Strong Eighth-Place Finish for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet Team at Texas Motor Speedway
Finish: 8th Start: 15th Points: 28th
“I’m just really happy for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevy team. That was a big finish for us, and I am proud of the fight that our guys showed. To come home with an eighth-place finish is big because we had struggled with the handling of the car throughout the race. We made some good calls to get us some track position, and we had some good restarts at the end to get us a good finish. After the year we’ve had so far, this feels like a win and hopefully we can build off of this.” -Austin Dillon
Kyle Busch and the No. 8 zone Chevrolet Team Use Strategy to Score Top-10 Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
Finish: 9th Start: 35th Points: 16th
“It was cool to end up with a decent finish today at Texas Motor Speedway after we had to go to a backup car on Saturday. All the guys on the zone Chevrolet team really worked hard all weekend and I really appreciate that effort. We made a lot of stops today and crew chief Randall Burnett and the guys made adjustments every time we pitted. The balance was a little bit of everything, from tight to loose to a lack of grip. Randall made the call to run long in the final stage and we caught a caution in the middle of a pit cycle to get in position to score a top-10. We survived the last few restarts and came away with a ninth place finish so not a bad day.” -Kyle Busch
Mechanical Issue Ends Strong Run for Austin Hill and the No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet Team at Texas Motor Speedway
Finish: 38th Start: 34th Points: N/A
“I really hate that our race ended early today at Texas Motor Speedway. Our United Rentals Chevrolet was pretty solid and track position and clean air were so important. The strategy that crew chief Keith Rodden called should have worked out in our favor with the amount of cautions that flew once we went to the garage. The No. 33 team tried to fix the mechanical issue, but unfortunately, there was something wrong in the steering. The most important thing was not to wreck the car before our next race together. Driving the Cup car is so different compared to the Xfinity car though, so I was learning on the fly. I would have loved to finish the race and see where we could have ended up. Overall, I’m proud of this Richard Childress Racing crew and we will come back again soon. I appreciate United Rentals and RCR for the opportunity to run this race.” -Austin Hill
After striving to rebound on the track following a difficult 2023 season, Chase Elliott made a triumphant return to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series division for the first time in over a year after motoring his way to win the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 14, amid two overtime shootouts.
The 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led three times for 39 of 276 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified 24th but implemented an early strategic move by remaining on the track during an early cycle of green flag pit stops and leading for the first time on Lap 41. An ensuing caution on Lap 50 for an on-track incident played into the favors for Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team, where they then pitted and proceeded to claim a top-10 result and a handful of stage points during the first stage period.
Then amid a bevy of on-track chaos, caution periods and dramatic restarts, Elliott, who maneuvered his way through the chaos, was left to fend off Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain through three late-race restarts, the latter two being overtime shootouts. After Hamlin wrecked during the first restart with two laps remaining, Elliott managed to muscle ahead of Chastain during the second overtime shootout and take the white flag to start the final lap before Chastain got wrecked by William Byron, which concluded the event under caution and delivered Elliott an emotional return to the Cup Series Victory Lane for the first time both at Texas and in 42 races.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, April 13, Kyle Larson notched his third consecutive Cup pole position in recent weeks and the 250th series pole for Hendrick Motorsports after he posted a pole-winning lap at 190.369 mph in 28.366 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 190.134 mph in 28.401 seconds.
Prior to the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. Kaz Grala and Jimmie Johnson, who also wrecked during the practice session, also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars.
When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Kyle Larson muscled ahead in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with the lead through the first two turns. With the field behind fanning out and jostling for early positions, Larson proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Ty Gibbs while Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe trailed in the top five. Larson would proceed to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Gibbs by the fifth lap mark.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Larson was leading by a second over Gibbs followed by Bell, Reddick and Briscoe while Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace and Michael McDowell followed suit in the top 10. Behind, Martin Truex Jr. occupied 11th place ahead of teammate Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain and rookie Carson Hocevar while Chris Buescher, Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Daniel Suarez and rookie Zane Smith were running in the top 20.
Ten laps later, Larson stabilized his advantage to a second over Gibbs while Bell, Reddick and Briscoe continued to run in the top five ahead of Blaney, Byron, Cindric, Wallace and McDowell.
Just past the Lap 30 mark, Larson continued to lead by nearly a second over Gibbs as Bell, Reddick and Blaney trailed in the top five. Behind, Byron occupied sixth place ahead of Briscoe, who was running ahead of Cindric while Wallace and Hamlin were in the top 10 ahead of Bowman, McDowell, Chastain, Truex and Hocevar.
By Lap 35 and with the leader Larson starting to approach lapped traffic, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Hamlin, who was running 10th, pitted his No. 11 Yahoo! Toyota Camry XSE. More names including Cindric, Wallace, McDowell, Truex, Chris Buescher, Ryan Preece and Noah Gragson pitted during the proceeding lap before the leader Larson led a bevy of front runners to pit road for service by Lap 37.
On Lap 40 and with the cycle of green flag pit stops still occurring, Gibbs, who led the previous five laps, pitted as Chase Elliott cycled into the lead. Behind, Todd Gilliland, Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric, all of whom have yet to pit, were running second to fourth, respectively, while Larson was running fourth as he was trying to cycle his way back to the front.
Then on Lap 50, the event’s first caution period flew after Jimmie Johnson, who was running 36th, got sideways and spun his No. 84 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE in Turn 4. The caution occurred as Elliott, Todd Gilliland, Hill and Hemric had yet to pit. During the caution period, select names that included Elliott, Gilliland, Hill, Wallace, Blaney, Hemric, Truex, Chastain and McDowell pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track. Truex would then pit for a second time to address a loose wheel along with teammate Gibbs.
As the event restarted under green on Lap 55, Larson muscled ahead from Bell to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Reddick, Hamlin and Briscoe trailing in the top five as Byron dropped to sixth, Larson would continue to lead just past the Lap 60 mark.
Nearing the Lap 75 mark, Larson was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Bell while Hamlin, Reddick and Briscoe continued to run in the top five ahead of Elliott, a hard-charging Blaney, McDowell, Byron and Wallace. By then, Truex was in 13th and Gibbs was mired in 21st ahead of Nemechek.
When the first stage period concluded on Lap 80, Larson captured his fifth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Bell settled in second ahead of teammate Hamlin, Reddick and Briscoe while Blaney, Elliott, McDowell, Byron and Wallace were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.
Under the stage break, select names led by Blaney remained on the track while the rest led by Larson pitted for service, where Truex would then manage to beat Larson off of pit road following his pit service. Amid the pit stops, Gilliland was penalized for equipment interference while Zane Smith was also penalized for removing equipment from his pit stall.
The second stage period started on Lap 88 as Blaney and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney and Hill battled for the lead through the first two turns. Blaney would then muscle his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang Dark Horse ahead with the lead from Hill as Gibbs and Buescher followed suit in third and fourth, respectively, while Larson was scored in fifth place on four fresh tires. As Blaney led through the Lap 90 mark, Elliott occupied sixth place ahead of teammate Byron and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin, Truex and Bell while Larson overtook Buescher and Gibbs to boost up to third place.
At the Lap 100 mark, the caution returned when Bell, who was running 10th, snapped sideways and backed his No. 20 Rheem Toyota Camry XSE into the outside wall in Turn 4. Amid Bell’s incident, a chain reaction within the middle of the field ensued as Alex Bowman got turned before he received a hard hit by John Hunter Nemechek, thus leaving all three competitors with significant damage to their respective cars. By then, Blaney was leading by a narrow margin over a hard-charging Larson while Hamlin, Gibbs and Elliott were running in the top five. In addition, Hill, who was running towards the front, had pitted his No. 33 United Rentals Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry due to a steering issue, an issue that would send Hill to the garage.
During the caution period, nearly the lead lap field led by Blaney pitted for service while Gilliland remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson exited with the lead followed by Hamlin, Truex, Elliott, McDowell, Reddick and Chastain, respectively, as Blaney exited out of pit road in eighth place ahead of Byron and Wallace. Amid the pit stops, Buescher was penalized for equipment interference.
As the event restarted on Lap 106, the field fanned out through the first two turns, where Wallace lost a bevy of spots as he went wide through the turns following contact with Gibbs. Back at the front, Larson would overtake Gilliland to reassume the lead through the frontstretch and during the following lap. Truex and Hamlin would follow suit in second and third, respectively, while Reddick and Chastain battled for fifth. Meanwhile, Larson retained the lead by nearly a second over Truex by the Lap 110 mark.
Then following another caution period that started on Lap 113 after Hocevar, who was mired in 23rd, spun in Turn 1, trouble struck for the leader Larson, who lost a right-rear wheel on the track entering Turn 1. The issue cost Larson two laps for a penalty as Hamlin cycled into the lead followed by teammate Truex, Gilliland, Reddick and Chastain.
During the following restart period on Lap 118, the field fanned out again through the first two turns as teammates Hamlin and Truex battled for the lead. Hamlin would fend off Truex to retain the lead by the Lap 120 mark, where Larson then returned following his two-lap penalty. By Lap 121, however, the caution returned after rookie Josh Berry spun his No. 4 Miner Ford Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 2 after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. came across Berry’s nose, which got the latter loose, from 12th place.
With the event restarting on Lap 125, teammates Hamlin and Truex battled for the lead for a second time, with Hamlin prevailing after nearly a full lap of battle while the rest of the field behind also fanned out and jostled for positions. Behind, Ross Chastain nearly made contact with Reddick as he claimed third place followed by Gilliland while Reddick was overtaken by Gilliland, McDowell, Blaney and Elliott amid his near-contact with Chastain. Amid the battles, Hamlin retained the lead by nearly a second over teammate Truex while third-place Chastain trailed by a second in third place by Lap 130.
At the halfway mark in between Laps 133 and 134, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Chastain, who overtook Truex for the spot, while Front Row Motorsports’ Gilliland and McDowell trailed in fourth and fifth ahead of Blaney, Elliott, Byron, Joey Logano and Reddick. Behind, Stenhouse occupied 11th place ahead of Ryan Preece, Briscoe, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson while Austin Cindric, Zane Smith, Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski followed suit in the top 20.
A few laps later, the caution returned after Berry spun and wrecked against the outside wall in Turn 2 for a second time. Compared to his first incident, Berry’s latest incident was enough for the Tennessee native to steer his car to the garage and retire with a DNF. During the caution period, some led by Chastain remained on the track while the rest led by Hamlin and Truex pitted.
With the event restarting under green on Lap 142, Chastain and McDowell battled for the lead in front of a stacked field for nearly a full lap until the caution quickly returned after McDowell snapped sideways while running on the outside lane and backed his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang Dark Horse hard into the outside wall as the field scattered to avoid McDowell’s wrecked car. The caution enabled Larson to acquire one of his two lost laps in the process.
With 18 laps remaining in the second stage period, the event restarted under green. At the start, Chastain muscled his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead through the first two turns while Stenhouse and Jones battled for second in front of Wallace, Keselowski, Hocevar and Hamlin. Jones would overtake Stenhouse during the following lap as Chastain extended his advantage to more than a second, all while Wallace retained fourth in front of Hocevar, Keselowski and Hamlin.
By Lap 155, Chastain continued to lead by nearly a second over Jones while Wallace, Keselowski and Stenhouse trailed in the top five. Behind, Chase Briscoe, the first competitor running on four fresh tires, was mired in ninth behind Hocevar, Harrison Burton and Blaney while Hamlin was in 10th and trying to fend off teammate Ty Gibbs for the spot.
When the second stage period concluded on Lap 165, Chastain captured his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Wallace, who overtook Jones for the runner-up spot earlier, settled in second followed by Blaney, Erik Jones and Briscoe while Keselowski, Burton, Stenhouse, Gibbs and Elliott were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap while Reddick, Hamlin and Byron mired from 11th to 13th, respectively. In addition, Truex was mired back in 21st in between Logano and Daniel Suarez.
During the stage break, some led by Chastain pitted while the rest led by Wallace remained on the track. By then, Larson, who was the first competitor scored a lap down during the second stage’s conclusion, cycled back onto the lead lap.
With 95 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Wallace and Briscoe occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace and Briscoe battled for the lead through the first two turns until Harrison Burton stretched the battle to three lanes as he made his bid for the top spot. Then through Turns 3 and 4, the caution returned after Wallace got loose and slipped his No. 23 Columbia Toyota Camry XSE up the track, where he slid sideways as Briscoe also got sideways in his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang Dark Horse and was sent for a spin as both he and Wallace dropped within the leaderboard while Burton assumed the lead ahead of Reddick, Hamlin, Elliott and Zane Smith.
During the following restart with 90 laps remaining, Burton rocketed ahead and retained the lead from both Hamlin and Reddick through the first two turns. Behind, Elliott fended off Zane Smith and Byron to retain fourth in front of a stacked field while Burton was trying to fend off Reddick for the lead, but Reddick prevailed with 88 laps remaining. The caution, however, returned a lap later after Blaney, who was running 15th, spun and wrecked hard against the Turn 2 outside wall amid contact with Preece.
As the event restarted with 83 laps remaining, Reddick and Burton battled for the lead until Reddick retained the lead in front of the field. Behind, Hamlin would then move into the runner-up spot followed by Elliott, teammate Byron and Zane Smith while Burton dropped to sixth in front of Gibbs. With numerous contenders trying to aggressively carve their way back to the front amid a stacked field, Reddick retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over owner Hamlin with 80 laps remaining.
With 70 laps remaining, Reddick was leading by a second-and-a-half in his NO. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE over Hamlin followed by Elliott, Byron and Smith while Gibbs, Gragson, Truex, Buescher and Stenhouse were running in the top 10 ahead of Erik Jones, Burton, Chastain, Keselowski, Preece, Logano, Austin Cindric, John Hunter Nemechek, Gilliland and Corey LaJoie. Meanwhile, Larson was mired in 23rd in front of Kyle Busch, Wallace and Briscoe, Jimmie Johnson was in 28th behind Hocevar and Austin Dillon was mired in 30th in between Daniel Suarez and Daniel Hemric.
Ten laps later, Reddick extended his advantage to five seconds over Hamlin while Elliott, Byron and Smith continued to run in the top five, but trail by within 11 seconds. Behind, teammates Gibbs and Truex battled for sixth place in front of Stenhouse, Noah Gragson, Chastain and Jones while Logano, Keselowski, Preece and Nemechek occupied the top 15 spots.
Then with approximately 55 laps remaining, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Byron pitted followed by teammate Elliott and Gragson. By then, Cindric, Justin Haley and Buescher pitted before the leader Reddick pitted with 54 laps remaining along with Hamlin, Stenhouse, Smith, Gibbs and Jones. Amid the pit stops, Hamlin overtook Reddick and exited ahead of him on pit road after the latter endured a slow pit stop towards the right-rear end. With more names including Truex and Stenhouse pitting, Chastain, whose previous pit stop occurred with 99 laps remaining, was leading. Chastain would then pit with 50 laps remaining along with Larson as Joey Logano cycled into the lead.
With 40 laps remaining, Logano, who last pitted with 92 laps remaining and has yet to make another pit stop to finish, continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Keselowski followed by Preece, LaJoie and Busch while Briscoe, Suarez, Hocevar, Austin Dillon and Hemric were racing in the top 10. Behind, Reddick was running 13th ahead of Hamlin, both of whom were racing on four fresh tires, while Truex was mired towards the rear of the field after making a second pit stop under green to address a loose wheel.
A lap later, the caution flew after Nemechek snapped sideways while battling Cindric and backed his No. 42 Romco Toyota Camry XSE into the outside wall in Turn 4, which sent him into the garage area and out of the event. During the caution period, some led by Logano pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track as Reddick cycled back into the lead.
Down to the final 33 laps of the event, the field restarted under green. At the start, Reddick received a push from Elliott to briefly muscle ahead of Hamlin until Elliott made his move and overtook both to assume the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With Elliott leading, Hamlin settled in second ahead of Chastain while Reddick slipped to fourth in front of a multi-car battle between Byron, Keselowski, Briscoe, Preece, Suarez and Busch.
With 25 laps remaining, Elliott retained the lead by nearly a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin. Two laps later, however, Hamlin battled and overtook Elliott amid a fierce battle for the lead. Another lap later and just as Hamlin muscled ahead of Elliott entering the backstretch, Reddick, who was trying to muscle his way back to the lead, slid into the outside wall towards the backstretch and dropped from third to eighth, though the event remained under green flag conditions.
Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by six-tenths of a second over Elliott while Brad Keselowski, who was slowly clocking in lap times that were faster than Hamlin and Elliott, trailed in third place by seven-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, fourth-place Chastain trailed by three seconds along with teammate Suarez while Byron, Reddick, Briscoe, Preece and Logano followed suit in the top 10.
Then two laps later, the caution flew after Stenhouse, who was locked into a fierce battle with Ty Gibbs, went wide through Turns 1 and 2 before he slid his No. 47 Boost by Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the outside wall and spun before coming to a stop in Turn 2. During the caution period, select names including Wallace, Jones, Bell, Gragson, Burton, Truex and Jimmie Johnson pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.
Just as the event restarted under green with eight laps remaining, the caution quickly returned after Zane Smith and Larson made contact that sent Larson loose and sliding up toward the outside wall in Turn 1. At the moment of caution, Elliott managed to reassume the lead from Hamlin while Chastain, Keselowski and Byron were scored in the top five.
Then during the following restart with two laps remaining, the event was sent into overtime after Hamlin, who battled dead event with Elliott for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch, slipped sideways in between Turns 3 and 4 and spun as he backed his car into the outside wall. Amid the carnage, Elliott escaped with the lead while Chastain, Keselowski, Byron and Suarez were scored in the top five.
The start of the first overtime period did not last long as Burton and Kaz Grala wrecked in Turn 1, where Elliott fended off Chastain to retain the lead followed by Keselowski, Byron and Suarez. The start of the second overtime period generated a different outcome as Elliott and Chastain battled dead even through the first two turns and the backstretch before Elliott cleared Chastain to assume the lead and have both lanes to his control entering the frontstretch.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started amid a bevy of on-track battles, Elliott remained as the leader by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Chastain. Then in the backstretch, Byron, who charged his way up to third, turned Chastain sideways into the outside wall in the backstretch as Chastain was left spinning across the middle of the track. The incident was enough for NASCAR officials to display the caution and conclude the event under caution as Elliott, who muscled his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 away from the carnage, was able to coast his car back to the frontstretch and claim the checkered flag for a triumphant return to the Cup Series Victory Lane.
With the victory, Elliott, who became the sixth winner through the first nine events on the 2024 schedule, recorded his 19th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, his first at Texas Motor Speedway and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2022 as he snapped a 42-year winless drought in the process. The victory, which also snapped a one-year winless drought for Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 team led by championship-winning crew chief Alan Gustafson, marks the sixth of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the fifth for Hendrick Motorsports as Elliott placed himself in a guaranteed spot of making the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.
During his victory celebration on the frontstretch, Elliott, who piloted his sponsor Hooters to the race win, took a moment to recognize the late Alan Kulwicki, who piloted his own-operated Hooters-sponsored entry to the 1992 Cup Series championship by beating Chase Elliott’s father, Bill, during the season-finale event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, by doing a Polish Victory Lap, Kulwicki’s on-track trademark victory celebration, across the frontstretch.
Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“Man, [the win] couldn’t feel any better,” Elliott, who received a chorus of cheers from the grandstands, said on FS1. “[Sponsor] Hooters has been a partner of ours for a number of years now and it’s been a dream of mine to pay respect to the late Alan Kulwicki. Driving this car to victory and being able to do a Polish Victory Lap. Just really crazy how things came full circle there in that moment. It was pretty emotional for me. [Kulwicki] beat dad [Bill Elliott] back in the day and here we are sharing his sponsor and having an opportunity to win today. Just couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and the path that hasn’t always been fun, but certainly have enjoyed working with our guys. We’ve been working really hard and really well together. We’ve enjoyed the fight together.”
Following an extensive review of the finishing order amid the final lap caution, Brad Keselowski, who is still seeking his first Cup victory since 2021 and his first as a co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, ended up in second place followed by William Byron while Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez ended up in the top five.
Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace rallied from their on-track incident to finish sixth and seventh, respectively, while Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and rookie Carson Hocevar ended up in the top 10.
Notably, Joey Logano ended up 11th, Ty Gibbs settled in 13th ahead of teammate Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell finished 17th, Kyle Larson came home in 21st and Jimmie Johnson finished 29th in his second Cup start of the 2024 season. In addition, Denny Hamlin settled in 30th while Ross Chastain, who was unable to limp his damaged car to the finish line, ended up 32nd with a DNF.
There were 23 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 16 cautions for 72 laps. In total, 31 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.
Following the ninth event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 18 points over Martin Truex Jr., 29 over Denny Hamlin, 33 over Chase Elliott and 39 over William Byron.
Results.
1. Chase Elliott, 39 laps led
2. Brad Keselowski
3. William Byron
4. Tyler Reddick, 37 laps led
5. Daniel Suarez
6. Chase Briscoe
7. Bubba Wallace, five laps led
8. Austin Dillon
9. Kyle Busch
10. Carson Hocevar
11. Joey Logano, 14 laps led
12. Ryan Preece
13. Ty Gibbs, five laps led
14. Martin Truex Jr.
15. Chris Buescher
16. Ty Dillon
17. Christopher Bell, one lap led
18. Noah Gragson
19. Erik Jones
20. Daniel Hemric
21. Kyle Larson, 77 laps led, Stage 1 winner
22. Corey LaJoie
23. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
24. Justin Haley
25. Austin Cindric
26. Zane Smith
27. Kaz Grala
28. Harrison Burton, seven laps led
29. Jimmie Johnson
30. Denny Hamlin, 37 laps led
31. Todd Gilliland, three laps led
32. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident, 33 laps led, Stage 2 winner
33. Ryan Blaney, eight laps led, 17 laps led
34. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident
35. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident
36. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident
37. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident
38. Austin Hill – OUT, Steering, one lap led
Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 21, and air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
Chase Elliott celebrates with his Hendrick Motorsports teammates in Victory Lane after winning Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Photo credit: Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott snaps a 42-race winless streak with a double overtime win in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race.
FORT WORTH, Texas (April 14, 2024) – The wait is finally over for Chase Elliott.
Elliott needed double overtime to finally snap a 42-race winless streak with a popular victory in Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The 2020 Cup Series champion from Hendrick Motorsports thwarted the challenges of Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain in the second green/white checkered attempt for his first win since Talladega on Oct. 2, 2022. It was his first Cup Series victory in 14 starts at Texas Motor Speedway and 19th of his career.
In celebration of winning in the orange Hooters-sponsored No. 9 Chevrolet, Elliott performed a “Polish Victory Lap” on the frontstretch in tribute to the late 1992 Cup champion Alan Kulwicki.
“Oh, man, couldn’t feel any better. First off, thanks to everybody that came out today. You guys are unbelievable,” Elliott said to the crowd. “Hooters has been a partner of ours for a number of years now. It’s been a dream of mine to pay respect to the late Alan Kulwicki. Driving this car to a victory and do a Polish victory lap, just really crazy how things came full circle there in that moment. It was pretty emotional for me. He beat dad (Bill Elliott) back in the day. Here we are sharing his sponsor and having an opportunity to win today.
“So just, man, couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and kind of the path that hasn’t always been fun, but certainly have enjoyed working with our guys. We’ve been working really hard and really well together. Like I said, hasn’t always been fun, but we’ve enjoyed the fight together.”
The stage was set for overtime following a restart with two laps remaining in the scheduled 267-lap race. Elliott had the lead on that opening restart lap, but Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing had closed to his rear bumper in Turn 4. Hamlin then got loose, spun and hit the wall to send the race into overtime with the top four being Elliott, Chastain, RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski and Elliott’s teammate William Byron.
“I haven’t seen a replay of Denny and us,” said Elliott, who posted his third consecutive top-five finish on the season. “I didn’t feel like I did anything super crazy there any more than anybody’s ever done to me. Just had to run forward. I want to look at it. I didn’t feel like I did anything to crash him. I think just the circumstances. But nonetheless, apologies to him if so.”
The two-lap, overtime shootout was short-lived as Harrison Burton and Kaz Grala made contact on the first lap to bring out the caution.
In the second overtime, Elliott had Chastain on his outside again on the restart and they battled evenly through Turns 1 and 2. Chastain got a run on the backstretch that Elliott snuffed with a neat side-drafting move and eventually cleared him exiting Turn 4.
With Elliott out in front on the final lap, Byron got a run on Chastain on the backstretch and contact sent the Trackhouse Racing driver into the wall to bring out a track record-tying 16th caution. Chastain would finish 32nd.
The flag also allowed Elliott to coast to the victory under yellow since he already was past the start/finish line for the final lap. He led three times for 39 laps in a race that was extended to 276 laps.
“I just had a big run,” Byron said of the incident with Chastain. “Ross and I race really well, and I didn’t want to wreck him there, but he blocked me late, which is understood. It’s racing at the end, but I was already there and unfortunately, we made enough contact to where it got him squirrely and it happened. So, I hate that that happened, but it’s the last lap and I had the run, so I am going to just take the run.”
The incident allowed Keselowski to slip by and secure a season-best finish of second while Byron settled for third. Rounding out the top five were 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick in fourth and Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez in fifth.
The balance of Texas Motor Speedway’s 2024 major event season also includes Fuel Fest (April 20), the Goodguys Rod & Custom/American Flat Track/Pate Swap Meet tripleheader weekend (April 25-28), C-10 Nationals (May 10-12), LS Fest (May 18), Bandas y Trocas (May 25), Solar Car Challenge (July 11-17), SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff No. 2 (Sept. 14), Goodguys Rod & Custom (Sept. 27-29), American Sprint Car Series (Oct. 4-5), the High Limit Sprint Car Series inaugural season finale (Oct. 11-12) and the Gordy’s Hwy 30 Fest Texas (Oct. 17-20).
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STEWART-HAAS RACING AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 Date: April 14, 2024 Event: AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (Round 9 of 36) Series: NASCAR Cup Series Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval) Format: 267 laps, broken into three stages (80 laps/85 laps/102 laps) Note: Race extended nine laps past its scheduled 267-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish. Race Winner: Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 1 Winner: Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet) Stage 2 Winner: Ross Chastain of Trackhouse Racing (Chevrolet)
● Chase Briscoe (12th with 231 points, 105 out of first) ● Ryan Preece (24th with 137 points, 199 out of first) ● Josh Berry (27th with 130 points, 206 out of first) ● Noah Gragson (29th with 122 points, 214 out of first)
SHR Notes:
● Briscoe earned his fourth top-10 of the season and his third top-10 in four career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas. ● This was Briscoe’s best finish so far this year. His previous best was ninth, earned March 10 at Phoenix Raceway. ● This was Briscoe’s second straight top-10. He finished 10th last Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. ● This was Briscoe’s fourth straight top-15 at Texas and his third straight top-10 at the 1.5-mile oval. In his past four NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas, Briscoe has finished 15th, fifth, 10th and sixth. ● Briscoe finished fifth in Stage 1 to earn six bonus points and fifth in Stage 2 to earn six more bonus points. ● Preece earned his third top-15 of the season and his first top-15 in eight career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas. ● Preece’s 12th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Texas – 18th, earned in October 2020. ● This was Gragson’s third straight top-20. He finished 12th March 31 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and 20th last Sunday at Martinsville. ● Gragson’s 18th-place result bettered his previous best finish at Texas – 21st, earned in September 2022.
Race Notes:
● Chase Elliott won the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 to score his 19th career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Texas. ● There were 16 caution periods for a total of 72 laps. ● All but seven drivers finished on the lead lap. ● Kyle Larson remains the championship leader after Texas with an 18-point advantage over second-place Martin Truex Jr.
Sound Bites:
“Our car was really good. We were able to finish fifth in both stages and we’d done everything perfect up until the point of the spin. We were going to be the race leader. The 23 (Bubba Wallace) was on way older tires. We both went into turn one so hard and then the 21 (Harrison Burton) took us three-wide and we both just kind of wrecked. We got lucky at the end with the cautions. Our Rush Truck Centers Ford Mustang was really, really good today. Way better than sixth place. I feel like I keep saying the same thing, but man, it’s frustrating where we finish because we’re way better speed-wise. Overall, just a really solid day and a really solid points day. I feel like our win is right around the corner.” – Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“Ultimately, I wish the cautions would’ve worked out a little different. Once we had the 8 (Kyle Busch) and 22 (Joey Logano) cars behind us, it was a struggle to keep from being put three-wide. Having as old of tires as we did, I was just trying to protect my position. When I restarted on the outside that last time, it was just too much to handle and we dropped out of the top-10.” – Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“It felt like we had a good car. We were going to cycle fifth, sixth or seventh during that one round of green-flag pit stops and just got stuck a lap down with the caution that came out. That happened a couple of times, so we had to fight and come from the back a couple of times today with those scenarios. Overall, we had a top-10 run going all day and just didn’t come home with it.” – Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Overstock.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse
“We were going to run fine. We were almost in the top-10. I felt like the car was pretty good. Rodney (Childers, crew chief) made good calls there on the strategy to keep tires on it. The first time I felt like we got stacked on the bottom a little bit and when the 47 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) moved down, either he barely clipped me or just the air off his car was the problem. It was super close. Honestly, I think we made a little bit of contact and it just got me loose and out of control. The second time I was just out there riding around and I was just out there loose and trying to hang on to it and wrecked again.” – Josh Berry, driver of the No. 4 Miner Ford Mustang Dark Horse
Next Up:
The next event on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the GEICO 500 on Sunday, April 21 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race begins at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Ty Dillon qualified 36th for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Dillon and the Sea Best Camaro ZL1 gained three positions on the initial start, before radioing that he was loose in the rear on lap 18. He climbed as high as fourth, as the field cycled for green-flag pit stops. Dillon pitted on lap 40 for four tires, fuel and a rear track-bar adjustment and sat 37th when the first caution of the day came out on lap 51. Dillon reported he was loose in turns three and four before pitting under caution for four tires, fuel and a front adjustment to improve handling. The No. 16 restarted in the 36th position and one lap down, before finishing the opening stage in 37th place.
The No. 16 pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments during the stage break and restarted 35th and one lap down. Dillon pitted for four tires, fuel and another front adjustment, before restarting from the 34th position when the second caution of the day came out on lap 100. The No. 16 took the Lucky Dog shortly after on lap 113 during the third caution, regaining the lead lap. Electing to stay out, the No. 16 gained six positions and restarted 27th. The fourth caution of the day came out on lap 120, and Dillon pitted once again for tires, fuel and a left-rear adjustment. The next caution came out on lap 120, and the No. 16 pitted for four tires and fuel, before going green for only one lap. Dillon stayed out before going on to finish stage two in 32nd.
Dillon started the final stage from 16th and stayed out during the seventh caution on lap 172. The No. 16 pitted on lap 181 for four tires and fuel during the next caution, restarting 29th. As the field began to make green flag-pit stops, the No. 16 climbed as high as 11th before the ninth caution hit on lap 227, allowing the No. 16 to pit for four tires, fuel and rear adjustments. Dillon went on to restart 15th with 33 laps to go. The 10th caution of the day came out on lap 253, as the No. 16 elected to stay out for track position, restarting 16th before the 11th caution on lap 259. It took the field two attempts at overtime before Dillon went on to earn a 16th-place finish.
“We battled through most of the day in the Sea Best Camaro ZL1. We weren’t where we wanted to be most of the day, but thankfully Travis Mack made a few good calls to help us gain track position and finish strong there at the end. This team never gave up and I can’t wait to get back in the car with Kaulig Racing.” – Ty Dillon
DANIEL HEMRIC No. 31 South Point Camaro ZL1
Daniel Hemric qualified 38th for the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Hemric’s No. 31 South Point Camaro ZL1 handled tight, as he navigated through dirty air in stage one. He made it as high as fifth place as green-flag pit stops began. The first caution of the day came out on lap 51, as Hemric sat sixth. He pitted under caution for a major adjustment to help free up the car. He restarted 14th on lap 55 and went on to finish the opening stage in 15th.
Hemric radioed that the No. 31 handled better, but was still tight in traffic. He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment during the stage break, before starting the second stage in 18th. The next caution came out on lap 101, as Hemric sat 21st. He pitted under caution for tires and fuel before restarting 23rd. The next caution came out on lap 114, and crew chief, Trent Owens, made the call to pit again for tires, as some were on a fuel-only strategy. The field went back to green for only two laps before another caution came out. Hemric stayed out and restarted 25th with 40 laps remaining in stage two. Another caution fell on lap 137, and Hemric pitted for qualifying tires and a major adjustment to help the front-handling of the No. 31 Chevy. The field went back to green for only one lap, as the next caution came out on lap 143. Hemric stayed out once again and restarted 31st on lap 149. He went on to finish the second stage in 31st.
During the second stage break, Hemric pitted for four tires and fuel before starting the final stage in 29th. A caution came out just after the restart, before going back to green with 90 laps remaining. Hemric sat 26th, as yet another caution came out with 86 laps to go. He stayed out and restarted 26th with 83 laps to go. After a long, green-flag run, the next caution came out on lap 228, as Hemric sat 10th. He pitted for four tires, fuel and adjustments for the No. 31 South Point Chevy. He restarted 16th on lap 235. The next caution came out on lap 254. Hemric radioed that the No. 31 Chevy took off better but still struggled in dirty air. He made his final pit stop of the day under caution for right-side tires and fuel before restarting 21st with eight laps remaining. The next caution came out on the restart, as Hemric narrowly avoided a wreck in front of him. He restarted 18th with two laps to go before another caution came out on the restart. Hemric restarted 20th in the first overtime attempt, but another wreck forced a second overtime. Hemric went on to finish 20th.
“Thanks to Michael Gaughan, everyone at South Point, and all of our supporters at Kaulig Racing for sticking with us. It’s not been thrilling or exciting the last few weeks, but at the end of the day we’ve managed a couple times this year to finish better than we raced. That’s what we did here today. I’m proud of Trent [Owens] for making the call to take two tires there and getting some track position. I need to do a better job on restarts; we had a couple go our way there at the end, especially that last one. I’m proud of the fight from this No. 31 team today.” – Daniel Hemric
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and has won back-to-back regular-season championships. Before becoming a full-time NCS team, Kaulig Racing made multiple starts in the 2021 NCS season and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team expanded to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and added a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. In 2024, the team will once again field two, full-time entries in the NCS and continue to field three, full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
NASCAR CUP SERIES TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY AUTOTRADER ECHOPARK AUTOMOTIVE 400 TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT APRIL 14, 2024
Elliott Caps Off Chevrolet’s Third Tripleheader Sweep of the 2024 NASCAR Season
Chase Elliott became Team Chevy’s fourth different winner of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, taking the manufacturer to its series-leading sixth victory in nine points-paying races.
The victory marked Elliott’s first NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, and the Team Chevy driver’s 19th all-time victory in 295 starts in NASCAR’s premier series.
The victory is Chevrolet’s series-leading 18th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Texas Motor Speedway, with Elliott extending the manufacturer’s NCS win streak to four-straight at the 1.5-mile Texas oval.
Elliott led Chevrolet to a season-high six top-10 finishers in the NASCAR Cup Series’ ninth points-paying race of the season – earned by drivers from four different Chevrolet organizations.
Elliott’s victory capped off a weekend sweep for Chevrolet at Texas Motor Speedway, with Team Chevy’s Kyle Busch earning the victory in Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race and Sam Mayer claiming the victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.
Chevrolet’s trio of victories at Texas Motor Speedway marks the manufacturer’s third tripleheader weekend sweep of the 2024 NASCAR season – extending its record as the only manufacturer to accomplish the feat thus far this season.
With 24 races complete across NASCAR’s three national series this season, Chevrolet has a winning percentage of 66.7% with 16 victories (NASCAR Cup Series – six wins; NASCAR Xfinity Series – four wins; NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series – six wins).
The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season continues at Talladega Superspeedway with the GEICO 500 on Sunday, April 21, at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on FOX, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL TOP-10: POS. DRIVER 1st Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hooters Camaro ZL1 3rd William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1 5th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Kubota Camaro ZL1 8th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Camaro ZL1 9th Kyle Busch, No. 8 Zone Camaro ZL1 10th Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Premier Security Camaro ZL1
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE QUOTES:
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 HOOTERS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 1st
Chase Elliott, the 42-race drought is over. You did everything just right. How does it feel?
“Oh, man, couldn’t feel any better. First off, thanks to everybody that came out today. You guys are unbelievable.
Hooters has been a partner of ours for a number of years now. It’s been a dream of mine to pay respect to the late Alan Kulwicki. Driving this car to a victory and do a Polish victory lap – just really crazy how things came full circle there in that moment. It was pretty emotional for me. He beat dad back in the day. Here we are sharing his sponsor and having an opportunity to win today.
Man, couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and kind of the path that hasn’t always been fun, but certainly have enjoyed working with our guys. We’ve been working really hard and really well together. Like I said, hasn’t always been fun, but we’ve enjoyed the fight together.”
You mentioned you have been fighting together. Today it was a fight on the racetrack. That race looked like it was crazy to drive. How intense was it on the track?
“It was just crazy. This place is so sketchy. I haven’t seen a replay of Denny (Hamlin) and us. I didn’t feel like I did anything super crazy there any more than anybody’s ever done to me. Just had to run forward. I want to look at it. I didn’t feel like I did anything to crash him. I think just the circumstances. But nonetheless, apologies to him, if so.
Couldn’t be more proud of our team. Thanks to our partners at NAPA, Chevrolet. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Had a big week last week. Boss, thank you for sticking with me. Really, really proud of this. Appreciate all the folks back home that have stuck with me and helped us get back on track.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd
TELL US ABOUT THE CLOSING LAPS OF THAT AND WHAT HAPPENED ON THE BACKSTRETCH WITH YOU AND CHASTAIN.
“I just had a big run. Ross (Chastain) and I race really well, and I didn’t want to wreck him there, but he blocked me late, which is understood. It’s racing at the end, but I was already there and unfortunately, we made enough contact to where it got him squirrelly and it happened. So, I hate that that happened, but it’s the last lap and I had the run so I am going to just take the run. I didn’t expect it, but I don’t want to do that to a fellow Chevy guy, and we always race really well.
Happy for Chase (Elliott) and those guys. They did a great job; executed really well and had a good car. Our No. 24 Liberty University Chevy, we struggled all day and had to fight tooth and nail all day just to keep our track position. We just had a few restarts go our way at the end.”
DANIEL SUAREZ, NO. 99 KUBOTA CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 5th
LOT OF OVERTIME RESTARTS AND YOU HAD TO FIGHT YOUR WAY TO GET UP THERE. WHAT WAS THIS RACE LIKE FOR YOU?
“It was tricky. I thought we were going to be pretty strong, and we were pretty good in the first run. Then in the first green-flag cycle, I don’t know what happened to the car because we were super loose. And then after that, we started making adjustments and we got the car better. We started making progress and we got a penalty, and we went to the back again. We started making progress and we had another bad pit stop. It was just not a very clean day at all. It was a good result at the end of the day because the strategy worked out good, and we got a couple of good restarts. But we have some work to do. We have to continue to in order to move forward.”
AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 BASS PRO SHOPS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 8th
“Just happy for the No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevy team. That was a big finish for us, and I am proud of the fight that our guys showed. To come home with eighth is big because we had struggled with the handling of the car. We made some good calls to get us some track position, and we had some good restarts at the end to get us a good finish. Man, after this year, this feels like a win and hopefully we can build off of this.”
DANIEL HEMRIC, NO. 31 SOUTH POINT HOTEL AND CASINO CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 17th
“Thanks to Michael Gaughan, everyone at South Point, and all of our supporters at Kaulig Racing for sticking with us. It’s not been thrilling or exciting the last few weeks, but at the end of the day we’ve managed a couple times this year to finish better than we raced. That’s what we did here today. I’m proud of Trent [Owens] for making the call to take two tires there and getting some track position. I need to do a better job on restarts; we had a couple go our way there at the end, especially that last one. I’m proud of the fight from this No. 31 team today.”
ALEX BOWMAN, NO. 48 ALLY CAMARO ZL1
Sidelined by damage sustained in an accident in Stage Two
Finished: 37th
Could you tell what happened?
“Really what started it was what happened on pit road and getting buried back there. We should have been up in the top-10. But yeah, we were just racing those guys really hard. I was in a really bad spot to have a guy crash and have to climb into the brake pedal. The No. 22 (Joey Logano) saw it before I did, just because of how we were all stacked up. I had to climb into the brake pedal a little bit harder than I wanted to, and it just spun out as soon as I did.
Definitely a bummer. We had a really fast No. 48 Ally Camaro there in the beginning of the first stage. We were going through the field pretty well. We just had that deal on pit road that put us in the back, and then that happened.”
Are you feeling OK?
“Yeah, it was pretty minor, damage-wise. Just how we got hit, there was no good way to fix it.”
AUSTIN HILL, NO. 33 UNITED RENTALS CAMARO ZL1
Sidelined by a mechanical issue in Stage Two.
Finished: 38th
“Really hate our race ended early today at Texas Motor Speedway. Our United Rentals Chevrolet was pretty solid and track position and clean air were so important. The strategy that Keith (Rodden, crew chief) called should have worked out in our favor with the amount of cautions that flew once we went to the garage. The No. 33 team tried to fix the mechanical issue, but unfortunately, there was something wrong in the steering. The most important thing was not to wreck the car before our next race together. Driving the Cup car is so different compared to the Xfinity car though, so I was learning on the fly. I would have loved to finish the race and see where we could have ended up. Overall, just proud of this Richard Childress Racing crew and we will come back again soon. Appreciate United Rentals and RCR for the opportunity to run this race.”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway Autotrader EchoPark 400 | Sunday, April 14, 2024
UNOFFICIAL FORD FINISHING RESULTS 2nd – Brad Keselowski 6th – Chase Briscoe 11th – Joey Logano 12th – Ryan Preece 15th – Chris Buescher 18th – Noah Gragson 24th – Justin Haley 25th – Austin Cindric 27th – Kaz Grala 28th – Harrison Burton 31st – Todd Gilliland 33rd – Ryan Blaney 35th – Michael McDowell 36th – Josh Berry
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 BuildSubmarines.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 2nd)
“I am not sure we finished third. I gotta see the replay from NASCAR on that first before I am going to concede that. We didn’t have a ton of speed. Honestly, I am more frustrated than anything because I feel like we have a great team and we don’t have the speed to go with it. We are doing all we can do to overcome that. The driver in me is frustrated because I feel like these are races I am good enough to win but don’t have the speed enough to do it. The owner in me is mad as hell because it is my fault for not making the cars faster. I am still proud of the team that we have with the pit stops and strategy and execution to put ourselves in position to get a finish we probably didn’t deserve but earned with some never-give-up spirit. It was a good job of executing with what we had. It is frustrating. You can still get good finishes by running good smart days, executing on pit road, and having great strategy and I am proud of our team for doing that today.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 6th)
“That was frustrating. Our Mustang was really good. Obviously, we were able to finish fifth in both stages, and we had done everything perfectly up until the point of the wreck. We were going to be the leader. The 23 was on way older tires, and I knew if I was beside him going into three, I was going to come out the leader. We both ran into one so hard and let the 21 put us three wide. He was probably more worried about me, and honestly, it screwed both of us because we both wrecked. We kind of got lucky at the end when we went back to the back and caught a really lucky caution. Our Rush Truck Centers Ford was really good today. Way better than sixth place. I feel like I keep saying it is frustrating because we are way better than that speed wise but overall it was a really solid day and really solid points day. I feel like our win is right around the corner. We just have to clean up a little bit of stuff.”
IF THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN, DO YOU THINK YOU HAD A RACE-WINNING CAR? “It is hard to say because of that caution in the middle of that green flag cycle that changed a lot. We could have pitted earlier. Certainly, we would have been the leader there for a while up until the green flag pit stops, and then who knows what you do then. There are just so many variables with these races. We passed a lot of cars. I feel like we passed more than anybody else, so that is a good thing.”
RYAN PREECE, No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Finished 12th)
“I wish the cautions had worked out differently. Once we had the 8 and 22 behind us, it was a struggle not to keep getting put three-wide. Having as old tires as we did, it was trying to protect all you can. When I restarted on the outside that time, it was too much. We just needed a little bit more grip, and track position would have helped.”
JOSH BERRY, No. 4 Miner Docks Doors And Moore Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Accident on Lap 136)
“The first time I felt like we got stacked on the bottom a little bit and when the 47 moved down, either he barely clipped me or just the air off his car. It was super close. Honestly I think we made a little bit of contact and it just got me loose and out of control. The second time I was just out there riding around and I was just out there loose and trying to hang on to it and wrecked again.”
ANYTHING YOU WERE ABLE TO TAKE FROM THE FIRST 100 LAPS? “We were going to run fine. We were almost in the top 10. I felt like the car was pretty good. Rodney made good calls there on the strategy to keep tires on it and all that but we wrecked.”
ANYTHING YOU CAN COMPARE THIS TO? IT LOOKED SO TREACHEROUS: “No, I mean the track is just so slick outside the groove. The track is going to continue to get better like we saw the first stage we couldn’t move off the bottom and then as it started to take rubber it is definitely getting better. It is just so far behind when we start. The cars are edgy here anyway. It is a super hard tire and we are kinda edgy all the time anyway in the NextGen and this place just emphasizes that.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Love’s/Fleedguard Ford Mustang Dark Horse (Accident on Lap 143)
WHAT HAPPENED? “I just got in those bumps, and the car got loose and took off. Track position was really important today, and I had the opportunity to take the lead and take control of the race. I just didn’t make it stick. It’s unfortunate, but we had a really fast car today.”
YOUR TEAM WAS ARGUING LIKE YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN BROUGHT BACK TO PIT ROAD. DID YOU HEAR THAT? “I was trying to get back to Pit Road. I was trying to straighten or backup or do whatever I could, and we wanted to be able to work on it and see if we could fix it. At the end of it, they told me to get out. I am not sure we could have fixed it, but it is all part of it.
“It is super disappointing but at the same time you have to go for it. We had a car fast enough to run up front, and you have to take the chance. It didn’t stick. I am bummed out, but I would be bummed out if I didn’t try.”
A COUPLE OF GUYS HAVE WRECKED ON THE BUMPS. ARE THE BUMPS GOOD FOR CHARACTER OR DOES SOMETHING NEED TO BE DONE? “That is a lot of character. I am not mad at the track. It is my fault that I spun, not the tracks fault. But for our cars as low as we run them, we should probably think about grinding that a little bit.”
23XI RACING DELIVER ANOTHER DOUBLE TOP-10 Tyler Reddick scores fourth straight top-10, while Bubba Wallace is back into the top-10 in points
FORT WORTH (April 14, 2024) – For the second straight weekend, 23XI Racing led Toyota with two top-10 runs. This time it was Tyler Reddick who earned top Camry honors as he crossed the line in fourth – his fourth consecutive top-10 finish. Reddick, who led twice for 37 laps, was in control of the race before a rash of cautions jumbled up the field.
Bubba Wallace followed his top-five in Martinsville with a seventh-place finish. Wallace has now earned four consecutive top-15 finishes to move back inside the top-10 in the point standings.
Denny Hamlin continued his streak of leading in every race this season – as the Toyota driver led twice for 37 laps. Hamlin was battling for the lead on a late race restart when he was involved in an accident. The Virginia-native finished 30th.
Toyota Post-Race Recap NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) Texas Motor Speedway Race 9 of 36 – 400.5 miles, 267 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS 1st, Chase Elliott* 2nd, Brad Keselowski* 3rd, William Bryon* 4th, TYLER REDDICK 5th, Daniel Suarez* 7th, BUBBA WALLACE 13th, TY GIBBS 14th, MARTIN TRUEX, JR. 17th, CHRISTOPHER BELL 19th, ERIK JONES 29th, JIMMIE JOHNSON 30th, DENNY HAMLIN 34th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK *non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
TYLER REDDICK, No. 45 The Beast Unleashed Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 4th
Can you talk about that last run there?
“We had control of the race with our Beast Unleashed Camry, and we lost control of it. That is kind of the story of the end of the race for us.”
How tough was it out there?
“We had control of the restart that mattered, and we didn’t execute. Just kept focusing on the wrong things. All day long, I’d been really aggressively blocking the car behind going me into turn one, and it really hurt us going into the center of turn two. Just made bad adjustments at the wrong time, and we gave away the race.”
BUBBA WALLACE, No. 23 Columbia Sportswear Company Toyota Camry XSE, 23XI Racing
Finishing Position: 7th
Can you talk about your day?
“I’m wore the hell out – mentally. Just from clean air to dirty air with the balance – it was just such a big deficit between the two, just never had the confidence to make passes and that is what you have that to make moves at the Cup level. We just lacked that – it was just so mentally tough all day. Appreciate the team, letting me rant a little bit, getting me back in the game and to come away with a top-10, that’s good. It takes those grinding moments. It’s just having that mindset. Appreciate everyone on this 23 team. The Columbia Toyota was not good, but we got a top-10.”
ERIK JONES, No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 19th
Can you talk about your race?
“Not a lot of good stuff and didn’t work out well in the end there either. Good strategy call there to get some points in stage two with our Dollar Tree Camry, but the cautions didn’t fall there in the end like we needed. We just have to get better.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON, No. 84 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 29th
Can you talk about your first mile-and-a-half aboard a Camry?
“Certainly, learned a lot today with our AdventHealth Camry. It’s the most laps I’ve had in this new car. Just trying to understand how you make speed, how you adjust the car, really going through a whole weekend of practice, into qualifying and adjustments and changing over for the race. I now have an idea of what to do. I didn’t run enough in Charlotte, so I feel like I learned a lot this weekend to help myself. We have some work to do. We are not where we need to be as a company, but we will keep working hard and get there.”
Can you walk us through that battle with Chase Elliott there?
“Yeah, just got loose in turn three. It’s something that I had been fighting all day. When you have to push it most – on a great-white checkered – I knew that the likely scenario. That was that I wasn’t going to make it out of the corner with how much speed that I was carrying. Trying to go for the win with our Yahoo Camry – got loose and spun out.”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 42 Romco Equipment Co. Toyota Camry XSE, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB
Finishing Position: 34th
Can you talk about the two incidents on the track?
“Yeah, he (Christopher Bell) started spinning and I did the same thing. I hit the brakes pretty hard, and it spun, and I had nowhere to go. It’s part of it, I guess. We fixed the tow. I had a really fast Romco Equipment Toyota Camry XSE. On the second one, I drove on the outside of the 2 (Austin Cindric) and it just snapped. I guess it is part of this car. I guess I learned a lesson the hard way.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 65 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs more than 63,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 45 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, Toyota currently offers 26 electrified options.
INDIANAPOLIS (April 14, 2024) – NHRA’s most iconic race turns 70 in 2024.
The NHRA U.S. Nationals, the world’s biggest drag race, will celebrate its 70th anniversary this year, as The Big Go will put all the stars of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series on the sport’s biggest stage from Aug. 28-Sept. 2 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
The highly-anticipated 70th anniversary event will include a host of special events and celebrations to be announced in the coming weeks, with the 70th annual NHRA U.S. Nationals logo released on Friday.
Loaded with special events, a massive event payout and an illustrious history that spans seven decades, the NHRA U.S. Nationals will be an event that can’t be missed in 2024. Commemorating the 70th anniversary in 2024 will make for an even more spectacular weekend, with plenty of extraordinary events in store to close out the regular season in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.
The weekend is already loaded with amazing action, starting with qualifying under the lights with all the superstars in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle. The world’s biggest drag race also includes the final Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge race of the season and the Pep Boys NHRA Funny Car All-Star Callout, as well as the special Dodge Hemi Challenge and racing action in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™ and NHRA Holley EFI Factory X.
It’s the very best drag racing has to offer and all of it will be celebrated in 2024, including all the amazing history that’s taken place at The Big Go for 70 years.
Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Matt Hartford (Pro Stock), and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won the 2023 race, with Brown, Capps and Smith winning at Indy for the second straight year.
Brown now has five Indy wins across his Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle career, while Hartford picked up his first-ever win at the world’s biggest drag race. The race will again be broadcast on FOX and Fox Sports 1 and include extensive television coverage throughout the event.
The NHRA U.S. Nationals has been synonymous with some of the biggest moments in NHRA history. A win in Indy has helped carve out the legacies of the sport’s biggest legends and the NHRA U.S. Nationals has long been a proving ground in the sport.
From Don Garlits to Tony Schumacher, who has an incredible 10 wins at Indy, to Capps to Don Prudhomme to John Force to Greg Anderson and Erica Enders, NHRA’s biggest names have enjoyed special moments at Indy. Capps’ car last year featured a tribute to Prudhomme and with the legend watching from the starting line, Capps picked up one of the most meaningful wins in his career.
Force’s five Funny Car wins are the most in class history, while Greg Anderson’s seven Pro Stock victories at The Big Go leads the way among active drivers in the category. He’ll try to move a step closer to Bob Glidden’s nine Pro Stock wins at Indy in 2024.
To purchase tickets to the 70th annual Dodge Power Brokers NHRA U.S. Nationals, fans can visit www.NHRA.com/tickets. All children 12 and under will be admitted free in the general admission area with a paid adult. For more information about NHRA, including the full 2024 schedule, visit www.NHRA.com.
About Mission Foods
MISSION®, owned by GRUMA, S.A.B. de C.V., is the world’s leading brand for tortillas and wraps. MISSION® is also globally renowned for flatbreads, dips, salsas and Mexican food products. With presence in over 112 countries, MISSION® products are suited to the lifestyles and the local tastes of each country. With innovation and customer needs in mind, MISSION® focuses on the highest quality, authentic flavors, and providing healthy options that families and friends can enjoy together. For more information, please visit https://www.missionfoods.com/
About NHRA
Headquartered in San Dimas, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 20 national events featuring the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series and NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, as well as the Congruity NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by LearnEV+, NHRA Flexjet Factory Stock Showdown™, NHRA Holley EFI Factory X and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage NHRA Mountain Motor Pro Stock at select national events. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and NHRA Street Legal™. NHRA also offers the NHRA Jr. Street® program for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League® for youth ages 5 to 17. With 110 Member Tracks, NHRA allows racers to compete at a variety of locations nationally and internationally. NHRA’s Youth and Education Services® (YES) Program reaches over 30,000 students annually to ignite their interest in automotive and racing related careers. NHRA’s streaming service, NHRA.tv®, allows fans to view all NHRA national events as well as exclusive features of the sport. In addition, NHRA owns and operates three racing facilities: Gainesville Raceway in Florida; Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park; and In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Southern California. For more information, log on to www.NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Alsco CFO Andrew Steiner (second from right) and VP of Sales & Marketing Benjamin Fox (far right) present a $100,000 check to Speedway Children's Charities represented by (L-R) TMS Executive Vice President & General Manager Mark Faber, SCC-Texas Executive Director Marissa Chaney, SCC President Marcus Smith, and SCC National Managing Director Jessica Fickenscher. Photo credit: Getty Images for Texas Motor Speedway.
FORT WORTH, Texas (APRIL 14, 2024) – Alsco, a fifth-generation, family owned and operated uniform and linen laundry service, presented Speedway Children’s Charities with a $100,000 check prior to Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Alsco Chief Financial Officer Andrew Steiner and Vice Present of Sales & Marketing Benjamin Fox presented the check in Victory Lane to Speedway Children’s Charities President Marcus Smith as well as Speedway Children’s Charities National Managing Director Jessica Fickenscher and SCC-Texas Chapter Executive Director Marissa Chaney on behalf of all 11 chapters.
The donation will be shared across all chapters.
“We value our partnership with Speedway Motorsports and Sonic Automotive,” Steiner said. “This $100,000 contribution from Alsco Uniforms to Speedway Children’s Charities will positively impact children in need nationwide.”
SCC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides funding for hundreds of non-profit organizations throughout the nation that meet the direct needs of children. The organization’s vision is that every child has the same opportunities no matter what obstacles they are facing.
“We are extremely appreciative of the generosity of Alsco Uniforms, and this is another example of what a tremendous partner they are for our company,” Speedway Motorsports Chief Experience Officer Jessica Fickenscher said. “This donation will make an impact for a number of non-profit organizations through our Speedway Children’s Charities chapters across the country.”
About Alsco Uniforms: Alsco Uniforms is a fifth-generation family-owned and operated uniform and linen laundry service company founded in 1889. We are recognized by the prestigious Hohenstein Institute for having invented the uniform and linen rental industry. Celebrating 135 years of business, Alsco Uniforms provides laundry services and other products that keep businesses clean and safe for customers across all market segments, including healthcare, automotive, industrial and hospitality.
About Speedway Children’s Charities: SCC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and provides funding for hundreds of non-profit organizations throughout the nation that meet the direct needs of children. Our vision is that every child has the same opportunities no matter what obstacle they are facing.
Speedway Children’s Charities is more than just a fundraiser. Our local chapters are partners in change, working with a broad range of people and organizations to identify and resolve pressing issues dealing with children in their communities.
Because of the unique conditions in every community, the issues Speedway Children’s Charities address are determined locally. Challenges ranging from learning disabilities, broken homes, and childhood cancer are on the agenda for the local chapters of SCC and the numerous non-profit organizations they support.
Since 1982, Speedway Children’s Charities distributed more than $65 million, and ensuring that many children in need are given the tools to build a better, brighter and healthy future.
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