Monday’s Firekeepers Casino 400 was one of the best races of the season, having everything a fan could ask for, including various lead changes, tire wear challenges, speeds hitting around 200MPH and accidents that got the fans, announcers and drivers talking. Overall, this event was well-rounded and felt like an old-school NASCAR race from the 2010’s and was refreshing to watch, despite the race starting Sunday evening and having to finish on Monday morning due to inclement weather.
The race started with Denny Hamlin on the pole, set by NASCAR’s qualifying metric system, with Tyler Reddick on the inside lane for the start. However, it was Kyle Larson who charged to the lead on lap 1 and took control of the field for 34 laps to start. On lap 39, Hamlin spun battling in the top 5, after trailing behind Bubba Wallace for the lead. While Hamlin admitted during the rain delay that the incident was his fault, his crew chief, Chris Gabehart, had the #11 team work on the undercarriage of the car prior to the second rain delay, the one that ultimately delayed the rest of the race to 11AM EST on Monday. Prior to the rainstorm, Ryan Blaney took the lead and won Stage 1, collecting ten points and one playoff point for the post season.
The restart to begin Stage 2 saw Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch start on the front row, with Elliott emerging as the leader, prior to Busch capturing the lead on lap 58, leading eight laps. Busch was ecstatic to lead laps in the midst of his career-worst season so far. The rest of the field spread out with side-by-side battles taking place throughout the pack, similar to a Superspeedway race.
Lap 109 saw various tire issues among several drivers, including AJ Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland and Joey Logano have tire troubles into the long green flag run. Allmendinger had to be towed back to the pit lane to get his tires changed, after he spun out going into Turn 1.
Another restart means another opportunity for guys to make their ways up front. This was short-lived, as Kyle Larson lost control in Turn 4, collecting multiple cars in this accident. Involved in this accident were Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace and Todd Gilliland. Buescher and Wallace desperately need all the points they can get on the Playoff cutline and this accident would be a true test of both teams salvaging a decent points day.
On lap 137, Corey LaJoie attempted to show his displeasure to Noah Gragson by door slamming him to show lack of approval about how he was raced. LaJoie’s #7 Spire Motorsports went airborne after getting into Gragson’s left-rear quarter panel, causing him to slide several years upside down, ending him flipping in the grass. LaJoie was alright after the accident and described this accident as the summary of how his season has gone, as LaJoie is currently trying to figure out his 2025 plans.
The race restarted on lap 141 and the rest of the race consisted of Tyler Reddick flying through the field, catching the leaders with around ten laps to go. William Byron and Kyle Busch spent a good portion of the final stage in the lead, with Reddick ultimately winning the race after multiple restarts due to Martin Tuex Jr. smacking the wall off of Turn 4 and Ross Chastain spinning on the Backstretch. Reddick, who finished in the top-6 in the prior six races, secured the points lead and is now enroute to potentially become the Regular Season Champion, which has a payout of 15 playoff points for the winner. It can be safe to say that Reddick will enter Daytona this weekend with a lot of confidence, as he won one of the Duel races this past February and his other win this season came at Talladega, another drafting track. This weekend’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 will see a lot of action and this will be drivers’ last chance to make the NASCAR playoffs with this being a race anybody can will. Tune in this Saturday night on USA Network at 7PM EST.
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