Yesterday (10/20) was the first race in the Round of Eight for the NASCAR Cup Series. The remaining championship hopefuls covered pretty much every possible outcome in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
All eight of the post-season drivers that still have a chance to win the 2024 title knew that gambling on track in Vegas could mean either winning the jackpot or going bust in the Playoffs. A win meant an automatic advance to the Championship Four at Phoenix Raceway with a shot at winning it all. A gamble that did not pay off could also put them in a “must win” situation for the next two weeks in order to advance.
Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick started the race from the front row. Early in the race it appeared that these two would likely be the cars that would battle for the win and that automatic advance in the Playoffs. Christopher led 63 laps of the 80 laps in the first stage of the race. However, Tyler was near the front and able to get to the lead to win stage one of the race.
Stage two was not as good for Tyler. Just a handful of laps into stage two, Tyler was involved in an accident that actually caused his car to flip over. The accident ended his day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The accident also involved Playoff driver’s Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney and ended their chances of a good day as well.
Christopher Bell continued on his path toward a good day. He was obviously the best car on the track. He won stage two on his way to leading a race high 115 laps in the 267-lap race. However, in stage three some race strategy would come into play. As the race neared the end, a late race caution gave drivers the chance to either pit to make sure they had enough fuel to make it to the end, or remain on the track and gamble they could save enough to make it to the end.
Last week in the Round of 12 elimination race, Joey Logano left the Charlotte ROVAL as one of the four drivers that did not advance. Alex Bowman’s did advance. However, the #48 Chevrolet failed post-race inspection and was disqualified. That allowed Joey to take the final spot in the Round of Eight. He must have felt like he was playing with house money in Vegas and chose to gamble for the win. Christopher Bell got fuel and decided to put his money on how fast his car was.
Joey was able to race forward and take the lead of the race with six laps remaining. The only question was had he saved enough fuel? Christopher Bell was charging forward through the field. The only question for him was could he get to Joey in time to challenge for the win?
Joey’s gamble paid off while Christopher needed maybe just one more lap to cash in. Joey was able to claim the win over Christopher by a margin of 0.662 seconds. The win was Joey’s second win in the 2024 Playoffs, third win of the season, fourth win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and 35th of his Cup Series career. More importantly, Joey Logano is the first driver to lock himself into the Championship Four for the final race of the season at Phoenix.
Christopher Bell still had a really good day taking home second place. Daniel Suarez (who was already eliminated form the post-season) was able to claim third-place. See the complete race results for the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway here.
With the win and automatic advance, Joey Logano sits at the top of the post-season standings leaving Las Vegas. Christopher Bell’s really good day puts him in second. Although he had some misfortune, Kyle Larson left Las Vegas with what could be called a “breaking even” race in third-place in the standings. See the complete NASCAR 2024 Playoff Standings here.
The remaining seven drivers in the Round of Eight will join the rest of the NASCAR Cup Series drivers at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday, October 27th. If one of those post-season drivers can win the Straight Talk Wireless 400, they will join Joey Logano in the Championship Four.
By: Buck Stevens
