Jul 13 min read

Ally 400: Joey Logano Saves Enough Fuel, Wins After Fifth Overtime Attempt At Nashville

Joey Logano celebrates in Victory Lane at Nashville. — Joey Logano stretched his fuel to earn his first points-paying win of the 2024 season. (Photo: James Gilbert | Getty Images)

LEBANON, Tenn. - After an 80-minute weather delay and a record number of five NASCAR Overtime attempts at the premier level, Joey Logano saved fuel better than any other Cup Series driver in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway to earn his first win in a points race this season.

Logano ended a 49-race winless streak and it did not come easy as the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford for Team Penske stretched enough fuel to last 110 laps. With the expected fuel tank mileage being 75 laps and practically everyone needing fuel, Logano defied the odds to lock himself into the NASCAR Playoffs.

"A lot of teamwork there," Logano said. "You have to give a lot of credit to our fueler, Nick Hensley, our engine department with Roush Yates building obviously some engines that could also manage fuel really well, and some guts – a lot of cajones made it happen. It’s been a hard season and being on that cut line, I tell you it sucks. It’s just not fun.

"It’s hard and you just want a little bit of relief of the pressure and with seven weeks to go until the playoffs, it gives us a chance to breathe for a second and start just kind of working on our car a little bit differently and just sleep better, to be honest with you. I’m proud of this team and proud to be here in Victory Lane, for sure."

Now, Logano has won a race in 13 straight seasons in the Cup Series.

The biggest surprise of the race was Spire Motorsports rookie Zane Smith picking up a career-best finish of second place. Before the race, Smith had +13000 betting odds to finish in the top five and +50000 betting odds to be the top Chevrolet.

Smith used luck and strategy to get the No. 71 team the runner-up finish.

"My winning side of me is pissed with the second place, especially after hearing the 22 was going to run out for the past 10 laps, I don’t know how many restarts," Smith said. "I wouldn’t have done anything different. I felt like I chose the right lane, and it’s crazy how much different these cars drive with cleaner air. Just proud of our strategy there. Appreciate everyone on board throughout this year, sticking with us. It’s been rough, no doubt, so just appreciate everyone at Spire Motorsports.

"But man, you’d never know how many more opportunities you’re going to have at a Cup win, so we’ll be thinking about that one, and of course it stings when you see them shaking it, thinking he’s going to run out right at the line, but just short."

Results from the chaotic 2024 Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway are listed below:

Other Race Facts

The 300-lap and 400-mile race ended up being 331 laps and 440.23 miles long, after a record-breaking amount of NASCAR Cup Series Overtime attempts.

Due to the length of the race and the chaos that ensued at the end, many forget that Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell was the dominant car before wrecking himself out in the final stage.

Despite completing just 227 of 331 laps, Bell still managed to finish with a race-leading 131 laps led after sweeping the stages.

Denny Hamlin had gotten around Ross Chastain and was cruising to another victory before a caution came out for Austin Cindric spinning.

According to statistician Trey Ryan, Logano is the fifth driver of the 2024 season to break a 40-race winless streak (Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Daniel Suárez). That is tied for the eighth most ever in a single season.

With Logano's finish, Ford earned its eighth straight top-two finish in the Cup Series after having a slow start to the 2024 season.

Multiple drivers that finished inside the top 10 needed good finishes to boost their team's morale. Some of those drivers included Zane Smith (second), Ryan Preece (fourth), Bubba Wallace (seventh), Daniel Hemric (ninth) and Noah Gragson (10th).

This was the third consecutive Cup Series race that was affected by rain.

GRID Ranking

The 2024 GRID Ranking is the eighth year of the world's premier motorsport ranking and was initially released on Sunday, April 7.

The official ranking includes drivers that participate in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, World Rally Championship, Repco Supercars, MotoGP), and each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Kyle Larson	12.54	17th	8th	12.16	14th
William Byron	12.28	T-19th	19th	11.60	T-18th
Christopher Bell	12.28	T-19th	36th	11.60	T-18th
Denny Hamlin	10.93	23rd	12th	10.32	24th
Brad Keselowski	10.67	24th	25th	10.08	25th

Week 13 of the GRID Ranking:

The next race on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Grant Park 165 at the Chicago Street Course on Sunday, July 7. Just one year ago, Shane van Gisbergen made NASCAR history by winning on debut. Coverage will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBC.