Ryan Blaney advances to the Championship 4 in his title defense quest, amidst controversy

Sunday, November 3, 2024’s Xfinity 500 was a near-perfect event, with tire wear coming into play and affecting strategy throughout the afternoon. The semi-final race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs was one for the books, despite the race ending in a prolonged controversy and a lot of head-scratching about the outcome. Here’s a detailed analysis of the 500-lap event from this past Sunday.

The race began with Martin Truex Jr. leading the field to the Green Flag in his #19 Auto Owners Insurance Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in his farewell season, while Hendrick Motorsports driver, Chase Elliott started second on his outside. Elliott knew that if he wanted to race for a Championship at Phoenix the following weekend, he would more than likely have to win, as did Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who had a practice crash that forced him to start dead-last. Early on, Hamlin passed a lot of cars, powering his way to the Top-30. The first caution came out on Lap 78 when Hamlin’s JGR teammate, Christopher Bell, got into Rick Ware Racing’s Corey LaJoie going into Turn 2. Bell knew he needed to extend his 27-point cushion going into the race and this incident put him into a hole.

The Green Flag came back out on Lap 86, with Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, who happened to be Bell’s competition for that last Championship 4 spot and could get in with a win, battling his teammate, Chase Elliott. Goodyear’s softer tire allowed Byron and Elliott to battle for the lead without one getting too far out ahead of the other, unlike the spring race, which Byron won. Elliott prevailed, until Byron got to his teammate’s bumper off of Turn 4 on the last lap of Stage 1. Elliott collected those ten points and extra playoff point, but still needed to win.

Byron and Elliott restarted first and second at the beginning of Stage 2. Byron prevailed, leading 45 laps before another caution ensued on Lap 146, due to Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric getting into Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, sending him spinning into Turn 2.

The Green Flag came back out and Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson made a lot of aggressive moves on the restart for a top-5 position. Another caution came out a few laps later due to Rookie of the Year contender, Carson Hocevar pile-driving several drivers going into Turn 2. On Lap 185, another accident occurred, involving multiple non-playoff drivers, but Chase Elliott made a pit stop during the caution and lost several positions, making his day harder in the process. When the Green Flag dropped once again on Lap 191, Ryan Blaney and Denny Hamlin started first and second, with Blaney prevailing before Hocevar brought out another caution.

Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing owner-driver, Brad Keselowski took the lead on Lap 203, gaining a huge advantage with the Stage 2 win, despite being eliminated from the Playoffs after the Round of 16. Blaney had a hard time getting around Keselowski’s #6 Kings Hawaiian Ford, claiming he’d “blast him” when he gets to his bumper, but would wind up finishing a few seconds behind Keselowski in Stage 2. During pit stops under caution, Christopher Bell had more problems, as his left-front tire was not secure and his pit crew tried to ensure he’d be good to go.

The final stage began with Keselowski leading once again and Kyle Larson on his outside. Blaney restarted deeper in the field and this lit a fire under Blaney, with the Penske driver being more aggressive throughout the field. The march to the front began for the Team Penske driver and defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion.

The last stage included Carson Hocevar spinning out, Kyle Busch’s Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet losing a tire after a pit stop and NASCAR’s officiating leaving fans wondering how Kyle Larson obtained the lead on a Lap 414 restart, despite him not initially being the leader. Larson wound up being passed by his Hendrick teammate, Chase Elliott with less than 25 laps to go. Elliott put the bumper to Larson’s #5 Chevrolet, regressing him to second and battling with Blaney for a few laps. Blaney had the best car of the threee, which further allowed Blaney to pass Elliott with 14 laps left in the Xfinity 500.

The last few laps of the race saw the Chevrolets of Ross Chastain and Austin Dillon laying back off of William Byron’s #24 Chevrolet, as Bell and Byron were neck-in-neck for the last Championship 4 spot. Bubba Wallace dropped behind Bell in his #23 Toyota on the final lap, while Bell rode the Turn 4 wall. While Bell initially got the tie breaker, NASCAR deemed wall-riding as a safety violation, as Ross Chastain rode the wall two years prior to advance into the Championship 4 round. Byron was granted the final spot, as Blaney won the race.

The Xfintiy 500 resulted in Team Penske drivers, Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano locking themselves into the Championship 4 with wins in the Round of 8, as well as 23XI’s Tyler Reddick locking himself in with a win the prior week and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron getting in on points, after NASCAR reviewed the finish for almost half an hour afterwards. Despite being marred by controversy, Sunday’s race was one of the most exciting of the season.

The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race took take place at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 10 EST on NBC, where Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Joey Logano and Tyler Reddick ran for the title, which allowed Byron and Reddick to chase after their first Championship, Blaney went for two in a row and Logano went for his third. The next publication on everymanoneverycrew.com will provide a detailed rundown of how the NASCAR Cup Series Championship went down.