While a pair of Fords and a Toyota dominated the Cup Series race at Gateway on June 2nd, 2024, the NASCAR Chevy teams struggled. In fact, Austin Dillon, driver of the No. 3 Chevy Camaro ZL1, led The Bow Tie’s efforts on Sunday, flashing across the line in sixth place overall.
On the other end of the spectrum, two NASCAR Chevy drivers tangled at the end of Stage 2. Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Camaro, and Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 8 Camaro, made contact. Larson bounced off and was able to continue, while Busch’s race car was junked and was unable to finish the race.
“Looked like [Larson] got loose, I guess,” Busch said after being released from the infield care center. “He was on older tires and trying to get us for a spot. Not sure what that single point was going to mean for him, but certainly hurt us a lot… very frustrated. We can’t afford days like that. The Rebel Camaro wasn’t what it was last year, but it was a top 10 car, and we were going to finish there.”
Larson had a different point of view, saying, “I think every point is important for everybody in the field. Even guys at the front of the field like myself, you know, we’re trying to win the regular season championship and those 15 bonus points go a long way.”
Busch wound up 35th, while Larson finished 10th. Up front, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse led to the last lap when he ran out of gas and opened the door for Austin Cindric’s No. 2 Mustang to win.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 240 | 53 | Ford Mustang |
2 | 6 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Yahoo! Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
3 | 7 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Solomon Plumbing Ford | 240 | 17 | Ford Mustang |
4 | 5 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | SiriusXM Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
5 | 12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 240 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
6 | 18 | 3 | Austin Dillon | DOW/Rivers are Life Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
7 | 4 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DEWALT Toyota | 240 | 80 | Toyota TRD Supra |
8 | 20 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
9 | 21 | 51 | Justin Haley | MotoRad Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
10 | 13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 240 | 7 | Chevrolet Camaro |
11 | 9 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
12 | 16 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Busch Light Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
13 | 17 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
14 | 26 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Travel Centers of America Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 11 | 24 | William Byron | Valvoline Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
16 | 35 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Ruedebusch Ford | 240 | 6 | Ford Mustang |
17 | 23 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Overstock.com Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
18 | 28 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | Poppy Bank Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
19 | 36 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
20 | 24 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger Health/Oikos Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
21 | 8 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 240 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
22 | 27 | 10 | Noah Gragson | SERVPRO Ford | 240 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
23 | 31 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Choice Privileges Chevrolet | 240 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
24 | 3 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 240 | 20 | Ford Mustang |
25 | 1 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Siteman Cancer Center Ford | 239 | 40 | Ford Mustang |
26 | 22 | 43 | Erik Jones | Family Dollar Toyota | 239 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
27 | 33 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Bommarito.com Toyota | 239 | 0 | Toyota TRD Supra |
28 | 14 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
29 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Overstock.com Ford | 239 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
30 | 25 | 16 | Derek Kraus | Kafka Conveyors Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
31 | 30 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 239 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
32 | 15 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Chili's Catch-a-Rita Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro |
33 | 34 | 15 | Cody Ware | Jacob Construction Ford | 238 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
34 | 19 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 237 | 1 | Toyota TRD Supra |
35 | 10 | 8 | Kyle Busch | Rebel Bourbon Chevrolet | 139 | 15 | Chevrolet Camaro |
36 | 29 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Overstock.com Ford | 109 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comment
Larsen needs to cool his jets a bit, and think big picture, and Busch needs to cool his temper, and think big picture. That incident(s) hurt them both.