LEBANON, Tenn. -- After surviving a NASCAR record five overtimes that extended the race to 331 laps, Joey Logano was somehow able to summon the fuel he needed to hold off Zane Smith and Tyler Reddick on fumes to win the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. Logano's win is his first of the 2024 season and his first since Atlanta in March 2023.
Denny Hamlin had taken the lead from Ross Chastain with seven laps to go in regulation when a spin by Austin Cindric brought out the caution with two laps to go, sparking a chaotic sequence of events that saw five overtime restarts and many of the leaders either run out of fuel or have to come to pit road to top off to make it to the finish.
While Hamlin and others were not able to make it to the end on gas, Logano was able to go a staggering 110 laps on the tank he had to prevail despite a furious charge from Tyler Reddick on the final lap as well as rookie Zane Smith charging through the field having pitted in overtime.
Ally 400 unofficial results
- #22 - Joey Logano
- #71 - Zane Smith (R)
- #45 - Tyler Reddick
- #41 - Ryan Preece
- #17 - Chris Buescher
- #12 - Ryan Blaney
- #23 - Bubba Wallace
- #5 - Kyle Larson
- #31 - Daniel Hemric
- #10 - Noah Gragson
Logano entered Nashville having just gotten back on the plus side of the NASCAR playoff cut line, holding a mere 13-point advantage on Bubba Wallace. Now, with a Gibson Guitar in hand, Logano's playoff angst is null and void as he now locks himself onto the playoff grid and can set his sights on a third Cup championship.
"It's been a stressful few weeks trying to get into the playoffs, and being able to win here is huge for our season. Felt great to get that," Logano told NBC Sports. "Boy, it feels good. I'm out of breath.
"We had it won off of (Turn) 4 and then the caution came out, and I was like, 'Oh, my God,' but you can't pit. You've kind of got to go for it. Boy, it was close. But we've got to give a lot of credit to Roush Yates (engines), not only building horsepower but building fuel mileage. That's what won today."
Logano's victory caps off an excellent month of June for Team Penske, as all three of their drivers -- Austin Cindric at Gateway, Ryan Blaney at Iowa and now Logano at Nashville -- have earned wins in the last five races. Logano's victory is also the 33rd of his Cup career, tying him for 27th on NASCAR's all-time wins list with Hall of Famer Fireball Roberts.
As a result of Logano's win, five spots now remain on the 16-driver playoff grid, with Alex Bowman holding a 51-point advantage over Bubba Wallace above the cut line.
The quintessential quintuplet
Despite a rain delay of nearly an hour and a half and a crash that took out Christopher Bell after he had the dominant car of the day, it seemed like Sunday's race would come to a fairly conventional conclusion. After a series of pit strategies gave way to a long run, Denny Hamlin used four fresh tires compared to just two taken by Ross Chastain to run Chastain down for the lead, making the pass with seven laps to go.
Even with many of the leaders close on fuel having last pitted at Lap 221 and Chastain in continued pursuit, it seemed as if Hamlin was bound for Victory Lane -- until a spin by Austin Cindric on the backstretch brought out the caution with two laps to go, sparking a sequence that completely upended the race and dramatically altered the running order.
The first overtime restart ended poorly for Chastain, as Kyle Larson -- who had a run-in with Hamlin at the end of Stage 2 earlier in the race -- attempted to dive into Turn 1 with a poor entry angle, sending his left front splitter onto the apron and sending him sliding up into Chastain and spinning him around. The ensuing crash collected more than six cars in total and ended Chastain's race.
The next restart proved much more orderly until the backstraightaway, when another mutli-car wreck in midpack brought the caution out again and put many of the leaders in even more dire straits in regards to fuel. Larson's car stumbled, triggering a chain reaction that sent Kyle Busch -- who went from bound for a top-five finish to his fourth DNF in the last five races -- into the wall and out.
By the time the race reached quadruple overtime, the complexion at the front of the field completely changed as contenders had to make a choice between whether to give up the ghost and come to pit road for fuel or stay out until the bitter end. Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Chris Buescher and others who all pitted for fuel at the start of overtime leapfrogged through the field, while others like Hamlin, Truex, Chase Briscoe and more either had to come to pit road or ran out of fuel entirely.
Things reached their logical extreme when Josh Berry crashed to send the race to quintuple overtime -- uncharted territory and a new NASCAR record -- putting Joey Logano in a position where he had to both try and make sure he saved enough fuel to make it to the finish while also racing drivers like Smith, who pitted at Lap 245, and drivers like Reddick who had pitted to ensure they'd make it to the end.
Opposite ends of the podium
Among the two drivers who finished just behind Logano, there were two different stories to be told. For one, it was an extremely unlikely result and a welcome reversal from what has been a difficult season. For another, it was a major missed opportunity.
Entering Nashville, Zane Smith had endured a brutal rookie year in Cup, as the 2022 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion had only four finishes inside the top 20 and a single top 15, a 13th-place finish in the Daytona 500. Suddenly, Smith came a mere 0.068 seconds away from his first Cup win, posting his best career finish and getting a much-needed positive for his Spire Motorsports team to hang their hat on.
"My winning side of me is pissed with the second place, especially after hearing the 22 was going to run out for the past 10 laps, I don't know how many restarts," Smith told NBC Sports. "... I felt like I chose the right lane, and it's crazy how much different these cars drive with cleaner air. Just proud of our strategy there.
"Appreciate everyone on board throughout this year, sticking with us. It's been rough, no doubt ... You never know how many more opportunities you're going to have at a Cup win, so we'll be thinking about that one, and of course it stings when you see them shaking it, thinking he's going to run out right at the line, but just short. But obviously proud of a second place. Top three in the Cup Series is awesome, so just proud of our day."
By comparison, Tyler Reddick was far more pensive and despondent with having missed an opportunity to win. He seethed openly speaking to NBC Sports, seemingly holding his tongue about the final lap and the block put on him by Logano.
"I'm trying my best, but it's tough. I'm trying to keep it cool at the moment," Reddick said when asked about dealing with his frustration. "I'm really upset about how that ended."
Also among the beneficiaries of the way the race played out were Ryan Preece, who earned his first top five of the season and best finish since 2021 in fourth; Bubba Wallace, who finished seventh to earn his first top 10 since Darlington; Daniel Hemric, who tied his season-best finish in ninth and earned his third top 10 of the year, setting a new personal-best for himself in that category; and Noah Gragson, whose 10th-place finish marked his first top 10 since Kansas.
Race results rundown
- By virtue of recovering to finish eighth while Chase Elliott spun coming to the checkered flag and finished 18th, Kyle Larson has broken a tiebreaker at the top of the Cup standings and reassumed the regular season points lead by 20 points over Elliott. Denny Hamlin sits 43 points back after finishing 12th, Tyler Reddick stands 53 points back in fourth, and Martin Truex Jr. is fifth some 73 points back after getting spun by Daniel Suarez on the final lap.
- In addition to Daniel Hemric, AJ Allmendinger also kept up his end of a great day for Kaulig Racing, as he just missed out on a top-10 finish in 11th. In now seven Cup starts this season, Allmendinger has earned three top 10s and five top-15 finishes with an average finish of 14.4.
- A drive-through pit road penalty following the green flag following infractions in post-qualifying tech inspection, and even getting collected in one of the multi-car wrecks in overtime, did little to blunt the momentum of Justin Haley and his Rick Ware Racing team. Haley ended up finishing 13th, earning his fourth top-15 finish in the last seven races.
- An odd incident occurred midway through the race, as Carson Hocevar spun Harrison Burton on the backstraightaway after a caution had come out in what to the naked eye appeared to be retaliatory. Hocevar was not penalized by NASCAR and went on to finish 16th, while Burton was among those collected in the overtime crashes and finished 28th.
- Among the big losers on fuel mileage were two drivers, Chase Briscoe and Corey LaJoie, who appeared poised to capture a season-altering win in the closing laps. LaJoie stumbled despite running third on an overtime restart with the same fuel load as Zane Smith, finishing 20th, while Briscoe ran out of fuel after lining up second for the final restart and wound up running 21st.
- A total of 12 cars failed to finish Sunday's race, seven of whom crashed out following the start of overtime. Erik Jones retired early with a suspension failure after hitting the wall earlier in the race, Michael McDowell suffered a terminal transmission failure, and Christopher Bell and Riley Herbst failed to finish due to crashes in regulation. Tennessee driver Chad Finchum finished last in 38th, suffering an electrical failure after completing 132 laps.
Next race
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its return trip to the streets of Chicago for the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course next Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
