The 2024 Bass Pro Shops Night Race consisted of a dominant performance by Hendrick Motorsports phenom, Kyle Larson after he started second and led 462 out of a possible 500 laps on the 0.533-mile short track. While there was a lot on the line, including a spot in the next round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, a win in what many fans and drivers essentially declare as the fifth “Crown Jewel” race and extra points going into the Round of 12. Here’s a rundown of what Saturday’s race entailed and how it went down in the “Last Great Colosseum”.
Hendrick Motorsports swept qualifying, with Alex Bowman’s #48 Ally Chevrolet took the pole with a speed of 15.142, while his teammate, Kyle Larson would wind up starting second with a time of 15.183. Two playoff drivers had issues in qualifying, including Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, who up 35th with a time of 15.548, which meant he would have a lot of work to do on Saturday, as well as Harrison Burton, who also ended up in 34th with a time trial speed of 15.565. These guys would have to work their ways up through the field if they wanted to advance.
The Green Flag flew not long after 7:30, as Bowman surged ahead of Larson. On Lap 4, Legacy Motor Club driver, John Hunter Nemechek, spun into the wall off of Turn 4, scraping his left-rear quarter panel. He was able to continue on with no issue, however. On the Lap 11 restart, Bowman took advantage of the initial launch, surging ahead, before Larson. stole the lead from him on lap 33, leading the rest of Stage 1, and collecting those 10 bonus points and one additional playoff point. Bowman finished second, followed by other playoff contenders, Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron, who were all fighting to keep their championship hopes alive.
Stage 2 began on Lap 136, with Larson once again surging ahead of Christopher Bell, who restarted on the inside lane. However, it appeared that nobody was able to challenge Larson on the restart, as he was two car lengths ahead of second place. Throughout Stage 2, there were a lot of battles throughout the field, which lead to Joey Logano, who locked himself into the Round of 12 with his Atlanta win, got loose at the Start/Finish line and slammed into it on Lap 244. This set the field up for a two-lap sprint to end Stage 2. 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick stayed out instead of pitting, hoping to win the stage and collect those additional points en-route to the next round. He was unsuccessful, as his old tires shuffled him back to fourth, while Larson passed him for the Stage 2 win.
On lap 326, a three-way battle for second took place, which included Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., who were all vying for on-track real estate. However, Corey LaJoie, who is departing from Spire Motorsports this week, was spun into the wall by Stewart-Haas Racing’s Josh Berry on Lap 330, which ended LaJoie’s day. Not long after the final restart, Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones was raced hard by Daniel Suarez, who ran in the high 30’s all day and could not find the right track position. Suarez got into Jones’ back bumper, almost spinning his #43 Dollar Tree Toyota out, but both were able to continue. The race was fairly quiet in terms of on-track action, with Larson cruising to victory, leading a race-high of 462 out of a possible 500 laps.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex Jr. missed the Round of 12, due to speeding penalties in Stage 3, forcing them to go to the end of the longest line and they could never regain their track position. Also facing elimination were Harrison Burton and RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski, after Burton had a mechanical issue in the middle of the race and Keselowski just couldn’t find the momentum to gain track position.
On the flip side, Chase Briscoe wounded up 8th, advancing to the Round of 12, after shocking the world with a last-minute triumph, winning at Darlington Raceway on Labor Day Weekend. Suarez also made it into the next round, after he finished 31st, due to him having great races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, almost winning it and collecting enough points at Watkins Glen, especially after Stage 1 the prior weekend. Denny Hamlin, who’s still vying for his first Cup Series title, advanced into the next round, after running in the Top-5 most of the night.
While the Bass Pro Shops Night Race was regarded as a “snoozer” by many fans on Twitter/X, this weekend’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway will be full of excitement and drama, after the Spring race saw the closest finish in NASCAR history. Kyle Larson beat Chris Buescher by 0.001 seconds, so Buescher will look for redemption on Sunday to play spoiler once again, just as he did at Watkins Glen. The Hollywood Casino 400 starts at 3PM EST Sunday, on USA Network and you won’t want to miss the opening race in the Round of 12 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs!
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