LEBANON, Tenn. (KeynoteUSA) — Joey Logano won the rain-delayed race at Nashville Superspeedway in a NASCAR Cup Series-record fifth overtime Sunday night, running out of fuel enough to hold off a chasing pack in the finish line.
Logano held off a charge from Tyler Reddick, then passed Zane Smith, Reddick, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher to the finish line in the race that started nearly six hours earlier and lasted 31 laps longer than the scheduled 300.
The fuel light on Logano’s Ford came on entering Turn 3, and Logano, who ran the final 110 laps without stopping on the 1.33-mile concrete oval, said he stumbled as he crossed the line.
“It’s certainly a much-needed victory,” Logano said, smiling and relieved, of his first victory this year and the 33rd of his career.
If the ending wasn’t exciting enough, the chaos continued as Logano screamed and celebrated with enough gasoline to burn the track. Chase Briscoe ran out of gas. Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. made contact, causing Truex to crash into the wall. Chase Elliott ran out of Turn 4 and into the grass.
Smith wasn’t happy with finishing second, although he said he wouldn’t do anything differently after the rookie’s best Cup finish.
“I felt like I chose the right lane and it’s amazing how different these cars drive with cleaner air,” Smith said. “I’m proud of our strategy there.
Reddick was upset with himself on pit road, convinced he had let his second win of the year slip through his fingers.
“All the good cars ran out of fuel and we were in position to move to 22nd,” Reddick said of Logano. “He hadn’t been good all day and I didn’t get the job done.”
Denny Hamlin, who had started from the pole and had taken the lead with seven laps remaining in regulation, was two laps away from winning when Austin Cindric’s accident caused a chaotic finish. Hamlin finished 12th after pitting in overtime to avoid running out of fuel.
“It certainly sucks,” Hamlin said,
A thunderstorm forced NASCAR to stop the race at 137 laps for 1 hour and 21 minutes, causing the traction that had been built up to be lost. As a result, several cars broke loose and crashed into the wall or slid into the grass.
That helped set up a thrilling race after Christopher Bell won the first two stages before crashing.
Hamlin took the lead entering Turn 1 and Chastain headed to the apron to try to hold him off and wobbled. That was enough for Hamlin to pass Chastain’s Chevrolet in what turned out to be just the first lead change late in a race that seemed like it would never end with repeated crashes on restarts.
“I had a chance to win,” said Chastain, who led 45 laps as she sought her first victory since the 2023 season finale in Phoenix.
Cindric set up the retake overtime when he made contact with Noah Gragson with two laps to go. On the restart, points leader Kyle Larson took the apron and slid the right corner of his Chevrolet sending Chastain into the wall in Turn 1 for the 12th caution.
Larson then ran out of gas on another restart, causing Kyle Busch to crash into him. That forced Hamlin to pit for more fuel, scrambling through the field for another attempt to finish.
Bell, who won last week at New Hampshire, won the first two stages before hitting the wall on lap 228.
“I just got into a bad situation and lost my cool,” Bell said. “I got back into traffic with all those yellow flags. I had a bad restart.”
Drivers tried to get as many laps in as possible before a storm approached on a humid and steamy Tennessee afternoon.
Lightning brought out the red flag and the race was stopped after 137 laps, with clouds in Turn 4 so thick it looked like a funnel was forming before a heavy rain. The storm passed quickly and the dryers arrived at the track about 25 minutes after the race was stopped.
Just half an hour after the race stopped, a rainbow could be seen. NASCAR sent drivers back to their cars about 70 minutes after the red flag, and the stop lasted 81 minutes with 143 laps remaining.
When the cars came onto the track under yellow, NASCAR sent Cindric to the rear as a penalty for having a fan on the pit wall pointed at his car during the red flag, which was seen as possible cooling of the vehicle for an added advantage.
John Hunter Nemechek raced to his second Xfinity Series win of the year on Saturday, then made his first Cup start at this track on Sunday. The experience was of no use to him. Nemechek ran out of Turn 4 on lap 117, causing the second caution of the race.
The Chicago street race is on July 7th.
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