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Logano prevails in overtime to win 2024 Cup Playoff opener at Atlanta

Joey Logano commenced the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on a high note by fending off the field in overtime to win the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 8.

The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led twice for nine of 266 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in seventh place and survived a war of attrition amongst his fellow Playoff contenders and non-Playoff contenders through a series of stacked racing through multiple lanes and keep up to pace with the draft from start to finish.

After being drafted into the lead by teammate and Playoff contender Ryan Blaney with three laps remaining, where he would then battle Playoff contender Daniel Suarez for the lead, a caution for Noah Gragson wrecking during the following lap sent the event into overtime. In overtime, Logano received another strong push from Blaney to muscle ahead of Suarez. With the clean air, Logano would maintain the top spot and fend off a host of Playoff contenders for two final laps amid a multi-car wreck erupting on the final lap to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season under caution and race his way into the Playoff’s Round of 12.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, September 7, Michael McDowell notched his fifth pole position of his Cup Series career and of the 2042 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 179.267 mph in 30.926 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Ryan Blaney, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 178.844 mph in 30.999 seconds.

Prior to the event, Playoff contenders and teammates Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. started at the rear of the field due to a plug wire change to their respective Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entries.

When the green flag waved and the 2024 Cup Series Playoff commenced, Michael McDowell gained an early advantage from the inside lane as he had teammate Todd Gilliland drafting him through the first two turns and the backstretch while Ryan Blaney was trying to maintain ground from the outside lane. As the field returned to the frontstretch stacked in two lanes, McDowell led the first lap in his pole-winning No. 34 B’laster Work It Like A Pro Ford Mustang Dark Horse.

For the following four laps and with the front-runners trying to remain within reasonable reach of the lead with the preferred drafting lane towards the outside lane and behind the leader McDowell, Blaney retained second ahead of rookie Josh Berry, Playoff contender Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon while Playoff contender Chase Briscoe, Todd Gilliland and a trio of Playoff contenders that included Joey Logano, Austin Cindric and William Byron were in the top 10.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the front-runners running in a long single-file line, McDowell retained the lead ahead of Blaney, Larson, Berry and Briscoe as Austin Dillon, Logano, Cindric, Gilliland and Byron were scored in the top 10 ahead of Playoff contenders Harrison Burton and Alex Bowman, with Daniel Hemric, Ross Chastain and Playoff contender Chase Elliott rounding out the top 15 and all trailing the lead by less than two seconds. Meanwhile, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin were trailing in 18th, 20th, 22nd, 24th, 26th, 27th and 36th, respectively.

Just past the Lap 20 mark, the field fanned out to two scattered, drafting lanes as McDowell continued to hold the top spot ahead of Blaney, Berry, Larson and Logano while Bowman, Cindric, Byron, Harrison Burton and Chastain were battling within the top 10 mark. By then, the top 16 competitors were separated by less than two seconds while the top 20 were separated by less than three seconds.

At the Lap 30 mark and with the top-nine competitors separated by less than a second, Blaney made a move beneath McDowell through the first two turns to assume the lead in his No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Larson followed suit in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Larson would then challenge Blaney for the top spot from the outside lane during the following lap before Cindric shoved teammate Blaney back out in front through the backstretch. Behind, McDowell dropped to fourth while Logano, Bowman and Byron closed in for the spot. Amid the jostling of spots within, the top 31 competitors were separated by less than five seconds as Blaney led at the Lap 35 mark ahead of Playoff rivals Larson, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Logano.

By Lap 40, the top 31 competitors were separated by less than five seconds as Blaney retained the lead ahead of Playoff contenders Larson, Cindric, Byron, Bowman and Logano while Chastain, McDowell, Elliott and Daniel Hemric followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Burton, Briscoe, Ty Gibbs, Berry, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Truex, Austin Dillon, Gilliland, Justin Haley and Bubba Wallace. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired back in 34th place and trailing the lead by more than eight seconds while Suarez, Reddick, Bell and Keselowski were mired back in 21st, 23rd, 24th and 25th, respectively, all while trailing the lead under three seconds.

Ten laps later, Blaney continued to lead by a tenth of a second in front of Larson, Cindric, Bowman and Chastain as the top nine competitors were separated by less than a second. Behind, the top 20 competitors were separated by less than two seconds while the top 25 were separated by less than three.

Another five laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Larson, who was running in third place, briefly got loose, shot up the track and took a vicious head-on hit into the SAFER barrier in Turn 2. Then as the field scattered to avoid Larson’s wrecked car entering the backstretch, Larson shot into the rear of Briscoe, winner of last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway who was left with a crumbled front nose to his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse while Larson was left with heavy damage to his right front and rear end of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Amid the hard accident, Larson, who came into the Playoff opener with the top seed in the Playoff standings and having a steady cushion above the top-12 cutline, was left puzzled over the hard incident that ended his strong run early.

“I’m OK,” Larson said after exiting the infield care center. “Thankfully, everything held up well inside the car. That was a huge hit. I’m not really sure what caused it. I was actually sort of tight and loaded in the corner. And then I was pretty far around the corner and it just stepped out. I don’t know. It all just happened really fast.”

The multi-car wreck that knocked both Larson and Briscoe out of the Playoff opener was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 60 to officially conclude under caution as Blaney captured his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Cindric settled in second ahead of Bowman, Logano and Stenhouse while Chastain, Elliott, Byron, Truex and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10. By then, the remaining Playoff contenders on the track that included Suarez, Reddick, Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin were mired back in 15th, 17th, 19th, 23rd and 32nd, respectively.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for a first round of service while BJ McLeod and JJ Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bowman exited pit road first as Cindric, Stenhouse, Blaney, Logano, Byron, Chastain, Ty Gibbs, Elliott and Truex followed suit in the top 10. McLeod and Yeley would then pit during the proceeding caution laps as Bowman cycled into the lead. By then, Truex and Shane van Gisbergen were both penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Bell, who was among six competitors who returned to pit road to top off on fuel, made another trip to pit road to have his car fully loaded with fuel after he had fire coming out of his pit stall and his No. 20 pit crew was unable to fill the car up with fuel during the first service.

The second stage period started on Lap 67 as Bowman and Cindric occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric had drafting help from teammate Blaney to muscle ahead from the inside lane and he would manage to move ahead of Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to lead the following lap. The field then started to fan out to three stacked lanes amid the draft as Cindric and Bowman dueled for the lead in front of Blaney, Stenhouse and the rest of the field by Lap 70.

Through the Lap 80 mark and with the field scattered amid the draft, the top 19 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Cindric maintained the lead ahead of teammate Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Chastain while Suarez occupied sixth ahead of Stenhouse, Elliott, Logano and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Ty Gibbs, Truex, Reddick and Burton were mired within the top 16 on the track while Bell, Keselowski and Hamlin trailed in 21st, 26th and 34th, respectively.

Ten laps later, Cindric continued to lead the race ahead of two stacked lanes, with teammate Blaney following suit on the inside lane while Bowman led a long parade of competitors from the outside lane. By then, the top 14 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 26 were separated by under two seconds.

By the Lap 100 mark, Cindric maintained a steady advantage over Bowman, teammate Blaney, Byron, Chastain and the rest of the field that was jostling for spots amid two and three stacked lanes within the draft. With the top-24 competitors separated by less than two seconds, Haley was scored in 10th place behind Stenhouse, Suarez, Truex and Elliott while Erik Jones, who was trying to mount a charge from a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, was racing within the top-15 mark.

Thirteen laps later and with Cindric maintaining the lead in front of two stacked lanes, the caution flew due to debris spotted in the frontstretch. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Cindric returned to pit road for service, primarily for fuel, while the rest including Ryan Preece, Hamlin, McLeod and Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first as he was followed by Bowman, Blaney, Suarez, Byron, Elliott, Logano, Bubba Wallace, Keselowski and Haley. Amid the pit stops, Reddick made contact with rookie Carson Hocevar while trying to exit his pit stall. In addition, Wallace was penalized for speeding on pit road while Bell was also penalized for pitting outside his pit box. Shortly after, Preece, Hamlin, Yeley and McLeod pitted and handed the lead back to Cindric.

The start of the following restart period on Lap 119 featured Cindric and Bowman dueling for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch before Cindric received another strong push from teammate Blaney to muscle his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of the pack. With Cindric leading the field back to the frontstretch and having both lanes under his control, teammate Blaney, Bowman and Byron followed suit in the top four while Suarez muscled his way into the top five.

At the halfway mark on Lap 130, Cindric was leading ahead of Playoff rivals Bowman, Blaney, Byron, Suarez, Logano and Elliott, all of whom were among 12 competitors separated by less than a second while the top 23 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. With the field fanning out to three lanes amid the draft, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Keselowski, Burton, Truex, Ty Gibbs, Reddick, Bell and Hamlin were running 10th, 13th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 25th and 32nd, respectively, while Stenhouse and Gilliland were the top-two non-Playoff contenders on the track in eighth and ninth, respectively. Within the battles, non-Playoff contenders Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Chastain were mired in the top 15.

Fifteen laps later, Cindric continued to lead ahead of the field that was stacked through two and three lanes, with teammate Blaney, Bowman, Byron and Suarez battling within the top five ahead of Erik Jones, Chastain, Elliott, Gilliland and Logano. By then, the top 23 competitors were separated by under two seconds. In addition, Suarez dodged a pass-through penalty from NASCAR despite having advanced his position under the backstretch’s double white line a few laps earlier but was ruled to have been forced down as a reactive move to avoid Logano.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 160, Cindric fended off two stacked lanes to notch his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Blaney, Bowman, Suarez and Byron were scored in the top five while Stenhouse, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs and Bell were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Logano, who made contact with Gilliland through the backstretch, dropped to 12th behind Reddick while Keselowski, Truex, Burton and Hamlin were mired back in 14th, 17th, 22nd and 29th, respectively. By then, Haley was penalized for blocking and forcing Reddick below the double white line.

During the stage break, a majority of the lead lap field led by Cindric pitted for service while select names including Ty Dillon, Haley, Josh Berry, Wallace, Preece, McLeod and Yeley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Chastain exited pit road first ahead of McDowell, Stenhouse, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Blaney, Bell, Bowman, Corey LaJoie and Suarez. Amid the pit stops, van Gisbergen was penalized a second time for speeding on pit road. During the continuous caution laps, the select competitors who remained on the track led by Ty Dillon pitted as Chastain cycled into the lead.

With 94 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Chastain and McDowell occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain and McDowell dueled for the lead in front of a stacked field running two lanes. Chastain proceeded to lead the following lap while Stenhouse battled McDowell for second in front of Ty Gibbs and Byron. McDowell, who led the following lap, and Stenhouse would make slight contact exiting the backstretch with nearly 90 laps remaining, but both kept their cars running straight as the field continued to run in two stacked lanes and while Chastain reassumed the lead.

The caution would then return with 86 laps remaining when John Hunter Nemechek, who was running in 23rd place, got aero loose as Burton slid in front of him entering the backstretch, which resulted in Nemechek spinning his No. 42 Olipop Toyota Camry XSE below the track and making head-on contact in the inside wall.

During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Chastain returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs and Wallace remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Suarez and Logano made contact on pit road as they both collected Reddick while LaJoie made door contact with Elliott, who had made contact with Cindric earlier, and Stenhouse while exiting pit road.

As the event restarted under green with 79 laps remaining, Wallace received a shove from Blaney on the inside lane to assume the lead by a hair over Ty Gibbs through the first two turns before Gibbs fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Both Gibbs and Wallace would continue to duel for the lead in front of two stacked lanes with 75 laps remaining.

With 65 laps remaining the majority of the field migrated toward the outside lane as select drivers tried to expand the pack to three-wide action. Ty Gibbs was leading ahead of Wallace, Chastain, Kyle Busch and McDowell while Bowman, Byron, Blaney, Bell and Elliott trailed in the top 10 ahead of Chris Buescher, Logano, Gilliland, Erik Jones, Truex, Keselowski, Cidnric, LaJoie, Reddick and Daniel Hemric. Playoff contenders Suarez, Reddick, Burton and Hamlin were mired outside the top 20 on the track.

Nine laps later, the caution flew when Chris Buescher, who was running in the top 10, slipped up the track entering the backstretch and clipped Blaney, which sent both sideways and touching the outside wall. Blaney was then hit by Truex while Truex was trying to dodge the chaos. By then, Wallace, who assumed the lead eight laps earlier, was leading ahead of Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Byron and Chastain. During the caution period, select names led by Wallace and including Playoff contenders Gibbs, Bell, Blaney, Keselowski, Burton, Hamlin and Truex pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch and Byron remained on the track. By then, Blaney managed to continue and remain on the lead lap while Truex dropped out of the lead lap category to have his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE repaired.

The start of the next restart period with 49 laps remaining featured Kyle Busch being drafted into the lead from Byron as he transitioned from the inside to the outside lane through the backstretch. With Busch leading the next lap ahead of Byron, Chastain was trying to close in from the inside lane as the field behind fanned out to four lanes. With the field stacked up between three and four tight lanes around every corner and straightaway, Busch maintained a steady lead ahead of Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Bowman and Suarez with less than 45 laps remaining.

With 35 laps remaining, the top 18 competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 28 were separated by less than two seconds. Kyle Busch retained the lead in front of Byron, Chastain, Elliott, Ty Gibbs, Bowman, Gilliland, and McDowell, as Logano and Suarez were mired within the top 10, ahead of Reddick, Logano, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Burton, Noah Gragson and Keselowski while Blaney and Bell were racing within the top-20 mark. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in 31st place and was not gaining any ground towards the lead pack.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, the intensity at the front of the pack increased as Gibbs, who drafted Byron past Kyle Busch for the lead three laps earlier before he assumed it a lap later, returned atop the leaderboard. As the field continued to fan out aggressively to three drafted lanes, Suarez was in second behind Gibbs while Busch settled in third ahead of Logano, Byron, Chastain, Gilliland, Bowman, Elliott and Cindric.

Ten laps later and with fuel becoming a slight concern amongst the field, the top 14 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 27 were separated by less than two seconds as Ty Gibbs continued to lead in front of Suarez, Kyle Busch, Logano and Byron. With the field fanning out to three lanes two laps later, Suarez muscled his No. 99 Quaker State Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead.

Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a Walmart sign falling onto the frontstretch. By then, Suarez was scored the leader in front of Ty Gibbs, Busch, Logano, Byron and Chastain while Blaney, Bell, Elliott and Reddick were in the top 10. During the caution period, some including Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Suarez and including a host of Playoff contenders remained on the track.

With the race restarting under green with five laps remaining, Suarez briefly launched ahead from the outside lane exiting the frontstretch before Ty Gibbs rocketed back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Then as Gibbs attempted to move in front of Suarez through the backstretch, Suarez veered left and made his move beneath Gibbs in a battle for the lead while Logano bumped into the rear of Gibbs exiting the backstretch. A three-wide action for the lead then ensued entering the frontstretch as Busch made his move beneath both Suarez and Gibbs, who led the following lap.

Then as Gibbs and Suarez continued to battle against one another for the lead in front of a stacked field, Logano, who launched a third drafting lane towards the outside wall, received a draft from teammate Blaney’s damaged No. 12 Ford to muscle his No. 22 AutoTrader Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead through the backstretch with three laps remaining. Logano, however, would end up being deadlocked with Suarez through the frontstretch and with two laps remaining.

Then, with two laps remaining, and as a stack-up ensued at the front of the field, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Noah Gragson, who was running in 16th place, getting hit by Burton and sent for a spin before he hit the backstretch’s inside wall. At the moment of caution, Logano was ruled the leader ahead of Suarez, Blaney, Chastain, Elliott and Bell while Gibbs had dropped to ninth.

The start of the first overtime attempt featured Logano and Suarez dueling for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch, with both having their respective teammates drafting them. Despite Chastain losing ground of teammate Suarez entering Turn 3, the latter managed to remain dead even with Logano approaching the frontstretch.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano was leading by a hair over Suarez and Blaney tucked in behind teammate Logano while the field behind began to fan out to three lanes. With a push from Blaney, Logano muscled ahead and cleared Suarez entering the first two turns as Suarez was left to battle Blaney for the runner-up spot through the backstretch.

Then through Turns 3 and 4, a multi-car wreck erupted that started when Chastain got bumped into the outside wall by Elliott entering Turn 3. With a stack-up ensuing, Stenhouse turned Wallace as multiple competitors including Playoff contenders Hamlin and Burton were collected. The wreck was enough for the event to conclude under caution as Logano, who was inches away from reaching the finish line prior to the caution, crossed the finish line to claim the victory.

With the victory, Logano, who won a Cup Series Playoff opener for the first time in his career, notched his 34th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his second at Atlanta, his second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in late June. The victory was also the eighth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the manufacturer’s third in a row in recent weeks and the fifth of the season for Team Penske. Notably, Logano joins William Byron as two Cup competitors to win on Atlanta’s reconfigured layout since it debuted at the start of the 2022 season.

Logano’s Playoff opener victory at Atlanta served as an automatic pass to the Round of 12 for the Connecticut champion and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse team, with the driver commencing his pursuit for a third Cup Series championship.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“[It was an] Incredible execution from the team,” Logano said on USA Network. “When it’s Playoff time, it’s out time. That’s what I said. We got to always level up when it comes to Playoff time and [the team] gave me a great AutoTrader Mustang. [The car] was fast all day. We got stuck in the back a little bit. It was hard to get track position back. We had a good restart and got towards the front. [I] Had my teammate [Ryan] Blaney behind me. It really helped out in that last lap to be able to make sure [a] Penske car won and ultimately, move on to the next round. Good day for all the Penske cars. Pretty good day today. There’s a lot of memories right here on this start/finish line for me racing Legends cars as a kid, so this is a really cool feeling to be out here in a Cup car again.”

With Logano winning, Daniel Suarez, who won at Atlanta by 0.003 seconds earlier in February, commenced his second appearance in the Playoffs by notching a strong second-place result after he too led nine laps. Meanwhile, Ryan Blaney commenced his pursuit to defend his Cup title by finishing third in an event where he led 33 laps, won the first stage period and nursed his damaged car to a strong result.

“I would have to rewatch everything again,” Suarez, who is 22 points above the top-12 cutline in the Playoff standings, said. “I was pretty confident that the top [lane] was going to be better with [Logano] and he was going to be able to push me like [Chastain] did that last restart being on the outside. We got a great lounge, but we just got disconnected too early and that obviously hurt us and [Kyle Busch] and [Ty Gibbs], they were able to get connected for longer and beat us. It’s a little painful. I feel like we were in position and sometimes it’s very difficult to predict who is going to get the best push and for how long you’re going to get it, but it’s part of the game, right? We were in contention. The team did an amazing job. We’re happy with [the result], but not satisfied.”

“I can’t believe we got back up where we did,” Blaney, who is 45 points above the cutline, said. “[The] No. 12 boys did a really good job fixing [the car]. I’m surprised it didn’t have more damage than what it did because for my seat, I got drilled in the left rear or the door where [Buescher] hit me and then the right rear got off the fence. I didn’t know how damaged we were, but I was able to carve up through traffic and could get through the middle [lane] pretty good. Really good day. Move on to Watkins Glen.”

Playoff contenders Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman finished in the top five while Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Champion, made a late charge to finish sixth. Kyle Busch along with Playoff contenders Chase Elliott, William Byron and Austin Cindric completed the top 10 in the final running order.

Notably, Brad Keselowski fell back to 19th place while Martin Truex Jr., who retired late due to a suspension failure, ended up in 35th place. Following their involvement in the final lap accident, Denny Hamlin, whose strategy to run towards the rear of the field the entire event with no stage points and which did not pay off, limped across the finish line in 24th place while Playoff rookie Harrison Burton ended up in 31st place after he was unable to nurse his damaged No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse across the finish line to complete the final lap.

There were 24 lead changes for 14 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 44 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Joey Logano, nine laps led

2. Daniel Suarez, nine laps led

3. Ryan Blaney, 33 laps led, Stage 1 winner

4. Christopher Bell

5. Alex Bowman, five laps led

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Kyle Busch, 24 laps led

8. Chase Elliott

9. William Byron, two laps led

10. Austin Cindric, 92 laps led, Stage 2 winner

11. Daniel Hemric

12. Justin Haley

13. Ross Chastain, 13 laps led

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Corey LaJoie

16. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

17. Ty Gibbs, 37 laps led

18. Ryan Preece, two laps led

19. Brad Keselowski

20. Austin Dillon

21. Zane Smith

22. Michael McDowell, 30 laps led

23. JJ Yeley

24. Denny Hamlin

25. BJ McLeod, one lap led

26. Erik Jones

27. Todd Gilliland

28. Josh Berry

29. Bubba Wallace, eight laps led

30. Cody Ware

31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

32. Shane van Gisbergen, two laps down

33. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down

34. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Suspension

36. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

37. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

38. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings

1. Joey Logano – Advanced

2. Ryan Blaney +45

3. Christopher Bell +40

4. Tyler Reddick +33

5. William Byron +33

6. Alex Bowman +27

7. Austin Cindric +27

8. Chase Elliott +24

9. Daniel Suarez +22

10. Kyle Larson +15

11. Denny Hamlin +2

12. Ty Gibbs +1

13. Brad Keselowski -1

14. Harrison Burton -16

15. Martin Truex Jr. -19

16. Chase Briscoe -21

With the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs underway, the second event in the Round of 16 is set to occur at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Go Bowling at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 15, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

September 8, 2024
Ty Gibbs set for first Cup Series Playoffs in 2024

In his second full-time campaign at the NASCAR Cup Series level, Ty Gibbs has a new title to add to his young career: 2024 Cup Series Playoff candidate, a feat he accomplished by points and through steady consistency after falling short of the cutline during last year’s rookie season.

Gibbs, grandson of championship-winning team owner Joe Gibbs and the 2023 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year recipient from Charlotte, North Carolina, commenced his sophomore Cup season in 17th place during the 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February but rallied by finishing in the top 10 during his next five starts. He would then finish no higher than 10th throughout his next six starts before he notched a career-best runner-up result at Darlington Raceway in May.

Two weeks after recording his best on-track result in a Cup Series event, Gibbs notched his first career pole position for this year’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he would proceed to finish sixth. He would then finish no higher than third following his next six scheduled starts before he rallied by fishing third at the Chicago Street Course.

For the remaining six regular-season events in 2024, Gibbs recorded two top-five results despite being mired with four results of 20th or worse, including this past weekend’s Cook Out Southern 500. While he continues his pursuit of his first Cup Series career race victory, Gibbs will commence the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs in 15th place in the Playoff standings with 2,004 points. He will also square off against his three Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., for the title.

Amid the disappointment of his 20th-place run this past weekend at Darlington due to being collected in a late multi-car wreck, Gibbs was left satisfied with making his first postseason appearance as a Playoff contender as he strives to add a Cup Series championship trophy next to his Xfinity Series title hardware achieved two years ago.

“[I] Wish we could have finished better [at Darlington], but most importantly, we made the Playoffs and that’s what we came here to do,” Gibbs said at Darlington on USA Network. “We accomplished that, so I’m very happy to being able to make it and we’ll go see what we can do in 10 weeks. We got to get through next week first. Atlanta is a tough one, but I feel like we’re really strong in the races for the rest of the season and we’ll see what we can do and go out there and give it our best shot. I’d love to win at all of [the Playoff races].”

Ty Gibbs’ pursuit for his first NASCAR Cup Series championship in 2024 commences at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Quaker State 400 and the start of the 2024 Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Sunday, September 8, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

September 5, 2024
Buescher, Gibbs pleased; Wallace dejected amid top-10 runs and Playoff shakeup at Daytona

Harrison Burton’s first NASCAR Cup Series career victory in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 24, was a victory that dramatically shook up the 2024 Cup Series Playoff field as he went from being mired outside the top-30 mark in this year’s regular-season standings to locking himself into the Playoffs and contend for a championship.

Burton’s victory also meant that 13 spots are solidified by guaranteed Playoff competitors who have recorded at least one victory through 25 of 26 regular-season events on the 2024 schedule. In return, three open spots to the Playoffs remain vacant ahead of next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway for the crown-jewel Southern 500 and have left a multitude of big names, including runner-up finisher Kyle Busch, in a “must-win” situation to make the Playoffs.

Among those who remain within striking distance of one another for the vacant Playoff spots based on points ahead of next weekend’s regular-season finale include Ty Gibbs, Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace, all of whom survived a “war of attrition” night mired with on-track chaos to claim top-10 results.

Ty Gibbs, who sported Dennis Quaid’s Reagan movie on his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE entry, backed up his top-three result from the previously scheduled event at Michigan International Speedway by finishing in fifth place in Saturday’s event at Daytona amid an overtime shootout.

The fifth-place run marked Gibbs’ seventh top-five result of the 2024 Cup Series season and his 11th top-10 result through 25 scheduled events. As a result, Gibbs, who came into the event 38 points above the top-16 cutline towards making the Playoffs, increased his advantage by one point as he strives to make his first Cup Series Playoffs after next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington.

Ironically, Darlington is where Gibbs notched his career-best result of second place earlier in May, and the Charlotte, North Carolina native is aiming for one spot better to also land him his first Cup Series career victory.

“[Tonight’s finish] was really important,” Gibbs said on NBC. “I was just happy to have a good clean day, good points day. I think we have the speed to go win [at Darlington], so I think it’d be cool to go win and get my first win at the Southern 500. It would be awesome.”

Like Michigan, Buescher, the reigning Coke Zero Sugar 400 winner, endured a rallying type of night where he was collected in on-track carnage and had to fight his way back to finish inside the top 10. Compared to Michigan, however, the Prosper, Texas’ incident at Daytona occurred late in the event with 10 laps remaining as he got squeezed into the Turn 1 outside wall against Ricky Stenhouse Jr. amid a multi-car wreck that nearly flipped the pole-sitter, Michael McDowell.

With the No. 17 Fifth Third Bank/Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry managing to continue with minimal damage, Buescher avoided contact from another multi-car wreck with two laps remaining and managed to squeeze his way to a 10th-place finish in an overtime shootout.

As a result, Buescher, who led 10 laps en route to his 10th-place run at Daytona, is 21 points ahead of the cutline in his quest to make his third career Cup Series Playoffs and second in a row while driving for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. He also holds sole possession of the final transfer spot ahead of the race at Darlington, a venue where Buescher nearly won in May before he was involved in a late skirmish with Tyler Reddick that knocked both out of contention while battling for the lead and win.

“Our Fifth Third Bank Mustang was so good,” Buescher said. “We were able to push unbelievably well and make a ton of speed. It was a lot of fun for a long while there. [I got] Caught up in another accident. We were just trying to get it to the end and ultimately, it was not the day we needed, but yeah, we go to Darlington points being what they are. There’s a little bit of a cushion there, but we know we were really good there last time [in May]. [We’ll] Try and seal the deal this go around and make it easy going into the Playoffs.”

Perhaps, no competitor was left more bitter with the outcome than Bubba Wallace, who dropped back out of the top-16 cutline despite rallying to post a strong sixth-place result at Daytona.

The Mobile, Alabama, native methodically carved his way from starting 18th to lead for the first time on Lap 46. Leading 16 overall laps, Wallace’s event briefly went south when he was involved in a multi-car wreck with 10 laps remaining that dropped him from the lead group. After having his No. 23 Columbia/23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE repaired and steering clear of another multi-car wreck with two laps remaining, Wallace navigated his way to sixth place when the checkered flag flew after an overtime shootout.

The good news for Wallace was finishing in the top 10 for the 10th time in 2024, tying his career-best finish, and accumulating 10 top-10 results like his previous two Cup seasons.

However, Harrison Burton’s Daytona victory dropped Wallace below the top-16 cutline two weeks after he boosted his way back above the cutline. Currently, Wallace is six points ahead of Chastain in the Playoff picture standings at 17th, but 21 points below the cutline.

Ahead of this year’s regular-season finale at Darlington, Wallace is coming off four consecutive top-nine runs at the historic venue, including back-to-back seventh-place finishes during his last two Cup runs at Darlington. Wallace, however, is setting his primary focus on winning at Darlington to make the Playoffs. If he can accomplish this, it would mark his second consecutive appearance as a Playoff contender as he strives to be both competitive and win like teammate Tyler Reddick has done twice, including recently at Michigan.

“You got one car [Reddick] fighting for a regular-season championship and another car [Wallace] right around the bubble. It’s unacceptable,” Wallace said. “I’ll take all that weight on my shoulders. [I] Should’ve won multiple times this year and I haven’t. We don’t even deserve to be here and we are. I got to go win next week. That’s it.”

The pursuit to make the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs for Chris Buescher, Ty Gibbs and Bubba Wallace continues next Sunday, September 1, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, for the Cook Out Southern 500, which will air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 25, 2024
Harrison Burton shakes up 2024 Cup Playoffs with first career victory at Daytona; delivers 100th win for Wood Brothers Racing

After enduring a series of trials and challenges while struggling to be competitive in 97 previous starts in the NASCAR Cup Series level, Harrison Burton responded back in an emphatic style by scoring his first career victory and delivering a landmark win for Wood Brothers Racing amid an overtime shootout in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 24.

The 23-year-old Burton from Huntersville, North Carolina, led only the final lap of 164 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in 20th place and maneuvered his way through both stage periods and a series of late-race carnages that included pole winner Michael McDowell getting airborne on one late incident before rookie Josh Berry rolled over during the following incident.

Then while restarting alongside Kyle Busch on the front row at the start of an overtime shootout, Burton, who lost ground to Busch at the start of the final lap, received a huge draft from Parker Retzlaff to overtake Busch through the backstretch. With the lead in his grasp for two final turns, Burton then pulled two blocks on Busch entering the frontstretch’s tri-oval. He had enough steam underneath the hood of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to steer to his first elusive Cup Series victory that enabled him to automatically race his way into the 2024 Playoffs and deliver the milestone 100th win for the Wood Brothers.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, August 23, Michael McDowell notched his fourth Cup Series pole position of the 2024 season after posting a fast pole-winning lap at 183.165 mph in 49.136 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Todd Gilliland, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 182.801 mph in 49.234 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, teammates Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland dueled for the lead in front of the field that was stacked amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the majority of the field continued to run in a pack of two, McDowell led the first lap by a hair from the inside lane over Gilliland as he had Joey Logano drafting him while Gilliland had drafting help from Ryan Preece.

During the next four laps, the field slowly began to fan out to three stacked lanes as McDowell, who continued to run in the inside lane, retained the lead throughout the four-lap stretch over teammate Gilliland, Logano and Preece. By then, a third drafting lane towards the outside wall led by Austin Cindric started to charge towards the front as Cindric had Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon drafting him.

This caused McDowell to go on defense as he tried to block and retain the lead through three lanes, but Logano capitalized on McDowell’s move to the outside lane, starting on the backstretch, to lead the sixth lap mark. Rookie Josh Berry then went three wide on both Logano and McDowell through the frontstretch to challenge for the lead from the inside lane, which caused Logano to lose ground and get shuffled out of the top five as Berry and McDowell dueled for the lead on the seventh lap.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the entire 40-car field separated by less than three seconds amid three stacked lanes within the draft, Keselowski scored the lead ahead of Logano, McDowell, Berry and Gilliland while Cindric, Austin Dillon, William Byron, Chris Buescher and Daniel Suarez were running in the top 10. With a series of on-track shuffling towards the front ensuing over the next five laps, Logano carved his way back to the front as he was pursued by McDowell, Keselowski, Berry, Gilliland, Byron, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Buescher and Kyle Larson by Lap 15.

At the Lap 20 mark, Gilliland was drafted into the lead by teammate McDowell from the outside lane as Keselowski, Logano and Berry were scored in the top five ahead of Cindric, Blaney, Byron, Austin Dillon and Larson. Behind, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain followed suit in the top 15 while Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and Erik Jones were mixed in the top 20 ahead of Chase Elliott, Daniel Hemric, Martin Truex Jr., BJ McLeod, Ty Gibbs, Corey LaJoie, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Cody Ware and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., with Noah Gragson, Chase Briscoe, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen and John Hunter Nemechek trailing in the top 35.

Five laps later, the top 39 of 40 starters were separated by four seconds while the top 25 were separated by less than a second, all of whom were racing amid three tight lanes within the draft, as Gilliland continued to lead ahead of teammate McDowell, Keselowski, Cindric and Berry.

Just past the Lap 30 mark, Logano carved his way back to the lead as he was followed by teammate Blaney, Larson and Kyle Busch while Keselowski kept pursuit from the outside lane. Logano and Keselowski would proceed to duel for the lead for the following two laps as the front-runners began to fan out and draft aggressively in their march to the front.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 35, Berry, who received a strong push from Buescher towards the outside lane amid three stacked lanes, starting from the backstretch, fended off Logano and Buescher at the start/finish line to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season and of his career. Logano and Buescher followed suit in second and third, respectively, while Cindric, Blaney, Gilliland, Keselowski, McDowell, Byron and Larson were scored in the top 10. By then, 39 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap while the event had featured 13 lead changes and six different competitors leading at least one lap.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Berry pitted for a first round of pit service, Other drivers led by Corey LaJoie and including BJ McLeod, Martin Truex Jr., rookie Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Preece, Daniel Hemric, Shane van Gisbergen, rookie Carson Hocevar and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. remained on the track.

Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of Buescher, Cindric, Berry, Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Keselowski, Gilliland and McDowell. During the pit stops, Daniel Suarez had fire blazing out of his No. 99 Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he left his pit stall, which he then cycled for a full lap before he returned to his pit stall while still blazing in flames and escaped the cockpit uninjured. The cause of the fire was spilled fuel that was run over by Hamlin as the spark then carried forth into Suarez’s entry.

During the caution laps, a multitude of names that included Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Chase Briscoe, Cody Ware, Austin Hill, Noah Gragson, LaJoie, Austin Dillon, van Gisbergen, McLeod, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, Stenhouse, Truex and Hocevar pitted to top off with fuel as they were shuffled to the rear of the field.

The second stage period started on Lap 41 as Logano and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Logano received a draft from teammate Cindric and Berry from the outside lane to emerge ahead of Buescher, who continued to run on the inside lane and lead the following lap as he had Ross Chastain drafting him.

With the field quickly fanning out to three packed lanes over the next four laps, Bubba Wallace, who did not record stage points during the first stage’s conclusion, maneuvered his way to the front as he challenged Buescher, Logano, Cindric and Keselowski for the lead as Chastain, Berry and Larson followed suit within the top eight.

Through the first 50 scheduled laps and a series of on-track shuffling ensuing at the front, Chase Briscoe, who carved his way to the front a few laps earlier, was leading by a hair over Wallace as Hemric, Logano, Buescher, Austin Hill, Keselowski, Cindric, Berry and LaJoie were mired in the top 10 ahead of Chastain, Gilliland, Larson, Gragson, McDowell, Burton, Preece, Kyle Busch, Blaney and Haley. Meanwhile, Elliott, Nemechek, Ty Gibbs, Hamlin and Byron were mired in the top 25 as the top 38 competitors were separated by a second amid three packed lanes.

Five laps later, Wallace, who reassumed the lead three laps earlier, retained the lead ahead of Buescher while Keselowski and Logano dueled for third place in front of the stacked field. Wallace proceeded to transition from the outside to the inside lane as he fended off Buescher and Logano for the top spot while LaJoie was trying to formulate a run from a third drafting lane toward the outside lane. Amid a series of on-track shuffling over the next four laps, Wallace retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors opting to run towards the outside lane and behind Wallace

Then on Lap 59, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in the backstretch when Gragson, who was trying to carve his way towards the top-10 mark, was aggressively pushed into Chastain and Haley by LaJoie, where a stack-up caused LaJoie to get Gragson turned sideways and clip both Nemechek and Chastain as Truex, Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Hill, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Byron, Elliott, Larson, Hemric, Preece, Blaney, Austin Dillon and Reddick all wrecked. The multi-car wreck took a hit on Chastain’s hopes of remaining in Playoff contention as he lost one lap in the process of having his car still in contention to race while top names including Preece, Hamlin, Gragson and Elliott retired from further competition.

During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Wallace pitted, primarily for fuel, while a select few led by Hocevar remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Buescher exited first ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Wallace, Berry, Cindric, Gilliland, McDowell, Burton and Blaney. Hocevar would then pit after leading a lap under caution while Reddick, Hill and Erik Jones remained on the track in the top three spots. The latter three would then pit shortly after, which enabled Buescher to cycle back into the lead.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 66 featured teammates Buescher and Keselowski dueling for the lead against one another before Buescher muscled ahead with strong drafting help from Logano on the outside lane through the first two turns. With Buescher and Logano drafting their way to first and second on the track, Keselowski followed suit along with Wallace, Cindric and Burton while Berry was trying to mount a charge from the inside lane as he had drafting help from Gilliland. By Lap 68, however, the majority of the field migrated to a long single-file line towards the outside lane as Buescher led the way ahead of Logano, Keselowski, Wallace and Cindric.

Just past the Lap 70 mark, Buescher continued to lead ahead of a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane as he was pursued by Logano, Keselowski, Wallace, Cindric, Burton, Kyle Busch, van Gisbergen, Haley and Gilliland. Behind, McDowell, Blaney, McLeod, Erik Jones, Ty Gibbs, Bell, Nemechek, Hill, Zane Smith and Berry occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Austin Dillon, Byron, Briscoe, Larson and Cody Ware. By Lap 73, however, the field quickly fanned out to two drafted lanes as Wallace received a draft from Kyle Busch while transitioning to the inside lane to reassume the lead. The field then fanned out to three lanes on Lap 75 as Logano overtook Gilliland to aggressively move into the lead as teammate Cindric, Haley, Blaney and Reddick quickly made their way to the front as Buescher, Wallace and Kyle Busch were getting shuffled out of the top-10 mark.

On Lap 77, Cindric, who was running towards the front, nearly got sideways on the backstretch after he got hit on the side by Larson while being drafted by teammate Blaney, but he managed to keep his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse straight despite getting shuffled out of the lead group as the race remained under green flag conditions.

At the halfway mark on Lap 80 and a series of on-track shuffling ensuing at the front, Larson was leading by a hair over Gilliland and Logano while Busch, Blaney, Keselowski, McDowell, Reddick, Buescher and Byron were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-31 competitors were separated by four seconds as the top 18 were separated by under a second.

Then on Lap 80, the caution returned when Erik Jones fell off the pace due to blowing a flat right-front tire to his No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE. Behind Jones, van Gisbergen, who was announced as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Trackhouse Racing in 2025, had his No. 16 Safety Culture Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 billowing in thick smoke through the backstretch as his car, which also ended up in flames, came to an end with an engine failure, where he then managed to park his car and escape uninjured.

During the extensive caution period, some led by Gilliland and including Busch, McDowell and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

With the race restarting under green flag conditions on Lap 88, Loganon and Larson dueled for the lead through the first two turns and ahead of an aggressive field dueling amid two stacked lanes. While Logano had teammate Blaney drafting him from the outside lane, Larson gained the upper hand from the inside lane as he led the next lap with drafting help from Keselowski and Buescher as Gilliland and Busch closed in to join the draft.

By Lap 90, Larson continued to lead ahead of Keselowski, Logano, Buescher and Blaney as Wallace started to ignite a third drafting lane towards the outside lane with drafting help from teammate Reddick. With the top 21 competitors separated by a second, Keselowski and Larson dueled for the lead in front of the stacked pack for the following lap.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Logano held off a three-wide challenge from teammate Blaney and Keselowski to capture his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Larson and Gilliland followed suit behind the three Ford leaders while Haley, Busch, Byron, Buescher and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-31 competitors were scored on the lead lap while the event had featured 31 lead changes.

During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Logano pitted while a select few led by Keselowski and Stenhouse remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Chastain managed to cycle his way back onto the lead lap while Keselowski and Stenhouse would pit for fuel not long after.

With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as McDowell and Berry occupied the front row. McDowell launched ahead with the lead from the outside lane as he was drafted by Busch and Burton. Berry led the inside lane ahead of Haley and Cindric. McDowell would proceed to lead the following lap as he transitioned between the inside and outside lane to keep Berry behind him. In the process, Haley moved into second place during the next lap period while Berry settled in third ahead of Cindric and Busch as the top 32 competitors were separated by within two seconds.

With less than 54 laps remaining and the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside lane, McDowell was leading ahead of Haley, Berry, Cindric, Busch, Burton, Nemechek, Zane Smith, Larson and Austin Dillon while Hemric, Austin Hill, Briscoe, Logano, Wallace, Blaney, Bell, Gibbs, Bowman and Erik Jones followed suit in close-quarters racing within the top 20. Meanwhile, Chastain was mired in 30th place along with Keselowski while Buescher was in 22nd in between Bell and Gilliland.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the field both fanned and stacked out to two lanes, McDowell continued to lead ahead of Haley, Nemechek, Berry, Larson, Cindric, Busch, Logano, Burton and Hemric while the top 30 competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

Ten laps later, Haley, who aggressively overtook McDowell for the top spot a lap earlier, was leading two stacks of competitors vying for spots amid the draft, with Cindric, McDowell, Logano, Berry, Nemechek, Keselowski, Larson, Buescher and Busch mingled in the top 10 ahead of Cody Ware, Burton, Bell, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon, Wallace, Hill, Briscoe, Gilliland and Blaney.

Five laps later and with the majority of the field migrating towards the outside lane in a long single-file line, Haley continued to lead ahead of Berry, Nemechek, Larson, Busch, Cindric, McDowell, Logano, Burton and Cody Ware as the top-25 competitors were separated by less than two seconds and the top 32 separated by three seconds.

Another five laps later, Haley retained the lead ahead of Berry, Nemechek, Larson and Busch with a majority of the lead lap field remaining in a long single-file line towards the outside lane while Cody Ware was trying to ignite a charge from the inside lane with drafting help from Bell and Wallace. By then, Truex was pinned multiple laps down after he pitted his car under green.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Haley, who threw a series of blocks while transitioning from the inside and outside lane, retained the lead ahead of Berry while Bell muscled his way up to third place as he was followed by Nemechek, Larson, Wallace, Busch, Hemric, Cindric and Keselowski, with the top-30 competitors separated by less than two seconds. Three laps later, however, the field began to fan out aggressively to three stacked lanes as Nemechek challenged Haley for the lead from the outside lane.

Then with 21 laps remaining, the caution flew.= when Nemechek, who was vying for the lead amid a three-wide battle with Busch and Haley, received a hard bump from Larson in the middle lane that caused Nemechek to turn across the right-front fender of Haley and send Nemechek’s No. 42 Pye Barker Toyota Camry XSE spinning below the backstretch’s asphalt, though Nemechek managed to keep his car off the wall and continue as no one else wrecked. At the moment of caution, Busch emerged as the leader ahead of Cindric, Larson, McDowell, Berry and Keselowski.

During the caution period and with the field assessing their fuel situation to the finish, the entire lead lap field led by Busch pitted, primarily for fuel. Following the pit stops, Cindric exited pit road first, followed by Keselowski, Larson, McDowell, Busch, Logano, Blaney, Berry, Briscoe and Wallace. Within the pit stops Bell made contact with McLeod while exiting his pit stall.

The start of the following restart period with 16 laps remaining featured Keselowski and Cindric dueling for the lead through the first two turns amid a wave of shoves towards the front, with Cindric having drafting help from Larson while Keselowski had drafting help from McDowell. Cindric would then prevail from the outside lane as he led the next lap ahead of Larson before Keselowski fought back.

Shortly after, however, Keselowski was penalized for a restart violation, where he pulled ahead of the leader Cindric from the inside lane when he was not in control of the restart to launch ahead. Keselowski, however, remained on the track and towards the front before he yielded and served a pass-through penalty through pit road with 12 laps remaining. With Keselowski serving his penalty, the field fanned out to three stacked lanes as Cindric battled McDowell for the lead.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, the top 27 competitors were separated by less than a second amid three stacked lanes as Cindric, Larson and McDowell all dueled for the lead from the top, middle and bottom lanes, respectively. Amid the battles, Berry and Busch were scored in the top five as Logano, Wallace, Bowman, Reddick and Blaney were mingled in the top 10.

A lap later, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that erupted in Turn 1 when McDowell, who led the previous lap and transitioned towards the outside lane to block Cindric, got sideways off the front nose of Cindric as he spun to the bottom of the track. McDowell received a huge hit on the driver’s side by Logano as McDowell’s No. 34 Long John Silver’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse went airborne and nearly flipped. The car managed to land back on all four wheels while sliding back up the track and clipping the rear deck lid of Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the process.

Amid the carnage, a multitude of names including Logano, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Wallace, Reddick, Haley, Byron, Blaney, Stenhouse, Buescher and Hill were all involved. Meanwhile, Cindric escaped with the lead while Berry, Busch, Bell, Austin Dillon and Zane Smith were scored in the top six.

During the caution period, some including McLeod, Nemechek, Wallace, Joey Gase, Briscoe, Reddick, LaJoie and Chastain pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

With three laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Cindric and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Berry dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes before Cindric muscled ahead from the inside lane entering the backstretch. Cindric and Berry continued to battle dead even for the lead for the following two turns as Cindric led the following lap by a hair, with Busch, Byron, Bell and Burton closely mixed in the top six.

Then, with two laps remaining entering the backstretch, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime following another multi-car wreck that started when a stackup at the front resulted in Busch bumping Cindric as Cindric went up the track and made contact with both Berry and Byron. It sent Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up into the outside wall hard while Cindric and Berry were sent sliding toward the backstretch’s infield.

Amid the spins, Berry’s No. 4 eero Ford Mustang Dark Horse then went airborne and rolled over on its roof as the car slid down the backstretch and smacked the inside wall hard head-on before the car spun several times on its top and came to rest while still upside-down. Among those involved included Zane Smith, Erik Jones, Gilliland, Austin Dillon, Nemechek and Austin Hill while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the carnage.

Amid the wild ride, Berry, who had the on-track safety crews roll the car back on all four wheels, managed to climb out and emerge uninjured with the driver giving thumbs up. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch escaped with the lead ahead of Burton while Bell, Retzlaff, Nemechek and Keselowski were scored in the top six as the event was placed in a red flag period for nearly seven minutes.

When the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, Kyle Busch and Burton opted to restart alongside one another for the first overtime attempt, with Busch having Bell, Cody Ware and Keselowski lining up behind him on the inside lane while Burton had Retzlaff, Nemechek and Gibbs lining up behind him on the outside lane.

The start of the first overtime attempt featured Busch and Burton dueling for the lead until Busch rocketed his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead with drafting help from Bell’s No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE on the inside lane. Busch would retain the lead through the backstretch and he started to muscle ahead of both Burton and Bell entering Turns 3 and 4 with a reasonable advantage.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Busch remained as the leader ahead of Burton and Bell with the field behind continuing to stack up and draft aggressively amid two lanes. Then as Busch was trying to keep Bell drafting him from the inside lane, Harrison Burton rocketed his No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead with a strong push from Parker Retzlaff from the outside lane.

Then as Burton maintained the lead through Turns 3 and 4, he went up the track to block Busch. He blocked Busch again while transitioning back to the inside lane, going below the double yellow lines in the process. With Burton keeping his car straight and fending off Busch’s last corner efforts, he managed to beat Busch to the finish line by 0.047 seconds to claim his first triumph in the Cup Series.

With the victory, Burton became the 205th competitor overall to win in NASCAR’s premier series, the first competitor to record a first Cup victory in 2024 and the first competitor to record a first Cup victory while driving for the Wood Brothers Racing team since Ryan Blaney made the last accomplishment at Pocono Raceway in June 2017. Ironically, Burton, who won in his 98th Cup career start, became the first competitor to record a first Cup win in Daytona’s 400-lap feature since William Byron did so in 2020 where he also achieved the feat in his 98th series start.

Speaking of Wood Brothers Racing, the historic organization accomplished its seven-year battle of notching its elusive 100th victory in the Cup Series as Burton, who became the 19th competitor overall to win while driving for the Wood Brothers, drove the team’s No. 21 Ford to its first Daytona win since Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500.

As a result of his first Cup Series victory, Burton, who came into the event strapped in 34th place in the regular-season standings, earned a one-way ticket to the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, which will mark his first opportunity and the Wood Brother’s third overall to contend in the Cup’s postseason elimination-style battle for the championship. Burton also became the 13th competitor overall to be guaranteed a 2024 Playoff berth by winning throughout the regular-season stretch.

“I don’t know. I cried the whole victory lap,” Burton, who fought tears of emotions, said while celebrating with his team, family and father Jeff on the frontstretch, on NBC. “Obviously, [I] got fired from the shove. I wanted to do everything for the Wood Brothers that I could. They’ve given me an amazing opportunity in life. To get them [win No.] 100 on my way out is amazing. We’re in the Playoffs now. Let’s go to Darlington and see what happens.”

The victory was a personal one for Burton, who is set to be a free agent after this season. With Josh Berry set to replace Burton in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford in 2025, Burton’s racing status for next season remains undetermined, though he strives to conclude the 2024 season strong.

“It’s amazing,” Burton added. “It’s been the hardest three years of my life. Obviously, the hardest three years for some of these [No. 21] guys’ lives. To win the way that we just did, to beat the best in the business, Kyle Busch, across the line, it’s pretty fantastic. I made a bet with Jeremy [Bullins], my crew chief, that if we won, we’re staying here and driving home, so we’ll be at a bar somewhere! Come find us and we’re gonna celebrate this one!”

Behind Burton, Kyle Busch, who led eight laps, recorded a strong runner-up result for his fourth top-five result of the 2024 season. Despite being left satisfied with his run, Busch trails the Playoff cutline by 106 points and is still left in a “must-win” situation entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington Raceway to keep his Playoff hopes alive.

“I just finished second. It’s all good,” Busch said. “We were really, really, really lucky tonight to miss a few of them crashes. All good. Just real proud of everybody, [crew chief] Randall [Burnett], all the guys. Everybody at [Richard Childress Racing], ECR [Engines]. They did a great job and brought a fast car. [It] Wasn’t meant to be, so we’ll take this and got a good little stretch here going with these last three weeks and hope that we can do what we need to do in next week’s [race].”

Christopher Bell came home in third place followed by Cody Ware, who recorded his first top-five result in the Cup Series, while Ty Gibbs battled back to finish in fifth place.

Bubba Wallace also rallied to finish in sixth place followed by Parker Retzlaff and Brad Keselowski, who spun through the frontstretch’s tri-oval after crossing the finish line while Daniel Hemric and Chris Buescher completed the top-10 results in the final running order.

With three spots into the 2024 Cup Series Playoff standings being vacant entering next weekend’s regular-season finale at Darlington, Martin Truex Jr. sits 58 points above the cutline and Ty Gibbs sits 39 points above the cutline. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot in the Playoffs by 21 points over Bubba Wallace and 27 over Ross Chastain.

There were 40 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 20 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 25th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Kyle Larson, 18 over Chase Elliott, 68 over Ryan Blaney, 80 over William Byron and 86 over Christopher Bell.

Results.

1. Harrison Burton, one lap led

2. Kyle Busch, eight laps led

3. Christopher Bell

4. Cody Ware

5. Ty Gibbs

6. Bubba Wallace, 16 laps led

7. Parker Retzlaff

8. Brad Keselowski, eight laps led

9. Daniel Hemric

10. Chris Buescher, 10 laps led

11. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

12. Ross Chastain

13. Zane Smith

14. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

15. John Hunter Nemechek

16. Alex Bowman

17. Erik Jones

18. Austin Cindric, 15 laps led

19. BJ McLeod

20. Joey Gase

21. Kyle Larson, one lap down, five laps led

22. Austin Dillon, two laps down

23. Todd Gilliland, two laps down, five laps led

24. Martin Truex Jr., three laps down

25. Austin Hill – OUT

26. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

27. William Byron – OUT, Accident, one lap led

28. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

29. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident

30. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

31. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, 34 laps led, Stage 2 winner

32. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident, two laps led

34. Corey LaJoie, 32 laps down

35. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Engine

36. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident

37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

38. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident

39. Ryan Preece – OUT, DVP

40. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Fire

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which will serve as this year’s regular-season finale and officially determine the 16-car field for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, September 1, during Labor Day weekend and air at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 25, 2024
Reddick prevails amid double overtime shootouts for wild Cup victory at Michigan; assumes regular-season points lead

Amid the loss of his racing hero Scott Bloomquist earlier in the week, Tyler Reddick rose to the occasion on two overtime attempts to win the rain-postponed FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Monday, August 19.

The two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led 15 of 206 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row based on a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book after the event’s qualifying session was canceled due to persistent precipitation. Despite running towards the front during the event’s early stages on Sunday, he along with most of the front-runners pitted early as part of strategic call and sacrificed the first round of stage points. He then cycled his way back to fifth place before the event was delayed and eventually postponed to Monday morning due to the on-track precipitation continuing for the remainder of Sunday.

At the event’s resumption on Monday, Reddick got shuffled back towards the top-20 mark. Despite the rough start, he kept his No. 45 McDonald’s/23XI Racing Toyota Camry XSE intact as a host of his fellow competitors, including teammate Bubba Wallace, would encounter on-track incidents that spoiled their early strong starts. With pit strategies also ensuing, Reddick, who methodically carved his way back to the front, assumed the lead with 12 laps remaining following the event’s latest round of green flag pit stops.

Despite having his advantage stalled twice amid two late on-track incidents that sent the event into overtime twice, the Californian refused to surrender as he fended off William Byron during the latest overtime shootout to grab his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and assume the lead in the regular-season standings.

With on-track qualifying that was set to occur on Saturday, August 17, being canceled due to weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a metric formula from the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Denny Hamlin was awarded the pole position and he shared the front row with 23XI Racing competitor Tyler Reddick.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced amid a delay period that spanned more than two hours due to on-track precipitation, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick dueled for the lead through the first two turns as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. Then as Hamlin and Reddick continued to duel for the lead in front of the packed field through the backstretch, Kyle Larson, who started in fourth place, gained a draft and made a three-wide pass beneath both Reddick and Hamlin to move into the lead entering Turns 3 and 4. The early advantage would allow Larson to rocket his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead as he led the first lap while Reddick and Hamlin were being challenged by Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell for top-three spots.

Over the next four laps and with a majority of the field running in a single-file line, Larson stabilized his early advantage as he was out in front of the field by as high as four-tenths of a second. Behind, Hamlin was scored in second place ahead of Reddick and Elliott while Bell settled in fifth ahead of Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain.

Through the first 10-scheduled laps, Larson retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin, the latter of which started to close in on Larson in his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE. Reddick, Elliott and Bell followed suit in the top five while Wallace, Byron, Blaney, Austin Dillon and Chastain were scored in the top 10. Behind, Chris Buescher occupied 11th place ahead of Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano while Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric trailed in the top 20 ahead of Ty Gibbs, Justin Haley, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones and AJ Allmendinger. Meanwhile, rookie Josh Berry, who started 16th, had plummeted to 36th place, dead last.

Ten laps later, Larson continued to lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while third-place Reddick trailed the lead by six-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Bubba Wallace, Reddick’s teammate, trailed in fourth place by a second as he was followed by Elliott while Bell, Byron, Blaney, Buescher and Chastain were mired in the top 10 ahead of Austin Dillon, Suarez, Keselowski, Logano and Truex.

Another five laps later, a two-competitor battle for the lead between Larson and Hamlin became a four-competitor battle for the lead as 23XI Racing’s Reddick and Wallace cut their deficit to four-tenths and seven-tenths of a second while Larson retained the lead by within a tenth of a second over Hamlin. With fifth-place Elliott continuing to trail by more than a second, teammate Larson continued to fend off Hamlin’s repeated attacks through the turns and straightaways to lead by a narrow margin while Berry, who was still mired in 36th place, dead last, was lapped.

At the Lap 30 mark, Larson stabilized his lead to two-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Wallace moved his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE past teammate Reddick’s No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE for third place. Behind, Bell overtook Elliott for fifth place as Blaney, Byron, Buescher and Chastain continued to trail in the top 10 ahead of Suarez, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Truex and Logano.

Then on Lap 34, Wallace gained a strong run and executed a three-wide pass beneath both Hamlin and Larson through the frontstretch to assume the lead entering Turn 1. As Wallace started to pull away, Hamlin, who managed to overtake Larson for the runner-up spot, proceeded to try to keep track of Wallace while Reddick started to challenge Larson for third place.

On Lap 37, the event’s first caution period flew when Hamlin, who closed in on Wallace in his bid for the lead through Turns 3 and 4, slowly slid up the track, got loose and spun his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE from the top to the bottom of the track and through the infield grass before he managed to brake his car and keep it from going back across the track and continued without sustaining any significant damage.

During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Wallace pitted for service while the rest led by Blaney, who assumed the race lead, and including Byron, Buescher, Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton remained on the track.

With the event restarting with three laps remaining in the first stage period, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Blaney muscled ahead from the outside lane as he was followed by Buescher and Byron. As the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for spots through the backstretch, Blaney retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Buescher and Byron while Elliott started to close in in his bid for the runner-up spot.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Blaney fended off the competition amid a bevy of jostling for spots to capture his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in second place ahead of teammate Byron, Wallace and Buescher while Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Alex Bowman and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10. By then, all 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, some led by the leader Blaney and including Byron, Buescher, Keselowski, Suarez, Ty Gibbs and Harrison Burton, all of whom remained on the track during the previous caution period, pitted for their first service of the day while the rest led by the new leader Elliott remained on the track.

Then after having the start of the second stage period waved off multiple times due to on-track precipitation steadily returning to the Michigan circuit, the field led by Elliott was directed back to pit road and placed in a red flag period on Lap 51.

With the rain delay period occurring beyond 6 p.m. ET and no sight of relief being detected before the day’s darkness scheduled at 8:20 p.m. ET, NASCAR postponed the remainder of the event to Monday, August 19. By then, Elliott was still scored the leader while Truex, Wallace, Bowman, Reddick, Kyle Busch, Larson, Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Logano were scored in the top 10, respectively.

Nearing 11 a.m. ET on Monday and with the weather clear from Sunday’s precipitation, the red flag lifted and the field led by Elliott returned under a cautious pace. During the pace laps, Hamlin spent time in his pit stall to have his car inspected due to Sunday’s spin as he dropped to the rear of the field.

The second stage period started on Lap 55 as Elliott and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott received a shove from Wallace on the outside lane to emerge ahead by a slight margin before Busch fought back from the inside lane. As the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch while Reddick slipped out of the top-10 mark, Elliott retained the lead from Busch, Wallace and Truex while Chase Briscoe followed suit in fifth.

Then on Lap 57 and with a variety of on-track battles ensuing around the field, Busch executed a move beneath Elliott and proceeded to slide in front of Elliott to lead for the first time in his No. 8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. With Busch leading, Elliott retained second while Briscoe overtook Wallace and Truex for third place as Bell and Chastain joined the battle. With Wallace, Briscoe, Truex, Bell, Larson and Chastain all battling for third place amid the draft, Busch retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Elliott, who settled behind Busch’s rear bumper, by Lap 60.

Six laps later, Truex, who navigated his way past Wallace and Elliott to move up to second earlier, drew his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota Camry XSE into a side-by-side battle with Busch for the lead through the frontstretch before he muscled ahead of Busch with the top spot entering Turn 1. Behind, Elliott overtook Busch for the runner-up spot and proceeded to track Truex for the lead while both Wallace and Larson started to close in on the top-three leaders. With Wallace overtaking Busch for third place shortly after, Truex led the Lap 70 mark by two-tenths of a second over Elliott.

By Lap 80, Truex stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Elliott while Wallace, Larson and Busch all trailed in the top five within two seconds. In the process, Bell, Byron, Chastain, Logano and Bowman followed suit in the top 10. With Austin Cindric scrubbing the outside wall entering the frontstretch, but continuing while battling Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for a top-20 spot, the race remained under green flag conditions.

Four laps later, Wallace pitted his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE for four fresh tires and a full tank of fuel under green. Teammate Reddick, who was mired within the top 15 amid his rough start to the second stage period, would also pit before Larson pitted during the following lap. Elliott would then pit his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green along with Noah Gragson by Lap 87 before Chastain, Bowman, Corey LaJoie, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Preece followed suit during the next three laps. Amid the pit stops, Truex retained the lead by the Lap 90 mark.

Just past the Lap 90 mark, Busch and Byron pitted their respective Chevrolets after running towards the front before the leader Truex and teammate Bell pitted on Lap 92. AJ Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Josh Berry and Todd Gilliland would also pit their respective entries while Blaney cycled into the lead ahead of teammate Logano, Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Hemric. Logano and Hemric would then pit on Lap 95 as Blaney retained the lead. Meanwhile and with more competitors pitting under green, Larson, the first competitor with fresh tires, cycled his way up to ninth place while Wallace, Truex, Elliott, Chastain, Byron and Busch followed suit.

At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Blaney, who pitted during the first stage break period on Sunday and continued to stretch his fuel tank as far as possible, pitted under green along with rookie Carson Hocevar as Ty Gibbs cycled into the lead. With Gibbs leading, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Larson and Truex were in the top five while Wallace, Elliott, Hamlin, Chastain and Byron were running in the top 10. Austin Dillon would then pit during the following lap along with the leader Gibbs as Keselowski cycled into the lead. Keselowski would then pit from the lead by Lap 103 along with Hamlin, which allowed Larson to cycle back into the lead on four fresh tires and fuel.

On Lap 106, a brief side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Larson and Truex, with the latter attempting to surge ahead from the inside lane, but the former was able to muscle back ahead from the outside lane.

Then on Lap 109, during which Larson maintained a steady advantage over Truex amid a brief side-by-side challenge, the caution flew due to a right-rear tire carcass coming off of Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse as Logano was limping his car below the apron to pit road from Turn 4. In the process, AJ Allmendinger spun his No. 16 LeafFilter Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch with a flat left-rear tire before he came to rest below the apron entering Turn 1 and would need a wrecker to have his car towed back to pit road due to the driver flat-spotting all tires. The tire issues for both Allmendinger and Logano occurred after Gilliland limped his Ford to pit road as he too had a flat right-rear tire.

During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Larson returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Ross Chastain remained on the track.

With the race restarting with five laps remaining in the second stage period, where Chastain and Busch occupied the front row, the two leaders dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Busch rocketed ahead of Chastain and maintained the lead while the field behind fanned out. Shortly after, the caution returned when Larson, who was running in ninth place and trying to carve his way back to the front, slid up the track, got sideways and spun in between Turns 3 and 4, where his car slid up towards the outside wall and was hit by Wallace while more names including Buescher, Bell, Briscoe, Logano and Gilliland all wrecked in Turn 4, with Larson sustaining the most damage to the front end of his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and taking him out of contention. Bell, Gilliland and Logano would also be eliminated from further competition while Wallace and Buescher, two Playoff bubble drivers, continued.

The multi-car incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 120 to conclude under caution as Kyle Busch captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Chastain settled in second ahead of Gibbs, Byron and Austin Dillon while Keselowski, Truex, Erik Jones, Blaney and Cody Ware were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, select names led by Chastain pitted while the rest led by the leader Busch remained on the track.

With 75 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Busch and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Busch and Byron dueled for the lead for a full lap as Keselowski, Gibbs, Blaney and Austin Dillon followed suit. With Busch leading the following lap, Byron then would muscle his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead by the first two turns and he would lead the next lap period as the field behind fanned out and jostled for late spots around the corners and straightaways.

With less than 70 laps remaining, Ty Gibbs, who carved his way into second place earlier, started to ignite his challenge for the lead on Byron, though the latter retained the top spot by a tenth of a second through the turns and straightaways. Byron would proceed to stabilize his advantage to less than three-tenths of a second over Gibbs with 65 laps remaining while Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Blaney followed suit in the top five.

Just then, the caution returned when Corey LaJoie, who gained a strong draft on Noah Gragson while battling for a top-20 spot, made light contact with Gragson that sent LaJoie spinning sideways before his No. 7 Garner Trucking Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 went airborne and landed upside-down, where the car slid on its roof through the backstretch’s infield and even hit the infield wall before flipping once and coming to rest on all four wheels towards the infield grass. Amid the wild wreck, LaJoie, who slid on his side before flipping over once at the conclusion of Talladega Superspeedway event in April, emerged uninjured. During the caution period, some led by Busch pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

The start of the next restart period with 59 laps remaining featured Byron and Keselowski, who moved up to restart on the front row amid the choose rule, dueling for the lead in close-quarters racing through the first two turns before Elliott made a bold move beneath both to move into the lead entering the backstretch. With the field fanning out to multiple lanes through the backstretch, Elliott maintained the lead ahead of teammate Byron while Keselowski, Gibbs and Reddick were up in the top five.

With 50 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by six-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by Gibbs, Reddick and Byron as Blaney, Truex, Busch, Buescher and Suarez trailed in the top 10. Behind, Chastain was scored in 11th place ahead of Bowman, Hocevar, Gragson and Austin Dillon while Erik Jones, Hamlin, Stenhouse, rookie Zane Smith and Preece occupied the top-20 spots ahead of Burton, Berry, Cody Ware, Hemric, McDowell and Wallace, all of whom were scored on the lead lap.

Four laps later, Byron peeled off the track from a top-five spot to pit his No. 24 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for enough fuel to reach the event’s scheduled distance. Another two laps later, Truex pitted under green before Bowman would pit his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 not long after. In the process, Gibbs started to close in on Elliott for the lead while third-place Reddick tried to close in.

With 40 laps remaining, Reddick, who overtook Gibbs for the runner-up spot, proceeded to overtake Elliott for the lead. With Reddick leading, Gibbs and Keselowski pitted their respective entries under green before the leader Reddick, Elliott and Blaney pitted under green with 38 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Busch cycled his way into the lead and he would proceed to lead with 35 laps remaining while Chastain, Buscher, Suarez, Hocevar and Austin Dillon were scored in the top six. A lap later, however, Busch pitted from the lead under green, where he only opted for two fresh tires, as Suarez cycled into the lead, where the latter would continue to lead with 30 laps remaining.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hocevar was leading ahead of Stenhouse, Burton, Preece and Erik Jones while Berry, Gragson, Hemric, Cody Ware and McDowell were scored in the top 10. With the top-10 competitors on the track needing to pit, Busch, the first competitor who recently pitted, was trying to fend off Reddick for 11th place and the eventual lead while Byron, Elliott, Gibbs, Truex and Keselowski followed suit.

Not long after, the leader Hocevar along with Gragson and Preece pitted under green as both Reddick and Byron overtook Busch on the track. By then, Suarez had pitted a few laps earlier as Stenhouse assumed the lead. Stenhouse would then pit from the lead as Burton cycled into the lead, where he would lead with 20 laps remaining.

Then with 16 laps remaining, Burton surrendered the lead to pit his No. 21 Motocraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green. By then, Hemric and Ware had pitted as Berry, the lone competitor who has yet to pit, cycled into the lead. Once Berry pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green with 13 laps remaining, Reddick cycled his No. 45 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE into the lead, where he was leading by less than two seconds over Byron.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Reddick was out in front by two seconds over Byron while Gibbs, Truex and Busch trailed in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Hamlin and McDowell. Meanwhile, Chastain, Hocevar, Buescher, Zane Smith and Austin Dillon trailed in the top 15 ahead of Suarez, Stenhouse, Burton, Erik Jones and Berry.

Four laps later, the caution flew when Truex, who was running in fourth place, had an incident in Turn 4, as Reddick’s steady advantage over Byron evaporated. During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while the rest, including Reddick and the front-runners, remained on the track. Amid the caution period, the event was sent into overtime.

The start of the first overtime period did not last long as Chastain, who was racing close towards the top-10 mark, got loose amid stacked conditions and spun in front of Zane Smith before he continued to spin through the infield backstretch and came to rest within the infield grass. Chastain’s spin occurred after Bowman had smacked the backstretch’s outside wall. Despite Chastain continuing and the rest of the field avoiding him, the event was sent into a second overtime attempt as Byron, who despite was told was low on fuel, emerged with the lead over Reddick from the inside lane.

The start of the second overtime attempt featured Byron and Reddick dueling for the lead until Reddick, who this time restarted on the inside lane and beneath Byron, muscled ahead entering the backstretch after he received a draft from Ty Gibbs. With Reddick leading, Byron then tried to use the draft to gain a run and overtake Reddick entering Turn 3, but Reddick retained the top spot as Gibbs closed in from third place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick remained as the leader by a narrow margin over Byron and Gibbs. Reddick then created a small gap between himself and Byron through the first two turns before entering the backstretch. With Byron closing back in through Turns 3 and 4, he was not able to get to Reddick’s rear bumper entering the frontstretch as Reddick proceeded to claim the checkered flag by a tenth of a second over Byron.

With the victory, Tyler Reddick notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his first at Michigan and his second of the 2024 season, with his previous victory occurring at Talladega Superspeedway in April. As a result, he became the sixth competitor to notch multiple victories of the 2024 season while also delivering the second victory for 23XI Racing and the eighth for Toyota nameplate. With Reddick delivering Toyota’s first Cup victory at Michigan since 2015, he snapped Ford’s nine-race winning streak at the manufacturer’s backyard in the Irish Hills that starts in 2018.

Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

During his victory celebrations, Reddick, who is the new leader in the regular-season standings, dedicated his win to Scott Bloomquist, a dirt track and late models legend who was a mentor to Reddick and died in a plane accident three days ago.

“Just great teammate and fantastic push by Ty Gibbs [on the last restart],” Reddick said on USA Network. “That’s what it’s all about. The Toyota Racing family tries to take care of each other. It’s been really cool, but I can’t help it but sit here in Victory Lane and think of Scott Bloomquist. [He was a] Huge mentor to me and incredible role model and legend of dirt racing and motorsports. The last couple of days have been tough and this [win] really helps it and so, this win, I think, should go for him and his family, his friends and all that meant a lot to him…We did a really, really good job today and rebounded from [a bad restart earlier]. I think we were one of the last cars on the lead lap [during the] start of Stage 3, so great effort for us.”

William Byron had enough fuel to finish in second place and rally from finishing outside the top 10 during his last two races while Ty Gibbs rallied from a three-race slump to finish in third place for his sixth top-five result of the season and to remain above the top-16 cutline in the Playoff standings by 39 points in his efforts to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

I’ll relive that restart and what lane to choose overnight, for sure,” Byron, who ended up losing the lead and the race overall from restarting on the outside lane during the final overtime attempt, said. “It seems like always as the leader, you want to take the top [lane], but I’ve gotten beat twice here by the bottom [lane] and I have the lead on the bottom barely over [Reddick]. He had a better can than us. He was a little bit faster. Second sucks, but really proud of the effort, though. I feel like I’ve been trying to put weeks together like this and this is really good step. Everyone did a great job on the team. Strategy was awesome, car was awesome all day and really proud of the team.”

“I feel like we definitely were in contention [for the win], for sure,” Gibbs added. “I needed to get up sooner off of [Turn] 2 to clear [Byron]. Just missed it by a little bit. Then after that, it takes a lap to get wound back up after you lose momentum. I appreciate my guys bring me a great car. Definitely a little frustrating, but we’ll take it. It’s a good day and thanks to everybody that helps my program out.”

Kyle Busch, who led 24 laps and won the second stage period, finished in fourth place for his first top-five finish since finishing fourth at Dover Motor Speedway in April, though he remains 93 points below the top-16 cutline, while Michigan native Brad Keselowski finished in the top five on the track.

Chris Buescher, rookie Zane Smith, Daniel Suarez, Denny Hamlin and rookie Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 in the final running order. The sixth-place run was enough for Buescher to remain above the top-16 cutline by 16 points.

Notably, Chase Elliott finished 15th after leading 29 laps, Austin Dillon ended up 17th ahead of Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. fell back to 24th, though he remains above the top-16 cutline by 77 points. In addition, Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace finished 25th and 26th, respectively. As a result, Chastain holds sole possession of the 16th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by a single point over Wallace with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

There were 26 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 41 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 24th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Tyler Reddick leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over Chase Elliott, 28 over Denny Hamlin and 32 over Kyle Larson in his pursuit for his first Cup Series Regular Season Championship.

Results.

1. Tyler Reddick, 15 laps led

2. William Byron, 20 laps led

3. Ty Gibbs, two laps led

4. Kyle Busch, 24 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

6. Chris Buescher

7. Zane Smith

8. Daniel Suarez, seven laps led

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Carson Hocevar

11. Ryan Preece

12. Noah Gragson

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps led

14. Harrison Burton, five laps led

15. Chase Elliott, 29 laps led

16. Erik Jones

17. Austin Dillon

18. Ryan Blaney, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

19. Michael McDowell

20. Justin Haley

21. Cody Ware

22. Josh Berry, four laps led

23. Daniel Hemric

24. Martin Truex Jr., 28 laps led

25. Ross Chastain, one lap down, four laps led

26. Bubba Wallace, one lap down, five laps led

27. Alex Bowman, one lap down

28. Austin Cindric, two laps down

29. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down

30. AJ Allmendinger, six laps down

31. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Suspension

32. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

33. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

34. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, 41 laps led

35. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

36. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, August 24, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 19, 2024
Chris Gayle to call 200th Cup event as crew chief at Indianapolis

In his sixth full-time campaign as a crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series, Chris Gayle, who works as a crew chief for Ty Gibbs and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE team, is within reach of achieving a milestone feat. By participating in this weekend’s return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Gayle will call his 200th event as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Charlotte with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Gayle made his inaugural presence as a Cup Series crew chief at Kansas Speedway in April 2013, where he was atop the pit box of the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry team piloted by veteran Elliott Sadler. By then, he had recently served as a senior engineer for Kyle Busch and was serving as Sadler’s full-time crew chief in the Xfinity Series. In Gayle’s first event as a Cup crew chief, Sadler, who started 24th, finished 40th after being eliminated in an early accident.

Four years later, Gayle was named a full-time Cup Series crew chief of the No. 77 Furniture Row Racing Toyota Camry entry piloted by Erik Jones, who was set to compete in the series for the first time following a four-win season during the previous Xfinity season. Despite being suspended for two races in August due to a post-race infraction at Pocono Raceway in July, Gayle led Jones to his first Cup career pole at Bristol Motor Speedway in August, where he went on to finish a career-best second place following a late duel against Kyle Busch. Despite earning 11 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, the duo did not make the 2017 Cup Playoffs. Nonetheless, they went on to post two top-10 results during the 10-race Playoff stretch before finishing in 19th place in the final standings. By then, Jones captured the 2017 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title and became the first competitor to achieve a rookie title across NASCAR’s top three premier series (Truck, Xfinity and Cup divisions).

In 2018, Gayle and Jones moved back to Joe Gibbs Racing and took over the No. 20 Toyota Camry team for the upcoming Cup season. Following a consistent start to the season that was highlighted by six top-10 results during the first 16-scheduled events, Gayle and Jones earned their first career victory in the Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway in July after Jones overtook former teammate Martin Truex Jr. on the final lap to win. After notching six additional top-10 results during the following eight events, the duo qualified for the 2018 Cup Playoffs. Their title hopes, however, came to an early end following respective finishes of 40th, 11th and 30th during the Round of 16. Despite rallying to finish in the top 10 four times during the final seven events, Gayle and Jones capped off the season in 15th place in the final standings.

Remaining as Jones’ crew chief in 2019, Gayle led the No. 20 team to a strong third-place result during the 61st running of the Daytona 500. After enduring an up-and-down regular-season stretch highlighted with eight top-five results and 12 top-10 results during the first 24 regular-season events, Gayle and Jones achieved their first elusive victory of the season in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in September, where Jones held off teammate Kyle Busch to win in his 100th Cup career start and notch the second career victory for himself and Gayle. The Southern 500 victory was more than enough for the duo and the No. 20 team to clinch a Playoff spot for a second consecutive season. Following another early exit from the Playoffs after posting three consecutive results outside the top 30 during the Round of 16, Gayle and Jones went on to finish 16th in the final standings.

Gayle and Jones commenced the 2020 season on a high note by winning the Busch Clash at Daytona in February, where Jones rallied from being involved in three multi-car wrecks to nurse his damaged car to the win with drafting help from teammate Denny Hamlin. The rest of the season, however, ended up being a struggle for the duo as they recorded seven top-10 results during the regular season and failed to make the Playoffs. In addition, Gayle served a one-race suspension during the second of a Darlington Raceway doubleheader feature in May after Jones’ No. 20 Toyota had two unsecured lugnuts during the first Darlington feature. Five finishes in the top 10 during the 10-week Playoff stretch, however, were enough for Gayle and Jones to end up in 17th place in the final standings, the highest-finishing team in the standings to not make the Playoffs.

Following the 2020 season, Gayle and Jones were replaced by Adam Stevens and Christopher Bell, respectively, for the 2021 season. While Jones moved on to Richard Petty Motorsports, Gayle remained at JGR and scaled back as a full-time Xfinity Series crew chief for the team’s No. 54 Toyota Supra entry piloted by a multitude of competitors. Between 2021 and 2022, Gayle earned 17 Xfinity victories between Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek. He also won the 2022 Xfinity Series championship with Ty Gibbs in a season where the duo notched seven victories, including the season finale to claim the fourth Xfinity title for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Nearly a week and a half after winning the previous season’s Xfinity championship, Gayle was promoted back to the Cup Series to serve as Gibbs’ crew chief in 2023, with Gibbs retaining the No. 54 and embarking in his first full-time campaign in NASCAR’s premier series. The duo would rally by finishing no higher than 16th during the first four-scheduled events before notching four consecutive top-10 finishes in their next four events. Gayle and Gibbs would proceed to collect two top-five results and another top-10 result throughout the remaining 18 regular-season events on the schedule, but they would miss the cutline to the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs. Nonetheless, they proceeded to record two top-five runs during the final 10-scheduled events before ending up in 18th place in the final driver’s standings. As a result, Gibbs claimed the 2023 Cup Series Rookie-of-the-Year title, which marked the second time and the first since being paired with Erik Jones in 2017 where Gayle navigated a competitor to a Cup rookie title.

Through 199 previous Cup events, Gayle has achieved two victories, four poles, 40 top-five results and 78 top-10 results while working with three different competitors. He and Ty Gibbs are currently ranked in 11th place in the 2024 regular-season standings on the strength of five top-five results, nine top-10 results and two poles, including this past weekend at Pocono Raceway, through 21-scheduled events. In addition, they are 40 points above the top-16 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs with five regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

Chris Gayle is scheduled to call his 200th Cup Series event as a crew chief at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the return of the Brickyard 400. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 17, 2024
Ryan Blaney storms to second Cup victory of 2024 at Pocono

The number 12 was the lucky number of the day for Ryan Blaney as he muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang Dark Horse to his 12th NASCAR Cup Series career victory in The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 14.

The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion from High Point, North Carolina, led the final 44 of 160 scheduled laps in an event where he started in eighth place and spent the majority of the event racing toward the front.

After surrendering points to pit before the first two stage’s conclusion as part of a pit strategy plan that was also enforced by every participant from start to finish, Blaney cycled into the lead following a late pit stop, where he pitted with the field, during a caution period with less than 45 laps remaining. The initial leader, Kyle Larson, was among four competitors who were penalized for speeding on pit road.

Despite having his momentum and steady launches from restarts with the lead stalled due to three late-race caution periods, Blaney capitalized on the final restart period with 23 laps remaining to rocket ahead of Alex Bowman amid a strong shove from Denny Hamlin. From there, Blaney kept both Hamlin and Bowman trailing by as far as a second before he claimed his second Cup Series victory of the 2024 season and gained added momentum with the 2024 Playoffs looming as he strives to defend his series championship.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, July 13, Ty Gibbs scored his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season and his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 170.039 mph in 52.929 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 169.661 mph in 53.047 seconds.

Before the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field with a new oil line attached to his No. 8 zone/GetGo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Corey LaJoie also dropped to the rear of the field due to repairs made to his suspension of the No. 7 Parity in Paris Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 following his qualifying run.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the Charlotte duos of Ty Gibbs and William Byron dueled for the lead through the frontstretch and in front of a tight two-by-two formation between the field until Gibbs tried to muscle ahead from the outside lane in Turn 1. Byron, however, fought back through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve as both he and Gibbs remained dead even in front of Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. With the field navigating back to the frontstretch, Gibbs, who steered his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE towards the bottom of the track, managed to lead the first lap ahead of Byron.

As Gibbs cleared Byron during the second lap and entering Turn 1, Byron fended off Truex and Hamlin for the runner-up spot as Tyler Reddick tried to close in from fifth place. With Byron leading a parade of competitors that included Truex, Hamlin, Reddick, teammate Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney from the runner-up spot, Gibbs stretched his early advantage to more than a second by the fifth lap mark.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by three seconds over Byron as Truex, Hamlin and Reddick trailed in the top five. Behind, Blaney occupied sixth place ahead of Bowman, Kyle Larson, rookie Josh Berry and Christopher Bell while Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, rookie Zane Smith, Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher were scored in the top 15 ahead of rookie Carson Hocevar, Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Austin Cindric. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was mired in 21st place ahead of Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Noah Gragon and Chase Briscoe while AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric and Corey LaJoie were mired in the top 30, with Todd Gilliland, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley, Kyle Busch, Ryan Preece, Cody Ware and JJ Yeley rounding out the 37-car field.

Four laps later, the event’s first caution flew when Noah Gragson, who was running in 24th place, spun and backed his No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he emerged with rear-end damage and retired from further competition. During the event’s first competition period, some of the drivers, including the front-runners led by Gibbs, remained on the track while the rest led by Bell pitted.

When the race restarted on Lap 17, the field jumbled up into two tight lanes through the frontstretch as Gibbs led the field through the first turn. Then as Josh Berry went up the track through Turn 1 and plummeted below the leaderboard, Gibbs, who also went wide in Turn 1, muscled his No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE into the lead. Teammate Hamlin would follow suit and overtake Byron for the runner-up spot just past the Tunnel Curve as Gibbs, who slipped to fifth place, went three wide with Blaney and Chase Elliott as they battled for the spot. Bowman trailed the trio of Blaney, Gibbs and Elliott through the frontstretch and Reddick navigated his way into third place as he passed Byron and then set his sights on owner Hamlin for more. By then, Berry pitted his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green as Truex proceeded to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin by Lap 20.

At the Lap 25 mark, Truex stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hamlin as Reddick, Blaney and Byron trailed in the top five ahead of Gibbs, Elliott, Bowman, Zane Smith and Larson. Behind, Logano and Keselowski battled for 11th place as Bell, Erik Jones and Cindric were racing in the top 15. By then, Bubba Wallace pitted his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE under green as he was also able to blend back onto the track ahead of the leader Truex without losing a lap. Soon after, third-place Blaney along with Gibbs, Zane Smith, Larson, Cindric and Ross Chastain pitted their respective entries under green as part of a strategic move by Lap 27 while Truex retained the lead by a second over teammate Hamlin and by three seconds over third-place Reddick.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Truex claimed his third Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Hamlin followed suit in second place and by a second on the track while Reddick, Byron, Elliott, Bowman, Logano, Keselowski, Bell and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the front-runners led by Truex and including Hamlin, Reddick, Byron and Elliott pitted while the rest led by Logano, Keselowski and Bell remained on the track.

The second stage period started on Lap 35 as Logano and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Keselowski dueled for the lead through the frontstretch as Keselowski muscled his No. 6 Nexlizet Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead. As Logano went wide in Turn 1 while losing a bevy of spots in the process, Keselowski retained the lead in front of the field through Long Pond Straightaway and through the Tunnel Curve before he navigated his way back to Turn 3 and the frontstretch, where he led the next lap as Erik Jones, Bell, Buescher and Hocevar followed suit in the top five.

Keselowski would proceed to lead the Lap 40 mark by a second over Jones as Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to pursue the lead in the top five. Behind, Chase Briscoe was up to sixth place ahead of Michael McDowell, Logano, Stenhouse and Elliott while Suarez, Kyle Busch, LaJoie, Hamlin and Justin Haley were in the top 15.

By Lap 45, Keselowski stretched his advantage to three seconds over runner-up Erik Jones while Bell, Buescher and Hocevar continued to trail in the top five and within six seconds. Behind, Elliott, the highest-running competitor on the track who pitted during the first stage break, muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into sixth place after he overtook Briscoe while McDowell, Logano and Hamlin followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Stenhouse was in 11th place ahead of Suarez, Busch, Gibbs and Blaney while Byron, LaJoie, Truex, Haley and Zane Smith were in the top 20 ahead of Larson, Chastain, Wallace, Reddick, Harrison Burton and Bowman.

On Lap 52, the caution flew when Ross Chastain, who slipped sideways and hit the outside wall in Turn 3, limped his No. 1 Busch Light Peach Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch before he went dead straight and smacked the outside wall in Turn 1, where he proceeded to limp his damaged car to his pit stall. Despite his pit crew’s efforts to repair the car, Chastain’s event came to an end as his 2024 Cup Playoffs hopes were jeopardized.

During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Keselowski pitted for service while the rest led by Gibbs, Cindric and Berry remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of teammate Truex, Byron, Blaney, Zane Smith, Elliott, Larson, Keselowski, Bowman and Bell. Amid the pit stops, Hocevar was penalized for an equipment interference, Gilliland was busted for speeding on pit road and Harrison Burton was penalized for a safety violation. In addition, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon would spend extra time in their respective pit stalls to have their brake serviced.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 58 featured a heated battle between Gibbs and Berry through the frontstretch. As the field began to fan out, Berry managed to muscle ahead with the lead as Hamlin battled teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot. With the field still fanning out from Long Pond Straightaway to the Tunnel Curve, Berry retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Gibbs, Hamlin, Byron and Cindric while Truex was in sixth ahead of Bowman, Blaney, Zane Smith and Keselowski.

Just past the Lap 65 mark, Berry retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin while Gibbs settled in third place as he trailed the lead by nearly two seconds. Behind, Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Elliott trailed in the top five as Blaney, Truex, Keselowski, Cindric and Erik Jones were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, however, Hamlin gained a strong run on Berry from Turn 3 to overtake him entering the frontstretch and move his No. 11 Mavis Tire Toyota Camry XSE into the lead on Lap 67. Hamlin would then proceed to lead at the Lap 70 mark by a second over Berry while Elliott overtook Gibbs for third place.

On Lap 72, Cindric pitted his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse from the top 11 and he spent extra time in his pit stall while his pit crew filled up the car with enough fuel for the second stage’s conclusion. Back on the track, Gibbs fended off Blaney for fourth place while Hamlin continued to lead by two seconds over Berry as third-place Elliott started to close in on Berry for more. Gibbs would then pit under green from fourth place on Lap 75 before Berry, who was overtaken by Elliott earlier, pitted two laps later.

At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Hamlin, who was among many trying to conserve fuel, was leading by four seconds over Elliott as Blaney, Truex and Keselowski were racing in the top five ahead of Buescher, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson and Bowman. Meanwhile, Bell was in 11th place ahead of Logano, Reddick, LaJoie and Briscoe while Zane Smith, Ryan Preece, Allmendinger, Stenhouse and Suarez trailed in the top 20 ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Burton, McDowell, Wallace and Gilliland. By then, Busch was mired in 30th place while Gibbs, Berry and Cindric were mired back from 33rd to 35th, respectively, despite remaining on the lead lap category.

With five laps remaining in the second stage period, Buescher surrendered his spot from the top 10 to pit his No. 17 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green, all while Hamlin stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Elliott. Blaney and Truex would then surrender third and fourth place on the track, respectively, to pit with three laps remaining in the second stage period.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 95, Hamlin captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott trailed in second place by five seconds while Keselowski, Byron, Erik Jones, Larson, Bowman, Bell, Logano and Redick were scored in the top 10. By then, all who recently pitted, including Cindric, Truex, Gibbs, Blaney, Berr and Buescher remained on the lead lap as a total of 32 in the field of 37 were scored on the same lap as the leader Hamlin.

During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted for service while select names led by Buescher and including Berry, Blaney, Gibbs and Truex remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Reddick exited pit road first ahead of Keselowski, Gilliland, Larson and Erik Jones while Hamlin exited in 10th place behind Logano, Elliott, Bowman and Byron. Amid the pit stops, LaJoie was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 60 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Buescher and Berry occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to three lanes through the frontstretch as Buescher rocketed ahead with the lead from the outside lane through Turn 1. Behind, a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Blaney, Truex and Berry through Long Pond Straightaway, with Blaney continuing to battle Truex for the spot just past the Tunnel Curve while Berry was trying to fend off Larson for fourth place. Amid a series of jostles for late spots, Buescher stretched his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds as he led the next lap period.

With 55 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Blaney while third-place Truex trailed by two seconds. Keselowski and Larson followed suit in the top five as Gibbs, Reddick, Elliott, Logano and Hamlin were mired in the top 10. Buescher would continue to lead by more than a second over Blaney with 50 laps remaining as Berry pitted from the top 15 under green. Ultimately, Berry would lose a lap to the leaders following an extensive service due to the Tennessean sliding through his pit box.

With 46 laps remaining, the caution returned when Todd Gilliland, who fell off the pace through the frontstretch while running in the top 25, scraped his No. 38 C.H. REED Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the outside wall in Turn 1. During the caution period, the entire lead lap field led by Buescher, all of whom were within their fuel window to reach the scheduled distance, pitted for service. Following the pit stops and amid more mixed strategies, Larson gained four spots to exit pit road in first place as he was followed by Blaney, Elliott, Hamlin, Bowman, Logano, Byron, Truex, Bell and Keselowski. Shortly after, however, Larson along with teammate Elliott, Suarez and Gibbs were sent to the rear of the field due to speeding in Section 7 on pit road. As a result, Blaney cycled into the lead.

The start of the next restart period with 40 laps remaining did not last long when Kyle Busch, who restarted 16th, was turned by LaJoie, whom he was trying to block amid the three-wide battle, as he spun from the bottom apron entering Turn 1, shot back across the track and collided into both Preece and Stenhouse as Stenhouse spun backward and smacked the outside wall hard while Preece clipped Burton as both spun through the turn. Allmendinger, Hocevar and Cindric would also get involved in the carnage. The accident not only capped off Busch’s long event that commenced with starting at the rear of the field with a new oil line to his No. 8 Chevrolet, but it negatively affected his hopes of making the 2024 Cup Playoffs yet again as the Pocono wreck marked his fifth DNF in seven races and his sixth time finishing outside the top 20 over the last nine races.

As the event restarted under green with 34 laps remaining, Blaney, who received a strong shove from Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Best Friends Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the outside lane during the previous restart period, received the same help from Bowman through the frontstretch for the current restart period as he muscled his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead through Turn 1 while Bowman retained second ahead of Hamlin, Logano, Byron and Bell. The caution, however, would quickly return when Zane Smith, who was trying to charge his way into the top 15, got pinned in between Nemechek and McDowell resulting in McDowell hitting the outside wall in Long Pond Straightaway while both Smith and Nemechek were sent spinning and colliding into the inside wall.

The start of the next restart period with 29 laps remaining featured Blaney trying to fend off Bowman through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. A lap later, the caution returned due to fluid on the course as the pole-sitter Gibbs, who fell off the pace during the restart, was trying to limp his car back to his pit stall after his engine blew up with both smoke and fluid coming out of the exhaust pipe.

With the race restarting with 23 laps remaining, Blaney received a shove from Hamlin on the outside lane to edge ahead of Bowman entering the first turn and he would retain the lead through Long Pond Straightaway while Hamlin and Bowman battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano. Bell and Truex would battle for seventh place in front of Wallace and Keselowski as both Bowman and Hamlin battled dead even for second place in front of Byron and Logano while Blaney, who led the next lap, stretched his advantage to more than half a second.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Blaney continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bowman as Bowman started to close back in on Blaney for the top spot. Behind, Hamlin retained third place ahead of Byron and Logano while Reddick, Truex, Keselowski, Wallace and Elliott were scored in the top 10 ahead of Bell, Buescher, Larson, Briscoe and Suarez.

Five laps later, Blaney stretched his advantage to more than a second over Bowman as Hamlin, Byron and Logano trailed within three seconds in the top five. Blaney would stabilize his advantage to a second over Bowman with 10 laps remaining as Hamlin, Byron and Logano continued to trail in the top five. By then, Reddick retained sixth place ahead of Keselowski while Truex was back in eighth place as he was running ahead of Elliott and Wallace.

With five laps remaining, Blaney retained the lead by more than two seconds in his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang Dark Horse over Hamlin, who overtook Bowman with a bold pass from the outside lane in Turn 3 three laps earlier. Meanwhile, Byron would retain fourth place just ahead of Logano, Reddick and Keselowski while eighth-place Truex trailed the lead by seven seconds. By then, Larson was mired in 12th place, Suarez was scored in 16th place and Elliott remained ahead of Wallace in ninth place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by more than a second over Hamlin. With Hamlin unable to narrow the deficit for a final time, Blaney was able to navigate his way around Pocono’s three tricky corners smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and cruised to his second checkered flag of the 2024 Cup Series season.

With the victory, Blaney, who recorded his first Cup Series career victory while driving for Wood Brothers Racing in June 2017, notched his 12th career win in his 327th start in NASCAR’s premier series and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway four races ago. The victory also made Blaney the fifth competitor overall to achieve multiple victories through the first 21 scheduled events of the 2024 Cup Series season.

Blaney’s Pocono victory was also the fifth of the season for the Ford nameplate, the fifth overall for Ford’s Dark Horse stock car and the fourth of the 2024 season for Team Penske, with the Penske organization returning to Victory Lane at Pocono for the first time since the 2011 season.

Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I think just things are really kind of falling into place for us,” Blaney said on USA Network. “I feel like we’ve gotten to a great place on speed, the last two months especially. I feel like we honestly had a couple races slip away from us, which I thought we had a good shot at winning. So, it’s nice to just stick to the plan today. Kind of our plan was trying to have track position at the end because I knew our car was fast enough. Super proud of [crew chief] Jonathan [Hassler], the whole No. 12 boys. So cool to win here again. I won here seven years ago for my first Cup win, so awesome to be back. It’s just as special to win here today. You love tracks that have a special meaning to you. Places you get your first win and things like that, so this place means so much to me. So proud of the effort. Looking forward to, hopefully, continuing this momentum into next week at the boss’ [Roger Penske] track up at Indy.”

Denny Hamlin, who led 31 laps compared to Blaney’s 44 and was striving for his record-setting eighth Pocono victory, settled in second place as he rallied from finishing no higher than 12th over his last five races on the schedule while Alex Bowman, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at the Chicago Street Course, finished in a strong third place.

“Never lose a race, just would always run out of time, right? That’s just part of it,” Hamlin said. “Track position’s such a big thing. When [Blaney] jumped on that stage that we won, that put them in front of us and [it] certainly was gonna be hard to pass, and just not enough laps, really, of green [flag] there towards the end. Hats off to them. Great run. He kept great pace up there towards the front. It was really hard for me to even try to get close to reeling him in. Great job to this whole Mavis Tires & Brakes team. Shame we couldn’t get to Victory Lane, but another day.”

“[It’s] Hard to be satisfied when you restart on the front row, last restart and can’t get the job done,” Bowman said. “Proud of everybody on our Ally No. 48 [team]. We struggled with our car in traffic quite a bit and probably made most of our adjustments based on traffic and then, just got too free there at the end when we had some clear air. A good solid day for us. At least we’re pointed in the right direction. It’s been a good two weeks for us and going to a really historic racetrack that means a lot to me personally next week, so hopefully, we can get the job done there.”

Teammate William Byron muscled the red No. 24 Raptor High Heat Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to a fourth-place result while Joey Logano ended up in fifth place.

Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were eight lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 34 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 21st event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over teammate Kyle Larson, 15 over Tyler Reddick, 20 over Denny Hamlin, 57 over William Byron, 63 over Martin Truex Jr. and 76 over Ryan Blaney.

Results.

1. Ryan Blaney, 44 laps led

2. Denny Hamlin, 31 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Alex Bowman

4. William Byron

5. Joey Logano, three laps led

6. Tyler Reddick

7. Brad Keselowski, 20 laps led

8. Martin Truex Jr., 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

9. Chase Elliott

10. Bubba Wallace

11. Chris Buescher, 19 laps led

12. Christopher Bell

13. Kyle Larson

14. Erik Jones

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Daniel Suarez

17. Carson Hocevar

18. Austin Cindric

19. Corey LaJoie

20. Josh Berry, eight laps led

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Justin Haley

23. Austin Dillon

24. Michael McDowell, two laps down

25. Daniel Hemric- OUT, Suspension

26. Cody Ware – OUT, Overheating

27. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Engine, 21 laps led

28. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

29. Zane Smith – OUT, Accident

30. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident

31. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

32. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

34. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

35. JJ Yeley – OUT, Fuel pump

36. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the return of the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 14, 2024
Bowman clinches Playoff berth with wild, rain-shortened Cup victory at Chicago

Alex Bowman capitalized on a gutsy late-race strategic pit call made by crew chief Blake Harris to race his way into the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs by winning the rain-shortened, second annual running of the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 7.

The 31-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, led the final eight of 58-shortened laps in an event where he started in eighth place and navigated through the streets of Chicago’s wet conditions to record a total of 14 stage points between two stage periods, including the second and latest stage where he remained on the track on wet tires to settle in second place behind Joey Hand. At the conclusion of the second stage period, the event became a race against the clock to conclude at 8:20 p.m. CT instead of its scheduled distance of 75 laps due to an earlier rain delay period that spanned more than an hour and a half.

For the start of the final stage period with 27 laps remaining, Bowman, who was among several front-runners who elected to continue to race on wet tires instead of dry slicks for the remainder of the event following a strategic call made by crew chief Harris, assumed the lead from Hand with 26 laps remaining. Then amid another late-race caution that gave him more time to lead as the event’s timed clock to conclusion kept expiring, he muscled away from the field during the next restart period with 22 laps remaining and led the next two laps before the event was then shortened to two laps remaining (75 to 58 laps overall) as the clock expired. Despite having Tyler Reddick challenging him over the final two laps, Bowman left little room to error around the Chicago Street Course’s 12 turns and he managed to fend off the competition to snap an 80-race winless drought and lock both himself and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team into this year’s Playoff field.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, July 6, Kyle Larson notched his fifth Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a 90.168 mph lap in 87.836 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 90.158 mph in 87.846 seconds.

Before the event, several drivers including Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton, Ryan Preece and Erik Jones dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries. William Byron also started at the rear of the field due to a power steering failure. Notably, Josh Bilicki, who started at the rear of the field, was not permitted to qualify and was assessed a drive-through penalty at the start of the event due to his entry failing pre-race inspection three times.

With rain occurring around the course as the field made the pace laps, the teams were given the option to switch from slick to wet weather tires. Select names including Austin Cindric, Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano and rookie Zane Smith pitted for wet tires while the rest led by Larson and Gibbs remained on the track on dry weather tires.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, the field fanned out through the frontstretch amid a series of tire spins as Ty Gibbs launched his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE ahead with the early advantage through Turn 1. Gibbs proceeded to lead from Turns 2 to 5 while Tyler Reddick tried to close in from the runner-up spot. With the field then navigating through a long straightaway in South Columbus Drive, Gibbs retained the lead through the next series of turns starting in Turn 6 to East Balbo Drive to South Michigan Drive and the East Congress Plaza Drive through Turns 7 to 11. Through one final right-hand turn to Turn 12, Gibbs led the first lap over Reddick.

Through the second lap, Gibbs slightly stretched his early advantage to more than half a second over Reddick as Kyle Larson, who lost the lead at the start, tried to challenge Reddick for the runner-up spot. Behind, Alex Bowman was trying to fend off Shane van Gisbergen and Bubba Wallace for fourth place before van Gisbergen overtook both Bowman and Larson to move his No. 16 Wendy’s Saucy Nuggets Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to third place.

Meanwhile, Truex had carved his way up to 10th place after pitting for wet tires as he tried to close in on Chase Briscoe for more while Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell were in seventh and eighth. With a series of on-course battles ensuing between those who pitted for wet tires versus those who did not, Gibbs retained the lead by a second over Reddick by the fifth lap mark. By then, McDowell, Ryan Preece and Harrison Burton pitted their respective entries for wet tires as rain was being reported within the north end of the circuit.

At the Lap 10 mark, Gibbs, who remained on the course on dry tires, continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over a hard-charging van Gisbergen as Bell, Larson and Briscoe followed suit in the top five. Behind, Reddick, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, John Hunter Nemechek and Todd Gilliland trailed in the top 10 while Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., AJ Allmendinger, rookie Carson Hocevar, Joey Hand, Justin Haley and Kaz Grala rounded out the top 20 ahead of Chris Buescher, Austin Hill, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Daniel Hemric. By then, select names including LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Truex had pitted.

A lap later, Gibbs, who was stuck behind Preece and Joey Logano as the latter two were struggling on wet tires and trying to remain on the lead lap, was overtaken by van Gisbergen for the lead through the South Michigan Avenue and entering Turn 11. With van Gisbergen leading through the frontstretch and at the Lap 12 mark, Bell would also try to follow suit in his No. 20 Craftsman Toyota Camry XSE, but Gibbs would fend him off as Bell bumped and nearly sent Logano sideways in Turn 1. With Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spinning in Turn 1 while the event remained under green flag conditions, select names including Burton, Logano, Preece, Erik Jones, Cindric and McDowell were lapped as van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to a second over Bell by Lap 14. Bell, however, would assume the lead from van Gisbergen on Lap 15.

A lap later, the event’s first caution period flew due to LaJoie, who was scored in 29th place, spinning and crashing his No. 7 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the wall in Turn 5 as he was dodged by oncoming traffic, including the leader, while faced backward. By then, van Gisbergen had reassumed the lead from Bell as Gibbs, Briscoe and Larson were running in the top five.

With the precipitation slowly increasing around the circuit, the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 20 concluded under caution as van Gisbergen claimed the first Cup stage victory of his career and of the 2024 season. Bell, who swept both stage periods a year ago at the streets of Chicago, settled in second ahead of Gibbs, Briscoe and Larson while Bowman, Wallace, Gilliland, Reddick and Suarez were scored in the top 10. By then, 30 of 40 competitors were scored on the lead lap as William Byron, LaJoie, Ryan Blaney and rookie Josh Berry were pinned a lap down.

During the closing laps of the first stage period, NASCAR announced that the event’s conclusion would occur at 8:20 p.m. CT, even if the event did not reach its scheduled distance of Lap 75, which made the event a race against the clock for the scheduled time. Once the event’s leader crosses the start/finish line at the time when the clock expires, the next lap will be the final lap and the checkered flag will follow suit with no overtime rules occurring.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by van Gisbergen, including those on dry tires, pitted for wet tires while Zane Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, where the field stacked up upon exiting pit road to avoid an on-track safety vehicle, Bell exited first while Gibbs, Larson, van Gisbergen, Bowman, Wallace, Briscoe and Reddick, who ran into the rear of teammate Wallace, followed suit.

The second stage period started on Lap 23 as Smith and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs managed to overtake both to reassume the lead in Turn 1. Shortly after, Wallace, who was battling in the top 10, spun at the exit of Turn 2 after Bowman made contact with Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Camry XSE, which resulted in Wallace making rear-end contact with the tire barriers and sliding back into the path of both Bowman and Suarez.

As the field continued to navigate through the course, the caution would then return just shy of Lap 25 due to Briscoe sliding sideways amid the slick conditions and slamming into the tire barriers on the driver’s side of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 6 while also clipping van Gisbergen as both were racing in the top six. In the process, van Gisbergen slid and slammed into the outside wall on the right side in Turn 6 and came to a full stop towards the wall. The incident was enough for van Gisbergen to retire from competition as his hopes of winning on the streets of Chicago for a second consecutive season evaporated.

“I just sort of turned in [to Turn 6], it looked pretty good and then just got smashed by [Briscoe],” van Gisbergen said upon being released from the infield care center on NBC. “Gutting. That sucks, but it’s an unfortunate mistake by him. I’m sure he didn’t mean it, but yeah, when he just clipped me, ain’t nothing I could do. It’s a shame to be out so early and shame we couldn’t have a proper crack at [the win] at the end.”

During the caution period, the field led by Gibbs was directed to pit road and the race was placed in a red flag period for one hour and 43 minutes due to the rain as the on-track crews went to work to blow the standing water off of the course.

Once the field led by Gibbs returned to the course under a cautious pace, some including Byron, Erik Jones, Suarez, Logano, LaJoie, Preece and Burton pitted for a fresh set of wet tires. By then, the race had approximately an hour before it would reach its scheduled time of concluding at 8:20 p.m. CT.

When the race restarted on Lap 30, where all competitors restarted in single-line formation, Gibbs retained the lead from teammate Bell through the first turn before navigating his way from Turns 2 to 5. Then through the South Columbus Drive, Bell drew even with teammate Gibbs before he gained the advantage and moved into the lead in Turn 6. With Denny Hamlin locking his tires and running into the rear of Stenhouse as both spun and hit the tire barriers in Turn 6, the race remained under green flag conditions as Bell retained the lead over teammate Gibbs over the next four laps. In the process, Larson began to ignite his challenge on Gibbs for the runner-up spot while Reddick and Gilliland carved their way into the top five over Nemechek, Elliott, Chastain, Allmendinger and Smith.

Then on Lap 33 and with Bell stretching his advantage to more than a second, the caution flew after Larson, who was battling Gibbs for the runner-up spot, locked up his front tires and went dead straight into the tire barriers in Turn 6 as he got his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stuck underneath the barriers. With the assistance of a wrecker, Larson limped his car that had heavy front nose damage as far as he could around the course, starting from Turn 6, before he parked his car in Turn 8 and retired from further competition.

The start of the next restart period on Lap 36 featured Bell retaining the lead over teammate Gibbs, Reddick and Gilliland through the first two turns. With seventh-place Chastain barely hitting the wall in Turn 4, trouble struck as Josh Berry hit the tire barriers head-on in Turn 4. In the ensuing process, teammate Briscoe spun off the course in the exact same turn, but both continued without drawing a caution. Amid the chaos, Bell slowly stretched his advantage to more than half a second over teammate Gibbs during the ensuing four laps.

Just past the Lap 40 mark, Bell retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Gibbs while third-place Gilliland trailed by four seconds. Behind, Nemechek and Reddick were in the top five as Allmendinger, Joey Hand, Chastain, Bowman and Justin Haley were in the top 10 ahead of Buescher, Grala, Keselowski, Austin Dillon and Elliott.

With three laps remaining in the second stage period and with nearly half an hour of racing left on the clock, select names including Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Austin Hill, McDowell, Blaney, Byron, Zane Smith, Cindric, Suarez and Wallace pitted their respective entries for slick tires. Teammates Bell and Gibbs along with Gilliland, Nemechek, Reddick, Allmendinger, Chastain, Haley, Buescher and Grala all pitted for dry tires during the next lap as Joey Hand cycled into the lead. In the process, Austin Dillon and Berry had on-track incidents of their own within separate turns, but the event remained under green flag conditions.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 45, Joey Hand, an accomplished sports car competitor from Sacramento, California, who was making his first NASCAR start of the 2024 season in Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry, captured the stage victory, which was also his first in the Cup Series level. Bowman followed suit in second along with Keselowski, Hocevar and Truex while Noah Gragson, Daniel Hemric, Stenhouse, Burton and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then and with the top-10 competitors all remaining on the track on wet tires, Bell was mired in 13th place, but running two spots ahead of teammate Gibbs on his slick tires while Gilliland, Reddick, Nemechek, Allmendinger and Haley were mired within the top 20 on the course.

With 27 laps remaining but less than 20 minutes left until the event reached its concluding time of 8:20 p.m. CT, the final stage commenced as Hand, who along with the rest of the field remained on the track during the second stage’s break period, led Bowman, Keselowski, Hocevar, Truex and the rest of the field through the frontstretch. At the start, Hand retained a slim lead in his No. 60 BuildSumbarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse over Bowman through the first two turns while Truex was trying to overtake Hocevar for fourth place. Hand would was lead through Turns 2 to 5 and through South Columbus Drive before he made his way into Turn 6 with the top spot. Behind, Keselowski retained third place ahead of Truex, Hocevar and Stenhouse just past Turn 6 while Hand maintained the lead by within half a second as he led the proceeding lap.

Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Hand continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Bowman, who kept intimidating Hand through every turn, as Keselowski, Truex and Hocevar followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Bell, racing on slick tires, was mired in 11th place behind Stenhouse, Gragson, Hemric, Burton and Preece while Gibbs, Reddick, Briscoe and Nemechek were in the top 15 ahead of Berry, McDowell, Gilliland, Blaney and Hamlin. In the process, Allmendinger was recovering from spinning in Turn 12 without drawing a caution.

Then just as Bowman assumed the lead from Hand in Turn 5 and was entering South Columbus Drive during the following lap, the caution returned due to Berry wrecking and getting his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse stuck underneath the tire barriers.

With 22 laps but four-and-a-half minutes on the clock remaining, the race restarted as Bowman retained the lead ahead of Hand and the field through the first turn. Amid a strong start, Bowman retained a steady advantage through the next set of turns while Briscoe and Nemechek each wrecked separately. As the race continued to run under green flag conditions, Bell muscled his way up to eighth place behind Hocevar and Gragson while Bowman retained the lead entering Turn 6 before he navigated his way through Turns 7 to 11.

The following lap, Truex got sideways in Turn 2 and he got teammate Bell, who was about to crack the top five, spinning sideways in front of Hocevar as both Bell and Hocevar collided into one another towards the wall. Despite all competitors continuing without drawing a caution, Bell’s progress to drive back to the front was derailed as he pitted and eventually retired from the race. In the process, Bowman kept his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 out in front of the field while running strong on his wet tires.

Then as the time clock expired and the event’s duration decreased from 20 to two laps remaining, Bowman continued to lead by more than a second over Hand as Reddick, Gibbs and Stenhouse trailed in the top five. Reddick, who was on slick tires, would proceed to overtake Hand for the runner-up spot, but he trailed Bowman by more than three seconds.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bowman remained as the leader by two seconds over Reddick, who was mounting a late charge on slick tires and logging in faster lap times than Bowman. With Reddick hitting the inside wall in Turn 5 and losing ground amid his late-race charge, Bowman was able to navigate the final seven sets of turns within the streets of Chicago smoothly and to perfection as he returned to the frontstretch victorious for his first checkered flag in over two years.

With the victory, Bowman achieved his eighth career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, his first on a road course and street course venue and his first since winning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2022. The victory was also the first for crew chief Blake Harris, who assumed the role as crew chief of the No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team at the start of the 2023 season. In addition, Bowman’s victory for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 team, which was the eighth of the season for the Hendrick organization and the ninth for the Chevrolet nameplate through 20-scheduled events, means that team owner Rick Hendrick has all four of his entries making the Playoffs and for the first time since the 2022 season.

Bowman’s victory was also a redemptive moment for the Arizona native, whose championship hopes in 2022 evaporated when he wrecked at Texas Motor Speedway during the Round of 12 opener. The incident resulted in Bowman sustaining a concussion and missing five of the final six events of the schedule and also eliminated him from the Playoffs following the Round of 12. He then suffered a back injury following a sprint car accident in late April that forced him to miss three regular-season races in 2023 and resulted in him missing the 2023 Playoffs. The 2024 season will mark Bowman’s sixth time overall being a participant in the Playoffs in NASCAR’s premier series.

“Anytime you go to the racetrack with Hendrick Motorsports, you got a shot [at winning],” Bowman said on NBC. “We have a trophy to take home. [I] Know it means a lot to this team. They put me in position to win the race. Man, I broke my back, had a brain injury and we kind of sucked ever since. You start to second-guess if you’re ever gonna get a chance to win a race again. Last one we won, we really didn’t get to celebrate. We’re gonna drink so much damn bourbon tonight. It’s gonna be a bad deal. I’m probably gonna wake up naked on the bathroom floor again, but that’s the part of this deal sometimes. Excited to get home. It’s gonna be a good night.”

Tyler Reddick charged his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE to a runner-up result for his eighth top-five result of the 2024 season while Ty Gibbs charged his way up to third place on slick tires and for his fifth top-five result of the season. Joey Hand notched a career-best fourth place while Michael McDowell came home in fifth place.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland, William Byron, Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney completed the top 10 in the final running order.

Notably, Bubba Wallace, who ran into the side of Bowman after the race to express his displeasure over being spun by Bowman earlier in the race, rallied to finish 13th behind Daniel Suarez and Daniel Hemric. In addition, Brad Keselowski slipped to 18th, Chase Elliott ended up 21st behind Chris Buescher but ahead of Ross Chastain and Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin ended up 30th after he wrecked with Austin Hill into the tire barriers with two laps remaining and Martin Truex Jr. ended up 33rd following his late-race wreck. In addition, Christopher Bell, who was unable to finish, ended up 37th.

There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 34 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 20th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson continues to lead the regular-season standings by 11 points over teammate Chase Elliott, 23 over Tyler Reddick, 42 over Denny Hamlin, 70 over Martin Truex Jr. and 72 over William Byron.

Results.

1. Alex Bowman, eight laps led

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Ty Gibbs, 17 laps led

4. Joey Hand, seven laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Michael McDowell

6. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

7. Todd Gilliland

8. William Byron

9. Kyle Busch

10. Ryan Blaney

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Daniel Hemric

13. Bubba Wallace

14. Noah Gragson

15. Austin Cindric

16. Justin Haley

17. Zane Smith, three laps led

18. Brad Keselowski

19. Austin Dillon

20. Chris Buescher

21. Chase Elliott

22. Ross Chastain

23. Joey Logano

24. Carson Hocevar

25. Harrison Burton

26. Kaz Grala

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Erik Jones

30. Denny Hamlin

31. Austin Hill

32. Chase Briscoe

33. Martin Truex Jr.

34. Ryan Preece

35. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap down

36. Josh Berry, one lap down

37. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

38. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

39. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

40. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, nine laps led, Stage 1 winner

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for The Great American Getaway 400. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 14, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

July 7, 2024
Shane van Gisbergen dominates at Chicago for third Xfinity career victory

Rookie Shane van Gisbergen left very little room to doubt his road-course expertise Saturday afternoon as he repeated the success that launched him to NASCAR stardom on the streets of Downtown Chicago a year ago, after winning the second annual The Loop 110 at the Chicago Street Course on Saturday, July 6. It was his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and his career.

The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led a race-high 14 of 50 scheduled laps after starting on the pole position and withstanding a series of on-track challenges from Kyle Larson to claim the first stage victory.

Despite losing the lead to Larson at the start of the second stage period before getting shuffled before the following restart period on Lap 25 amid pit strategy, van Gisbergen methodically carved his way back to the front. He then capitalized during a three-lap shootout to overtake rookie Jesse Love and return atop the leaderboard. Once in the lead, he muscled away from runner-up Ty Gibbs to score the third Xfinity career victory in his rookie campaign.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup, rookie van Gisbergen scored his second career Xfinity pole position after posting a pole-winning lap of 88.543 mph in 89.448 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 88.530 mph in 89.461 seconds.

Before the event, Justin Allgaier and Sage Karam dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars. The following drivers, including Sheldon Creed, John Hunter Nemechek, Kyle Sieg and Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field due to engine changes made to their entries. Daniel Suarez and Ryan Sieg also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race started, van Gisbergen rocketed ahead of Kyle Larson through the frontstretch and entering the first turn to lead. Larson then tried to make a move beneath van Gisbergen entering Turn 2 and he managed to pull even with van Gisbergen through Turns 3 to 5, just past DuSable Lake Shore Drive, before he muscled ahead with the top spot entering South Columbus Drive.

After trailing Larson through the drive, van Gisbergen pulled his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro back even and reassumed the lead from Larson in Turn 6 while Ty Gibbs tried to challenge Larson for the runner-up spot. With Larson fending off Gibbs and Connor Mosack through the following six turns, van Gisbergen managed to pull away and lead the first lap.

After van Gisbergen led the second lap, Larson made an aggressive move beneath the former while almost forcing him towards the wall entering the first turn to snatch the lead. Van Gisbergen fought back through the following five turns amid a side-by-side battle, but Larson withstood the advantageous lane and retained the lead through South Columbus Drive. Despite van Gisbergen intimidating him through a series of tight turns between South Michigan Avenue and the East Congress Plaza Drive, Larson led the third lap and would continue to fend off van Gisbergen through the fifth lap mark.

Just past the fifth lap mark, van Gisbergen returned the favor as he overtook Larson entering the first turn before fending him off to retain the top spot prior to Turn 2. With van Gisbergen leading and stretching his advantage by more than a second over Larson by the seventh lap, Matt DiBenedetto was trying to rally from spinning in Turn 4 while Chandler Smith retired due to an engine issue in his No. 81 Smith General Contracting Toyota Supra.

With the event’s first caution period flying on the seventh lap due to debris spotted on the course, some of the drivers, including Josh Williams, Daniel Suarez, Jeremy Clements and Andre Castro pitted, while the rest, led by van Gisbergen remained on the track.

The start of the restart period on Lap 10 featured a tight side-by-side battle for the lead between Larson and van Gisbergen as Larson tried to make a move beneath van Gisbergen entering the first turn. Van Gisbergen, however, fended off Larson entering Turn 2 to retain the top spot momentarily before they both dueled for the lead through the following three turns and South Columbus Drive. Larson muscled ahead in Turn 6 as Gibbs, Mosack and Cole Custer trailed in the top five. With the race remaining under green flag conditions despite Josh Bilicki spinning in Turn 11 and Clements nursing a damaged No. 51 Impel Union Chevrolet Camaro to his pit stall, Larson continued to lead ahead of van Gisbergen and Gibbs.

Shortly after, notables, including Justin Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed ran into issues, with Allgaier pitting under green and spinning while trying to enter pit road amid contact with Ryan Sieg while Herbst ran Creed into the Turn 2 wall as both made contact before Herbst spun his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang in the following turn. Amid the on-track chaos, Larson was leading by a slim margin over a hard-charging van Gisbergen.

Then on the final lap of the first stage period, van Gisbergen, who spent the previous five laps trailing Larson through every turn, pulled even with Larson through South Columbus Drive and through Turn 6 before he muscled ahead through Turns 7 and 8. With the clean air to his advantage for four final turns, van Gisbergen proceeded to claim his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season on Lap 15. Larson settled in second as they were followed by Gibbs, Mosack, Custer, AJ Allmendinger, rookie Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer and Parker Kligerman.

Under the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Gibbs, pitted while the rest, led by van Gisbergen and Larson, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Custer was penalized for passing and bumping Gibbs’ No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra on pit road and before entering his pit stall

The second stage period started on Lap 18 as van Gisbergen and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen and Larson dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Larson muscled his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro clear with the lead entering Turn 2. As the field behind jostled for spots, Larson also stretched his advantage over van Gisbergen and Allmendinger through the next 10 series of turns as he would lead the ensuing lap.

Then on Lap 20, van Gisbergen launched another side-by-side attack on Larson for the lead through the frontstretch and just past the first turn, but Larson would fend him off in Turn 2. With van Gisbergen attempting another side-by-side battle through South Columbus Drive, Allmendinger tried to close in from third place while Mosack and Austin Green trailed in the top five. Despite van Gisbergen’s challenges through every turn and straightaway within Chicago’s avenues, Larson was not to be denied as he continued to lead.

Then on Lap 22, the caution returned when Allmendinger, who was running in third place, wheel-hopped entering Turn 6 just exiting S. Columbus Drive, slid sideways and pounded the tire barriers, which damaged the rear and right side of the No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro as Allmendinger limped his car to his pit stall. At the time of caution, Larson had fended off van Gisbergen to retain the lead while Mosack, Sammy Smith and Hill trailed in the top five.

During the caution period, which surpassed the event’s halfway mark, some led by Larson, van Gisbergen and Mosack pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track.

With the race restarting with five laps remaining in the second stage period, Hill overtook Sammy Smith through the frontstretch to assume the lead in his No. 21 Dow Coatings Chevrolet Camaro entering the first turn. He proceeded to lead during the following four turns while Sammy Smith, Love, Allgaier and Mayer followed suit in the top five.

With Larson and van Gisbergen mired outside the top 15 due to the mixed pit strategies, Hill retained the lead for the following lap. Larson would then return to the top-10 mark by the following lap while van Gisbergen was mired in 12th behind Joey Logano while Hill maintained the advantage by a second over Sammy Smith and teammate Love.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 30, Hill captured his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Sammy Smith followed suit in second along with Love, Allgaier and Creed while Gibbs, Kligerman, Mayer, Nemechek and van Gisbergen scored in the top 10 as Larson ended up in 11th place. During the stage’s conclusion, Custer, who was running in 14th place, spun his No. 00 Andy’s Frozen Custard Ford Mustang in Turn 12 and plummeted to 26th place.

During the stage break, select drivers, including Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Parker Retzlaff, Jeb Burton, Josh Bilicki, Andre Castro, Custer and DiBenedetto pitted while the rest, led by Hill, remained on the track.

With 16 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Hill and Love occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out entering Turn 1 as Love assumed the lead in his No. 2 WAT Chevrolet Camaro. He would fend off teammate Hill and Gibbs entering Turn 2 and navigating through Turns 3 to 5 before he made his way onto South Columbus Drive. Behind, Gibbs moved up to second over Hill while Creed and Mayer were in the top five ahead of van Gisbergen and Kligerman. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in ninth behind Mosack while Nemechek, Logano, Herbst, Brandon Jones, Green and Brennan Poole were in the top 15.

Another lap later, the caution quickly returned due to on-track calamity that struck in Turn 12 when Sage Karam ran into the rear of Josh Bilicki, who also made contact with Kyle Sieg as Andre Castro and Parker Retzlaff, whose hood came flying up, were all involved.

The start of the next restart period with 11 laps remaining did not last long due to Preston Pardus stalling his car in the middle of Turn 11. Prior to the caution period, Brandon Jones spun in Turn 2 after Allmendinger collided with Leland Honeyman, who then collided and sent Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro spinning in a cloud of smoke. Amid the chaos, Love had retained the lead over Gibbs and teammate, Hill. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was up to fifth place behind Creed while Larson was still mired in ninth place behind Mosack.

Down to the final eight laps of the event, the event restarted under green. At the start, Love mirrored his start from the previous restart period to retain the lead while Gibbs navigated his way to second place. Creed and van Gisbergen would all overtake Hill through South Columbus Drive and prior to entering Turn 6 before van Gisbergen made a bold move beneath Creed to claim third place in Turn 11.

With van Gisbergen trying to fend off Mayer and Creed through the frontstretch, Gibbs then started to challenge Love for the lead during the following lap. He tried to bump and move Love out of the way in Turn 5, but Love maintained the lead through South Columbus Drive. The battle between Love and Gibbs, however, allowed van Gisbergen to close in on both entering Turn 6 as the top-five competitors on the track trailed the lead by under a second for the next six turns.

Amid the late battles, the caution returned due to Leland Honeyman locking up his front tires and slamming his No. 42 Klean Freak Chevrolet Camaro head-on into the tire barriers in Turn 1. Before Honeyman’s wreck, van Gisbergen made a bold save entering the frontstretch sliding sideways and making light contact with the wall in front of Mayer and Creed.

With the event restarting with three laps remaining, Creed muscled ahead to retain the lead while van Gisbergen bolted his way past Gibbs to move into second place. With Mayer spinning in Turn 1, the race remained under green flag conditions as van Gisbergen quickly closed in on Love’s rear bumper for the following four turns and through South Columbus Drive. Van Gisbergen then forced his way beneath Love to cycle back into the lead in Turn 7 as Gibbs capitalized on the battle to move into second entering Turn 8.

During the proceeding lap and with Creed spinning in Turn 12 amid contact with Kligerman while running in the top five, Larson navigated his way past Love and into third place through Turn 5. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to a comfortable advantage over Gibbs through South Columbus Drive and he would continue to do so entering Turn 6 and through East Balbo Drive, East Congress Plaza Drive, South Michigan Avenue and East Jackson Drive.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by a second over Gibbs while Larson, Kligerman and Love trailed in the top five by under five seconds. With Gibbs unable to close the deficit for a final lap and through 12 sets of turns, van Gisbergen smoothly navigated his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro through each turn before he made a hard right-hand turn to the frontstretch victorious for the third time of his career and of the 2024 season.

With the victory, van Gisbergen joined Terry Labonte and AJ Allmendinger as the only competitors to notch their first three career Xfinity Series victories on road-course events, with the New Zealander winning for the first time since Sonoma Raceway in June.

Van Gisbergen’s victory at Chicago also made him the first three-time Xfinity race winner of the 2024 season and the first competitor to win two NASCAR national touring series events on the streets of Chicago as he will attempt to sweep the weekend with Sunday’s Cup Series action at Chicago. Van Gisbergen won the inaugural Cup Series’ Chicago Street Race event in his premier series debut while driving for Trackhouse Racing.

While van Gisbergen’s victory marks the third win of the season for Kaulig Racing and the team’s No. 97 Chevrolet entry led by crew chief Bruce Schlicker, the win was the 11th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

“That’s awesome! What a great race. It was pretty wild there at the end,” van Gisbergen, who kicked another rugby football into the frontstretch’s crowd, said on NBC. “I can’t thank [the] Kaulig Racing guys enough. [The] WeatherTech Camaro was amazing. Great race at the start with Kyle [Larson]. He was really good on the restarts and we made our car better for the second set of tires. That was fun at the end, passing all those guys. I had some great racing with everyone. [It was] Really cool. [I] Learnt a lot. [Larson] probably learned a lot off me, but hope to race him again for the win tomorrow [for the Cup Series event.

“It’s a privilege to race here [at Chicago],” van Gisbergen added. “This event is amazing. What NASCAR’s done here, what a show. Pretty cool feelings. Hopefully, we can repeat tomorrow.”

Ty Gibbs settled in second place for his first top-two result of the 2024 season, which occurred in his fifth start of the season, while Kyle Larson, who led 12 laps, ended up in third place for his second top-three result of the season and his first since winning at Circuit of the Americas in March.

Despite setting in third place in his second and final Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season, Larson noted the on-track benefits he gained amid his battles with van Gisbergen that would place him in an advantage to be competitive for Sunday’s Cup Series event at Chicago.

“[van Gisbergen] was obviously way faster than me and I think he was having fun, just playing with me,” Larson said. “I wanted to use this race to learn…That was big on my agenda and I felt like I learned quite a bit battling [van Gisbergen] and create different angles and all that. I think today was a success. Obviously, [I] would like to win, but our car just wasn’t quite as good as his.”

Parker Kligerman came home in fourth place while Jesse Love, who also led a race-high 14 laps with van Gisbergen, settled in fifth place for his fifth top-five result in his Xfinity rookie campaign.

Connor Mosack, Austin Hill, Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier and Austin Green completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were nine lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 16 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 18th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 38 points over Justin Allgaier, 39 over Chandler Smith, 60 over Austin Hill and 109 over rookie Jesse Love.

Results.

1. Shane van Gisbergen, 14 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Ty Gibbs

3. Kyle Larson, 12 laps led

4. Parker Kligerman

5. Jesse Love, 14 laps led

6. Connor Mosack

7. Austin Hill, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

8. Joey Logano

9. Justin Allgaier

10. Austin Green

11. AJ Allmendinger

12. Josh Williams

13. Sammy Smith, two laps led

14. Kyle Weatherman

15. Jeb Burton

16. Ryan Sieg

17. Brandon Jones

18. Cole Custer

19. Sam Mayer

20. Brennan Poole

21. Ryan Ellis

22. Kyle Sieg

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Blaine Perkins

25. John Hunter Nemechek

26. Sheldon Creed

27. Daniel Suarez

28. Riley Herbst – OUT, Overheating

29. Alex Labbe, five laps down

30. Anthony Alfredo, five laps down

31. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

32. Preston Pardus – OUT, Electrical

33. Sage Karam – OUT, Accident

34. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

35. Andre Castro – OUT, Accident

36. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

37. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

38. Chandler Smith – OUT, Engine

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, for the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, July 13, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

July 6, 2024
Logano withstands five overtime attempts for fuel-mileage Cup victory at Nashville

In a first-half season stretch mired with an average-finishing result of 17.9 and eight results outside the top 20 through 18-scheduled events, Joey Logano turned his luck into good fortunes after surviving through a record-setting five overtime attempts while going 110 laps on his low tank of fuel to grab a thrilling NASCAR Cup Series victory in the fourth annual running of the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, June 30.

The two-time Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led the final nine of 331 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started 26th and was mired within the middle of the pack for the majority of the event before he steadily gained ground to race within the top 10 in the closing stages. Then running in 14th place with two laps remaining of the event’s scheduled distance, a series of opportunities presented themselves, allowing Logano to gamble by employing fuel strategy. By doing so, he was able to inch closer to the front when teammate Austin Cindric spun in the backstretch and sent the field into a first overtime period.

The event surpassed its third overtime attempt amid a series of multi-car incidents but was then sent into a fourth, knocking both Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch out of contention allowing Logano to cycle to the lead after the leader Denny Hamlin pitted for fuel. Following the fourth overtime attempt that was halted due to rookie Josh Berry wrecking in Turn 4, Logano then withstood late charges from Tyler Reddick and rookie Zane Smith for two laps during a fifth overtime attempt but had enough fuel to cross the finish line in first place by a mere margin. It was his first Cup victory of the 2024 season and guarantees him a spot in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, June 29, Denny Hamlin notched his second Cup pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 160.354 mph in 29.859 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Josh Berry, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 159.749 mph in 29.972 seconds.

Prior to the event, Justin Haley dropped to the rear of the field due to his Rick Ware Racing entry failing pre-race inspection multiple times. The penalty also resulted in Haley’s car chief JR Norris being ejected for the remainder of the weekend while Haley was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road after taking the green flag.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Denny Hamlin rocketed his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE ahead of Josh Berry and teammate Christopher Bell entering the first two turns to retain the lead entering the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out through the backstretch, Hamlin proceeded to lead the first lap and teammate Bell followed suit in second while Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski navigated past Berry to move up to third and fourth, respectively.

Over the next four laps, Hamlin stabilized his advantage to as high as half a second over teammate Bell while Larson, Keselowski and Berry continued to run in the top five ahead of William Byron, Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs. As a tight three-wide action for 18th place occurred between Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson, Hamlin remained in the lead.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Hamlin was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Bell followed by Larson, Keselowski and Reddick while Byron, Gibbs, Berry, Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric were running in the top 10. Behind, Chase Elliott occupied 11th place ahead of Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Bubba Wallace and rookie Carson Hocevar while Ryan Blaney, Chastain, Gragson, Truex and Michael McDowell were racing in the top 20 ahead of Harrison Burton, Corey LaJoie, Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez, Corey Heim and Todd Gilliland.

Nearly seven laps later, Hamlin was stalled by Justin Haley, who was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty through pit road. This allowed Bell to zip his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota Camry XSE past both Hamlin and Haley through the backstretch as Bell moved into the lead, where he would proceed to lead at the Lap 20 mark.

By Lap 25, Bell was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Hamlin as Keselowski, Larson and Reddick followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Gibbs trailed in sixth place by five seconds and Byron, Berry, Buescher and Elliott trailed in the top 10 while Cindric, Wallace, Bowman, Dillon and Blaney were mired in the top 15.

Then on Lap 37, a first round of green flag pit stops commenced as Bowman pitted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 along with Busch, Austin Dillon and Cindric, with Busch barely sliding his No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through his pit box. Chastain, Riley Herbst, Keselowski, Heim and Allmendinger would follow suit during the following lap before teammates Bell and Hamlin pitted prior to the Lap 40 mark. More names including Larson, Berry, Buescher, Elliott, Wallace and Blaney would pit as Gibbs cycled into the lead. Gibbs would then pit his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE from the lead on Lap 41 as Briscoe, Gragson, Daniel Suarez, Preece, Truex, Reddick and Byron all pitted their respective entries during the proceeding laps.

By Lap 50 and with most of the lead lap field having made a pit stop under green, McDowell was leading by one-and-a-half seconds over Logano followed by Stenhouse, Hemric and Gilliland. With all five still needing to make a pit stop, McDowell and Logano, the top two competitors on the track, radioed their plans to stretch their fuel tank to as high as Lap 75. Behind, Bell, the first competitor who pitted, trailed in sixth place along with teammate Hamlin, Keselowski, Larson and Gibbs.

Ten laps later, McDowell continued to lead by a second over Logano as Bell trailed in third place by seven seconds. With Hemric and Hamlin trailing in the top five, Stenhouse occupied sixth place in front of Larson, Keselowski, Gibbs and Reddick while Gilliland, Byron, Buescher, Wallace and Berry were scored in the top 15 ahead of Elliott, Bowman, Truex, Haley and Chastain.

Another four laps later, Logano pitted his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse under green from the runner-up spot. In the process, Bell moved into second place and trailed McDowell by five seconds while Hamlin was up third place ahead of Hemric and Larson. As Hemric and Stenhouse pitted their respective entries just past the Lap 70 mark, McDowell surrendered the lead to pit his No. 34 Love’s Ford Mustang Dark Horse on Lap 77. With his teammate Gilliland also pitting, Bell cycled back into the lead as Hamlin, Larson, Reddick and Keselowski all cycled up into the top five.

Just past the Lap 80 mark, Bell, who was trying to lap 25th-place running Preece, was being stalked by teammate Hamlin, who was trying to narrow the deficit amid Bell’s issues to navigate through lapped traffic. With Hamlin also trying to overtake the lapped competitors of Haley, Bell retained the lead as high as four-tenths of a second by Lap 85 just as he managed to lap Preece’s No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Meanwhile, third-place Larson trailed by three seconds while Reddick and Keselowski continued to run in the top five.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 90, Bell, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, captured his eighth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Hamlin trailed in second by six-tenths of a second while Reddick, Larson, Keselowski, Ty Gibbs, Byron, Chris Buescher, Truex and Bubba Wallace were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hamlin cycled into the lead after he edged teammate Bell to exit pit road in first place while Larson, Reddick, Keselowski, Gibbs, Byron, Logano, Buescher and Truex followed suit in the top 10.

The second stage period started on Lap 97 as teammates Hamlin and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin muscled ahead from the inside lane to retain the lead while Bell fended off Larson to retain second. With the field fanning out and jostling through the backstretch, Reddick and Larson battled for third place ahead of Gibbs and Truex and Keselowski followed suit in seventh ahead of Byron and Wallace while Hamlin retained the lead by Lap 100.

At the Lap 110 mark, Hamlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Bell as Reddick, Gibbs and Larson were racing in the top five ahead of Keselowski, Truex, Byron, Elliott and Wallace. Behind, Buescher, Blaney, Chastain, Logano and Austin Dillon trailed in the top 15 as Berry, LaJoie, Gragson, Cindric and Heim were up in the top 20. Meanwhile, Bowman occupied 21st place ahead of Preece, Hocevar, Suarez and Burton while Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones and Kyle Busch were mired outside the top 30.

Nearly six laps later, the caution returned due to John Hunter Nemechek snapping sideways and spinning his No. 42 Massey Motor Freight Toyota Camry XSE across the grass in Turn 4. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hamlin returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Bell exited first ahead of Keselowski, Buescher, Logano and Chastain, all of whom only opted for two fresh tires, while Hamlin exited sixth with four fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Ross Chastain was penalized for equipment interference.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 122, Bell retained the lead over Keselowski and Buescher as the field fanned out entering the first two turns. With several three-wide actions ensuing within the top-10 marks, Reddick battled Gragson for fourth place as Elliott, Larson, Hocevar, Bowman, Gibbs and Truex followed suit. Meanwhile, Logano and Hamlin lost several spots on the track amid the start. As the battles ensued, the caution returned on Lap 125 due to Gibbs making contact with Bowman and spinning through the Turn 4 grass.

With the event restarting on Lap 130, the field fanned out multiple lanes entering the first two turns as Bell retained the lead. Amid the fanning out of the field, Reddick boosted his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE into second place while Larson also overtook Keselowski for third place. With Keselowski trying to fend off a parade of competitors led by Elliott for fourth place, Bell stabilized his advantage to less than half a second over Reddick nearing the Lap 135 mark.

Then on Lap 135, the caution flew and the field led by Bell was directed to pit road before being placed in a red flag period due to a lightning strike reported near the circuit. One hour and 21 minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the field returned to the track under a cautious pace. During the caution period, select names including Bowman, Logano, Dillon, Chastain, Haley, LaJoie, Burton, Stenhouse, Hemric, Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track. Meanwhile, Austin Cindric was sent to the rear of the field due to his pit crew working on his car during the red flag period, where the crew pointed a fan to cool the car from pit lane to provide a cooling advantage from NASCAR’s perspective.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 140, Bell rocketed away from Reddick and Larson to retain the lead through the first two turns. Bell would proceed to lead the ensuing laps while Keselowski battled Elliott and Buescher for fourth place ahead of Byron, Hamlin and Truex. As Elliott then battled Buescher for fifth place while teammate Byron battled Hamlin and Truex for seventh place, Keselowski retained fourth place while Bell remained in the lead. As Byron got loose entering Turn 4 and lost a bevy of spots on the track, Bell stabilized his lead to four-tenths of a second over Reddick by Lap 145.

At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Bell was leading by six-tenths of a second over Reddick as Larson, Keselowski and Elliott trailed in the top five by two seconds. Behind, Hamlin occupied sixth place in front of teammate Truex, Buescher, Blaney and Gragson while Heim, Gibbs, Hocevar, Byron and McDowell trailed in the top 15. Briscoe, Chastain, Gilliland, Erik Jones and Suarez followed suit in the top 20 as Preece, Logano, Wallace, Allmendinger and Bowman were mired in the top 25 ahead of Burton, Cindric, Berry, Herbst and LaJoie.

Fifteen laps later, Bell extended his advantage to a second over Reddick as Larson, Keselowski and Hamlin were scored in the top five and trailing by less than four seconds. Bell would stabilize his lead to a second over Reddick by Lap 175 while third-place Larson trailed by three seconds. By then, Hamlin gained a spot to fourth place and Keselowski dropped to fifth while Elliott was mired in sixth ahead of Truex.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 185, Bell captured his ninth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season by sweeping both stage periods at Nashville. Reddick settled in second place ahead of Larson, who fended off Hamlin to claim an extra stage point before Hamlin would then run into the rear of Larson to express his displeasure over being forced up the track by Larson in Turn 1 prior to the stage’s conclusion. Keselowski ended up in fifth while Elliott, Truex, Blaney, Buescher and Gragson were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Bell pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Bell retained the lead after he exited pit road first as teammate Hamlin, Reddick, Keselowski, Elliott, Blaney, Truex, Gragson, Gibbs and Chastain followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Larson lost nine spots due to his No. 5 jackman dropping the jack on the right side of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 too early, which resulted in the jackman lifting the car back up to have the right-side tires tightened, as he exited pit road in 12th place behind Hocevar.

With 108 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Bell and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Bell muscled ahead of Hamlin to retain the lead and have both lanes to his control while Reddick challenged his owner Hamlin for the runner-up spot. With Blaney occupying in fourth place ahead of Keselowski, Elliott and Truex, the battle for the runner-up spot between Hamlin and Reddick continued to intensify into a tight side-by-side battle while Truex started to battle dead even with Elliott for sixth place. As McDowell fell off the pace due to a gearing issue, Blaney started to close in on Hamlin for third place while Reddick retained second and Bell continued to lead with 100 laps remaining.

With 98 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Riley Herbst receiving a light tap from LaJoie, who got loose, that sent Herbt’s No. 15 Monster Energy Ford Mustang Dark Horse sliding and scrubbing the outside wall in between Turns 1 and 2. The damage to his car was enough for Herbst to retire in the garage. During the caution period, select names led by Buescher pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

The start of the next restart period with 92 laps remaining did not last long as Erik Jones, who was mired in 25th place and pitted during the previous caution period, made contact into the outside wall in Turn 2 as he lost a right-front tire. By then, Bell, who made minor contact with teammate Hamlin during the short restart, lost the lead to Reddick. During the caution period, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.

As the event restarted with 87 laps remaining, the field fanned out as Bell and Reddick battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns. As Truex made a bold three-wide move on both teammate Hamlin and Blaney to move up to third place, Reddick and Bell continued to duel for the lead for the following lap as Hamlin and Truex tried to join the battle. Then amid the side-by-side action between Reddick and Bell that proceeded for the next three laps, the caution returned due to Elliott, who was running in sixth place, snapping sideways and spinning his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the frontstretch’s grass, though he continued without making any significant contact. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Reddick and Bell pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

With the event restarting with 75 laps remaining, where Blaney and Allmendinger occupied the front row, Blaney rocketed ahead from Allmendinger to retain the lead through the first two turns as LaJoie and Allmendinger battled for second place in front of a side-by-side battle between Wallace and Chastain. Logano then made his way in between both Wallace and Chastain in his attempt to move up to fourth place while Reddick and Hamlin were mired in 10th and 11th, respectively. Then amid the battles around the venue, the caution flew with 73 laps remaining as Bell’s strong run came to a sour end when he got loose underneath Larson while running 15th and made contact with the Turn 2 outside wall backward and on the driver’s left side as he was trying to fight his way back to the front. Amid the damage, Bell, who had multiple issues re-firing his damaged car to limp it back to pit road, retired in 36th place.

The start of the next restart period with 66 laps remaining featured the field fanning out and jumbling for late positions through the first two turns and the backstretch as Blaney retained the lead while Allmendinger fended off Chastain for the runner-up spot. With the battles around the circuit ensuing towards the front and the rear of the field, Blaney retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over a tight battle between Allmendinger and Chastain for the runner-up spot as Busch, Hamlin and LaJoie engaged in a tight three-wide battle for eighth place. Meanwhile, Wallace occupied fourth place ahead of Logano, Berry and Buescher.

Two laps later, the caution returned as Keselowski, who was running just outside the top 15, received a tap from Austin Dillon entering Turn 1 as Keselowski spun and made hard rear-end contact to his No. 6 Consumer Cellular Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the outside wall in Turn 2. Then in front of Keselowski’s incident, Hocevar intentionally turned Harrison Burton in the backstretch and made contact with Gilliland in the process. During the caution period, select names led by LaJoie pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track.

As the event restarted with 52 laps remaining, Blaney and Chastain dueled for the lead as Hamlin dived his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE below the apron in an attempt to gain more spots. Moving as high as seventh place during the proceeding lap while Logano, who restarted in the top 10, got loose in Turn 2 and lost a bevy of spots, Hamlin would then overtake both Busch and Berry to move up to fifth place with 50 laps remaining while Chastain, who had cleared Blaney earlier, was leading by half a second over Blaney and Wallace was left battling Allmendinger dead even for third place. Shortly after, however, Busch would battle fiercely with Hamlin to retain fifth place.

With 40 laps remaining, Chastain stretched his advantage to a second over Blaney while Wallace also trailed by more than a second in third place. As Busch muscled his No. 8 zone Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead in fourth place, Hamlin navigated his way into fifth place while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Gibbs and Larson for sixth place. Meanwhile, Reddick was mired in 10th place behind Berry.

Nine laps later, Blaney, who was running short of fuel amid his earlier strategic call to remain on the track, surrendered the runner-up spot to pit his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse for fresh tires and fuel. Blaney’s pit stop, which pinned the reigning series champion a lap down, allowed Hamlin, who overtook Wallace earlier, to move up into second place while Chastain was leading by two seconds. With Wallace falling back to third, Busch and Larson were scored in the top five while Gibbs, Reddick, Truex, Allmendinger and Buescher trailed in the top 10 with 30 laps remaining.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Chastain stabilized his advantage to less than one-and-a-half seconds over a hard-charging Hamlin, who was steadily decreasing Chastain’s advantage, while Kyle Busch trailed in third place by three-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Larson overtook Wallace, who was trying to conserve on fuel and nurse his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE, for fourth place, while Gibbs, Truex, Reddick, Buescher and Berry occupied the top 10 ahead of Haley, Austin Dillon, Allmendinger, Elliott and Suarez.

Five laps later, Hamlin decreased Chastain’s advantage to four-tenths of a second as he continued to close in on Chastain for the lead with a fast race car while Busch trailed by more than three seconds. Another lap later, Hamlin nearly got to Chastain’s rear bumper in Turn 1, but Chastain retained the lead by a narrow margin. Chastain would proceed to keep Hamlin mired in the dirty air and run in front of him while blocking him through every turn and straightaway with 10 laps remaining.

Then with seven laps remaining, Hamlin, who closed in on Chastain entering the frontstretch, capitalized on Chastain getting loose in Turn 1 while trying to block Hamlin’s Toyota to overtake him and claim the lead. With Hamlin stretching his advantage to half a second for the following lap, Larson, who overtook Busch for third place, trailed by less than three seconds. With Gibbs and Wallace running in fifth and sixth, respectively, Hamlin started to pull away with the lead with five laps remaining.

Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime as Austin Cindric, who was running outside the top 20, spun his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang Dark Horse amid contact with Noah Gragson in the backstretch. During the caution period and with a majority of front runners running low on fuel, some led by Wallace and including teammate Reddick, Buescher, Haley, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Berry, Heim and Preece pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

The start of the first overtime attempt lasted a single turn as Chastain, who was engaged in a side-by-side battle with Hamlin for the lead entering the first turn, received a tap from Larson entering Turn 1 that sent Chastain spinning backward into the outside wall as Gibbs collided into Chastain’s wrecked No. 1 Busch Country Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Busch slid up the outside wall as he was slamming the brakes to avoid hitting Chastain, whose strong run and hopes to defend his Nashville victory came to a bitter end.

Select names including Nemechek, Dillon and Hemric also wrecked amongst themselves amid a chain reaction as Hamlin escaped with the lead, where he was followed by Larson, Truex, Logano, Briscoe and Elliott. Despite making light contact with the wall, Busch, who kept his car running straight and running on the track, was given fourth place back due to maintaining a reasonable pace with the field while dodging the latest multi-car wreck.

Amid an extensive cleanup period, the start of the second overtime attempt lasted only two turns as a multi-car wreck erupted in the backstretch that involved Heim, Burton, Haley, Berry, Gilliland, Preece, Stenhouse, Hemric and Blaney. At the moment of caution, Hamlin, who was among several competitors running very low on fuel, retained the lead ahead of Larson, who made contact with Truex at the start of the overtime attempt, as Truex, Busch and Logano were scored in the top five. During the caution period and with the event sent into a third overtime attempt, the top seven competitors led by Hamlin and including Larson, Truex, Busch, Logano, Briscoe and Elliott, all of whom were running very low on fuel, remained on the track while LaJoie and Wallace, both of whom have enough fuel to finish, were lined up in eighth and ninth, respectively, as teammates Zane Smith and Hocevar were lined up in the top 12 behind Gragson, who was running low on fuel.

The start of the third overtime attempt only lasted past the start/finish line as Larson, who was stumbling on pace and ran out of fuel while restarting alongside Hamlin on the front row, caused a stack-up that resulted in Busch, who was bumping into Larson, getting bumped by Elliott and turned sideways into the frontstretch’s outside wall as the rest of the field scattered to avoid the chaos. The incident ended Busch’s run with a wrecked race car and his ninth result of finishing outside the top 20 while Larson coasted his car back to pit road for fuel.

During the caution period that sent the field into a fourth overtime attempt, the leader Hamlin and teammate Truex yielded their spots towards the front to pit for fresh tires and fuel while the rest led by Logano, who was also running very low on fuel, remained on the track to inherit the lead as he was followed by Briscoe, LaJoie, Zane Smith, Elliott and Bowman.

The start of the fourth overtime attempt nearly lasted a full lap before the caution was again drawn before the white flag due to Berry wrecking his No. 4 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse against the Turn 2 outside wall. Prior to the incident, Elliott, who restarted in fifth place, ran out of fuel and caused the field to fan out to avoid hitting Elliott as Elliott, who remained in the middle of the track, coasted his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road.

During the caution period that sent the event into a fifth overtime period, LaJoie pitted to address a mechanical issue with his No. 7 Garner Trucking Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Prior to pit road being accessible to the field, Bowman pitted for fuel. Amid the process, Logano, who fended off Briscoe during the latest green-flag run, retained the lead ahead of Briscoe, Zane Smith, Preece, Reddick and Wallace.

The start of the fifth overtime attempt featured Logano rocketing his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead of Briscoe and Zane Smith through the first two turns and the backstretch while Reddick launched a late charge to overtake both through the following two turns.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained in the lead by a tenth of a second over Reddick. Entering Turn 1, Reddick attempted to make a move on Logano on the outside lane, but Logano also went wide to fend off Reddick’s challenge. With more carnages erupting while the race remained under green flag conditions, Logano maintained the lead ahead of Reddick and Smith through the backstretch as he fended another attack from Reddick through Turns 3 and 4.

Despite having both Reddick and Smith set up a three-wide move on Logano through the frontstretch, Logano, whose fuel light started to blink as he was about to run out of fuel, stood on the gas and used the remaining fuel within his low tank to coast across the finish line and claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 season by 0.068 seconds over Smith and 0.071 seconds over Reddick.

With the victory, Logano, who still had enough fuel for a few victorious burnouts before he ran out on the frontstretch, notched his 33rd career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, which tied him with Fireball Roberts in 27th place on the all-time wins list. In addition to claiming his first victory at Nashville in the Cup circuit, Logano achieved his first win since he won at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March 2023 and he extended his winning streak as a Team Penske competitor to 12 consecutive seasons. Logano had won the 2024 All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway six weeks ago despite the event not counting for Playoff points.

Logano’s Nashville victory also guarantees all three of Team Penske’s competitors in the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, with Logano notching the fourth victory for the Ford nameplate and the third of the season for the Penske organization through the first 19 scheduled events. Prior to becoming the 11th winner of the 2024 season at Music City, Logano had held a 13-point advantage over Bubba Wallace for the final transfer spot into the Playoffs.

“It’s been a stressful few weeks trying to get into the Playoffs,” Logano said on NBC. “Being able to win here is huge for our season. It felt great to get that [win]. Boy, that feels good. I’m out of breath. We had it won off of [Turn] 4 and the caution came out. I was like, ‘Oh my god,’ but you can’t pit, like you kind of got to go for it. Boy, it was close, but we got to give a lot of credit to Roush Yates not only building horsepower, but build a fuel mileage that won today. When I went into [Turn] 3 and saw that [fuel] light [blinking], I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m gonna run out off of [Turn] 4.’ It just stumbled and spit and sputtered across the [finish] line. Trying to make the Playoff’s not easy these days with these Next Gen cars and everyone’s so equally matched. I made a lot of mistakes, even some tonight. It’s nice to be able to overcome. It’s a much-needed win, for sure.”

Behind Logano, rookie Zane Smith, who has finished no higher than 13th place through the first 18 events of the 2024 season, notched a career-best second place as he edged Tyler Reddick by 0.003 seconds, but fell 0.068 seconds shy of overtaking Logano at the finish line. The runner-up result left Smith with mixed emotions on pit road.

“My winning side of me is pissed with the second place, especially after hearing [Logano]’s gonna run out [of fuel] for the past 10 laps,” Smith said. “I wouldn’t have done anything different. I felt like I chose the right lane and it’s crazy just how much these cars drive with cleaner air. Just proud of our strategy there. [This season]’s been rough, no doubt, so just appreciate everyone at Spire Motorsports. You never know how many more opportunities you’re gonna have at a Cup win, so we’ll be thinking about that one. Just short, but obviously, proud of my second place. Top three [finish] in the Cup Series is awesome. Just proud of our day.”

Third-place finisher Reddick, however, was left visibly disappointed on pit road after falling short of the victory despite having fresher tires and enough fuel for the finish compared to Logano.

“It’s very disappointing,” Reddick said. “I’m trying my best, but it’s tough. I’m trying to keep it cool at the moment. I’m really upset about how [the race] ended. All the good cars ran out of fuel and we were in position to pass. [Logano] hadn’t been good all day long and didn’t get the job done.”

Behind the top three finishers, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher finished in the top five while Ryan Blaney, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson rounded out the top 10 in the final running order.

Notably, Denny Hamlin, who led 70 laps, ended up in 12th place after pitting for fuel before the fourth overtime attempt. In addition, Chase Elliott, who spun through the frontstretch’s grass while approaching the finish line, slid to an 18th-place result while Martin Truex Jr., who wrecked on the final lap with help from Daniel Suarez entering the backstretch, fell back to 24th place.

“[My team and I] were fine with just running out of gas and we did under caution [following the third overtime attempt],” Hamlin said. “[Pitting] was the right call. I was going down pit lane out of gas. I was surprised [the race] lasted that many green-white-checkereds. It certainly stinks having about 15 seconds from a win at the end and then 10 seconds from the win at the end and then, we finished 12th. It’s just a part of it. That’s NASCAR Cup Series racing.”

There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured 15 cautions for 79 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 19th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 20 points over Chase Elliott, 43 over Denny Hamlin, 53 over Tyler Reddick, and 73 over Martin Truex Jr.

Results.

1. Joey Logano, nine laps led

2. Zane Smith

3. Tyler Reddick, 16 laps led

4. Ryan Preece

5. Chris Buescher

6. Ryan Blaney, 26 laps led

7. Bubba Wallace

8. Kyle Larson

9. Daniel Hemric

10. Noah Gragson

11. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

12. Denny Hamlin, 70 laps led

13. Justin Haley

14. Alex Bowman

15. Austin Cindric

16. Carson Hocevar

17. Todd Gilliland

18. Chase Elliott

19. William Byron

20. Corey LaJoie

21. Chase Briscoe

22. Daniel Suarez

23. Ty Gibbs, two laps led

24. Martin Truex Jr.

25. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

26. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

27. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

28. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

29. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

31. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

32. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

33. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident, 45 laps led

34. Erik Jones – OUT, Suspension

35. Michael McDowell – OUT, Transmission, 31 laps led

36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, 131 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

37. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

38. Chad Finchum – OUT, Electrical

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the second annual running of the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course in Downtown Chicago, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 7, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

July 1, 2024