Hamlin survived a tussle with Carl Edwards with 88 laps to go and charged late, nearly catching Clint Bowyer for the win but settling for the runner-up spot in the Sylvania 400.
Denny Hamlin: Hamlin led 251 of 400 laps at Richmond, erasing the memory of 34th and 43rd-place finishes in his last two races to grab the top seed in the Chase For The Cup.
Kevin Harvick: Harvick won for the third time this year, conquering the Carfax 400 in Michigan while becoming the first driver to clinch a spot in the Chase For The Cup.
Harvick was running sixth before suffering a flat tire on the final lap at Watkins Glen, spoiling a certain top-10 finish. He surrendered five positions on the final lap, and was nipped at the line for tenth by Jeff Gordon, his closest pursuer in the point standings.
The 2024 O'Reilly Auto Parts Series champion from Riverton, Illinois, maintains a seven-point lead following the first Chase event despite having a dominant run hindered with a late fade and wall scrape.
The 24-year-old Caruth from Washington endured a roller-coaster run in his first O'Reilly Chase event that concluded with a 26th-place run following a late (second) fuel pickup issue.
Ethan Nascimento (No. 4 Nascimento Motorsports / RJ’s Paintshop Chevrolet) prevailed in a frantic five-lap dash to the finish in Saturday’s ARCA Menards Series West NAPA Auto Parts 150
Brent Crews had an impressive debut at Darlington Raceway as the 18-year-old drove through the field in the final stage to finish third in the NASCAR O'Reilly Series race on Saturday evening.
