Lebanon, Tenn. – The Ally 400 ended up a five-overtime affair, and Joey Logano stretched the fuel in his No. 22 Ford to go to victory lane.
For several other drivers though, the extra restarts on Sunday (June 30) cost them good finishes and left their teams with damaged racecars.
Ross Chastain was one of the first drivers to suffer from overtime. On the first overtime attempt, as the field drove into turn 2, Chastain drove on the outside, chasing leader Denny Hamlin. Kyle Larson drove low, came high and Chastain wound up with a 33rd-place DNF.
“Yeah, I was with Denny on the front and I was just going to try and get into him to wash him off the bottom to give myself some clean air cause I knew being stuck in the second row, whether inside or outside, that we weren’t going to have a shot,” Larson told reporters post-race. “And I thought my opportunity to give myself a chance to win was to get clean air on the nose. And yeah I just ran in, got really tight and drove into Ross. So, hate that for sure.
During that caution, Kyle Busch noticeably slowed down yet kept his fourth-place position on track, causing confusion for even the NBC broadcasters.
According to NASCAR, it was deemed a judgment call. NASCAR officials decided Busch slowed his No. 8 Chevrolet to avoid contributing to the incident, thereby reducing the potential for more drivers at risk for injury and less wrecked racecars. If Busch maintained pace, NASCAR felt he could’ve risked damage to his racecar plus any involvement in the caution thereby put people at risk of injury. So because he did everything in his power to avoid contributing to the caution, he was allowed to retain his position.
Unfortunately, Busch’s good fortune was later wiped away. On the lap 321 restart, Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet ran out of fuel. Larson’s bid for victory was over and Busch’s good run ended the same as the previous two races: with a DNF.
“[…] And then the next one [the third one], we ran out of fuel and caused that wreck,” Larson continued. “So, hate that for Kyle [Busch]. I had no warning. So we knew we were really close on fuel and it would be a stretch to make it. I had no low fuel pressure, alarm or anything on my dash so it was a bit surprising to me to get back on the throttle and it just never went. Couldn’t really get out of the way either cause we were still to the wall. Like it hadn’t gotten to the dogleg yet to get out of the way. I’m really really bummed for him cause he needs all the points.
Busch entered the day 45 points below the playoff cut line. However, his wreck combined with Logano’s win now has Rowdy 104 points behind that cut line.
When Busch wins, he celebrates with a bow. In the midst of a tough season, the two-time champion gave the fans his signature bow, though not because of a joyful moment.
Denny Hamlin arguably was the most snakebitten driver though. He led the field for 70 circuits, including laps 294-322, but his quest for his fourth trophy of the season ended when his No. 11 Toyota ran out of fuel. He pitted, but he never regained enough track position to recover, winding up 12th.
Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell combined to lead 201 of the 331 laps, yet JGR left with zero top 10s.
At what point are there too many overtime attempts then? According to Logano, there isn’t a limit.
“But gosh, I don’t know what you — I think you just keep doing it,” he said in his winner’s press conference “I don’t know. That’s the rule. You keep doing it.”
While the rule is set, and Logano left with the famed guitar trophy, for Chastain, Larson, Busch and other drivers, the five-overtime event didn’t leave them with the finishes they wanted or arguably deserved.
About the author
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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There were also good finished for some who didn’t deserve it.
They just kept running lap after lap after each caution. In a way I’m glad because hamlin didn’t win. But like you said, a lot up front didn’t deserve it. Hamlin is now 43 behind Larson. Larson’s spotter keeps reminding Kyle that Hamlin isn’t going to stop racing him dirty until Kyle breaks his back like Joey did. Wouldn’t bother me a bit.