After an extra 31 laps and several NASCAR overtime restarts, the Ally 400 in Nashville finally had a finish. There was great racing throughout, and it would have been an exceptional finish in regulation. It was an awesome battle between the #1 car of Ross Chastain and the #11 of Denny Hamlin with just 10 laps to go. Unfortunately, some drivers can’t control their cars, and there was a caution with just four to go.
Which led to the chaos that ensued. There were five overtime attempts before we reached the checkered flag. Cars were running on fumes all over the track and throughout these restarts. This led to a weird finishing top-10, and some great points days to guys who desperately needed them. As well as some members of the Top 10 who probably shouldn’t get used to it. But let’s look at this race in a vacuum. Let’s go over the three drivers who impressed the most and the three who were disappointing at Nashville Superspeedway. This is “Three Up, Three Down” after the 2024 Ally 400!
Three Up
#10 Noah Gragson
Embed from Getty ImagesTwo of Stewart-Haas’s 2024 drivers are lined up for future jobs now. Chase Briscoe will be headed to the #19 of Joe Gibbs Racing. While Josh Berry is reportedly headed to the Wood Brothers #21. Noah Gragson is a driver fighting for a job next year, and this is a good mark on his resume. At the Ally 400 the second-year Cup Series driver posted his sixth top-10 finish with a P10—his first since Kansas. It had been a weak stretch for the #10 car, so it’s nice to see him back on track. I think it’s a good bet he’ll be racing on Sundays next year. He has tons of sponsorship money with Bass Pro Shops and he’s done plenty of good things in the #10. The question is just with who will he be racing for?
#22 Joey Logano
Embed from Getty ImagesTeam Penske becomes the first team to lock up all their cars in the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs. Just not in the order you’d imagine. Finally, after weeks of hovering around the cutline, Logano takes the #22 to victory lane. In chaotic, inexplicable fashion. Nevertheless, they collected the guitar and the checkered flag in the city of music. This means hell for some drivers and puts some heat on those just above the cutline as only 19 points separate P13 and P16 in the standings. With the Chicago Street Course and another date with Daytona on the schedule, a new winner is considerably possible. Drivers should now be aiming for wins when opportune and get aggressive, as good points days may not be enough.
#23 Bubba Wallace Jr
Embed from Getty ImagesBubba Wallace and the #23 team were due for a great day. They battled all race long. They didn’t have a fantastic car and just had to push through. Especially during the chaos of the final five restarts and just navigating the chaos. They wound up with a P7 finish, their first top-10 since Darlington. Their highest finish between these races was P17. Wallace had great speed to start the year. The team is going to have to find a way to recapture that in this final stretch and get into victory lane, or get lucky on points, to make the playoffs for a second year in a row.
Three Down
#8 Kyle Busch
Embed from Getty ImagesIs there a driver who’s going through a worse time than Kyle Busch? He was frustrated with his car all day. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was vocal. Then, after racing in the high 20s and low 30s all day, found his way back up into the top ten. While in the top five in the second restart, he was following the #5 of Kyle Larson. Larson ran out of gas on the restart and Busch was sandwiched and sent into the wall, ending his day. Too many of these days are going bad for them, and it’s largely out of his control. A 19-year winning streak is on the line, and it’s becoming infinitely harder to see a path to get Rowdy back in victory lane in 2024. Busch’s second year at Richard Childress Racing is nowhere near as good as his first. And that’s a serious problem.
#48 Alex Bowman
Embed from Getty ImagesIt just felt like Alex Bowman was never on the right side of strategy. Collecting no stage points during the race, it wasn’t a strong day for the #48 team. The finish is P14, which isn’t bad. Especially when the race was as chaotic as it was at the end. But they very rarely ran in the top 10, which is abnormal for them. Bowman right now is the last driver above the cutline with a 51-point lead over #23 Bubba Wallace. But that can be taken away very quickly with a new winner as we talked about earlier.
Bowman hasn’t won a race since the spring of 2022 at the Pennzoil 400 in Las Vegas. We’re almost two and a half years removed from the last time the #48 was in victory lane. Plus dangerously close to missing the playoffs two years in a row. They’ve got good tracks coming up at Pocono, Richmond, and Michigan. They just have to put a complete day together and lead some laps. Something they haven’t done since Bristol.
#77 Carson Hocevar
Embed from Getty ImagesCarson Hocevar has been one of the best rookie NASCAR Cup Series drivers in 2024. He’s run extremely well, and become the top car at Spire Motorsports. But unfortunately, he fell back into some bad habits this past weekend at the Ally 400 despite finishing P16. In the truck series, Hocevar had a bit of a reputation as an overly aggressive driver. Sometimes pushing the limits on what payback can look like on a racetrack. It’s not uncommon for a driver to bump another in the back under caution as a “what the hell?” kind of move. Standing up for yourself in this fashion is commonplace in NASCAR. But sometimes it can be a bit much. And NASCAR found Hocevar guilty of such, penalizing him 25 points and fining him $50,000. I’ll let you all be the judge of if it was fair:
Carson Hocevar vs Harrison Burton 😭pic.twitter.com/y9PtuCk6Nf
— Darian Gilliam (@BlackFlagMatter) July 1, 2024
A small blip in an otherwise successful rookie campaign for the 21-year-old driver. He’ll just have to do better at keeping his nose clean and just driving the car. Leaving all the extra stuff out if he can. He’s been one of my favorite drivers to watch this season and I think he’ll continue to improve and he’ll be on the up more often than the down. But things like this are a good way to land yourself a spot on the wrong side of the list.
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