Most of the contenders for the win on Sunday had committed themselves to one of two pit strategies – pit before the start of Stage 3 with one final stop later which would require a lot of fuel or run well into the final stage with final shorter stop late in the race.
When Todd Gilliland blew a brake rotor and hit the Turn 1 wall on lap 115 of 160, the strategies and some of the contenders took a big hit.
For a few moments, there was a big question of who would pit as the caution came right on the outside of the window to make it to the end of the race on fuel without another stop.
As it turned out, the entire field elected to pit on lap 117 and Kyle Larson was the first off pitroad, with Ryan Blaney close behind in second.
Speeding penalties
Shortly after the cars completed their stops, however, NASCAR announced four drivers – Larson, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez and pole winner Ty Gibbs – would all be sent to the rear of the field for speeding in the same section of pit road.
All four drivers had run in the top 10 at some point prior to the pit stops, with Gibbs leading the first 17 laps of the race and Elliott with one of the few cars that had shown the ability to move through the field.
The most immediate effect of the penalties was to put Blaney in the lead for the first time in the race – a position he would not relinquish the final 44 laps of the race, which included three restarts following cautions.
When the race restarted with 40 laps remaining, the gamble started on who could save enough fuel to make it to the end.
“When we first pitted (during that caution), we were probably three laps short of making it,” said Blaney’s crew chief, Jonathan Hassler. “You certainly have to jump on that opportunity because if you don’t jump on it first, you’re not going to put yourself in any kind of position to win.”
Three cautions in the final 38 laps made Hassler’s decision a safe one, as Blaney’s No. 12 Penske Ford had plenty of fuel with the race ending at its scheduled distance. Overtimes – like the five at Nashville just two weeks ago – would have created an even different narrative.
“We were really fortunate that those cautions came out really to start that run,” Hassler said. “After the three cautions I think it was, we were in really good position and could run hard the rest of the race.”
While the speeding penalties helped put Blaney in position to earn his second win of the 2024 season, they ended all hope of a victory for the four drivers that were sent to the rear.
Elliott faired the best of the lot, with a ninth-place finish. But he had shown far more potential than that earlier in the race.
Larson ended up 13th, which he ran earlier in the race, but had he kept his position on the track, there is no telling how well his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet would have performed out front and in clean air.
Suarez fought his way to 16th from the back of the field, but again, he had shown far more potential earlier in the race.
“We were OK in clean air, but in traffic, for some reason we struggled a lot I feel like more than the competition,” Suarez said. “Overall, there were a few things we could do better, but we finished 16th. We’ll take that for the car we had and the speed we showed.”
Gibbs suffered the worst outcome, but probably not related to the loss of track position from the penalty. His day ended after 132 laps when the engine blew on his No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, sand he was credited with a 27th place finish.
