Joey Logano Wins in Nashville After Five Overtime Restarts

Joey Logano won the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway, securing his first victory of the season and a spot in the 2024 NASCAR Playoffs, after five overtime restarts.

Logano's team, Penske, took a calculated risk by trusting that his No. 22 Ford Mustang would have enough fuel to complete the final 110 laps. Ultimately, the effort was rewarded with the win, marking the first victory for Ford at the 1.333-mile Nashville track.

Logano finished 0.068 seconds ahead of Spire Motorsports rookie Zane Smith, who had his best performance in the series. Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing, Ryan Preece of Stewart-Haas Racing, and Chris Buescher of RFK Racing rounded out the top five.

Logano, 34, mentioned the uncertainty about the available fuel at the end of the race: “On turn three, the fuel light came on and the car barely crossed the finish line.” He thanked the Roush Yates team for their fuel efficiency, which was crucial for the victory, and highlighted the importance of the win to secure his place in the Playoffs.

Crew chief Paul Wolfe confirmed that Logano's car ran out of gas on the last lap, but the team decided to continue instead of pitting for fuel.

Before the overtime restarts, the race was led by Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain, who were in a fierce battle for the lead. However, an accident involving Austin Cindric forced the first overtime. During the first restart, Chastain was hit by Kyle Larson, which eliminated him from the race and forced Hamlin to defend his position in the subsequent restarts before running out of fuel.

In the fourth restart, Logano and Chase Briscoe were on the front row, with Smith advancing to second place when the final yellow flag occurred. Logano managed to maintain the lead in the last restart, securing the win while more incidents happened behind him.

“Hearing that the No. 22 [Logano] would run out of fuel during the last 10 restarts was frustrating, but I'm proud of our strategy,” said Smith after the race.

Team Penske also had Ryan Blaney, the reigning champion, in sixth place, followed by Bubba Wallace, Kyle Larson, Daniel Hemric, and Noah Gragson in the top ten. There were nine leaders and 20 lead changes during the race.

Last week's winner, Christopher Bell, led 131 of the first 229 laps, but his pit strategy relegated him to the back of the field, finishing in 36th place after an accident.

Larson maintained the lead in the NASCAR Cup Series championship with a 20-point advantage over his teammate Chase Elliott. Hamlin is 43 points behind with eight races remaining to decide the regular season champion.

The NASCAR Cup Series will continue on the Chicago street circuit for the Grant Park 165 next Sunday.