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NASCAR Monday Mash-Up: Joey Logano triumphs in 5OT chaos

JHby:Jonathan Howard•07/01/24•

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Joey Logano burnout Nashville
Stephanie Amador / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

This was a wild weekend in NASCAR. There was drama, a record amount of overtime, and a Joey Logano victory in the end. It was strange, the weather was hot, then it rained, and then we got back to racing.

From the Truck Series to Xfinity Series and the Cup Series, there was a little bit of something from each race to take notice of. Nashville Superspeedway had three different races across the three series, that’s for sure.

Before we get ready for the Chicago Street Race, let’s get into all of the interesting tid bits from the weekend.

Clint Bowyer loses his mind during Truck Series race

Clint Bowyer hopped back into a NASCAR race for the first time since his retirement. He drove the No. 7 truck for Spire Motorsports.

Despite a decent first stint, Bowyer would take damage on a faulty restart, courtesy of his teammate, Chase Purdy. So, he limped to a P17 finish. He vowed to return, though.

Layne Riggs gets strange penalty

During the race, Layne Riggs and Stefan Parsons were battling for multiple laps. Eventually, Riggs put the bumper to him and sent Parsons spinning.

Riggs was held for two laps for reckless driving. He is the first driver to receive such a penalty in NASCAR since Carson Hocevar at Martinsville in 2023. Also in the Truck Series.

Christian Eckes has perfect race at Nashville

Outside of the drama on the track, this race was all about Christian Eckes and the No. 19 MHR team. Eckes led every single lap of the race, the first driver to do so since 2012.

Eckes has three wins this season. He has just one finish outside of the top-10 and it was a DNF. Everyone likes to talk about Corey Heim, but Eckes is commanding attention right now.

Ty Gibbs wrecked by Justin Allgaier

Is it 2022 again? Ty Gibbs and Justin Allgaier were racing hard in the Xfinity Series race. Gibbs was the pole winner and first stage winner. But he would get wrecked by Allgaier late in this race.

After a multi-lap battle between the two drivers, Allgaier tapped Gibbs on the bumper and sent him around. NASCAR did not issue a penalty for this move as they did for Layne Riggs.

Nemechek gets it done, wins Xfinity Series race

For the second time this season, John Hunter Nemechek is a winner in the Xfinity Series. While his Cup Series season has not been ideal, he is keeping confidence up with these performances.

Nemechek took control of the race after Stage 1 and was the best driver on the day. A strong win. Chandler Smith tried to catch him in the end but didn’t have enough mileage to do it.

NASCAR gets roasted for terrible qualifying format

NASCAR has completely ruined Cup Series qualifying. In order to keep the two-group, two-round format but in an attempt to eliminate the advantage one group always had over another, they went too far.

This is jumping the shark. When slower drivers are placed in front of faster drivers for qualifying, you are completely abandoning the concept of qualifying itself. How about one round, order determined by the metric? Fastest car sits on pole? Second fastest P2? So on and so forth?

Luke Combs given very large firesuit from Bubba Wallace

In some off-the-track news, Luke Combs was in town to drive the pace car. He was also on Bubba Wallace’s Columbia Sportswear Toyota Camry.

Combs even received a firesuit. The size of the suit did get people talking on social media, but it’s no secret Combs is a big boy. Coming soon to a concert near you? Luke Combs in a NASCAR firesuit?

Joey Logano loses it at Denny Hamlin

During the second stage of the race, Joey Logano lost his mind at Denny Hamlin. Hamlin more or less drove through the 22 and Logano did not appreciate it.

This was when Logano was still struggling to find pace and track position. Under caution, Logano flipped him off and went wild on the radio. He wasn’t mad in the end, though.

Then Hamlin goes ‘grab assing’ with Kyle Larson

It wasn’t long before Hamlin turned his attention from Joey Logano to Kyle Larson. Hamlin was running into the rear of Larson after the end of Stage 2.

These two have been battling for multiple seasons at this point. The rivalry is totally happening and these frenemies will be at it again within a couple of weeks, if not sooner.

5OTs in Nashville opens the door for many drivers

Not one, not two, not three – FIVE OVERTIMES! A NASCAR Cup Series record. These drivers couldn’t keep it straight to finish this race until we got to the fifth attempt at a Green-White-Checkered.

Chaos and unpredictability. This race had a lot of drama and action. You might be upset your favorite driver lost or that Joey Logano didn’t “deserve” to win, but we got extra racing and saw drivers racing hard to get to the finish. It was awesome.

Joey Logano saves fuel over 110 laps to win Ally 400

Even though Christopher Bell led 131 laps on the day, Joey Logano won in the end. Tire strategy and the genius of Paul Wolfe got Logano to Victory Lane on Sunday.

Logano gets his win and his ticket to the postseason. Now, he’s a championship contender. We know he can get hot in the playoffs.