Pit Stops : Homestead Miami Speedway

4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1

Sunday, October 22nd, 2023

Homestead Miami Speedway , Homestead, FL

Homestead Miami Speedway logo
  • 16
  • 14
  • 6

  • Homestead-Miami Speedway
  • 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
  • Age: 43
  • Team : No. 19 - Bass Pro Shops Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: James Small
  • Martin Truex Jr. won the Pole Award for the 4EVER 400 Presented by Mobil 1 with a lap of 32.256 seconds, 167.411 mph.
  • This is his 22nd pole in 655 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his second pole and 15th top-10 start in 2023.
  • This is his first pole in 19 races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Bubba Wallace (second) posted his 15th top-10 start of 2023 and his first in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Tyler Reddick (third) posted his second top-10 start at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is his 21st in 34 races this season.
  • Ty Gibbs (ninth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
  • This is Toyota's 500th pole across NASCAR's three national series. Toyota has earned 148 in the NASCAR Cup Series, 179 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and 173 in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

  • Sunday, October 22nd, 2023
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Christopher Bell Wins in Miami: Back to Championship 4

In one of the most thrilling NASCAR Cup Series Playoff races of the season, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell rallied from a frustrating race start to lead the final 16 laps of Sunday’s 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 at Homestead-Miami Speedway to earn a second straight appearance into the Championship 4.

Bell, who only made his first appearance inside the top five on track with less than 50 laps remaining, got around a pair of the day’s front runners in the final laps to blaze to the lead in the No. 20 JGR Toyota and claim that automatic championship admission ticket. It’s the 28-year-old Oklahoma native’s second win of the season – sixth of his career – and the first of the season’s eight Playoff races to date.

Last year Bell famously pulled off a “walk off” victory in the regular season finale at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series championship bid, ultimately finishing third in the title run. His win Sunday had that same “rally” feel and he now joins last week’s winner, Kyle Larson as the only two Playoff drivers set for the title run with one race remaining to decide the other two.

Bell led fellow Playoff driver, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney to the Homestead checkered flag by a 1.651-seconds – just ahead of Playoff drivers, 23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron. Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top five.

“I’ve got the best team behind me, honestly I don’t know [how we did it], that race was a whirlwind,’’ Bell said. “I was about ready to throw the towel in during that second stage, I got really frustrated. But [crew chief] Adam Stevens kept after it and gave me what I needed. Whenever we got some clean air this thing was really good.

“I cannot say how proud I am to be here with our partners, driving these Toyota Camrys. Thank you to everyone who supported me. This is better than a dream come true.’’

Although disappointed to not secure the win after leading 53 laps, Blaney said, “We were trying, we just needed laps.

“The long run car was really good. I just couldn’t fire off for 10 laps or so. I think the track cooling off [during the red flag] helped those guys. I think we were better in the hotter, sliker conditions when “fire off” speed didn’t matter as much and it fell off quicker. That played into our benefit.

“We ran out of laps a little bit,’’ he added. “I am proud of the effort. It was a really good day, we just got beat a little bit there at the end.’’

It was certainly the cap to a thrilling final 40 laps of competition to cap off the sunny South Florida afternoon.

In a matter of five minutes during those closing laps, Bell took the race lead and two of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates also in the Playoffs – Denny Hamlin and regular season champion Martin Truex Jr. – fell out the race with major problems. Hamlin’s No. 11 JGR Toyota slammed into the Turn 1 wall. And as the field slowed for that caution period, Truex turned down pit road and told the team his car “might be blowing up.’’

As Hamlin sat on pit wall, disappointed and speaking with his crew, Truex turned the engine off and the crew pushed his No. 19 JGR Toyota it into the garage. Both Playoff drivers were done for the day and dropping below the crucial top-four threshold that will advance to the Nov. 5 Championship 4 race in Phoenix. Truex was scored 29th and Hamlin, 30th.

All of it making for an even more intense race at the half-mile Martinsville (Va.) Speedway next week that will formally set the four-driver NASCAR Cup Series championship field.

“We tried and it just didn’t work out,’’ an obviously disappointed Hamlin said.

“It shows you how hard our sport is, that’s two cars and we had been up front,’’ JGR team owner Joe Gibbs said. “It also shows you in sports – particularly in ours with that 20-car (Bell) – it shows never to stop fighting.’’

With only that Martinsville race remaining, Byron now sits 30 points ahead of the championship cut-off line with Blaney in fourth place – 10 points up on Reddick. Bell’s JGR teammates Truex and Hamlin are now both 17 points below the Cut-off line.

Among the eight Playoff drivers, Roush Fenway Keselowski’s Chris Buescher – a three-race winner this season – struggled the most, going two laps down midway through the second stage and never cracking the top 20. He’s now in eighth place, 43 points back with a 21st place finish Sunday and will need to win the Martinsville race to advance to his first Championship 4.

One of the more unusual incidents of the entire season – let alone the Playoffs – happened during a green flag pit stop and involved Blaney and Larson – who were running first and second at the time with 53 laps remaining.

As their two cars approached pit road, Blaney slowed significantly, and Larson was still going faster directly behind him. While trying to avoid ramming into the back of Blaney’s Ford, Larson turned his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy to the right and went full-on into the sand-filled protective barriers at pit entrance causing them to explode with sand.

It caused enough damage on Larson’s car that he had to take it into the garage and the team retired it. Blaney was able to finish his pit stop and make his way back on track. He reassumed the lead when the rest of the cars pit following a nearly 13-minute red flag period.

“I need to look at data,’’ said an apologetic Larson, who finished 34th despite leading a race best 96 of the 267 laps. “I knew where the yellow line was but on the replay it looked like I missed it by a lot. So I need to look at data. I knew where the yellow line was and I was under control getting there and then he just slowed down, I locked the brakes, clipped him and hit the barrels.

“I’m upset with myself more than anything. Whether he got to pit road speed sooner than the yellow line or not, I could have just done a little better job.

“I hope they’re able to recover and he can get a good finish or the win and get the finish he (Blaney) deserves. Just a bummer. I thought we had a great car today and just made a mistake.’’

23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace, Joe Gibbs Racing’s rookie Ty Gibbs, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon rounded out the top 10.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to the famed Martinsville (Va.) Speedway half-miler for next Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) to close out this round of competition and formalize the Championship 4 competitors for the Nov. 5 Phoenix season finale. Bell won last year’s Martinsville Playoff race. Larson won the Spring race this year.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 267
  • Margin of Victory: 01.651 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 11 Minutes 54 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 125.221
  • Cautions: 5 for 35 laps
  • Lead Changes: 25
  • Green Flag Passes: 3,377 (14.6 passes per green flag lap)
Cup Series pit stops at Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida - February 8, 2020 : Cup Series pit stops at Daytona International Speedway
Brian LawdermilkGetty Images

Pit Stop Summary Report

Aggregate of each driver's pit stops during the race.

 
DRIVER
START
FINISH
STATUS
# STOPS
DRIVER / PIT CREW
FASTEST
SLOWEST
AVG TIME
RANK
DRIVER
AVG TIME
RANK
PIT CREW
AVG TIME
RANK

Brad Keselowski
4
28
Running
5
35.620
37.187
36.322
1
26.287
2
10.036
3
Kyle Busch
18
18
Running
5
35.672
37.124
36.366
2
26.202
1
10.164
7
Kevin Harvick
22
11
Running
6
36.069
36.820
36.502
3
26.492
5
10.010
2
William Byron
7
4
Running
6
36.108
36.894
36.508
4
26.520
6
9.988
1
Chase Elliott
16
15
Running
7
36.329
37.278
36.633
5
26.380
3
10.253
8
Aric Almirola
30
9
Running
6
36.435
36.856
36.725
6
26.676
14
10.049
4
Ross Chastain
8
31
Accident
5
36.370
37.273
36.885
7
26.762
22
10.123
5
Kyle Larson
5
34
Accident
4
35.853
38.490
37.011
8
26.418
4
10.594
13
Austin Cindric
26
12
Running
6
36.326
37.426
37.044
9
26.912
29
10.132
6
Joey Logano
36
8
Running
6
36.713
38.227
37.144
10
26.734
19
10.409
9
AJ Allmendinger
25
5
Running
6
36.734
37.833
37.236
11
26.637
12
10.599
14
Christopher Bell
13
1
Running
6
36.674
38.079
37.284
12
26.524
7
10.760
16
Ty Gibbs
9
7
Running
7
36.379
38.411
37.362
13
26.889
27
10.473
10
Tyler Reddick
3
3
Running
6
36.553
38.105
37.453
14
26.898
28
10.554
12
Ryan Preece
29
13
Running
7
36.868
38.700
37.461
15
26.928
30
10.533
11
Denny Hamlin
11
30
Accident
5
36.337
39.839
37.602
16
26.564
8
11.037
18
Chris Buescher
17
21
Running
6
35.964
40.437
37.666
17
26.649
13
11.016
17
Daniel Suarez
14
16
Running
5
36.396
40.145
37.742
18
26.691
18
11.051
19
Chase Briscoe
21
17
Running
7
35.841
45.702
37.996
19
26.933
31
11.063
20
Ryan Blaney
10
2
Running
6
36.433
43.936
38.029
20
26.684
15
11.345
22

Pit Stop Detailed Report

Each 2- and 4-wheel pit stop during the race.

DRIVER
LEADER LAP
DRIVER LAP
DRIVER TIME
CREW TIME
TOTAL
TYPE

AJ Allmendinger
116
115
26.491
10.243
36.734
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
33
32
26.619
10.244
36.863
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
80
80
26.497
10.477
36.974
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
217
217
26.478
10.844
37.322
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
238
238
27.077
10.610
37.687
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
AJ Allmendinger
167
167
26.659
11.174
37.833
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
80
80
26.559
9.876
36.435
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
167
167
26.651
10.010
36.661
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
115
114
26.521
10.243
36.764
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
238
238
26.836
9.943
36.779
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
217
217
26.910
9.943
36.853
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Aric Almirola
32
31
26.579
10.277
36.856
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
167
167
26.181
9.439
35.620
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
80
80
26.254
9.609
35.863
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
31
31
26.368
9.776
36.144
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
210
209
26.354
10.444
36.798
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Brad Keselowski
115
115
26.276
10.911
37.187
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Denny Hamlin
167
167
26.661
9.676
36.337
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Denny Hamlin
217
217
26.355
10.210
36.565
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE
Denny Hamlin
39
39
26.408
10.877
37.285
FOUR WHEEL CHANGE