• 2 months ago
Relive the 2024 Bristol Night Race that saw one driver dominate and several drivers fighting to advance in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs at the 'The Last Great Colosseum.'
Transcript
00:00As the saying goes, it's Bristol, baby, so let's go!
00:17Alex Bowman continues his amazing playoff run, he has been stoic in the face of criticism
00:25and the Hendrick man leads this race early.
00:32Christopher Bell up on that higher line and tucks back in behind William Byron.
00:38Martin Truex Jr, fellas, this is a must-do, must-win, must-have-a-great-result night.
00:43You see how aggressive he is, he saw a hole he could drive into to keep from getting blocked
00:47in the outside, he immediately took it from William Byron.
00:53Caution is out.
00:54Yellow, yellow, yellow.
00:55Yellow is out.
00:56John Hunter, he was having issues down the back straightaway.
01:02Looks like a left rear tire may be low.
01:05He got really loose, ended up spinning out.
01:09And look at that, yeah, look at that rod rear.
01:13He had trouble off of two.
01:16He had trouble off of two and then ultimately, whatever happened to the car, spun contact.
01:23A pretty significant contact, too.
01:28Right there, it looks like all the tires are still inflated.
01:30I was trying to see if that right rear might have gone down beforehand.
01:33Oh, right there.
01:35What do we got there?
01:36A little contact.
01:38Hard to tell what.
01:40Oh, man, he's still chasing it, isn't he, Jeff?
01:42Yeah, they got stacked up.
01:43I think he got really high in one and two and got up against the wall and, you know,
01:49maybe cut a tire, maybe damage the right rear toe link, something.
01:52We're getting ready for the restart.
01:54Lights are out on the pace car as it ducks down.
01:57Back down onto the apron.
01:59Let's get this thing going again after an early caution caused by John Hunter.
02:03It's Hendrick Motorsports up the front.
02:05Martin Truex Jr.
02:06Takes the fight to Kyle Larson.
02:09Again, pops out three wide about five rows back, gets back in line, gets organized.
02:14This is 77 on the low side.
02:16Carson Hosovar, the 21-year-old following on from his top three result last weekend
02:21at Watkins Glen in the Spire Motorsports Chevy.
02:24Unreal qualified on the front row at Darlington.
02:27And here he is running at the front of the field, Jeff, in Bristol.
02:30Awesome.
02:30But Larson is only 26 above coming into this race.
02:33He has not had the smoothest playoffs as well.
02:36So these 10 playoff points will definitely be a little bit of insurance.
02:40A little bit of insurance, no guarantees, but a little pressure off.
02:44Cliff Daniels, Kyle Larson and the five team.
02:46Half a mile to go.
02:47Less than that until the end of stage one.
02:51And this will be the 11th stage win this year for the five of Kyle Larson.
02:58That was convincing.
03:00That was a statement.
03:02His teammate Alex Bowman follows him across Christopher Bell.
03:06That was a really solid first stage as well.
03:09To everybody who has entered that already.
03:12Now, while we're away, got the news from Race Control.
03:15There's been a penalty handed to Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs.
03:21He had a really solid opening stage, but this is going to hurt the playoff driver.
03:25Let's go.
03:26Stage two.
03:27On the inside, that bright yellow and black number 20 Christopher Bell
03:31puts the pressure to Kyle Larson.
03:34Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr.
03:36That light blue and white car.
03:38We haven't spoken much about William Byron.
03:43Been a source of frustration for Byron that he's never led laps here,
03:47never had a pole, never won.
03:48He said, I'd love one of those dominant cars, Jeff,
03:51at Bristol where I could be the guy up the front.
03:53And so much more fun when you're out front rather than being in this mess.
03:56A little contact.
03:58Bubba Wallace.
04:02We haven't really spoken a lot about Bubba.
04:04He, too, was in the top ten, pretty much all of stage one.
04:08As we take you back to something that just transpired.
04:10Watch that black car high up.
04:1254 in heavy traffic.
04:13It's squeezed right here between two cars.
04:16Remember, the penalty for the 54 was tail end of the field.
04:20He had to line up behind the lap down cars as well.
04:23And this is what happens.
04:24I mean, look at the craziness, beating and banging.
04:27And why?
04:28Because you said it.
04:29Larson is coming.
04:30Larson's four cars behind him.
04:32But there's a caution out.
04:34Caution is out.
04:36And the man who locked himself in at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Joey Logano.
04:42Maybe a flat.
04:47What caused this?
04:49Some damage to the nose, but not super severe.
04:52We'll see if he can get around without more damage because of the flat tire.
04:55He's running 12th.
04:58Started 22nd, up to 12th.
05:02Oh, contact there.
05:05Can't tell from that angle whether there's contact from behind or I still can't really
05:09tell.
05:10Either way, he gets just kind of spit out of line.
05:13I think that was a slow car.
05:14Josh Balicki in the top lane and Ryan Priest was in there.
05:26So how bad is this race car, Steve?
05:28It's really hard to tell.
05:29Obviously, tires are flat.
05:32I feel like we haven't really spoken much about Rennick tonight.
05:36He started in 15th.
05:38And a strategy play there as we go back to racing with just a few laps to go.
05:44Two laps to go here in Bristol Motor Speedway in the second stage.
05:48And look at the effect of those new tires.
05:50I'm shocked.
05:50I thought it would fire off quicker than that, but easily the 19 goes by.
05:54Now the 45 up the hill tries to shut the lane off for the 20.
05:59I think he has a chance.
06:00He has a half a lap now to just kind of almost stay side by side with the 11.
06:03Jeff is the goal.
06:04Not allow a third lane for Christopher Bell out front.
06:06Larson's going to win the stage.
06:09Stage one and stage two for Kyle Larson.
06:13No worries there.
06:15And how did it work out for Tyler Rennick?
06:17Comes in behind one of his team owners in fourth place.
06:22Check this out.
06:24Chase Briscoe in the middle of running.
06:26Chase Briscoe in the middle of Ryan Truex and Denny Hamlin.
06:32That's got the attention of James Small.
06:34Look at the eyes wide open of the crew chief of the 19.
06:38Well, look at the points.
06:39Look what happens.
06:39Truex is only two points to the good.
06:42They both get by.
06:43Watch what happens.
06:45Chase Elliott has a front row seat.
06:46He's trying to figure out which line to follow.
06:49I always vote top.
06:50I like the top line.
06:51I think it has the momentum.
06:52You have the least amount of risk.
06:54Chase Briscoe and the courage of conviction.
06:58He said, forget whether I just won Darlington and I got in and you counted me out.
07:02I'm not the underdog.
07:03I can win this thing.
07:05I feel like Denny Hamlin.
07:06He was in the middle of that.
07:07I feel like he didn't want any parts of that.
07:09Yeah.
07:09You know, he looked like he backed up to me.
07:12Just did not want to be in the situation where he was three wide.
07:16And he's going to potentially give that spot up to chase Elliott because of it.
07:22Elliott runs high.
07:24Look at this.
07:26So while Kyle Larson is more than three seconds out in the lead, second, third,
07:31fourth and fifth are all together.
07:34Throw in sixth place.
07:35Ryan Blaney as well.
07:38Caution is out.
07:39And it's the seven of Corey Lejoy.
07:43Having such a good night.
07:47He was running at 11th.
07:49Qualified in the top 10.
07:51Right.
07:56This is his final drive for Spire Motorsports before transitioning to Rickwear racing for
08:03next week's race in Kansas.
08:04Let's show you how it went down for Lejoy.
08:08Kind of in the middle there.
08:11Oh, man.
08:12Josh Berry.
08:14Contact with Josh Berry from that angle.
08:16It's hard to tell.
08:17I mean, definite contact, but I can't really tell.
08:20It's late in the corner to know who's climbing, who's going.
08:23I'm sure there's way more to it than that.
08:25Probably starts even earlier.
08:27And we're going to see it.
08:28It gets loose.
08:29Yeah, it gets loose and loses momentum.
08:33See right there is loose.
08:34And I think you get slow.
08:36And Josh Berry just doesn't get slowed up and gets into the back of him.
08:41Sorry, guys.
08:43As we welcome you back to Bristol, if you are a Martin Truex Jr.
08:47fan and this Bass Pro Shops Toyota, we don't have good news for you.
08:53He just apologized to his team on the radio.
08:56He got caught speeding on Pitt Road.
08:58The night was going so well.
09:01One of the big headline stories was, can Denny Hamlin win three here at Bristol in a row?
09:06Can Denny Hamlin drive his way into the round of 12?
09:09Larson gets a terrific restart.
09:12Here comes his teammate Chase Elliott in the red car around the outside.
09:15Elliott has been spectacular tonight and just sneaking his way forward through the
09:20top ten.
09:21There goes Bubba Wallace right around Denny Hamlin as well.
09:24Christopher Bell lining up.
09:26Ryan Blaney in the mix, too.
09:31Wow, look at this.
09:32This started on the back straightaway.
09:34Suarez is angry.
09:37Suarez and Eric Jones.
09:39Suarez isn't out of this.
09:40He needs to be.
09:41What the hell was that all about?
09:42Watch this.
09:43This happened on the back straightaway.
09:46Eric Jones just comes across the nose of Suarez, and Suarez is mad.
09:56I'm not real sure how he didn't spin him out there.
09:58He was trying pretty hard.
10:01Daniel's trying to stay alive in the playoffs, and he is walking a really delicate line right
10:09now.
10:09There's some big numbers being racked up here tonight under the lines at Bristol.
10:14Ten to go from here.
10:15Ten to go, and your physical fitness is at a test.
10:1841 minutes of green flag racing.
10:2041 minutes of 16-second laps.
10:23Basically four seconds on the straightaway, and you're into the high banks again.
10:26Vertical loading.
10:27Jeff, I know these drivers are fit, and the seats are custom-made.
10:30The headrests are there, but this has to be a mental and physical challenge as the 54
10:35is shoving the 43 out of the way.
10:38He had that huge crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway to begin the playoffs.
10:43It wasn't a great Watkins Glen either, and just recently on the radio, he said to Cliff
10:48Daniels, I'm trying to get to the white flag as quickly as I can.
10:51Well, that white flag has come, and Kyle Larson is on his way home.
10:58It has been a stellar first-class performance under the lights in Bristol.
11:03Kyle Larson is the man.
11:07Cliff Daniels says, there you go.
11:09You took care of business.
11:10And we give you the updated playoff standings.
11:12Yeah, now there are 12.
11:1416 entered, 12 survive.
11:16Austin Cintric, a great first round.
11:19He's going to need a repeat performance, much like Alex Volman.
11:22Those two below the cut line, as well as Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe.

Recommended