2024 USA Today 301 explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 18 of 36 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	USA Today 301
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9]
Year:	2024
Location:	New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire
Course Mi:	1.058
Course Km:	1.703
Distance Laps:	305
Distance Mi:	322.69
Distance Km:	519.415
Scheduled Laps:	301
Scheduled Mi:	318.458
Scheduled Km:	512.603
Avg:	84.832mph
Pole Driver:	Chase Elliott
Pole Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Pole Time:	3.250 (Pandemic Formula)
Most Driver:	Christopher Bell
Most Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most Laps:	149
Car:	20
First Driver:	Christopher Bell
First Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Network:	USA
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Ratings:	1.0 (1.88 million)
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice and Mark Garrow
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2024 USA Today 301 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on June 23, 2024, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 305 laps -- extended from 301 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 1.058miles speedway, it was the 18th race of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Christopher Bell won the race, his 9th career win, and his 3rd of the 2024 season. Chase Briscoe finished 2nd, and Josh Berry finished 3rd, matching his career-best finish. Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher rounded out the top five, and Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemechek, Martin Truex Jr., and Ross Chastain rounded out the top ten.

Report

Background

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058miles oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6miles road course, which includes much of the oval.

The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Manufacturer
1		Chevrolet
2		Ford
3		Chevrolet
4	Josh Berry (R)	Ford
5		Chevrolet
6		Ford
7		Chevrolet
8		Chevrolet
9		Chevrolet
10		Ford
11		Toyota
12		Ford
14		Ford
15	Kaz Grala (R)	Ford
16	Ty Dillon (i)	Chevrolet
17		Ford
19		Toyota
20		Toyota
21		Ford
22		Ford
23		Toyota
24		Chevrolet
31		Chevrolet
34		Ford
38		Ford
41		Ford
42		Toyota
43		Toyota
45		Toyota
47		Chevrolet
48		Chevrolet
51		Ford
54		Toyota
71	Zane Smith (R)	Chevrolet
77	Carson Hocevar (R)	Chevrolet
99		Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Carson Hocevar was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.865 seconds and a speed of 127.534mph.^[10]

Practice results

Pos		Driver	Time
1	77	Carson Hocevar (R)	29.865	127.534
2	34		29.917	127.312
3	6		29.940	127.214
Official practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying for the race was cancelled due to inclement weather. Chase Elliott will start on the pole was awarded the pole for the race as a result of NASCAR's pandemic formula with a score of 3.250^[11]

Starting lineup

Pos		Driver	Manufacturer
1	9		Chevrolet
2	12		Ford
3	24		Chevrolet
4	20		Toyota
5	48		Chevrolet
6	22		Ford
7	19		Toyota
8	1		Chevrolet
9	6		Ford
10	4	Josh Berry (R)	Ford
11	99		Chevrolet
12	45		Toyota
13	47		Chevrolet
14	11		Toyota
15	17		Ford
16	38		Ford
17	23		Toyota
18	54		Toyota
19	5		Chevrolet
20	77	Carson Hocevar (R)	Chevrolet
21	10		Ford
22	3		Chevrolet
23	14		Ford
24	51		Ford
25	34		Ford
26	7		Chevrolet
27	21		Ford
28	42		Toyota
29	2		Ford
30	8		Chevrolet
31	41		Ford
32	43		Toyota
33	31		Chevrolet
34	71	Zane Smith (R)	Chevrolet
35	15	Kaz Grala (R)	Ford
36	16	Ty Dillon (i)	Chevrolet
Official starting lineup

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage OneLaps: 70

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	8
4	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	7
5	4	Josh Berry (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	3
9	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	2
10	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 115

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	10
2	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	9
3	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	8
4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	7
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	6
6	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	5
7	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	4	Josh Berry (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	2
10	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage results

Stage ThreeLaps: 116

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	4	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	305	57
2	23	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	305	35
3	10	4	Josh Berry (R)	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	305	43
4	19	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	305	37
5	15	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	305	32
6	12	45	Tyler Reddick	23XI Racing	Toyota	305	33
7	13	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	305	30
8	28	42	John Hunter Nemechek	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	305	29
9	7	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	305	42
10	8	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	305	31
11	31	41	Ryan Preece	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	305	26
12	16	38	Todd Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	305	30
13	32	43	Erik Jones	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	305	24
14	27	21	Harrison Burton	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	305	23
15	25	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	305	22
16	18	54	Ty Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	305	21
17	20	77	Carson Hocevar (R)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	305	20
18	1	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	305	29
19	29	2	Austin Cindric	Team Penske	Ford	305	18
20	36	16	Ty Dillon (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	305	0
21	11	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing	Chevrolet	305	16
22	35	15	Kaz Grala (R)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	305	15
23	26	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	305	14
24	14	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	305	27
25	2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	305	25
26	3	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	305	11
27	21	10	Noah Gragson	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	305	10
28	9	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	305	9
29	24	51	Justin Haley	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	305	8
30	35	71	Zane Smith (R)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	304	7
31	33	31	Daniel Hemric	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	303	6
32	6	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	305	22
33	22	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	268	4
34	17	23	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	265	3
35	30	8	Kyle Busch	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	222	2
36	5	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	142	2
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 6 among 5 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 14 for 85
Red flags: 1 for 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 49 seconds
Time of race: 3 hours, 48 minutes, and 14 seconds
Average speed: 84.832mph

Media

Television

USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, four-time and all-time Loudon winner Jeff Burton, and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman, and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field races down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from turns 1 & 2 and Pat Patterson called the race from turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Alan Cavanna handled the duties on pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
1	1	Kyle Larson	620
1	2	Chase Elliott	620 (–0)
	3	Denny Hamlin	580 (–40)
1	4	Martin Truex Jr.	572 (–48)
1	5	Tyler Reddick	560 (–60)
2	6	Christopher Bell	555 (–65)
3	7	William Byron	548 (–72)
1	8	Ryan Blaney	526 (–94)
1	9	Ross Chastain	510 (–110)
1	10		507 (–113)
	11	Ty Gibbs	499 (–121)
	12	Alex Bowman	476 (–144)
	13	Chris Buescher	467 (–153)
1	14	Joey Logano	430 (–190)
1	15	Bubba Wallace	417 (–203)
1	16	Chase Briscoe	405 (–215)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	650
2	Toyota	647 (–3)
3	Ford	623 (–27)

Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

. – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.

Notes and References

Web site: 2024 schedule . Jayski.com. . October 3, 2023.
Web site: New Hampshire Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. June 5, 2022. January 3, 2013. May 2, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170502073112/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/new-hampshire-motor-speedway.html. dead.
News: NASCAR Cup Series 2024 schedule announcement: New additions, race dates, plus the complete calendar. Taranto, Steven . October 4, 2023 . April 21, 2024 . CBS Broadcasting Inc.
News: NASCAR unveils 2024 Cup schedule as Atlanta, Watkins Glen move to playoffs . October 4, 2023 . April 21, 2024 . National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC.
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 17, 2024. June 17, 2024.
Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 22, 2024. June 22, 2024.
Web site: Starting Lineup. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 22, 2024. June 22, 2024.
Web site: USA TODAY 301 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 23, 2024. June 23, 2024.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. June 23, 2024. June 23, 2024.
Web site: Utter. Jim. NASCAR Cup NHMS: Hocevar leads brief practice; Sunday start time changed. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. June 22, 2024. Loudon, New Hampshire. June 22, 2024.
Web site: Utter. Jim. NASCAR Cup NHMS: Qualifying rained out; Chase Elliott on pole. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. June 22, 2024. Loudon, New Hampshire. June 22, 2024.