In a race that went 31 laps past its originally scheduled distance, Joey Logano saved just enough gas to grab his first win of 2024 at the Nashville Superspeedway.
JOEY LOGANO WINS AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY!
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) July 1, 2024
HERE ARE THE WILD FINAL TWO LAPS FROM QUINTUPLE OVERTIME. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/0J3gBNgjnw
With Tyler Reddick challenging him on the final lap, Logano threw a block in turn two to clinch a spot in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Logano entered Sunday's race as the last driver in the playoff picture, but Sunday's performance ensures Logano will get a chance at a third championship.
Paul Wolfe may be the biggest hero of the day, however, as the veteran crew chief continued to leave his driver on the racetrack, even with dwindling fuel as the race drew to a close. With Logano's Ford Mustang running out of has as he crossed the finish line, the strategy call proved to be the biggest one of the season.
New Hampshire winner Christopher Bell looked to be the dominant car of the day early — the No. 20 car swept the stages — but a late crash took the favorite out and opened up the Ally 400 to everybody in the field.
2023 Nashville winner Ross Chastain looked to be the dominant car of Stage 3, but an incident with Kyle Larson took Chastain out of contention and relegated the No. 1 team to 33rd.
Larson gets into Chastain and multiple cars are collected! pic.twitter.com/PMwujkFIG7
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 1, 2024
It looked like Nashville could be another classic battle between Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson, but Larson running out of gas brought out the caution once more, forcing Hamlin to pit road on fumes himself.
Logano looked to have the race in hand on the second-to-last restart, as he was able to pull away from Chase Briscoe. However, another caution flag re-racked the field, leading to Logano ultimately taking home the checkered flag with Reddick close in tow.
Logano's victory now moves Alex Bowman to the playoff cut line, with Buescher sitting 51 points above Bubba Wallace with seven races remaining in the regular-season.
Cup Series rookie Zane Smith earned his first top-10 of his rookie season with a runner-up finish, while Reddick came home in third. Ryan Preece and Buescher rounded out the top-five, with Ryan Blaney and Wallace coming home sixth and seventh, respectively. Larson, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson rounded out the top-10.
Other notable finishers from Sunday's Ally 400 include Denny Hamlin in 12th, Chase Elliott in 18th, Martin Truex Jr. in 24th, Corey Heim in 29th and Kyle Busch in 27th.
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