Drivers Who Were Good to the Last Drop of Fuel at Nashville

After an incredible five overtimes, Joey Logano got out ahead of the chaos to take home the guitar as winner of the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Logano emerged victorious by squeezing every last ounce of fuel out of his No. 22 Team Penske Ford, one of several drivers to come out on the right end of an intricate web of pit strategy. Let’s see who sung a happy or sad tune at the end of a long day in the Music City.

Winners

Joey Logano

Logano made his final trip to pit road all the way back on lap 220 of what turned out to be a 331-lap race. From there, No. 22 crew chief Paul Wolfe rolled the dice by keeping Logano on the racetrack for overtime after overtime after overtime, stretching the 20-gallon tank for 111 laps.

Getting that kind of fuel mileage at a 1.33-mile racetrack at Nashville is impressive, especially as other drivers who pitted on lap 220 ran out of fuel left and right. In fact, only one other driver who pitted on lap 220 was able to make it to the end on fuel.

Noah Gragson

Starting 16th, Gragson hung out around the teens in the running order for most of the race, snagging the final point of stage two by passing Ty Gibbs for 10th. Gragson took the checkered flag in that same spot, dodging the wrecks around him and stretching his fuel tank the same distance as Logano.

Coincidentally, both Logano and Gragson drive Fords, albeit for different race teams. Have the blue ovals figured something out to get better fuel mileage than Chevrolet and Toyota?

Zane Smith

Smith, driver of the No. 71 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, finished second, one spot short of causing a seismic shakeup to the Cup Series playoff picture. Nonetheless, it is by far the best finish of Smith’s young Cup Series career, with a previous high mark of 10th in last year’s Coca-Cola 600.

How did he get there? Smith pitted a little later than Logano and Gragson, taking tires and fuel on lap 244, making it 87 laps to the end. Between savvy fuel savings and high levels of attrition, Smith and crew chief Stephan Doran made all the rights moves to finish 34 spots higher than they started.

This should be a big morale boost for a No. 71 team that currently sits last among full-time Cup Series teams in points.

Losers

Chase Elliott

As the laps wound down, it looked as though Elliott and the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet team were on…