On a hazy Saturday afternoon the Cup Series drivers awaits the track drying process before practice and qualifying can begin.

Thirty-six teams brought cars to Loudin for the USA Today 301.  One of the most unique winner’s trophies in NASCAR, the winner of the race gets a giant 20 plus “wicked big lobsta!”

NASCAR has cancelled qualifying and will set the starting grid by the metric with Chase Elliott on the pole.  Once the track has been dried, NASCAR will determine a time for the drivers to practice.

The starting lineup for the USA Today 301:
Chase Elliott
Ryan Blaney
William Byron
Christopher Bell
Alex Bowman
Joey Logano
Martin Truex Jr
Ross Chastain
Brad Keselowski
Josh Berry
Daniel Suarez
Tyler Reddick
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Denny Hamlin
Chris Buescher
Todd Gilliland
Bubba Wallace
Ty Gibbs
Kyle Larson
Carson Hocevar
Noah Gragson
Austin Dillon
Chase Briscoe
Justin Haley
Michael McDowell
Corey LaJoie
Harrison Burton
John Hunter Nemechek
Austin Cindric
Kyle Busch
Ryan Preece
Erik Jones
Daniel Hemric
Zane Smith
Kaz Grala Daniel Suarez
Ty Dillon

Recently Daniel Suarez, was among the potential citizens who took the test to become a U.S. citizen.  On June 18, 2024 he took the oath of citizenship.  Suarez was among 48 people who took the oath with 28 different countries being represented.  Suarez now has dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico.

Over 45 minutes after the original scheduled practice time, NASCAR has told the crews to get the cars out on pit road and ready to practice.

Nearly an hour and a half after the scheduled time to start; the drivers are climbing into their cars for a very short stint of practice before the Xfinity Series gets racing.  NASCAR is giving the teams 30 minutes of practice time.

Five minutes into practice, NASCAR displays the red flag for rain in the area.  The cars are back on pit road and parked.  The drivers are getting out of their cars with practice apparently over after just six or seven laps.

The radar shows rain showers surrounding the area.

With a chance of rain in the area, NASCAR has the wet weather tires available to keep the race going.

Pole sitter Chase Elliott is the only driver in the field who has finished every race this season in the top 20.

Stage one is 70 laps, stage two is 115 laps, and stage three is 116 laps for a total of 301 laps around the mile track.  The drivers can run around 95 laps on a single load of fuel.

Chase Elliott brings the field down for the green flag start of the race with Ryan Blaney alongside.  Elliott gets out in front for the lead.

Lap three, Chase Elliott has pulled out to a lead of over a second and a half on Christopher Bell; Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap six, Chase Elliott now has a lead of over two seconds on Christopher Bell.

Lap eight, Chase Elliott has a lead of over two seconds on Christopher Bell; Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Josh Berry passes Ryan Blaney for fifth.

Lap eleven, Josh Berry and Ross Chastain battle for fourth.

Lap 12, the top five are Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ryan Blaney.

Lap 14, Chase Elliott now has a three second lead on Christopher Bell; Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 21, Chase Elliott has pulled out to a lead of over three and a half seconds on Christopher Bell; Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 26, Christopher Bell is slowly closing the gap on leader Chase Elliott which is now under three and a half seconds.

Lap 29, after starting in eleventh place, Daniel Suarez has fallen to 30th place with an ill handling car.

Lap 30, Chase Elliott’s lead is now under three seconds on Christopher Bell; Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 33, leader Chase Elliott has begun lapping slower cars.  His lead on Christopher Bell is now just two seconds.

Lap 35, Chase Elliott has just a second and a half lead on Christopher Bell; Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 42, Christopher Bell has caught leader Chase Elliott and the two drivers are now in a battle for the lead.  Bell is the new leader and immediately begins lapping cars.  There are five drivers one lap down including Kyle Busch.

Lap 45, Christopher Bell has a near one second lead on Chase Elliott; Joey Logano, Josh Berry, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 49, Chase Elliott reports that he has an ill handling car.

Lap 50, Christopher Bell has a one second lead on Chase Elliott; Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Josh Berry round out the top five.

Lap 53, Josh Berry and Martin Truex Jr battle for fifth.

Lap 54, there are 30 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 59, Christopher Bell has a lead of over two seconds on Chase Elliott; Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Josh Berry round out the top five.  There are 27 cars on the lead lap.

Lap 62, Christopher Bell has a near two and a half second lead on Chase Elliott; Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, and Josh Berry round out the top five.

Joey Logano and Chase Elliott battle for second.

Christopher Bell wins stage one.

The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Christopher Bell
Joey Logano
Chase Elliott
Ryan Blaney
Josh Berry
Martin Truex Jr
Denny Hamlin
Ross Chastain
Tyler Reddick

Alex Bowman

Drivers come down pit road for service with Christopher Bell winning the race off of pit road.

Michael McDowell was charged with an equipment violation and will have to restart the race form the back of the field.  The fuel can was still attached when he left his pit box.

Austin Cindric was caught speeding on pit road.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two on lap 78 from the inside lane and holds on to the lead with Joey Logano in second.

Drivers are getting three wide in a battle for positon.

Lap 81, the top five are Christopher Bell, Josh Berry, Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, and Chase Elliott.

Lap 84, Christopher Bell has a one second lead on Josh Berry; Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr has some smoke coming out the back of his car.

Lap 87, Christopher Bell has a lead of over a secxnd and a half on Josh Berry.

Martin Truex Jr begins to pressure Josh Berry for second.

Lap 90, Christopher Bell has increased his lead to two seconds on Josh Berry; Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 92, Denny Hamlin battles with Joey Logano for fourth.

Lap 94, Christophr Bell has led 52 laps so far.

Lap 100, Christopher Bell has a lead of over two seconds on Martin Truex Jr; Josh Berry, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.

Lap 104, Martin Truex Jr begins to close the gap on leader Christopher Bell; Bell is now less than two seconds out in front of the field.

Lap 108, Christopher Bell’s lead is now just a second and a half on Martin Truex Jr.

The top five are Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr, Josh Berry, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin.

Lap 116, Christopher Bell’s lead is now a second and a half on Martin Truex Jr; Josh Berry, Joey Logano, and Denny Hamlin round out the top five.  There are 28 cars on the lead lap with six drivers two laps down.

Lap 122, Tyler Reddick begins the cycle of green flag pit stops.

Lap 125, leader Christopher Bell makes his green flag pit stop and gives the elad over to Todd Gilliland.

Christopher Bell locked a tire in turn one and had a smoking car briefly.  The issue was due to low tire pressure.

Lap 132, Todd Gilliland leads the race but has yet to make his pit stop.

Lap 137, Martin Truex Jr passes Chrisotpher Bell for second.  Once Todd Gilliland makes his pit stop, Truex will be the leader.

Daniel Hemric brings out the first caution flag for an on track incident when he spins out on lap 142.  Hemric keeps the car off the wall.

Alex Bowman has a smoking car and brings it down pit road.

Drivers come down pit road for service but Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Corey LaJoie stay out.  Brad Keselowski, Ty Dillon, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric, and Harrison Burton take the wave around.

Carson Hocevar was charged with pitting outside of his pit box.

Alex Bowman takes his car to the garage with a blown engine and is out of the race.

After staying out on the track, Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag restart with Joey Logano alongside on lap 147. Hamlin holds on to the lead with Logano coming up to battle for the position.

The top five are Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Corey LaJoie, Chrisotpher Bell, and Martin Truex Jr.

Lap 151, Denny Hamlin has a lead of over half a second on Joey Logano; Martin Truex Jr, Chrisotpher Bell, and Corey LaJoie round out the top five.

Noah Gragson and Kyle Busch make contact, sending both drivers spinning to bring out the caution flag on lap 154.

NBC broadcaster notes that Kyle Busch has had some issues with the car because he is overdriving the car, trying to make it better than the car is.  Busch has had a number of car issues from crashes to several mechanical issues knocking him out of races this season.

Denny Hamlin brings the field down for the green flag restart from the outside lane with Joey Logano alongside on lap 160.  Martin Truex Jr tries to make it a three wide battle for the lead.  Hamlin gets out in front for the lead.

The top five are Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr, Joey Logano, Chrisotpher Bell, and Ryan Blaney.

Drivers are getting three wide through the field.

Lap 164, Denny Hamlin has a half second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Lap 170, Denny Hamlin has a near one second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

The radar is showing rain headed toward the race track.

Nine laps remain in stage two, Denny Hamlin has a half second lead on Martin Truex Jr; Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, and Ryan Blaney round out the top five.

Denny Hamlin wins stage two.

The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr
Joey Logano
Christopher Bell
Ryan Blaney
Todd Gilliland
Kyle Larson
Josh Berry/’
Chase Elliott
Ross Chastain

Taking only two tires, Kyle Larson wins the race off of pit road.  Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell stay out on the track.

Martin Truex Jr had a slow start and lost several spots on the track.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 194 with Michael McDowell alongside. Reddick jumps out in front for the lead.  Joey Logano and Chase Elliott make contact and bring out the caution flag.  Logano has some heavy damage to the right front of his car after locking up his tires.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 200 with Michael McDowell alongside.  Reddick takes the lead from the outside lane.  Kyle Larson and McDowell battle for second.

Lap 201, Corey Lajoie spins out after contact with Ryan Preece to bring out the caution flag.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 206 with Michael McDowell on the inside.  Reddick holds on to the lead with drivers three wide through the field with possible rain on the way.

Lap 207, Tyler Reddick and Kyle Larson battle for the lead; Denny Hamlin and Michael McDowell battle for third.

Lap .209, Tyler Reddick leads the race with Denny Hamlin and Kye Larson in a battle for second with Ryan Blaney right behind them

Lap 210, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr make contact and sends Truex spinning into the wall.  Austin Dillon was on the inside in a three wide battle.

Lap 215, Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart with Denny Hamlin on the inside lane; Reddick jumps out in front for the lead as drivers get three wide through the field.

Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney battle for second.

Kyle Busch spins out to bring out the eighth caution flag on lap 216 after contact in a four wide battle.

Lap 219, NASCAR brings the drivers down pit road and displays the red flag for rain.  NASCAR has told the drivers to stop in their own pit stalls.

Steve Letarte has said numerous times that he did not believe NASCAR would put wet weather tires on the cars this late in a race.

After a delay of over two hours, NASCAR issues wet weather tires to the teams and they prepare to get the race going again with 82 laps remaining in the race.

Armed with wet weather tires, the drivers line back up in racing order and get ready to go racing again.

And the caution flag is out and the drivers are moving!

Lap 224, Kyle Busch hit the wall.  He has gotten out of the car and the safety crew will tow the car back to the garage.

Corey LaJoie spun out but kept the car off the wall.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart with 73 laps remaining in the race with Ryan Blaney alongside on the inside lane.  With loud cheers Tyler Reddick jumps out in front for the lead.

The top five are Tyler Reddick, Todd Gilliland, Ryan Blaney, Christopher Bell, and Kyl Larson.  The drivers are three and four wide across the track.

Lap 230, Tyler Reddick leads the race with Christopher Bell in second on the apron.

Kyle Larson passes Christopher Bell for second with Tyler Reddick nearly two seconds out in front.

Drivers are using the entire track from apron to wall looking for grip and places to cool the wet weather tires.

Lap 234, Christopher Bell has closed the gap on leader Tyler Reddick to a second.

Ross Chastain spins out to bring out the caution flag on lap 235.

Some of the drivers come down pit road but are not allowed to change tires.  The teams who came down pit road and changed tires had to come back down pit road and put the old tires back on.

Tyler Reddick brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 242 with Christopher Bell on the inside lane.  Reddick gets out in front for the lead but Christopher Bell comes up on the apron to take the lead.

The top five are Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, and Todd Gilliland.

There are signs of the track drying in places.

Drivers are getting four and five wide looking for a good spot to run.

With 57 laps to go, Christopher Bell has a one second lead on Tyler Reddick.

The drivers are running about 10mph slower on the wet weather tires than they did on the racing slicks.

Ryan Blaney reports a very tight condition in his car.  He asked his crew chief what was the preferred line.  His crew chief answered that the cars were all over the place.

Christopher Bell is running two and three tenths of a second faster than the rest of the field.

Kyle Larson gives Tyler Reddick a good bump.

With 52 laps to go, Christopher Bell is over three seconds in front of Ryan Blaney; Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, and Chris Buescher round out the top five.

Kyle Larson passes Tyler Reddick for third.

Fifty to go! Christopher Bell holds a three second lead on Ryan Blaney.

Ryan Blaney is closing the gap on leader Christopher Bell; Bell is now just two seconds out in front.

With 46 laps to go, Ryan Blaney has closed the gap on Christopher Bell to under a second and a half.

Corey LaJoie brings out the tenth caution flag with 45 laps to go when he spins out and backs into the wall.

NASCAR has deemed this a non-competitive pit stop; which means they can make adjustments only but cannot change tires.  They have enough fuel to make it to the end of the race.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr complained that the other drivers were not maintaining pace and tried passing some of the them.  NASCAR would not allow it.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with Kyle Larson alongside on lap 263.  Bell edges out for the lead with Kyle Larson down on the apron.  Ryan Blaney takes second.

The top five are Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Josh Berry.

There are visible signs that the track is beginning to dry out.

The caution flag comes out for a wreck involving Austin Dillon, Noah Gragson, Erik Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Cindric, and Wallace on lap 265.  Noah Gragson spun out and slammed Bubba Wallace in his driver’s side door.

On his way to his pit stall, Bubba Wallace stopped his car near Noah Gragson’s pit stall briefly.

NASCAR has told the drivers to come down pit road and change to a new set of wet weather tires.  This is a non-competitive stop –  the drivers will not lose their spot on the track.  There appeared to be no issue with any of the tires that came off of the cars.

Christopher Bell reported a possible issue with the voltage in his car.  He said that he turned off the cool suit and the voltage went back up.

Austin Dillon has some smoke coming from his left rear; possible tire rub.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 275 with Tyler Reddick on the inside lane. Christophr Bell holds on to the lead with Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney in a physical battle for second.  Blaney takes second.  Drivers are three wide in a battle for position.

With 26 laps to go, the top five are Chistopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, and Justin Haley.

Kaz Grala slaps the wall but the track stays green.

With 22 laps to go, Christopher Bell has a one second lead on Ryan Blaney.

Twenty to go! Christopher Bell has a one second lead on Ryan Blaney.  Carson Hocevar gets pushed up the track but he saves the car and the track stays green.

The top five are Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Michael McDowell, and Josh Berry.

Kyle Larson reports that the right rear is “gone”.

Carson Hocevar spins out and brings out the caution flag.  He keeps the car off the wall.

Lap 288, NASCAR requires all of the drivers to come down pit road to change tires – they must change to a new set of wet weather tires.

Ryan Blaney reports that he is very tight.

There was some “chunking” in Kyle Larson’s tires.

Darkness is approaching and Loudon has no lights.

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with Michael McDowell alongside on lap 293.  Bell jumps out in front as the drivers spread out.  McDowell and Ryan Blaney make contact; spinning them both out to bring out the caution flag.

With just fourlaps to go, Christopher Bell brings the field down for the green flag restart with Josh Berry alongside. Bell edges out for the lead with Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe in a battle for second.

Brad Keselowski spins out to bring out the caution flag.  NASCAR waited a bit to throw the yellow flag to see is Keselowski could get the car moving again.

The race goes into overtime!

Christopher Bell brings the field down for the overtime shootout with Chase Briscoe alongside.  Bell takes the lead as drivers get three wide across the track.  Josh Berry and Chase Briscoe battle for second.

Christopher Bell takes the white flag.

Christopher Bell sweeps the weekend in a history making race.  This is the first time that a race has been won on wet weather tires.

The unofficial results of the USA Today 301:
Christopher Bell
Chase Briscoe
Josh Berry
Kyle Larson
Chris Buescher
Tyler Reddick
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
John Hunter Nemechek
Martin Truex Jr
Ross Chastain
Ryan Preece
Todd Gilliland
Erik Jones
Harrison Burton
Michael McDowell
Ty Gibbs
Carson Hocevar
Chase Elliott
Austin Cindric
Ty Dillon
Daniel Suarez
Kaz Grala
Corey LaJoie
Denny Hamlin
Ryan Blaney
William Byron
Noah Gragson
Brad Keselowski
Justin Haley
Zane Smith
Daniel Hemric
Joey Logano
Austin Dillon
Bubba Wallace
Kyle Busch
Alex Bowman