Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held on in a two-lap dash to the checkered flag for his first Cup win since the 2023 Daytona 500. He is third non-playoff driver to win in the first five races of the playoffs. Stenhouse becomes the 18th different winner this year, collecting his fourth career victory in the Cup Series.
He crossed the line just 0.006s ahead of Brad Keselowski who finished second and 0.027s clear of William Byron who finished third.
“Felt really good,” said Stenhouse, who proceeded to climb the fence and jump into the flagstand after his winner’s interview. “We had our Chevy teammates behind us. I was hoping Kyle [Larson] wasn’t going to push the 6 [Keselowski] that hard. I knew the 24 [Byron] was probably going to try and get to the line there but this team has put a lot of hard work in. Obviously, we haven’t won since the [Daytona] 500 in ’23. It’s been an up-and-down season. A lot of hard work this season just trying to find a little bit of speed. We knew that this track is one of ours to come get.”
The driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet also took a moment to mention those affected by the devastating hurricane that caused unprecedented damage to Western North Carolina.
“Got to say we’re thinking about everybody in Western North Carolina. Brad Daugherty (JTG co-owner), his family right where he grew up there in Black Mountain, a lot of people are struggling. I wish my wife and son, Stetson, were here. They didn’t come this weekend. I’ll see you all at home, and man, what I day.”
Larson was fourth and Erik Jones finished fifth for his best result of the 2024 season. Christopher Bell, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Bubba Wallace, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-ten.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr, JTG Daugherty Racing, Kroger Health/Palmolive Chevrolet Camaro
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
It was a fairly clean race until later on. After serving a pass-through penalty for unapproved adjustments before the race, Daniel Suarez spun out and remained trapped off the lead lap for the remainder of the race.
Chris Buescher ended up winning the opening stage in a clean run to the line. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for the finish to Stage 2.
While Austin Cindric approached the line to collect the green-and-white checkered flag, Ryan Blaney got turned in the middle of the pack. He shot across the track and made heavy contact with Ross Chastain, ending both of their days.
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