The 2024 Nashville race will go down in the NASCAR history books. Dotted with rain delays and innumerable cautions, the Ally 400 saw dramatic incidents. Lead changes ensued in the latter part of the race after twin-stage winner Christopher Bell crashed out on lap 228. His teammate Denny Hamlin also struggled in the final laps, as the 300-lap race stretched to 331 laps- courtesy of a track record of 16 cautions.

The extended race duration threw a wrench in pit strategies, causing chaos and shuffling the field. The usual race leaders saw their plans crumbling as cars piled up in several wrecks. However, Denny Hamlin foresaw the troubles with a keen eye.

Denny Hamlin saw the chaos coming

Mother Nature had a big hand to play in the Nashville Superspeedway drama. Her exploits started on Saturday when the Xfinity race unfolded under the scorching sun. Every car felt like the inside of an oven, with AJ Allmendinger’s car recording a steamy 129 degrees. This signaled weather troubles for the Cup race, as high humidity brought rain and delayed the race after 137 laps.

The thunderstorm washed off the traction that had built up. Consequently, several cars got loose and crashed into the wall or slid into the grass. This made for a thrilling race that nobody predicted. Denny Hamlin reflected on how his fuel misery rose amidst all this: “I got the restarts I wanted each time but just didn’t have enough fuel in the tank. So you know, a bunch of us in that same boat. I was 15 seconds away from a win…when Austin Cindric spun and then 10 seconds away, a few cautions after that. So it’s just, I don’t know, unlucky.”

Austin Cindric made contact with Noah Gragson with two laps left and kicked off the long series of overtime restarts. Until then, Denny Hamlin engaged in a heated battle with Ross Chastain and Kyle Larson. Yet even during that intense fight, he predicted the tumultuous outcomes that were to follow. “I knew once they started one, it was gonna be lots of them…just the way that everyone’s going into turn 1 and everyone sliding, and beating and banging. I knew that we were cooked. I thought we were cooked after the first of them.” 

This severely affected pit strategies, as Denny Hamlin and others were running low on gas. Yet nobody dared to pit as it would automatically cost them a chance to win. Hence, Hamlin decided to ride it out till his fuel needle dropped. “We ran as long as we did. I was assembling when we came into the box…We were fine with running it out. We had pit other times before…the given situation was fine, like (we had to) run the tank out and we did.”

Eventually, Denny Hamlin’s fuel and luck ran out on the third restart. Joey Logano somehow survived on his gas tank, and his car sputtered just across the finish line. He almost admitted defeat to a strong rival who was close on his heels.

23XI star driver despairs

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With the Cup heavyweights relegated out of contention, Joey Logano seemed poised to grab the win easily. But Denny Hamlin’s driver laid out a thorny path for him. Even though Hamlin lagged outside the top ten, he almost had a chance to celebrate at Nashville, thanks to 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick. The #45 driver suddenly charged to the front row, toppling the other drivers, and in the end, faced off with Logano.

Reddick was the only one among 11 drivers lined up for the fifth overtime restart to have won this season. And he looked ready to bag his second win, hoping to take advantage of the No. 22’s dwindling fuel tank. But alas, Logano made it till the checkered flag, and Reddick despaired post-race. “All the good cars ran out of fuel, and we were in position to pass (Logano). He hadn’t been good all day long, and I didn’t get the job done.” Finishing 3rd behind Zane Smith, Reddick was trying his best to calm down. “I’m trying my best, but it’s tough. I’m trying to keep it cool at the moment. I’m really upset about how that ended.”

Anyway, the 23XI Racing driver should be able to shine in the following races. For now, we are glad that Joey Logano finally broke his winless streak and entered the playoffs.