Joey Logano Scores Rocking Ally 400 Win

Joey Logano strums some sweet melodies after winning the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee, on Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

LEBANON, Tenn. — Joey Logano‘s frustrating 49-race winless streak came to a merciful end in Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Making it on 110 laps on fuel, Logano, crew chief Paul Wolfe, and the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang rocked their way to Victory Lane for the first time since the 2023 spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Battle tested to the brim, the 34-year-old pride of Middletown, Connecticut, only led on one occasion in nine laps, all during the Overtime portion of the race. However, it was the nine most important laps and Logano bested Zane Smith by just 0.068 seconds.

The return to Victory Lane was not all smooth and easy for Logano. After all, he qualified 26th and he finished 21st in Stages 1 and 2.

For a majority of the 19th race of the year, the kickoff to the second half of the NASCAR Cup Series season, Christopher Bell was the man to beat. Following a dominant win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Bell started third and swept Stages 1 and 2, leading 131 laps.

Not even a red flag for lightning and rain that lasted an hour, 21 minutes and 20 seconds slowed Bell’s pace at the 1.33-mile concrete track.

Christopher Bell had a winning performance until getting in a compromising position in Stage 3 in the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

Going into the final stage, Bell did not have track position and found himself in a compromising position going into Turn 1 on Lap 229. Suddenly, Bell’s car snapped around, crashing hard into the Turn 2 wall.

It became a wide open contest with Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain and Denny Hamlin becoming late race contenders. Each made their case to emerge victorious before trouble befell Chastain in an Overtime restart when Kyle Larson, who ran third, tried to put a fender aside Hamlin.

Instead, Larson tangled with Chastain’s car, sending the latter hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 306, collecting Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon and William Byron. Chastain’s day was over while the remaining involved in the incident continued onward.

In all, the longest Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway collected a bevy of drivers in hard wrecks, but with each driver emerging OK. The prolonged race forced some contenders into pitting to ensure they would make it to the finish.

Meanwhile, Hamlin had to pit or risk running out of fuel in the midst of one of the five extensions of, what ultimately became, a 331-lap race.

Reddick’s path to the win was all for naught with Smith, the rookie, and Logano, the two-time Cup champion, standing in his way.

After making it through five Overtime restarts and capturing the checkered flag, Logano sang his team’s praises.

“A lot of teamwork there,” Logano said. “You have to give a lot of credit to our fueler, Nick Hensley, our engine department with Roush Yates building obviously some engines that could also manage fuel really well, and some guts – a lot of cajones made it happen.”

Even with the NASCAR All-Star Race win at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Logano’s 2024 campaign has not been all smooth sailing. Nevertheless, the trademark smile returned with teamwork making the dream work.

Joey Logano parlayed incredible fuel mileage to best Zane Smith and Tyler Reddick, winning Sunday’s Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

“It’s been a hard season and being on that cut line, I tell you, it sucks,” Logano said. “It’s just not fun. It’s hard and you just want a little bit of relief of the pressure and with seven weeks to go until the playoffs it gives us a chance to breathe for a second and start just kind of working on our car a little bit differently and just sleep better, to be honest with you. I’m proud of this team and proud to be here in Victory Lane, for sure.”

Although Smith captured a career-best runner-up result in a challenging rookie season, the finish left a bittersweet taste for the 2022 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion.

“Pissed. I mean, obviously so happy with the result,” Smith said. “But when you hear for like 10 laps that ‘he is supposed to run out, he is supposed to run out’, and then you see him shaking the car across the line and you just finished second, that hurts. The winning side of it hurts, but just appreciate everyone at Spire Motorsports and appreciate the strategy there.

“I appreciate Jockey Outdoors and Luke Bryan; having them on board here in Nashville, along with all of our other partners. It’s been a rough, rough year, but this is a great momentum booster, confidence booster, all of the above. So, hopefully we can carry this on, but it was awesome to sniff your first Cup win.”

Reddick may have earned a podium result but he was dejected after the race, lamenting on what could have been for a second win in 2024.

“The tires were chorded,” Reddick observed. “When the caution came out, we were in a really bad spot. We were going to lose all our track position, but we had to put tires on as I don’t think we were going to be able to hold on during a restart, but it became the very thing that gave us an opportunity to win the race.

“It was a great call, a gutsy call by the crew chief, Billy Scott. I was upset about the position we were in, but just kept being aggressive on the restarts and I mean we got ourselves all the way there. It’s tough. Had just about everything go right into the last lap, I just didn’t get the job done.”

Someone who may not get the job done in strumming the guitar is Logano. Even if he may lack the guitar skills of Jimmy Page or George Harrison, earning one of those infamous electric guitars makes his Nashville victory even sweeter.

“I don’t think anyone in our family is musically inclined, but we’ve got a few cool guitars and that’s what it’s all about,” Logano said.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Christopher Bell
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Tyler Reddick
4. Kyle Larson
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Ty Gibbs
7. William Byron
8. Chris Buescher
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. Bubba Wallace

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Christopher Bell
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Kyle Larson
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Brad Keselowski
6. Chase Elliott
7. Martin Truex Jr.
8. Ryan Blaney
9. Chris Buescher
10. Noah Gragson

Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway Race Results