Las Vegas Motor Speedway wasn’t the best place to be a NASCAR Chevy driver in the Playoffs. On October 20th, 2024, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson had a suboptimal race, but William Byron is still keeping The Bow Tie brand’s hopes of winning the 2024 title alive.
Elliott’s No. 9 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 was swept up in a crash involving the No. 45 Toyota TRD Camry of Tyler Reddick and the No. 12 Ford Mustang Dark Horse of Ryan Blaney. Elliott’s race car was shoved into Reddick’s side, unleashing a chain reaction that saw the No. 6 Mustang of Brad Keselowski into the wall and Reddick’s race car rolling down the front stretch. Elliott was able to return to the race, but he finished 33rd after multiple visits to Pit Road to address the crash damage.
Larson’s No. 5 NASCAR Chevy finished 11th after a bad pit stop put him off the lead lap. Even so, he’s second in the points standings, and though he didn’t have the success he was hoping for at Vegas, he’s 35 points above the cutoff line. Byron is currently in fourth place – his No. 24 Camaro team is 27 points ahead of Denny Hamlin in fifth place. He finished fourth at Vegas.
Daniel Suarez, driver of the No. 99 Camaro, gambled on fuel mileage in an attempt to win. He pitted 35 laps ahead of the leaders in the final round of pit stops, hoping his race car would have enough left in the tank to win at Vegas. At one point, he had a 24-second lead over the second-place car, but he lost the lead late in the race to Joey Logano’s No. 22 Mustang. Suarez ultimately finished third, behind the No. 20 Camry of Christopher Bell and Logano up front.
NASCAR Chevy driver Austin Dillon finished dead last after his No. 3 Camaro hammered the wall in Turn 3 in a single-car incident.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Pennzoil Ford | 267 | 6 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 2 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Rheem Toyota | 267 | 155 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 23 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 267 | 57 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 9 | 24 | William Byron (P) | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 267 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 3 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 12 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 267 | 7 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 4 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | Yahoo! Toyota | 267 | 4 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 9 | 26 | 42 | John Hunter Nemechek | Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 10 | 22 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Castrol Edge Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 11 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 267 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 19 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos/U.S. Air Force Toyota | 267 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 20 | 8 | Kyle Busch | FICO Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 14 | 35 | 51 | Corey LaJoie | Mighty Fire Breaker Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 15 | 31 | 21 | Harrison Burton | DEX Imaging Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 16 | 14 | 71 | Zane Smith # | Focused Health Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 16 | 7 | Justin Haley | Gainbridge Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 21 | 10 | Noah Gragson | Fanttik Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 19 | 33 | 31 | Daniel Hemric | South Point Hotel and Casino Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 21 | 36 | 15 | Cody Ware | Evel Knievel-Parts Plus/Pronto Ford | 267 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 22 | 32 | 41 | Ryan Preece | Bonanza Cabernet Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 23 | 6 | 77 | Carson Hocevar # | Delaware Life Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 28 | 4 | Josh Berry # | Mobil 1 Take 5 Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 25 | 27 | 43 | Erik Jones | Massey Motor Freight Toyota | 266 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 26 | 24 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Texas A&M University Ford | 266 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 27 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Scott Brand Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 29 | 84 | * Jimmie Johnson | Dollar Tree/Family Dollar Toyota | 265 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 29 | 34 | 16 | Shane Van Gisbergen(i) | Wendy's Spicy Chicken Chevrolet | 265 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 8 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Monster Energy Toyota | 264 | 23 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 31 | 30 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | gener8tor Ford | 263 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 32 | 37 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Great Stuff Ford | 259 | 4 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 33 | 18 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 230 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 11 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Autotrader Ford | 96 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 35 | 2 | 45 | Tyler Reddick (P) | Jordan Brand Toyota | 89 | 9 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 17 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 89 | 0 | Ford Mustang Dark Horse |
| 37 | 13 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Boot Barn Chevrolet | 61 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
Comment
I was on the edge of my seat when the race was moving because I made several bets, so every lap was twice as interesting. I couldn’t look away from the screen. Even if my bets didn’t pay off, the race was worth it.