Lap after lap, an intense battle for the lead raged on.

It was NASCAR Cup Series racing at its finest at Gateway on Sunday. Christopher Bell, clearly driving a superior car, dove to the bottom only for Ryan Blaney to surge back ahead around the top, carrying momentum down the straightaway.

Bell cleared Blaney at one point, only for Blaney to cross him over and use a lapped car as a pick to reassume the lead.

And 20 circuits later, Austin Cindric took the checkered flag while Bell piloted a mechanically failing car to seventh and Blaney coasted home 24th, his fuel tank failing him one lap too soon.

Bell and Blaney put on one of the great battles of 2024. Cindric won the war.

It left one to wonder if the intense and prolonged tussle compromised both cars. Bell didn't think so.

"I don't think the racing had anything at all to do with it," Bell said. "No matter where we were, we were going to end up blowing up."

Blaney added that he didn't know he was close on fuel, but running the high groove in order to stay in the gas longer lap after lap certainly had to play into it somewhat.

And while it may or may not have ultimately proven detrimental to both, it was fascinating to watch. In third place at the time, Cindric had a front-row seat before seeing them both in his rearview mirror.

Let's go through the gears:

Kyle Busch vs. Kyle Larson, who's to blame (First gear)

A tale as old as time: One guy says the other got loose, the other says he was squeezed.

You can come to either conclusion when reviewing the incident between Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch at the end of Stage 2 on Sunday. Regardless, there’s no debating who got the rawest end of the deal as Larson came home 10^th and Busch crashed out, finishing 35^th to fall below the playoff cutline in points.

And that was the talking point afterwards.

“Not sure what the single point was really going to mean for him but it certainly hurt us a lot because it took that point away as well a the others we’d get for the stage and then also, the rest of the day,” Busch said. “We can’t afford days like that.”

“I think every point is important for everybody in the field,” Larson countered. “Even the guys at the front of the field, like myself. We’re trying to win the regular season championship and those 15 bonus points go a long way. Every spot was important.”

Kyle Larson and the wait for a waiver (Second gear)

But will points really matter to Larson?

NASCAR has yet to approve Larson's request for a waiver after missing last week's Coca-Cola 600 while running the Indianapolis 500.

It brings to mind Paul Giamatti at the end of "Cinderella Man" as the wait for the judges' decision in the title fight between Max Baer and Jim Braddock stretched on and on: "...They take this long to make a decision, they're gonna decide to screw somebody."

Just ask Michael McDowell.

“I don’t see the other side of this point at all,” McDowell said. “Kyle Larson is going to win five or six, seven races this year. To sit here and say he’s not going to get a waiver because he tried to do the double and brought a tremendous amount of eyeballs on our sport and a tremendous amount of eyeballs on IndyCar and just helped motorsports altogether is crazy.

“I mean, come on. We’re talking about the best driver that’s ever sat in a stock car and we’re not going to give him a pass? That’s crazy.”

NASCAR points standings: Logano, Busch still out (Third gear)

Blaney's dry fuel tank was one of the costliest events of the season in terms of the points standings, right there with Chris Buescher being wiped out by Tyler Reddick while leading late at Darlington.

Instead of punching a playoff ticket, Blaney is now 14th in points, just 37 clear of the 16th and final playoff spot held by Buescher. And yet, neither of them would trade places with two-time champions Joey Logano (18th) and Kyle Busch (19th), both of whom are on the outside looking in with 11 events left in the regular season.

Cindric's upset win also knocked Chase Briscoe out, as he's 10 points behind Buescher for the final spot.

NASCAR Sonoma trends (Fourth gear)

While Elliott has yet to win at Sonoma, he has the best average finish over the last three years (fifth) and the best career average finish among active drivers (12.1). Truex Jr., last year's winner, needs one more victory to tie Jeff Gordon for the most in Wine Country with five.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Cindric the winner of Blaney, Bell war; NASCAR points standings update