This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
Christopher Bell led the most laps and was in the right position at the right time when storms engulfed Charlotte Motor Speedway, ending the 600-mile race more than 200 miles early. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver started on the second row and held station in the top five throughout, taking the lead on six occasions, grabbed it one last time 18 laps before the rain arrived. His tight battle with Brad Keselowski turned out to be the race-winning fight as the pair fought for the lead for several miles before Bell finally consolidated the position for himself. Keselowski, losing out, was the runner-up on the night. The weekend was all about Joe Gibbs Racing, though. Ty Gibbs started from pole and three of the four teammates finished inside the top six. In fact, Bell and Gibbs were the top two lap leaders as they headed toward the premature finish.
Bell's victory means eight playoff spots remain to be claimed by race winners as the summer races begin the countdown to the start of the playoffs. There is still a long way to go, but only 12 races remain before the knockout rounds of the playoffs commence in September. Chris Buescher occupies the 16th and final spot in the championship positions as the series packs up and heads to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Kyle Busch won at the track last season while Joey Logano grabbed the only other series win there in 2022.
UPGRADE
Christopher Bell - Bell scored his second race win of 2024 in Sunday night's rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600. The evening started with him grabbing his third stage win of the season when a late caution prematurely ended the racing in the second stage of Sunday night's Charlotte visit. The victory also came against his current trends. Sunday's finish was just his second top-10 in the last eight races including the All-Star Race. He led 90 laps of Sunday's shortened race distance and was out front when storms rolled in, forcing NASCAR to halt proceedings and call the race early. The victory makes Bell the fourth driver to win multiple races this season and further cements his spot in the playoffs after winning at Phoenix in March. From two Gateway starts, Bell's average start and finish is 10.0. he started third and finished ninth in 2022 and started 17th and finished 11th last season.
William Byron - Byron won the opening stage Sunday night at Charlotte, extending the Hendrick organization's streak of winning the first stage of NASCAR's marathon race to five. From there, he went on to finish second in the second stage and was third when rain hit the speedway. It was Byron's fifth top-five finish of the season and his second since Texas. Fans will wonder what the No. 24 might have accomplished had the race run its full distance. Byron had already made one of the most impressive moves of the night with a three-wide pass on the front straight to pick up two positions in a show of strength on his march to the front. Instead, he and the team will have to turn their attention toward the coming weeks. Byron started seventh and finished eighth a year ago at Gateway. He led 30 laps in that race and spent the whole race distance running inside the top 10.
Brad Keselowski - Keselowski's run of fine form continued Sunday in Charlotte with a runner-up finish to go along with his win at Darlington. The No. 6 has found its groove and Sunday's runner-up finish was Keselowski's third from the last seven races. After Darlington, the team has the luxury of focusing their efforts on preparing for the playoffs, but they have not taken their foot off of the gas. Keselowski sits inside the top 10 in points and a double dose of stage points from Charlotte were a just reward for the car's pace. The team may need that cushion, too. Gateway has not been a fruitful venue for Keselowski. From two races, his best finish was 20th in 2022. He started 19th and finished 28th in 2023, too. While Keselowski may be poised for his best Gateway finish yet this week, his past results set that bar pretty low.
Ty Gibbs - While Gibbs didn't get the full race to show what might have been, he did well to walk away with his eighth top-10 finish of the season. The weekend started positively with a pole-winning effort in qualifying. That achievement gave him the bonus of the first pit stall, which he put to good use, keeping himself inside the top 10 throughout the laps run. A brush with the outside wall as handling started to go away was the biggest problem of his evening, but the damage was minimal and Gibbs continued to show top-10 pace. Sunday's performance keeps Gibbs well within playoff contention. He heads to Gateway behind only teammate Martin Truex Jr. among drivers who have yet to win, but continuing to hold station in the top 10 should net a win sooner rather than later.
Denny Hamlin - A fifth-place finish Sunday at Charlotte extended Hamlin's streak of top-fives to five consecutive races including the All-Star Race. Momentum is firmly on Hamlin's side, and streaks like this have been a hallmark of his success as a driver. Sunday's finish was his 12th top-five and 21st top-10 from 33 Charlotte starts. After coming so close so many times, Hamlin knows that now is not the time to peak, though. He and the team will be doing everything in their power to ensure this same run of form, or better, is firmly in grasp during the playoffs. Hamlin tops the point standings with a five point advantage over teammate Martin Truex Jr., who has yet to win this season, and his streak of fine form should continue at Gateway. Hamlin finished second there last season and could have done significantly better in the 2022 race had he not tangled with Ross Chastain early in the race.
DOWNGRADE
Ryan Blaney - Blaney was unable to defend his Coca-Cola 600 victory from a year ago and remains winless in 2024 after exiting Sunday night's race early with a right-front tire failure. The car wasn't what Blaney and the team needed early in the running, and they were working to get to the later stages when they hoped the track would work better for them. They didn't make it. Shortly after a stop in the second stage, Blaney's tire blew, sending him hard into the outside wall. The team attempted to make repairs, but the damage was too severe and Blaney exited the race. The DNF sends him down the playoff standings to 13th, losing ground as he continues his hunt for a race win. Blaney will be hoping to far better this week at St. Louis where he has an average start of 3.5 and finish of 5.0 from the two series races held at the track.
Noah Gragson - Contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. caused Gragson to lose control and make hard contact with the inside wall during the second stage at Charlotte. The No. 10 was heavily damaged and Gragson was forced out of the race just before the scheduled halfway mark. Most painful was that only two other drivers exited the running before Gragson, which left him with his lowest classification of the season. The He scored just one point for the race and lost significant ground in the playoff hunt. Heading to Gateway, Gragson now sits 21st in points with a 105-point gap to Chris Buescher in the last of the playoff positions. Despite many races left to run, Gragson and the No. 10 may be looking at a must-win situation to earn a spot in the playoffs. The teams lack of stage points has hurt them, especially when coupled with DNFs like Sunday's.
Corey Lajoie - The Charlotte race weekend was not one to remember for Lajoie. A pit-road speeding penalty sent him to the back of the line early in the race, and then a spin and crash early in the third stage ended any chance he might have had to mount a recovery. The early end to the race left him with a 35th-place finish, which was his fifth finish worse than 30th of the season. Lajoie sits 30th in points and has just one top finish so far this season, his fourth-place finish at Daytona. Consistent or frequent top-20s should be what he should be scoring consistently, but the team hasn't found that form. Lajoie has just four top-20 finishes since their fourth-place finish at Daytona. While Lajoie may be one to consider when the schedule returns to Daytona, fantasy players would be advised to steer clear until those consistent top-20s start showing from the No. 7 squad.
Chris Buescher - Poor qualifying hurts more than just starting track position, as the No. 17 team experienced at Charlotte. Despite having a fast car in the race, Buescher's 39th-place qualifying left him with one of the last stall choices, and that location made his night much more difficult. Throughout the night's stops, Buescher either couldn't get into or out of his box efficiently due to the cars on either side. Several times he was forced to reverse the car before being clear to exit, and that lost him positions nearly every trip to pit road. In the end, Buescher was only able to work his way forward to the 23rd finishing position, but he probably could have done more without the pit road struggles. He continues to hunt for a 2024 win, but he and the team will be loathe to fall into the same situation they had Sunday.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Kyle Larson - Larson's attempt at the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 double was always going to be a major headline, but rain at both venues caused some unexpected hiccups. The delay at Indianapolis forced former Cup champion to make a choice as to what race to prioritize, and Larson chose Indianapolis. He had a fine rookie outing there once things got underway, leading four laps and finishing 18th. The delay meant Justin Allgaier started his car at Charlotte, though. Larson eventually made it to Charlotte and was about to get back into the No. 5 machine in the third stage just as lightning and rain brought everything to a halt. Larson never turned a lap in the NASCAR half of his double attempt, and now he needs a waiver from NASCAR to ensure he keeps his spot in the playoffs.
