Elliott, one lap down, five laps led 

    9. Ty Gibbs, one lap down, 137 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner 

    10. Christopher Bell, one lap down, 29 laps led 

    11. Michael McDowell, one lap down 

    12. Josh Berry, one lap down, 25 laps led 

    13. Chase Briscoe, two laps down 

    14. Ryan Preece, two laps down 

    15. Ross Chastain, two laps down 

    16. Ryan Blaney, two laps down, 14 laps led 

    17. Justin Haley, two laps down 

    18. Daniel Suarez, two laps down 

    19. Kaz Grala, two laps down 

    20. Erik Jones, two laps down 

    21. Corey LaJoie, two laps down, four laps led 

    22. Joey Logano, two laps down, five laps led 

    23. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down 

    24. Austin Dillon, two laps down 

    25. Kyle Busch, two laps down, five laps led 

    26. Todd Gilliland, three laps down 

    27. Carson Hocevar, three laps down 

    28. Daniel Hemric, four laps down 

    29. Bubba Wallace, four laps down, 15 laps led 

    30. Tyler Reddick, five laps down, four laps led 

    31. Austin Cindric, five laps down 

    32. Harrison Burton, five laps down 

    33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down 

    34. Noah Gragson, six laps down 

    35. William Byron, eight laps down 

    36. Zane Smith – OUT, Engine 

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ fourth annual running of the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled for next Sunday, March 24, and will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Ryan Blaney scores Busch Light Pole at Bristol

    Ryan Blaney scores Busch Light Pole at Bristol

    Ryan Blaney captured the Busch Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway Saturday evening with a lap time of 15.356 seconds at 124.954 mph in his No. 12 Team Penske Ford. It is his first pole at Bristol and the 10th of his career.

    Qualifying was challenging as the resin on the inside lane of the concrete track seemed to deteriorate quickly, providing significantly less grip from start to finish during the session.

    “Proud of this whole Menards group”, Blaney said. “Our Ford Mustang was fast all day – really good in Round 1 [of qualifying] and made some adjustments for the second round. The track really caught everybody by surprise, honestly. The time fall-off and grip loss behind the wheel was incredible, it was huge. So it was, like, who could not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?

    “That was fun, it was fun working through it. I wish I could do it over again and try to make our car even better because I think there was still some more out there. Proud of everybody at Menards, Ford, Advance Auto Parts, DEX Imaging, Wabash, Wurth and everybody that makes it possible. It’s cool to get our first pole of the year and excited to get going tomorrow.”

    “The track kind of caught everybody by surprise,” Blaney said. “The time fall-off and the grip loss behind the wheel was incredible. It was like, ‘Who can not mess up a lap and still put a decent time down?’ Great to get our first pole of the year, and ready to go tomorrow.”

    Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry was second fastest in the No. 4 Ford (124.792 mph) and will start beside Blaney on the front row, claiming his best Cup Series career start.

    “It means a lot,” Berry said after qualifying. “Obviously being at Bristol that’s really cool, but anywhere at this point it would mean a lot. These guys have been working really hard and they kept me jacked up and we’ve been putting in the work trying to get better. We just need a mistake-free day tomorrow. If we do that, we’ll be in contention.”

    Denny Hamlin was third quickest (124.178 mph) in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, followed by Team Penske’s Joey Logano (123.746 mph) in the No. 22 Ford and Chase Elliott (122.882 mph) in the No. 8 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

    Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, William Byron, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson rounded out the top 10 in the qualifying session.

    The green flag for the Food City 500 is set for 3:47 p.m. ET Sunday and will be televised on FOX with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM Radio.

    Starting Lineup for the Food City 500

    1. 1. Ryan Blaney
    2. 2. Josh Berry (R)
    3. 3. Denny Hamlin
    4. 4. Joey Logano
    5. 5. Chase Elliott
    6. 6. Chase Briscoe
    7. 7. Michael McDowell
    8. 8. William Byron
    9. 9. Bubba Wallace
    10. 10. Kyle Larson
    11. 11. Martin Truex Jr.
    12. 12. Christopher Bell
    13. 13. Harrison Burton
    14. 14. Kyle Busch
    15. 15. Erik Jones
    16. 16. Zane Smith (R)
    17. 17. Brad Keselowski
    18. 18. Corey LaJoie
    19. 19. Ty Gibbs
    20. 20. Daniel Hemric
    21. 21. Austin Cindric
    22. 22. Noah Gragson
    23. 23. Tyler Reddick
    24. 24. Todd Gilliland
    25. 25. Ryan Preece
    26. 26. John Hunter Nemechek
    27. 27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
    28. 28. Daniel Suarez
    29. 29. Alex Bowman
    30. 30. A.J. Allmendinger
    31. 31. Austin Dillon
    32. 32. Justin Haley
    33. 33. Kaz Grala (R)
    34. 34. Chris Buescher
    35. 35. Carson Hocevar (R)
    36. 36. Ross Chastain
  • Christopher Bell muscles to first Cup victory of 2024 at Phoenix

    Christopher Bell muscles to first Cup victory of 2024 at Phoenix

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results. 

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

    2. Chris Buescher 

    3. Ty Gibbs, 57 laps led 

    4. Brad Keselowski 

    5. Ryan Blaney 

    6. Ross Chastain 

    7. Martin Truex Jr., 55 laps led 

    8. Michael McDowell 

    9. Chase Briscoe 

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

    11. Denny Hamlin, 68 laps led 

    12. Noah Gragson 

    13. Daniel Suarez 

    14. Kyle Larson 

    15. Carson Hocevar 

    16. Bubba Wallace 

    17. Todd Gilliland, 14 laps led 

    18. William Byron 

    19. Chase Elliott 

    20. Alex Bowman 

    21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    22. Kyle Busch, one lap down 

    23. Ryan Preece, one lap down 

    24. Justin Haley, one lap down 

    25. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down 

    26. Josh Berry, two laps down 

    27. Harrison Burton, two laps down 

    28. Daniel Hemric, two laps down 

    29. Zane Smith, three laps down 

    30. Kaz Grala, three laps down 

    31. Erik Jones, seven laps down 

    32. Austin Dillon, eight laps down 

    33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident 

    34. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident 

    35. Derek Kraus – OUT, Accident 

    36. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident 

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

  • Larson dominates for first Cup victory of 2024 at Las Vegas

    Larson dominates for first Cup victory of 2024 at Las Vegas

    With Tyler Reddick hounding behind on three different scenarios, Kyle Larson struck gold during all three stages, including the latest, to land a dominant NASCAR Cup Series victory in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 3. 

    “I knew Tyler (Reddick) was going to be the guy to beat,” Larson said after the race. “From the first stage, he was really fast there. I was hoping those guys were going to get racing a little bit longer behind me because I felt it was going to time out to where he was running really hard and getting the tow to catch me at the end. Thankfully, I was able to air-lock him a couple of laps and get him tight. I thought (Reddick) and Bubba (Wallace) were going to get working together again to build a run, so I was happy that didn’t happen.

    “All in all, such a great, great job by this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Just their execution, restarts, pit road.. all of that was great. Cool to get a win here in Las Vegas again, back-to-back, and swept all the stages. Can’t ask for much more than that.”

    The 2021 Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led eight times for a race-high 181 of 267 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside pole-sitter Joey Logano but quickly made his presence known by assuming the lead for the first time on the third lap.

    In an event highlighted by gusty wind temperatures, pit strategies and racing that fanned out to nearly five lanes, Larson fended off late charges from Reddick to capture both Stage 1 and 2 of the event. During the final restart with 27 laps remaining, Larson would then fend off Ross Chastain amid a late-race duel. He then spent the remainder of the event fending off another charge from Reddick, who used every inch of the circuit and the outside wall to overtake Larson but was unable to do so as Larson capitalized to achieve his first Cup victory of the 2024 season and cash in on a Vegas victory for a second consecutive time.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, March 2, Joey Logano secured his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season and the 30th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 184.357 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 184.225 mph in 29.312 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, Ross Chastain dropped to the rear of the field due to a replaced hood wrap. Ryan Preece also dropped to the rear of the event in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the practice session along with Justin Haley with a changed steering rack that prevented him from qualifying. 

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Logano muscled his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead entering the first two turns as the field fanned out to multiple lanes. With the field still fanned out through the backstretch and through Turns 3 and 4, Logano proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of a hard-charging Larson while Austin Cindric, William Byron, Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace followed suit. Amid the early battles, Larson would then assume the lead from Logano by the third lap. 

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Larson was leading by half a second over teammate Byron followed by Logano, Cindric and Martin Truex Jr. while Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Wallace, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ty Gibbs occupied the top 10 in front of Chase Elliott, rookie Carson Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick. By then, rookie Zane Smith made an unscheduled pit stop under green after he hit the backstretch’s outside wall a few laps earlier. 

    On Lap 10, the event’s first caution period flew after Bell, who was mired within the top 20, fell off the pace through the frontstretch as he emerged with smoke and a flat right-rear tire to his No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE.  

    During the event’s first caution period, the lead lap field led by Logano pitted for service. Following the pit stops amid mixed strategies, Chris Buescher exited in first place after only opting for a two-tire pit stop followed by Briscoe, Corey LaJoie, Reddick and Suarez while Larson, the first competitor who emerged with four fresh tires, exited sixth ahead of Byron, Logano, Cindric and Wallace. Amid the pit stops, Todd Gilliland was penalized for crew members over the pit wall too soon. 

    When the race restarted on Lap 15, Buescher and Briscoe dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to battle dead even for the lead through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch until Byron and LaJoie attempted to make it a four-wide battle for the lead. With Byron going from fourth to second through the frontstretch, he then battled Briscoe on four fresh tires through the first two turns until he muscled ahead through Turns 3 and 4 before the Lap 17 mark. With Byron leading ahead of Briscoe, LaJoie and Larson, Daniel Suarez was in fifth ahead of Bubba Wallace and Buescher while Tyler Reddick, Cindric, Logano, Truex and Stenhouse followed suit in the top 12. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by Briscoe, Corey LaJoie and Wallace while Suarez, Buescher, Reddick, Truex and Austin Cindric were running in the top 10 ahead of Logano, Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Stenhouse, Ryan Blaney, Hocevar, Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon. 

    A lap later, Buescher, who was running seventh on two fresh right-side tires, went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 1 after losing a right-front wheel to his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse due to a lug nut not being tight, which drew the event’s second caution period as Buescher’s event came to an early end. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Byron returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Suarez and McDowell remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid another round of mixed strategies, Truex exited pit road first on two fresh tires while Kyle Busch, Larson, Byron, Hamlin, Wallace and Briscoe followed suit. The event would then be placed in a red flag period for more than 10 minutes to allow the on-track safety crew to finalize repairs to the outside wall towards Turn 1. 

    When the red flag lifted and the event restarted under green on Lap 35, Suarez received a shove from Truex to maintain the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out to three lanes entering the backstretch. Amid the battles between those who pitted and those who either took two or four fresh tires during the previous caution period, Suarez maintained the lead during the following lap ahead of a side-by-side battle involving McDowell and Truex while John Hunter Nemechek, Larson, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Byron and Wallace jostled within the top 10 along with LaJoie, Reddick and Hocevar.  

    On Lap 43, Kyle Busch battled and overtook Suarez for the lead as Larson and Truex also joined the battle towards the front. Larson would then quickly move into the runner-up spot as Suarez was trying to fend off Truex for third place ahead of McDowell and Nemechek, both of whom were running on old tires, as Hamlin followed suit in seventh. A few laps later, the battle at the front between Kyle Busch and Larson slowly started to brew as Larson trailed Busch by two-tenths of a second. 

    On Lap 48, Byron, who was running towards the front early in the event, made an unscheduled pit stop under green to have a large piece of black debris removed from the front nose of the No. 24 Z by HP Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. With Byron losing a lap in the process, Larson continued to pressure Busch for the lead through every turn and straightaway while Suarez trailed in third place by nearly two seconds. 

    By Lap 60, Kyle Busch retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Larson. Two laps later, however, Larson zipped his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 around Busch’s No. 8 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the first two turns and entering the backstretch, with the former leading the event. By then, Reddick trailed in third place by more than two seconds followed by Toyota competitors Truex, Hamlin and Ty Gibbs while Suarez retained seventh ahead of Cindric, LaJoie and a hard-charging Bell. 

    At the Lap 70 mark, Larson stretched his advantage to more than half a second over Busch followed by Reddick, Truex and Hamlin while Ty Gibbs, LaJoie, Bell, Chastain and Cindric trailed in the top 10. By then, Suarez fell back to 14th behind Logano, Blaney and Bowman, Elliott was in 17th and Wallace had fallen back to 20th. 

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Reddick charged his way to a runner-up result followed by Truex and Busch while Ty Gibbs, Hamlin, LaJoie, Chastain, Cindric and Bell were scored in the top 10. By then, 33 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap while Byron, who was mired in 34th, fended off JJ Yeley to emerge as the first competitor who was scored a lap down and received the free pass during the stage break period.  

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Truex exited first followed by teammate Hamlin, Larson, LaJoie, Busch, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Bowman, Logano and Cindric. Amid the pit stops, Reddick plummeted to 16th after he pitted too close to his pit wall after he slid into his stall, which forced him to reverse and straighten his car. 

    The second stage period started on Lap 88 as teammates Truex and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes as teammates Truex and Hamlin battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the lead. With Truex being pressured by LaJoie, Larson and Ty Gibbs for the runner-up spot, Hamlin maintained the lead by nearly four-tenths of a second in front of the field that continued to jostle for spots. 

    By Lap 100, Hamlin was leading by half a second over a hard-charging Larson while Truex, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, Ryan Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Chastain, Bell and Bowman were running in the top 10. Behind, Reddick was up to 11th ahead of Logano, Hocevar, Cindric and Elliott while Briscoe, Noah Gragson, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace and Harrison Burton followed suit in the top 20 ahead of Suarez, Todd Gilliland, Brad Keselowski, McDowell and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Byron was mired back in 28th behind rookie Josh Berry and Ryan Preece, Erik Jones was in 29th and Nemechek was back in 31st in front of Daniel Hemric and newcomer Derek Kraus. 

    Ten laps later, Larson, who reassumed the lead five laps earlier, had stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Busch, LaJoie and Truex were running in the top five. 

    Another eight laps later, a cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Wallace and Stenhouse pitted along with Blaney, Suarez, Austin Dillon, Byron, Truex, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano, Cindric, Elliott, Kyle Busch and others. The leader Larson would then pit by Lap 120 along with LaJoie before Chastain, who led the previous lap, pitted under green. Amid the pit stops, Cindric, Hemric and Chastain were all penalized for speeding on pit road. With the green flag pit stops cycling through by Lap 122, Larson cycled back into the lead as he was leading by nearly half a second over Hamlin while Blaney, Busch and Ty Gibbs were running in the top five. 

    At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Hamlin while third-place Busch also trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Blaney and Ty Gibbs were running in the top five while Truex, Reddick, Logano, LaJoie and Elliott occupied the top 10 spots in front of Austin Dillon, Briscoe, Hocevar, Bell and Suarez. Meanwhile, Byron was in 17th, Nemechek was mired in 22nd, Chastain was the first competitor scored a lap down in 30th and Wallace was scored three laps down in 35th.  

    By Lap 150, Larson continued to stretch his advantage as he was leading by four seconds over Busch while Hamlin, Blaney and Ty Gibbs continued to run in the top five. Behind, Reddick retained sixth ahead of Truex, Logano, Elliott and LaJoie while Austin Dillon, Briscoe, Byron, Bell and Hocevar occupied the top 15 in front of Bowman, Suarez, Noah Gragson, Brad Keselowski and McDowell. 

    Five laps later, the caution flew after Bell, who was running 14th behind Briscoe, got loose through Turns 1 and 2 before he spun from the middle to the bottom of the track entering the backstretch. By then, Hocevar, who pitted five laps earlier due to a flat right-front tire, was mired a lap down while Derek Kraus received the free pass by being the first competitor scored a lap down ahead of Kaz Grala and Chastain. 

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Bowman exited first following a two-tire pit stop while teammate Larson, the first competitor with four fresh tires, followed suit along with Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney, Logano, Truex, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Byron. Amid the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation during a slow pit service while Brad Keselowski lost a bevy of spots after he had to reverse to leave his pit stall. In addition, Kyle Busch dropped to 18th after he endured a slow pit stop to get the right front tire tightened. 

    With the event restarting with four laps remaining to the second stage’s conclusion, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Bowman retained a narrow advantage over teammate Larson, Hamlin, Reddick, Blaney and Truex. Larson would then overtake Bowman through the frontstretch during the following lap as Reddick tried to follow suit in his No. 45 Nasty Beast Toyota Camry XSE. With Bowman and Reddick battling for the runner-up spot, the latter would prevail during the ensuing lap as Hamlin, Blaney and Truex would overtake Bowman on four fresh tires.  

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Larson fended off another late charge from Reddick to capture his second consecutive Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Reddick settled in second ahead of Hamlin, Blaney and Truex while Elliott, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Logano and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap. 

    During the stage break, some led by Bowman pitted while the rest led by teammate Larson remained on the track. 

    With 95 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Larson and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Reddick, Hamlin and Truex fanned out to three lanes while battling for second place in front of another three-wide battle that involved Blaney, Elliott and Briscoe. With Reddick prevailing in the three-wide battle for second, Larson retained the lead as Blaney, Briscoe and Elliott continued to battle amid three lanes for fifth place in front of Logano and Austin Dillon. Blaney, Briscoe and Elliott continued to battle dead even amid three lanes for fifth place during the ensuing laps and in front of more on-track battles while Larson was leading by more than a second over Reddick. 

    With 80 laps remaining, Larson was leading by less than two seconds over Reddick while Hamlin, Truex and Briscoe were running in the top five ahead of Blaney, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Busch and Elliott. Behind, hometown hero Noah Gragson was up in 11th ahead of Logano, Hocevar, Erik Jones and LaJoie while Bowman, Byron, Chastain, Suarez and Josh Berry occupied the top 20 in front of Todd Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Stenhouse, McDowell and Nemechek. 

    Fifteen laps later, Larson continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick, who was slowly gaining ground on Larson as teammate Wallace, who was multiple laps down to have a lug nut cut loose from his entry, was helping Reddick gain ground on the leader, while Truex, Blaney and Hamlin were running in the top five. Behind, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Busch and Elliott were running sixth through ninth while Hocevar carved his way into the top 10 and he was running 10th ahead of a hard-charging Byron. Meanwhile, teammates Gragson and Briscoe battled for 12th while Logano and Erik Jones occupied the top 15 ahead of Chastain, LaJoie, Suarez, Bowman and Berry. 

    With 63 laps remaining, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Briscoe pitted his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Bowman would pit his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap as Larson retained the lead by half a second over Reddick. Ty Gibbs would then pit his No. 54 He Gets Us Toyota Camry XSE with 59 laps remaining before Logano, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Reddick, Blaney, Hamlin and Kyle Busch would follow suit to pit under green. The leader Larson would then pit with 56 laps remaining along with more competitors before Byron and Hocevar would pit during the following lap. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for pitting outside his pit box. 

    With 52 laps remaining, Suarez, who led the previous four laps, pitted his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the lead as McDowell and Kraus, both of whom have yet to pit, remained on the track. By then, Larson, who managed to blend back onto the track ahead of Reddick, was trying to close the gap from third place while Reddick and Blaney followed suit in the top five. McDowell, who would lead four laps, would then pit with 48 laps remaining and hand the lead to Kraus, who would be overtaken by Larson for the lead with 46 laps remaining as Kraus, who led his first two laps in the Cup Series, would then pit. 

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Larson was leading by nearly two seconds over Reddick as Blaney, Truex and Ty Gibbs trailed in the top five. Behind, Hamlin was back in sixth ahead of Logano, Bowman, Elliott and Austin Dillon while Gragson, Hocevar, Byron, Berry and Erik Jones were running in the top 15.  

    Seven laps later, the caution flew after LaJoie, who was running 18th, slid sideways in front of Keselowski as he spun his No. 7 USANA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up towards the outside wall in between Turns 1 and 2 before he slid back down across the apron. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Larson retained the lead after exiting first ahead of Chastain, Reddick, Blaney, Hamlin, Logano, Elliott, Truex, Bowman and Ty Gibbs. 

    As the event restarted with 27 laps remaining, the field fanned out through the first two turns as Larson, who nearly slid up the track, was battling Chastain for the lead through the backstretch. Larson then managed to rocket ahead from the inside lane entering Turn 3 while Reddick was battling Hamlin for third place in front of Blaney and Truex. Chastain then tried to mount another fight and challenge Larson from the outside lane for the lead during the following lap as Hamlin joined the battle. Larson, however, cleared Chastain’s No. 1 Kubota Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the proceeding lap as Reddick and Hamlin battled again for third place with nearly 25 laps remaining. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson was leading by a second over Reddick, who navigated his way past Chastain for the runner-up spot, as Blaney and Gragson were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin slipped to seventh behind teammate Ty Gibbs while Truex, Logano and Elliott were battling in the top 10 ahead of Austin Dillon, Suarez, Keselowski, Byron and Bowman. 

    With 15 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Reddick while Blaney and Chastain dueled for third place in front of Gragson and Ty Gibbs. Five laps later, however, Larson’s advantage dropped to four-tenths of a second over Reddick as the latter, who was running faster lap times, started to gain ground on the former for the lead. By then, Blaney was in third along with Chastain, both of whom were trailing the leaders by three seconds, while Ty Gibbs and Hamlin overtook Gragson for fifth and sixth. 

    With five laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by a narrow margin over Reddick as the latter continued to stalk and keep Larson within his sights around every corner and straightaway while also trying to narrow the gap. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson, who fended off Reddick to break his momentum during the previous lap, remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Reddick. With Reddick unable to regain his momentum, Larson was able to navigate his way around the Vegas circuit with the top spot and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag by four-tenths of a second over Reddick 

    With the victory, Larson notched his 24th career victory in the Cup Series and his third at Vegas as he also became the third different winner through the first three events of the 2024 Cup Series season. He also made Chevrolet three-for-three through the first three Cup events on the 2024 schedule and he delivered the 10th Vegas victory for Hendrick Motorsports as he ignites his early bid for his second title in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “I knew Tyler [Reddick] was gonna be the guy to beat from the first stage,” Larson, who celebrated with his kids on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “He was really fast there. I was hoping those guys were gonna get racing a little bit longer behind me because I felt like it was gonna time out to where he was running really hard and getting the toe to catch me at the end. Thankfully, [I] was able to air-block him a couple laps and get him tight. All in all, such a great job by this HendrickCars.com Chevy team. Just their execution, pit road, restarts, all that was great. Cool to get a win here at Vegas again. Back-to-back [wins], swept all the stages again. Can’t ask for much more.”

    Reddick, who finished second behind Larson during both stages and in the final running order, was left disappointed over the result and falling one spot short of capturing the first victory of the season for himself and 23XI Racing.

    “Kyle [Larson] did a really good job there of pretty much taking away every option I had to close the gap,” Reddick said. “He seemed pretty good in the middle [lane] and I was obviously really good on the bottom. He just never let me have it right, so I kept trying to run higher and higher. He was running right around the middle of the racetrack there and was pretty efficient to block both lanes. Every time I got close, we were running just wide-open enough in Turn 1 and 2 that he could defend pretty well. It’s frustrating. I feel like we were never upfront really all day long until it got to the stage’s ends. We’ll continue to work on it, but good rebound for our team today.”

    Blaney came home in third place followed by Chastain, who made the two fresh tires work to his advantage, and Ty Gibbs. Noah Gragson recorded a strong sixth-place result while Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin, Logano and Byron finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Suarez finished 11th in front of Elliott, Keselowski, Erik Jones and rookie Carson Hocevar. In addition, Kyle Busch ended up 26th, Kraus finished 28th in his Cup Series debut and LaJoie ended up 32nd.  

    There were 24 lead changes for 15 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 35 laps. In addition, 31 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the third event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by eight points over Ryan Blaney, 14 over Martin Truex Jr., 15 over William Byron and 20 over Ross Chastain and 23 over both Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott. 

    Results. 

    1. Kyle Larson, 181 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Tyler Reddick, one lap led

    3. Ryan Blaney 

    4. Ross Chastain, two laps led 

    5. Ty Gibbs 

    6. Noah Gragson 

    7. Martin Truex Jr., four laps led

    8. Denny Hamlin, 16 laps led

    9. Joey Logano, two laps led

    10. William Byron, 15 laps led

    11. Daniel Suarez, 15 laps led

    12. Chase Elliott 

    13. Brad Keselowski 

    14. Erik Jones 

    15. Carson Hocevar 

    16. Austin Dillon 

    17. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 

    18. Alex Bowman, three laps led

    19. Daniel Hemric, one lap led

    20. Josh Berry 

    21. Chase Briscoe, one lap led

    22. John Hunter Nemechek 

    23. Ryan Preece 

    24. Todd Gilliland 

    25. Michael McDowell, four laps led 

    26. Kyle Busch, 18 laps led

    27. Justin Haley 

    28. Derek Kraus, two laps led 

    29. Austin Cindric 

    30. Harrison Burton 

    31. Kaz Grala 

    32. Corey LaJoie, one lap down 

    33. Christopher Bell, two laps down 

    34. JJ Yeley, six laps down 

    35. Bubba Wallace, 13 laps down 

    36. Zane Smith, 13 laps down 

    37. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 10, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX. 

  • Suárez edges Blaney and Busch in three-wide finish for second Cup career victory at Atlanta

    Suárez edges Blaney and Busch in three-wide finish for second Cup career victory at Atlanta

    In a three-wide photo finish for the ages, Daniel Suárez bested NASCAR Cup Series champions Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch to score a wild victory in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 25.

    “It’s an amazing feeling,” Suárez said after the race. “This team did an amazing job all race long. We wrecked on Lap two. The guys fixed the car and we were able to make it good again, make it fast again. It took some tweaking, but unbelievable. Freeway Insurance, Trackhouse, Chevrolet, and all the people that believed in us from day one – it’s unbelievable to do this in this fashion.”

    The 2016 Xfinity Series champion from Monterrey, Mexico, led twice for nine of 260 scheduled laps in an event where he was involved in a 16-car pileup on the second lap. Amid the early incident, Suárez persevered through nine additional caution periods to methodically carve his way back to the front, where he would lead for the first time with 12 laps remaining. During a five-lap shootout to the finish, Suárez, who lost the lead to Ryan Blaney, was left to battle Kyle Busch dead even for the runner-up spot during the next four laps.

    Then on the final lap, both Suárez and Busch took Blaney in a tight three-wide battle in front of the stacked field through the final two turns. All three competitors remained dead even against one another through the frontstretch until Suárez just managed to emerge ahead of both Blaney and Busch by a nose to claim his second NASCAR Cup Series career victory and snap a one-year winless drought.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, February 24, Michael McDowell achieved his first Cup Series pole position of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 178.844 mph in 30.999 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Joey Logano, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying speed at 178.424 mph in 31.072 seconds.

    Prior to the event, however, Logano dropped to the rear of the field and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start of the event due to wearing illegal gloves and violating NASCAR’s SFI specification. Chase Elliott also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced, McDowell and Kyle Busch, who moved up to the front row, dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Busch, who was drafted by Kyle Larson on the inside lane, quickly moved in front of McDowell entering the backstretch. McDowell, however, fought back as he transitioned from the outside to inside lane, but Busch was able to muscle ahead from the outside lane and lead the first lap.

    Following the completion of the first lap, however, the first caution flew after a checkup towards the front of the pack caused by Gilliland on the outside lane resulted with Austin Dillon, who was running in the top 10 and ran into the rear of Austin Cindric, getting hit by Martin Truex Jr. as he spun his No. 3 BREZTRI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 exiting the frontstretch, which then triggered a multi-car wreck entering Turn 1 that collected Bubba Wallace, Ty Gibbs, Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek, Erik Jones, rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suárez, Elliott, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Preece, BJ McLeod and Harrison Burton.

    During the event’s first caution period, a bevy of names that included Ross Chastain, Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookie Zane Smith, Logano and the wrecked competitors pitted while the rest led by Busch remained on the track. By then, Josh Williams took his Kaulig Racing entry to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 10, Busch quickly transitioned from the outside to inside lane to retain the lead in front of a side-by-side duel in front of McDowell and Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch. Larson then challenged Busch with a move to the inside lane and he managed to slide in front of Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 3 and 4 to take the lead. Busch, however, responded back by overtaking Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 during the following lap as he would retain the lead while Chris Buescher challenged Larson for the runner-up spot.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Busch was leading ahead of Chase Briscoe and Larson while McDowell and Buescher followed suit in front of two tight-packed lanes. With the field slowing fanning out to three lanes while spread out around the Atlanta circuit, Busch, who was swapping against Larson for the lead a few laps earlier, continued to lead by the Lap 20 mark ahead of Larson while McDowell, Blaney and Buescher battled in the top five. Behind, Briscoe was in sixth while William Byron, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Denny Hamlin, Truex, Zane Smith, Gilliland, Ty Gibbs and LaJoie occupied the top 15 on the track.

    Nearing the Lap 25 mark, the event’s second caution flew after Buescher, who was running in the top 10, got loose and spun his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse in front of William Byron entering Turn 4, though he was dodged by oncoming traffic and was able to limp his entry to pit road for four fresh tires. During the caution period, some led by Byron pitted while the rest led by new race leader Ryan Blaney remained on the track.

    At the start of the proceeding restart on Lap 31, Blaney muscled ahead on the outside lane and fended off Larson through the first two turns and the backstretch until Larson fought back on the inside lane, with both dueling for the lead in front of Busch, Briscoe, McDowell and Denny Hamlin. Amid the two-pack formation towards the front, Blaney retained the top spot until Busch rocketed his way back to the lead just past the Lap 33 mark. With Busch leading, McDowell battled dead even with Blaney for the runner-up spot while Chastain, Larson, Briscoe and Truex followed suit by the Lap 35 mark.

    Through the first 40 scheduled laps, Busch continued to lead in front of McDowell, Blaney, Chastain, Larson, Briscoe, Truex, Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Bubba Wallace while Byron, rookie Josh Berry, LaJoie, Logano, Gilliland, Cindric, Ty Gibbs, Keselowski, Zane Smith and Justin Haley were running in the top 20 amid two tight-packed lanes.

    Ten laps later and with the field dispersed, McDowell, who reassumed the top spot on Lap 41, was still leading in front of Blaney, Busch, truex and Larson while Hamlin, Chastain, Briscoe, Stenhouse and Wallace were running in the top 10 in front of Byron, Logano, LaJoie, Cindric and Keselowski.

    Another two laps later, the caution flew after Hamlin, who was battling for a top-five spot on the track, made contact with Kyle Busch as he spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE through the frontstretch’s grass before coming to a stop just towards the exit of pit road. During the caution period, a majority of the field pitted while the rest led by McDowell remained on the track.

    With the event restarting with a single lap remaining to the first stage’s period, McDowell and Blaney dueled for the lead exiting the frontstretch and through the first two turns until McDowell started to muscle ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. As the field behind fanned out to three lanes through Turns 3 and 4, McDowell was able to muscle ahead and capture his first stage victory of the season on Lap 60. Blaney settled in second followed by Chastain, Larson and Busch while Truex, Stenhouse, Wallace, Byron and Gilliland, all of whom earned the first wave of stage points, were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by McDowell pitted while the rest led by teammate Gilliland remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Blaney nearly collided with Ryan Preece while trying to exit his pit stall amid a congested pit road stretch with those who pitted.

    The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Gilliland and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Logano dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gilliland, who received a strong push from LaJoie on the inside lane, muscled ahead and managed to slide in front of Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse through the backstretch. With Buescher, LaJoie and Zane Smith following suit, Gilliland retained the lead in front of Logano as Josh Berry, Harrison Burton and Cindric joined the battle towards the front.

    On Lap 72, Zane Smith, who was rim-riding towards the outside wall while running in the top five, made contact with the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 after he got loose just as Logano slid up in front of him, which stalled his momentum as his No. 71 City of Refuge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 slowly began to backslide through the field. With the field remaining under green flag conditions as Smith pitted, Gilliland retained the lead followed by Logano, Buescher, Berry and Harrison Burton while Elliott, Hamlin, Cindric, LaJoie and Ty Gibbs were running in the top 10 by the Lap 75 mark.

    Through the first 80 scheduled laps and with the majority of the field running in tight-pack formation amid two lanes, Gilliland continued to lead in front of Ford teammates Logano, Buescher, Burton and McDowell, who carved his way from starting in the top 20, while Hamlin, who recovered from his early spin, was trying to mount a charge on the inside lane followed by Cindric. The top 28 competitors would be separated by more than two seconds by the Lap 85 mark as Gilliland retained the lead while McDowell moved up to third place and challenged Logano for more.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Logano, who assumed the lead for the first time of the day a lap earlier, was leading in front of Gilliland, Buescher, Keselowski and McDowell while Burton, Byron, Hamlin, Blaney and Chastain were running in the top 10 in front of Larson, Cindric, Truex, Busch, Elliott, LaJoie, Wallace, Stenhouse, Daniel Suárez and Briscoe. By then, the top 28 competitors were separated by more than three seconds.

    Fifteen laps later, Logano, who spent the previous 15 laps swapping the lead with Buescher and Gilliland, was leading ahead of Chastain and teammate Blaney while Buescher, Keselowski, Hamlin, Cindric, Burton, Larson and Byron followed suit in the top 10. By then, the majority of the field were running in two tight-packed lanes while some occurrences of three-wide racing occurred.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 130, green flag pit stops slowly commenced as teammates Logano and Blaney pitted while Larson was leading in front of Cindric, Chastain, Keselowski, Byron and Hamlin. Cindric would then pit during the following lap as Keselowski challenged Larson for the lead. Keselowski would then lead Chastain and teammate Buescher to pit road through the venue’s pit road entrance towards the backstretch’s exit by Lap 133 before Hamlin led Truex, Elliott and Burton to pit road during the proceeding lap.

    Then as Larson surrendered the lead to pit with the next wave of competitors on Lap 135, where he got bumped by Kyle Busch, Byron and McDowell spun and wrecked against one another while trying to enter the pit road’s commitment line towards the backstretch, though the event remained under green flag conditions as both proceeded. Amid the pit stops, Berry and Chastain were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With the first wave of green flag pit stops being completed by Lap 139, Cindric cycled his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by teammates Logano and Blaney while Gilliland followed suit in fourth place. In addition, Larson was in fifth while Buescher, Briscoe, Wallace, Suárez and Keselowski were scored in the top 10. Soon after, Wallace, Busch and Stenhouse were penalized for speeding on pit road while Erik Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    By Lap 150, Cindric retained the lead ahead of teammate Logano, Larson, teammate Blaney and Buescher while Gilliland, Briscoe, Truex, Suárez and Hamlin cycled their way into the top 10 ahead of Keselowski, Burton, Elliott, LaJoie, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs, Kaz Grala, Carson Hocevar, Austin Dillon and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew after Logano, who was trying to slide up in front of Buescher amid the draft, ran out of room as both collided against the outside wall through the backstretch, with Hamlin also getting collected in the wreckage while Keselowski barely dodged the incident. With the second stage period concluding under caution on Lap 160, Cindric, who nearly lost the lead to teammate Logano a few laps earlier, captured his first stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson settled in second followed by Blaney, Suárez and Truex while Gilliland, Keselowski, Burton, Briscoe and Elliott were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Cindic returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Gilliland exited first followed by Keselowski, Elliott, Hamlin, Suárez and Burton while Cindric exited in 10th place.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gilliland and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Gilliland and Keselowski dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Gilliland muscled ahead on the inside lane followed by Hamlin and Blaney. With Hamlin and Blaney swapping lanes exiting the backstretch, Gilliland maintained the lead on the frontstretch while Keselowski, Truex and Elliott followed suit in close-quarters racing and amid two tight-packed lanes. Amid the tight racing towards the front, Gilliland maintained the lead and control of both lanes during the proceeding laps while both Hamlin and Blaney were trying to gain runs amid their respective drafting lanes.

    Not long after, the caution returned with 86 laps remaining after Kaz Grala, who was running in the top 10, made light contact with Kyle Busch amid a three-wide battle in Turn 1 as he slid sideways through the turn, but managed to keep his car off the track from oncoming traffic. During the caution period, some led by Blaney, Elliott and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Gilliland remained on the track.

    During the proceeding restart with 80 laps remaining, Gilliland received a push from Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry XSE to muscle ahead from Hamlin on the inside lane through the first two turns and the backstretch while the rest of the field behind fanned out and battled in two tight-packed lanes. With Briscoe, Keselowski, Larson, Elliott and Suárez making their moves to the front, Truex would then grab the lead two laps later over Gilliland through a strong move entering the backstretch while Hamlin remained in third place amid a tight battle with Briscoe. Another three laps later, however, Gilliland cycled his No. 38 Georgia Peanuts Ford Mustang Dark Horse back into the lead from Truex. Meanwhile, Keselowski was battling Briscoe and Larson for third place while Hamlin slipped to sixth.

    With 65 laps remaining, Larson, who returned to the lead two laps earlier, was leading, but mixed in a tight battle to maintain the top spot in front of Gilliland, Truex, Hamlin and Keselowski while Suárez, Briscoe, Elliott, Cindric and Burton followed suit in the top 10. Behind, LaJoie was in 11th ahead of Blaney, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and Haley while Hocevar, Daniel Hemric, Grala, Preece and McDowell occupied the top 20.

    Three laps later and with the field fanning out to three lanes amid the late jostling of spots, the caution returned after Elliott, who was marching his way through the top-10 ranks, got bumped by Chastain and sent sideways entering Turn 3 as he managed to keep his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 spinning below the apron and away from oncoming traffic, though Ty Gibbs also veered sideways to avoid hitting Elliott. Amid the chaos, Wallace, who was battling Chastain for the free pass spot by being the first competitor scored a lap down, managed to receive the free pass.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Truex pitted, mainly for fuel, while McDowell and Preece remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Truex exited pit road first followed by teammate Hamlin, Briscoe, Cindric, Keselowski and Larson while Gilliland exited eighth behind Busch.

    With the event restarting under green with 55 laps remaining, McDowell and Truex dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. They continued to duel for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch and back to the frontstretch while Austin Dillon, who was running in the middle of the pack, fell off the pace after he pounded the backstretch’s outside wall hard, though the event remained under green flag conditions.

    Then with 50 laps remaining and with the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, a four-wide action for the lead ensued between Truex, Briscoe, McDowell and Cindric through the frontstretch as Cindric, who instigated the four-wide move, moved into the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. Busch would follow suit in second through the backstretch along with Briscoe, Gilliland, Hamlin and McDowell amid the four-wide battle while Truex, who was getting bumped and jostled amid the fanned-out battles, was slowly backsliding. The field would then settle to three-wide racing for the following lap as Cindric retained the lead followed by Busch, Hamlin, Briscoe and Gilliland while Keselowski and Larson followed suit.

    With 44 laps remaining, Hamlin overtook Cindric from the outside lane for the lead. During the following lap, Briscoe tried to move in front of Hamlin for the lead, but the move did not prevail as Busch overtook Briscoe for the runner-up spot while Hamlin maintained the lead. The caution, however, would return with 42 laps remaining after Keselowski, who was running third, got loose and slid towards the outside wall entering Turn 3 as he collected Larson and LaJoie in the process. During the caution period, some including McDowell and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

    As the event restarted with 35 laps remaining, Hamlin muscled ahead from the inside lane followed by Busch while Cindric was left to fend off Briscoe and the rest of the pack in third place. Hamlin would retain the lead during the proceeding laps and with 30 laps remaining over Busch while Blaney and Briscoe battled for third place in front of two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, however, Busch and Blaney went three wide on Hamlin as they both overtook Hamlin and moved into a battle into the lead for themselves followed by Gilliland and Cindric while Hamlin slid back to sixth in front of Wallace.

    With less than 25 laps remaining and with the intensity towards the front igniting amid three tight-packed lanes, Blaney was leading the race ahead of teammate Cindric and Busch while Wallace and Briscoe battled for fourth in front of the field.

    With 21 laps remaining, however, the caution returned after Hamlin, who was pinned in a tight four-wide battle for fourth place with Briscoe, Suárez and Busch, made contact with Briscoe that sent Briscoe’s No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse sideways and into Hamlin before Briscoe slapped the outside wall hard between Turns 3 and 4 as Burton, Berry and Haley were also collected. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for more than 11 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field returned under a cautious pace, some including Gilliland, Hemric, Preece and Byron pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

    When the event restarted with 15 laps remaining, where Blaney and Suárez occupied the front row, Blaney muscled ahead on the inside lane followed by teammate Cindric and Truex while Suárez, who had Kyle Busch and Wallace drafting him, was trying to fight back on the outside lane through the backstretch. With Blaney leading the next two laps and having both lanes to his control, Suárez then made his move on the outside lane with 12 laps remaining through the backstretch as he led the next laps by a hair while Busch and Cindric followed suit in the second lane. Then during the following lap and as Cindric briefly lost his momentum through the first two turns, the caution flew after Berry, who was drafting Wallace in the top 10, ran into the outside wall entering the backstretch and spun back across the track, where he collided into rookie Carson Hocevar, before he spun back across the track and into oncoming traffic as Elliott also spun towards the infield. Amid the chaos, Suárez managed to retain the lead over Blaney.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Suárez and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Suárez muscled his No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead on the inside lane followed by Busch through the first two turns. Suárez then moved in front of Blaney to stall his momentum through the backstretch, but Blaney managed to stick his nose and draw even with Suárez exiting the backstretch as he assumed the lead followed by Truex. Blaney then retained the lead in front of two stacked lanes during the proceeding laps as he went on defense to fend off Suárez and Busch while Truex was backsliding.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader ahead of a side-by-side battle involving Suárez and Busch. Blaney would continue to lead through the first two turns and through the majority of the backstretch until Busch and Suárez took Blaney three wide entering Turns 3 and 4. Suárez, Busch and Blaney remained dead even amid three lanes for the lead entering the frontstretch, with neither lifting. With the leaders navigating through the frontstretch, Suárez, Busch and Blaney crossed the finish line dead even as the checkered flag flew. Following an extensive review of the footage, Suárez was declared the winner as he had beaten Blaney by 0.003 seconds and 0.007 seconds over Busch.

    With the victory, Suárez, who was in contention of winning this year’s Daytona 500 before he was eliminated amid a late multi-car wreck, earned his second Cup Series career victory, his first since winning his first series’ event at Sonoma Raceway in June 2022 and his first on a superspeedway venue. He also recorded the seventh career victory for Trackhouse Racing and his first with his new crew chief Matt Swiderski.

    “It was so damn close,” Suárez, who celebrated with a piñata, said on FOX. “It was good racing. Ryan Blaney there, Kyle Busch. Austin Cindric also was doing a great job giving me pushes. In the back straightaway, he didn’t push me because he knew I was gonna fight his teammate. Man, what a job. We wrecked [on] Lap 2. The [No. 99] guys did an amazing job fixing this car. Man, I can’t thank everyone enough. Let’s go!”

    Blaney, who led 31 laps, settled in the runner-up spot while Kyle Busch, who led 28 laps, ended up in third place following their dramatic three-wide finish with Suárez to the finish line.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I thought I laid back enough in [Turns] 1 and 2 to not let both lanes get that big of a run,” Blaney said. “Both lanes just got that shove super hard and I just chose the bottom [lane], safest place to be. What a cool finish. Appreciate the fans for sticking around. That’s a lot of fun. That’s always a good time when we can do that. Race clean, three-wide finish to the end. Happy for Daniel [Suárez]. That was cool to see. Fun racing with Kyle [Busch]. I’ve won [races] by very, very little [margin], too, so I can’t complain too much about losing by that much. Close.”

    “Overall, just real proud of everybody at [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines],” Busch added. “Our Cheddar’s Camaro was fast. It’s good to see Daniel [Suárez] get a win. We were helping each other, being Chevy team partners and working together there. It shows that when you do have friends and you can make alliances that they do seem to work and that was the good part of today. Dammit. We’ll have to do it again and find another one.”

    Austin Cindric came home in fourth place while Bubba Wallace rallied from a roller coaster event to finish fifth for a second consecutive race. Stenhouse, Chastain, McDowell, Buescher and Ty Gibbs finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 48 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 65 laps. In addition, 22 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the second event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Busch leads the regular-season standings by a single point over both William Byron and Austin Cindric, three over Bubba Wallace, eight over Ryan Blaney, 12 over Chase Elliott and 13 over Daniel Suárez.

    Results.

    1. Daniel Suárez, nine laps led

    2. Ryan Blaney, 31 laps led

    3. Kyle Busch, 28 laps led

    4. Austin Cindric, 32 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap led

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Michael McDowell, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Chris Buescher, one lap led

    10. Ty Gibbs

    11. Harrison Burton

    12. Martin Truex Jr., nine laps led

    13. Corey LaJoie

    14. Kaz Grala

    15. Chase Elliott

    16. Ryan Preece

    17. William Byron

    18. Daniel Hemric

    19. Carson Hocevar

    20. Justin Haley

    21. John Hunter Nemechek

    22. Austin Dillon

    23. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 15 laps led

    24. BJ McLeod, three laps down

    25. Erik Jones , four laps down

    26. Todd Gilliland, four laps led, 58 laps led

    27. Alex Bowman, five laps down

    28. Joey Logano, eight laps down, 27 laps led

    29. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    30. Tyler Reddick, 17 laps down

    31. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    32. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 17 laps led

    33. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, two laps led

    34. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    35. Zane Smith – OUT, DVP

    36. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    37. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 3, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.