Joey Logano and crew chief Paul Wolfe’s fuel strategy gamble paid off on Sunday (Oct. 20) as the No. 22 team won their way into the Championship 4 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Logano opted to stay out rather than pitting in stage 3, and despite a hard-charging Christopher Bell, Logano held on to claim his third win of the season.
Bell, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, John Hunter Nemechek and Chris Buescher rounded out the top 10.
Bell pulled away to the race lead shortly after the green flag, but it was Ryan Blaney who impressed early on, moving inside the top 30 within eight laps. Chase Elliott also carved his way through the pack early, moving up 10 positions from his spot on the grid through the first 25 laps.
Green flag pit stops started on lap 35, with Larson, Byron, Logano, Chastain and a host of their peers coming down pit road. Bell pitted one lap later on lap 36, as did Tyler Reddick, with an 8.6 second stop by Bell’s pit crew keeping the No. 20 out in front. Blaney pitted on lap 40, being the final driver to pit during the cycle.
On lap 64, the first yellow flag of the day was thrown for the No. 3 of Austin Dillon. Dillon’s Chevrolet went around with some help from Daniel Hemric, sending Dillon hard into the outside wall in turn 3 and ending his day.
Pit road was filled with a litany of strategies during the caution period, with Truex taking two tires to claim the race lead. Byron, Brad Keselowski and Buescher also took two tires.
Unfortunately for Erik Jones, an inadvertent three-tire stop took place, with Jones – who was set to be the lucky dog – losing a wheel as he came off of pit road.
Truex and Byron led the field back to green on lap 72, but Reddick got around them to take the lead on lap 75. Bell passed Truex for second on lap 79, but was unable to catch Reddick, with the No. 45 taking home the stage 1 victory. Bell, Byron, Logano and Larson were the other playoff drivers to earn points in stage 1.
The top four off pit road – Ty Gibbs, Elliott, Bowman and Logano – took two tires during the caution period, with Bell being the first car off pit road with four tires. Unfortunately for Larson, a piece of aluminum hit the nose of the No. 5, forcing the 2021 champion to come back down pit road before the restart.
Hamlin – who chose not the pit under the yellow flag – was quickly swallowed up by the field, but as Gibbs took the lead, chaos reigned in the back of the pack. Elliott, Reddick and Keselowksi all spun off of turn four, with Reddick’s Toyota flipping once in the infield before settling back onto all fours. After the caution flag, Blaney spun off of turn 4, with the No. 12 team being forced to replace the right rear toe link.
Bell slid by Gibbs for the lead on lap 112, reclaiming the top spot for the first time in nearly 50 laps. Hamlin came down pit road on lap 117 in an attempt to stop the bleeding of losing positions and went one lap down in the process.
Bowman became the first leader to come down pit road on lap 121, with Logano, Truex and Buescher all pitting on the following lap. Chastain, Gibbs and Byron pitted on lap 123, with Bell pitting on lap 125. On lap 126, Larson hit pit road, but a stop that went on for nearly 25 seconds cost the No. 5 a tremendous amount of track position. On the very next lap, Larson came in again, putting him further back in the field.
Both Gibbs and Chastain were hit with speeding penalties during the cycle, relegating them to the back of the pack.
Elliott rejoined the race on lap 132, though he was 26 laps behind leader Suarez. Blaney returned to pit road on lap 137, taking on fresh tires and fuel.
Bell and Truex eventually cycled to the top-two late in the stage, with Bell taking the lead. Bell held off Truex to tin the stage, with Byron and Logano being the only two playoff drivers to earn points in stage 2.
Bell won the race off pit road, with Hamlin and the No. 11 team suffering through a very long pit stop.
Bell and Truex led the field back to green on lap 173, with Bell clearing Truex for the lead in turn 3.
On lap 194, Gibbs went around off of turn 2. The incident put Larson back on the lead lap, as he had been battling with Gibbs for the free pass before the spin.
Bell once more won the race off pit road, with Truex and Byron trailing close behind.
Bell easily took the lead on the restart, with Byron clearing Truex for second on lap 200. Byron was able to get to Bell’s back bumper on lap 210, but Bell blocked his run, setting the No. 24 back by a few car lengths.
Buescher came down pit road on lap 227, becoming the first leader to do so in stage 3. Truex and Larson followed on lap 228, with Bowman and Blaney coming down pit road on lap 230. Bell – whose plan was initially to try and make it to the end on fuel – pitted on lap 231, but came out barely ahead of Bowman. Byron pitted on lap 232.
Suarez took over the race lead, with Logano, Hamlin, Nemechek and Corey LaJoie opting to try and make it to the end on fuel.
South Point 400 Results
The Cup Series’ next race will take place at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Straight Talk Wireless 400 will go green shortly after 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 27, with coverage on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
A member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA), Samuel also covers NASCAR for Yardbarker, Field Level Media, and Heavy Sports. He will attend the University of Arkansas in the fall of 2025.