LEBANON, Tenn. — Joey Logano received the rain-delayed race at Nashville Superspeedway in a NASCAR Cup Sequence-record fifth extra time Sunday night time, stretching his gas sufficient to carry off a gaggle of pursuers on the end line.
Logano held off a cost by Tyler Reddick, then beat Zane Smith, Reddick, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher to the road within the race that began practically six hours earlier and went 31 laps longer than the 300 that have been scheduled.
The gas gentle in Logano’s Ford got here on going into Flip 3, and Logano — who ran the final 110 laps with out stopping on the 1.33-mile concrete oval — mentioned it stumbled throughout the road.
“It’s a much-needed win for certain,” a smiling and relieved Logano mentioned of about his first victory this yr and thirty third of his profession.
If the end wasn’t thrilling sufficient, the mayhem continued as Logano yelled and celebrated with simply sufficient fuel left for a burnout. Chase Briscoe ran out of gas. Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. made contact, spinning Truex into the wall. Chase Elliott spun off Flip 4 and into the grass.
Smith wasn’t glad at ending second, although he mentioned he wouldn’t do something completely different after the rookie’s finest Cup end.
“I felt like I selected the correct lane, and it’s loopy how a lot completely different these vehicles drive with cleaner air,” Smith mentioned. “Simply pleased with our technique there.”
Reddick was upset with himself on pit street, satisfied he let his second victory of the yr slip via his fingers.
“All the great vehicles ran out of gas, and we have been in place to go the 22,” Reddick mentioned about Logano. “He hadn’t been good all day lengthy, and I didn’t get the job completed.”
Denny Hamlin, who began on the pole and took the lead with seven laps left in regulation, was two laps from profitable when Austin Cindric’s crash arrange the chaotic end. The Richmond-area native completed twelfth after pitting in extra time to keep away from operating out of gas.
“It definitely stinks,” Hamlin mentioned,
A thunderstorm that compelled NASCAR to halt the race at 137 laps for 1 hour, 21 minutes washed off the traction that had constructed up. In consequence, a number of vehicles acquired free and crashed into the wall or slid into the grass.
That helped arrange an exciting race after Christopher Bell received the primary two levels earlier than crashing.
Hamlin took the lead going excessive into Flip 1, and Chastain went to the apron making an attempt to carry him off and wobbled. That was sufficient for Hamlin to go Chastain’s Chevrolet in what turned out to be solely the primary late lead change of a race that appeared like it might by no means finish with repeated crashes on restarts.
“I had a shot to win,” mentioned Chastain, who led 45 laps whereas in search of his first win for the reason that 2023 season finale at Phoenix.
Cindric arrange the repeating overtimes when he made contact with Noah Gragson with two laps left. On the restart, factors chief Kyle Larson caught the apron and slid, with the correct nook of his Chevrolet sending Chastain into the wall in Flip 1 for the twelfth warning.
Larson then ran out of fuel on one other restart, inflicting Kyle Busch to crash into him. That compelled Hamlin to go to the pits for extra fuel, scrambling the sector for one more strive at a end.
Bell, who received the earlier week at New Hampshire, received the primary two levels earlier than hitting the wall on lap 228.
“Simply put myself in a nasty spot and misplaced my cool,” Bell mentioned. “Bought again in site visitors with all these yellow flags. Had a nasty restart.”
Drivers tried to run as many laps as doable earlier than an incoming thunderstorm on a steamy, humid Tennessee afternoon.
Lightning introduced out the purple flag, stopping the race after 137 laps with clouds in Flip 4 so heavy that it seemed like a funnel was making an attempt to kind earlier than heavy rain. The storm moved via rapidly, and dryers hit the monitor about 25 minutes after racing stopped.
Barely a half-hour after the race stopped, a rainbow may very well be seen. NASCAR despatched drivers again to their vehicles about 70 minutes after the purple flag, and the stoppage lasted 81 minutes, with 143 laps remaining.
As vehicles hit the monitor beneath yellow, NASCAR despatched Cindric to the rear as a penalty for his crew having a fan on the pit wall pointed at his automotive in the course of the purple flag. That was dominated as presumably cooling the automobile for an additional edge.
Not his day
John Hunter Nemechek raced to his second Xfinity Sequence victory of the yr Saturday, then made his first Cup begin at this monitor Sunday. The expertise didn’t carry over. Nemechek spun into the grass off Flip 4 of lap 117 to deliver out the second warning of the race.
Subsequent
The Chicago avenue race is at 4:30 p.m. July 7 on NBC. It’s known as the Grant Park 165.