The “Winner Takes All” NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race took place at Phoenix Raceway Sunday (11/10) and it was Joey Logano that won the race and the 2024 title.

Martin Truex Jr. started the race from the pole position of the race in his final race as a full-time Cup Series driver. Joey started the race from second place on the front row. Martin shot out to the lead with Joey right behind him. There was a single car incident on lap two of the race when Ty Gibbs went hard into the outside wall.

Martin held the lead on the re-start for a few more laps. Joey passed him to take the lead on lap 10. He kept the lead for the next 54 laps which included winning stage one of the race. Joey had a bad pitstop during the caution period that followed the stage end and lost four spots and the lead on pit road. That caution period became a red flag period when the pace car hit the barrels at the end of pit road trying to exit the track for the re-start.

Joey spent stage two adjusting on his car and trying to regain the lost positions on the track. His teammate (and defending 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Champion) Ryan Blaney was able to take over the lead near the end of the stage and was the winner of stage two.

Pit strategy looked as though it could come into play during stage three. Three of the Championship contenders, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney and Tyler Reddick hit pit road around the same time. William Byron remained on the track opting to run longer before pitting. It looked as though the plan might work out when a caution flag came out just after William pitted. The other three cars would go in for fresh tires while William stayed on track to take over the lead. However, when the race restarted it only took six laps for Joey to race forward and regain the lead. William’s car just didn’t have the speed it needed to stay out front.

Ryan Blaney was able to race forward to second place. He cut into Joey’s lead and was able to get on his rear bumper with just a few laps remaining. Joey was able to block any attempt by his teammate at a pass. He held the lead for the final 53 laps to win the race and the championship.

This was Joey’s third win in the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs, fourth win of the season, fourth Cup Series win at Phoenix Raceway and 36th career win in NASCAR’s top division. The bigger result was that Joey is now the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Champion. He now has three Cup Series Championships, two in the past three years. His first came in 2018. His win also gives Team Penske their third driver’s Cup Series Championship in a row and a total of five for the team.

See the complete race results for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway here.

See the final point standings for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series here.

The drivers and teams now have the off-season to prepare for the NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray (February 2, 2025) and Daytona Speedweeks that include the Duels at Daytona (February 13, 2025) and the Daytona 500 (February 16, 2025).

By: Buck Stevens

In just one week, Tyler Reddick went from flipping his car on the roof for a DNF to clinching his spot in the NASCAR Championship Four with a win.

Tyler’s car sponsor for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday (10/27) was Monster Energy’s “The Beast” drink. It is easy to compare the way Tyler drove to the sponsor’s name on his car.

The first race of the Round of Eight was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway October 20th. Joey Logano won the race to lock into the Championship Four. Tyler Reddick’s car flipped during that race, sliding on the roof and causing him to have a “Did Not Finish” or DNF for the race. Having completed only 89 laps for the week, he left Las Vegas 30 points below the cut line in the NASCAR Playoffs. He could still make the Championship Four on points if others did poorly and he did well. However, if he wanted to keep his destiny in his own hands, he just needed to win.

Tyler started the weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway right by winning the pole for the race. He led four times for a total of 57 laps in stage one including the final lap to score the win and max bonus points in the stage. Tyler continued to do well in stage two. However, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney began showing that they were going to have a say in which car would win the race. Denny claimed the win in stage two.

Stage three continued to be a battle between the remaining playoff drivers with both Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney leading the way most of the time. Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott were never farm behind though. Tyler’s team decided to gamble on a different pit strategy than all the other cars he was racing with to try to gain the final advantage. Unfortunately, the yellow flag did not fall when he needed it to for the plan to work perfectly.

However, the yellow did fall shortly after Tyler had to pit for fuel and tires. The restart of the race put Tyler back on the pole because he stayed out. Unfortunately, that meant he had tires with a few laps on them while the others had fresh tires with more grip.

The green flag waived with seven laps to go in the race. The fresher tires allowed a few cars to race past Tyler as he fell back to around third or fourth place on the first lap back under green. Tyler did not give up. He started racing hard and smart. He found a way to push his car for a chance to challenge for the win. When the white flag waived, he was racing right behind Denny Hamlin in second place. Going through turns one and two he passed Denny.

Tyler began gaining on Ryan Blaney in the lead going down the backstretch. Ryan dropped down to the center of the track to go through turns three and four. Tyler stayed high and was “rippin’ the fence” through those turns. It gave him the momentum he needed to take over the lead coming out of turn four and claim the win. This was Tyler’s first win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, his first win in the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs, his third win of the 2024 season and his eighth career win in the Cup Series.

The top six spots in the race were claimed by NASCAR Playoff Drivers: Ryan Blaney (2nd), Denny Hamlin (3rd), Christopher Bell (4th), Chase Elliott (5th) and William Byron (5th). The remaining two playoff drivers were Kyle Larson (13th) and Joey Logano (28th). See the complete race results for the Straight Talk Wireless 400 here.

Tyler Reddick joins Joey Logano as the two drivers locked in the Championship Four at Phoenix. Next week two more drivers will advance either by points or one by a win and one by points. See the NASCAR Playoff Standings here. It won’t be easy though. The last chance for the remaining six drivers is short trackin’ at Martinsville Speedway in the Xfinity 500 Sunday, November 3rd.

By: Buck Stevens

The YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday (10/6) had minimal cautions. However, the “Big One” did happen and sent the NASCAR Playoff race into overtime and allowed a second spoiler winner in a row.

The YellaWood 500 was the second race in the three-race Round of 12 in the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. The 12 remaining championship hopefuls started the race with two plans. Plan one, earn as many points as possible through the first two stages of the race to help advance to the next round in the playoffs. Plan two, be there at the end of the race to have a chance to win and earn the automatic advance to the next round in the playoffs.

Chris Buescher, a non-playoff driver, won the first stage of the race preventing any of the playoff drivers from earning maximum points in that stage. Austin Cindric started the race at the bottom of the list of remaining playoff drivers. Austin was able to win stage two and gain the valuable 10 bonus points for doing so.

Stage one had one caution flag early in the race for a two-car incident. The caution then flew at the end of the stage.

Stage two also had a single on track incident that brought out the yellow flag. It involved six cars and caused stage two to end under caution.

The limited number of caution periods did not make it a boring race. There were 24 drivers that exchanged the lead 66 times during the race. There was two-wide, three-wide and even four-wide pack racing at nearly 200 mph. It was amazing that there were not more caution periods throughout the race.

The biggest worry on a driver’s mind when racing at super speedways in big packs is being caught up in the “Big One.” That is a wreck that happens and collects double digit numbers of cars. The “Big One” finally happened with five laps to go in the race. Austin Cindric was leading when his car got bumped from behind. He lost control and spun. The resulting wreck involved a total of 23 cars, more than half of the field.

The race was put under a Red Flag for nearly nine minutes to clean up the crash. When it got rolling again, they had to go to NASCAR Overtime of a Green-White-Checkered finish.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was in the pole position for the re-start of the race. Ricky battled side-by-side with Brad Keselowski through the final two laps of the race. Brad got a push from Kyle Larson to get the lead going down the backstretch for the final time. However, William Byron pushed Ricky back to the lead heading into the tri-oval part of the track heading to the finish line. William pulled to the outside of Ricky while Brad was to his inside and the three had a drag race to the finish line.

Ricky was able to cross the finish line first by just a matter of just 0.006 seconds. That equates to just mere feet if not inches for the victory. This was Ricky’s first win of the 2024 season. It was his second win at Talladega Superspeedway and fourth career win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Ricky’s other two wins came at Daytona International Speedway.

Brad Keselowski (who was eliminated from the Playoffs after the Round of 16) took home the second-place finish. William Byron remains as a post-season contender and claimed third-place. See the complete race results for the YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway here.

Since a non-playoff driver won again for the second week in a row (third time in the 2024 Playoffs), no playoff driver earned the automatic advance to the Round of Eight. However, William Byron earned enough points in the race to lock himself for the next round. He is also at the top of the post-season standings as well. Christopher Bell leaves Talladega in second-place and Kyle Larson in third. See the complete NASCAR Playoff Standings here.

The drivers and teams are heading to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for the Round of 12 elimination race. The Bank of America ROVAL 400 will take place Sunday, October 13th. The four playoff drivers at the bottom of the Round of 12 standings after the race will be eliminated from the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

By: Buck Stevens

NASCAR races on road courses tend to be strategy and fuel mileage races with minimal cautions. That was NOT the case in the Go Bowling at the Glen yesterday (9/15).

There were seven yellow flags at Watkins Glen International during the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday. That may not seem like a lot, but on a road course it was. This was the second race in the first round of the Playoffs. It was the first time this track has been a part of the post-season 10-race schedule. Many playoff drivers found bad luck during the race.

The only caution that did not happen as a result of an on track incident was the end of stage one. Martin Truex Jr. was the winner of that stage. Stage two ended under caution for an incident with Ross Chastain claiming the win in that stage. Ross appeared to be the car to beat as he led a race high 51 laps in the race that was scheduled to run 90 laps. However, the timing of caution flags took that opportunity away from him.

The final caution sent the race to a NASCAR Overtime of a Green-White-Checkered finish. Chris Buescher and Shane Van Gisbergen (two non-playoff drivers) re-started the race from the front row. Shane bumped Chris from behind to get his loose and pas him for the lead on lap 91.

Chris Buescher repaid the favor on lap 92 (the last lap) to get back by Shane for the lead. Chris was able to hold that lead to cross the finish line first and score his first win of the 2024 season while playing spoiler to the NASCAR Playoff drivers.

Shane Van Gisbergen finished in second-place with Carson Hocevar in third. Non-playoff drivers claimed the top five finishing spots in the race. See the complete race results for the Go Bowling at the Glen here.

Being the only Playoff Driver with a win in the Round of 16, Joey Logano remains at the top of the Playoff Standings after the race at Watkins Glen. Christopher Bell has moved up to second with Austin Cindric up to third. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings here.

Things won’t get any easier for the Playoff drivers this week. Next stop is the short track of Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. The race this Saturday night, September 21st, is also the elimination race for the Round of 16. The four Playoff drivers without a first round win with the least amount of points after the race at Bristol will not advance to the Round of 12. This could make for a very exciting short track race!

By: Buck Stevens

The first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race took place at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Quaker State 400 was a disaster for some Championship hopefuls and a good day for others.

Most of the drivers managed to avoid issues through the first two stages of the race. Kyle Larson was not one of those drivers. Kyle started the race as the top seed in the playoffs. However, on lap 57 of the race he had an issue that sent him into the wall and out of the race. Chase Briscoe, who earned his spot in the playoffs by winning a week earlier, was caught up in the accident that also ended his day.

Ryan Blaney was the winner of stage one under the caution flag from the Kyle Larson accident. Stage two saw only a single yellow flag for debris on the track. Austin Cindric was the winner of stage two and led the most laps in the race, 92.

Stage three saw the intensity increase steadily as the race got closer to the end. There was a total of five caution flags in the final stage. The second to last yellow sent the race into a NASCAR Overtime of a Green-White-Checkered finish.

Joey Logano led the field to the green flag on the re-start. He was able to fight off Daniel Suarez (the winner of the spring race at Atlanta) to take the white flag. Joey’s teammate Ryan Blaney shoved him out to a bigger lead on the final lap of the race. Coming out of turn four cars began crashing behind the leaders bringing out the caution and cementing the win Joey already appeared to have well in hand.

This is Joey’s second win of the season and first win in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. The win gives him an automatic advance to the next round of the post-season, the Round of 12.

Daniel Suarez claimed a runner-up finish with Ryan Blaney taking home third-place. See the complete race results for the Quaker State 400 here.

Obviously, Joey Logano is the leader in the playoff standings leaving Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ryan Blaney is in second and Christopher Bell is in third. The drivers that are currently below the cut line at this time for the Round of 16 are Brad Keselowski (-1), Harrison Burton (-16), Martin Truex Jr. (-19) and Chase Briscoe (-21). See the complete 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Standings here.

The next race on the schedule is the Go Bowling at The Glen at Watkins Glen International road course Sunday, September 15th.

By: Buck Stevens

Harrison Burton survived throughout the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway to be there at the end to score a historic win in the NASCAR Cup Series.

When the Cup Series races at the super speedways like Daytona, there is always pack racing in the draft and wondering when the “big one” will happen. The Coke Zero Sugar 400 had both of those along with a lot of exciting racing.

There were 16 drivers that exchanged the lead of the 40 times. Josh Berry was able to claim the win in stage one. Joey Logano led the most laps during the race (34) and was able to win stage two.

There were seven caution periods during the race including the two for ends of the first two stages. Two of those cautions would classify as a “big one” where the total of cars involved were in the double digits. In fact, near the end of the race the TV commentators observed there were only six cars that had NOT been involved in some kind of crash.

When the seventh and final caution flag waived, it sent the race into a NASCAR overtime of a green-white-checkered finish. Kyle Busch was the control car for the restart on the inside of the front row with Harrison Burton on the outside next to him. Kyle was able to race out to the lead when the green flag waived and hold that lead for most of the final two laps of the race.

However, the front of the field remained side-by-side, two-wide through the first five or six rows during those laps. Parker Retzlaff pushed Harrison Burton out to the lead going down the backstretch on the last lap of the race. Harrison was able to drop down and block Kyle Busch as they race through the final turns of the race. Harrison held the lead to cross the finish line as the leader of the race on the only lap he led (and the only lap that really mattered in the race).

This was Harrison Burton’s first win in the NASCAR Cup Series. It also gave Wood Brothers Racing their 100th win in NASCAR’s top division. The team has been a part of NASCAR from the very beginning and is one of the legendary racing teams and families. See the complete race results for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 here.

The win does two things for Harrison. First, it puts him in the playoffs with a chance to win the championship. Second, it puts a spotlight on himself as he looks for a ride for the 2025 season. It was announced earlier this season that Josh Berry would be taking over the #21 car for Wood Brothers Racing in 2025.

Following the race at Daytona, Tyler Reddick remains the leader in the point standings. Kyle Larson moves up a spot at second-place. Chase Elliott slips back a spot to third. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.

There is only one race remaining before the NASCAR Playoffs begin. There are 13 of the 16 spots for the playoffs filled by drivers without at least one win. That leaves three spots currently filled based on points. Those three drivers above the cut line are Martin Truex Jr. (+58), Ty Gibs (+39) and Chris Buescher (+21). Just below the cut line are Bubba Wallace (-21) and Ros Chastain (-27).

The last race to gain enough points to make the playoffs or “win to get in” will be this Sunday, September 1st. That race is the Cook Out Southern 500. Drivers will have 500 miles (367 laps) around Darlington Raceway, also known as “The Lady in Black” to earn the points or the win to make the playoffs.

By: Buck Stevens

NASCAR returned to the streets of Chicago for the second time in the Grant Park 165 yesterday, Sunday, July 7th.

The race was set to be a 75-lap contest around the 2.2-mile course that featured 12 turns on the famous streets of Grant Park in Chicago. However, due to a heavy rain that put the race under a red-flag for one hour and forty-three minutes, the race was put on a time deadline of 8:20pm local time. When the leader crossed the start-finish line after that time, the next flag would be the white flag followed by the checkered flag on the next time by. There would be no overtime. This was necessary since there were not lights for racing after dark on the Chicago Street course.

The winner of the inaugural Chicago Street Race last year, Shane Van Gisbergen was one of the drivers favored to win this year’s race. Kyle Larson was the other favorite to challenge for the win. Shane was the winner of stage one of the race. However, he was involved in an accident and taken out of the race on lap 25. Kyle Larson locked his tires up on lap 34, slid under the tire barrier and hit the wall on a turn to end his day.

That left the race open for strategy and other drivers to have a shot at winning. Some drivers chose to put racing slicks on as the track was drying. Some drivers chose to put on new wet weather tires on. Some drivers chose to stay on the track with the wet weather tires on they had to gain positions on the track.

Alex Bowman was one that chose to stay on track with the wet weather tires he had on. He was able to race forward and take the lead on lap 51. Alex was able to keep the lead of the race through what would turn out to be the final eight laps of the race due to the time constraint. The win broke an 80-race victory drought for Alex Bowman. It was his first win of the 2024 season and his 8th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Tyler Reddick was making a charge on the final lap of the race to challenge for the win. However, a small mistake made him swipe the wall and slowed him down enough to have to settle for a second-place finish. Ty Gibbs was able to claim the third-place finish. See the complete race results for the Grant Park 165 Chicago Street Race here.

Kyle Larson was still able to remain the leader in the point standings. Chase Elliott holds on in second-place. Tyler Reddick moves up a spot to take over third. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.

Next on the schedule is a trip to the “Tricky Triangle.” The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VisitPA.com at Pocono Raceway is Sunday, July 14th.

By: Buck Stevens

Ryan Blaney was able to score the first in a few different categories at the Iowa Speedway Sunday, June 16th.

When NASCAR raced the Iowa Corn 350 yesterday, it was the first Cup Series race at the Iowa Speedway. That made it special for the drivers and the fans. Since this was the first time NASCAR’s top series race at the track, everybody was guessing what the race would produce.

What it did produce was excitement for fans to watch. There were some tire issues. That caused a few cautions along with the yellows for the ends of the first two stages. There were eight caution periods in total. Ryan Blaney was the winner of stage one and Kyle Larson was the winner of stage two.

The track also produced some great side-by-side racing. There were nine drivers that exchanged the lead 17 times. Through most of the race it appeared that the win would be a battle between Ryan Blaney and Kyle Larson. However, on lap 221 Kyle was caught up in an incident that would take him out of contention.

Ryan Blaney would go on to continue his domination of the race. He led a race-high 201 laps in the 350-lap race. In fact, he was the leader for the final 88 laps of the race. Near the end it looked as though William Byron might be able to challenge for the win, but he never got close enough to do so.

Ryan Blaney held on to win the race giving him a few firsts. It was the inaugural Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway making Ryan the first ever winner in the series at the track. It was his first win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. It was his first win at Iowa Speedway in the Cup Series. The win is Ryan’s 11th in his Cup Series career. The win also guarantees that he will be in the playoffs with a chance to defend his 2023 NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

William Byron did hold on for a second-place finish. Chase Elliott crossed the finish line third. See the complete race results for the Iowa Corn 350 here.

Following the race at Iowa Speedway, Chase Elliott moves up a spot to take over the lead in the point standings. Kyle Larson slips back to second place. Denny Hamlin holds steady in third. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.

The next race on the schedule is the USA Today 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday, June 23rd.

By: Buck Stevens

The Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway ended with heartbreak for Christopher Bell and Ryan Blaney. However, Austin Cindric had an entirely opposite feeling as a result.

The race took place just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis Sunday afternoon (6/2/24). Michael McDowell started from the pole and looked to have a strong car for the race. He led the first 40 laps of the race. However, Christopher Bell took over the lead with five laps remaining in stage one and held it to win the stage.

Christopher Bell went on to serve notice that he was going to be the car to beat. He claimed the win in stage two of the race and led the most laps in the race. He was able to pass other cars at will most of the time it seemed.

Late in the race Ryan Blaney was able to take over as the leader of the race following a round of green-flag pit stops. Christopher Bell raced forward with the intention of reclaiming the lead. However, as he and Ryan battled for the lead something broke in the #20 Toyota’s engine ending Christopher’s domination of the race and chances of winning.

It then looked as though Ryan Blaney was going to be able to cruise to victory. However, Ryan would be the second driver to experience heartbreak in the final laps. His #12 Ford ran out of fuel as he was coming to the white flag to signify one lap to go in the race.

Austin Cindric, Ryan’s Team Penske teammate, took over the lead as he crossed under the white flag on the track. There would be no heartbreak for Austin. He raced around the track to claim the checkered flag. This was his first win at World Wide Technology Raceway and his first win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. The win snapped an 85-race winless streak giving him his second career win in NASCAR’s top division.

Denny Hamlin claimed a runner-up finish. Brad Keselowski took home third-place. See the complete race results for the Enjoy Illinois 300 here.

Leaving World Wide Technology Raceway, Denny Hamlin remains the leader in the point standings. Kyle Larson holds on to second-place. Chase Elliott moves up a spot to third. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series Point Standings here.

The NASCAR teams and drivers head west next for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 road course race in the heart of California’s wine country at Sonoma Raceway Sunday, June 9th.

By: Buck Stevens

Brad Keselowski gave Ford their first win of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season at Darlington Raceway in Sunday’s Goodyear 400.

The first 12 races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season had been won by Chevrolet (7 wins) and Toyota (5 wins). Many people had been noting that the Fords just didn’t deem to have the speed to start the season.

In the past few races that seemed to be changing. While the Fords had not won a race yet, they were there contending for the win at the end of the races.

Tyler Reddick had the dominant car leading a race-high 174 laps. Second in laps led was Brad Keselowski at just 37 laps as the leader. Kyle Larson was the winner of stage one of the race with Tyler Reddick claiming the win in stage two.

Late in the race Tyler Reddick and Brad Keselowski were battling for the lead. That allowed Chris Buescher to pass both of them at the same time to gain control of the race. Tyler was able to race up and challenge for the lead with 10 laps remaining. The two cars got together causing both to come together. The result was flat tires for both cars ending their chance to win.

That incident allowed Brad Keselowski to regain the lead of the race. He held it through the final laps to claim his first win of 2024, second win at Darlington, 36th career win and break his 110-race winless streak.

Ty Gibbs claimed the runner-up finish with Josh Berry finishing in third-place. See the complete race results for the Goodyear 400 here.

The top two spots in the point standings remain unchanged with Kyle Larson as the leader and Martin Truex Jr. in second-place. However, Denny Hamlin moves up to take over third this week. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.

This coming weekend the NASCAR Cup Series drivers will not be racing for points or a spot in the playoffs. It is all about bragging rights and a million-dollar payday! It’s the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway this Sunday, May 19th!

By: Buck Stevens