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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Daniel Suarez earns first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Sonoma

    Daniel Suarez earns first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Sonoma

    In his sixth full-time season as a competitor in NASCAR’s premier series, Daniel Suarez achieved his first career victory in the NASCAR Cup Series following a dominant run in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday, June 12.

    The 30-year-old Suarez from Monterrey, Mexico, led twice for a race-high 47 of 110 laps and fended off Chris Buescher during a 23-lap run to the finish to capture his first victory in his 195th start in the Cup circuit. The victory made Suarez the first Mexican-born competitor to win in the Cup Series as Suarez added his name to the 2022 Cup Series Playoff picture with a guaranteed spot based on his victory in Sonoma, California.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Kyle Larson notched his fifth consecutive pole position at Sonoma after posting a pole-winning lap at 92.111 mph in 77.776 seconds. Joining him on the front row will be teammate Chase Elliott, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 92.083 mph in 77.799 seconds. 

    Prior to the event, AJ Allmendiner, Christopher Bell and Erik Jones dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars.

    At the start of the event, Cody Ware was assessed a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start of the event due to his No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang failing pre-qualifying technical inspection four times. The issue prevent Ware from qualifying on Saturday as his car chief Steve Gray was suspended for the remainder of the weekend.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Larson and Elliott dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Larson managed to pull ahead approaching Turn 3 as the field behind jostled for positions. As the field made their way through the 11-turn circuit, Larson went on to lead the first lap ahead of Elliott while Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher and Cole Custer were scored in the top five. By then, Ware served his drive-through penalty through pit road.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Larson remained as the leader by more than a second over teammate Elliott followed by McDowell, Buescher and Daniel Suarez while Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain and Kyle Busch were in the top 10. Joey Logano was in 11th followed by Ryan Blaney, William Byron, Kurt Busch, Justin Haley, Chase Briscoe, Brad Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Joey Hand and Alex Bowman while Kevin Harvick, rookie Todd Gilliland, Aric Almirola, rookie Harrison Burton, rookie Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Corey LaJoie, Bubba Wallace, Martin Truex Jr. and AJ Allmendinger occupied the top 30. The first competitor scored outside of the top 30 was Erik Jones followed by teammate Ty Dillon and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Four laps later, the first caution of the event flew due to possible fluid on the circuit when smoke billowed out of the No. 23 DoorDash Toyota TRD Camry piloted by Bubba Wallace, who parked his car in Turn 4 and retired due to an engine failure.

    Under caution, some led by Tyler Reddick pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track. During the pit stops, Allmendinger’s pit crew went under the hood to work on the power steering pump.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 12, Larson managed to quickly clear teammate Elliott to retain the lead through the first two turns and approaching the uphill climb to Turns 3 and 3A. As the field fanned out and scrambled for positions through the Chute corner from Turns 4 to 7, Reddick muscled his way into the top five ahead of Suarez while keeping McDowell within his sights.

    On Lap 15, Erik Jones, who was in 20th, got loose and spun his No. 43 FocusFactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 2, but the race remained under green flag conditions as Larson stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Elliott. Behind, Buescher was in third followed by McDowell and Reddick while Suarez, Chastain, Custer, Logano and Hamlin were scored in the top 10.

    By the Lap 20 mark, Larson continued to lead by two seconds over teammate Elliott, who had Buescher starting to reel him in for the spot as McDowell and Reddick remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Chastain overtook teammate Suarez for sixth place while Logano, Custer and Hamlin were in the top 10.

    Nearly two laps later, the first round of pit stops under green commenced as Suarez led a bevy of competitors to pit road, a group that included Blaney, Custer, Hamlin, Keselowski, Briscoe, Harvick, Bowman, Austin Dillon, Cindric, Ty Dillon, Gilliland, Truex, Joey Hand and Allmendinger. Not long after, Buescher, who was in the runner-up spot, led another wave of competitors to pit road that included Elliott, McDowell, Reddick and Chastain. During both processes, Larson remained on the track as the leader.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Larson captured his second stage victory of the 2022 Cup Series season. Logano settled in second followed by Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Aric Almirola, Harrison Burton, Josh Bilicki, Kurt Busch, Stenhouse and Cody Ware. By then, Christopher Bell, who was a lap down and would have received the free pass to return on the lead lap during the stage break, was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box.

    Under the stage break, some led by Larson pitted while the rest led by Elliot remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 29 as Elliott and Buescher occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott took off with the lead entering the first turn while Chastain challenged Buescher for the runner-up spot, with the former managing to hold the spot entering Turns 3 and 3A. As the field made their way through the series of left and right-hand turns from Turn 7 to 10 before the sharp right-hand turn in Turn 11, Elliott retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Buescher with Chastain trailing by less than a second. 

    By Lap 35, Elliott stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Buescher, who continued to stalk Elliott through every turn and every corner. Chastain remained in third place while one-and-a-half seconds behind while Suarez, Reddick, Harvick, McDowell, Custer, Bowman and Blaney were in the top 10 ahead of Austin Dillon, Cindric, Hamlin, Keselowski and Truex.

    Through the first 40 laps, Elliott continued to lead by more than seven-tenths of a second over Buescher followed by Chastain, Suarez and Reddick while Harvick, McDowell, Bowman, Blaney and Custer were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Larson, who was rubbing fenders with Joey Hand, was mired in 15th behind Custer, Cindric, Keselowski and Hamlin. Notably, Truex was in 16th, Byron was in 19th, Logano was back in 23rd in front of Justin Haley and Kyle Busch, Almirola was in 26th and Kurt Busch was in 30th behind Harrison Burton and Erik Jones.

    Five laps later, Elliott remained as the leader by more than a second over Buescher while Suarez was up in third place ahead of teammate Chastain and Reddick, who had Harvick and McDowell stalking him for the spot.

    Another two laps later, Erik Jones spun for a second time of the day, this time entering Turn 7, after he locked up his front tires while trying to overtake Kurt Busch in the top 30. Then during the following lap, Chastain met the same fate as he got loose and spun on his own while trying to overtake teammate Suarez in Turn 7. While the event remained under green, Chastain managed to fall back to seventh in front of Blaney and Elliott remained as the leader.

    With 50 laps complete, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Buescher followed by Suarez and Reddick while Harvick moved into fifth place. Not long after, Truex pitted under green. During the following lap, Reddick led a bevy of competitors that included Bowman, Cindric, Blaney, Keselowski, Chastain, Austin Dillon and Custer to pit road for service under green. Another lap later, names led by Elliott and including teammate Larson, Briscoe, Cindric, McDowell, Harvick, Suarez and Buescher pitted. During the pit stops, Elliott, who was about to leave his pit stall following his service, came to a stop and reversed his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to his pit stall to have a loose wheel tightened. During the process, however, Elliott’s front nose was still sticking out of his pit box, which drew himself a penalty.

    During the cycle of green flag pit stops, Logano emerged out in front followed by Buescher, Suarez, Almirola and Harvick. Along with Elliott, Reddick was penalized for speeding on pit road while Buescher was penalized for having an equipment thrown over his pit box.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 55, which marked the halfway point of the event, Logano claimed his second stage victory of the season. Almirola settled in second followed by Buescher, Suarez, Harvick, Todd Gilliland, Burton, Elliott, McDowell and Stenhouse. With Elliott penalized following his pit road miscue, however, Suarez, who was in 11th following the second stage’s conclusion, was awarded the final stage point.

    Under the stage break, some led by Logano pitted while the rest led by Buescher remained on the track. By then, NASCAR rescinded the penalty to Buescher with Buescher, who was also allowed to retain his stage points following the second stage’s conclusion, out in front followed by Suarez.

    With 50 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green. At the start, Buescher and Suarez dueled for the lead through the first four turns until Suarez managed to pull ahead with the lead followed by McDowell while Buescher locked up the front tires entering Turn 7. Through the series of turns from Turns 7 to 10 and through Turn 11, Suarez retained the lead followed by McDowell, Harvick, Buescher and Keselowski while Blaney, Cindric, Chastain, Austin Dillon and Larson were in the top 10.

    During the following lap, Suarez’s No. 99 Onx Homes/Renu Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was ahead of McDowell’s No. 34 Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang by half a second and the top-seven competitors broke away from the field that was fanned out to multiple lanes while Chastain and Larson duked for eighth place.

    Nearing the final 45 laps of the event, Reddick pitted after spinning in Turn 10. In the midst of his spin, Josh Bilicki also spun while the race remained under green. Shortly after, Harvick moved his No. 4 Gearwrench Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot through the first two turns while Buescher challenged McDowell for third place.

    With 40 laps remaining, Suarez continued to lead while Buescher made a bold move beneath Harvick in Turn 11 to take over the runner-up spot in his No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang. McDowell and Keselowski remained in the top five followed by Blaney, Chastain, Cindric, Larson and Bowman while Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Custer, Byron, Truex, Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Joey Hand and Logano were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Elliott was mired back in 23rd place. By then, Reddick, who pitted multiple times following his spin, took his car to the garage. In addition, Corey LaJoie pitted under green.

    Five laps later, Suarez stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Buescher followed by Harvick, McDowell and Keselowski. By then, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Harrison Burton pitted under green as the sun was starting to emerge from the cloudy conditions. Not long after, Truex pitted along with teammate Bell, Justin Haley, Briscoe and Elliott, who endured a slow pit stop.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Suarez remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Buescher followed by Harvick while McDowell and Keselowski were in the top five. By then, Blaney pitted under green along with teammate Cindric.

    During the following lap, Buescher pitted along with Harivck, Bowman, Custer, Byron and Chastain, who backed his car back to his pit stall following his pit stop to have the lug nut on his left-rear tire tightened. In addition, Suarez surrendered the lead to pit followed by McDowell, Larson, Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Todd Gilliland and Scott Heckert while Keselowski moved into the lead.

    Then with 28 laps remaining, the caution flew when the right-front tire from Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came off in Turn 2 just as Larson had exited pit road. During the caution period, some led by Keselowski pitted while the rest led by Suarez and Buescher remained on the track.

    With 23 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Suarez pulled away entering the first two turns while Buescher and McDowell battled for the runner-up spot ahead of Blaney and Cindric while Harvick was back in sixth. Then in Turn 7, Kyle Busch, who was in sixth, spun his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry after locking up his tires and slipping sideways while Bowman went wide to avoid hitting Busch, but the race remained under green as Suarez remained as the leader.

    Three laps later, Suarez retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Buescher, who was stalking the leader and trying to close in, while McDowell, Blaney, Cindric, Harvick, Briscoe, Elliott, Byron and Truex were in the top 10. Allmendinger was in 11th followed by Bell, Chastain, Hamlin, Ty Dillon, Keselowski, Burton, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon and Aric Almirola. By then, Larson was in 23rd, Logano was mired back in 25th ahead of Bowman and Kyle Busch was all the way back in 32nd.

    With 15 laps remaining, Suarez stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Buescher while McDowell, Blaney and Harvick were scored in the top five.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Suarez continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Buescher followed by McDowell, Harvick and Blaney while Cindric, Elliott, Byron, Chastain and Allmendinger were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Truex was in 13th ahead of Kurt Busch, Larson was mired in 17th, Logano was back in 21st and Kyle Busch was in 31st. Soon after, teammates Bell and Hamlin pitted their respective Toyotas.

    With five laps remaining, Suarez, who was trying to track Hamlin and put him a lap behind, was leading by more than two seconds over Buescher while third-place McDowell trailed by more than six seconds. Fourth-place Harvick trailed by eight seconds while fifth-place Cindric trailed by more than 12 seconds. By then, Truex pitted.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Suarez remained as the leader by nearly four seconds over Buescher. Earlier, Allmendinger, who was in position for a top-10 run despite his power steering issues, spun in Turn 3, but the race remained under green. With Buescher unable to narrow the deficit between himself and Suarez, Suarez was able to smoothly navigate his way through the 11-turn circuit and back to the finish line for his first checkered flag in the series.

    With the victory, Suarez, a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program and the 2016 Xfinity Series champion, became the fourth first-time winner of the 2022 Cup Series season, the first competitor to achieve a first Cup win at Sonoma since Juan Pablo Montoya made the last accomplishment in 2007 and the 202nd overall to win in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition to becoming the first Mexican-born competitor to win in the Cup Series, he also became the fifth foreign-born competitor overall to win in the Cup circuit, joining Italy’s Mario Andretti, Columbia’s Juan Pablo Montoya, Canada’s Earl Ross and Australia’s Marcos Ambrose. As a bonus, Suarez became the 40th different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup).

    The victory was also the third overall for Trackhouse Racing in the team’s second season in NASCAR competition, but first as a two-car organization as both competitors have achieved victories and guaranteed spots to the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Along with Suarez, crew chief Travis Mack achieved his first victory as a Cup crew chief.

    Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “It’s crazy,” Suarez, who received a chorus of cheers from the crowd and the Mexican fans, said on FS1. “I have so many thoughts in my head right now. It’s been a rough road. It’s been a rough journey in the Cup Series. These guys believing in me, Trackhouse Racing, [owner] Justin Marks, [team president] Ty Norris, everyone that helped me to get to this point. A lot of people in Mexico: Jay Morales, Carlos Slim. My family, they never gave up on me. A lot of people did, but they didn’t. Just very happy that we’re able to make it work. It’s the energy. [the team] believe in me since day one. They believe in me and they put all the people, resources, everything to make it happen…This is the first [win] of many.”

    “[The win] feels good,” Suarez added in the media room. “My team’s been working. They’ve been working very hard. To be able to finally get the first [win], I feel like that is gonna make us feel more relaxed. Now, we’re gonna do things more calm. I told my team, ‘Hey, just stay calm, let’s do our thing’. We’re capable of winning races. But one thing is to say it and another thing is to do it. Today, we did it, so now, we’re gonna be able to do things more relaxed that way victories and success is gonna be able to find us much easier.”

    “This one’s difficult to put into words,” Justin Marks added on FS1. “Daniel Suarez, Travis Mack helped build Trackhouse [Racing]. They’ve been working so hard together. They’ve been so focused, so dedicated trying to get to Victory Lane. The No. 1 car winning two races with this year was tough on them, but they never gave up. They knew that they were gonna be in Victory Lane. I’m so proud and happy for them.”

    “Coming up through the ranks at Hendrick [Motorsports] to being a car chief, just working hard for this first win,” Travis Mack, crew chief for Suarez, added in the media center. “This is actually [the place of] my first win with Jeff Gordon I believe in [2004]. Sonoma was my first win on a Cup team, so it’s really exciting to get my very first win as a crew chief at Sonoma.”

    Buescher rallied from being absent last weekend at Gateway due to a positive COVID-19 test to finish in second place for his first top-five result since finishing third at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October 2021 while McDowell earned his first top-five result of the season with a stellar third-place result.

    “I’m just disappointed in myself,” Buescher said. “[I] Didn’t get the job done there. I apologize to these guys because they put an awesome Fifth Third Bank Mustang underneath me this weekend. It’s a heck of a return. We had a lot of speed. Just struggled for a little bit on the long-run speed. Just wearing rears [tires] out. Ultimately, just didn’t get it done when it counted, so it’s an awesome run. Had great speed. That’s an awesome recovery from [Circuit of the Americas] and what we had there. Everybody back at [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing]’s doing a great job. Hurts to be that close, but congratulations to Suarez. We’re trying. Just trying to get him and just ran out of steam there.” 

    “Yeah, I’m really proud of everybody at Front Row [Motorsports],” McDowell said. “Obviously, we want to win the race. Finishing third doesn’t get you in the Playoffs, but really thankful to everybody. [Team owner] Bob Jenkins, everybody at Front Row Motorsports. This Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang was fast all weekend. I keep telling my guys [that] we gotta run second, third, fourth, fifth week in and week out, and we’ll eventually get a win. [I] Felt like we were close today. Just needed a little bit more fire-off speed off the front end, but really proud of my team…We’re getting closer, so we’ll keep pushing hard. We wanna get this car in the Playoffs, so we’ll keep fighting.”

    Harvick, who was trying to return to Victory Lane since winning at Bristol Motor Speedway in September 2020, came home in fourth place while rookie Austin Cindric completed the top five in fifth place. Blaney, Chastain, Elliott, Byron and Keselowski finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Larson finished 15th, Logano settled in 17th in front of Kurt Busch, Allmendinger fell back to 19th following his late spin, Truex ended up 26th in front of teammate Bell and Kyle Busch concluded his long run in 30th in front of teammate Hamlin.

    There were six lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 14 laps. A total of 31 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With 10 regular season races remaining to this season, Chase Elliott leads the regular season standings by 16 points over Ross Chastain, 23 over Kyle Busch, 25 over Ryan Blaney and 30 over Joey Logano.

    Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez, rookie Austin Cindric and Kurt Busch are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell and Aric Almirola are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by seven points, Tyler Reddick trails by 42, Austin Dillon trails by 47, Erik Jones trails by 55, Michael McDowell trails by 93, Chris Buescher trails by 105, Justin Haley trails by 113, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 135, Bubba Wallace trails by 139 and Ty Dillon trails by 153.

    Results.

    1. Daniel Suarez, 47 laps led

    2. Chris Buescher, four laps led

    3. Michael McDowell

    4. Kevin Harvick

    5. Austin Cindric

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Chase Elliott, 26 laps led

    9. William Byron

    10. Brad Keselowski, three laps led

    11. Austin Dillon

    12. Justin Haley

    13. Chase Briscoe

    14. Aric Almirola

    15. Kyle Larson, 26 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    16. Alex Bowman

    17. Joey Logano, four laps led, Stage 2 winner

    18. Kurt Busch

    19. AJ Allmendinger

    20. Joey Hand

    21. Cole Custer

    22. Erik Jones

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Todd Gilliland

    25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    26. Martin Truex Jr.

    27. Christopher Bell

    28. Harrison Burton

    29. Josh Bilicki

    30. Kyle Busch

    31. Denny Hamlin

    32. Cody Ware, one lap down

    33. Scott Heckert, one lap down

    34. Corey LaJoie, nine laps down

    35. Tyler Reddick, 13 laps down

    36. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Engine

    The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season will enter a one-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday, June 26. The event is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. ET on NBC with FOX’s 2022 NASCAR coverage concluded.

  • Kyle Busch capitalizes in final Truck Series start with a victory at Sonoma

    Kyle Busch capitalizes in final Truck Series start with a victory at Sonoma

    Kyle Busch made the most of his final NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start of the season by winning the inaugural DoorDash 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 11, following a two-lap shootout to the finish.

    The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for a race-high 45 of 75 laps and was able to pull away from teammate Chandler Smith at the start of a two-lap shootout to the finish and beating Zane Smith by more than a second to record his first Truck Series victory of the 2022 season at Sonoma, California.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Carson Hocevar, who was still recovering from his final lap accident at Gateway from a week ago, notched his first pole position after clocking in a fast lap at 91.135 mph in 78.609 seconds. During his pole-winning lap, however, Hocevar got loose and smacked the wall in Turn 10. The incident along with unapproved adjustments forced Hocevar to start the event at the rear of the field in a backup truck along with Stefan Parsons. With Hocevar dropping to the rear of the field, teammate Ross Chastain, who was making his 100th Truck Series career start, and Kyle Busch occupied the front row, with Chastain’s qualifying time occurring at 90.492 mph in 79.167 seconds while Busch’s was at 90.428 mph in 79.223 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chastain rocketed with the lead follows by Kyle Busch as the field battled dead even through the first three turns and entering the return of the Chute corner through Turns 4 to 7. Through Turns 8 through 11 and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Chastain led the first lap while Ty Majeski challenged Busch for the runner-up spot ahead of Tyler Ankrum and Alex Bowman.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Chastain was leading by nearly three seconds over Kyle Busch followed by Majeski, Bowman and Ankrum while John Hunter Nemechek, Stewart Friesen, Parker Kligerman and Matt DiBenedetto were in the top 10. Austin Dillon was in 11th followed by Zane Smith, Hailie Deegan, Christian Eckes and Derek Kraus while Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Kaz Grala, Lawless Alan and Timmy Hill occupied the top 20.

    On the following lap, Friesen spun after locking up his front tires and slipping sideways while battling Kligerman in the top 10 in Turn 7. The race, however, proceeded under green as Chastain continued to lead by two seconds over Kyle Busch. 

    At the Lap 10 mark, Chastain remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Kyle Busch while Majeski, Bowman and Ankrum remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar, who started at the rear of the field while battling a broken right tibia, was up in 23rd place as he had Daniel Suarez on standby to relieve him.

    The following lap, Hocevar pitted and the driver swap occurred as Suarez hopped into the No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Silverado RST. By then, Stefan Parsons took his truck to the garage after he was trailing smoke. The switch, however, cost the No. 42 team two laps while Chastain retained the lead by one-and-a-half seconds over Busch.

    Just past the Lap 15 mark, Chastain stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Kyle Busch followed by Majeski, Bowman and Ankrum while Nemechek, Enfinger, Kligerman, DiBenedetto and Zane Smith were in the top 10.

    Shortly after, Friesen pitted his No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by the leader Chastain as Kyle Busch moved into the lead. Harrison Burton also pitted. Then with the field approaching the final two laps of the first stage, Kyle Busch pitted his No. 51 Yahoo! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro along with Bowman while Majeski moved into the lead. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Majeski claimed his first stage victory of the season after fending off a last-lap challenge from Ankrum. Nemechek settled in third place followed by Enfinger, Kligerman, DiBenedetto, Derek Kraus, Zane Smith, Austin Dillon and Hailie Deegan. 

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Majeski pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. During the pit stops, Harrison Burton reported being down a cylinder despite continuing. Following the pit stops, Deegan was penalized for an equipment going over the wall early along with Kris Wright and DiBenedetto, both of whom were penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Tanner Gray was also penalized for equipment being thrown from his pit box while Todd Bodine was penalized for speeding on pit road. Meanwhile, Suarez cycled his way to be only a lap behind the leaders.

    The second stage started on Lap 25 as Chastain and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain cleared Busch and the field from the outside lane to retain the lead entering the first two turns. Then in Turn 7, Enfinger, who was in the top 10, locked up his front tires, ran over the curb and spun in the middle of the field. With the field scrambling to avoid hitting Enfinger, the race proceeded under green as Enfinger continued without sustaining any damage. 

    Back at the front, Kyle Busch moved into the lead after overtaking Chastain in Turn 11 while Bowman was in third place ahead of Ankrum and Friesen. During the following lap, the caution returned when Christian Eckes, who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session, made contact with Nemechek as he spun and hit the wall in Turn 8. The caution cycled Suarez to the lead lap.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 30, Kyle Busch pulled ahead of Chastain and the field to lead through the first two turns and entering Turns 3 and 3A. Through the 11-turn circuit and back to the start/finish line, Busch remained the leader despite having Chastain close behind in his rearview mirror. Behind, Ankrum was in third ahead of Bowman and Majeski while Friesen and Ben Rhodes battled for sixth place. Kligerman was in eighth while Kraus and Nemechek were in the top 10.

    By Lap 35, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Chastain followed by Ankrum, Bowman and Majeski while Friesen, Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Kraus were in the top 10. Not long after, Kraus surrendered his spot in 10th place to pit as Zane Smith moved into the top 10. 

    Two laps later, Matt Crafton spun his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in Turn 8 after getting hit by Todd Bodine, who locked up his front tires prior to entering the corner.

    Through Lap 40 and with the event surpassing its halfway mark, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage to more than three seconds over Chastain, who had Ankrum pressuring him for the runner-up spot while Bowman and Majeski were scored in the top five.

    Two laps later, a handful of competitors led by Zane Smith pitted under green while Kyle Busch continued to lead. Another lap later, however, Busch surrendered the lead to pit followed by Ankrum, Bowman, Chastain, Majeski and Kligerman while Ben Rhodes moved into the lead.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 45, Rhodes claimed his eighth stage victory of the season. Chandler Smith settled in second followed by Chase Purdy, Kaz Grala, Austin Dillon, Suarez, Timmy Hill, Dean Thompson, Deegan and Bodine.

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

    With 26 laps remaining, the final stage started as Kyle Busch and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Kyle Busch fended off Chastain to lead through the first two turns while the field scrambled and jostled for positions entering Turns 3, 4 and 7. Back to the start/finish line, Busch was leading by a tenth of a second over Chastain while Majeski, Bowman, Friesen, Kligerman, Zane Smith, Nemechek, Tanner Gray and DiBenedetto were in the top 10.

    Five laps later, Bodine spun his No. 62 Camping World Toyota Tundra TRD Pro in front of Dean Thompsons entering Turn 3. The race, however, continued under green as Kyle Busch remained the leader by less than a second over Chastain.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Chastain while Majeski, Bowman and Kligerman were in the top five. Way behind the leaders, Crafton pitted as smoke was lightly billowing out of his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, an issue that started through the esses and was enough to have his truck pushed behind the wall.

    With 15 laps remaining, Kyle Busch was leading by less than two seconds over Chastain. Behind, Bowman was in third place, trailing by more than three seconds, while Majeski and Kligerman were in the top five. Just then, the caution flew when DiBenedetto, who was making a move beneath Friesen for 10th place entering Turn 11, ran into the tire barrier and into Friesen with both spinning in the turn as a tire barrier was knocked on its side.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Kyle Busch pitted as Busch exited first followed by Chastain, Majeski, Bowman, Chandler Smith and Nemechek. Back on the track, however, Rhodes, who did not pit, remained on the track and assumed the lead along with Kraus and Chase Purdy, both of whom did not pit. Following the pit stops, Bowman was penalized for equipment interference.

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Rhodes took off with the lead through the first two turns while Kyle Busch battled and overtook Kraus for the runner-up spot while on fresh tires. As the field jostled for positions, Rhodes locked up his front tires and Kraus got turned and spun in Turn 7 as Kyle Busch reassumed the lead. 

    Then during the following lap, the caution returned when Deegan blew a right-rear tire, slipped sideways and smacked the wall entering Turn 1, thus sustaining significant right-side and rear-end damage to her No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150.

    With seven laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Kyle Busch rocketed with the lead as teammate Chandler Smith moved his No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the runner-up spot through the first two turns. Through Turns 3 and 3A, Rhodes went off the course and reported a flat tire as the field continued to jostle for positions under green. 

    Two laps later, Kyle Busch was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith. Behind, Zane Smith overtook Majeski to move into third while Chastain was in fifth ahead of Kligerman and Suarez. Shortly after, the caution flew for a heavy wreck entering Turn 1 that started when Friesen got Josh Bilicki sideways as Bilicki clipped the inside wall before he smacked the outside wall hard along with Friesen. In the process, Bowman and Lawless Alan sustained damage to their respective trucks after getting into Bilicki. The incident was enough for the event to be drawn into a red flag period for nearly 13 minutes.

    When the red flag lifted and the race restarted for a two-lap shootout, Kyle Busch cleared the field and retained the lead while teammate Chandler Smith fended off Zane Smith to retain second place. Through Turn 7, Zane Smith move his No. 38 CMR Ford F-150 into the runner-up spot ahead of Chandler Smith while Busch continued to lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over Zane Smith and more than two seconds over teammate Chandler Smith as the field jostled for positions. Behind, Dean Thompson spun, but the race remained under green flag conditions. With Zane Smith unable to mount a challenge for the final time through the 11-turn circuit, Kyle Busch navigated his way back to the finish line for his first checkered flag of the season.

    With the victory, Kyle Busch, who is a two-time Cup winner at Sonoma, notched his 62nd career win in the Camping World Truck Series and his first victory on a road course circuit in the Truck Series. The victory also extended Busch’s current winning streak in the Truck Series to 10 consecutive seasons with this season marking his 17th Truck season with at least one victory.

    “I appreciate Yahoo! and everybody that has made this partnership possible with Toyota and [Toyota Racing Development],” Busch said on FS1. “This Tundra TRD Pro was awesome today. I’m really proud to drive it. We had a struggle at Charlotte a couple weeks ago, but today was really good. Awesome adjustments by [crew chief] Mardy [Lindley] and all the guys here to get us in position to be able to win today. Yesterday was ugly. I wasn’t sure about it. I didn’t feel good about the truck, but they worked on it all night long and we made some brake changes. We made some chassis changes and these guys never stop. As hard as it might seem sometimes, I know the efforts there. Super effort here. Ready to go celebrate.” 

    Zane Smith settled in second place for his sixth top-five result of the season followed by Ty Majeski, who notched his fifth top-five result of the 2022 season. Chastain came home in fourth place while Chandler Smith fell back to fifth place.

    “[The day] didn’t start out too good,” Zane Smith said. “Took a huge swing at our MRC Ford Performance F-150. Luckily, it went the right way. It’s really hard to do in a racing situation, so props to my team, but I hate finishing second. Especially to [Kyle Busch]. I feel like just racing with [Chandler Smith], he got out too far out front and I think that last lap was the fastest lap of the race for me. I just wished I was a little closer so I had a shot at him.”

    Suarez earned a strong sixth-place effort while subbing for the injured Carson Hocevar while Kligerman, Nemechek, Ankrum and DiBenedetto finished in the top 10. Jack Wood was the highest-finishing rookie competitor in 16th place.

    “[Today] was busy, man,” Suarez said. “It was very busy. I was hoping to go one lap down, but when we went two laps down, I was like, ‘Man, it’s gonna be a long recovery’. I was hoping to recover quicker on that, but the truck had speed. I was hoping for long runs so I can be able to make some ground, but overall, the team did a very good job. Very thankful I was able to help. We were able to get some stage points in stage number 2 and then finish in the top six. That was a pretty decent day. I wished we could have won. The truck was capable of winning the race, but we just ran out of time.”

    There were 10 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 17 laps. A total of 26 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With four races remaining of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season stretch, Ben Rhodes leads the regular-season standings by five points over Chandler Smith, 12 over Zane Smith, 14 over John Hunter Nemechek. 45 over Ty Majeski and 47 over Stewart Friesen.

    Zane Smith, Ben Rhodes, John Hunter Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Stewart Friesen are tentatively locked into the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the season while Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton are above the top-10 cutline based on points. Tanner Gray trails the top-10 cutline by 33 points, Matt DiBenedetto trails by 36, Derek Kraus trails by 39, Tyler Ankrum trails by 50 and Chase Purdy trails by 91.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, 45 laps led

    2. Zane Smith

    3. Ty Majeski, four laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Ross Chastain, 19 laps led

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Carson Hocevar (*subbed by Daniel Suarez)

    7. Parker Kligerman

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Tyler Ankrum

    10. Matt DiBenedetto

    11. Grant Enfinger, one lap led

    12. Harrison Burton

    13. Tanner Gray

    14. Kaz Grala

    15. Chase Purdy

    16. Jack Wood

    17. Austin Dillon

    18. Ben Rhodes, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    19. Colby Howard

    20. Todd Bodine

    21. Blaine Perkins

    22. Brad Perez

    23. Spencer Boyd

    24. Dean Thompson

    25. Lawless Alan

    26. Kris Wright

    27. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    28. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    29. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    30. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    31. Stewart Friesen – OUT, Accident

    32. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    33.  Jade Buford – OUT, Transmission

    34. Matt Crafton – OUT, Transmission

    35. Christian Eckes – OUT, Accident

    36. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Oil cooler

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is Iowa’s Knoxville Raceway for the second annual running of the Clean Harbor 150. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, June 18, at 9 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Larson notches fifth consecutive Cup Series pole at Sonoma Raceway

    Larson notches fifth consecutive Cup Series pole at Sonoma Raceway

    For a fifth consecutive time, Kyle Larson will be leading the field to the green flag from the pole position at Sonoma Raceway.

    The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, clocked in a pole-winning lap at 91.936 mph in 77.776 seconds to place his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 at the top of the leaderboard and claim the Busch Light Pole Award for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

    The pole award at Sonoma was Larson’s fifth at the track, the second of the 2022 Cup season and the 12th of his career, placing him in a tie with Ricky Rudd for second place on the all-time pole list at Sonoma and one behind Jeff Gordon. With the pole, Larson aims to defend his victory at his home track following his dominant win a year ago, where he swept both stages leading up to the victory.

    “[The qualifying run] was good,” Larson, who was slipping sideways entering the Chute corner from Turns 4 to 7, said on FS2. “I was a little bit surprised I ran that seventy-something I ran because I gave up a lot of time in Turn 4 and 7. Had I had those two corners back, I feel like I could’ve been quite a bit faster. Just really good HendrickCars.com Chevy. Thanks to everybody at our team and everybody back at the shop. Engine shop. Excited about it, but for [teammate] Chase [Elliott] to lay down that lap, I feel like that shows how strong he is because he was really good on race trim, too. I got to figure some things out on my end. I think my car’s capable of racing good. I just got to get a little bit better on the long runs and hopefully, have a good shot.”

    Teammate Chase Elliott will be sharing the front row with Larson after he posted a fast qualifying lap at 77.799 mph in 92.083 seconds in his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Elliott will be pursuing his first victory at Sonoma after finishing in the runner-up spot behind Larson a year ago.

    Chris Buescher, who makes his return behind the wheel of the No 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang after being absent last weekend at Gateway following a positive COVID-19 test, was the third-fastest qualifier while Michael McDowell and Tyler Reddick will start in the top five. Rounding out the top-10 qualifying spots are Cole Custer, Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, respectively.

    Kurt Busch, the first competitor who did not transfer to the final round, will start in 11th place in his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry followed by brother Kyle, Austin Dillon, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, AJ Allmendinger, Joey Hand, Justin Haley, Alex Bowman and William Byron, respectively. Todd Gilliland was the fastest-rookie qualifier in 24th place in front of Austin Cindric and Harrison Burton.

    Cody Ware was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying lap due to his No. 51 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang failing pre-qualifying inspection three times. As a result, Ware will be assessed a drive-through penalty following the drop of the green flag at Sonoma and his car chief Steve Gray has been suspended for the remainder of the weekend.

    Qualifying position, time, speed

    1. Kyle Larson, 77.776 seconds, 92.111 mph

    2. Chase Elliott, 77.799 seconds, 92.038 mph

    3. Chris Buescher, 77.938 seconds, 91.919 mph

    4. Michael McDowell, 77.941 seconds, 91.916 mph

    5. Tyler Reddick, 78.021 seconds, 91.821 mph

    6. Cole Custer, 78.070 seconds, 91.764 mph

    7. Ross Chastain, 78.137 seconds, 91.685 mph

    8. Daniel Suarez, 78.148 seconds, 91.672 mph

    9. Joey Logano, 78.276 seconds, 91.522 mph

    10. Denny Hamlin, 78.515 seconds, 91.244 mph

    11. Kurt Busch, 78.244 seconds, 91.560 mph

    12. Kyle Busch, 78.275 seconds, 91.523 mph

    13. Austin Dillon, 78.319 seconds, 91.472 mph

    14. Ryan Blaney, 78.472 seconds, 91.294 mph

    15. Chase Briscoe, 78.507 seconds, 91.253 mph

    16. AJ Allmendinger, 78.572 seconds, 91.178 mph

    17. Joey Hand, 78.578 seconds, 91.171 mph

    18. Justin Haley, 78.603 seconds, 91.142 mph

    19. Alex Bowman, 78.664 seconds, 91.071 mph

    20. William Byron, 78.691 seconds, 91.040 mph

    21. Aric Almirola, 78.706 seconds, 91.022 mph

    22. Brad Keselowski, 78.829 seconds, 90.880 mph

    23. Kevin Harvick, 78.857 seconds, 90.848 mph

    24. Todd Gilliland, 79.065 seconds, 90.609 mph

    25. Austin Cindric, 79.300 seconds, 90.340 mph

    26. Harrison Burton, 79.315 seconds, 90.323 mph

    27. Bubba Wallace, 79.337 seconds, 90.298 mph

    28. Martin Truex Jr., 79.356 seconds, 90.277 mph

    29. Josh Bilicki, 79.493 seconds, 90.298 mph

    30. Corey LaJoie, 79.544 seconds, 90.063 mph

    31. Christopher Bell, 79.553 seconds, 90.053 mph

    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 79.617 seconds, 89.981 mph

    33. Erik Jones, 79.711 seconds, 89.875 mph

    34. Ty Dillon, 80.037 seconds, 89.509 mph

    35. Scott Heckert, 81.171 seconds, 88.258 mph

    36. Cody Ware – Did not qualify

    The Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway is scheduled to commence on Sunday, June 12, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jake Drew scores second ARCA Menards Series West career victory at Sonoma

    Jake Drew scores second ARCA Menards Series West career victory at Sonoma

    A week after notching his first victory at Portland International Raceway, Jake Drew went back-to-back in the ARCA Menards Series West after winning the General Tire 200 at Sonoma Raceway from pole position on Saturday, June 11.

    The 22-year-old Drew from Fullerton, California, and who drives for Sunrise Ford Racing, dominated from start to finish, leading a race-high 48 of 56 laps, and survived the carnage, a series of restarts and late challenges from Landen Lewis and Drew Moore before the latter two were collected in a late wreck that eventually shortened the event to claim the checkered flag under caution.

    With on-track practice and qualifying sessions that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Jake Drew started on pole position after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 1:20.397 in 89.108 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Landen Lewis, whose best lap occurred at 1:21.134 mph in 88.298 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Drew cleared the field entering the first turn to lead through the first three turns and approaching the return of the Chute from Turns 4 and 7. Through Turns 8 through 11, Drew retained the lead and led the first lap followed by Landen Lewis, Todd Souza, Dale Quarterley and Austin Herzog.

    Through the first five laps, Drew remained as the leader ahead of Lewis, Souza, Quarterley and Herzog while Tanner Reif, Sebastian Arias, Paul Pedroncelli Jr., Jack Wood and Dean Thompson were in the top 10. 

    Four laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Nick Joanides stalled his car at the entrance of the temporary pit road on the Sonoma Raceway drag strip.

    When the race restarted on Lap 13, Drew was able to retain the lead ahead of the field. Two laps later, however, the caution returned when Vince Little spun and wrecked in Turn 10.

    At the start of the following restart on Lap 18, Drew and Souza battled dead even as Souza emerged as the new leader through the first two turns while the field scrambled for spots. Then through Turn 7A, Lewis made his move into the runner-up spot over Drew until Drew reassumed the spot through Turn 11. 

    Through the first 20 laps, Drew, who reassumed the lead from Souza when Souza went wide in Turn 7A during the previous lap, was ahead of Souza, Lewis, Quarterley, Cole Moore, Herzog, Tanner Reif, Joey Iest, Jack Wood and Colby Howard. Behind, Sebastian Arias and PJ Pdroncelli spun in Turn 11.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Robb Kneeland, who bumped and rubbed with Bridget Burgess through Turn 7A, got bumped by Brugess as he spun and collected Arias in the process, thus sending both into the tire barriers between Turns 7 and 8 and out of the event. The incident was one that left Burgess heated towards Arias. During the caution period, some led by Lewis pitted while the rest led by Drew pitted. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 29, Lewis took off with the lead at the start while Quarterley spun the tires on the inside lane as he briefly stacked up the field. Then as the field made its way through Turn 3A, the caution returned when Tanner Reif spun off the front nose of Joey Iest before he was T-boned on the right side by Takuma Koga. 

    With 30 laps remaining and the race restarted under green, Drew had to fend off a challenge from Cole Moore to retain the lead through the first two turns. Not long after in Turn 7A, Souza spun, but the race proceeded under green.  

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Tim Spurgeon spun and wrecked his car against the tire barriers in Turn 10.

    When the race proceeded under green with 26 laps remaining, Drew retained the lead ahead of Moore as the field scrambled and jostled for positions up through the first four turns before entering the Chute and Turn 7. 

    Then with 22 laps remaining as the battle for the lead ignited between Drew, Moore and Lewis, Moore made a bold move to the outside of Drew to briefly take the lead until he went wide through Turn 11. This allowed Drew to reassume the lead as Lewis joined the battle for the lead.

    During the following lap, Lewis took over the runner-up spot over Moore, who briefly went off the course and into the gravel in Turn 2, as Drew remained as the leader.

    Following another caution period with 18 laps remaining due to debris reported in Turn 3, the race restarted four laps later. Drew took off with the lead on the outside lane entering Turn 1 while Colby Howard challenged Lewis for the runner-up spot. Then in Turn 11, Howard got into Lewis while battling for the runner-up spot as Lewis collected Moore with the latter two spinning. As Moore was trying to straighten his car, he got hit on the right side by Dean Thompson, Ryan Philpott and Paul Pedroncelli Jr. while Lewis continued.

    The multi-car incident and the extensive cleanup period were enough for the event to conclude under caution eight laps shy of the finish to the 64-lap distance due to time constraints as Drew claimed his second consecutive victory in the ARCA Menards Series West. The victory also allowed Drew to retain his lead in the drivers’ championship standings by 35 points over Todd Souza, 37 over Tanner Reif, 38 over Cole Moore and 39 over Austin Herzog.

    Colby Howard, a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitor for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing who was making his ARCA Menards Series West debut, settled in second place followed by Dale Quarterley, Jack Wood and Joey Iest while Austin Herzog, Eric Nascimento, Todd Souza, Tim Spurgeon and Bridget Burgess completed the top 10.

    There were four lead changes for two different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 29 laps

    Results.

    1. Jake Drew, 48 laps led

    2. Colby Howard

    3. Dale Quarterley

    4. Jack Wood

    5. Joey Iest

    6. Austin Herzog

    7. Eric Nascimento

    8. Todd Souza, two laps led

    9. Tim Spurgeon

    10. Bridget Burgess

    11. Vince Little

    12. Cole Moore

    13. Andrew Tuttle

    14. Landen Lewis

    15. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    16. Paul Pedroncelli Jr. – OUT, Accident

    17. Ryan Philpott – OUT, Accident

    18. Tanner Reif – OUT, Accident

    19. Takuma Koga – OUT, Accident

    20. Rodd Kneeland – OUT, Accident

    21. Sebastian Arias – OUT, Accident

    22. Nick Joanides – OUT, Accident

    23. Paul Pedroncelli – OUT, Accident

    24. Brian Kamisky – OUT, Did not start

    The replay of the Sonoma event will air on June 16 at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

    Next on the 2022 ARCA Menards Series West schedule is the series’ second trip of the season to Irwindale Speedway, which will occur on July 2 at 10 p.m. ET on FloRacing.

  • Sammy Smith joins Joe Gibbs Racing for eight-race Xfinity deal in 2022

    Sammy Smith joins Joe Gibbs Racing for eight-race Xfinity deal in 2022

    Joe Gibbs Racing announced the addition of Sammy Smith to its NASCAR Xfinity Series program for eight events this season, beginning in July.

    The 18-year-old Smith from Johnston, Iowa, will be making his Xfinity Series debut in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Supra at Road America (July 2). His other starts will occur at Pocono Raceway (July 23), Michigan International Speedway (August 6), Watkins Glen International (August 20), Kansas Speedway (September 10), Bristol Motor Speedway (September 16), Martinsville Speedway (October 29) and at Phoenix Raceway (November 5). Veteran Jason Ratcliff will be serving as Smith’s crew chief while Pilot Flying J, TMC, Allstate Peterbilt Group, Renda Group and Sinclair Tractors will all be serving as sponsors for Smith throughout his Xfinity campaign.

    “I’m excited for the opportunity to run the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Smith said. “Making the jump to this level is huge for me and my career, and I’m thankful for all of my partners and supporters that have helped me get here.”

    Smith, whose racing career began at age 8 through go-karts before moving up to legends cars and late models, is the reigning champion of the ARCA Menards Series East, having won three events and winning the both the drivers’ title and the Rookie-of-the-Year title while competing for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is currently competing in his second full-time season in the series for Kyle Busch Motorsports, where he has racked up three wins through the first four scheduled events and leads the drivers’ standings by nine points over David Gilliland Racing’s Taylor Gray. His next scheduled ARCA Menards Series East event is this weekend at Iowa Speedway, which will be a combined event between the ARCA Menards Series and the ARCA Menards Series East and occur on June 11.

    “Sammy has impressed at every level of his racing career,” Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President/Xfinity Series for Joe Gibbs Racing, said. “We believe Sammy will continue to excel and look forward to supporting him as he expands his 2022 schedule to include eight races in the Xfinity Series with the Joe Gibbs Racing No.18 team led by crew chief Jason Ratcliff.”

    With Smith’s Xfinity debut set, he will also become the seventh different competitor to pilot Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra that has been piloted by Trevor Bayne, Drew Dollar, Connor Mosack, John Hunter Nemechek, Ryan Truex and Bubba Wallace through the first 14 scheduled Xfinity events. The No. 18 team led by Ratcliff sits in 12th place in the 2022 Xfinity owners’ standings on the strength of three top-five results and six top-10 results.

    The Xfinity Series is currently entering a two-week break and wil return to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 27 with Bayne set to compete in the event in JGR’s No. 18 entry.

    Sammy Smith’s debut in the NASCAR Xfinity Series is set to occur at Road America on July 2 with the event’s coverage to occur at 2:30 p.n. ET on USA Network.

  • Chastain to make 100th Truck Series career start at Sonoma

    Chastain to make 100th Truck Series career start at Sonoma

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ return to Sonoma Raceway in 24 years is set to mark the fifth and final scheduled series start of the season for Cup Series competitor Ross Chastain. It is also the site that will mark a milestone start for the two-time Cup winner who currently competes for Trackhouse Racing in NASCAR’s premier series. By competing in this weekend’s event at Sonoma with Niece Motorsports, Chastain will make his 100th career start in the Truck circuit. 

    A native of Alva, Florida, Chastain made his Truck debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in July 2011, where he replaced his future team owner Justin Marks in the No. 66 Chevrolet Silverado for Turn One Racing. By then, he was also making his inaugural presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series. Starting in 15th place, Chastain notched a 10th-place result in his series debut. He returned to compete at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway between August and November, where he finished in the top 30 during the four-race stretch.

    During the following season, Chastain competed as a full-time Truck competitor in the No. 08 Toyota Tundra for SS-Green Light Racing. The highlight of his full-time rookie season was notching his first top-five result in the series by finishing in third place at Bristol in August. To go along with a total of four top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 21.3 during the 22-race schedule, he capped off the season in 17th place in the final standings.

    In 2013, Chastain joined Brad Keselowski Racing as a part-time competitor of the No. 19 Ford F-150 for 14 of 22-scheduled Truck events. He commenced the season by finishing 14th at Daytona followed by a 20th-place result at Martinsville. After finishing no higher than fifth during his next six scheduled starts, Chastain was placed in prime position of notching his first Truck victory at Iowa Speedway in September. Despite starting on pole position and leading a race-high 116 of 212 laps, he was overtaken by the reigning series champion James Buescher during two green-white-checkered restarts and settled in a career-best second place. Four races later at Phoenix in November, Chastain led 63 of 150 laps until he was overtaken and beaten by newcomer Erik Jones during a 10-lap shootout to the finish. Finishing in second place for the second time of the season, Chastain capped off the season with an eighth-place result at Homestead along with his first two career poles, four top-five results, seven top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.0 in 14 starts.

    After departing Brad Keselowski Racing at the conclusion of the 2013 season, Chastain competed the first two Truck events of 2014 with RBR Enterprises. He finished 30th during the season-opening event at Daytona after being involved in a late multi-truck wreck and rallied to finish 14th at Martinsville during the following event. Chastain returned for the season finale event at Homestead, where he piloted the No. 35 Win-Tron Racing Toyota Tundra to an 11th-place result.

    After failing to qualify for a single Truck event in 2015 and making just a single start at Talladega with Bolen Motorsports in 2016, Chastain campaigned in seven of the first 10 scheduled Truck events with Bolen. During the stretch, his season-best results were a 10th-place result at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February followed by a seventh-place result at Martinsville in March. He would then compete in a total of seven Truck events in 2018 between Beaver Motorsports, Premium Motorsports and Niece Motorsports. During his part-time season in 2018, his best result was a seventh-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

    Despite having a full-time Xfinity Series ride with Chip Ganassi Racing fall apart due to sponsorship woes, the 2019 season produced a hefty schedule for Chastain, who campaigned in nearly all events between all three national touring series. Entering the season as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Premium Motorsports and as a part-time Xfinity competitor between JD Motorsports and Kaulig Racing, Chastain initially commenced the season as a part-time Truck competitor for Niece Motorsports. After finishing in the top 10 during the first six scheduled events, he notched his first Truck career victory at Kansas Speedway in May after overtaking Stewart Friesen, who ran out of fuel, under the final two laps. Chastain’s first win in the Truck circuit also marked the first victory in NASCAR for Niece Motorsports. A month later, he elected to compete for the Truck Series title as a full-time competitor for Niece Motorsports. 

    Commencing his late season charge for the 2019 Truck title, Chastain notched what would have been his second victory of the season at Iowa Speedway in June. The victory, however, was short-lived due to his truck failing post-race inspection, which prompted NASCAR to strip him of the victory as part of the sport’s new disqualification policy and demote him to last place of the 32-truck field. Despite the disqualification, Chastain and Niece Motorsports responded back with vengeance during the following event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway by utilizing a fuel only pit stop to win and notch a second victory of the season along with a $50,000 bonus as part of the series’ newly formed Triple Truck Challenge. The Gateway victory along with his third victory of the season and of his career at Pocono Raceway in July were enough for Chastain and Niece Motorsports to qualify for the 2019 Truck Playoffs. 

    At the start of the 2019 Truck Playoffs, Chastain finished no lower than eighth during the Round of 8 to advance to the Round of 6. Despite being involved in a late multi-truck wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in October, he earned back-to-back top-10 results during the following two events to earn a spot in the Championship 4 round and contend for the 2019 Truck title at Homestead in November. During the finale, however, Chastain finished in fourth place on the track and in the runner-up spot in the final championship standings behind Matt Crafton. To go along with a runner-up result in the final standings while achieving his first three carer victories in the series, Chastain capped off the 2019 Truck season with a pole, 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 591 laps led and an average-finishing result of 8.6.

    As Chastain moved up to compete for the 2020 Xfinity Series championship for Kaulig Racing, he also returned on a part-time basis in the Truck circuit for Niece Motorsports. He competed in eight of the first nine scheduled events amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where his best result was a third-place effort at Homestead in June. His final start of the season occurred at Bristol in August, where he finished eighth. By then, he accumulated six top-10 results in nine starts of the season.

    In 2021, Chastain, who became a full-time Cup competitor for Chip Ganassi Racing, returned to compete in four Truck events for Niece Motorsports. His first start of the season occurred at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March, where he finished seventh, followed by Kansas in May, where he earned a runner-up result behind Kyle Busch. At Texas in June, Chastain initially finished third, but he was later disqualified and demoted to last place of the 36-truck field due to his truck failing post-race inspection pertaining to a throttle body. His final start of the season occurred at Nashville Superspeedway in June, where he finished 22nd.

    This season, Chastain, who is a full-time Cup competitor for Trackhouse Racing, made his first Truck start of the season with Niece Motorsports at Atlanta in June, where he finished 23rd following multiple flat tire issues. After finishing 26th and 12th at Darlington Raceway and at Texas Motor Speedway, respectively, Chastain benefitted through two overtime attempts and a late incident involving teammate Carson Hocevar and Ryan Preece to notch his fourth Truck Series career victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

    Through 99 previous Truck starts, Chastain has recorded four victories, three poles, 18 top-five results, 43 top-10 results, 913 laps led and an average-finishing result of 14.7 as he pursues his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Sonoma Raceway.

    Chastain is scheduled to make his 100th Camping World Truck Series career start at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 11, with the event’s coverage to occur at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Logano grabs Cup Series win in overtime in inaugural event at Gateway

    Logano grabs Cup Series win in overtime in inaugural event at Gateway

    With winning on new circuits starting to become a new habit of his in recent years, Joey Logano scratched another new circuit off of his bucket list after fending off Kyle Busch during an overtime shootout to win the inaugural Enjoy Illinois 300 at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway on Sunday, June 5.

    The 32-year-old Logano from Middletown, Connecticut, led 20 of 242 over-scheduled laps as he swapped the lead with Busch at the start of the event’s lone overtime attempt before reclaiming it for good prior to the final lap and pulling away from Busch and the field to grab his second victory of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Chase Briscoe recorded the first Cup pole position at Gateway after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 138.274 mph in 32.544 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Austin Cindric, who clocked in a qualifying lap sat 137.775 mph in 32.662 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Parker Kligerman started at the rear of the field in a backup car along with Daniel Suarez, who had unapproved adjustments made to his car. AJ Allmendinger also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his car and due to the driver being absent for Saturday’s qualifying session as Truck Series competitor Ben Rhodes filled in while Allmendinger went on to win Saturday’s inaugural Xfinity event at Portland International Raceway.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Briscoe fended off Cindric to lead the field through the backstretch as he went on to lead the first lap while Christopher Bell, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney battled for third place ahead of the field.

    Through the first five laps and with the field fanning out and jostling early for positions, Briscoe was leading by four-tenths of a second ahead of Cindric, Reddick, Blaney, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola, Chastain, Logano, Harrison Burton and Bell.

    By Lap 10, Briscoe stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Cindric while Blaney, Reddick and Hamlin remained in the top five.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Briscoe remained as the leader by half a second ahead of Cindric. Third-place Blaney trailed by more than two seconds followed by Reddick and Hamlin while Chastain Almirola, Logano, Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chase Elliott was in 11th ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Harrison Burton, Bell and Kyle Larson while Cole Custer, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell, Erik Jones and William Byron were in the top 20. 

    Seven laps later, early disaster struck for Briscoe, who fell off the pace after he cut a left-rear tire as he made an unscheduled pit stop under green. With Briscoe out of contention, Cindric took the lead followed by teammate Blaney while Reddick, Hamlin and Chastain were in the top five. 

    By Lap 35, Cindric was ahead by two seconds over teammate Blaney followed by Reddick, Hamlin and Chastain while Almirola, Logano, Kyle Busch, Elliott and Kurt Busch occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Briscoe was mired in last place of the 36-car field and two laps behind the leaders.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Cindric claimed his first Cup stage victory of the season. Teammate Blaney settled in second, trailing by more than a second, followed by Reddick, Hamlin, Chastain, Almirola, Logano, Kyle Busch, Elliott and Bell. 

    Under the stage break, the field led by Cindric pitted and Cindric retained the lead following his service followed by teammate Blaney, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Hamlin. Following the pit stops, Chase Elliott pitted his No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for a second time to have the lug nut on his car checked.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as teammates Cindric and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, both Team Penske teammates dueled for the lead as Cindric continued to lead by a hair over Blaney before the latter prevailed. With Blaney out in front, Cindric was left to battle Kyle Busch for the runner-up spot as Busch prevailed in his No. 18 Snicker Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Reddick was in fourth ahead of Hamlin and Logano, both of whom were left bitter over a pit road incident last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

    By Lap 60, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Kyle Busch followed by Cindric, Reddick and Hamlin while Logano, Chastain, Almirola, Bell and Kurt Busch were in the top 10.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Chastain sent Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Blaney pitted while Kyle Busch, Logano, Chastain and Elliott remained on the track. 

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 69, Kyle Busch received a draft from Chastain as he fended off both Chastain and Logano to retain the lead while Logano battled and overtook Chastain for the runner-up spot. With all three Team Penske competitors in the top five, Blaney soon battled Chastain for third place while Cindric pursued in fifth. 

    At the Lap 75 mark, Kyle Busch retained a narrow advantage, three-tenths of a second, over Logano followed by Blaney, Chastain and Cindric while Elliott remained in sixth ahead of Michael McDowell, Truex, Almirola and Reddick. By then, Briscoe, who cycled his way back to the lead lap during the previous caution, was up in 26th behind AJ Allmendinger. 

    Fifteen laps later, Kyle Busch extended his advantage to more than a second over Logano  followed by Blaney, Cindric and Chastain, who earlier was nearly wrecked by the lapped car of Hamlin with Hamlin expressing his displeasure over the incident involving Chastain that spoiled Hamlin’s run toward the front.

    Another three laps later, the on-track feud between Chastain and Hamlin ignited again as Hamlin blocked and briefly stalled Chastain’s progress through Turns 4 and 1.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Blaney cut a left-rear tire, spun and backed his No. 12 Dent Wizard Ford Mustang into the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. Under caution, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by McDowell and Reddick remained on the track.

    When the race resumed under green on Lap 100, McDowell retained the lead through the first two turns while Almirola and Bell overtook Reddick in a bold three-wide pass to move up to second and third. Not long after, however, the caution flew when Chastain bumped and sent Elliott spinning entering Turn 4, where he was hit by Harrison Burton while Bubba Wallace also spun to avoid sustaining any significant damage to his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 106, McDowell retained the lead ahead of Almirola and the field through the backstretch. Meanwhile, Elliott expressed his displeasure to Chastain over the contact during the previous caution by bumping and sending Chastain’s No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up the track through Turns 1 and 2. At the same time, Hamlin feigned another sideswipe move on Chastain with the latter falling below the leaderboard. With Chastain remaining on the track, Hamlin continued to stall Chastain’s progress by running in front of him and not letting him pass.

    Back at the front on Lap 110, McDowell retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Almirola followed by Reddick, Bell and Erik Jones while Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Kevin Harvick were scored in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 120, McDowell was leading by half a second over Almirola while Reddick, Kurt Busch, Bell, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Suarez, Cindric and Kyle Larson were scored in the top 10. Logano was in 11th ahead of Truex, Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Blaney while Briscoe, Ty Dillon, Allmendinger, Todd Gilliland and Austin Dillon were in the top 20. Alex Bowman was in 21st ahead of Cole Custer, Zane Smith, Harrison Burton and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Bubba Wallace, Justin Haley, William, Byron, Chase Elliott and Cody Ware were in the top 30. Meanwhile, Chastain was mired back in 32nd while Hamlin was in 35th.

    Nearly five laps later, Elliott and Chastain briefly dueled through the frontstretch as Elliott tried to pursue Chastain again to express his displeasure towards him. In Turn 1, however, BJ McLeod got into the rear of Elliott, which knocked Elliott sideways as he proceeded under green.

    Nearing the Lap 130 mark, the caution flew when Wallace got bumped and turned into the Turn 3 outside wall by Stenhouse. Under caution, Hamlin, who witnessed the incident in front of him, ran Stenhouse’s No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up the track in Turn 1 to express his displeasure over his competitor getting wrecked.

    During the caution period, names like Kurt Busch, Larson, Cole Custer, Stenhouse, Byron, Haley, Cody Ware and McLeod remained on the track while the rest pitted. During the pit stops, Reddick was penalized for dragging his gas can out of his pit box.

    With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Kurt Busch fended off Larson to retain the lead while Truex, who restarted in the top 10, bolted his No. 19 Reser’s Fine Foods Toyota TRD Camry into third place as he quickly went to work on Larson for more. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 140, Kurt Busch, piloting the No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry, captured his second stage victory of the season. Truex settled in second place, trailing by four-tenths of a second, followed by Kyle Busch, Larson, Almirola, Bell, Suarez, Cole Custer, Erik Jones and Blaney.

    Under the stage break, some led by Kurt Busch pitted while the rest led by Truex and Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    With 93 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Truex and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start and with the field jostling for positions, Truex retained the lead ahead of Busch while Almirola, Bell and Suarez were in the top five. 

    Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Truex retained the lead by half a second over teammate Kyle Busch as they were pursued by Almirola, Blaney and Bell. Suarez was back in sixth ahead of Erik Jones, McDowell, Briscoe and Cindric while Bowman, Logano, Reddick, Harvick, Ty Dillon, Chastain, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Allmendinger and Larson occupied the top 20.

    Fifteen laps later, Truex continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch while Blaney, Almirola and Bell remained in the top five. Also remaining in the top 10 were Suarez, Erik Jones, McDowell, Briscoe and Cindric, respectively.

    Another three laps later, the caution flew when Reddick spun in Turn 2. During the caution period, the leaders led by Truex pitted as Erik Jones exited with the lead following a quick two-tire pit stop followed by Kyle Busch, Logano, Bowman, Larson and Almirola while Truex was back in seventh.

    With 51 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Erik Jones and Kyle Busch dueled for the lead through the backstretch until Busch muscled his way into the lead through Turn 3 while Logano made his move into the runner-up spot. Not long after, Almirola launched his attack on Jones for third place as the field jostled for late positions.

    Eleven laps later, Kyle Busch was leading by three-tenths of a second over Logano followed by Almirola while Erik Jones was in fourth ahead of Truex. During the following lap, however, the caution flew when Stenhouse spun in the backstretch. Under caution, some like Keselowski, Elliott, Justin Haley, Ty Dillon, Suarez, Byron and Bubba Wallace pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    Down to the final 34 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Kyle Busch took off with the lead ahead of Logano while the field scrambled for positions. During the following lap, however, Logano, who dueled Busch for the lead through the frontstretch, pulled a slide job on Busch to take the lead in Turn 1 as Almirola tried to close in on the two leaders.

    With 20 laps remaining, Logano stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Kyle Busch followed by Almirola, Blaney and Erik Jones while Kurt Busch, Truex, Bowman, Bell and Chastain were in the top 10. Cindric was in 11th ahead of Harvick, Larson, McDowell and Allmendinger while Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Zane Smith and Custer were in the top 20.

    Two laps later, the caution returned when Custer got bumped by Todd Gilliland entering Turn 1 as he spun and made contact with the outside wall. During the caution period, some like Wallace, Haley, Byron and Custer pitted while the rest led by Logano remained on the track.

    Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Kyle Busch utilized the outside lane to reassume the lead over Logano through the backstretch. 

    Three laps later, Kyle Busch was leading by a tenth of a second over Logano with Blaney joining the battle. Behind, Kurt Busch moved his way to fourth place while Almirola, Erik Jones, Chastain, Truex, Bell and Cindric were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Kyle Busch continued to fend off Logano with the lead while Blaney was starting to fall back and trail by less than a second in third place ahead of Kurt Busch and Almirola.

    Then, the caution flew when Harvick slipped sideways and pounded the outside wall in Turn 3. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime as some like Keselowski, Suarez, Ty Dillon and Harrison Burton pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch and Logano pitted.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Logano, who restarted beneath Kyle Busch, ignited his challenge by trying to force Busch up the track, but Busch pulled a crossover move to challenge and reassume the lead beneath Logano through the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Kyle Busch got loose and washed up the track in Turn 3, which allowed Logano to cross over to the bottom lane and take the lead back as he started the final lap of the event. 

    With Logano out in front, Kyle Busch could not close the gap between himself and Logano, nor could he ignite a final charge on him. That all enabled Logano to drive away as he cycled his way back to the finish line and crossed the finish line to first place.

    By winning the inaugural Cup victory at Gateway in Madison, Illinois, Logano notched his second victory of the 2022 Cup season, thus becoming the fourth multi-winner of this season, and the 29th of his career. This marked the third new circuit added to the Cup schedule that was won by Logano after he won the inaugural events at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in March 2021 and the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February 2022.

    “Oh, packed house,” Logano said on FS1. “Thanks for coming out, [fans]. I hope you guys enjoyed that race. It doesn’t get much better than that. Racing for the lead like that with Kyle [Busch] with him is a lot of fun. Crossing each other back and forth. I knew it was coming because I did it to him. I knew he was gonna do it with me and was able to cross back and forth there a couple of times in the last lap there. Good Shell/Pennzoil Mustang, for sure. Nice to get a few wins on the season here. Start collecting those Playoffs points. What a great car. Really fast…[Crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] made a great call putting two tires on. [Teammate Ryan] Blaney did a great job with the push down into [Turn] 1, which kept me close, at least, to be able to make the move. Good racing there…It was a lot of fun to race here and looking forward to coming back.”

    Kyle Busch trailed Logano to the finish line by six-tenths of a second in the runner-up spot followed by brother Kurt while Blaney and Almirola finished in the top five.

    “[The crossover move was] Not even close,” Busch said. “You see me just about wreck off of [Turn] 4? Way better than Phoenix, though, I guess. For as bad as Phoenix was, [Joe Gibbs Racing], the Toyota guys did a good job of getting us some improvements there, at least being able to keep up and have a shot at the win. Our car just took too long to come in. Better on the long run, better up top [lane]. Top’s not good to fire off on, but good job by the Snickers guys. We stayed in the running all day long and fought hard. Though maybe we could, but that was it.”

    Truex, who made his 600th Cup career start, came home in sixth place while Erik Jones, Chastain, Bell and Allmendinger completed the top 10.

    Chastain, who rallied from adversity and his share of run-ins with Hamlin, Elliott and McDowell to finish eighth, took the time to acknowledge his cause of the on-track incidents and place the blame towards himself while Hamlin issued his warning towards the Floridian.

    “Just terrible driving,” Chastain said. “It’s one thing to do it once, but I just kept driving into guys. At this level, I’m supposed to be better than that. [My sponsors and owners] deserve better. I owe half the field an apology. Words aren’t gonna fix it, so I’ll have to pay for it on the track. [I] Almost did today and I deserve everything they do. I can’t believe I continue to make the same mistakes and over-drive the corners and drive into guys. I like had time under caution to get reset and we go green and I drive into somebody. It’s terrible.”

    “It’s good that [Chastain] takes responsibility, but ultimately, [the incident] ruined our day,” Hamlin said. “I think we were racing hard there for a while on the inside [lane]]. He tried to keep sliding up in front of us and wasn’t able to because I wasn’t willing to just back off and let him slide up in front. It didn’t take long, after he tucked in behind us, that it wrecked us. The unfortunate part is that it didn’t look that he got too shy after that because I think he got into [Elliott] after that one. We have to learn the hard way. We’ve all had it come back around on us and it will be no different.”

    Notably, Cindric was the highest-finishing rookie in 11th, Larson finished 12th, Byron settled in 19th, Elliott ended up 21st, Wallace was mired in 26th and Hamlin concluded his event in 34th, one spot behind Harvick. In addition, Zane Smith, who filled in as an interim competitor for Chris Buescher with Buescher out after testing positive for COVID-19, finished 17th in his Cup debut.

    There were 12 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 53 laps.

    With 11 regular season races remaining to this season, Chase Elliott leads the regular season standings by nine points over Kyle Busch, 17 over Ross Chastain, 28 over Ryan Blaney, 37 over Martin Truex Jr. and 40 over Joey Logano. 

    Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Kurt Busch 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, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola and Tyler Reddick occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by two points, Erik Jones trails by 26, Austin Dillon trails by 29, Daniel Suarez trails by 60, Michael McDowell trails by 86, Bubba Wallace trails by 96, Justin Haley trails by 101, Chris Buescher trails by 104 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 107. 

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, 22 laps led

    2. Kyle Busch, 66 laps led

    3. Kurt Busch, 12 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Ryan Blaney, 12 laps led

    5. Aric Almirola

    6. Martin Truex Jr., 42 laps led

    7. Erik Jones, four laps led

    8. Ross Chastain

    9. Christopher Bell

    10. AJ Allmendinger

    11. Austin Cindric, 26 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. Kyle Larson

    13. Alex Bowman

    14. Justin Haley

    15. Austin Dillon

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Zane Smith

    18. Michael McDowell, 34 laps led

    19. William Byron

    20. Brad Keselowski

    21. Chase Elliott

    22. Todd Gilliland

    23. Daniel Suarez

    24. Chase Briscoe, 27 laps led

    25. Harrison Burton

    26. Bubba Wallace

    27. Ty Dillon

    28. Josh Bilicki

    29. Cole Custer

    30. BJ McLeod

    31. Parker Kligerman

    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps down

    33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

    34. Denny Hamlin, 11 laps down

    35. Cody Ware – OUT, Power

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the series’ second road course event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 12, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Power executes pit strategy to win final IndyCar event at Belle Isle

    Power executes pit strategy to win final IndyCar event at Belle Isle

    For the first time in 10 months, Will Power raced his way to Victory Lane in the NTT IndyCar Series after utilizing a bold pit strategy to fend off Alexander Rossi and win the final Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Street Circuit on Sunday, June 5.

    The 41-year-old Power from Toowoomba, Australia, rolled off the starting grid in 16th place, but had the primary black compound tires, strategy and speed favoring him in the early stages as he cycled his way into the lead by Lap 14 while some that started on the soft red alternative compound tires, including Rossi, pitted early. After pitting for the first time by Lap 25, Power remained out in front by a large margin over the field. Once he pitted with 20 laps remaining for the red compound tires, the battle was left between him and Rossi, who was on a three-tire pit strategy but had the tires and the speed to pursue Power. Despite erasing Power’s advantage as the laps dwindled, Power managed to preserve his tires and have enough muscle in his car to beat Rossi by a little more than a second to capture his first IndyCar victory of the season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Josef Newgarden won the final pole position at Belle Isle after recording a pole-winning lap at 112.477 mph in one minute, 15.2153 seconds. Joining him on the front was Takuma Sato, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 112.278 mph in one minute, 15.3490 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Newgarden took off with the lead through the first two turns and Simon Pagenaud moved into the runner-up spot while Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato battled for third place.

    Through the 14-turn circuit and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Newgarden led the first lap ahead of Pagenaud, Castroneves, Sato and Pato O’Ward while Colton Herta, David Malukas, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Scott McLaughlin were in the top 10.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Newgarden was leading by half a second over Pagenaud followed by Castroneves, Sato, O’Ward, Herta, David Malukas, Ericsson, McLaughlin and Will Power. By then, Graham Rahal, who cut a tire after scrapping the Turn 2 wall during the opening laps of the event, retired. During this, Rinus VeeKay made an early pit stop under green. 

    Shortly after, names like Alexander Rossi, who started on red alternative tires, and Conor Daly pitted along with David Malukas and Santino Ferrucci as the tire pit strategy for the competitors and teams commenced. Felix Rosenqvist would also pit a few laps later.

    By Lap 10, Newgarden continued to lead by more than three seconds over Pagenaud followed by Castroneves, O’Ward and Power while Scott Dixon, Herta, Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood and Christian Lundgaard were in the top 10. By then, Sato surrendered his spot in the top five to pit under green.

    Four laps later, Will Power muscled his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet past teammate Newgarden’s No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet to take the lead in Turn 3. Two turns later, Scott Dixon moved his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the runner-up spot as Palou engaged in a battle with Newgarden for third place, which he prevailed.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Power was leading by more than two seconds over Dixon followed by Palou, Kirkwood and Rossi while Devlin DeFrancesco, VeeKay, David Malukas. Dalton Kellett and Conor Day were in the top 10. By then, a wave of competitors like Newgarden, O’Ward, Herta, Ericsson and Pagenaud pitted under green. Castroneves and Romain Grosjean also made their pit stops. A few laps earlier, Scott McLaughlin overshot and stalled his car in Turn 3, though he continued without needing assistance.

    Five laps later, Power, who continued to run on the same black tires he started with in the event, extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Dixon followed by Palou, DeFrancesco and VeeKay. During the following lap, however, Power surrendered the lead to pit. Teammates Dixon and Palou would also pit as Power cycled his way back to the lead. By then, Daly, VeeKay, Malukas and Jack Harvey pitted as the strategy cycle continued. Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves retired due to an electrical glitch to his No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda.

    By the Lap 30 mark, reports of precipitation were being made near the circuit as Power continued to lead by more than four seconds over Dixon.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 35, Power was out in front by more than six seconds over Dixon and more than eight seconds over Palou. Rossi and Kirkwood filled in the top five while Newgarden, O’Ward, Pagenaud, Ericsson and Herta were in the top 10. By then, VeeKay, Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist, Daly and Sato were in the top 15 followed by Romain Grosjean, Jack Harvey, Lundgaard, DeFrancesco and Santino Ferrucci were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson was in 22nd ahead of Tatiana Calderon and Scott McLaughlin.  

    Ten laps later, Power remained as the leader by more than 19 seconds over Rossi while Dixon, Newgarden, O’Ward and Herta pitted under green. By then, Palou also pitted along with Pagenaud. When Lap 47 struck, Rossi made his third pit stop of the event and exited the circuit ahead of Dixon.

    With 20 laps remaining, Power, who was leading by more than 35 seconds over Rossi, pitted for tires and fuel under green as he remained more than 35 seconds ahead of Rossi. By then, Kirkwood, who pitted a lap earlier after making contact with the wall, retired in his pit stall due to a broken tow link to Kirkwood’s No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Five laps later, Power remained as the leader, but only by less than 13 seconds as Rossi continued to narrow the gap between himself and Power. Dixon remained in third followed by Newgarden and O’Ward.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Power continued to lead by more than 12 seconds over Rossi while third-place Dixon trailed by more than 15 seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Power was leading by eight seconds over Rossi, who continued to close in to Power’s Chevrolet.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Power, whose rear tires were wearing out, was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Rossi, who had Power within his sights. With Rossi unable to mount a final charge as he ran out of turns, however, Power nursed his car back to the finish line in Turn 14 as he beat Rossi by a second for the victory.

    The victory was Power’s first checkered flag in the IndyCar Series since winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August 2021, his third at Belle Isle and the 41st of his illustrious career, which moved Power to be one victory behind Michael Andretti for fourth place on the all-time wins list. It also extended Power’s winning streak to 16 consecutive seasons. The victory was also redemption for Power, who dominated the first of two Belle Isle doubleheader events a year ago before a power issue plagued Power’s hopes of winning.

    Photo by Ray MacAloney / CDN-R.com.

    “I just drove [the car] as straight as I could,” Power, who led a race-high 55 of 70 laps and leads the championship standings by three points, said on NBC. “Never put any slip in it. I was just driving it really straight and really nice on the brakes, on the throttle. I knew that if I could keep a reasonable gap to the end, we’d be OK. Man, stellar job by the team. A very enjoyable race because you had to chop through the field and fight hard. Some good passing and really stuck together. The Verizon 5G Chevy in Victory Lane. Man, it’s redemption from last year. I was just waiting for something to happen those last 10 laps, but just stayed laser focused…Man, if you don’t qualify on poles, it’s not the end of it.”

    Rossi, whose last IndyCar victory occurred at Road America in June 2019 as he tried to execute a victory on a three-race pit strategy, settled in second place while Dixon, Newgarden and O’Ward finished in the top five.

    “I think one more lap would’ve been interesting,” Rossi said. “You got to give credit to the No. 12 guys as well. That’s hard to do at the end, to hang on. Huge thanks to all these boys behind me. The No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Honda was amazing. Yet again, we come here with an amazing car and can’t quite get the win, but that was a good recovery from yesterday. The strategy was good and we’ll take it. We’re finally executing our potential. It’s been frustrating for a lot of reasons, but the speed’s been there. Just been a lot of factors, but it’s two weeks in a row that this team’s executed in a big way in pressure moments. Big thanks to them and we’ll go into Road America, a place where we’ve had some success. It’d be fitting to come full circle with a win there. Next weekend, we’ll try for that.”

    “Going into the race and being one of the lucky few that started on the blacks [tires], you could kind of watch [the race] play out,” Dixon, who completed the event through two pit stops, said. “Kudos to Will [Power]. He drove aggressively at the start, jumped us and he was on the same strategy. Rossi did a hell of a job as well, especially with those reds [tires] on the first stint. It just feels good for the No. 9 to be back on the podium. It’s been a little bit for us and hopefully, we get on a roll here, but kudos to everybody at Honda. It was a fun race.”

    Alex Palou, Ericsson, Colton Herta, Pagenaud and Felix Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Rinus VeeKay fell back to 16th after wrecking on the final lap.

    Sunday’s event marked the 30th and final IndyCar event held at Belle Isle Street Circuit. The IndyCar Series will be returning to the streets of Downtown Detroit, Michigan, in 2023 with a date yet to be announced.

    Results.

    1. Will Power, 55 laps led

    2. Alexander Rossi

    3. Scott Dixon, one lap led

    4. Josef Newgarden, 13 laps led

    5. Pato O’Ward

    6. Alex Palou, one lap led

    7. Marcus Ericsson

    8. Colton Herta

    9. Simon Pagenaud

    10. Felix Rosenqvist

    11. David Malukas

    12. Conor Daly

    13. Takuma Sato

    14. Christian Lundgaard

    15. Jack Harvey

    16. Rinus VeeKay

    17. Romain Grosjean

    18. Devlin DeFrancesco

    19. Scott McLaughlin

    20. Dalton Kellett

    21. Santino Ferrucci

    22. Jimmie Johnson  

    23. Tatiana Calderon

    24. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT

    25. Helio Castroneves – OUT

    26. Graham Rahal – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 12, at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Allmendinger survives to win the inaugural Xfinity Series event at Portland

    Allmendinger survives to win the inaugural Xfinity Series event at Portland

    From last place to Victory Lane, AJ Allmendinger persevered over a four-lap shootout and a battle with Myatt Snider to win the inaugural Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 4.

    The 40-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led twice for a total of six of 75 laps and rallied from going off the course and making an unscheduled pit stop to clean his grille, where he eventually lost a lap to the leaders and went off course a few more times throughout the event, to methodically carve his way back to the front and place himself in late contention for the win while a majority of the field endured a series of on-track carnages around the 12-turn circuit amid wet conditions. Then during a four-lap restart to the finish, Allmendinger battled, bumped and overtook Snider to take the lead as he went on to grab the wildest victory of his racing career.

    Following a rain-shortened on-track qualifying session on Friday, Anthony Alfredo notched his first career pole position after notching a pole-winning lap at 93.229 mph in 76.071 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Austin Hill, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 92.973 mph in 76.280 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following competitors that included Ryan Vargas, Josh Berry, AJ Allmendinger, Myatt Snider, Darren Dilley, Ryan Sieg and Mason Filippi dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. In addition, Noah Gragson started at the rear of the field after wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session along with Josh Williams, who missed the driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid wet conditions, Daniel Hemric made a three-wide move on both Alfredo and Hill to assume the lead through the first two turns. Through the first two turns, however, Alfredo and Hill missed the turn and went off the course while Sam Mayer was turned and spun as the field stacked up. As the field continued to run under green, AJ Allmendinger, who went off the course while coming to the green flag and got grass over his grille, made an unscheduled pit stop.

    Following the completion of the first lap and through the 12-turn circuit amid the wet conditions, Creed, who overtook Alfredo for the lead, led the first lap followed by Gibbs and Hemric while Alfredo and Hill were in the top five. Connor Mosack, who was making his Xfinity Series debut in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra, was in sixth followed by Brett Moffitt, Riley Herbst, Jeremy Clements and Justin Allgaier.

    During the second lap, Gibbs, who battled Creed throughout the circuit, moved into the lead, where he went on to lead the lap, while Hemric, Hill and Moffitt were in the top five. By then, Allmendinger went off the course in Turn 5 as he lost more ground to the leaders.

    Two laps later, Justin Allgaier spun and went off the course in Turn 5 while running in the top 10, though the race continued to run under green.

    By the fifth lap, Gibbs continued to lead by nearly four seconds over Creed followed by Hill, Moffitt and Hemric while Connor Mosack. Riley Herbst, Jeb Burton, Alfredo and Parker Chase were scored in the top 10.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Gibbs remained out in front by more than 12 seconds over Creed followed by Hill, Moffitt and Mosack. By then, Allmendinger was lapped by the field in 32nd place. In addition, Noah Gragson went off the course in Turn 5 while running in the top 15.

    Three laps later, the first caution of the event flew due to Mayer slowing on the track as he sustained front-end damage after running into the rear of Alex Labbe due to Labbe reducing his pace while trying to avoid a spinning Brandon Jones. The damage was enough to end Mayer’s event on pit road and with a damaged race car.

    When the race restarted on Lap 16, Gibbs rubbed and fended off Creed and Hill to retain the lead through the first two turns. As the field made their way back to the start/finish line, Gibbs was ahead by two seconds over Creed followed by Hill, Moffitt and Riley Herbst while Mosack, Hemric, Cassill, Jeb Burton and Alex Labbe were in the top 10.

    During the following lap, Creed went off course and spun in Turn 4 as he dropped out of the top 10 while Hill, Herbst, Connor Mosack and Hemric moved up the leaderboard behind Gibbs.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Gibbs extended his advantage to more than 10 seconds over Hill while Herbst, Mosack and Hemric remained in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones and Gragson missed the chicane and served a brief “stop and go” penalty on the course before continuing under green.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Gibbs claimed his third stage victory of the 2022 Xfinity season. Hill settled in second followed by Mosack, Hemric, Moffitt, Alex Labbe, Gragson, Cassill, Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier. By then, the on-track carnages under the slick conditions continued as Allgaier, Riley Herbst and Allmendinger had slipped off the course earlier.

    During the stage break, the competitors pitted and the crew members were given three minutes to service the cars with the competitors maintaining their positions from the first stage.

    The second stage started on Lap 26 as Gibbs retained the lead ahead of Hill, Mosack and the field. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, chaos ensued when Riley Herbst got turned by Creed as he was then hit by Gray Gaulding. With Matt Jackal and Darren Dilley also involved, the caution returned.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 31, Gibbs maintained the lead ahead of Hill and Connor Mosack as the field made their way through the first two turns before entering Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, Hill missed the chicane while running in third place. In the process, Clements went off the course in Turn 4 while Ryan Sieg spun on the course. 

    As the on-track carnage continued with Labbe, Hemric and Moffitt all going off the course in their separate incidents, the caution flew due to mud between Turns 11 and 12 on Lap 39. At the same time, Jesse Iwuji was parked for two laps in his pit stall after turning the leader Gibbs on the track.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 43, another stack-up towards the front resulted with Brandon Jones getting hit and spinning in Turn 1 while Gragson challenged and overtook Gibbs to lead. Then in Turn 5, Gibbs bumped into, and turned, Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 5 as Creed took the lead. Shortly after, however, Creed and Gibbs got together in Turn 12 and spun while battling for the lead as the No. 44 Alpha Prime Racing Chevrolet Camaro piloted by road-course ringer Andy Lally emerged with the lead. 

    By Lap 45, Clements spun in Turn 11 and Moffitt spun while running in the runner-up spot as Lally continued to lead. Two laps later, however, Myatt Snider moved into the lead over Lally. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Allmendinger and Jeb Burton each went off the course.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 50, Snider claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Lally settled in second followed by Hill, Cassill, Berry, Alfredo, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Creed and Jade Buford.

    Following another intermission, the final stage started with 23 laps remaining. At the start and as the field fanned out through the first three turns, Snider maintained the lead ahead of Lally while Cassill, Hill and Alfredo were in the top five. It did not take long, however, for the caution to return due to debris spotted in Turn 1. 

    Three laps later, the race restarted under green as Snider retained the lead ahead of Lally, Cassill and Allmendinger. Through the first turn, however, a number of competitors that included Creed, Jeb Burton, Labbe, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Spencer Pumpelly all spun and wrecked despite the race proceeding under green. In the midst of the carnage, the caution returned due to fluid on the course. During the caution period, Creed, whose No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro sustained heavy front nose damage, made an obscene gesture towards Jade Buford to express his displeasure over being bumped and turned by Buford during the previous restart.

    Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Snider overshot the first turn as Allmendinger assumed command followed by Allgaier before Snider fought back entering Turn 3. Behind, Moffitt got turned sideways through Turns 3 and 4 as Mosack, Spencer Pumpelly, Bayley Currey and pole-sitter Anthony Alfredo were all sent sideways with damage to their respective cars. The caution soon followed due to the carnage between Turns 3 and 4. By then, the rain was also slowly returning near the circuit. 

    Under the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allmendinger pitted for rain tires while Jade Buford and JJ Yeley remained on the track.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start and as the field fanned out to multiple lanes, Allgaier, Cassill and Lally spun with Gibbs and Stefan Parsons sustaining damage while Snider and Allmendinger dueled for the lead. Just as Snider fended off Allmendinger to retain the lead, the caution flew yet again due to debris on the course. By then, the rain had dissipated.

    With four laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Snider fended off Allmendinger to lead through the first three turns as the field jostled for positions. Not long after, however, Allmendinger, who was in last place prior to the first lap, emerged with the top spot with Berry, Hill and Hemric in the top five. Behind, Ryan Sieg spun while the race continued to run under green flag conditions.

    During the following lap, Allmendinger was ahead by seven-tenths of a second over Snider followed by Berry, Hill and Hemric while Yeley, Gibbs, Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Gragson were in the top 10.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger continued to lead by a second-and-a-half over Snider. With Snider unable to narrow the deficit between himself and the leader, Allmendinger navigated his way through the 12-turn circuit smoothly and cycled his way back to the finish line to grab the first checkered flag and conquer the first Xfinity event in Portland, Oregon.

    With the victory, Allmendinger notched his third consecutive road course victory in the Xfinity circuit, his eighth overall in the series, his second of the season after winning at Circuit of the Americas in March and the 12th of his career in his 74th series start. He also became the fourth Xfinity Series regular to achieve multiple victories in 2022.

    “Oh my god,” Allmendinger, who is pulling double-duty service for Kaulig Racing and is set to compete in Sunday’s Cup Series event at Gateway, said on FS1. “All the men and women at Kaulig Racing deserve that. I was awful. I cannot believe I crashed before we went green. I was off the race track, I think, four times. [I] Made all kinds of mistakes, was all over the place. Just proud of everybody on this Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevy.

    “I was melting down in the car, honestly, making so many mistakes, trying so hard. I put so much pressure on myself at these races because I know what everybody expects. I know what I expect out of myself more importantly, but god, what a win. It might be one of the craziest wins I’ve ever had. Most mistakes ever to win a race, for sure, but all the fans at Portland for staying out here. This place is packed. Sixteen years ago, I won, this month, my first Champ Car race and it’s surreal that I get to do this…In these conditions, I knew that if I could get to the lead, I could kind of dictate it. I was fighting hard there, but Myatt [Snider] did a great job. He’s always fast on these road courses. Fun racing, just insanity, but thank everybody at Chevy that allows us to do this. Thank you, everybody.”

    Snider notched his first top-five result of the season by finishing in second place followed by Austin Hill while Berry and Allgaier finished in the top five.

    “I think, just AJ’s experience [beat me],” Snider said. “I could tell he was setting up those exits better than I was. Everywhere else, we were neck-to-neck. To me, that’s good hard racing. It’s not like he dumped me for no reason or spun me out or anything. He just got into me a little bit and all those restarts were extremely rough. For him to just kind of rub my door a little bit, that’s racing to me. It’s what this Xfinity Series is all about. It’s so cool to be disappointed with second. The team that’s only a year and a half old and to get a stage win, it’s the first stage win, probably, first top three [finish] with this car. Just can’t say enough about the boys from Jordan Anderson Racing. It’s a great day to be disappointed with second, but still disappointed.”

    Hemric, Gibbs, Yeley, Gragson and Alex Labbe completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were eight lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 26 laps. A total of 21 of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap in the first Xfinity event at Portland.

    With 12 races remaining of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 43 points over Ty Gibbs, 44 over Noah Gragson and 64 over Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier.

    Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and rookie Austin Hill are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill, Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Anthony Alfredo trails the top-12 cutline by 58 points, Jeb Burton trails by 67, Brett Moffit trails by 71, Brandon Brown trails by 72 and Sheldon Creed trails by 73.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, six laps led

    2. Myatt Snider, 19 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Austin Hill

    4. Josh Berry

    5. Justin Allgaier

    6. Daniel Hemric

    7. Ty Gibbs, 42 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. JJ Yeley

    9. Noah Gragson

    10. Alex Labbe

    11. Brandon Jones

    12. Brandon Brown

    13. Scott Heckert

    14. Jade Buford, four laps led

    15. Landon Cassill

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. Andy Lally, three laps led

    18. Matt Jaskol

    19. Patrick Emerling

    20. Brett Moffitt

    21. Joe Graf Jr.

    22. Josh Williams, one lap down

    23. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    24. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    25. Mason Filippi, three laps down

    26. Jesse Iwuji, four laps down

    27. Parker Chase – OUT, Accident

    28. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

    29. Spencer Pumpelly – OUT, Accident

    30. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

    31. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    32. Sheldon Creed – OUT, one lap led

    33. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    34. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    35. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    36. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Accident

    37. Darren Dilley – OUT, Accident

    38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season will be taking a two-week break period before returning to action at Nashville Superspeedway on June 25. The event is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network, which will mark the network’s debut airing NASCAR Xfinity events.

  • Corey Heim benefits in overtime to claim second Truck Series career victory at Gateway

    Corey Heim benefits in overtime to claim second Truck Series career victory at Gateway

    A late caution, a given lane choice to restart on the bottom lane on the front row and a well-executed launch during an overtime shootout fell into the hands of Corey Heim as he fended off Christian Eckes and Chandler Smith to win the Toyota 200 at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday, June 4.

    The 19-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, led twice for 20 of 165 over-scheduled laps as he benefitted through the overtime shootout and retaining the lead at the moment of caution due to a multi-truck wreck on the final lap to achieve his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career victory in his ninth series start.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Corey Heim secured his first pole position after recording a pole-winning lap at 138.232 mph in 32.554 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Zane Smith, who clocked in a fast qualifying lap at 137.978 in 32.614 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Heim pulled ahead on the outside lane followed by teammate Chandler Smith while teammate John Hunter Nemechek also made his way into the top three ahead of Zane Smith, Ty Majeski and Stewart Friesen. With the field settling in a long single-file line, Heim led the first lap followed by his two Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Heim retained the lead ahead of Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Zane Smith and Christian Eckes while Ty Majeski, Friesen, Grant Enfinger, Colby Howard and Matt Crafton were in the top 10.

    By Lap 10, Heim continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Nemechek, Zane Smith and Eckes remained in the top five.

    Ten laps later, Chandler Smith, who took over the lead two laps earlier, was out in front by eight-tenths of a second over Heim followed by Nemechek, Zane Smith, Eckes, Friesen, Majeski, Enfinger, Crafton and Colby Howard.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Chandler Smith extended his advantage by more than two seconds over Heim. Behind, Nemechek remained in third followed by Zane Smith and Friesen while Eckes was back in sixth.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 35, Chandler Smith notched his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Heim settled in second followed by teammate Nemechek, Zane Smith, Friesen, Majeski, Enfinger, Eckes, Crafton and Colby Howard.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Enfinger, who opted for a two-tire pit stop, exited in first place followed by Chandler Smith, Heim, Nemechek, Eckes, Friesen and Zane Smith.

    The second stage started on Lap 43 as Enfinger and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith gained the advantage on the outside lane to reassume the lead while Enfinger settled in second in front of Heim, Nemechek and Eckes.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Majeski turned Taylor Gray and sent Gray into the outside wall in Turn 2. At the same time, Rajah Caruth, a full-time ARCA Menards Series competitor who was making his Truck debut for Spire Motorsports, spun while avoiding Gray’s truck.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 52, Chandler Smith pulled ahead and retained the lead ahead of Enfinger while Heim challenged Enfinger for the runner-up spot. Behind, Friesen battled and overtook Nemechek for fourth place as the field behind jostled for positions.

    A lap later, the caution flew for a multi-truck wreck that erupted when Nemechek made contact with Friesen entering Turns 3 and 4, which sent Nemechek’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro sideways in the middle of oncoming traffic. Nemechek’s spin ignited a chain reaction wreck that collected Majeski, Colby Howard, Jesse Little and Blaine Perkins, with Nemechek sustaining damage after hitting the wall before getting hit by both Perkins and Howard. The damage was enough to terminate Nemechek’s following a seven-race span of finishing no lower than sixth place.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 59, Chandler Smith and Enfinger engaged in a heated duel for the lead for two laps until Enfinger got loose beneath Smith, which sent both competitors into the Turn 1 outside wall on Lap 61 with Enfinger sustaining significant damage to his No. 23 Champion Chevrolet Silverado RST while Smith emerged with minimal damage to his No. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    Under caution, names like Rhodes, Crafton, Chase Purdy, Derek Kraus, Austin Wayne Self, Carson Hocevar, Tyler Hill, Brennan Poole, Dean Thompson, Hailie Deign and Rajah Caruth remained on the track while the rest pitted.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Rhodes, who had taken the lead following Enfinger and Smith’s wreck, managed to fend off teammate Crafton and the field to retain the lead. With a series of battles occurring behind him, Rhodes remained out in front during the shootout as he claimed his seventh stage victory of the season on Lap 70. Teammate Crafton settled in second ahead of Kraus, Purdy, Self, Hocevar, Deegan, Friesen, Heim and Zane Smith. During the stage break, Friesen ran into the side of Deegan’s truck to his displeasure for being squeezed into the outside wall by Deegan during the shootout.

    Under the stage break, some like Rhodes pitted while the rest led by Carson Hocevar remained on the track.

    With 83 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hocevar and Hailie Deegan occupied the front row. At the start, Hocevar pulled ahead of Deegan to lead entering the first turn until Heim challenged Hocevar for the top spot. Hocevar, however, received a push from Zane Smith through Turn 2 to retain the lead for a lap until Smith challenged Hocevar in a side-by-side battle for the lead for a full lap.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Zane Smith managed to clear Hocevar for the lead entering the first turn as he started to pull away while Heim, Eckes, Deegan and Caruth battled behind. Meanwhile, Johnny Sauter was in seventh ahead of Matt DiBenedetto, Chandler Smith and Tanner Gray.

    Ten laps later, Zane Smith extended his advantage to two seconds over Eckes followed by Hocevar, Heim and Sauter while Caruth, Chandler Smith, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Deegan were in the top 10.

    Another three laps later, the caution flew when Kris Wright got loose beneath Jordan Anderson and backed his truck into the outside wall in Turn 3. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Friesen pitted as Friesen inherited the lead while Hocevar exited pit road first. Following the pit stops, Caruth was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 62 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Friesen and Hocevar occupied the front row. At the start, Friesen took off with the lead on the outside lane followed by Rhodes while Hocevar was being pressured by Kraus for third place. Then in Turn 1, Hocevar, who made contact with Kraus in Turn 3 during the previous lap and was losing spots, rubbed fenders with Zane Smith as Smith fell off the pace with a flat right-front tire. 

    As the field scrambled and jostled for positions, Friesen continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Rhodes followed by Eckes, Kraus and Tanner Gray while Heim, DiBenedetto, Sauter, Jordan Anderson and rookie Jack Wood were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Hocevar was back in 11th ahead of Chandler Smith.

    Then with 53 laps remaining, the caution returned when Crafton made contact and sent Hocevar for a spin through Turn 2. Under caution, some like Friesen pitted while the rest led by Rhodes remained on the track.

    With 46 laps remaining, teammates Rhodes and Eckes led the field back to green flag racing as Rhodes retained the lead. Not long after, Kraus moved into the runner-up spot followed by Eckes. 

    Down to the final 35 laps of the event, the caution flew when Colby Howard got loose, spun and got into the wall between Turns 1 and 2. At the time of caution, Rhodes was leading by nearly a second over Kraus followed by Eckes, Heim and Sauter.

    When the race restarted under green four laps later, Rhodes rocketed away with the lead followed by teammate Eckes while Kraus and Heim battled for third place in front of DiBenedetto, Sauter and Chase Purdy. The caution, however, was quick to return with 29 laps remaining due to debris on the track and when Rajah Caruth got into the outside wall.

    With 24 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as teammates Rhodes and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, Rhodes retained the lead while Kraus overtook Eckes for the runner-up spot in front of the field.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Rhodes was leading by two-tenths of a second over Kraus while Eckes, Heim and DiBenedetto occupied the top five. Sauter was in sixth ahead of Purdy, Chandler Smith, Crafton and Friesen while Hocevar, Anderson, Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum and Tanner Gray were in the top 15.

    Two laps later, Kraus moved his No. 19 NAPA Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead over Rhodes followed by Eckes while Sauter intimidated Heim for fourth place.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Kraus extended his advantage to more than a second over Eckes while Rhodes, who fell back to third, radioed power issues to his truck.

    Then with the laps dwindling, Eckes started to erase Kraus’ advantage with the former closing in on the latter. With six laps remaining and following a tight battle with Kraus, Eckes moved his No. 98 Curb Records Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the lead in Turn 1. Though Kraus kept Eckes close within his sights, Eckes then started to pull away by nearly half a second under the final five laps.

    Then with the field approaching the final two laps, the caution flew when Tanner Gray spun and wrecked in Turn 3. By then, Eckes had pulled away by more than a second over Kraus as the field was sent into overtime. 

    Prior to the start of the first overtime attempt, Kraus surrendered the runner-up spot to restart on the outside lane behind Eckes, thus giving Heim and Chandler Smith the top-two starting spots on the inside lane with Heim restarting on the front row next to Eckes and with an opportunity to win.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, Heim received a push from teammate Chandler Smith that launched Heim’s No. 51 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro into the lead ahead of Eckes as he maintained the lead through the backstretch. By then, the restart was under review for Heim potentially jumping the start.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim was still out in front ahead of Eckes and Chandler Smith while Friesen was in fourth ahead of Hocevar and Kraus. Then in Turn 1, Hocevar spun after getting hit by Kraus before he was T-boned by Tyler Hill as Lawless Alan and Austin Wayne Self also wrecked. 

    The carnage involving Hocevar was enough for the event to conclude under caution as Heim cycled his way back to the finish line and claim the victory under caution. By then, NASCAR deemed the final restart that was reviewed towards Heim to be clear with no penaltie and with Heim officially handed the victory.

    With the victory, Heim claimed the first of three Triple Truck Challenge $50,000 bonuses and his second career win in the Camping World Truck Series after notching his first win at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Yeah, I can’t believe I got the bottom [lane] right there [on the overtime restart],” Heim said on FS1. “That’s unbelievable. A great push by my teammate Chandler Smith right there. All the dedication to my team. These couple of weeks has been just everything. I’ve been putting in so much time and effort to improve my craft. Man, I’m out of breath right now. That was awesome. Anytime we can get the extra seat time is super important. I feel like I’m getting better every week, but like I said, everyone back at the shop, just phenomenal job.”

    Eckes settled in second place while Chandler Smith, Friesen and Sauter finished in the top five.

    “[I] Spun the tires a little bit and [Kraus] picked my rear wheels off the ground,” Eckes said. “Just didn’t get a good launch. Man, it’s just two of the last three races, we’ve been leading and the caution comes out late. It just sucks, but very proud of my ThorSport Racing team. Just really frustrating. The past three weeks, we should’ve won and we didn’t. We gotta go back to the drawing board and try to fix some stuff out.”

    “To be honest with you, if [Enfinger] didn’t run out of talent there in Stage 2, we’d probably lapped half the field easily,” Chandler Smith said. “Our truck was stupid, stupid good. Hats off to [crew chief] Danny [Stockman Jr.], everybody at [Kyle Busch Motorsports]. They gave me a really fast Safelite/Charge Me Toyota Tundra. I honestly probably should’ve won the race, but got drove all the way into the fence once again. It is what it is. Glad to get a top three out of it, but definitely sucks.”

    Matt DiBenedetto, Kraus, Rhodes, Zane Smith and Chase Purdy completed the top 10 while Rajah Caruth finished 11th in his Truck Series debut.

    Following the event, Hocevar was airlifted to a local hospital for further evaluation following his hard wreck on the final lap.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 54 laps.

    The second of three Triple Truck Challenge events of 2022 is next scheduled to occur at Nashville Superspeedway on June 24.

    With five races remaining of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season stretch, Ben Rhodes leads the regular season standings by 17 points over Chandler Smith, 21 over Zane Smith, 22 over John Hunter Nemechek and 24 over Stewart Friesen.

    Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Zane Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Stewart Friesen are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Truck Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the season while Christian Eckes, Ty Majeski, Carson Hocevar, Matt Crafton and Grant Enfinger are above the top-10 cutline based on points. Derek Kraus trails the top-10 cutline to the Playoffs by 44 points, Tanner Gray trails by 48, Matt DiBenedetto trails by 59, Tyler Ankrum trails by 78 and Chase Purdy trails by 112.

    Results.

    1. Corey Heim, 20 laps led

    2. Christian Eckes, nine laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 40 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Stewart Friesen, 13 laps led

    5. Johnny Sauter

    6. Matt DiBenedetto

    7. Derek Kraus, 12 laps led

    8. Ben Rhodes, 43 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    9. Zane Smith, 16 laps led

    10. Chase Purdy

    11. Rajah Caruth

    12. Matt Crafton

    13. Tyler Ankrum

    14. Dean Thompson

    15. Hailie Deegan

    16. Jordan Anderson

    17. Timmy Hill

    18. Lawless Alan

    19. Jack Wood

    20. Jesse Little 

    21. Tate Fogleman

    22. Blaine Perkins

    23. Colby Howard

    24. Carson Hocevar – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    25. Tyler Hill – OUT, Accident

    26. Austin Wayne Self – OUT, Accident

    27. Mason Maggio, one lap down

    28. Grant Enfinger, two laps led, four laps led

    29. Jake Garcia, four laps led

    30. Tanner Gray – OUT, Accident

    31. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Electrical

    32. Ty Majeski, 29 laps down

    33. Kris Wright – OUT, Accident

    34. Brennan Poole – OUT, Rear gear

    35. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Dvp

    36. Taylor Gray – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the series’ return to Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the first time in 24 years. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.