The 15th NASCAR Cup race of the regular season at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is certainly worth an entry in the NASCAR history books. The third race at the Gateway Motorsports Park near St. Louis was won by Austin Cindric in the Penske-Ford after 240 very exciting laps. It was only the second victory in the 94th Cup race for the 26-year-old after Daytona 2022 in his career.
Stage 1: Bell ahead of polesetter McDowell
Michael McDowell won a qualifying session in the Front Row Ford for the third time this year. He won the start after a long battle with Christopher Bell in the Gibbs Toyota, who had started from fourth position. After leading for 40 laps, McDowell lost the lead to Christopher Bell, who won the first stage after 45 laps. Defending champion Ryan Blaney followed in third place ahead of Cindric. Behind the three Ford drivers, Denny Hamlin in the Gibbs Toyota took fifth place.
Stage 2: Sixth stage win for Bell ahead of Cindric
In the second stage over 95 laps, Bell took the lead again on lap 115 and never gave it up. After 140 laps, he was able to take his sixth stage win of the season. Cindric finished second ahead of Blaney, Chase Elliott in the Hendrick Chevrolet and Brad Keselowski in the RFK Ford in fifth place.
Stage 3/Goal: Pure thriller with the main actors Bell, Blaney & Cindric
Very different strategies in the third stage without yellow phases ensured endless excitement in the last 100 laps. After the conclusion caution, the lead changed constantly. Cindric, teammate Joey Logano, Bell, Keselowski and Kyle Larson in the Hendrick Chevrolet led the field until the 217th lap.
There were now 23 laps left to go. The previously winless champion Blaney took the lead. Three laps later, Blaney lost the duel with Bell, who was able to use his fresher tires. Now Bell looked like the sure winner. On the same lap, Bell’s Toyota engine suddenly lost power. Now Blaney looked like the sure winner.
Just before the white flag that signaled the start of the final lap, Blaney ran out of fuel. Cindric gratefully took the lead and won after a crazy final phase.
Top 10 & Overall & Larson’s Double
Hamlin finished second behind Cindric. It was Hamlin’s fifth top-five result in a row. Keselowski finished third after winning in Darlington and finishing second in Charlotte. Tyler Reddick finished fourth for the second time in a row in the 23XI Toyota, ahead of Logano and Austin Dillon, who achieved his first top-10 result in 2024.
Bell brought his Toyota home in seventh place, while the other unlucky driver, Blaney, was only classified in 24th place. Carson Hocevar finished eighth and was the best-placed rookie for the sixth time. Justin Haley was also happy with his second ninth place in the Ware-Ford this year. Larson finished tenth after being involved in a crash with Kyle Busch.
Pole setter McDowell finished one lap behind in 25th place. After manufacturer Ford had been winless in 13 races, Cindric achieved his second victory in a row. There were five yellow phases over 32 laps and 16 lead changes by ten different drivers.
Cindric was able to improve his overall standings from 20th to eighth place thanks to the win. Hamlin leads the overall standings and the playoff standings with three wins and the most points. The loser of the week is Kyle Busch, who is no longer in the top 16.
Hamlin and Keselowski are the best drivers with seven top-five finishes. The most consistent drivers remain Byron and Bowman with nine top-ten finishes. Truex is still the driver without a win with the most points. Larson leads the statistics with the most laps led. Gibbs is the best starter with an average of tenth place and Elliott has the best race results on average after 15 races with 9.9th place.
Gallery: All pictures from WWT Raceway at Gateway
Statistics for the 15th race of the season (Regular Season)
Laps & race duration:
240 (Stages: 45/95/100) laps (300 miles), 2:50:09 hours
Winner:
Austin Cindric (1st win 2024, 1st Gateway win, 2nd career win)
Best driver with the most points:
Austin Cindric, 56 (7/9/10) points
Stage wins (2024):
Stage 1: Christopher Bell (5)
Top 10: #20, 34, 12, 2, 11, 24, 54, 45, 22, 9
Stage 2: Christopher Bell (6)
Top 10: #20, 2, 12, 9, 6, 22, 14, 77, 3, 11
Stage 3/Goal: Austin Cindric (1st win 2024)
Top 10: #2, 11, 6, 45, 22, 3, 20, 77, 51, 5
NASCAR Cup standings
TOP 20 (after race 15/36)
Regular Season 2024
(with all bonus points & penalties)
—–
all winners (races 1-26):
1. (1) Denny Hamlin, 534 points (3 wins)
2. (2) William Byron, 488 points (3 wins)
3. (3) Kyle Larson, 513 points (2 wins)
4. (4) Christopher Bell, 437 points (2 wins)
5. (5) Chase Elliott, 507 points (1 win)
6. (6) Tyler Reddick, 473 points (1 win)
7. (7) Brad Keselowski, 437 points (1 win)
8. (20) Austin Cindric, 305 points (1 win)
9. (8) Daniel Suarez, 290 points (1 win)
—–
Total points (without win):
10. (9) Martin Truex Jr., 490 points
11. (10) Ty Gibbs, 465 points
12. (11) Alex Bowman, 417 points
13. (12) Ross Chastain, 417 points
14. (13) Ryan Blaney, 405 points
15. (14) Bubba Wallace, 371 points
16. (16) Chris Buescher, 368 points
—–
On the bubble:
17. (17) Chase Briscoe, 358 points
18. (18) Joey Logano, 354 points
19. (15) Kyle Busch, 348 points
20. (19) Josh Berry, 264 points
The first 16 drivers are qualified for the PLAYOFFS
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