The Cup Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 20th, 2024 came down to a game of fuel mileage. The No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry of Christopher Bell did his best to track down the No. 22 NASCAR Ford Mustang Dark Horse of Joey Logano, whose tank was running dry, in the closing laps, but Logano’s gamble paid off, and he’s headed to the Championship 4 after crossing the line first.
Logano led just six laps on his way to the checkers. The No. 22 NASCAR Ford team elected to pit 35 laps sooner than the leaders. When the leaders finally did pit, Logano stayed out, gambling on the fact that his race car would have enough fuel to win. During the pit cycle, he was able to lay down a 24-second advantage on Bell.
The No. 99 Chevy Camaro ZL1 of Daniel Suarez was on a similar strategy to Logano, but couldn’t hold off the No. 22 NASCAR Ford, one of two Blue Oval drivers still in the fight for the 2024 title. Logano now has a guaranteed spot in the Championship 4.
“Man, we did some fuel mileage stuff, didn’t we? Holy crap,” Logano said after winning his fourth race at Vegas. “What an incredible turn of events here the last week. Very fast Pennzoil Mustang. We’re going to the Championship 4 again. It’s real. Great fuel mileage, great calls by [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe], Nick Hensley, our gas man, making sure she’s full, giving me the info to keep the lead that we needed to. We’re going racing again. What an incredible situation, man. I’m so blessed.”
Ryan Blaney, the other NASCAR Ford driver in the Playoffs, had an opposite view of the race. His No. 12 Mustang was collected in a wreck that saw the No. 45 Camry of Tyler Reddick rolling down the front stretch. Though Blaney was able to continue racing, he finished 32nd after multiple visits to Pit Road to address the crash damage. He’s currently 47 points below the cutline and in danger of being eliminated from the Playoffs.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Pennzoil Ford | 267 | 6 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 2 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Rheem Toyota | 267 | 155 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 23 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 267 | 57 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 9 | 24 | William Byron (P) | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 267 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 3 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 12 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 267 | 7 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Yahoo! Toyota | 267 | 4 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 9 | 26 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 22 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Castrol Edge Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 11 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 267 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 19 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos/U.S. Air Force Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 20 | 8 | Kyle Busch | FICO Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 35 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Mighty Fire Breaker Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 15 | 31 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 16 | 14 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 16 | 7 | Justin Haley | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 21 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Fanttik Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 19 | 33 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 21 | 36 | 15 | Cody Ware | Evel Knievel-Parts Plus/Pronto Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 22 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Bonanza Cabernet Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 23 | 6 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 28 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Mobil 1 Take 5 Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 25 | 27 | 43 | Erik Jones | Massey Motor Freight Toyota | 266 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 26 | 24 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Texas A&M University Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 27 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Scott Brand Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 29 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | Dollar Tree/Family Dollar Toyota | 265 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 34 | 16 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | Wendy's Spicy Chicken Chevrolet | 265 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 8 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 264 | 23 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 31 | 30 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | gener8tor Ford | 263 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 32 | 37 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Great Stuff Ford | 259 | 4 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 33 | 18 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 230 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 11 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Autotrader Ford | 96 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 35 | 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Jordan Brand Toyota | 89 | 9 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 17 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 89 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 37 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Boot Barn Chevrolet | 61 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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