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Blaney wins his way into the Championship 4 with shadow over race finish

In the closing laps of the race, it became a three-way fight for the win between Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney.

Larson was in control, but Elliott and Blaney had 30-lap fresher tires in the battle to decide who would be part of the Championship 4.

With 25 laps remaining, Elliott finally made his way around Larson as they navigated traffic. Blaney then traded blows with Larson before getting by as well. With 14 to go, he stormed into the race lead as Elliott faded. The race went green to the end and he was victorious. It's Blaney's 13th career win and his third of the 2024 season.

“I’m worn out," said Blaney, he hopes to become the first back-to-back champion in the history of the knockout format. "It’s hard. The last 70 or so laps I tried to save my rears the best I could because that’s where I started struggling later in the runs. I hated I had to lay the bumper to some guys, but I had to do it. It was nice to pass the 9 clean. I laid the bumper to a couple guys that I wish I didn’t have to, but I needed to get going, so it was a long night. I appreciate everybody for getting better through the night. Thank goodness. I think that’s the most tired I’ve been after a race in a long time.”

Shadow over the finish

Blaney captured the checkered flag, but high drama was unfolding behind him for the final transfer spot. William Byron and Christopher Bell were in a tense points battle. In the final corner, Bell passed the rapidly slowing Toyota of Bubba Wallace and then rode the wall.

NASCAR is still deliberating, looking at the radios of the Chevrolets of Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain, as well as the Toyota of Wallace. At the checkered flag, Bell was tied with Byron and should be in via the tiebreaker. There was questionable radio communication from all teams involved.

The race results have Elliott in 2nd, Larson third, Cindric fourth, Hamlin fifth, Byron sixth, A. Dillon seventh, Chastain eighth, Keselowski ninth, Logano.

After a lengthy deliberation, NASCAR finally made a call: Bell was cited for a safety violation and removed from the playoffs, putting Byron back in. Full details can be found in the story below:

Cla Driver # Manufacturer Laps Time Interval Pits Points
1 R. BlaneyTeam Penske 12 Ford 500

3:28'30.572

  9 55
2 C. ElliottHendrick Motorsports 9 Chevrolet 500

+2.593

3:28'33.165

2.593 9 45
3 K. LarsonHendrick Motorsports 5 Chevrolet 500

+5.172

3:28'35.744

2.579 8 46
4 A. CindricTeam Penske 2 Ford 500

+5.263

3:28'35.835

0.091 8 33
5 D. HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing 11 Toyota 500

+7.643

3:28'38.215

2.380 8 40
6 W. ByronHendrick Motorsports 24 Chevrolet 500

+11.887

3:28'42.459

4.244 8 46
7 A. DillonRichard Childress Racing 3 Chevrolet 500

+11.993

3:28'42.565

0.106 9 37
8 R. ChastainTrackHouse Racing 1 Chevrolet 500

+12.287

3:28'42.859

0.294 9 29
9 B. KeselowskiRFK Racing 6 Ford 500

+12.355

3:28'42.927

0.068 8 39
10 J. LoganoTeam Penske 22 Ford 500

+12.647

3:28'43.219

0.292 9 29
11 N. GragsonStewart-Haas Racing 10 Ford 500

+12.873

3:28'43.445

0.226 9 28
12 S. van GisbergenKaulig Racing 16 Chevrolet 500

+13.181

3:28'43.753

0.308 10  
13 A. BowmanHendrick Motorsports 48 Chevrolet 500

+13.531

3:28'44.103

0.350 9 31
14 R. PreeceStewart-Haas Racing 41 Ford 500

+15.209

3:28'45.781

1.678 8 31
15 C. BriscoeStewart-Haas Racing 14 Ford 500

+17.672

3:28'48.244

2.463 9 30
16 J. BerryStewart-Haas Racing 4 Ford 500

+20.751

3:28'51.323

3.079 9 21
17 D. HemricKaulig Racing 31 Chevrolet 500

+21.092

3:28'51.664

0.341 10 20
18 B. Wallace23XI Racing 23 Toyota 499

+1 Lap

3:28'45.470

1 Lap 10 19
19 E. JonesLegacy Motor Club 43 Toyota 499

+1 Lap

3:28'49.694

4.224 9 18
20 R. Stenhouse JrJTG Daugherty Racing 47 Chevrolet 499

+1 Lap

3:28'50.064

0.370 9 17
21
Z. SmithSpire Motorsports
71 Chevrolet 499

+1 Lap

3:28'50.872

0.808 10 16
22 C. BellJoe Gibbs Racing 20 Toyota 499

+1 Lap

3:28'51.322

0.450 9 20
23 D. SuarezTrackHouse Racing 99 Chevrolet 498

+2 Laps

3:28'34.111

1 Lap 10 14
24 M. Truex JrJoe Gibbs Racing 19 Toyota 498

+2 Laps

3:28'36.739

2.628 13 13
25
C. HocevarSpire Motorsports
77 Chevrolet 498

+2 Laps

3:28'43.450

6.711 11 12
26 T. GillilandFront Row Motorsports 38 Ford 498

+2 Laps

3:28'45.983

2.533 10 11
27 K. GralaRick Ware Racing 15 Ford 497

+3 Laps

3:28'34.234

1 Lap 9 10
28 K. BuschRichard Childress Racing 8 Chevrolet 497

+3 Laps

3:28'38.212

3.978 11 9
29 J. HaleySpire Motorsports 7 Chevrolet 497

+3 Laps

3:28'43.306

5.094 10 8
30 C. BuescherRFK Racing 17 Ford 497

+3 Laps

3:28'47.129

3.823 10 7
31 J. NemechekLegacy Motor Club 42 Toyota 496

+4 Laps

3:28'31.215

1 Lap 10 6
32
T. GibbsJoe Gibbs Racing
54 Toyota 495

+5 Laps

3:28'31.835

1 Lap 8 5
33 M. McDowellFront Row Motorsports 34 Ford 490

+10 Laps

3:28'45.200

5 Laps 9 4
34 T. Reddick23XI Racing 45 Toyota 458

+42 Laps

3:15'42.790

32 Laps 9 3
35 C. LajoieRick Ware Racing 51 Ford 365

+135 Laps

3:08'06.197

93 Laps 10 2
36 H. BurtonWood Brothers Racing 21 Ford 347

+153 Laps

2:27'50.626

18 Laps 7 1
37 J. BilickiPower Source 66 Ford 131

+369 Laps

52'14.487

216 Laps 3
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