LAS VEGAS – A caution with six laps remaining in Sunday’s Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube at Las Vegas Motor Speedway changed the entire complexion of the race, opening the door for more of an uncommon top-10 finishing order.
The caution flag was thrown when Ross Chastain, subbing for a sidelined Ryan Newman, spun the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford on the backstretch. A plethora of pit-road calls shook up the leaderboard for a two-lap NASCAR Overtime battle.
While Joey Logano cruised to victory — his second straight triumph in the spring Las Vegas race — what happened behind him was all the buzz.
RELATED: Official results | At-track gallery | Watch final restart
Matt DiBendetto took the final restart from the third position, making a bold move under then-second William Byron to get on the inside of him. The two made contact, creating a left-rear tire rub on the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, which sent Byron falling back through the field and eventually making contact with the Turn 1 wall on the final lap.
As for DiBenedetto, he held on to a second-place result in just his second race driving the famed No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.
“This one was an encouraging second-place finish, for sure,” DiBenedetto said. “It’s too dang surreal to be driving this dang thing in the first place. … It’s so cool to be driving for the Wood Brothers. It took so many people to get me into this thing. We’re close.”
But don’t think DiBenedetto’s excitement comes from a source of shock. While DiBenedetto admitted the team had to make huge swings at adjustments throughout the day to get the car right, he thinks the No. 21 is meant to be up front battling for victories.
“That’s what makes a great team to me,” DiBenedetto said. “We didn’t start off great, but to know that we can close, make the right adjustments, do the right things. … My pit crew can do an excellent job.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished right behind DiBenedetto in third. Stenhouse was able to showcase speed in the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet, using pit strategy to ensure he was toward the front when it mattered most. Stenhouse was in the top five, but sliding back until the final caution period turned into his saving grace.
“When the caution came out at the end … there were some cars that pitted from the front that I thought was kind of a crazy strategy knowing how many were on the lead lap and how many would try to stay out knowing it was a green-white-checkered,” Stenhouse said. “It helped us restart on the outside and Joey picked the top, which benefited us and I was able to get going better than the inside lane.”
There was then a last-lap wreck involving John Hunter Nemechek that ended the race under caution.
“Caution comes out after you take the white, I’ll take it,” Stenhouse said.
As for others with much-needed strong runs, Bubba Wallace and crew chief Jerry Baxter chose to stay out for the final overtime restart, and the risk was worth the reward, jockeying their way to a sixth-place finish.
Wallace gutted it out all day to put his team in position at the end. Wallace credited Baxter, who he worked with during his Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series days, for reminding him to be patient.
“Frustrating moments over the radio just trying to make this thing better,” Wallace said. “I know I lose my cool a little bit, but one of the main reasons I brought Jerry Baxter back is to calm me down and to show that light at the end of the tunnel.”
Restarting 19th for overtime, Ty Dillon also capped off a trying day with a 10th-place result, using the middle lane to rocket through the mayhem to crack the top 10.
“I don’t really know what happened, we just started passing cars,” Dillon said. “You’re just trying to find the lane and you’re just trying to process things at such a high rate of speed and you just have to be committed to where you’re going.”
