The Cup Series returns to racing after a week off with NBC taking over the broadcasting duties.  Doing some Sunday night racing, the Cup Series will run the Ally 400.  There will be no more weekend breaks for the Cup Series drivers until the end of the season in 20 weeks.

Not only do the drivers get nearly a full hour of practice, they get three sets of tires to do it.

Kyle Busch spun ut and made a run through the grass but didn’t hit anything during practice.

NASCAR has announced that the Cup Series race on Sunday night is a sellout.

For the Cup Series, the 36 drivers are divided into two groups with the top five drivers from each group moving on to a second round to run for the pole.

The first driver on the track is Brennan Poole who just came from making a qualifying run for the Xfinity Series race.  He posts a time of 30,544 seconds.

Tyler Reddick is the first driver to break the 30 mark with a time of 29,820 seconds around the concrete track.  Reddick also led practice on Friday with the fastest laps.

Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Justin Haley, and Kyle Larson will all move on from Group A to make a run for the pole.

Noah Gragson is the first driver on the track from Group B and posted a time of 30.480 seconds.

Denny Hamlin is the first driver in Group B to break the 30 second mark with a time of 29.891 seconds.

Corey LaJoie gets loose and hits the wall before ending up in the grass coming off of turn four to finish his qualifying run.

Out of Group B, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Martin Truex Jr will all move on to round two of qualifying.  Joey Logano is the only Ford driver in the top 10.

The first driver on the track from the top 10 is Kyle Larson who posts a time of 30.051 seconds.

Ross Chastain is the first driver to break the 30 mark in the top 10 with a time of 29.797 seconds.

Daniel Suarez gets loose and slams into the wall coming to the green flag.  He gets the car moving again and takes it to pit road.

Bubba Wallace gets loose on turn four and spins out but keeps it off the wall before getting into the grass.

With a time of 29.797 seconds “Melon Man” Ross Chastain puts his number one car on the pole for his first career pole and the first pole for Trackhouse Racing.

Racing on the road course at Mid Ohio Trackhouse Racing co-owner Justin Marks finished third driving in a Trans Am.

The starting lineup for the Ally 400:
Ross Chastain
Tyler Reddick
Justin Haley
Joey Logano
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Kyle Larson
Denny Hamlin
Bubba Wallace
Daniel Suarez
Kyle Busch
Chris Buescher
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
Alex Bowman
Ty Gibbs
Kevin Harvick
Chase Briscoe
AJ Allmendinger
Brad Keselowski
Aric Almirola
Christopher Bell
Erik Jones
Austin Cindric
Ryan Preece
Austin Dillon
Todd Gilliland
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
JJ Yeley
Noah Gragson
Harrison Burton
Brannan Poole
Michael McDowell
Ty Dillon
Josh Bilicki
Corey LaJoie

When the green flag drops, Bubba Wallace will reach a milestone with Cup Series start number 200.

After crashing his car during qualifying, Daniel Suarez will start the race from the back of the field in a backup car.  Corey LaJoie will also start the race from the back of the field after a qualifying crash.

Kyle Larson’s number five car failed the pre-race inspection process twice; as a result he has lost his choice of pit stall and has had a crew member ejected for the remainder of the weekend.

Stage one is 90 laps, stage two is 95 laps, and stage three lasts 115 laps for a total of 300 laps around the mile and a third concrete track.

Ross Chastain brings the field down for the green flag start of the race before a sell out crowd with Tyler Reddick alongside.  The “Melon Man” gets out in front for the lead with Reddick in second. 

Lap two, Ross Chastain has a third of a second lead on Tyler Reddick; Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr, and Justin Haley round out the top five.

Justin Haley is having an issue with his car and has dropped to sixth.

Lap five, Ross Chastain – the Melon Man – holds on to a third of a second lead over Tyler Reddick; Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr, and William Byron round out the top five.  Bubba Wallace and boss manDenny Hamlin battle for seventh.

Lap eight, Tyler Reddick has caught up to leader Ross Chastain; but so far Chastain is holding him off.  Chastain reports that he is a three out of five tight.

Justin Haley reports that he is “tight on landing”.

Originally scheduled for an 8pm start, the race was moved up an hour for a 7pm start due to inclement weather in the area.  As a result, the drivers will be in the heat and sun for a longer period of time.

Lap 13, Ross Chastain holds on to a third of a second lead on Tyler Reddick; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Joey Logano round out the top five.

Kyle Larson is also reporting a tight condition in his car.

Lap 16, Kyle Busch had to make an unscheduled trip down pit road for a tire issue.  He drops from 10th to 36th – one lap down.

Lap 22, Ross Chastain holds on to the lead with Tyler Reddick in second; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 27, Ross Chastain has led every lap so far with Tyler Reddick in second; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.  Kyle Busch is the only car not on the lead lap after having to stop for a tire issue.

Ryan Blaney reports is reporting a bad brake shake issue.

Lap 29, Ross Chastain has increased his lead to over half a second on Tyler Reddick.

Lap 31, there are 34 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 32, Melon Man Ross Chastain has a near one second lead on Tyler Reddick; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 38, Ross Chastain continues to lead the race by over half a second over Tyler Reddick; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five with 30 cars on the lead lap.

 Lap 43, Martin Truex Jr is the first driver to start the cycle of green flag pit stops.

Lap 44, Ross Chastain makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over to William Byron.

Lap 45, William Byron makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Chase Elliott.

Chase Elliott makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Alex Bowman.

Michael McDowell has to serve a passthrough penalty for a commitment cone violation.

Alex Bowman makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Daniel Suarez.

Daniel Suarez comes down pit road and gives the lead over to Ty Dillon.  He is the only driver who has yet to make a pit stop.

Lap 51, Ty Dillon  makes his pit stop to complete the cycle and gives the lead back to Ross Chastain.

Lap 55, Ross Chastain has a half second lead on Tyler Reddick; William Byron, Martin Truex Jr, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.  There are 26 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 59, Ross Chastain battles with Noah Gragson who is fighting to stay on the lead lap.  The battle has allowed Tyler Reddick to come up and make it a three way battle.

Lap 61, Tyler Reddick comes up on the outside to pass Ross Chastain for the lead.

Lap 64, Tyler Reddick has a lead of two tenths of a second on Ross Chastain; William, Martin Truex Jr, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.  After being a lap down for an early tire issue, Kyle Busch is back in the top 10 in sixth place.

Martin Truex Jr reports that he is loose and the balance isn’t right.

Lap 69, Ross Chastain comes up to battle with Tyler Reddick for the lead; but Reddick holds on to the lead.

Lap 77, Tyler Reddick holds on to his two tenths of a second lead on Ross Chastain; William Byron, Martin Truex Jr, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.  Christopher Bell and Corey LaJoie have advanced eleven places since the start of the race.

Lap 80, Tyler Reddick has increased his lead to nearly half a second on Ross Chastain.

After starting in fourth place, Joey Logano has dropped to 22nd place.

Lap 82, Tyler Reddick now has a one second lead on Ross Chastain.

Six laps remain in stage one with Tyler Reddick over a second out in front of Ross Chastain; William Byron, Martin Truex Jr,  and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Kyle Busch reports that “the steering sucks”.

Lap 87, Ross Chastain has closed the gap on leader Tyler Reddick to under half a second.

Tyler Reddick wins stage one for his third stage win of th season.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Tyler Reddick
Ross Chastain
William Byron
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Chase Elliott
Kyle Busch
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
AJ Allmendinger

Noah Gragson is the “lucky dog”.

Drivers come down pit road for service with William Byron edging out to win the race off of pit road.

Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were caught speeding on pit road and will have to restart the race from the back of the field.

William Byron brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two with Ross Chastain alongside on lap 99.  Martin Truex Jr comes up to make it a three way battle for the lead.

Lap 100, the three way battle for the lead continues.

Lap 101, Martin Truex Jr finally gets out in front for the lead with Ross Chastain in second; William Byron, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

William Byron passes Ross Chastain for second.

All 36 drivers are still on the track with 26 cars on the lead lap. 

Lap 105, Martin Truex Jr has a lead of over half a second on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 107, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick have moved up to 23rd and 24th after restarting the race from the back of the field with a speeding penalty.

Lap 110, Martin Truex Jr has a lead of nearly a second on William Byron; Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

lap 116, Martin Truex Jr has pulled out to a lead of nearly a second and a half on William Byron; Tyler Reddick has gotten around Ross Chastain for third with Christopher Bell rounding out the top five.

Lap 120, William Byron has closed the gap on leader Martin Truex Jr to a second; Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.  Kyle Busch has entered the top 20 in 18th after a speeding penalty.

Lap 125, Martin Truex Jr continues to lead the race and is just under a second in front of William Byron; Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, and Christopher Bell continue to round out the top five.

Ryan Blaney is having some handling issues with his car.

Lap 133, Tyler Reddick passes William Byron for second.

Lap 138, Martin Truex Jr has a lead of nearly a second and a half on Tyler Reddick; William Byron, Ross Chastain, and Christopher Bell round out the top five as green flag pit stops begin.

Lap 139, leader Martin Truex Jr makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Denny Hamlin.

Chase Elliott has a bit of a radio issue.

Tyler Reddick brings out the first caution flag for an on track issue on lap 139 when he loses a tire at the entrance to pit road.  He had just made a pit stop and was coming back down pit road for the loose wheel.  Reddick is now two laps down.  Under the new rule change regarding the loose wheel issue, Tyler Reddick will have to restart the race from the back of the field.  Coming on to pit road, he also has a commitment cone violation.

The caution is extended as NASCAR sorts out the lineup with the drivers in the middle of a pit stop cycle.

Martin Truex Jr is scored the leader with 28 wave around cars with a total of 25 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 145, still under caution, the top five are Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace, and William Byron.

Martin Truex Jr brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 147 and the caution comes out almost immediately for a big crash that had the cars spread out over five wide across the track.

Ryan Blaney gets into the wall in a spot where there is no safer barrier.  He is out of the car.

Brad Keselowski has an issue causing the rest of the field to get stacked up causing contact between Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney.  Busch avoided hitting the wall.

Alex Bowman also has some damage to his car.

Brad Keselowski reports that the car wouldn’t go and then he got hit so hard from behind that it knocked the shifter out of his hand.

A few drivers came down pit road for service.

Martin Truex Jr brings the   field down for the green flag restart on lap 153 with Denny Hamlin alongside.  Truex and Hamlin go side by side in a battle for the lead with Bubba Wallace and William Byron in a battle of their own.

Lap 155 the side by side battle for the lead continues between Martin Truex Jr and Denny Hamlin.

Lap 157, Denny Hamlin finally gets out in front of teammate Martin Truex Jr; William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Lap 160, Denny Hamlin has a third of a second lead on Martin Truex Jr; William Byron, Bubba Wallace, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.

Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell battle for sixth.

As the sun begins to set the track is in full shadow now.

Lap 165, Ross Chastain passes Bubba Wallace for fourth.

Lap 172, Denny Hamlin has a third of a second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Ross Chastain, William Byron, and Bubba Wallace round out the top five.

Ryan Blaney walks out of the infield care center and talking with the media.  He said that he isn’t really sure what happened.  He noted that it was the hardest hit of his life.

Six laps remain in stage two, Denny Hamlin leads the race with Martin Truex Jr in second; Ross Chastain, William Byron, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

Denny Hamlin wins stage two for his fourth stage win of the season.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr
Ross Chastain
William Byron
Christopher Bell
Bubba Wallace
Chase Elliott
AJ Allmendinger
Kevin Harvick
Erik Jones

Drivers come down pit road for service with Denny Hamlin winning the race off of pit road and Martin Truex Jr in second.

Bubba Wallace drops out of the top 10 after having a slow stop.  Austin Cindric was caught speeding on pit road.

Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 193 with Martin Truex Jr alongside.  Hamlin gets out in front for the lead with Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr in a battle for second.

Lap 195, Kevin Harvick passes Chase Elliott for sixth.  Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr continue their battle for second.

Martin Truex Jr finally gets past Ross Chastain for second.

Lap 198, the top five are Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and William Byron.  Daniel Suarez is in eighth place in a backup car.

Lap 201, Denny Hamlin has a near half second lead on teammate Martin Truex Jr; Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and William Byron.

Lap 205, Denny Hamlin holds on to the lead as the sun goes down and things cool off.  As the track cools, speeds should increase.

Lap 211, Denny Hamlin has a quarter of a second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.

Lap 215, Martin Truex Jr has closed the gap on leader Denny Hamlin; Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.

With 82 laps remaining in the race, the drivers must still make at least one pit stop for fuel.

Under the lights, Denny Hamlin holds on to a third of a second lead on lap 225 with Martin Truex Jr in second; Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.

Ross Chastain passes Martin Truex Jr for second.

Since passing Martin Truex Jr, Ross Chastain has closed the gap on leader Denny Hamlin.

Lap 229, Ross Chastain comes up to battle with Denny Hamlin for the lead.  Chastain passes Hamlin for the lead.

Lap 232, since passing Denny Hamlin, leader Ross Chastain has increased his lead to over half a second.

William Byron and Christopher bell battle for sixth.

Byron reports a very free condition in his car.

Lap 235, Ross Chastain has a one second lead on Denny Hamlin; Martin Truex Jr, Kevin Harvick, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.

Lap 239, Kevin Harvick is slowed on the track with a flat tire.  He makes it to pit road and the track stays green.

Green flag pit stops have begun.

Ross Chastain has pulled out to a lead of over a second and a half on Denny Hamlin.

Lap 241, Ross Chastain makes his green flag pit stop and gives the lead over the Christopher Bell.

Ross Chastain will retake the lead once green flag pit stops cycle through with Martin Truex Jr in second.

Christopher Bell makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Brad Keselowski.

With 54 laps to go, Brad Keselowski makes his pit stop and gives the lead over to Kyle Busch.  Alex Bowman, Noah Gragson, and Kyle Busch are the only drivers yet to make a pit stop.

Noah Gragson makes his pit stop.

Just 45 laps remaining in the race, Kyle Busch has an eight second lead on Alex Bowman – both need to make a pit stop – with Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr, and Denny Hamlin rounding out the top five.

There are only 18 cars on the lead lap as leaders encounter slower traffic.

Lap 260, Kyle Busch finally makes his green flag pit stop; Alex Bowman is the new leader and the only driver yet to make a pit stop.

Lap 266, Alex Bowman makes his green flag pit stop to complete the cycle.  Ross Chastain is the leader.

Lap 269, Ross Chastain has just a tenth of a second lead on Martin Truex Jr as they encounter heavy traffic.

There are just 22 cars on the lead lap with Ryan Blaney the only driver out of the race.

Lap 273, the top five are Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and William Byron.

Twenty-five to go, Ross Chastain has a narrow lead on Martin Truex Jr as they try to put Aric Almirola a lap down.

Lap 277, leader Ross Chastain battles with Aric Almirola to put Almirola a lap down.

Since getting around Almirola, Ross Chastain has increased his lead on Martin Truex Jr.

Just 18 laps to go, Ross Chastain has a lead of over half a second on Martin Truex Jr; Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and William Byron round out the top five.

Martin Truex Jr continues to have some handling issues in his car; he also reports that the tires “are gone”.

Fifteen to go, Ross Chastain has increased his lead to three quarters of a second on Martin Truex Jr.

With 12 laps to go there are 21 cars on the lead lap.

Ten to go, Ross Chastain has a lead of over half a second on Martin Truex Jr; Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, and William Byron round out the top five.

After a speeding penalty early and a wreck, Kyle Busch has entered the top 10.

Seven to go, Ross Chastain has pulled out to a one second lead on Martin Truex Jr.

Four to go, Ross Chastain has a half second lead on Martin Truex Jr as they approach slower traffic.

Ross Chastain takes the white flag.

Time to smash the watermelon!  Ross Chastain wins his first race of the season…and a spot in the playoffs.

Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe make contact near pit road as Suarez was attempting to congratulate his teammate on the win.

After an extended burn out that left pieces of the tires all over the place, Chastain comes out the room hatch to celebrate…and smash the watermelon!  Before talking to the media, Chastain grabs a piece of the smashed melon to munch on.

The unofficial results of the Ally 400:
Ross Chastain
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Chase Elliott
Kyle Larson
William Byron
Christopher Bell
Erik Jones
Kyle Busch
AJ Allmendinger
Brad Keselowski
Daniel Suarez
Austin Dillon
Ty Gibbs
Bubba Wallace
Ryan Preece
Alex Bowman
Chris Buescher
Joey Logano
Corey LaJoie
Harrison Burton
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Justin Haley
Kevin Harvick
Aric Almirola
Noah Gragson
Austin Cindric
Michael McDowell
JJ Yeley
Tyler Reddick
Chase Briscoe
Ty Dillon
Brennan Poole
Josh Bilicki
Todd Gilliland
Ryan Blaney