Hendrick Motorsports continued its run as the team to beat in 2024 as Chase Elliott snapped his 42-race winless streak with a victory in the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. The flagman got a workout waving the yellow flag, with 16 cautions taking up 72 of the race’s 276 laps.
The cautions gave teams multiple opportunities to flip track position through pit strategy, which worked out for some but not so much for others. Here is how pit stops and strategy shaped the outcome in The Lone Star State.
Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr. Sidetracked by Loose Tires
After earning his third straight pole award, Kyle Larson established himself as a favorite to pick up his second checkered flag of 2024. Larson backed up his qualifying effort, leading 77 laps early in the race and winning stage one.
All of a sudden, the trajectory of Larson’s race changed on lap 116 when under caution, Larson’s right rear wheel fell off of his No. 5 Chevrolet. By rule, since the wheel came off on the racetrack, NASCAR assessed a two-lap penalty to Larson on pit road. While Larson got back on the lead lap, he never seriously contended the rest of the race, spinning late to fall to a 21st-place finish.
On the radio, Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels described what happened to the wheel as “super odd,” having something to do with the lug nut not being entirely tight. The loose wheel marks a rare lapse in execution by the No. 5 pit crew that will result in a two-week suspension for two No. 5 crew members per NASCAR’s rulebook. It will be interesting to see how the No. 5 team fares on pit road for the next two weeks without a couple of their primary members.
As the saying goes, misery loves company, and Larson was not alone on the list of contenders to have loose tire issues. Martin Truex Jr. appeared to be on his way to a solid top-10, if not top-five, finish when he had to come back down pit road under green on lap 219 to tighten up a loose left-rear wheel.
FOX Sports showed the replay on their broadcast, and it was clear that the rear tire changer did not get…
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