Joey Logano wins at Nashville in record 5th overtime

Published 6:15 pm Sunday, June 30, 2024

LEBANON, Tenn. — Joey Logano stretched his fuel enough to hold off a group of pursuers at the finish line Sunday night and win the Ally 400 in a NASCAR Cup Series record fifth overtime.

Logano held off a charge by Tyler Reddick, then beat Zane Smith, Reddick, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher to the line in a race that started nearly six hours earlier at Nashville Superspeedway and went 31 laps longer than the 300 that were scheduled.

“It’s a much-needed win for sure,” a smiling and relieved Logano said of his first victory this year and 33rd of his career.

It looked like Denny Hamlin had chased down Ross Chastain for his fourth Cup win this year with seven laps left. Hamlin led 70 laps and Austin Cindric’s crash set up the chaotic finish with Hamlin running out of gas and finishing 12th.

“It certainly stinks,” said Hamlin, who thought he was seconds from a victory.

A thunderstorm that forced NASCAR to halt the race for 1 hour, 21 minutes washed off the traction that had built up on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. As a result, several cars got 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 going high into Turn 1, and Chastain went to the apron trying to hold him off and wobbled. That was enough for Hamlin to pass Chastain’s Chevrolet in what turned out to be only the first late lead change of a race that seemed like it would never end with repeated crashes on restarts.

“I had a shot to win,” said Chastain, who led 45 laps while seeking his first win since the 2023 season finale at Phoenix.

Cindric set up the repeating overtimes when he made contact with Noah Gragson with two laps left. On the restart, points leader Kyle Larson caught the apron and slid with 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 go to the pits for more gas, scrambling the field for another try at a finish.

Bell, who won last week at New Hampshire, won the first two stages before hitting the wall on lap 228.

“Just put myself in a bad spot and lost my cool,” Bell said. “Got back in traffic with all those yellow flags. Had a bad restart.”

Drivers tried to run as many laps as possible before an incoming thunderstorm on a steamy, humid Tennessee afternoon.

Lightning brought out the red flag stopping the race after 137 laps with clouds in Turn 4 so heavy that it looked like a funnel was trying to form before heavy rain. The storm moved through quickly and dryers hit the track about 25 minutes after racing stopped.

Barely a half-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 stoppage lasted 81 minutes with 143 laps remaining.

As cars hit the track under yellow, NASCAR sent Cindric to the rear as a penalty for his crew having a fan on the pit wall pointed at his car during the red flag that was ruled as possibly cooling the vehicle for an extra edge.

Not his day

John Hunter Nemechek won his second Xfinity Series race this year Saturday, then made his first Cup start at this track Sunday. The experience didn’t carry over. Nemechek spun into the grass off Turn 4 of lap 117 to bring out the second caution of the race.

Up next: The Chicago street race on July 7.

Formula One

SPIELBERG, Austria — George Russell clinched Mercedes’ first win of the season at Formula 1’s Austrian GP after taking advantage of a late clash between McLaren driver Lando Norris and championship leader Max Verstappen in a Red Bull on Sunday.

It was Russell’s second F1 win.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was second, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.

Norris was trying to take the lead from Verstappen with just seven laps remaining when the pair came together. The incident left Norris’ car unable to continue, and Verstappen was given a 10-second time penalty.

Verstappen and Norris had been caught up in a fight for top spot, with the British driver accusing his rival of “dangerous” driving.

On Lap 64, Norris crashed into Verstappen’s Red Bull as he attempted a move for the lead with both cars suffering significant damage. After Norris had gone to the outside, Verstappen’s maneuver saw the front right of the McLaren collide with the rear left of the Red Bull. Verstappen suffered a left-rear puncture and one of Norris’ tires was also shredded.

Verstappen and Norris limped back to the pits with the former able to continue after stopping for repairs. However, Norris was forced to retire.

The flashpoint provided Russell, who was sitting in third place, 15 seconds back, to assume the lead. And the British driver was able to take advantage to win for the first time since the Brazilian GP in November 2022.

Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, with Verstappen fifth.

Verstappen had dominated the weekend, following up his victory in the sprint race with another dominant performance in qualifying to take pole position.

A processional race dramatically came alive with 20 laps remaining following a botched pit-stop for Verstappen.

Red Bull was slow to bolt on the left-rear tire to allow Norris to take 4.5 seconds out of his seven-second lead.

On Lap 55, Norris made his bid for the lead at Turn 3 but Verstappen put his Red Bull on the apex to stay ahead.

“He reacted to my move and you are not allowed to do that,” Norris protested over the radio.

Three laps later, Norris launched his McLaren down the inside of Verstappen at the third bend but Verstappen swooped back ahead of the next turn.

“He cannot keep moving after I move,” Norris said. “It is just dangerous. We will have a big shunt.”

With eight laps to run, Norris tried again to take the lead. Verstappen ran off the road at the third corner in his defense and rejoined the asphalt with his lead still intact.

“He forced me off again,” Verstappen said. “He just divebombed me. That is not how you overtake.”

Russell wasn’t surprised when the pair clashed again.

“They (Verstappen and Norris) were going for it,” Russell said. “I knew it (the collision) was a possibility. You are always dreaming and you have got to be there to pick up the pieces.”

Verstappen was informed of his 10-second penalty and replied: “That is just ridiculous.”

Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg held off Red Bull’s Sergio Perez for sixth place with the other Haas of Kevin Magnussen in eighth. RB driver Daniel Ricciardo and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.

Verstappen has 237 points, ahead of second-place Norris with 156.

The British GP is the next race on July 7.