Testing SpeedwayMedia.com

Author: Andrew Kim

  • Fernando Alonso joining Aston Martin F1 Team on multi-year basis, beginning in 2023

    Fernando Alonso joining Aston Martin F1 Team on multi-year basis, beginning in 2023

    With the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season entering its one-month break period, Aston Martin Armco Cognizant F1 Team announced that Fernando Alonso will be joining the organization on a multi-year basis, beginning in the 2023 F1 season. 

    The two-time F1 champion from Oviedo, Asturias, Spain, is currently campaigning in his second full-time season with the BWT Alpine F1 Team and 19th overall in Formula One competition. Through the first 13 of 22-scheduled events in 2022, Alonso has recorded nine top-10 points-paying results, including eight-in-a-row from the Spanish Grand Prix in May through this past weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix. He is currently ranked in 10th place in the drivers’ standings with 41 points.

    Alonso’s move to Aston Martin comes four days after four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel, who is currently in his second full-time season at Aston Martin, announced plans to retire following the 2022 season. It will also add to Alonso’s extensive motorsports resume of organizations the Spaniard has competed for previously in F1 competition, including Renault, Ferrari and McLaren.

    “This Aston Martin team is clearly applying the energy and commitment to win, and it is therefore one of the most exciting teams in Formula One today,” Alonso said. “I have known Lawrence and Lance [Stroll] for many years and it is very obvious that they have the ambition and passion to succeed in Formula One. I have watched as the team has systematically attracted great people with winning pedigrees, and I have become aware of the huge commitment to new facilities and resources at Silverstone. No one in Formula One today is demonstrating a greater vision and absolute commitment to winning, and that makes it a really exciting opportunity for me.”

    Through a total of 347 starts in F1, Alonso has achieved two championships, 32 victories, 22 poles and 98 podiums. After initially retiring from F1 competition in 2018 before making a triumphant return this past season with Alpine, he made a triumphant return to the podium in seven years and first since the 2014 Hungarian Grand Prix after finishing in third place during the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix in November 2021. Alonso continues to pursue his first F1 victory since winning the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

    “I have known and admired Fernando for many years and it has always been clear that he is a committed winner like me,” Lawrence Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin, said. “I have set out to bring together the best people and develop the right resources and organisation to succeed in this highly competitive sport, and those plans are now taking shape at Silverstone. It seemed natural therefore to invite Fernando to be part of the development of a winning team, and we very quickly established in our recent conversations that we have the same ambitions and values, and it was logical and easy to confirm our desire to work together.”

    “I have witnessed the excitement in the engineering team and throughout the whole organisation at the opportunity to work with Fernando,” Mike Krack, Team Principal of Aston Martin, added. “We know that nearly everyone can learn from someone of Fernando’s calibre and experience. We are confident that he will inspire everyone to lift their game, and that will only enhance the already infectious energy that exists within the team. The team has a new leadership focused on the development of AMR23, and we are all thrilled that they and our future projects will benefit from the knowledge and experience that Fernando will bring.”

    With the move, Alonso is expected to compete alongside Lance Stroll, son of Lawrence Stroll who is in his second season at Aston Martin and sixth overall in F1 competition.

    With his plans for next season set, Alonso will be returning to action at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix and the continuation of the 2022 F1 season with Alpine on August 28.

  • Reddick wins wild overtime thriller at the Indianapolis Road Course

    Reddick wins wild overtime thriller at the Indianapolis Road Course

    From winning the pole on Saturday to capping off a dominant run by winning on Sunday, Tyler Reddick made an emphatic statement in his bid to contend for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series championship after winning the Verizon 200 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in overtime.

    The 26-year-old Reddick from Corning, California, led three times for a race-high 38 of 86 over-scheduled laps and outdueled a late battle with Ross Chastain, who was penalized for using the access road in the first turn before rejoining the track to challenge Reddick for the win, during an overtime shootout to capture his second victory of the 2022 season and of his Cup career at the Brickyard, which solidified his hopes of making the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Tyler Reddick claimed his first Cup pole position of the season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 99.378 mph in 88.354 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Austin Cindric, who posted his best lap at 99.095 mph in 88.606 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Aric Almirola dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Cody Ware, who received unapproved adjustments to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Reddick jumped ahead with an early advantage in front of a side-by-side between Cindric and Chase Briscoe. Then in Turn 1 and amid the field fanning out to five lanes, Justin Haley got turned while running in 17th place as he spun in the middle of the track and in front of oncoming traffic, but the field dodged him as the race proceeded under green.

    As the field made its way through the first three turns before entering Turns 4 to 6 and a brief straightaway leading to Turn 7, Reddick continued to lead ahead of the field with the competitors jostling early for positions. In Turn 7, Joey Logano made a three-wide move on Christopher Bell and Michael McDowell in a bid for fourth place as more competitors behind him fanned out as far as five lanes. The field remained fanned out from Turns 7 to 14.

    By the completion of the first lap, as the field made their way back to the frontstretch, Reddick led the first lap by more than eight-tenths of a second over Briscoe followed by Cindric, Christopher Bell and Joey Logano. By then, Haley pitted his No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. 

    Then in Turn 1, more on-track trouble ensued as Ross Chastain went for a spin in Turn 1 while running towards the top 15. Three turns later, Hamlin, who was running in 12th, got loose entering Turns 5 and 6 as he spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry through the infield straightaway as he plummeted below the leaderboard.

    Following the second lap, Reddick’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 remained out in front by more than a second over Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang followed by Briscoe’s No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang. Bell remained in fourth followed by Logano while Michael McDowell, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and rookie Harrison Burton were in the top 10.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Reddick extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Cindric followed by Briscoe, Bell and McDowell while Logano, Suarez, Blaney, Elliott and rookie Todd Gilliland were in the top 10. Burton was back in 11th followed by Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski and William Byron while Kyle Larson, AJ Allmendinger, Bubba Wallace, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Cole Custer was in 21st ahead of Alex Bowman, Joey Hand, Ty Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Ross Chastain, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Josh Bilicki and Corey LaJoie. Hamlin, whose rough start became rougher as he missed Turn 1, was mired in 34th behind Aric Almirola, former Formula One star Daniil Kvyat was in 36th and Haley was mired a lap down in 38th, dead last.

    Shortly after, Brad Keselowski overshot the first turn while trying to out-brake Kyle Busch as he spun his No. 6 Castrol Ford Mustang. By the eighth lap, trouble ensued again for Chastain as he spun his No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for a second time in the turn after overshooting the turn, where he collected Joey Hand in the process.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Reddick stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over Cindric while Briscoe, Bell and McDowell remained in the top five. By then, Chastain, who spun twice in the opening stage, pitted for four tires and repairs under green despite losing a lap to the leaders.

    During the following lap, names like AJ Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Ty Gibbs, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Chris Buescher, whose car was on fire while on pit road and lost two laps in the process, pitted under green. Back on the track, Elliott spun his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 1 after he snapped loose entering the turn and hopped the curb while barely missing Logano.

    By Lap 12, Reddick surrendered the lead to pit along with Cindric, Suarez, Bell and McDowell as Briscoe inherited the lead. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 15, Briscoe, who has yet to pit, claimed his third stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by teammate Byron, Logano and Elliott while Gilliland, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Burton and Truex were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. During the stage break, a pop-up canopy was flown out on the track between Turns 1 and 2, which promoted the safety workers to tend to the cover.

    The second stage started on Lap 19 as Blaney and Byron occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first, Byron and Blaney dueled for the lead. Then in Turn 1 as the field scrambled to make it through the turn, Harvick got bumped by Austin Dillon as he spun and plummeted to the bottom of the leaderboard with Ty Gibbs and Hamlin sustaining minimal damage to their respective Toyotas after hitting Harvick’s Ford.

    Back at the front, Blaney retained the lead ahead of Byron, Cindric, Cindric, Brad Keselowski and Reddick as the field made their way through the infield turns. 

    During the following lap, Bowman pitted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for repairs as Blaney retained the lead ahead of Byron, Cindric, Keselowski and Reddick while Allmendinger, Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Suarez and Bell were in the top 10.

    By Lap 25, Blaney, who has yet to pit, remained as the leader by half a second over Byron followed by Reddick, Cindric and Allmendinger while Keselowski, Suarez, Bell, McDowell and Wallace were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Aric Almirola, who sustained a flat left-rear tire after locking up his front tires and making contact with Larson in Turn 1, took his No. 10 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang to the garage and retired for the day. Larson, meanwhile, fell out of the lead lap category as his pit crew popped the hood of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 open while repairing the right side of Larson’s car.

    During the following lap, the on-track chaos continued as Allmendinger’s No. 16 Gold Fish Casino Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 went off the track and into the gravel in Turn 3 while Harrison Burton locked up the front tires of his No. 21 DEX Imaging Ford Mustang and made contact against Cole Custer’s No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang as both spun in Turn 1.

    On Lap 30, Byron, who briefly challenged Blaney for the lead, pitted his No. 24 Acronis Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the first time. Suarez and Harvick also pitted as Blaney continued to lead. Three laps later, however, Blaney surrendered the lead to pit his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang for the first time along with Reddick and Cindric as Bell moved into the lead. By then, McDowell, Truex, Austin Dillon, Stenhouse, Logano, Gilliland and Burton had pitted.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 35, Bell captured his second stage victory of the season. Teammate Kyle Busch settled in second ahead of a tight battle against Wallace and Elliott. Ty Dillon, Hamlin, Briscoe, Custer, Erik Jones and Cody Ware were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Bell, who opted to remain on the track as part of a strategic move, remained on the track.

    With 43 laps remaining, the final stage started as Bell and Wallace occupied the front row. At the start and the field fanned out entering the first turn, Bell retained the lead followed by Wallace while Briscoe engaged in a battle and eventually overtook Hamlin for third place. Not long after, Reddick overtook Ty Dillon in Turn 7 to bolt his way back in the top five.

    At the halfway mark with 41 laps remaining, Bell retained the lead by more than two seconds over Wallace followed by Reddick, Briscoe and Hamlin while Ty Dillon, Blaney, Byron, Erik Jones and Chastain were in the top 10. McDowell was in 11th ahead of Suarez, Custer, Allmendinger and Cindric while Truex, Logano, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Elliott occupied the top 20. Gilliland was in 21st followed by Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Burton and Bowman while Stenhouse was in 26th. Meanwhile, Keselowski plummeted to 32nd after spinning and going off the course in Turn 7 a lap earlier.

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Bell continued to lead by less than six-tenths of a second over Reddick, who was closing in on Bell for the lead. Meanwhile, Blaney and Byron moved up to third and fourth while Wallace retained fifth ahead of Briscoe, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Ty Dillon and McDowell. 

    Then two laps later, Reddick made his move and overtook Bell to reassume the lead in Turn 12. By then, Wallace, Briscoe, Hamlin and the Dillon brothers pitted under green. Additional names like Harvick and Logano would also pit.

    With 31 laps remaining, the leader Reddick pitted along with Bell, Chastain and Byron as Blaney inherited the lead while Reddick exited pit road ahead of Bell upon his completed service. Once Blaney pitted with less than 30 laps remaining, Allmendinger cycled to the lead. By then, Keselowski encountered more trouble as he spun in Turn 6.

    With 25 laps remaining, Todd Gilliland, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Kyle Busch, Bowman, Joey Hand and Reddick. By then, Allmendinger, Cindric, Suarez, Elliott, Stenhouse and Truex had made a pit stop. Kyle Busch would then pit his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry with 24 laps remaining.

    Three laps remaining, the caution flew for a vicious wreck when Larson, who was multiple laps behind the leaders, lost his brakes entering the first turn and collided with Ty Dillon at full speed as both cars were sent spinning towards the infield while briefly catching air. Both competitors emerged uninjured as the field settled in a cautious pace. By then, Daniil Kvyat, who was slow for a full lap with a flat tire earlier, limped his No. 26 Team Hezeberg Toyota TRD Camry to pit road. 

    During the caution period, names like initial leader Joey Hand, Stenhouse, Harvick, Custer, Austin Dillon, Burton, Erik Jones, and Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track as Reddick cycled back to the lead.

    Down to the final 18 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Reddick and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick retained the lead by a narrow margin over Blaney, who made a three-wide move and muscled his way into the runner-up spot over Bell entering the first turn. Then through Turns 4 to 6 as the field jumbled, a three-wide action occurred between Bell, Allmendinger and Elliott as Allmendinger bolted his way to third followed by Elliott and Byron while Bell was being challenged by McDowell for sixth. Behind, Bowman and Harvick got together between Turns 8 and 9, but the race proceeded under green.

    With 15 laps remaining, Reddick was leading by more than a second over Blaney followed by Elliott, who retained third ahead of Allmendinger, Byron and Bell while Chastain, McDowell, Suarez and Gilliland were in the top 10. By then, Truex was in 11th ahead of Cindric, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Austin Dillon while Logano, Briscoe, Wallace, Stenhouse and Custer were in the top 20.

    Five laps later, Reddick extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Blaney while Elliott, Allmendinger and Byron remained in the top five. By then, Custer spun in Turn 6 while Bowman and Harvick retired in the garage following their late contact. A few laps later, Elliott emerged as the new runner-up competitor after he overtook Blaney while Reddick continued to lead by more than three seconds. 

    The caution returned with six laps remaining due to debris on the frontstretch as the right-front tire off of Bell’s No. 20 CRAFTSMAN Toyota TRD Camry was shredded. During the caution period, some like Hamlin, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Custer and Cody Ware pitted while the rest led by Reddick remained on the track.

    Down to the final three laps of the event, the field restarted under green. At the start, Reddick and Elliott dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then in Turn 1, Elliott got bumped by Blaney as he spun along with Byron, Briscoe and Kyle Busch as Wallace, who sustained damage, went through the grass. Meanwhile, Reddick rocketed away with the lead followed by Allmendinger, Blaney, Chastain, Suarez and McDowell. As the field proceeded through the infield turns, the caution flew and the race was sent into overtime as Austin Dillon, who spun in Turn 4 with Erik Jones, was stuck in the gravel trap while Truex sustained a flat tire in the ensuing contact.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Reddick retained the lead in front of the field that was fanning out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch. Then in Turn 1, Chastain and Austin Dillon bolted their way off the track and through the run-off access road through the first three turns while the rest of the field made their way through the first turn. That was where Blaney, who needed a victory and a strong run to stabilize his Playoff hopes, got sandwiched in between Suarez and Allmendinger before getting turned by Allmendinger as he stacked the field.

    Back at the front, Chastain, who rejoined the racing surface after going off the course and using the access road to blend back on the course, challenged Reddick for the lead in Turn 3. Through Turns 4 to 6, Chastain muscled his way into the lead as he nearly went sideways in the process. Reddick, however, fought back, beginning in Turn 7 as he drew himself alongside Chastain’s Chevrolet. Despite Chastain’s valiant effort to remain out in front from Turns 8 to 12, Reddick seized an opportunity on the outside lane entering Turn 13 and managed to reassume the lead in Turn 14 as Cindric tried to join the battle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick was still out in front by a narrow margin over Chastain and Cindric. Through the first three turns followed by the infield Turns 4 to 6, Reddick remained as the leader over Chastain and Cindric, both of whom were battling for the runner-up spot. He continued to lead through Turns 7 to 12 as he started to gap himself from Chastain. With both Chastain and Cindric unable to mount a final charge through Turns 13 and 14, Reddick was able to smoothly navigate his way through the final turns and cycle back to the frontstretch as he grabbed his second checkered flag of the season and of his Cup career. 

    By winning for the second time in his career and on a road course, Reddick, who achieved his first Cup victory at Road America in early July, became the 137th different competitor to achieve multiple victories in NASCAR’s premier series and the 17th overall to win a NASCAR Cup Series event at the Brickyard. He also became the sixth competitor to achieve multiple Cup victories this season, thus placing himself in a comfortable position to contend in this year’s NASCAR postseason battle for the title, and he recorded the fourth Cup win for Richard Childress Racing.

    The victory also eased the off-track tensions surrounding Reddick and Richard Childress Racing amid Reddick’s move in early July that he will be joining 23XI Racing in 2024.

    “I was like, ‘Uh-oh’ [about Chastain],” Reddick, who celebrated with his son Beau on the frontstretch, said on NBC. “That was the scenario that had been talked about if [you] get bottled up. What do you do? You take the access road. I couldn’t believe he got ahead of me. I was kind of waiting to see if he was gonna have a penalty because I didn’t want to move him out of the way and make his race worse than what it was. I was really surprised by that, but hey, we made it work. Hats off to Ross for trying to do that, but really glad that it didn’t end up working out because I would’ve been pretty pissed off.”

    “We know what we’re capable of,” Reddick added. “We did that at Road America. Certainly, it was a little bump in the road, but hey, we’ve gone out and won a race fair and square couple weeks ago. If we change nothing, we just keep working very, very hard. We find a way back to Victory Lane. Just really glad to be able to do it here at Indianapolis. This is one really special place to race and really excited to kiss the bricks here in a little bit. Really excited that we got 3CHI their win in their hometown.”

    Following the event, Chastain, who initially finished second, was given a 30-second time penalty from NASCAR for cutting the first turn and using the access road along with Austin Dillon. As a result, Chastain was demoted to 27th place in front of teammate Daniel Suarez, who lost pace with the field after cutting a tire. 

    “[I was] Just trying not to be in the carnage there in Turn 1,” Chastain said. “I thought we were four wide. [I] couldn’t go any farther right and decided to take the NASCAR access lane. Just pure reaction there.”

    With Chastain’s demotion, Cindric was promoted into the runner-up spot followed by his fellow rookie rivals Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland, both of whom notched their career-best results in the Cup Series. Bubba Wallace rounded out the top five in fifth place for this third top-five result of the season.

    “It’s easy on paper, right?” Cindric said. “Oh, my gosh. I feel like we probably deserved 10th at best today. There were a few things I was good at, but I needed the whole track to do it and I kind of struggled a bit, probably a little lower than my expectations were today, but those restarts, survival, holy crap. All I can say is ‘wow.’ There’s no other sport, no other form of racing other than NASCAR that you’re going to get that. ”

    “We’ll take it,” Burton said. “[I] Wouldn’t have picked this weekend to get my best career finish so far. Just a lot of aggression on the last restarts and putting myself in good positions. Honestly, we weren’t doing our job at the start of the race. We didn’t execute well. I made a mistake, spun out, got into Custer there. Was kind of pretty upset midway through the race, and then just got our heads down, came in, got tires and started picking guys off and restarted in a good spot to kind of go get some more. It’s just exciting. Proud of our team to keep persevering through those hard moments. Cool to get DEX Imaging a podium here in the Wood Brothers No. 21 [Ford]. It’s really neat to drive this car. Just proud to carry those colors every time we get out on the racetrack. It’s just a step, right? We’re not going to go blast off a podium every weekend. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to try to. We have to step and get top 10s more often and top fives and build. In the beginning of the year, that was our plan from the start. Just building to get up and race at this level with a new team is really fun.”

    Completing the top 10 were Logano, Allmendinger, McDowell, Cole Custer and Chris Buescher. Notably, Kyle Busch finished 11th in front of teammate Bell, Hamlin settled in 14th in his 600th Cup career start, Elliott ended up 16th in front of Ty Gibbs, Truex came home in 21st and Blaney fell all the way back to 26th. In addition, newcomer Daniil Kvyat ended up 36th in his Cup debut.

    There were nine lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 15 laps.

    With four regular season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 125 points over Ryan Blaney and 129 over Ross Chastain. 

    Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and rookie Austin Cindric are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 96 points, Aric Almirola trails by 156, Erik Jones trails by 175, Bubba Wallace trails by 213, Austin Dillon trails by 216, Justin Haley trails by 246, Chris Buescher trails by 256, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 280, Cole Custer trails by 287, Michael McDowell trails by 295 and rookie Harrison Burton trails by 302.

    Results.

    1. Tyler Reddick, 38 laps led

    2. Austin Cindric

    3. Harrison Burton

    4. Todd Gilliland, four laps led

    5. Bubba Wallace

    6. Joey Logano

    7. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led

    8. Michael McDowell

    9. Cole Custer

    10. Chris Buescher

    11. Kyle Busch

    12. Christopher Bell, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    14. Denny Hamlin

    15. Erik Jones

    16. Chase Elliott

    17. Ty Gibbs

    18. Corey LaJoie

    19. Justin Haley

    20. Brad Keselowski

    21. Martin Truex Jr.

    22. Josh Bilicki

    23. Chase Briscoe, five laps led, Stage 1 winner

    24. Cody Ware

    25. Josh Williams

    26. Ryan Blaney, 17 laps led

    27. Ross Chastain

    28. Daniel Suarez

    29. Joey Hand, one lap down, two laps led

    30. Austin Dillon, one lap down

    31. William Byron – OUT, Accident

    32. Alex Bowman – OUT, Dvp

    33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident 

    34. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    35. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    36. Daniil Kvyat – OUT, Suspension

    37. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Drivetrain

    38. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of the season to Michigan International Speedway. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 7, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Allmendinger dominates Indianapolis Road Course for third Xfinity win of 2022

    Allmendinger dominates Indianapolis Road Course for third Xfinity win of 2022

    Nearly a year after achieving an upset victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in NASCAR’s premier series, AJ Allmendinger added another major achievement to his racing resume by winning the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday, July 30.

    The 40-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led three times for a race-high 42 of 62 scheduled laps, including the final 18, as he rallied from a slow pit stop early in the event to cruise to his third Xfinity victory of the 2022 season and stabilize himself atop the drivers’ standings.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, AJ Allmendinger notched his second consecutive Xfinity Series pole position at Indianapolis after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 97.834 mph in 89.748 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who clocked in his best lap at 97.732 mph in 89.842 seconds.

    Prior to the event, names like Bayley Currey, Brandon Jones, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Kligerman, Brandon Brown, Kaz Grala and Austin Dillon dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Chase Briscoe and Miguel Paludo, who spun during Friday’s Xfinity practice session, also dropped to the rear of the field due to a tire change made to their respective cars.

    During the pace laps, Briscoe and Jeb Burton pitted as their respective crew members popped the hoods of both cars open. In the midst of this, Burton took his No. 27 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the garage due to a rear track bar issue as his event came to an end without taking the green flag.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Allmendinger and Gibbs dueled for the lead entering the first turn as Allmendinger managed to clear Gibbs and the field through Turns 1 to 3 to emerge out in front with a clear racetrack. Behind, Gibbs retained second while Riley Herbst and Noah Gragson battled for third in front of Alex Bowman, Sam Mayer and Justin Allgaier.

    Through the 14-turn circuit and when the field returned to the frontstretch, Allmendinger led the first lap ahead of Gibbs, Herbst, Gragson and Bowman while Allgaier, Mayer, Josh Berry, Sage Karam and Landon Cassill occupied the top 10.

    Following the second lap, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to a second over Gibbs as Herbst stabilized himself in third. Behind, Gragson was under attack by Bowman for fourth place as Allgaier started to join the battle. By then, Alex Labbe emerged in the top 10 in ninth place while Bubba Wallace, piloting Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 DoorDash Toyota Supra, was in 11th.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by nearly two seconds over Gibbs followed by Herbst, Bowman and Gragson while Allgaier, Mayer, Berry, Karam and Wallace were in the top 10. Rookie Sheldon Creed was in 11th followed by Landon Cassill, rookie Austin Hill, Ross Chastain and Daniel Hemric while Anthony Alfredo, Andy Lally. Ty Dillon, Preston Padres and Myatt Snider were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Labbe, who overshot Turn 12 while running in the top 10 a lap earlier, pitted after flat-spotting his tires along with Ryan Sieg while names like Chase Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Kaz Grala, Santino Ferrucci, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones and Miguel Paludo were in 21st, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and 31st, respectively.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Allmendinger extended his advantage in his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro to more than two seconds over Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra while Bowman was up in third place as he trailed the leaders in his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro by more than four seconds. Herbst and Allgaier were scored in the top five followed by Mayer while Gragson was back in seventh. Berry, Wallace and Karam filled in the final spots in the top 10 before Wallace made an unscheduled pit stop to address an overheating issue in his car.

    Four laps later, the first caution flew when Parker Kligerman snapped loose entering Turn 7 and collided into Ryan Ellis as both wrecked and came to rest off the course. At the time of caution, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Gibbs. 

    During the caution period, most of the field led by Allmendinger pitted while Gragson, Myatt Snider and Briscoe, who pitted prior to the caution being displayed, remained on the track. During the pit stops, Allmendinger fell all the way back to 14th due to issues while having his right-rear tire changed. In addition, Briscoe, who remained on the track after pitting earlier, was penalized for a commitment box violation.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Gragson pulled ahead of Snider through the first turn as he assumed full control with the lead while Bowman outlasted a side-by-side duel with Gibbs to move into third. In addition, Allgaier moved up to fourth through the straightaway between Turns 6 and 7 while Mayer made a bold move on both Monster Energy competitors of Herbst and Gibbs in Turn 7 in a bid for fifth before he backed out and Herbst prevailed.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Gragson captured his eighth stage victory of the 2022 Xfinity season. Snider retained second followed by Bowman, Allgaier, Herbst, Gibbs, Berry, Creed, Allmendinger and Mayer.

    Under the stage break, Gragson surrendered the lead to pit along with Snider, Landon Cassill and Briscoe while the rest led by Bowman remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Cassill was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 24 as Bowman and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Bowman emerged out in front, but Allgaier fought back entering the first turn. Behind, Gibbs got turned by Josh Berry and he spun in Turn 1 as the field scrambled and fanned out to avoid him. Back at the front, Allgaier emerged with the lead as the field continued to jostle for positions while making their way through the infield straightaway and the turns. Then entering Turn 8, Herbst spun while running towards the front following contact with Berry, but the race proceeded under green.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch for Lap 25, Allgaier was leading Bowman while Allmendinger bolted his way into third place after overtaking Berry while Ross Chastain was in fifth. Behind, Anthony Alfredo, who was running in 11th, spun in Turn 1 as the field managed to avoid hitting Alfredo.

    During the following lap, the caution returned due to a piece of debris spotted in Turn 1. Under caution, some like Herbst, Karam, Austin Dillon, Wallace and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Prior to the restart, Gragson, who sustained damage to his front splitter, also pitted his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 28, Allmendinger, who restarted on the second row, made a bold three-wide move on Bowman and Allgaier exiting the frontstretch and entering the first turn as he reassumed the lead while the field made their way through the first three turns, Turns 4 and 5 and entering the straightaway between Turns 6 and 7.

    By Lap 30, Allmendinger was out in front by eight-tenths of a second over Bowman followed by Allgaier, Berry and Chastain while Creed, Daniel Hemric, Kaz Grala, Mayer and Austin Hill were in the top 10. Miguel Paludo carved his way up to 11th followed by Andy Lally, Myatt Snider, Alex Labbe and Brandon Jones while Jeremy Clements, Ty Dillon, Brett Moffitt, Briscoe and Gibbs were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Herbst was in 23rd and Gragson was mired in 34th while Bubba Wallace, who sustained front-nose damage to his car while also encountering overheating issues, retired in the garage due to engine issues.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 31, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than a second over Bowman while Allgaier, Chastain and Berry remained in the top five.

    Near the conclusion of the second stage, names like Hemric, Hill, Briscoe and Andy Lally pitted under green along with Allgaier, Chastain, Mayer, Gibbs, Herbst and Jeremy Clements. During the pit stops, Hemric was penalized for speeding on pit road while Gibbs, Clements and Lally were all penalized for commitment box violations.

    Then on Lap 38, the leader Allmendinger pitted followed by Bowman, where Bowman managed to exit pit road in front of Allmendinger, as Berry, who had yet to pit, cycled to the lead.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Berry notched his sixth stage victory of the season. Labbe settled in second followed by Kaz Grala, Sage Karam, Preston Pardus, Ty Dillon, Bayley Currey, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Weatherman and Patrick Gallagher. By then, Bowman was back in 13th ahead of Allmendinger and Allgaier.

    Under the stage break, some led by Berry pitted while the rest led by Bowman remained on the track.

    With 18 laps remaining, the final stage started as Bowman and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Bowman and Allmendinger dueled for the lead as the field fanned out entering the first turn. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Allmendinger reassumed the lead ahead of Bowman while Sheldon Creed started to pressure Bowman for second followed by Allgaier. Behind the leaders, Paludo got turned as he spun in Turn 12, but the race proceeded under green.

    During the following lap, Mayer got bumped by Cassill and went off the course in Turn 1 while Allgaier sustained left-front damage after making contact with Creed while entering the first turn. Then in Turn 13, Creed, who was running in the top five, got turned by Chastain as Allmendinger continued to lead by more than a second over Bowman.

    With less than 15 laps remaining, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Bowman while Allgaier was being pressured by Chastain as Briscoe was in the top five. Behind, Hill, the current Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year leader, was in sixth ahead of Cassill, Herbst, Santino Ferrucci and Josh Berry.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than three seconds over Bowman while Chastain, Briscoe and Allgaier occupied the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Bowman followed by Chastain and Allgaier while Briscoe fell back to fifth. Meanwhile, Riley Herbst, who spun at the beginning of the second stage, carved his way back to sixth while Hill, Berry, Mayer and Gibbs, who rallied from his spin and pit road penalty in the second stage, were in the top 10. Gragson was in 11th followed by Cassill, Labbe, Sage Karam and Santino Ferrucci while Brandon Jones, Moffitt, Hemric, Anthony Alfredo and Ty Dillon were mired in the top 20.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Bowman while third-place Chastain trailed by more than 14 seconds. With no pressure mounting behind him and having a clear racetrack in front of him with a clean race car, Allmendinger smoothly navigated his way through the 14-turn circuit for a final time and cycled his way back to the frontstretch for his third checkered flag victory of the season.

    With his third victory of the 2022 season, Allmendinger, who will attempt to sweep the weekend at the Brickyard after winning last year’s Cup Indy event, achieved his record-setting ninth Xfinity win on a road course event and his 13th career victory in his 80th start in the series. The victory was also the 17th overall in the Xfinity circuit for Kaulig Racing as Allmendinger became the fourth Xfinity regular to achieve three-plus victories this season.

    “God, I love this place!” Allmendinger, whose last victory occurred at Portland International Raceway in June, said on NBC. “Indy, baby, let’s go! [I] Can’t thank everybody at Kaulig Racing, all the men and women. We’ve struggled. We’ve worked hard to get a little bit better. This Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevy was really good. I knew Bowman was really good on the long runs, so [I] tried to gap him as much as I could. God, I love Indy.” 

    “We win and lose as a team,” Allmendinger, who addressed his early slow pit stop, added. “I knew the way our car set up, in traffic, it’s not very good. We were having a little bit of brake issues as well. The [pit] guys recovered really well. I was just frustrated ‘cause I knew that we gave up stage points a little bit there as well to the guys we’re fighting in the points. At this point, points don’t mean a damn thing. We’re kissing the bricks. Hell yeah!”

    Bowman finished in second place, trailing Allmendinger by more than two seconds, while Allgaier overtook and fended off Chastain to claim third place. Briscoe, who won the inaugural Xfinity Indy Road Course event, rounded out the top five in fifth.

    “Yeah, just a little tight on the short run,” Bowman said. “[I] Thought I could get [Allmendinger] on the long run there and just kind of ran out of time. [I] Probably was a little too nice on the last restart. I knew he was gonna be better than us firing off, but yeah, ran out of time. Big thanks to everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, HendrickCars.com and Ally for letting me drive this [car] to try to help me for tomorrow. [I] Had a lot of fun. The race car was probably as fast as Xfinity Internet there at the end. We were definitely running [Allmendinger] down. Just not enough laps.”

    Completing the top 10 were Herbst, Mayer, Gibbs, Hill and Gragson. Notably, Josh Berry finished 14th behind Sage Karam, Brandon Jones settled in 15th, Creed ended up 23rd behind Hemric and Paludo settled in 24th.

    There were eight lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 11 laps.

    With six races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Justin Allgaier, 30 over Ty Gibbs, 92 over Josh Berry and 95 over Noah Gragson.

    Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Rookie Sheldon Creed trails the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 50 points, Anthony Alfredo trails by 75, Brandon Brown trails by 83, Brett Moffitt trails by 88, Jeb Burton trails by 142, Jeremy Clements by 148 and Myatt Snider by 151.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 42 laps led

    2. Alex Bowman, four laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, four laps led

    4. Ross Chastain

    5. Chase Briscoe

    6. Riley Herbst

    7. Sam Mayer

    8. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    9. Austin Hill

    10. Noah Gragson, six laps led, Stage 1 winner

    11. Landon Cassill

    12. Alex Labbe

    13. Sage Karam

    14. Josh Berry, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    15. Brandon Jones

    16. Brett Moffitt

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Anthony Alfredo

    19. Jeremy Clements

    20. Ty Dillon

    21. Bayley Currey

    22. Daniel Hemric

    23. Sheldon Creed

    24. Miguel Paludo

    25. Andy Lally

    26. Austin Dillon

    27. Ryan Sieg

    28. Patrick Gallagher

    29. Preston Pardus

    30. Kyle Weatherman

    31. Scott Heckert

    32. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    33. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Suspension

    35. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Engine

    36. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

    37. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

    38. Jeb Burton – OUT, Trackbar

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ annual visit of the season at Michigan International Speedway, which will occur on Saturday, August 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Alexander Rossi snaps three-year winless drought to reign the Gallagher Grand Prix

    Alexander Rossi snaps three-year winless drought to reign the Gallagher Grand Prix

    After enduring a difficult stretch for the past three seasons, Alexander Rossi made a triumphant return to Victory Lane after winning the Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, July 30.

    The 30-year-old Rossi from Nevada City, California, was running in second place approaching the halfway segment between Laps 42 and 43 of 85 when his teammate and race leader Colton Herta fell off the pace and was eliminated following a mechanical issue. From there, Rossi assumed full control of the race and managed to beat rookie Christian Lundgaard by three-and-a-half seconds to snap a 49-year winless drought and record his first NTT IndyCar Series victory of the 2022 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Felix Rosenqvist started on pole position for the second time this season after notching a pole-winning lap at 125.030 mph in one minute, 10.2265 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Alexander Rossi, who clocked in his best lap at 124.539 mph in one minute, 10.5030 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and entering the first turn as Rosenqvist retained the lead ahead of Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden, who bolted his way from the third row to third place. Then in Turn 2, Pato O’Ward, coming off his victory at Iowa Speedway, plummeted down the leaderboard after getting hit by Will Power and spinning while running towards the front. 

    With the event remaining under green, Rosenqvist retained the lead ahead of Rossi and Newgarden. His No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet continued to lead the field through the 14-turn circuit and back to the frontstretch as the first lap was recorded.

    Through the second lap, Rosenqvist remained as the leader by seven-tenths of a second over Rossi followed by Newgarden, Herta and Lundgaard while Conor Daly, Devlin DeFrancesco, Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Jack Harvey were in the top 10.

    During the following lap, the first caution flew when Dalton Kellett made contact against Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda as he spun in Turn 7 in front of O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, few names like Takuma Sato and O’Ward pitted while the rest led by Rosenqvist remained on the track.

    When the event proceeded under green by the fourth lap, Rosenqvist continued to lead ahead of Rossi and the field. A few laps later, Colton Herta, who won at Indy’s Road Course in May, muscled his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda into the runner-up spot while Lundgaard and Newgarden, who was penalized and forced to surrender two spots on the track for exceeding track limits, were in the top five.

    Then on the seventh lap, Herta gained strong run and overtook Rosenqvist in Turn 7 to move into the lead. Shortly after, teammate Rossi took over the runner-up lap as Lundgaard moved his No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda into the top three.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herta was leading by more than a second over teammate Rossi followed by Lundgaard, Rosenqvist and Newgarden while Conor Daly, Scott McLaughlin, Devlin DeFrancesco, Alex Palou and Jack Harvey occupied the top 10. Behind, Graham Rahal was in 11th ahead of Rinus VeeKay, Scott Dixon, Helio Castroneves and Romain Grosjean while Marcus Ericsson was in 19th ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Will Power.

    Shortly after, names like VeeKay, Dixon, Castroneves, David Malukas and Callum Ilott pitted under green. By then, Simon Pagenaud made an unscheduled pit stop. When Lap 13 occurred, more names like Palou, Rahal, McLaughlin and Conor Daly, who stalled his car, pitted under green.

    During the following lap, Herta surrendered the lead to pit along with Rosenqvist, Rossi and Lundgaard as McLaughlin moved into the lead.

    By Lap 20, McLaughlin, who continued to stretch his fuel tank as part of a strategic move, remained as the leader by more than 14 seconds over Ericsson while Johnson, Power and O’Ward were in the top five. By then, Herta was in seventh behind Takuma Sato while Kellett, Rossi and Lundgaard were in the top 10. Newgarden was in 11th ahead of Palou, Simon Pagenaud, VeeKay and Rosenqvist while Dixon in 18th in between DeFrancesco and Harvey.

    Two laps later, the leader McLaughlin pitted his No. 3 Gallagher Dallara-Chevrolet under green along with Ericsson. Once Jimmie Johnson pitted by Lap 24, Power cycled his No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet into the lead followed by O’Ward, Sato, Herta and Rossi.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Power was leading by more than three seconds over Herta followed by Rossi, Lundgaard and Sato. McLaughlin was in sixth while Newgarden, Palou, Pagenaud and VeeKay were in the top 10. By then, O’Ward pitted for fresh red tires.

    During the following lap, Power surrendered the lead to pit for fresh red tires along with Sato while Herta cycled his way back into the lead ahead of teammate Rossi.

    Then on Lap 35, names like VeeKay, Rosenqvist, Rahal, DeFrancesco, Jack Harvey, David Malukas, Helio Castroneves, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Dixon, Grosjean and Conor Daly under green as Simon Pagenaud’s No. 60 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda was off the pace after running out of fuel as he came to a stop off the course in Turn 10. Just as Herta, Rossi, Newgarden, McLaughlin and Lundgaard peeled off the track to pit, the caution flew for Pagenaud’s issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race restarted on Lap 38, Herta retained the lead ahead of teammate Rossi, Lundgaard, Power, Johnson, McLaughlin, Newgarden and O’Ward. 

    Then as the event reached its halfway mark between Laps 42 and 43, Rossi assumed the lead after teammate Herta, who was leading, fell off the pace through Turns 10 to 12 due to a mechanical issue with no clutch as his car came to a stop inside the pit lane entrance. With Herta out of contention and out of the race, Rossi was out in front by more than a second over Lundgaard followed by Power, Johnson and McLaughlin while Newgarden, VeeKay, Rahal, O’Ward and Dixon were in the top 10.

    Through Lap 50, Rossi’s No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Dallara-Honda was leading by more than three seconds over Lundgaard’s No. 30  while Team Penske’s Power, McLaughlin and Newgarden were in the top five. By then, Johnson surrendered his spot in the top 10 to pit. Meanwhile, Castroneves was mired back in 22nd after making earlier contact with Kirkwood that sent Kirkwood spinning in Turn 9. The contact prompted IndyCar to issue the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion a penalty for avoidable contact.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Rossi continued to lead by nearly four seconds over Lundgaard as Power, McLaughlin and Newgarden remained in the top five. VeeKay was in sixth ahead of Rahal, Dixon, Palou and Rosenqvist. By then, O’Ward was back in 11th and Ericsson was in 12th while Sato, Harvey and Callum Ilott were in the top 15. David Malukas was in 16th followed by Conor Daly, Devlin DeFrancesco, Romain Grosjean and Helio Castroneves while Jimmie Johnson was back in 22nd.

    Then with nearly 25 laps remaining, Power pitted under green along with O’Ward, Dixon, Sato and Ilott. Newgarden, VeeKay, Rahal, Palou, Harvey, Malukas, Daly, DeFrancesco, Grosjean and Johnson pitted not long after before the leader Rossi pitted along with Lundgaard, McLaughlin, Rosenqvist and Ericsson.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with most of the leaders having made a pit stop under green, Rossi retained the lead by two-and-a-half seconds over Lundgaard while third-place Power trailed by. Power’s teammates McLaughlin and Newgarden remained in the top five while VeeKay, Rahal, Dixon, Rosenqvist and Palou were scored in the top 10. Ericsson, meanwhile, was in 11th ahead of O’Ward, Sato, Ilott and Harvey while Malukas, Daly, DeFrancesco, Grosjean and Castroneves occupied the top 20. Following his late pit stop, Jimmie Johnson was mired back in 23rd behind Kyle Kirkwood.

    With 10 laps remaining, Rossi, who was trying to navigate his way around the lapped car of Dalton Kellett, continued to lead by less than three seconds over runner-up Lundgaard and more than 14 seconds over third-place Power as McLaughlin and Newgarden remained in the top five. In addition, VeeKay, Rahal, Dixon, Rosenqvist and Palou continued to run in the top 10. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Rossi stabilized his advantage to four seconds over Lundgaard while third-place Power trailed by nearly 16 seconds as he could not close in on the top-two competitors.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Rossi remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Lundgaard. Despite making light contact with the wall earlier, Rossi, who had a clear racetrack in front of him, was able to smoothly navigate his way through the 14-turn circuit for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch as he claimed his first checkered flag in more than three years.

    With the victory, Rossi became the eighth different winner of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season as he also notched his eighth career victory and his first since winning at Road America in June 2019. He also became the second American competitor to win in this year’s IndyCar season and he recorded the fourth victory of the season for Honda. The victory occurred as Rossi is down to his final four races with Andretti Autosport before moving to Arrow McLaren SP in 2023.

    “It’s a relief, man,” Rossi said on NBC. “It’s been so many things for so long. I do feel for Colton [Herta]. I do, but I’m happy. Thankfully, something came our way. I just wanna give a huge shoutout to Andretti Autosport and their continued belief, NAPA Auto Parts and AutoNation. I’m so happy to drive pink. The Honda power. There’s just been so much belief for so long and it’s nice to finally accomplish it. To kind of come back at Indianapolis at home is pretty amazing…It was the No. 27’s turn [to win]. That’s awesome.”

    Meanwhile, rookie Christian Lundgaard claimed both his career-best IndyCar result and maiden podium result by finishing in second place in his 14th series start while Will Power, who won the Gallagher Grand Prix a year ago, reassumed the points lead after rounding out the podium in third place.

    “I think at the end of the third stint, I was catching Alex [Rossi],” Lundgaard said. “I was really hoping because every pit stop, we always caught up. We lost a bit in the beginning of the stint. I think the Andretti car just had so much better power than we did today. That was what killed our rear tires and we struggled on the long run. But, it sure does feel like a birthday present. I think the results speak for themselves. Coming in this weekend, we knew we had a strong car. I wasn’t so happy in practice. I think there was definitely something we found there. Then, we rolled into qualifying with last year’s car. Look where we are. I love to be at Indy. Now to have a podium, this being the place. I would’ve preferred it now being the other way around, but we’ll take that next year.”

    “Definitely a rough start,” Power said. “[I] Got pushed around in Turn 1, got pushed into Pato [O’Ward], we spun him. Then, Helio [Castroneves] went for a big move and pushed me on the curb, but great recovery. You can never expect a normal day in IndyCar. It was just one of those things. Everyone’s very aggressive and it’s so hard to win in this series. It’s the toughest series in the world. Everyone fights hard for positions. Just got to keep in clean, but great job by the Verizon 5G guys. It’s amazing that we can go all the way back there and recover to third. I’m so happy for that. It’s gonna be coming time here. Just gotta do what you know. I know this game so well. I know I can change very quickly, but you got to take what you can get every race day.”

    Power’s teammates McLaughlin and Newgarden finished in the top five while VeeKay, Rahal, Dixon, pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou completed the top 10.

    Following the event, Conor Daly, who ended up 17th, was issued a penalty from IndyCar for late blocking against 18th-place finisher Devlin DeFrancesco, whom Daly vocalled his displeasure towards for forcing him off the track in Turn 12 earlier.

    There were five lead changes for five different leaders. The event featured two cautions for five laps.

    With his third-place result, Will Power leads the standings by nine points over Marcus Ericsson, 32 over Josef Newgarden, 38 over Scott Dixon, 46 over Pato O’Ward, 52 over Alex Palou, 81 over Scott McLaughlin and 113 over Alexander Rossi.

    Results.

    1. Alexander Rossi, 44 laps led

    2. Christian Lundgaard

    3. Will Power, seven laps led

    4. Scott McLaughlin, 10 laps led

    5. Josef Newgarden

    6. Rinus VeeKay

    7. Graham Rahal

    8. Scott Dixon

    9. Felix Rosenqvist, seven laps led

    10. Alex Palou

    11. Marcus Ericsson

    12. Pato O’Ward

    13. David Malukas

    14. Callum Ilott

    15. Takuma Sato

    16. Romain Grosjean

    17. Conor Daly

    18. Devlin DeFrancesco

    19. Helio Castroneves

    20. Jack Harvey

    21. Dalton Kellett, one lap down

    22. Jimmie Johnson, one lap down

    23. Kyle Kirkwood, one lap down

    24. Colton Herta – OUT, Mechanical, 17 laps led

    25. Simon Pagenaud – OUT, Off Course

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the second annual running of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Street Circuit in Nashville, Tennessee. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 7, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Grant Enfinger wins 2022 Truck Series Playoff opener at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

    Grant Enfinger wins 2022 Truck Series Playoff opener at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park

    A gusty call to pit for four fresh tires under caution with less than 10 laps remaining before bolting his way to the front through two late-race restarts netted Grant Enfinger a big victory in the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park on Friday, July 29.

    The 37-year-old Enfinger from Fairhope, Alabama, led four times for 13 of 207 over-scheduled laps and utilized four fresh tires to overtake Zane Smith during an overtime attempt to capture his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory of the season and to become the first Playoff contender to transfer from the Round of 10 to 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Friday, Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek started on pole position for the fifth time in 2022 after posting a pole-winning lap at 111.188 mph in 22.211 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Nemechek’s teammate and Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who won last weekend’s event at Pocono Raceway and won Friday’s ARCA Menards Series event earlier at IRP before he clocked in his best lap at 110.998 mph in 22.249 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Chris Hacker and Josh Reaume dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Nemechek launched his No. 4 Yahoo! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the lead while Chandler Smith and Christian Eckes battled for the runner-up spot before the former retained the spot in front of the field.

    As the field returned to the start/finish line to complete the first lap, Nemechek retained the top spot ahead of teammate Chandler Smith and Eckes while Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar and Corey Heim battled for spots within the top six.

    By the fifth lap, Enfinger moved his No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet Silverado RST up to third followed by Hocevar while Eckes fell back to fifth in front of Stewart Friesen and Heim. Meanwhile, Nemechek remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    Nearing the Lap 10 mark, the first caution of the event flew when Josh Reaume and Spencer Boyd wrecked in Turn 1, resulting in Reaume’s truck sustaining significant rear-end damage and Body’s truck bursting into flames. By then, Nemechek, who nearly lost the lead to teammate Chandler Smith, was back out in front followed by Enfinger, Hocevar and Friesen while Heim, Eckes, Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Derek Kraus were in the top 10. In addition, Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series regular-season champion, was mired in 17th behind Austin Wayne Self while Matt Crafton was back in 22nd behind Chase Purdy.

    Following an extensive caution period, the event restarted under green on Lap 20. At the start, Nemechek retained the top spot while Carson Hocevar made a bold move on the inside lane in an attempt to take the lead before he settled in third behind Chandler Smith. Behind, Enfinger and Stewart Friesen battled for fourth in front of Corey Heim and the field that fanned out to multiple lanes. 

    Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith followed by Hocevar, Friesen and Enfinger while Heim, Ben Rhodes, Eckes, Kraus and Majeski were in the top 10. 

    Four laps later, the caution returned when Reaume, who was involved in the first caution with Spencer Boyd, spun in Turn 4. During the caution period, Matt Crafton pitted for adjustments to his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro along with Jesse Little and Blake Lothian while the rest of the field led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    When the event proceeded under green on Lap 37, Nemechek retained the lead while Chandler Smith fended off Hocevar and Friesen to remain in second. As the field fanned out, Enfinger was in fifth followed by Heim, Rhodes, Majeski and Eckes while Zane Smith cracked the top 10.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Chandler Smith as the top-10 spots were occupied by Playoff contenders. The only Playoff competitor who was not in the top 10 was Crafton, who was mired in 24th.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek captured his fourth stage victory of the season. Teammate Chandler Smith trailed in the runner-up spot while Hocevar, Friesen, Enfinger, Rhodes, Heim, Majeski, Zane Smith and Eckes were scored in the top 10. Crafton, meanwhile, was still mired in 24th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and teammate Chandler Smith emerged with the lead followed by Hocevar, Nemechek, Rhodes, Heim and Enfinger. Following the pit stops, Rhodes and Kris Wright were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 70 as Chandler Smith and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar rocketed his No. 42 Premier Security Chevrolet Silverado RST to the lead on the inside lane in front of Chandler Smith as the field fanned out to multiple lanes around the circuit.

    Three laps later, the caution returned when Blake Lothian came to a stop in Turn 1 as his night came to an end.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 80, Hocevar managed to retain the lead while on the inside lane as Enfinger challenged Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot in front of Nemechek. Behind, Tyler Ankrum was in fifth ahead of Heim, Kraus, Friesen, Eckes and Zane Smith.

    By Lap 90, a heated side-by-side battle for the lead was occurring between Hocevar and Enfinger. While Enfinger gained a run and was strong through the turns, Hocevar managed to fend off Enfinger and retain the lead entering the straightaways. Meanwhile, third-place Nemechek trailed by less than a second while Chandler Smith and Ankrum were in the top five.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Hocevar was leading by a narrow margin over Enfinger while Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Ankrum, Friesen, Heim, Zane Smith, Majeski and Kraus were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Christian Eckes was in 11th, Rhodes was in 14th and Crafton was back in 17th behind Taylor Gray.

    Five laps later, Enfinger persevered through his tight, endless battle against Hocevar by taking the lead through the backstretch and entering Turn 3. Another two laps later, the caution returned when Nemechek, who was closing in on Hocevar and teammate Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot, spun in Turn 2 after making contact with the lapped truck of Kris Wright. Despite spinning and coming to a stop in the middle of the track and in a cloud of smoke in Turn 2, Nemechek was dodged by the oncoming competitors led by Ankrum as he managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage.

    During the caution period, most of the field led by Enfinger pitted while names that included Chandler Smith, Rhodes, Kaz Grala, Lawless Alan and Timmy Hill remained on the track as Smith reassumed the lead.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chandler Smith retained the lead on the inside lane ahead of Rhodes as the field fanned out entering the backstretch. Two laps later, however, Ty Majeski muscled his No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the lead on fresh tires followed by Enfinger, who quickly dispatched Chandler Smith on fresh tires. Another two laps later, Zane Smith and Chandler Smith made contact as Zane rubbed against Chandler’s No. 18 Toyota in Turn 1 with both making contact with the outside wall. Despite the contact, the race proceeded under green as Majeski remained as the leader. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 120 under caution after Dean Thompson spun in Turn 2, Majeski held off Enfinger to claim his second stage victory of the season. Enfinger settled in second followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Zane Smith, Heim, Friesen, Chandler Smith, Ankrum and Colby Howard.

    Under the stage break, Chandler Smith, Zane Smith, Rhodes, Lawless Alan, Kaz Grala, Austin Wayne Self, Johnny Sauter, Hailie Deegan, Timmy Hill and Jake Garcia pitted while the rest led by Majeski remained on the track.

    With 72 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green. At the start, Majeski fended off Enfinger to remain as the leader while Hocevar was in third ahead of Friesen, Ankrum, Nemechek and Heim while the field fanned out.

    Following a debris caution reported in Turn 4 10 laps later, the race proceeded under green with 55 laps remaining. At the start, Majeski retained the lead by a narrow margin over Enfinger while Nemechek, Friesen and Ben Rhodes duked for fifth in front of Hocevar, Heim and Tyler Ankrum. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Lawless Alan, who was locked in a tight four-wide battle through the backstretch, got turned by Chase Purdy as he spun and made hard contact against the inside wall. In the midst of the carnage, Zane Smith sustained minimal damage to his No. 38 Boot Barn Ford F-150 after hitting Alan.

    During the caution period, names like Zane Smith, Taylor Gray, Austin Wayne Self and Dean Thompson pitted while the rest led by Ty Majeski remained on the track.

    With 42 laps remaining, the event restarted under green. At the start, Majeski and Enfinger dueled for the lead through Turn 1 as Nemechek also attempted to squeeze his way to the top spot. Despite the tight racing for the lead entering the backstretch, Majeski managed to clear Enfinger to remain as the leader while Nemechek settled back in third. Behind, Friesen was in fourth while Rhodes was in fifth in front of Hocevar.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Majeski was leading by more than one-and-a-half seconds over Enfinger followed by Nemechek, Friesen and Rhodes while Hocevar, Heim, Colby Howard, Ankrum and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10. By then, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Crafton and Eckes were in 14th, 15th, 17th and 21st, respectively.

    Ten laps later, Majeski, who was carving his way through lapped traffic, extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Enfinger while Nemechek, Rhodes and Friesen remained in the top five.

    Then with 12 laps remaining, Majeski, who was getting stalled by the lapped truck of Hailie Deegan and Blaine Perkins, was caught by Enfinger as Enfinger dueled and overtook Majeski for the lead a lap after as Nemechek started to close in while running in third place. 

    With 10 laps remaining, however, the caution flew when Colby Howard, who was having a strong run in eighth place, made contact with Hocevar entering Turn 4, which Hocevar repaid the favor by veering dead left and sending Howard’s No. 91 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST backward into the outside wall. The incident prompted Howard to express his displeasure towards Hocevar after he exited his damaged truck.

    During the caution period, the majority of the field led by Enfinger and Majeski pitted while names like Nemechek, Taylor Gray, Ankrum, Zane Smith, DiBenedetto, newcomer Layne Riggs, Johnny Sauter, Austin Wayne Self, Jesse Little and Chris Hacker remained on the track as Nemechek inherited the lead.

    Down to a two-lap shootout to the finish, the race restarted under green. At the start, Taylor Gray managed to pull ahead of Nemechek and the field to take the lead entering the backstretch. Then entering Turn 4, Gray was hit by Nemechek as he spun his No. 17 David Gilliland Racing Ford F-150 across the outside wall, which prompted NASCAR to display the caution and send the event into overtime. At the moment of caution, Nemechek managed to retain the top spot followed by Zane Smith while Ankrum was in third ahead of Enfinger, Layne Riggs and DiBenedetto. 

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Nemechek launched ahead on the outside lane entering the first two turns before he got forced into the outside wall by Zane Smith. With Nemechek falling below the leaderboard following his late scrape, Zane Smith assumed the top spot followed by a hard-charging Enfinger, who was on four fresh tires, as the field fanned out and jostled for late positions. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Enfinger was ahead by a nose over Zane Smith as Rhodes carved his way into third. Enfinger then managed to clear Zane Smith and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch to assume full authority. With no late challenges instigating behind and having four fresh tires to his advantage, Enfinger cycled his way back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by four-tenths of a second over Rhodes.

    With the victory, Enfinger, who competed between ThorSport Racing and CR7 Motorsports a year ago before reuniting with GMS Racing as a full-time competitor this season, claimed his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win since winning at Martinsville Speedway in October and his seventh career win in the series. He also became the 13th overall competitor to win a Truck event at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park as he recorded the first victory of the season for GMS Racing and the third for the Chevrolet nameplate. 

    By winning the first event of the 2022 Truck Series Playoffs at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, Enfinger, who managed to secure a Playoff spot based on points a week ago at Pocono Raceway, also earned an automatic transfer spot to the Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit to win his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    “We’re finally moving forward at all,” Enfinger said on FS1. “This is the first laps we’ve led since Atlanta or something. Terrible off-season. Not because of these [pit] guys behind me, but we’ve just been off a little bit as an organization. [I] Can’t say thank you enough to [GMS Racing president] Mike Beam, [owner] Maury Gallagher, Ron Booth, everybody at GMS Fabrication and everybody on this No. 23 team. We’ve been working so hard because we’ve been sucking. It hurts to say it, but we’ve had a terrible season to this point. We had a great No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet all day. [I] Felt like every time I got the lead, the caution come out. It put [crew chief Jeff] Hensley in a bad spot. I knew from experience, just trust his gut. It’s a pretty special night. Definitely very, very thankful.”

    During his victory celebration, Enfinger credited the late gusty pit call made by his veteran crew chief Jeff Hensley, who reunited with Enfinger at GMS Racing in late June. Both Enfinger and Hensley worked together at ThorSport Racing from 2017 to 2020.

    “Four years and we’ve ridden the roller coaster together,” Enfinger added. “We’ve been in the lows. We missed the Playoffs our first year together and we haven’t missed it since then. We’ve had some success together. He’s a racer. I’m a racer. Neither one of us are very smart, but we put it together tonight.”

    Rhodes came home in second place in front of Zane Smith while Friesen and Heim finished in the top five. Ankrum finished in sixth in front of newcomer Layne Riggs while Majeski, who was initially in a position to win his first NASCAR race, settled in eighth. Crafton rallied to finish ninth while Nemechek, who led a race-high 75 laps and ended up in the wall while leading, fell back to 10th place.

    Notably, Playoff contenders Christian Eckes, Chandler Smith and Carson Hocevar finished 16th, 18th and 21st, respectively.

    The Truck Series’ return to Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park since 2011 featured 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race also featured 10 cautions for 78 laps.

    Results.

    1. Grant Enfinger, 13 laps led

    2. Ben Rhodes

    3. Zane Smith

    4. Stewart Friesen

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Tyler Ankrum

    7. Layne Riggs

    8. Ty Majeski, 71 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    9. Matt Crafton 

    10. John Hunter Nemechek, 75 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    11. Matt DiBenedetto

    12. Johnny Sauter

    13. Hailie Deegan

    14. Derek Kraus

    15. Jesse Little

    16. Christian Eckes

    17. Timmy Hill

    18. Chandler Smith, 13 laps led

    19. Austin Wayne Self

    20. Kaz Grala

    21. Carson Hocevar, 34 laps led

    22. Taylor Gray, one lap led

    23. Tanner Gray

    24. Chris Hacker

    25. Jack Wood

    26. Blaine Perkins

    27. Chase Purdy, one lap down

    28. Jake Garcia, one lap down

    29. Dean Thompson, three laps down

    30. Chad Chastain, three laps down

    31. Kris Wright, three laps down

    32. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

    33. Josh Reaume – OUT, Too slow

    34. Lawless Alan –  OUT, Accident

    35. Blake Lothian – OUT, Driveshaft

    36. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings

    1. Grant Enfinger – Advanced

    2. Zane Smith +50

    3. Ben Rhodes +36

    4. Stewart Friesen +28

    5. John Hunter Nemechek +24

    6. Chandler Smith +24

    7. Ty Majeski +19

    8. Carson Hocevar +7

    9. Matt Crafton -7

    10. Christian Eckes -7

    With the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Playoffs underway, the second Round of 10 events is scheduled to occur at Richmond Raceway on August 13. The event’s coverage is scheduled to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Ty Gibbs subbing for Kurt Busch at Indianapolis

    Ty Gibbs subbing for Kurt Busch at Indianapolis

    Three days after experiencing his first start in NASCAR’s premier series in a substitute role for a former Cup Series champion, Ty Gibbs will retain his role for a second consecutive week after it was announced that he will be filling in for Kurt Busch and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry for this weekend’s event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.

    The announcement comes as Busch has not received medical clearance to return to racing. He continues to recover from concussion-like symptoms stemming from a hard wreck during last weekend’s qualifying session at Pocono Raceway that prevented him from competing in the main event at the Tricky Triangle. Though he is set to be absent for a second consecutive week, Busch, who won at Kansas Speedway in May and is in contention to qualify for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs, has received a medical waiver from NASCAR to remain eligible for the Playoffs that is set to commence in September.

    Both Busch and 23XI Racing took to social media to unveil the news regarding Busch’s health status and plans for Indianapolis.

    Gibbs also took to social media to address the news for this weekend at Indianapolis.

    This weekend’s event at Indianapolis will mark Gibbs’ second career start in the Cup Series. Last weekend at Pocono, he rallied from starting at the rear of the field to initially finish in 18th place in his Cup debut before being promoted to 16th place when his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified from finishing first and second due to a failed post-race inspection.

    Gibbs, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion and the grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, currently competes as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor in the No. 54 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Through the first 19-scheduled events, he has achieved four victories and 11 top-10 results, including a runner-up result from last weekend’s Xfinity event at Pocono. He currently sits in third place in the Xfinity regular-season standings and trails the points lead by 22 points.

    Gibbs will also be making his second and third career starts at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for his Xfinity-Cup double-duty role this weekend. He made his first start at Indy a year ago in the Xfinity circuit, where he earned stage points during both stage segments before setting in 19th place of the 36-car field.

    Gibbs’ second career start in the NASCAR Cup Series is set to occur at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, July 31, with the event’s coverage to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Hamlin to make 600th Cup career start at Indianapolis

    Hamlin to make 600th Cup career start at Indianapolis

    Competing in his 17th consecutive full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Denny Hamlin is set to achieve of a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota TRD Camry will achieve career start No. 600 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Chesterfield, Virginia, Hamlin made his inaugural presence in the Cup circuit at Kansas Speedway in October 2005. By then, he was campaigning in his first full-time season in the Xfinity Series and was selected to pilot JGR’s No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet Monte Carlo, where he replaced Jason Leffler, Terry Labonte and J.J. Yeley as all three took turns piloting the ride throughout the season. During the event at Kansas, Hamlin started seventh but finished 32nd in his Cup debut. He returned for the following six Cup events to conclude the 2005 campaign. During this stint, he notched three top-10 results, including a season-best seventh-place result at Texas Motor Speedway November, and started on pole position for the penultimate Cup event in 2005, where he led 23 laps and finished 13th.

    In 2006, Hamlin graduated to the Cup Series on a full-time basis in the No. 11 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for JGR. Based on winning his first Cup pole at Phoenix, he made his first start of his rookie campaign in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in February. During the Shootout, Hamlin led 16 of 72 laps and fended off challenges from teammate Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson to become the first rookie Cup candidate to win NASCAR’s pre-season exhibition event.

    Making his Daytona 500 debut a week later, Hamlin started 17th and finished 30th. Nine races later, he notched a career-best runner-up result at Richmond Raceway, his home track, behind Earnhardt Jr. Then another four races later, Hamlin notched his first career victory in NASCAR’s premier series at Pocono Raceway in June and became the fourth different competitor to win a Cup Series event for Joe Gibbs Racing. The victory, which occurred in his 21st series start, also occurred after the Virginia native rallied from cutting a left-rear tire and spinning on Lap 52. The momentum continued for Hamlin, who swept both Pocono Cup events when NASCAR returned to the Tricky Triangle circuit in July. The two Pocono victories along with 11 finishes in the top 10 throughout the 26-race regular season stretch were more than enough for the driver of the No. 11 JGR Chevrolet team to qualify for the 2006 Cup Playoffs, thus making Hamlin the first rookie candidate to make the Playoffs. Throughout the 10-race Playoff stretch, he earned seven top-10 results and three top-three results before settling in third place in the final standings and capping off his sensational first Cup season with two victories, three poles, eight top-five results, 20 top-10 results and the 2006 Rookie-of-the-Year title.

    The following season, Hamlin achieved his third NASCAR Cup Series career victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July following a late battle with four-time champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon. To go along with 14 top-10 results, including seven in the top three, he made his second consecutive appearance in the Playoffs. During the Playoffs, however, Hamlin only achieved three top-10 results and fell back to 12th place in the final standings.

    Six races into the 2008 Cup Series season, Hamlin, who remained at JGR when the team swapped manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota, notched his fourth Cup career victory at Martinsville Speedway in March following another late duel with Gordon. Four races later at Richmond, Hamlin, who started on pole, led 381 of 410, but ended up in 24th place after cutting a right-front tire late in the event and losing three laps in the process. The Martinsville victory along with 13 additional top-10 results, however, were enough for Hamlin to qualify for the Playoffs for a third consecutive season. Despite earning five top-10 results throughout the 2008 Playoffs, Hamlin settled in eighth place in the final standings ahead of teammates Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch. By then, the Virginia native surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

    After finishing in the top five six times during the first 20 scheduled events of the 2009 season, Hamlin notched his first elusive victory of the year at Pocono, which snapped a 50-race winless drought dating back to March 2008. In Victory Lane, an emotional Hamlin dedicated the win to his grandmother, who died earlier in the week. Five races later, he won the regular season finale at Richmond after leading 299 of 400 laps. Through the first half of the 2009 Cup Playoffs, the Virginia native finished in the top five twice, but suffered back-to-back DNFs at Auto Club Speedway and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October. He rebounded by winning for the third time of the season at Martinsville, but retired late at Talladega Superspeedway due to an engine failure. While he did not emerge as the 2009 Cup champion, Hamlin capped off the season with three consecutive top-three results, including a fourth victory of the year in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, as he also finished in fifth place in the final standings.

    Entering the 2010 Cup Series season as a potential championship favorite, Hamlin rallied from finishing no higher than 17th place during the first five scheduled events by overtaking Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth during a two-lap shootout to win at Martinsville in March for the third time in his career. A month after he underwent a knee surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left knee and finishing in 30th place at Phoenix Raceway, he rallied from starting 28th to win at Texas Motor Speedway in April over the reigning four-time champion Jimmie Johnson and claim his 10th Cup Series career victory. By June, Hamlin notched three additional victories to the 2010 campaign: Darlington Raceway in May, Pocono in June and Michigan International Speedway in June. Three months later, Hamlin prevailed over a late battle with teammate Kyle Busch to claim his sixth victory of the season at Richmond and earn the top starting seed to the Playoffs.

    Hamlin’s 2010 Playoff run commenced with a runner-up result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway despite being involved in an on-track incident midway into the event. After finishing no worse than 12th during the following four events, he notched his seventh victory of the season at Martinsville. By then, he narrowed his deficit to Jimmie Johnson to six points. Then after finishing ninth at Talladega, Hamlin dropped the hammer in early November by winning for the eighth time of the season at Texas and snatching the points lead by 33 points over Johnson. During the penultimate event of the season at Phoenix, however, Hamlin, who led a race-high 190 of 312 laps, was forced to pit late in the event due to not having enough fuel to finish the event. By finishing in 12th place while Johnson finished fifth, Hamlin’s advantage in the standings decreased to 15 points entering the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Then at Homestead, Hamlin, who started towards the rear of the field, was involved in an early on-track incident with Greg Biffle and never recovered as he finished 14th while Johnson finished second, which was enough for Johnson to reclaim the points lead and win his fifth consecutive Cup Series championship by 39 points. Despite falling short of winning his first Cup title, Hamlin concluded his fifth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series with a career-high eight victories, two poles, 14 top-five results, 20 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 12.9.

    Compared to the 2010 season, Hamlin experienced a difficult season in 2011, where he notched only a single victory at Michigan in June. To go along with five top-five results and 14 top-10 results, he made the Playoffs for a sixth consecutive season, but settled in ninth place in the final standings. Despite this, Hamlin surpassed 200 Cup career starts.

    The 2012 season featured a new crew chief for Hamlin for the first time in his Cup career as Darian Grubb, who won the 2011 title with Tony Stewart, joined Joe Gibbs Racing after departing Stewart-Haas Racing as he replaced Mike Ford. Two races into the new season, Hamlin raced his way to a momentous victory at Phoenix following a late duel with Kevin Harvick. Another six races later, he won at Kansas Speedway in April following a late battle against Martin Truex Jr. After enduring an up-and-down regular season stretch, Hamlin notched back-to-back victories at Bristol Motor Speedway and at Atlanta Motor Speedway between August and September before entering the 2012 Cup Playoffs with the top seed. Despite claiming his 22nd career victory and fifth of the season at New Hampshire, which marked the 100th Cup career win for Joe Gibbs Racing, Hamlin finished outside of the top 10 in four of the final five scheduled events, which relegated him back to sixth place in the final standings.

    Campaigning in his ninth full-time season in the Cup Series with JGR in 2013, Hamlin earned a single top-five result through the first four scheduled events. Mired in this was a 23rd-place result at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, where he cut a right-front tire late in the event. Earlier, he made contact with ex-teammate Joey Logano, which prompted Logano to confront Hamlin following the event. Then during the following scheduled event at Auto Club Speedway, Hamlin was involved in a vicious wreck on the final lap while engaged in a late, fierce battle with his newest rival Logano for the win. Entering the final turn, Hamlin was being drifted up the track by Logano and the contact resulted with the former sending the latter into the outside wall as Hamlin then spun below the track and pounded the inside wall near the pit road entrance head-on. After exiting his car and being airlifted to a local hospital, it was later reported that Hamlin suffered a massive L1 compression fracture or a collapsed vertebra, which prevented him from competing during the following four events as Mark Martin and Brian Vickers took turns sharing JGR’s No. 11 Toyota.

    Two months following the incident at Auto Club Speedway, Hamlin made a brief return to the Cup circuit at Talladega in May, where he started the event before relinquishing his seat early to Vickers for the remainder of the event. A week later at Darlington, Hamlin completed all 500 miles and earned an impressive runner-up result behind teammate Matt Kenseth. Determined to make up the lost time early in the season, Hamlin went on to finish in fourth place in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway after starting on pole. Despite winning the pole for the following weekend at Dover in June, Hamlin fell back to 34th place after cutting a right-front tire and retiring late. He rallied by finishing eighth at Pocono, but settled outside of the top 15 through the remaining 12 regular season events, which were enough to prevent Hamlin and the No. 11 JGR Toyota team from making the Playoffs for the first time since 2005. After finishing no higher than seventh twice during the following nine Playoff events, Hamlin capped off the 2013 Cup season on a high note by winning the finale at Homestead in November. The victory, which was the 23rd of Hamlin’s Cup career, extended his all-time winning streak in NASCAR’s premier series to eight consecutive seasons, though he settled in a career-low 23rd-place in the final standings. In the midst of this, he notched a career-high five poles.

    Hamlin initiated the 2014 Cup season on a high note by winning both the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona and the second of two Budweiser Duel events before finishing in second place in the 56th running of the Daytona 500 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. A month later at Auto Club Speedway, Hamlin relinquished his seat to Sam Hornish Jr. after experiencing a sinus infection that affected his vision. Then at Talladega Superspeedway in May, Hamlin extended his winning consecutive streak in the Cup Series to nine seasons after emerging victorious at Talladega, which marked his 300th Cup career start. He went on to record eight additional top-10 results during the regular season stretch before the 2014 Cup Playoffs commenced. Throughout the Playoffs, Hamlin utilized consistency to transfer from the Round of 16 all the way to the Championship Round and emerge as one of four finalists to compete for the title at Homestead in November. During the finale, however, Hamlin, who remained out on course on old tires in the closing laps, slipped back to seventh place on the track and in third place in the final standings, which marked his fourth top-five result in a Cup standings.

    Paired with veteran crew chief Dave Rogers for his 10th full-time Cup season, Hamlin fended off rival Brad Keselowski at Martinsville in March to claim his fifth victory at the Paper Clip track in his home state of Virginia. Two months later, Hamlin prevailed in a late battle against Kevin Harvick and stellar work from his pit crew to win the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and record the first All-Star victory for himself, Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. To go along with 12 additional top-10 results throughout the regular season, Hamlin made his ninth appearance as a Playoff contender. He then commenced the Playoffs on a high note by rallying from an opening lap spin to take the lead during a two-lap shootout and win at Chicagoland Speedway in September. Despite transferring from the Round of 16 to the Round of 12, Hamlin’s title hopes evaporated after being involved in a multi-car wreck at Talladega in October. When the final checkered flag of 2015 flew, Hamlin settled in ninth place in the final standings.

    In 2016, Hamlin received his fourth different crew chief of his Cup career as Mike Wheeler replaced Rogers atop the No. 11 pit box. The new duo commenced the 2016 season on a high note by winning the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona, which marked Hamlin’s third career victory in NASCAR’s non-point exhibition event. Then during the 58th running of the Daytona 500, Hamlin overtook teammate Matt Kenseth for the lead through the final turn on the final lap and edged Martin Truex Jr. by 0.010 to become the 37th different competitor to win the Great American Race for the first time for himself, for Toyota and for Joe Gibbs Racing since 1993. To this day, Hamlin’s margin of victory over Truex of 0.010 stands as the closet-recorded finish in the history of the Daytona 500. Twenty-one races later, where he notched nine additional top-10 results, Hamlin claimed his first road course victory at Watkins Glen International in August. He then capped off the regular season by winning at Richmond for the third time of his career in September. Throughout the Playoffs, Hamlin and the No. 11 JGR team earned seven results in the top 10, but their 2016 title hopes came to an end following the Round of 8 as the Virginia veteran finished in sixth place in the final standings.

    By competing in the first two scheduled events of 2017, where he finished outside the top 15 in both events, Hamlin reached 400 Cup career starts. He then finished in the top 10 nine times during the following 16 scheduled events before claiming his first win of the season and his 30th Cup career victory at New Hampshire in July. Two months later, he rallied from a late pit road error to benefit from Truex cutting a right-front tire in the closing laps and win the Southern 500 at Darlington for a second time. The victory, however, was ruled encumbered as Hamlin’s car failed post-race inspection. Despite this, he made his 10th career appearance in the Playoffs. After finishing in the top 10 four times during the first six scheduled Playoff events, Hamlin was one of eight competitors still active in the Playoffs for the title. Then at Martinsville in October, he was involved in a late controversial incident with Chase Elliott, whom Hamlin wrecked in the closing laps while battling for the win and a spot to the Championship Round finale at Homestead in November. While Elliott fell back to 29th place, Hamlin settled in seventh after being overtaken by teammate Kyle Busch on the penultimate lap and being swept in a multi-car wreck while trying to finish the event. His incident with Elliott, however, carried forth following the event, where both competitors exchanged harsh words near the backstretch. Despite finishing third at Texas during the following weekend, Hamlin’s title hopes for 2017 evaporated at Phoenix when he made contact with Elliott and cut a right-front tire in the closing laps. Instead of a possible trip to Victory Lane and the main championship stage, Hamlin settled in sixth place in the final standings for a second consecutive season.

    The 2018 Cup Series season marked the first time since 2005 where Hamlin concluded the season winless as he only managed to record four poles, 10 top-five results and 17 top-10 results. Despite utilizing consistency to make the Playoffs, his championship hopes came to an early end following the Round of 16 and three consecutive results outside of the top 10. He finished in 11th place in the final standings.

    Paired with his fifth crew chief in his career, Chris Gabehart, Hamlin roared out of the gates in 2019 by winning the 61st running of the Daytona 500 in February as he claimed his second 500 triumph and snapped a 47-race winless drought dating back to September 2017. The 500 victory was an emotional one for Hamlin and team owner Joe Gibbs, whose son and JGR’s co-owner, J.D., had died a month prior to the season and who played an instrumental role in recruiting Hamlin to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing. Six races later, the Virginia veteran claimed his second victory of the season at Texas in March. Hamlin went on to win at Pocono in July and the Bright Night Race in August before making his 13th career appearance as a Cup Playoff contender. During the first half of the 2019 Playoffs, Hamlin earned four top-five results, including a victory at Kansas in October, that enabled him to advance from the Round of 16 to the Round of 8. During this round, he was involved in an off-track skirmish with Logano at Martinsville and settled in 28th place at Texas due to an early spin, which placed him in jeopardy of missing the Championship Round finale at Homestead in November. Nonetheless, Hamlin executed his opportunity at the right timing by winning at Phoenix for his sixth victory of the season and to clinch a spot to the finale. However, while he appeared to have a championship-winning run established during the finale, his title hopes evaporated late after he made an unscheduled pit stop to address overheating issues to his No. 11 Toyota. When the checkered flag waved, Hamlin settled in 10th place on the track and in fourth place in the final standings as teammate Kyle Busch captured his second title. Nonetheless, the 2019 Cup season was a successful one for Hamlin, who earned six victories, three poles, a career-high 19 top-five results, 24 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 9.5. In addition, he surpassed 500 Cup career starts.

    The following season, Hamlin earned his third Daytona 500 career victory and the second in a row after narrowly escaping a vicious accident involving Ryan Newman on the final lap to edge Ryan Blaney by 0.014 seconds, which marks the second-closest margin of victory in the 500. After earning a rain-shortened victory at Darlington in May and a dominant win at Homestead in June, Hamlin tallied his career victories in the Cup Series to 40. He went on to win at Pocono in June, Kansas in July and at Dover in August before qualifying for the 2020 Cup Playoffs. Emerging as a championship threat, Hamlin earned three top-10 results throughout the Playoffs, including a win at Talladega in October, that enabled him to transfer all the way to the Round of 8. He ended up earning another trip to the Championship Round finale at Phoenix in November and was given another opportunity to claim his elusive first Cup title. During the finale, however, he was never a factor for the title battle as he finished in fourth place both on the track and in the final standings. Despite this, Hamlin’s seven victories earned in 2020 were the most he earned in a Cup season since winning eight times in 2010 as he also improved his average-finishing result of 9.3.

    Making a bid to become the first competitor to win three consecutive Daytona 500s while also becoming a co-owner of 23XI Racing in 2021, Hamlin commenced the season with a fifth-place run during the 500. He then endured an up-and-down, consistent season, where he earned a total of 13 top-five results and 17 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular season stretch. He also led the points standings for nearly the entire regular season stretch before being overtaken by Kyle Larson. During the 2021 Cup Playoff opener at Darlington in September, Hamlin stormed back to the main headlines after fending off Larson to snap a season-long winless spell and earn a one-way ticket to the Round of 12. He went on to transfer to the Round of 8 after winning at Las Vegas in September and emerging victorious as a car owner with driver Bubba Wallace at Talladega in October. During the Round of 8, Hamlin earned respective finishes of 11th, fifth and 24th. This included a late run-in with Alex Bowman at Martinsville in October, where Bowman spun Hamlin in the final laps while battling for the win and resulted with Hamlin pulling his car in front of Bowman’s following the event to express his displeasure. In the midst of the incident, Hamlin made the Championship Round for a third consecutive season. His title hopes for 2021, however, diminished as he finished in third place both during the finale and in the final standings. Nonetheless, Hamlin managed to tie his career-best top-five results earned at 19 while achieving a career-high 25 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 8.4.

    Through 599 previous Cup starts, Hamlin has achieved 48 victories, 36 poles, 201 top-five results, 310 top-10 results, 13,041 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.3. He has achieved two victories through the first 21-scheduled events of 2022: Richmond in April and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May. He initially won last weekend’s Cup event at Pocono, but his victory was stripped due to a post-race inspection failure that demoted him to 35th place of the 36-car field. Despite being ranked in 21st place in the regular-season standings, he is currently guaranteed a spot in the 2022 Cup Playoffs based on his two regular-season victories.

    Hamlin is scheduled to make his 600th Cup Series career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, July 31, with the event’s coverage to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Kevin Meendering to call 100th Xfinity event as crew chief at Indianapolis

    Kevin Meendering to call 100th Xfinity event as crew chief at Indianapolis

    Making his brief return as a NASCAR crew chief for Hendrick Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Kevin Meendering is within reach of a milestone start. By participating in this weekend’s Xfinity event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Meendering will call his 100th Xfinity event as a crew chief.

    A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in mechanical engeering, Meendering made his debut as a NASCAR crew chief in 2016 when he was paired with veteran Elliott Sadler in the Xfinity Series. By then, he had spent 16 previous seasons at Hendrick Motorsports, where he was an assistant engineer for Jeff Gordon for three seasons before spending the next five as a lead engineer for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    In his first event as a crew chief, Meendering led Sadler and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team to a fourth-place result during the 2016 season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. Eight races and six additional top-10 results later, Meendering notched his first NASCAR victory as a crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway in May after Sadler dodged a final lap incident involving Joey Logano to emerge out in front ahead of teammate Justin Allgaier and Brennan Poole at the moment of caution and return to Victory Lane following a one-year absence. Another 15 races later, Meendering and Sadler went to Victory Lane for the second time of 2016 after Sadler held off Denny Hamlin to grab a dominant win at Darlington Raceway in September. The two regular season victories mired with a consistent regular-season stretch were enough for Meendering and Sadler to clinch a spot for the inaugural Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    Meendering and Sadler commenced the 2016 Xfinity Playoffs on a high note by winning at Kentucky Speedway in September, which enabled the team to advance from the Round of 12 to 8. During the Round of 8’s three events, Sadler finished second, sixth and 13th, respectively, which were enough for the No. 1 team to earn a spot to the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. During the post-race inspection process at Phoenix Raceway in November, however, Meendering was suspended for the Xfinity Series finale at Homestead after it was discovered that two lug nuts were missing from Sadler’s car, which finished 13th. With Meendering out for the finale, veteran Mike Bumgarner filled in as an interim crew chief for Sadler, who went on to finish in the runner-up spot in the final championship standings behind Daniel Suarez.

    Returning as Sadler’s crew chief in 2017, Meendering guided the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet team to a consistent 26-race regular season stretch highlighted with one pole, five stage victories, 11 top-five results and 19 top-10 results as Sadler captured the inaugural Xfinity Series regular-season title. Meendering and Sadler extended their consistency throughout the 2017 Xfinity Playoffs as they transferred all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead in November, with Meendering calling the shots for the finale. During the finale, however, Sadler lost in a late battle against teammate William Byron after getting stalled behind Ryan Preece and making contact with the wall, which cut his tire and took him out of contention to win his first NASCAR championship. While Byron went on to win the 2017 Xfinity title, Sadler fell back to eighth place on the track and in the runner-up spot in the standings for a second consecutive season.

    Remaining as Sadler’s crew chief for a third full-time Xfinity season, Meendering and Sadler commenced the season with a runner-up result at Daytona after Sadler was edged by teammate Tyler Reddick by 0.0004 seconds, which marks the closest-recorded finish in NASCAR history. The duo of the No. 1 JRM Chevrolet team went on to achieve 12 additional top-five results and a total of 21 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular season stretch as they made the Xfinity Playoffs for a third consecutive season. By then, however, Sadler had made his decision to retire from full-time NASCAR competition at the conclusion of the season. Meendering and Sadler were able to transfer to the Round of 8 following three consecutive top-15 results in the Round of 12. During the Round of 8, however, they were unable to secure a championship spot for the 2018 Xfinity finale at Homestead despite notching three consecutive top-11 results. Meendering capped off Sadler’s final event as a full-time competitor in 14th place at Homestead and in fifth place in the final standings. 

    Following three full-time seasons in the Xfinity Series, Meendering graduated to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2019 to serve as a crew chief for the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro team piloted by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Twenty-one races into the season, however, Meendering was replaced by Cliff Daniels, though he remained at Hendrick Motorsports in a senior competition role. Three years later, Meendering, who serves as a competition development manager for HMS, returned as a crew chief at Road America this past Fourth of July weekend for the team’s No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro entry piloted by Kyle Larson, who dominated from pole position before finishing in the runner-up spot.

    The Road America event was the first of three scheduled Xfinity road course events where Hendrick Motorsports will be fielding the No. 17 Chevrolet for its Cup Series roster. Following this weekend’s event at Indianapolis, where the No. 17 entry will be piloted by Alex Bowman, Meendering is scheduled to crew chief the No. 17 entry for a third and final time at Watkins Glen International in August and with William Byron set to drive.

    Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity appearances, Meendering has achieved three victories, three poles, 40 top-five results and 78 top-10 results while working with two different competitors. 

    Meendering is primed to call his 100th Xfinity Series event as a crew chief at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Saturday, July 30, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Daniil Kvyat to make NASCAR debut at Indianapolis

    Daniil Kvyat to make NASCAR debut at Indianapolis

    Nearly two years after stating his intentions to compete in a NASCAR event as a part of his bucket list, Daniil Kvyat’s dream is set to become a reality as he will be joining Team Hezeberg to pilot the No. 26 Toyota TRD Camry for his first Cup Series career start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course scheduled for Sunday, July 31.

    The 28-year-old Kvyat from Ufa, Russia, comes into NASCAR with an extensive resume in motorsports competition that includes 110 career starts in Formula One and winning the 2013 GP3 Series championship. He is set to become third competitor to compete for Team Hezeberg, a newly formed NASCAR Cup Series that debuted this season and was formed by former NASCAR Whelen Euro Series champion Loris Hezemans and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner/driver Josh Reaume. Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve and reigning two-time Whelen Euro Series champion Loris Hezemans have made starts for the part-time team this season.

    “I’m looking forward to being successful in this form of motorsport and I hope to contend for wins and championships in the future,” Kvyat said in a released statement. “I can’t thank NASCAR, Josh Reaume, Toine Hezemans, Ernst Berg, and everybody at Team Hezeberg enough for the opportunity. The guys at the shop have been working tirelessly to prepare machine and myself for this experience. It will be my first time at Indianapolis, and I am looking forward to seeing it in person. From what I have seen on video, Indianapolis is a challenging circuit, but I’m looking forward to that challenge, along with competing in the NASCAR Cup Series.”

    I’m very happy to be able to make my NASCAR Cup Series debut at Indianapolis,” Kvyat added. “I have always been passionate about racing in NASCAR, the top form of motorsport in the United States. NASCAR has always been intriguing to me, as it is a pure form of motorsport to me.” 

    Winning in his professional debut in 2005 and competing in local events in Russia before relocating to Italy two years later to pursue a racing career, Kvyat began to ascend towards the European racing ladder as he campaigned in Formula BMW, Toyota Racing Series and Formula Renault before competing in the GP3 Championship region in 2013, where he went on to win the championship.

    In 2014, Kvyat embarked in his first full-time campaign in Formula One for Scuderia Toro Rosso. He finished ninth in his debut during the season-opening Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit and became the youngest-points scorer in F1 competition at age 19. He went on to record four additional top-10 points-paying results before finishing in 15th place in the drivers’ standings with eight points. The 2015 season marked Kvyat’s career-best season in F1 competition as he was promoted to drive for Infiniti Red Bull Racing. He earned his first podium result after finishing in second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring along with a total of 14 top-10 results throughout the 19-race schedule before finishing in seventh place in the final standings with 95 points.

    From 2016 to 2020, except for 2018, Kvyat remained in Formula One as he competed for Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso that was rebranded to AlphaTauri in 2020. During the five-year span, he earned two additional podiums in F1: a third-place finish during the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix and another third-place result during the 2019 German Grand Prix. Following his release from AlphaTauri at the conclusion of the 2020 season, Kvyat spend the 2021 F1 season as a reserve driver for the Alpine F1 Team. He was initially scheduled to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship for G-Drive Racing in the LMP2 class, but the team withdrew in response to conditions introduced by the FIA amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

    Kvyat is set to compete alongside Loris Hezemans, who will be piloting the No. 27 Team Hezeberg entry, this weekend at Indy.

    “Daniil is a very talented driver with an amazing amount of open wheel experience,” Josh Reaume, co-owner of Team Hezeberg, said. “In my opinion, NASCAR is a great spot for Daniil to end up at, especially with the Next-Gen’s capabilities throughout many styles of racing. I’m looking forward to being a part of Daniil’s transition to NASCAR, and helping him however I possibly can.”

    Kvyat’s debut in the NASCAR Cup Series at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 31, with the event’s coverage to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Elliott awarded Cup Series victory at Pocono; Hamlin, Kyle Busch DQ’d following post-race inspection

    Elliott awarded Cup Series victory at Pocono; Hamlin, Kyle Busch DQ’d following post-race inspection

    In a late turn of events, Chase Elliott was declared the winner of the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 24, after NASCAR disqualified the initial results of race winner Denny Hamlin and runner-up finisher Kyle Busch.

    The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, initially came home in third place behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Busch. Two hours after Hamlin claimed the checkered flag on the track, however, the news of the disqualification involving Hamlin and Busch following the post-race inspection process was announced. This prompted NASCAR to award Elliott, who currently leads the regular-season standings, his fourth victory of the 2022 Cup season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin claimed his third pole position of the season after his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry posted a pole-winning lap at 169.991 mph in 52.944 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Busch, whose No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry clocked in a fast qualifying lap at 169.498 mph in 53.098 seconds.

    On Saturday, NASCAR assessed L1 penalties to Petty GMS Motorsports’ two entries piloted by Ty Dillon and Erik Jones after both were found to have violated NASCAR’s Rule Book pertaining to the Rocker Box Assemblies. As a result, both entires were docked 35 driver/owner points and their crew chiefs, Jerame Donley and Dave Elenz were suspended for Sunday’s event. With the team electing not to appeal the penalty, Joey Cohen served as Dillon’s interim crew chief while Danny Efland served as Jones’ interim crew chief.

    Prior to the event, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Justin Haley, Erik Jones and Cody Ware dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. In addition, the No. 45 23XI Racing entry normally piloted by Kurt Busch dropped to the rear of the field due to a back-up car and for a driver change as Xfinity Series competitor Ty Gibbs took over the ride. Gibbs filled in for Busch, who was not medically cleared to compete following his wreck during qualifying on Saturday.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Hamlin rocketed toward the front with an early advantage exiting the frontstretch, but Kyle Busch gained a huge run through the first turn and grabbed the lead. Then, entering the Long Pond straightaway, Hamlin scrubbed the outside wall as he was overtaken by Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. As the field fanned out through the Tricky Triangle’s three turns, Busch led the first lap as the field returned to the frontstretch. By then, Hamlin was back in fifth.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Kyle Busch was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Chase Elliott followed by Larson, Hamlin and Blaney while Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman were in the top 10.

    During the following lap, the first caution flew when rookie Austin Cindric slipped sideways and spun in Turn 3 as he barely tapped the inside wall toward the frontstretch and flat-spotted the tires on his No. 2 Keystone Ford Mustang. During the extensive caution period, Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, rookie Todd Gilliland, Aric Almirola, rookie Harrison Burton, Michael McDowell, Cole Custer, Josh Bilicki and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest, led by Kyle Busch, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 12, Kyle Busch launched ahead on the outside lane, but he then went wide entering the first turn and lost both the lead and his momentum. With Busch losing the top spot and a bevy of spots, a three-wide battle for the lead occurred between Larson, Elliott and Hamlin through the Long Pond straightaway before Larson assumed the top spot with a strong move on the outside lane through the Tunnel Curve.

    By Lap 15, Larson was leading by more than six-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Hamlin, Blaney and Suarez while Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were in the top 10. Ross Chastain was in 11th followed by Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones while Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, William Byron and rookie Harrison Burton were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick was mired in 23rd behind teammate Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola was in 25th in front of Logano, Brad Keselowski was in 29th and newcomer Ty Gibbs was in 33rd.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Larson continued to lead by nearly four-tenths over teammate Elliott while Hamlin, Blaney and Suarez were in the top five. Behind, Kyle Busch started to challenge Suarez for sixth place while Wallace, Bell, Buescher and Chastain were in the top 10. Shortly after, Austin Dillon pitted under green as part of a strategic move.

    By Lap 27, Bubba Wallace, Bell, Buescher, Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Stenhouse pitted under green. Just as they all peeled off the track to pit, the caution flew when Aric Almirola got loose and spun his No. 10 Haas Automation Ford Mustang in Turn 3 as he flat-spotted his tires. Almirola’s spin was enough for NASCAR to conclude the first stage scheduled for Lap 30 to conclude under caution and Larson claimed his third stage victory of the 2022 Cup season. Teammate Elliott settled in second followed by Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Blaney, Erik Jones, Byron, Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, Burton, Logano, BJ McLeod, Cody Ware, Bell, Chastain, Wallace, Buescher, Gilliland, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Reddick and Custer remained on the track while the rest, led by Larson, pitted.

    The second stage started on Lap 34 as Burton and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn as Bell, who restarted behind Burton, challenged Burton for the lead. When the field returned to the start/finish line, Bell assumed the lead while Wallace overtook Bell for the runner-up spot. By then, Logano was back in sixth as Kyle Busch and Chastain were in the top five.

    During the following lap and as the field continued to scramble for positions, the caution returned when Josh Bilicki suffered a flat tire, spun and wrecked in Turn 1.

    As the race proceeded under green on Lap 40, the field fanned out to multiple lanes again approaching the first turn as Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry retained the top spot ahead of Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang and Wallace’s No. 23 DoorDash Toyota TRD Camry. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Hamlin, who was running in 18th, got loose and spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry past the Tunnel Curve in Turn 2 as he was dodged by the field. During the caution period, some drivers, including Austin Dillon, pitted, while the rest, led by Bell, remained on the track.

    As the race restarted under green on Lap 44 and with the field fanning out, Bell retained the top spot on the outside lane while Wallace and Kyle Busch battled for the runner-up spot. Just as the field made its way through the first turn and entering the Long Pond straightaway, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie got loose underneath Michael McDowell. This caused McDowell to slip and slap the outside wall while LaJoie pounded the wall and came to a rest sideways and with damage to his car. During the caution period, Erik Jones, Stenhouse, Haley, McDowell, Noah Gragson, Cody Ware and McLeod pitted while the rest, led by Bell, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 48, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry received a push from Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead ahead of teammate Bell as the field spread out through the Long Pond straightaway and entering the Tunnel Curve.

    By Lap 55, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over teammate Bell followed by Wallace, Larson and Byron while Truex, Chastain, Reddick, Bowman and Blaney were in the top 10. Burton was back in 11th ahead of Suarez, Buescher, Elliott and Harvick while Logano, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Briscoe and Almirola were in the top 20. By then, Logano pitted under green.

    Two laps later, Wallace and Burton pitted under green while Kyle Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Bell and more than three seconds over third-place Larson. Bowman would also pit his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Byron and Harvick also pitted under green along with Bell, Larson, Suarez and Elliott as Kyle Busch remained the leader by more than six seconds over teammate Truex and nearly seven over Chastain.

    On Lap 65, Kyle Busch surrendered the lead to pit under green followed by Buescher as Truex assumed the lead. By then, Chastain had also pitted. Another two laps later, Truex surrendered the lead to pit along with Almirola as Blaney cycled to the lead. By then, Reddick had completed his pit stop.

    Through Lap 75, Erik Jones, who overtook Blaney for the lead two laps earlier, was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Blaney Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon while Stenhouse, Brad Keselowski, McDowell, Kyle Busch and LaJoie were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Erik Jones continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Blaney, Austin Dillon and Stenhouse while Kyle Busch, McDowell, LaJoie, Gilliland and Larson were in the top 10. Shortly after, Blaney, who led seven laps, pitted under green.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Ty Dillon, who had just made a pit stop under green, spun past the Tunnel Curve in Turn 2. During the caution period, Wallace and Blaney remained on the track while the rest of the field, led by Erik Jones, pitted. 

    With seven laps remaining in the second stage, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Wallace received a push from Kyle Busch on the outside lane to emerge with the lead followed by Busch while Blaney fell back to third in front of Erik Jones, Hamlin, Chastain, Larson, Suarez and Byron. Through the Tunnel Curve, Busch quickly cycled his way back to the lead as Blaney also overtook Wallace for the runner-up spot. Not long after, Chastain, Erik Jones and Hamlin all overtook Wallace for spots in the top five as Kyle Bush ran away from the field.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, Wallace, who was falling below the leaderboard on old tires, pitted under green as Kyle Busch was out in front by nearly a second over Chastain. Meanwhile, Blaney and Erik Jones battled for third in front of Hamlin.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 95, Kyle Busch clinched his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Chastain settled in second followed by Blaney, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Harvick, Byron, Suarez, Elliott and Larson.

    Under the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Buescher, pitted while the rest, led by Kyle Busch, remained on the track.

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage started as Kyle Busch and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Kyle Busch retained the lead ahead of Chastain while Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on Blaney and Erik Jones through the Long Pond straightaway and entering the Tunnel Curve to move into third place. Shortly after, Byron rocketed his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into fourth place as Jones and Blaney fell back to fifth and sixth in front of Harvick and Bell.

    Ten laps later, Kyle Busch retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Chastain while Hamlin, Byron, Bell, Harvick, Erik Jones, Suarez, Elliott and Larson were in the top 10. A few laps earlier, Blaney pitted under green after his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang sustained a flat left-rear tire.

    Nearing the final 40 laps, names like Chris Buescher, Reddick, Stenhouse, Harvick and Austin Dillon pitted under green while Kyle Busch held a narrow advantage over Chastain. Soon after, Elliott pitted along with Suarez, Truex, Larson, Byron, Erik Jones and Aric Almirola. Following the pit stops, Byron was penalized for equipment interference.

    With 37 laps remaining, Kyle Busch surrendered the lead to Chastain as he pitted under green along with teammate Bell and Bowman. During the following lap, Chastain pitted under green as Hamlin cycled to the lead.

    Two laps later, Buescher spun in Turn 3, but the race continued under green as the leader, Hamlin, pitted under green. Once the rest of the field, including Logano and Wallace, pitted, Chastain cycled to the lead ahead of Kyle Busch and Hamlin.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Chastain was leading by nearly a second over rival Hamlin while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. 

    Then seven laps later, the caution flew when Blaney got loose in Turn 3, spun and pounded the inside wall head-on. During the caution period, names like Gilliland, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Byron, Haley, Ty Dillon, Gragson and Stenhouse pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    With 19 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chastain and Hamlin dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then through the first turn, Hamlin, who was still irritated over his share of run-ins with Chastain throughout the season and vowed payback, moved up the track and edged Chastain into the outside wall, causing him to pound the wall. While Hamlin ran away with the lead, Chastain, who lost his momentum, was then hit by Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang and Bell scraped the outside wall as Chastain spun and clipped the inside wall. The wreck spoiled Chastain’s opportunity to win along with Harvick’s opportunity to grab a win and keep his Playoff hopes alive. 

    When the race proceeded under green with 13 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead with a strong start on the outside lane followed by teammate Kyle Busch while Elliott was in third followed by Bell and Reddick. Behind, Suarez was in sixth followed by McDowell, Truex, Larson and Erik Jones.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch followed by Elliott and Reddick while Suarez and Bell battled fiercely for fifth in front of McDowell, Truex and Larson. By then, Wallace rallied his way into 10th place.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hamlin remained the leader by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch followed by Elliott, Reddick and Suarez.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin led by nearly nine-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch. Despite enduring a bumpy road to victory from start to finish, Hamlin was able to smoothly navigate his way around the Tricky Triangle’s turns and straightaways for a final time as he beat Busch by nearly a second to grab what would have been his third victory of the 2022 season and a record-achieving seventh victory at Pocono.

    “It’s the team,” Hamlin, who shared a victorious moment with his daughter, Taylor, on the frontstretch, said on USA Network. “They just were able to come back with a great strategy there to get us back upfront from the mistake I made. I just wanted to be a local short-track racer in Virginia. That’s all I really cared about. I was able to get a great break from [the late] J.D. Gibbs. That’s why I’m driving the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. It feels good to win here at Pocono.”

    Following the event, however, NASCAR disqualified the first and second-place cars of race winner Hamlin and runner-up, Kyle Busch, due to their cars failing the post-race inspection process. NASCAR later stated that an issue with the front fascia was found on both cars, which prompted the sanctioning body to strip the results of both Joe Gibbs Racing competitors.

    With Hamlin and Busch disqualified, Chase Elliott, who initially finished in third place, was awarded the victory. As a result, Elliott notched his fourth victory of the year, becoming the first four-time winner of this season. It was his first at Pocono and his 17th career win in NASCAR’s premier series. This also marks the first time this season that an initial Cup winner was disqualified due to an issue stemming from the post-race inspection process.

    “Yeah, unfortunately, we were doing our post-race inspections, which we do,” Brad Moran, NASCAR Cup Series managing director, said following the announcement. “There were some issues discovered that affect aero of the vehicle. The part was the front fascia. There really was no reason why there was some material that was somewhere it shouldn’t have been, and that does basically come down to a DQ. It is a penalty, both for the 11 of Denny Hamlin and the 18 of Kyle Busch have been DQed. Their vehicles are being loaded in the NASCAR hauler and they’re going to go back to the R&D Center [in Concord, North Carolina].”

    Joe Gibbs Racing has been given until 12 p.m. ET Monday to file an appeal.

    Tyler Reddick was promoted to second place while Suarez, Bell and Larson finished in the top five. McDowell, Truex, Wallace, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon completed the top 10. Notably, Ty Gibbs finished 16th in his Cup debut.

    There were 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 37 laps.

    With five regular season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 105 points over Ross Chastain. 

    Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, rookie Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Kurt Busch are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 83 points, Aric Almirola by 140, Erik Jones by 182, Austin Dillon by 206, Michael McDowell by 207, Bubba Wallace by 236, Justin Haley by 247, Chris Buescher by 266, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 287 and Cole Custer trails by 301.

    Results.

    1. Chase Elliott

    2. Tyler Reddick

    3. Daniel Suarez

    4. Christopher Bell, 14 laps led

    5. Kyle Larson, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Michael McDowell

    7. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led

    8. Bubba Wallace, four laps led

    9. Erik Jones, 11 laps led

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Alex Bowman

    12. William Byron

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. Brad Keselowski

    15. Chase Briscoe

    16. Ty Gibbs

    17. Cole Custer

    18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    19. Corey LaJoie

    20. Joey Logano

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Ty Dillon

    23. Harrison Burton, four laps down

    24. Noah Gragson

    25. Todd Gilliland

    26. Cody Ware

    27. Kevin Harvick

    28. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    29. Chris Buescher, two laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, two laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, six laps down

    32. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner (*Awarded after Kyle Busch’s disqualification)

    33. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, seven laps led

    34. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    35. Denny Hamlin – Disqualified, 21 laps led

    36. Kyle Busch – Disqualified, 63 laps led

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, which will also mark the series’ fourth road course event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 31, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.