Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway, the Ally 400 was a mere lap-and-a-half away from the checkered flag waving and the race coming to a conventional conclusion. Then, the caution came out and turned it into something else entirely.
Thanks to a NASCAR-record five overtimes creating a scenario where virtually no one could make it to the finish on the tank of fuel they had, the events that took place beyond the race's scheduled conclusion at Lap 300 dramatically altered the way the field finished. Joey Logano, the race winner, was running outside the top 10 in 14th. Runner-up Zane Smith was running midpack in 24th, just in front of fourth-place finisher Ryan Preece, who was 25th. Ryan Blaney, after having to pit under green for fuel, was a lap down in 32nd -- and he ended up sixth instead.
When the yellow came out with 2 to go for the first time:
— Korey Long (@KoreyL_ME28) July 1, 2024
Joey Logano - 14th
Zane Smith - 24th
Ryan Preece - 25th
Ryan Blaney - 32nd and a lap down.
They finished 1st, 2nd, 4th and 6th. 💀
Given that, it was a challenge this week to put together the post-Nashville edition of the CBS Sports NASCAR Power Rankings, as a lot of consideration had to be given to both events in regulation and in overtime. Kyle Larson, by virtue of an eighth-place finish despite running out of fuel on one restart, has taken over the top spot in the Power Rankings after a dominant performance for Christopher Bell went to waste with a crash in Turn 2.
Here's a look at CBS Sports' latest NASCAR Power Rankings:
| Rank | Driver | Change | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kyle Larson | I said in the moment I didn't think Kyle Larson's move into Turn 1 during the first overtime that ended up taking out Ross Chastain was smart. I still don't -- even if he was finally standing up to Denny Hamlin, he had absolutely no angle to make that corner, and it ended in predictable and unnecessary fashion. | ||
| 2 | Christopher Bell | The 131 laps Christopher Bell led at Nashville are the most he's ever had in a race that he failed to finish. His previous best was 31 at Michigan in 2022, a race he also wound up crashing out of. | ||
| 3 | Ryan Blaney | This past weekend in Nashville was supposed to feature a helmet swap between Ryan Blaney and two-time Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden, only for Blaney to forget the helmet he was going to give Newgarden back in North Carolina. You had one job, Ryan! | ||
| 4 | Tyler Reddick | While it's little solace to Tyler Reddick after how frustrated he was to miss what looked like a sure chance to win at Nashville, he should be among the favorites to win this coming week at Chicago. Reddick led eight laps and spent much of the day at the front in the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023. | ||
| 5 | Chris Buescher | Two-straight fifths at New Hampshire and Nashville marked only the third time in Chris Buescher's Cup career that he has earned consecutive top-five finishes. All three of those instances have occurred in the past 12 months dating back to his back-to-back wins at Richmond and Michigan a year ago. | ||
| 6 | Ross Chastain | Late race restarts were to the chagrin of Ross Chastain all weekend in Nashville. On Thursday night, Chastain had just taken the lead with a three-wide move on a restart in the Battle of Broadway 150 at Nashville Fairgrounds, only for a caution to come out before a lap of green was completed, resetting the field to the way it had been and likely costing Chastain a chance to win. | ||
| 7 | Chase Elliott | There was a great deal of confusion as to why Kyle Busch was allowed to keep his spot on an overtime restart despite having to slow down dramatically for Ross Chastain's crash, and it seems like NASCAR has some more explaining to do: Chase Elliott was also allowed to keep his position after a mid-race spin. | ||
| 8 | Joey Logano | The only thing I've ever seen remotely close to what Joey Logano did going 110 laps on a tank of fuel was in a Truck Series race in 2007, when Dennis Setzer won at Mansfield despite never once taking fuel in a 250 lap race. Second-place finisher Jack Sprague was so mad afterward that he insisted in a post-race interview that there was no way Setzer's fuel cell wasn't illegal (for what it's worth, the win stands to this day). | ||
| 9 | Brad Keselowski | Credit to Brad Keselowski for hanging in there. Despite a massive amount of rear end damage after getting turned into the wall, Keselowski was able to keep it running and capitalized on the attrition in overtime, salvaging 25th on a day that could've gone much worse. | ||
| 10 | Martin Truex Jr. | -- | Over the past four races, Martin Truex Jr. has seen his finishing position get dramatically altered on the final lap twice. He finished 24th at Nashville after getting spun by Daniel Suarez on the last lap. | |
| 11 | Justin Haley | A 13th-place finish at Nashville for Justin Haley is even more impressive when you consider that he was actually on his way to a better finish. Haley was running 10th with two laps to go in regulation despite having to serve a pass-through pit road penalty after the green flag due to infractions in qualifying. | ||
| 12 | Todd Gilliland | I was on the grid taking photos of drivers a little bit before pre-race ceremonies started, and when I faced Todd Gilliland to snap a shot of him he immediately looked my way and gave the thumbs up. Good instincts. No wonder his career is going places. | ||
| 13 | Josh Berry | Even after a tough go of it on Sunday despite a second-place qualifying effort, everything is still looking up for Josh Berry. He is expected to be named the new driver of the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford for 2025 on Wednesday. | ||
| 14 | Denny Hamlin | The caution with two laps to go that kicked off overtime in Nashville was undoubtedly an enormous gut punch for Denny Hamlin. He went from almost certainly on his way to his fourth win of the season to finishing 12th after having to pit for fuel, marking his fourth-straight finish outside the top 10. | ||
| 15 | Chase Briscoe | On the subject of gut punches, Chase Briscoe also took a fairly hard one. Briscoe was challenging Joey Logano for the win only to run out of fuel on the final restart and finish 21st. | ||
| 16 | Alex Bowman | Alex Bowman finished dead last in 37th in the first Chicago Street Race last year, which would suggest there's nowhere for him to go there but up. Unfortunately, 40 cars are entered at Chicago this week, meaning there's a chance that things *can* get worse for the No. 48 team. Hopefully for their sake that doesn't come to pass. | ||
| 17 | William Byron | After looking like a sure-fire championship contender for most of the season, William Byron has cooled off considerably since the summer months started. He had only one finish better than 15th and three finishes of 19th or worse in the month of June. | ||
| 18 | Bubba Wallace | Sometimes, it's the small things that can cost a driver a win. Bubba Wallace was probably in a golden position to do what Zane Smith and Tyler Reddick did in the final few restarts, but the wrong lane choice but him behind Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch's stack-ups and cost him spots. While Wallace finished seventh, a worst-case scenario with Joey Logano winning now leaves him 51 points below the playoff cut line. | ||
| 19 | Carson Hocevar | Some of Carson Hocevar's bad habits from the past showed up at Nashville, as he appeared to run up on and intentionally spin out Harrison Burton just as a caution came out. It would be wise for NASCAR to take care of that soon, as Cup drivers aren't going to tolerate that sort of thing the way Hocevar was able to get away with it in Trucks. | ||
| 20 | Noah Gragson | Lego-mania continues: On the grid in Nashville, Noah Gragson was presented with the Lego Technic NASCAR set. It was on top of his car during pre-race ceremonies before Gragson finished 10th. | ||
| 21 | Ty Gibbs | -- | On the subject of Noah Gragson, it was interesting to see he and Ty Gibbs chumming it up during the weekend before having a spirited and clean on-track battle during the Cup race. Gibbs and Gragson have had their differences in the past, most notably when they were racing each other for an Xfinity championship in 2022. | |
| 22 | Ryan Preece | Music City continues to be good to Ryan Preece, as he earned a fourth-place finish in Nashville for his best result since joining Stewart-Haas Racing. It was also Preece's best Cup finish overall since 2021, when he was fourth at Daytona that August. | ||
| 23 | Austin Cindric | -- | Austin Cindric's spin with two laps to go ended up triggering what turned into the longest overtime period in NASCAR history and dramatically altered the day for many drivers in the field. As it turned out, things didn't turn out badly at all for Cindric -- he ended up finishing 15th. | |
| 24 | Zane Smith | Zane Smith coming within a car-length of winning Nashville is not only a dramatic reversal from a difficult season so far, but it's also the first top-five finish for a No. 71 Cup car since 1987. The last time the No. 71 finished that high up in a Cup race, it was Dave Marcis driving it to a third-place finish at Watkins Glen. | ||
| 25 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | There was a chance that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. didn't compete in Nashville, as he had Anthony Alfredo on standby as a relief driver due to his wife expecting their first child. Stenhouse ran the entire race and then some, crashing out in the second overtime period and finishing 30th. | ||
| 26 | Corey LaJoie | A golden opportunity went to waste for Corey LaJoie, as he went from third and seemingly in the best situation of anyone on fuel to stumbling on a restart and coming home 20th. That stings, and a second-place finish for Spire Motorsports teammate Zane Smith -- who made his last pit stop at the same time LaJoie did -- only twists the knife further. | ||
| 27 | Michael McDowell | A transmission failure felled Michael McDowell at Nashville, leaving him with his fifth DNF of the season. A potential palette cleanser is coming up for McDowell, as he was seventh at Chicago a year ago. | ||
| 28 | Daniel Suarez | After two-straight top 15s including a top 10 at Iowa, Daniel Suarez's team has taken a step back. A 22nd at Nashville marked the second race in a row that Suarez has finished outside the top 20. | ||
| 29 | Kyle Busch | Right now it feels like if a meteor were to hit the Earth, it would land right in front of Kyle Busch's car when he's only a few laps away from a top-five finish. I have never seen Busch have this bad a stretch of races with this comically bad of luck as I'm seeing now. | ||
| 30 | Daniel Hemric | Daniel Hemric's ceiling in 2024 seems to be set, as all of his top-10 finishes so far have seen him take the checkered flag ninth. Hemric has three top 10s this season, setting a new personal-best in that category. |
