Things didn’t go quite the way that the NASCAR Ford teams hoped they would at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26th, 2024. Not only did a few Ford Mustang Dark Horse race cars wreck out, stock car racing’s longest event was rained out after just 249 of the scheduled 400 laps were complete.
Ryan Blaney, who famously took home the trophy in last year’s Coca-Cola 600, unfortunately wrecked out in Stage 2. He only completed 143 laps and had to retire early after slamming the outside wall, and even he wasn’t positive about what led to his wreck, which relegated him to a 39th-place finish.
“We’ll have to look if I hit something or… I don’t know,” Blaney said. “I just went into [Turn] 3 getting up to speed and blew a tire and hit the fence. It’s an unfortunate end to our night. That sucks. We’re not even halfway and just wanting to work on your stuff all night. I thought we were getting it a little better here and there, but won’t get a shot.”
Noah Gragson’s No. 10 NASCAR Ford Mustang met a similar fate after contact with a competitor sent him into the inside wall on Lap 170. He wound up 38th, just ahead of Blaney.
On the other end of the spectrum, Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Mustang, led The Blue Oval at Charlotte, finishing second to Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry when the race was finally called due to weather. Had the race continued, it’s likely that Keselowski would have had a shot at the win, but Mother Nature just wasn’t a NASCAR Ford fan on Sunday.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Rheem Toyota | 249 | 90 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 2 | 30 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | BuildSubmarines.com Ford | 249 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 2 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Patriotic Chevrolet | 249 | 49 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 8 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | The Beast Unleashed Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 11 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Mavis Tire Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 1 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy/Interstate Batteries Toyota | 249 | 74 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Patriotic Chevrolet | 249 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Jockey x Folds of Honor Chevrolet | 249 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Patriotic Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 13 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 249 | 7 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 12 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | MoneyLion Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 4 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 249 | 8 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 10 | 5 | Justin Allgaier(i) | HendrickCars.com H1100 Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 28 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 15 | 8 | Kyle Busch | zone Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 9 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Walmart/RTIC Ford | 249 | 6 | Ford Mustang |
| 17 | 35 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Quincy Compressor Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 24 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Cirkul Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 34 | 43 | Erik Jones | Family Dollar Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 20 | 17 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Menards/Duracell Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 20 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 22 | 51 | Justin Haley | The Cleaning Authority Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 23 | 39 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 18 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Compact Tractors Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 31 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 27 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 36 | 16 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | WeatherTech Chevrolet | 249 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 29 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | AdventHealth Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 30 | 26 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Dollar Tree Toyota | 249 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 31 | 23 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/Irish Spring Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 32 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 25 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 33 | 15 | Kaz Grala # | N29 Ford | 249 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 21 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 36 | 38 | 50 | * Ty Dillon(i) | AmeriVet Securities Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 37 | 66 | * BJ McLeod(i) | Truan Equipment Ford | 241 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 38 | 19 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Bass Pro Shops Winchester Ford | 170 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 39 | 16 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | BodyArmor Flash I.V. Ford | 143 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 40 | 40 | 44 | * JJ Yeley(i) | Beard Vet Coffee Chevrolet | 114 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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