NASCAR takeaways: Joey Logano locks in playoff spot after hectic Nashville finish

01/07/2024

LEBANON, Tenn. — Maybe it was the spirit of Nashville that created the chaos at Nashville Superspeedway.

After all, it's a city where everyone stays out longer and later than they originally planned.

As the NASCAR Cup Series delved into bedlam as drivers tried to stretch it on fuel while jockeying for positions that resulted in a series-record five overtime restarts, Joey Logano emerged as the winner — appropriately with his car running out of gas as he crossed the finish line at Nashville Superspeedway.

Logano went 110 laps on his last tank of gas. Under green-flag conditions, a driver could go about 75-80 laps, and Logano benefitted from 41 laps under caution.

"You cross your fingers, say a prayer and hope that there's just enough gas in it," Logano said. "There wasn't a drop to spare."

Logano assumed the lead when Denny Hamlin ran out of gas under caution, and then Logano held on over the final two restarts in a race that went 31 laps beyond the scheduled 300-lap distance.

The Team Penske driver vaulted himself into the playoffs after entering the race as the last driver inside the playoff bubble. If he had run out of gas and finished around 25th, it could have severely damaged his playoff hopes.

"That, to me, was a ginormous risk," Logano said. "Going for the win and you could finish [deep in the field] makes it a pretty hard call. But, gosh, maybe you are winning the race. How do you not?"

Takeaways from the race where Logano was followed by Zane Smith (career-best finish), Tyler Reddick, Ryan Preece and Chris Buescher.

Larson Bummed With Incidents

Kyle Larson finished eighth and was involved in incidents on two of the late restarts.

In the first overtime, Larson restarted behind Hamlin, got loose and washed up into Ross Chastain, who was side-by-side battling Hamlin for the lead.

"I was just going to try and get into [Hamlin] to wash him off the bottom to give myself some clean air because I knew being in the second row, whether you were inside or outside, you weren't going to have a shot," Larson said.

"I thought my opportunity to give myself a chance to win was to get clean air on the nose. And I just ran in, got tight and drove into Ross. I hate that for sure."

And then in the third overtime, he ran out of gas and Kyle Busch ran into the back of him. It ended Busch's day.

"I hate that for Kyle," Larson said. "I had no warning. Obviously, we knew we were really close on fuel. It was going to be a stretch to make it, but I had no low fuel pressure alarm on my dash.

"It was a bit surprising to me when I went to the throttle, it never went. And I couldn't get out of the way, either. ... I'm really, really bummed for him."

Hamlin Rally For Naught

Hamlin passed Ross Chastain for the lead with seven laps remaining and then held on through three of the overtimes before running out of gas while under caution for the fourth overtime.

Hamlin, like Logano, went with the strategy of not giving up the lead and being in danger of running out of gas.

"I was 15 seconds away from a win when Austin Cindric spun [for the first overtime] and 10 seconds away a few cautions after that," Hamlin said. "I was just unlucky."

NASCAR's overtime rules require a two-lap shootout to the end. If the caution (for an accident) comes out on the first lap, another two-lap shootout occurs. If the caution comes out on the second lap of the two-lap shootout, the race is concluded when the leader crosses the finish line.

"I knew once they started one [overtime], it was going to be lots of them, just the way we were all going into Turn 1 and everyone sliding and beating and banging," Hamlin said. "I knew we were cooked. I thought we were cooked after the first one.

"I'm surprised we lasted as long as we did."

Bell Exits Early

Christopher Bell led 131 laps and swept the opening two stages. But with drivers on various pit strategies, he at some point knew he would find himself in the middle of the pack.

He did. And it didn't last long as he spun and crashed in trying to make a three-wide move on Lap 228.

"I got frustrated whenever I got bottled up on the restart and lost my cool," Bell said. "I just carried too much speed in there and put myself in a really bad aero-spot and spun it out. Great car. Great effort by [my] group.

"And I let them down today."

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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