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Author: Andrew Kim

  • Chastain grabs first Cup victory in a wild finish at COTA

    Chastain grabs first Cup victory in a wild finish at COTA

    From losing the lead to earning it back with the finish in sight, Ross Chastain etched his name as a first-time NASCAR Cup Series winner after outdueling AJ Allmendinger and Alex Bowman in an overtime attempt to capture the second annual EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas on Sunday, March 27.

    The 29-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, led four times for a race-high 31 of 69 over-scheduled laps as he bumped and moved Allmendinger out of the racing groove along with Bowman to reclaim the lead that was briefly taken from him through the final two corners and recorded the long-awaited, first win in NASCAR’s premier series for himself and for Trackhouse Racing in the team’s second season in competition.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ryan Blaney claimed his second NASCAR Cup Series pole of the year and the eighth of his career after posting a pole-winning speed at 92,759 mph. Joining him on the front row was Daniel Suarez, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 92.741 mph.

    Prior to the event, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Loris Hezemans, Boris Said, Josh Bilicki and Joey Hand dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. In addition, Andy Lally was assessed a pass-through penalty at the start of the event for failing the pre-qualifying technical inspection process three times.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Blaney and Suarez dueled for the top spot through the first two turns until Blaney just managed to peak ahead entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10). With the field fanning out before settling in a single-file line for the turns, Suarez then made his move beneath Blaney and took the lead in Turn 11. 

    Through the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit, and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Suarez led the first lap followed by Blaney, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Joey Logano. Denny Hamlin was in sixth ahead of rookie Austin Cindric, Justin Haley, Alex Bowman and Chase Briscoe. 

    During the following lap, Loris Hezemans was penalized for cutting the corners through the esses. Meanwhile, Suarez continued to lead by more than a second over Blaney while Reddick, Custer and Hamlin occupied the top five.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Suarez was leading by more than a second over Blaney followed by Reddick, Logano and Cindric while Custer, Alex Bowman, Hamlin, Haley and Ross Chastain were in the top 10. Christopher Bell was in 11th followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Kurt Busch while Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Chris Buescher and William Byron occupied the top 20. AJ Allmendinger, winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event in Austin, was in 21st ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, rookie Todd Gilliland and Erik Jones while rookie Harrison Burton, Ty Dillon, Aric Almirola, Kaz Grala and Joey Hand were in the top 30. Michael McDowell was back in 31st ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Josh Bilicki, Cody Ware, Andy Lally, Loris Hezemans and Boris Said, who was also assessed a penalty for cutting the corner.

    Five laps later and by the Lap 10 mark, Suarez remained as the leader by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Blaney while third-place Reddick trailed by more than four seconds. Cindric was in fourth while Bowman was in fifth ahead of Logano, Custer, Chastain, Larson and Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch fell all the way back to 28th after spinning his No. 18 Skittles Toyota TRD Camry in Turn 12 following contact with Chase Elliott’s No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Another few laps later, pits stops under green commenced as Harvick, LaJoie, Almirola, Hamlin, Joey Hand, Allmendinger, Buescher, Kyle Busch, Truex, Bell, Wallace, Byron, McDowell, Gilliland, Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Grala pitted. Chastain, Cindric and Custer also pitted prior to pit road closing for the conclusion of the first stage. During the pit stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for an unrolled tire violation while Gilliland was also penalized for an equipment interference. Meanwhile, Suarez remained as the leader.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 15, Suarez cruised his No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to his first stage victory of the season. Blaney settled in second followed by Bowman, Logano, Larson, Haley, Elliott, Briscoe, Harrison Burton and Cindric.

    Under the stage break, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 17 as Cindric and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric launched ahead with the top spot through the first turn while Ross Chastain challenged and overtook Reddick for second place. As the field fanned out and scrambled through the first turn, disaster struck for Daniel Suarez as he got hit and spun, thus sustaining a flat left-rear tire as he was left to limp his car back to pit road under a cautious pace. Then as the field navigated through the left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 and 10), Larson spun, but the race proceeded under green as both Larson and Suarez pitted.

    Back at the front and through the long straightaway between Turns 11 and 12, Chastain and Cindric dueled dead even for the lead while Reddick lurked behind. As Chastain tried to take the lead through Turn 12, Cindric fought through Turns 13 and 14 as he retained the lead while Reddick challenged Chastain for second. Meanwhile, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into fourth place followed by Custer, Bell, Allmendinger, Byron, Buescher and Truex.

    By Lap 20, Cindric was leading by half a second over Chastain while Reddick, Hamlin and Allmendinger were in the top five. Custer was in sixth ahead of Byron, Bell, Truex and Kyle Busch. Meanwhile, McDowell was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road for cutting a corner while Larson and Suarez were back in 33rd and 39th following their incident.

    Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage by six-tenths of a second over Chastain while Allmendinger, Reddick and Hamlin occupied the top five. By then. Cody Ware and Loris Hezemans were penalized for cutting the course.

    Nearing the Lap 30 mark and the conclusion of the second stage, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Buescher pitted along with Bell, Truex, Erik Jones, Harvick, Elliott, Bowman, Briscoe, Haley, Joey Hand, Larson, LaJoie, Gilliland and McDowell. Meanwhile, Chastain issued another on-track challenge on Cindric for the lead entering Turn 11. Just as Chastain used the outside lane to overtake Cindric for the lead entering Turn 19, both pitted along with Reddick, Allmendinger, Byron. During the pit stops, LaJoie and Byron were both penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on track, Hamlin, who came into this weekend in 25th place in the standings, inherited the lead followed by teammate Kyle Busch and Logano

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Hamlin notched his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Kyle Busch settled in second ahead of Logano, Blaney, Almirola, Austin Dillon, Harrison Burton, Chastain, Cindric and Bubba Wallace.

    Under the stage break, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney remained on the track. During the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized for improper fueling.

    With 36 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Logano bobbled and locked up the brakes of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang entering the first turn as he went off the course, which allowed Chastain to rocket back to the lead followed by Allmendinger, Cindric and Reddick while Blaney fell back to fifth.

    A lap later, Cindric, who was in third place, spun his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang off the front nose of Reddick’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 10 and was narrowly dodged by the field as the race proceeded under green. In addition, Joey Hand spun in Turn 1 following contact with Almirola. Not long after, however, the caution flew due to debris reported in Turn 11. By then, Chastain was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Allmendinger.

    Under caution, names like Logano, Cindric, Stenhouse, Grala, Cody Ware and Joey Hand pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. During the pit stops, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 32 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Chastain fended off Allmendinger through the first turn to retain the lead while the field fanned out entering the second turns and the series of left and right-hand turns. As the field continued to scramble for positions entering Turns 10, 11 and 12, Briscoe moved into third place followed by Reddick and Blaney while Elliott started to make his charge to the front in sixth place.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Chastain continued to lead by half a second over ex-teammate Allmendinger followed by Briscoe, Reddick and Elliott. Meanwhile, Blaney was in sixth ahead of Custer, Truex, Bowman and Larson as the field continued to duke for positions. 

    Then with 28 laps remaining, the caution returned when Erik Jones stalled his No. 43 Focus Factor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 11 as he needed a wrecker to return to pit road. Earlier, Christopher Bell pitted and had the hood of his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry up as his crew went to work to diagnose steering issues.

    Under caution, the entire field pitted and Chastain exited with the top spot followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Bowman, Allmendinger and Kyle Busch.

    Down to the final 25 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green At the start, Chastain dueled with Briscoe and briefly went off the course with Briscoe in Turn 1 until Chastain retained the lead entering Turn 2 and through the series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through 10). Then in Turn 11, Briscoe moved his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang out in front of Chastain’s No. 1 ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 until Chastain fought back from Turns 12 to Turn 19. Meanwhile, Logano spun in Turn 12.

    Back at the front in Turn 20, both Chastain and Briscoe remained dead even until Briscoe managed to clear Chastain entering the first turn. Not long after, however, the caution returned when the left-rear wheel off of Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 Leidos Toyota TRD Camry came off, resulting with Wallace stopping on track in Turn 17 and needing assistance to return to pit road.

    Under caution, some like Logano pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.

    With 22 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Briscoe retained the lead through the first turn ahead of Chastain while Allmendinger was in third ahead of Reddick. Then in Turn 11, Chastain made his move and overtook Briscoe for the lead while Allmendinger quickly challenged Briscoe for the runner-up spot. 

    Under the final 20 scheduled laps, Chastain was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Briscoe while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Reddick and Kyle Busch battled for fourth place until the latter prevailed while Bowman also moved into the top five. Elliott, Cindric, Hamlin and Truex were in the top 10 followed by Larson, Blaney, Harvick, Byron, Custer, McDowell, Austin Dillon, Haley, Almirola and Stenhouse.

    A few laps later, Ty Dillon spun in Turn 11 while Boris Said was penalized for cutting the course. Back at the front of the field, Chastain continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Briscoe, who started to close in on Chastain for the top spot, while third-place Allmendinger trailed by more than a second.

    A lap later, Briscoe briefly went off course in Turn 11, which allowed Allmendinger to move into second place while Chastain continued to lead. Bowman remained in fourth place while teammate Elliott was in fifth following an earlier battle with Kyle Busch. In addition, Reddick was back in seventh ahead of Cindric, Blaney and Larson.

    Then with 15 laps remaining, the caution flew when Stenhouse’s No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came to a stop past Turn 11. Prior to the caution, names like Truex, Harvick, Almirola, Custer, LaJoie, Grala, Ty Dillon and Erik Jones pitted.

    Under caution, some like Hamlin, Gilliland, Larson, Kurt Busch, Byron, Austin Dillon, Logano, Brad Keselowski and Bilicki pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    Down to the final 12 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe bolted his car beneath Chastain’s in a three-wide bid for the lead while Allmendinger challenged on the outside lane. Chastain, however, fought back as he retained the lead entering the second turn while Reddick rocketed to second place. Then through the series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 to 10), Briscoe went off the course and was initially penalized for his maneuver as he blended back in seventh place behind Kyle Busch. After NASCAR deemed that he was forced off the course, however, the penalty was withdrawn.

    Back at the front, Chastain remained as the leader over Reddick, Allmendinger and the field that continued to scatter and jostle for positions. Behind, Cindric and Grala spun in Turn 11. While the race remained under green following Cindric’s incident, the caution returned when fluid was reported on the frontstretch.

    Under caution, Briscoe pitted from seventh place for four fresh tires along with Harrison Burton and Cindric while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    With nine laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start and through the uphill climb to the first turn, Chastain managed to fend off Allmendinger by the end of Turn 2, even running him off the racing groove, to retain the lead while Cole Custer spun. Following the series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10), Joey Hand collided into Hamlin in Turn 11, sending Hamlin around. Five turns later, Grala sent Almirola sideways. In spite of all the incidents, the race remained under green.

    Back at the front, Chastain was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Reddick was in third place ahead of Elliott and Bowman. Behind, Kyle Busch was in sixth ahead of Blaney, Truex, Bell and McDowell. While Allmendinger kept occupying Chastain’s rear view mirrors to close-quarters racing, Chastain was able to maintain the lead and not let his former teammate overtake him.

    Just then, the caution flew with six laps remaining due to Loris Hezemans coming to a stop in Turn 3. At the moment of caution, Chastain had managed to maintain a steady advantage over Allmendinger.

    Down to the final three laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chastain and Allmendinger dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Reddick made a bold three-wide move through the first turn to take the lead. Shortly after, however, the caution returned and the race was sent into overtime due to a wreck that involved Kurt Busch, Larson and Logano in Turn 2.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt and with the field fanning out up the hill, Chastain reassumed the lead and Allmendinger moved into second place followed by Bowman while Reddick fell back to fourth. Behind, the field scrambled for positions.  

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chastain was leading by nearly a second over Allmendinger while third-place Bowman trailed by more than a second. Through the esses and Turn 11, Chastain maintained the lead despite having Allmendinger and Bowman close in for the lead and the win. Behind, Kyle Busch spun through the esses while the race proceeded under green. 

    Then in Turn 12, Allmendinger gained a huge run to pull himself behind Chastain’s bumper. After Chastain briefly went wide in Turns 13 and 14, Allmendinger seized an opportunity through Turns 15 and 16 and ran into the rear of Chastain, which sent Chastain wide as Allmendinger took the lead while Bowman challenged Chastain for the runner-up spot. 

    Through Turns 17 and 18, Chastain bumped Allmendinger as Bowman bolted his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead. With Bowman in brief control, Chastain bumped and got Allmendinger loose as he came darting into Bowman and both collided in Turn 19, resulting with Allmendinger spinning and Bowman running off the course. This allowed Chastain to reassume the lead entering Turn 20. With no competition lurking behind, Chastain was able to navigate his way through the final frontstretch and claim the first checkered flag for himself and for Trackhouse Racing owned by Justin Marks and Pitbull in NASCAR’s premier series.

    With the victory, Chastain, who came into Austin with three consecutive top-three results, became the 201st different competitor to win a NASCAR Cup Series event along with becoming the third first-time winner and the sixth different winner through the first six scheduled events of the 2022 Cup season. He also became the 39th different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup) with his last victory occurring at Pocono Raceway in the Truck Series in July 2019. In addition to the driver and organization, the Austin victory produced a first NASCAR win for crew chief Phil Surgen.

    Upon returning to the frontstretch for his victorious burnout and salute to the fans, Chastain reignited his trademark victory by smashing a watermelon before being greeted by team owner Justin Marks.

    “That’s insane to go up against some of the best with AJ [Allmendinger],” Chastain said on FOX. “I know he’s gonna be upset with me, but we raced hard. Both of us. He owes me one, but when it comes to a Cup win, man, I can’t let that go down without a fight…People don’t know how good this group is. I can’t believe [owner] Justin Marks hired me to drive this car.” 

    “[The watermelon]’s never tasted sweeter, I gotta tell you,” Chastain added. “I don’t know. I don’t know how we got back by. I was so worried about AJ on the second-to-last restart that I let Tyler [Reddick] drive by both of us. AJ’s so good. I’ve learned so much from him. And then it was like, ‘How do I go beat the guy?’ He taught me so much. I’ve learned so much from so many people…It crossed my mind like we’re not gonna win. We’re on old tires, but I couldn’t think that way. I thought neutral. Chevrolet and everything they do for me, gave me the tools to try to go and execute and we did it.”

    In the midst of the chaos, Bowman came home in second place, more than a second behind Chastain, while Allmendinger ended up in 33rd place following his spin.

    “We had a really fast Ally Camaro,” Bowman said. “I’ve really been trying to do a better job as a race car driver at these road courses and I felt like from where we started in the weekend, I accomplished that. Proud of [crew chief] Greg [Ives] and all the guys. [I] Hate that we didn’t come away with the win, but happy for Ross getting his first win. It’s been a crap weekend, so I’m ready to get home and see [my] dogs and move on to next weekend. Glad to come away with a second-place finish.”

    “At the end of the day, we all gotta look at ourselves in the mirror and if you’re okay with it, you’re okay with it,” Allmendinger said. “Each person’s different. More than anything, proud of Kaulig Racing. The Action Industry Chevy was so fast. I think if we could’ve had just a long run, nobody was gonna touch us. Pit stops were great. Everybody at Kaulig Racing, all the men and women. It’s just lot of sleepless nights for them right now trying to just get these cars to the next race. I was doing everything I could to try to sweep the weekend for them. We were that close. At the end of the day, each person’s gotta make the move that they’re comfortable with and that’s fine. At the end of the day, we know we had a shot to win the race. It’s tough to win a Cup race, so when you put yourself on a position to legitimately run upfront all day and have a shot to win it, it’s a pretty great day. Unfortunately, I needed about two more corners.”

    Christopher Bell, who came into Circuit of the Americas in 29th place in the standings and with a best on-track result of 10th place, notched his first top-five result in third place while Elliott and Reddick finished in the top five.

    Blaney, Truex, Cindric, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon recorded top-10 results.

    There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 13 laps.

    With his fourth-place result, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 13 over Ryan Blaney, 23 over Joey Logano, 25 over Alex Bowman, 28 over Ross Chastain and 33 over William Byron.

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

    2. Alex Bowman 

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. Chase Elliott

    5. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    6. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    7. Martin Truex Jr.

    8. Austin Cindric, 11 laps led

    9. Erik Jones

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. William Byron

    13. Michael McDowell

    14. Brad Keselowski

    15. Justin Haley

    16. Todd Gilliland

    17. Harrison Burton

    18. Denny Hamlin, three laps led, Stage 2 winner

    19. Aric Almirola

    20. Ty Dillon

    21. Chris Buescher

    22. Josh Bilicki

    23. Cole Custer

    24. Daniel Suarez, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    25. Kaz Grala

    26. Boris Said

    27. Cody Ware

    28. Kyle Busch

    29. Kyle Larson

    30. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

    31. Joey Logano, two laps led

    32. Kurt Busch

    33. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down, two laps led

    34. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Rear gear

    35. Joey Hand – OUT, Suspension

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Drivetrain

    38. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Suspension

    39. Andy Lally – OUT, Suspension

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Richmond Raceway for a 400-mile feature in Richmond, Virginia. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, April 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Verstappen strikes back with a late victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    Verstappen strikes back with a late victory in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    Following a late mechanical retirement in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix in Sakhir, Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing struck back with vengeance and an early championship statement after claiming a late victory in the second annual Saudi Arabian Grand Prix at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on Sunday, March 27.

    The reigning Formula One champion, who qualified in fourth place and raced towards the front for the entire event, battled and overtook Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on Lap 46 of 50 before proceeding to fend off the Monégasque over the final five laps to win by half a second under a safety car virtual caution and claim the first victory of the 2022 season for the Dutchman and Red Bull Racing.

    The victory was Verstappen’s 21st overall in Formula One competition and the first since winning the 2021 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit, where he claimed his maiden F1 title.

    “[The battle] was a tough one,” Verstappen said. “It’s not easy, especially in the beginning. To follow was quite difficult. It was very easy to open up the tyre and then you have no performance anymore, but I think once we swapped to the hard tyre, it went well. I think we played the long game on the tyres, especially after the last VSC [Virtual Safety Car period]. We had good tyre grip. We could make the most from that. Yeah, tough battle. I really enjoyed it with Charles. It’s not easy to get past him. At the end, we did it. We can be very proud. I’m sure [me and Perez] have plenty of races to make up for that. Patience is always key, especially when you want to fight for the championship. You have to fight hard, but of course, I think you need to score some good points. That’s what we did today. We raced hard, but of course, we also want to score the points. ”

    “Great racing between all the drivers, but particularly, Max and Charles again,” Christian Horner, Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, added. “They did it last week in Bahrain. This weekend, more overtaking, more great close racing. A great motor race. You can see that they’re both great racers. That was absolute quality from two of the best guys out there. It was an enjoyable race. These cars, it does feel like you can follow a bit closer. The overtaking is a bit more possible. Max, he just played it cool, he waited for his moment and then, he struck and he made it stick. The season is very long. We need to be consistent. Today maybe, Red Bull was a tiny bit stronger, but we brought both cars home in good places. Good points for the team.”

    Leclerc, who notched a dominant victory at Bahrain a week ago, settled in second place after leading a race-high 30 of 50 laps. Despite falling one position short of the victory, Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., who grabbed his second consecutive podium result in third place.

    “I really enjoyed [the battle with Verstappen], but obviously, disappointed with a second place,” Leclerc said. “We’ve been leading for the big part of the race and then to lose the lead at the end, it’s a shame, but it’s like this. We took a bit of a different approach this weekend with a bit more downforce compared to Max and Red Bull in general. It was extremely difficult for me to defend with the straight line speed they had. It’s like this, but it’s the way it is and now we need to keep working and hopefully, do a step forward in Melbourne.”

    Meanwhile, Sainz settled in third place for his eighth career podium in F1 competition as he was eight seconds behind the two leaders.

    “[It was] A better feeling with the car than in Bahrain,” Sainz said. “I think I did a step forward in the right direction. I also know exactly where I’m lacking and where I need to improve with the car. Apart from that, I think we are gonna get there. While I’m not feeling 100%, I’m still getting good points, finishing in the podiums. It’s coming. As soon as I put a car a bit more to my liking and I adapt a bit to my driving, I think [a win] will come and we are gonna be in a strong place.”

    Perez, who became the first Mexican competitor to start on pole position after claiming the top qualifying spot on Saturday and who led the first 14 laps before losing the lead during the first virtual safety car period for Latifi’s accident, settled in a disappointing fourth place with a potential podium and victory evaporating from his grasp while George Russell claimed his second consecutive top-five result of the season in fifth place.

    Esteban Ocon claimed sixth place in front of Lando Norris, who managed to secure the first points of the season for the McLaren F1 Team. Pierre Gasly, who finished dead last at Bahrain, came home in eighth place in front of Kevin Magnussen, who earned points in his first two events since reuniting to Formula One and with Haas.

    Meanwhile, Sir Lewis Hamilton, who qualified in 15th place but methodically carved his way into the top 10, settled in 10th place and collected a single point during the event after making a late pit stop following the second virtual safety car period.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the points was rookie Guanyu Zhou, who received two different penalties during the main event: the first for cutting a corner following an early battle with Albon and the second for failing to serve the penalty while pitting. Nico Hülkenberg, who filled in as an interim competitor for Sebastian Vettel and the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, finished 12th. Teammate Lance Stroll ended up in 13th place, the only competitor to finish a lap behind the leaders, after he was involved in a late on-track collision with Alexander Albon, who was unable to finish late in 14th place.

    Valtteri Bottas, Fernando Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo all retired in 15th, 16th and 17th due to mechanical issues along with 18th-place finisher Nicholas Latifi, who wrecked and retired on Lap 16.

    Prior to the event, there were two competitors who did not participate in the Grand Prix. The first was Yuki Tsunoda, who stalled his AlphaTauri during the formation lap and retired due to a suspected drivetrain issue. The second was Mick Schumacher, who was involved in a vicious accident during his qualifying session on Saturday and was flown to a local hospital, where he was evaluated without any serious injuries but resulted with Haas electing to field one car for Magnussen for the main event. 

    Results:

    1. Max Verstappen, 25 points

    2. Charles Leclerc, 19 points

    3. Carlos Sainz Jr., 15 points

    4. Sergio Perez, 12 points

    5. George Russell, 10 points

    6. Esteban Ocon, eight points

    7. Lando Norris, six points

    8. Pierre Gasly, four points

    9. Kevin Magnussen, two points

    10. Lewis Hamilton, one point

    11. Guanyu Zhou

    12. Nico Hülkenberg

    13. Lance Stroll, +1 lap

    14. Alexander Albon – Retired

    15. Valtteri Bottas – Retired

    16. Fernando Alonso – Retired

    17. Daniel Ricciardo – Retired

    18. Nicholas Latifi – Retired

    19. Yuki Tsunoda – Retired

    Following the second event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc continues to lead the drivers’ standings by 12 points over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., 20 over Max Verstappen, 23 over George Russell, 29 over Lewis Hamilton and 31 over Esteban Ocon. 

    Ferrari continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 40 points over Mercedes, 39 over Red Bull Racing RBPT, 62 over Alpine Renault and 66 over Haas Ferrari.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is the return of the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia, which will occur on April 10.

  • Allmendinger grabs a dominant Xfinity victory at COTA

    Allmendinger grabs a dominant Xfinity victory at COTA

    After finishing in the top 10 through the first six scheduled NASCAR Xfinity Series events, AJ Allmendinger broke through the win column for the first time in 2022 after claiming a dominant victory in the Pit Boss 250 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, March 26.

    The 40-year-old veteran from Los Gatos, California, led for the first time on the fourth lap and went on to lead twice for a race-high 27 of 46-scheduled laps, including the final 14, to muscle away from rookie Austin Hill and the field to become the fifth different winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season and the fourth Xfinity regular through the first six scheduled events.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Ty Gibbs, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 91.258 mph. Joining him on the front row was Ross Chastain, who was piloting the No. 92 TicketSmarter Chevrolet Camaro for DGM Racing.

    Prior to the event, Brett Moffitt, Landon Cassill, Brandon Jones, Will Rodgers, Ryan Sieg, Josh Bilicki, JJ Yeley and Brandon Brown dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs launched ahead briefly until Chastain assumed the top spot entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10) while the field scrambled and fanned out behind. In the midst of the early racing, driver Patrick Gallagher was penalized for a restart violation. 

    Through the 3.41-mile, 20-turn circuit, Chastain led the first lap ahead of Gibbs while AJ Allmendinger, Cole Custer and Alex Labbe were in the top five. Rookie Sheldon Creed was in sixth ahead of Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric. Behind, teammates Josh Berry and Miguel Paludo made contact in Turn 14, which resulted with Paludo spinning with Sage Karam and Berry sustaining front nose damage to his No. 8 PUGB Mobile Chevrolet Camaro.

    By the second lap, Chastain was ahead by nearly a second over Gibbs follows by Allmendinger, Custer and Labbe. Meanwhile, Stefan Parsons spun in Turn 6, but proceeded as the race remained under green.

    On the third lap, Allmendinger overtook Gibbs and Chastain through Turns 13 and 14 to assume the lead for the first time. Not long after, trouble ensued in Turn 12 when Justin Allgaier spun following contact with teammate Gragson.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by nearly half a second over Gibbs followed by Chastain, Custer and Labbe while Creed, Wallace, Hemric, rookie Austin Hill and Gragson were in the top 10. Sam Mayer was in 11th ahead of Jade Buford, Preston Padres, Parker Kligerman and Allgaier while Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo, Parker Chase, Myatt Snider and Jeremy Clements were in the top 20. Brandon Jones was in 21st, Riley Herbst was in 23rd ahead of Landon Cassill and Brett Moffitt. Following his early incident, Miguel Paludo was in 32nd ahead of Brandon Brown while Josh Berry was mired in 38th, dead last.

    A few laps later, an early battle for the lead ensued as Gibbs pressured Allmendinger to take the lead while Chastain and Custer settled in third and fourth. By the seventh lap, Gibbs rocketed his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra to the lead in Turn 1, but Allmendinger was quick to reassume the lead in his No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro while Chastain and Custer started to gain ground on the two leaders.

    By Lap 10, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Gibbs while third-place Custer trailed by more than a second. Chastain trailed in fourth place by four seconds while Labbe and Wallace trailed by more than 10 seconds.

    A few laps later and with pit stops under green flag ensuing, Gibbs pitted along with Custer and Chastain while Allmendinger remained on the track and retained the lead. By then, Wallace, Hill, Mayer, Brandon Jones, Cassill, Jeb Burton and Creed had pitted.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 14, Allmendinger collected his second stage victory of the season. Labbe was scored in second ahead of Hemric, Kligerman, Allgaier, Preston Padres, Jade Buford, Parker Chase, Clements and Gibbs. By then, NASCAR reported possible fluid in Turn 12 that was coming off of Bayley Currey’s car.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 17. At the start, Chastain battled and bumped Gibbs through the first turn, forcing Gibbs wide, to take the lead followed by Sam Mayer and Bubba Wallace while Gibbs fell back to fourth ahead of Custer. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Chastain was out in front by nearly a second over Wallace while Gibbs and Custer battled for third. Mayer, who was running towards the front, slipped back to fifth place after missing a gear ahead of teammate Gragson, Hill, Jeb Burton, Creed and Cassill while Allmendinger was in 11th. 

    Through the first 20 laps of the event, Chastain continued to lead by more than two seconds over Wallace follows by Custer, Mayer and Gragson. Allmendinger was up in sixth followed by Creed, Hill, Cassill and Hemric while Jeb Burton, Labbe, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Buford, Kligerman, Brett Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Brown and Clements were in the top 20. By then, Gibbs, who had fallen back to sixth place, pitted under green due to a flat right-front tire and a broken valve stem on his No. 54 Toyota. Paludo was in 21st, Berry was in 25th, Herbst was mired in 27th and Snider was in 29th behind Ryan Sieg.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 23, Chastain was leading by more than three seconds over Custer while Wallace trailed in third place by more than four seconds. Mayer was back in fourth ahead of Allmendinger while Gragson, Hill, Creed, Hemric and Labbe were in the top 10. Way behind the leaders, Karam spun in Turns 15 and 16.

    Nearing the Lap 30 mark, another round of pit stops under green struck as Allmendinger pitted along with Wallace, Hill, Hemric, Labbe, Jeb Burton, Cassill, Brandon Jones, Clements, Kligerman, Paludo, Preston Pardus, Parker Chase, Sieg, Parsons, Snider, Alfredo, Brown, Gibbs and Creed while Chastain continued to lead ahead of Custer. By then, Gragson and Josh Bilicki also pitted while Patrick Gallagher spun in Turn 9. Not long after, Chastain pitted along with Custer while Sam Mayer cycled into the lead. Following the pit stops, Preston Pardus, Parker Chase and Custer were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Mayer captured his first stage victory of this year’s Xfinity season. Buford settled in second followed by Allgaier, Berry, Herbst, Custer, Sage Karam, Chastain, Allmendinger, Gragson and Scott Heckert.

    Under the stage break, some led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track. During the pit stops, Wallace pitted again to address a shifter issue to his No. 18 Dr. Pepper Toyota Supra.

    With 14 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Chastain squeaked ahead entering the first turn, but Allmendinger was able to keep his car alongside Chastain’s before Allmendinger moved into the lead entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through Turn 10). As the field scrambled and fanned out behind, Chastain and Allmendinger battled hard for the lead entering Turn 12 while Gragson started to close in on the two leaders. 

    Not long after, however, the caution returned due to debris reported in Turn 9. In addition, Berry and Josh Bilicki spun in Turn 20. 

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start and going up the include prior to the first turn, Allmendinger retained the lead while Gragson muscled his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro alongside Chastain in a brief battle for second before the latter prevailed. 

    Through the series of turns from Turns 3 to 10, the left-hand turn in Turn 11 and the long straightaway prior to Turn 12, Allmendinger continued to lead ahead of Chastain. Behind, Austin Hill overtook Gragson for third place in Turn 16 as Allmendinger continued to lead through a series of turns from Turn 17 to 20 and back to the start/finish line with 10 laps remaining. 

    Then with nine laps remaining, the caution flew due to debris on the backstretch. By then, Brandon Jones sustained right-rear damage to his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra while Stefan Parsons also sustained damage to the right side of his car. Under caution, some like Gibbs, Hemric and Wallace pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    With six laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger maintained the lead following a push by Austin Hill while Chastain got bumped and turned by Cassill in Turn 1. With the field scattering to avoid Chastain, Allmendinger was clear out in front followed by Hill, Gragson, Clements, Jeb Burton and Custer.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line for the final five laps, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than a second over Hill while Clements challenged Gragson for third place. Jeb Burton settled in fifth ahead of Custer, Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Snider and Buford. Chastain, meanwhile, was all the way back in 31st place.

    Then with three laps remaining, both Jeb Burton and Clements were penalized for having their respective cars running off the course with all four tires near the esses. With both Burton and Clements having to drive through pit road to serve their penalty, Allmendinger continued to lead by a stable margin over Hill while Custer moved up to third place followed by Gragson and Snider.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained in the lead by nearly three seconds over Hill and more than 10 seconds over Custer. With no close competition lurking behind, Allmendinger was able to smoothly navigate his No. 16 Chevrolet through the 20-turn circuit for a final time as he made his way through the final straightaway and streaked across the finish line to claim his first checkered flag of the 2022 season.

    With his first victory at Circuit of the Americas, Allmendinger notched his seventh win on a road course and his 11th overall in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In addition, he recorded the first victory of the season for Kaulig Racing.

    “Man, I was hard on myself yesterday,” Allmendinger said on FS1. “I was not happy with where I put ourselves, the setup that I made for us. This Nutrien Ag Chevy was really good. It was hard to drive. I had to drive it a certain way. Honestly, it’s all these men and women here at Kaulig Racing between the Cup side of it and the Xfinity side to it. They don’t sleep during the week. They’re busting their tails and that’s why I’m so frickin hard on myself sometimes ‘cause they deserve to win more than anybody here, and I just wanna do it for them. So thankfully, we got one done today.”

    Austin Hill finished in second place for the second consecutive week followed by Cole Custer while teammates Gragson and Mayer finished in the top five. 

    “All in all, it was a solid effort for our Global [Industrial] Chevy Camaro,” Hill said. “[Crew chief] Andy [Street] and all the guys at the shop, they did a heck of a job building this piece and bringing it here. I’ve always felt like I could get around road courses. I felt like I proved it last year in the Trucks [Series], winning at Watkins Glen. It just kind of built the confidence, the momentum going forward to this year when we come to road courses that we could get the job done. I guess AJ was just a little bit better than I was ‘cause I felt like we had a really good car. There was certain spots that I thought he was a little better than us, but it just shows that we can run with AJ. Maybe just make the car a little bit better and I think personally as a driver, I need to work on a few things ‘cause he was just doing some things a little bit better than I was inside the cockpit, so we’ll go back, debrief and look it over and just see where I can be better as a driver on these road courses…We’ll go get the job done next time.”

    With their top-five results, Allmendinger, Hill, Gragson and Mayer have qualified for the first Dash 4 Cash event at Richmond Raceway scheduled for next Saturday.

    Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt, Jade Buford, Miguel Paludo and Sheldon Creed finished in the top 10. Notably, Ty Gibbs finished 15th, Chastain settled in 17th following his late spin, Jeb Burton and Clements fell back to 23rd and 24th, Hemric ended up 25th ahead of Herbst and Berry, Wallace came home in 28th and Allgaier finished 33rd.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for eight laps. In addition, 35 of the 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With his top-five result, Noah Gragson continues to lead the regular season standings by a single point over AJ Allmendinger, 31 over Ty Gibbs, 68 over Justin Allgaier and 77 over Josh Berry.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Austin Hill

    3. Cole Custer

    4. Noah Gragson

    5. Sam Mayer, three laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Myatt Snider

    7. Brett Moffitt

    8. Jade Buford

    9. Miguel Paludo

    10. Sheldon Creed

    11. Ryan Sieg

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Anthony Alfredo

    14. Preston Pardus

    15. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    16. Sage Karam

    17. Ross Chastain, 14 laps led

    18. Brandon Jones

    19. Parker Chase

    20. Brandon Brown

    21. Stefan Parsons

    22. Patrick Gallagher

    23. Jeb Burton

    24. Jeremy Clements

    25. Daniel Hemric

    26. Riley Herbst

    27. Josh Berry

    28. Bubba Wallace

    29. JJ Yeley

    30. Ryan Vargas

    31. Landon Cassill

    32. Scott Heckert

    33. Justin Allgaier, one lap led

    34. Joe Graf Jr.

    35. Josh Bilicki

    36. Alex Labbe – OUT, Rear gear

    37. Will Rodgers, 12 laps down

    38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of this season to Richmond Raceway, where the first of four Dash 4 Cash events will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 2, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Zane Smith notches a thrilling, double overtime Truck victory at COTA

    Zane Smith notches a thrilling, double overtime Truck victory at COTA

    A month after experiencing the biggest victory of his career at Daytona International Speedway, Zane Smith captured another thrilling win to his racing resume after winning the second running of the XPEL 2250 at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 26.

    The 22-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, captured both stage victories and rallied from a first turn spin under the final 10 laps to overtake Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch and Stewart Friesen during the second of two overtime attempts in Turn 11. Following the chaos, Smith rocketed away from the field and a series of carnages ensuing behind to become the first repeat winner of the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Sheldon Creed claimed the pole position with a pole-winning speed at 90.985 mph. Creed, however, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 20 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST. Also dropping to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments included John Hunter Nemechek, Kris Wright, Kaz Grala, Logan Bearden, Lawless Alan, Jack Wood, Blaine Perkins, Tate Fogleman, Brad Perez, Will Rodgers, Matt Joskol, Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton, who was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start of the event.

    With Creed dropping to the rear of the field, Zane Smith, who posted a fast qualifying speed at 90.790 mph, led the field to the start of the event alongside Alex Bowman, who was piloting the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST.

    During the pace laps, Ty Majeski remained on pit road as his crew was working on a brake pressure issue to his No. 66 ThorSport Racing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bowman gained an early advantage through the incline and the first turn as he led early in the event over Zane Smith while Kyle Busch bolted his way into third place. With the competitors fanning out and scrambling for positions through the first two turns and a brief decline before entering a series of left and right turns (Turns 3 through 10), Bowman continued to lead. Then in Turn 11, Austin Wayne Self locked up his brakes and collided into Tayler Gray as both competitors spun. Despite the incident, the race proceeded under green.

    With the first of 42 laps complete of the 3.4-mile, 20-turn circuit, Bowman was out in front by three-tenths of a second over Zane Smith followed by Kyle Busch while Stewart Friesen and Parker Kligerman were in the top five. Christian Eckes was in sixth ahead of Carson Hocevar, Ben Rhodes, Tyler Ankrum and Sheldon Creed.

    During the second lap, Busch moved his No. 51 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to the lead over Bowman’s No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST. Meanwhile, Creed took his truck to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly three seconds over Kligerman while third-place Bowman trailed by more than four seconds. Zane Smith remained in fourth ahead of Friesen while Carson Hocevar, Ben Rhodes, Rhodes Derek Kraus and Chandler Smith were in the top 10. Behind, John Hunter Nemechek was in 11th ahead of Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger was in 14th, Matt DiBenedetto was in 16th ahead of Chase Purdy, Hailie Deegan and Kaz Grala. Meanwhile, Matt Crafton was mired back in 29th ahead of Brad Perez.

    Not long after, Deegan was forced to serve a pass-through penalty on pit road for cutting through the esses.

    Nearing the Lap 10 mark, pit stops under green occurred as Busch surrendered the lead to pit followed by Bowman, Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Hocevar, Enfinger, Grala, Chase Purdy, Colby Howard, Gray, Crafton and Deegan while Kligerman took the lead. Once Kligerman pitted on Lap 10, Zane Smith took the lead followed by Friesen.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 12, Zane Smith claimed his first stage victory of the season. Friesen settled in second followed by Rhodes, Kraus, Ankrum, DiBenedetto, Timmy Hill, Eckes, Kyle Busch and Kligerman.

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

    The second stage started on Lap 14 as Kyle Busch and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Busch and Kligerman dueled for the top spot before Busch cleared Kligerman entering a series of left and right turns. Then in Turn 11, Kligerman took the lead beneath Busch, who was being pressured by Bowman. Busch, however, reassumed the top spot over Kligerman through the Turn 12 braking zone as he started to pull away.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Dean Thompson came to a stop in Turn 8 as he needed a wrecker to return to pit road. 

    Three laps later on Lap 17, the race proceeded under green. At the start and with the field fanning out entering the first two turns, Busch rocketed away with the top spot ahead of Kligerman and Bowman. Then in Turn 11, Gray spun for a second time while running in the top 10 as the field scattered. Four turns later, Grala spun while running in Turn 12. Despite the incidents, the race proceeded under green as Busch continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Nemechek followed by Bowman, Kligerman and Hocevar while Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Friesen, Zane Smith and Chase Purdy were in the top 10.

    On Lap 20, the caution flew when Purdy made contact with Crafton, which spent both competitors spinning in Turn 19 as Crafton ended up getting his No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra TRD Pro stuck in the gravel trap. The incident was one that left Crafton bitter towards Purdy.

    Under caution, a majority led by Busch pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    With the event surpassing its halfway mark on Lap 21, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Nemechek pulled his No. 4 ROMCO Toyota Tundra TRD Pro ahead with the top spot though the first two turns followed by Zane Smith and Kraus while Rhodes was in fourth ahead of DiBenedetto. Not long after, Nemechek and Zane Smith dueled for the lead entering Turn 12.

    Then in Turn 15, Zane Smith made contact with Nemechek, which sent Nemechek around as Smith assumed the lead. Behind, Crafton expressed his displeasure towards Purdy over the previous incident by spinning him in Turn 13.

    Back at the front, Zane Smith was out in front ahead of Kraus while Rhodes was in third ahead of DiBenedetto and Chandler Smith. Following his spin, Nemechek pitted but was then penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 26, Zane Smith collected his second stage victory of the event and of this season. Rhodes settled in second followed by Kraus, Kyle Busch, Chandler Smith, DiBenedetto, Friesen, Hocevar, Timmy Hill and Kligerman.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field pitted as Busch emerged with the lead.

    With 13 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, teammates Busch and Chandler Smith dueled until the former managed to clear his teammate and the field through the first two turns and entering a series of left and right-hand turns (Turns 3 through 10). 

    The following lap, the caution returned when Hailie Deegan stalled in Turn 8 with damage to her No. 1 Monster Energy Ford F-150 as a result of colliding into Jack Wood, who wrecked with Kris Wright earlier.

    Down to the final 10 laps, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Busch mounted ahead with the top spot as Carson Hocevar made his way into second place in his bid to battle Busch for the victory.

    With the battles continuing around the 20-turn circuit, DiBenedetto suddenly stalled on Turn 17 due to a broken driveline. Then shortly after, the caution flew when Zane Smith got bumped and spun by Eckes in Turn 1 along with Kris Wright, who was trying to avoid Smith.

    With seven laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Busch launched ahead with another strong start entering the first turn before Stewart Friesen tried to force Busch off the track in a bid for the lead. Busch, however, was able to maintain the lead over Friesen, who overtook Hocevar for second, and the field in Turn 3 through Turn 10. Then in Turn 12, Austin Wayne Self spun while the race proceeded under green.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Busch continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Friesen while Bowman, who made bold moves through the esses during the restart, was up in third place followed by Kligerman and Chandler Smith. Grala, following his early spin, was in sixth followed by Rhodes, Hocevar, Nemechek and Eckes while Crafton was in 11th ahead of Colby Howard, Zane Smith, Kraus, Timmy Hill and Tyler Ankrum.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Busch extended his advantage to more than a second over Friesen while third-place Bowman trailed by more than two seconds. During the following lap, Bowman overtook Friesen for second place as he was left to track and challenge Busch for the lead and the win.

    Then with three laps remaining, Derek Kraus got bumped by Ankrum and spun in Turn 1. Not long after, Eckes spun in Turn 12 following contact with Hocevar, but the event proceeded under green. Then the caution flew when Matt Jaskol stalled his truck in Turn 2. The caution was enough to send the event into overtime. 

    In the first overtime attempt, Busch maintained the lead while Bowman fended off Friesen and Kligerman to remain in second place while also challenging Busch for the lead. Behind in Turn 1, Kris Wright spun following contact. Two turns later, Purdy spun, but the race proceeded under green. Then, the caution returned when Kaz Grala and Colby Howard spun across the esses with Grala getting stuck in the Turn 4 gravel pit. 

    During the second overtime attempt, Busch muscled away with the lead while Friesen challenged and overtook Bowman for second place. Behind, Zane Smith battled and overtook Kligerman for fourth place while Nemechek was in sixth ahead of Rhodes. 

    Then in Turn 11, Bowman collided against Friesen and Busch while engaged in a three-wide battle for the lead. This allowed Zane Smith to bolt to the lead as Bowman retained second ahead of Friesen, who had a tire rub and was losing ground towards the front. Then in the Turn 12 braking zone, Friesen went wide and was off the course. During the following turn, Kligerman got loose, which allowed Busch to move into third place behind Bowman while Zane Smith continued to lead.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zane Smith was leading by nearly two seconds over Bowman, who was soon overtaken by Nemechek while Busch was mired back in fourth place ahead of Ben Rhodes. 

    With a series of carnages ensuing behind the front-runners, Zane Smith was long gone with the lead as he was able to navigate his way smoothly around the 20-turn circuit with a clear race track in front of him, return to the final frontstretch to the finish line and claim the checkered flag by more than three seconds over John Hunter Nemechek.

    In addition to becoming the first repeat winner of this season, Smith notched his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career victory, his second of the season with Front Row Motorsports and his first on a road course event. In addition, Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 Ford F-150 team led by crew chief Chris Lawson went to Victory Lane at COTA for a second consecutive season after winning the inaugural event with Todd Gilliland in 2021.

    “Truck races are crazy,” Smith said on FS1. “You’re never out of it until you’re out of it. Man, what a statement from this team. That’s so crazy to go back-to-back here at a road course like this. Huge thank you to them. It’s been a wild effort they’ve put in this year. That was a wild one, but never over til it’s over.”

    Behind, Nemechek rallied from a spin early in the event involving race winner Zane Smith to settle in second place ahead of teammate/boss Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 31 of 46 laps, but was unable to grab his first road course victory in the Truck circuit. Following the event, Busch and Bowman met and exchanged words over the racing and the contact on pit road.

    “The season has been frustrating for sure,” Nemechek said on MRN. “We never give up at [Kyle Busch Motorsports]. We never give up as an organization. I didn’t have the fastest truck today. We struggled most of the day. I got spun by Zane [Smith]. I’m a little ticked off there. That’s two weeks in a row that we’ve got screwed by [Smith]. On to next week. I’m going to run the Richmond Xfinity race [with Joe Gibbs Racing]…Hopefully, we can keep this ship righted the right way and take this and carry the momentum. It’s way better finishing second than 24th, 25th, 24th in the first three [races]. Still got a lot to go, a lot to learn and a lot to build on, but a long season ahead.”

    We had a great race all day,” Busch said on FS1. “I really appreciate everyone at [Kyle Busch Motorsports] and their hard work and everyone there who does a good job building such fast trucks. I felt like we deserved that one, but it doesn’t matter if you deserve it or not. It’s just a matter if you get it. You have to be the first one to the checkered flag to win these things and we just weren’t.”

    Rhodes came home in fourth place while Chandler Smith finished in the top five. Eckes, Ankrum, Hocevar, Friesen and Enfinger completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Crafton settled in 13th ahead of Grala, Kligerman fell back to 19th place ahead of newcomer Brad Perez and Bowman slipped to 25th place with a wounded truck.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 12 laps.

    With a fifth-place result, Chandler Smith continues to lead the regular season standings by 15 points over Ben Rhodes, 23 over Stewart Friesen and 31 over Zane Smith and Tanner Gray.

    Results.

    1. Zane Smith, 11 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap led

    3. Kyle Busch, 31 laps led

    4. Ben Rhodes

    5. Chandler Smith, one lap led

    6. Christian Eckes

    7. Tyler Ankrum

    8. Carson Hocevar

    9. Stewart Friesen

    10. Grant Enfinger

    11. Lawless Alan

    12. Derek Kraus

    13. Matt Crafton

    14. Kaz Grala

    15. Kris Wright

    16. Chase Purdy

    17. Tanner Gray

    18. Tate Fogleman

    19. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

    20. Brad Perez

    21. Will Rodgers

    22. Timmy Hill

    23. Spencer Boyd

    24. Colby Howard

    25. Alex Bowman, one lap led

    26. Taylor Gray

    27. Austin Wayne Self, one lap down

    28. Logan Bearden – OUT, Fuel pump

    29. Dean Thompson, six laps down

    30. Ty Majeski, seven laps down

    31. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Rear gear

    32. Jack Wood – OUT, Dvp

    33. Matt Jaskol – OUT, Electrical

    34. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    35. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Transmission

    36. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Drivetrain

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the series’ lone event of the season at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, which will occur on April 7 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Kligerman to make 100th Truck career start at COTA

    Kligerman to make 100th Truck career start at COTA

    Competing in his 14th season among NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Parker Kligerman is within reach of a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Circuit of the Americas, the part-time competitor of the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST will make his 100th career start in the Truck circuit.

    A native of Stamford, Connecticut, Kligerman made his Truck Series debut at Texas Motor Speedway in October 2010. By then, he was the 2009 ARCA Rookie of the Year and had made 15 career starts in the Xfinity Series between Team Penske and Smith-Ganassi Racing. Driving the No. 29 Dodge Ram for Brad Keselowski Racing, Kligerman started 13th and finished ninth.

    The following season, Kligerman returned to the Truck circuit for a full-time campaign in the No. 29 Dodge Ram for BKR, where he contested for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. Throughout the season, his best career result on the track were back-to-back runner-up results at Texas Motor Speedway in June and at Kentucky Speedway in July. He also earned a total of four top-five results and eight top-10 results with an average-finishing result of 15.0 and an 11th-place result in the final standings.

    Kligerman spent the first half of the 2012 Truck season as a driver for BKR, where he earned his third career runner-up result at Dover International Speedway in May along with an additional top-five result and five top-10 results. At the halfway mark, Kligerman departed BKR and joined Red Horse Racing as driver of the No. 7 Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra for the remaining half of the 2012 season. In his first five starts with RHR, he earned four top-five results, including two runner-up results. Then at Talladega Superspeedway in October, Kligerman earned his first Truck Series career victory after fending off veteran Johnny Sauter and the field with a multi-truck erupting behind him on the final lap. By then, he was the eighth first-time winner of the 2012 season. Kligerman went on to post sixth runner-up result in the Truck Series at Texas in November before concluding the season in a career-best fifth place in the final standings. 

    During the following two seasons, Kligerman made one start apiece in the Truck Series for BRG Motorsports. In 2013, where he was a full-time Xfinity competitor for Kyle Busch Motorsports, he drove the No. 20 BRG Motorsports Toyota Tundra to a fourth-place result at Talladega in October despite being involved in a multi-truck wreck on the final lap. In 2014, where he started the season as a Cup Series competitor for Swan Racing before being released in April due to ownership issues, he drove the No. 58 BRG Motorsports Toyota Tundra to a 29th-place result at Daytona International Speedway in February after being involved in a late multi-truck wreck.

    Following a one-year absence, Kligerman returned to the Truck Series in 2016 as a driver for Ricky Benton Racing Enterprises, beginning at Daytona. He commenced the season with a strong third-place effort at Daytona and returned for the following seven events in the schedule, where he notched back-to-back eighth-place results at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February and at Martinsville Speedway in April. For the remainder of the season, Kligerman drove the No. 05 Athenian Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado to a 19th-place result at Kentucky Speedway in July and made two additional starts with RBR Enterprises at Bristol Motor Speedway in August and at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October.

    In 2017, Kligerman returned as a part-time Truck competitor for Henderson Motorsports. By then, he was also serving as a NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series pit reporter for NBC Sports. Despite failing to qualify for the season-opening event at Daytona and finishing 31st at Atlanta, he notched four top-10 results during his next five scheduled starts. Then at Talladega in October, Kligerman fended off the field mixed with Playoff and non-Playoff contenders during a two-lap shootout and when a final lap accident struck behind him to claim his second Truck Series career triumph. By then, he became the fourth competitor to achieve multiple Truck victories at Talladega Superspeedway.

    The following season, Kligerman, who remained with Henderson Motorsports but was unable to return to Victory Lane, competed in eight of 23 races in the schedule, where he achieved a season-best fourth-place result at Bristol in August. 

    After making three starts in 2019 with a season-best result of 10th at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, Kligerman, who remained at Henderson Motorsports for a fourth season, made eight starts in 2020. He earned four top-10 results during his part-time schedule, including a strong fourth-place result at Bristol.

    In 2021, Kligerman and Henderson Motorsports competed in 11 of 22 races in the schedule, where they achieved a total of five top-10 results and a season-best result of fifth place twice (Watkins Glen International in August and at Darlington Raceway in September).

    Through 99 previous starts, Kligerman has achieved two victories, two poles, 20 top-five results, 45 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 14.0. He is coming off a fourth-place run at Daytona in February as he will make his second of select Truck starts this season at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

    Kligerman is scheduled to make his 100th Camping World Truck Series career start at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 26, with the event’s coverage to occur at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Byron dominates for a wild Cup victory at the newly reconfigured Atlanta

    Byron dominates for a wild Cup victory at the newly reconfigured Atlanta

    In what William Byron summarized the competition at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway as a blend of intermediate and speedway style racing, the driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 put on a clinic and survived a chaotic afternoon to score a dominant victory in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta on Sunday, March 20.

    The 24-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led eight times for a race-high 111 of the 325-scheduled laps, including the final 10, as he fended late charges from Bubba Wallace, Ryan Blaney and Ross Chastain to claim his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2022 season and become the fifth different winner through the first five scheduled events.

    The starting lineup for the event was determined through the Performance Metrics formula based on four statistics: drivers’ results, owners’ race and points results and the fastest lap from the previous Cup event. With that, Chase Briscoe, who notched his first Cup career victory last weekend at Phoenix Raceway, started on pole position. Joining him on the front row was Ryan Blaney.

    The use of the Performance Metrics formula occurred after rain canceled all on-track activities on Friday, which resulted with the Cup competitors receiving a single practice session on Saturday in place of on-track qualifying.

    Prior to the event, Brad Keselowski dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his car along with rookie Harrison Burton, who dropped back due to his car failing pre-race inspection multiple times. 

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Briscoe and Blaney battled dead-even for the top spot with Blaney leading the first lap by 0.010 seconds. During the following lap, however, Briscoe muscled to the lead followed by Kyle Busch while Blaney settled in third ahead of Chase Elliott and Joey Logano.

    Six laps later, Kyle Busch muscled his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry to the lead ahead of Briscoe. Behind, Blaney battled teammate Logano and Elliott for third place.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Kyle Bush was leading ahead of Briscoe, Blaney, Elliott and Logano while Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin and William Byron were in the top 10. 

    Soon after, a fierce battle for the lead ignited between Kyle Busch and Elliott with both former Cup champions refusing to relent and staying dead even for the top spot. While Briscoe tucked in behind Busch on the outside lane, Blaney settled behind Elliott on the inside lane.

    By Lap 20 and with competition towards the front engaged in close-quarters racing, Kyle Busch was ahead by nearly a tenth of a second over Briscoe followed by Chastain, Hamlin and Elliott while Byron, Blaney, Justin Haley, Logano and Reddick were in the top 10. 

    Three laps later, the first caution flew when Noah Gragson, who was making his first Cup Series start with Kaulig Racing, got loose and wrecked hard against the Turns 1 and 2 outside wall. Under caution, some like Aric Almirola, Alex Bowman, Ty Dillon and David Ragan pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 30, Chastain challenged Kyle Busch before the former overtook the latter during the following lap. Meanwhile, William Byron emerged towards the front as he moved into second place while Elliott tucked in fourth place behind Busch. 

    By Lap 35, Byron moved his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead following a brief battle with Chastain as the field was locked two-by-wide through every turn. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 45, Chastain had just managed to overtake Byron to reassume the lead as the field settled in close-quarters racing. Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Blaney emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop. Prior to the restart, however, Blaney pitted again for four fresh tires and fuel. During the pit stops, Almirola spun after making contact with Erik Jones while Bubba Wallace nearly collided with Greg Biffle while trying to exit his pit stall. Meanwhile, Christopher Bell and Justin Haley were penalized for equipment violations while Kurt Busch was also penalized for a safety violation.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 51, Logano challenged Chastain for the lead, which he persevered until Chastain reassumed the lead on Lap 55. By then, the event featured 18 different lead changes for eight different leaders.

    By Lap 60, Chastain was leading by a tenth of a second over Logano while Byron, Kyle Busch and Daniel Suarez were in the top five. Reddick was back in sixth ahead of Elliott, Alex Bowman, Hamlin and rookie Austin Cindric. By then, the top-22 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. During the following lap, however, the top-28 competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

    Nearly five laps later, Logano issued another challenge and managed to overtake Chastain for the lead while Reddick started to gain ground on the front-runners. 

    On Lap 70, Chastain and Reddick dueled for the lead while Logano drifted back to eighth place. Byron, meanwhile, settled in third ahead of Hamlin and Kyle Busch.

    Ten laps later and with the front-runners settling in a long single-file line, Chastain continued to lead ahead of Byron, Reddick, Hamlin and Kyle Busch while Suarez, Elliott, Logano, Austin Dillon, and Erik Jones were in the top 10. Bowman was in 11th ahead of Stenhouse, Cindric, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson.

    Then on Lap 94, the caution flew when the leader Chastain veered dead straight into the Turn 2 outside wall as a result of a flat right-rear tire to his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Under caution, a majority of the field including Logano pitted while 12 led by Byron remained on the track. During the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized for dragging his fuel can out of his pit stall. In addition, Chastain was penalized two laps for improper fueling while his crew repaired the damage to his car.

    When the race restarted on Lap 100, Byron received a push from Austin Dillon to lead. Soon after, however, the caution returned when Kyle Busch got Austin Dillon loose, which resulted in Dillon colliding into the Turn 4 outside wall along with Busch. While the majority of the field fanned out to avoid Dillon and Busch, Ty Dillon and Chase Briscoe, both of whom were running towards the rear of the field, wrecked, knocking out both Dillon brothers from competition.

    The multi-car wreck on the frontstretch was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 105 to conclude under caution as Byron captured his second stage victory of the season. Hamlin settled in second ahead of Suarez, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Reddick, Larson and Bell.

    Under the stage break, 13 competitors led by Bell remained on the track while the rest pitted as Elliott exited first following a pit stop that only required fuel to his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    The second stage started on Lap 110 as Bell and Logano battled for the lead. With Bell persevering on the outside lane, Cindric moved into second place followed by Bubba Wallace while Logano drifted back to fourth alongside Michael McDowell. Behind, Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick dueled for sixth place. 

    On Lap 122, Harvick emerged with the lead after overtaking Bell while Truex made his charge to the front and ahead of the pack. Three laps later, however, Truex led himself a lap before Logano reassumed the top spot. By then, the field fanned out to nearly three lanes with the front-runners scrambling to charge to the front.

    On Lap 128, the No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry piloted by Kurt Busch was out in front while Reddick was muscling his way back to the front along with Blaney, Stenhouse and Daniel Suarez. 

    By Lap 140, Reddick reassumed the lead at the time when the event featured 15 different leaders. Not long after, however, Byron returned to the lead on Lap 144.

    Just then on Lap 145, the caution flew for a multi-car wreck that started when Reddick, who was running in third place, got loose after blowing a right-rear tire entering Turn 4 before he was hit by Kurt Busch. With the field checking up and trying to dodge the chaos towards the front, Larson spun towards the infield after getting hit by Denny Hamlin along with Logano, Corey LaJoie as Cindric, Bowman, Cole Custer, rookie Todd Gilliland, Bell, Harrison Burton and McDowell were all involved.

    Under caution, the field pitted and Byron retained the lead ahead of Harvick. During the pit stops, Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road along with Suarez, who pitted outside of his pit box.

    When the race restarted on Lap 153, Harvick dueled against Byron in Turn 1 before he received a push from Blaney to clear the field with the lead. Behind, Blaney muscled into second place while Erik Jones and Aric Almirola battled for third place.

    The caution, however, returned on Lap 156 due to debris on the frontstretch that came off of Reddick’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Under caution, Larson, Truex, Harrison Burton and the Busch brothers pitted while the rest led by Harvick remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 161, Harvick received a strong push from Blaney to retain the lead on the outside lane. When the field returned to the start/finish line, however, Byron fought back on the inside lane as Byron had Erik Jones pushing him for momentum.

    At the halfway mark between Laps 162 and 163, Byron cleared the field with the lead while Harvick fought back in second. Blaney, Erik Jones and Almirola were in the top five followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Bell, Keselowski, Elliott, Justin Haley, Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Chris Buescher, Truex, Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Suarez, BJ McLeod and Larson. By then 27 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    By Lap 175, Byron continued to lead ahead of Bell, Blaney and Stenhouse while Harvick was mired back in fifth. 

    Ten laps later, Stenhouse made his move to the lead followed by Blaney as Byron settled in third. In addition, Brad Keselowski emerged in the top five while Harvick drifted back to 10th.

    Then on Lap 200, the caution flew when the leader Stenhouse blew a tire and slipped front of the field before he spun below the apron and collided against Cindric, who tried to dodge the incident below the apron. While some like the new leader Blaney dodged the carnage, others including Bell, Harvick and Jones wrecked or sustained damage.

    Under caution, names like Daniel Suarez, Bell, Chris Buescher, Jones, Byron, Wallace, Biffle, Truex, Haley and Harvick pitted while the rest led by Blaney remained on the track. By then, Larson, who spun on Lap 145, was up in second place.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green as Blaney and Larson occupied the front row ahead of Hamlin and Elliott, At the start, Larson received a push from teammate Elliott and Briscoe to take over the lead while Blaney tried to fight back on the outside lane. 

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, the caution flew when Larson, who was battling for the win, got turned sideways entering Turn 4 as he bounced off of teammate Elliott before he shot back across Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry and wrecked towards the outside wall. The incident was enough for the second stage to conclude under caution as Blaney captured his second stage victory of the season on Lap 210. Elliott settled in second followed by Briscoe, Almirola, Keselowski, Suarez, Truex, Wallace, Byron and Chastain.

    Under the stage break, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Daniel Suarez remained on the track.

    With 109 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Suarez rocketed with the advantage while Truex settled in behind Suarez’s rear bumper. In addition, Bubba Wallace started to challenge Truex for the runner-up spot while Bell and Kurt Busch were in the top five.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Truex received a push from Bubba Wallace to overtake Suarez and lead while Elliott muscled his way to fourth place ahead of Bell and Kurt Busch.

    Four laps later, however, Elliott returned to the lead over Truex as the top-22 competitors were separated by more than three seconds. By then, the event featured 41 lead changes among 18 different leaders.

    With 75 laps remaining, Elliott was leading by a tenth of a second over Suarez while Bell, Briscoe and Byron were in the top five. Truex, Wallace, Aric Almirola, Bowman and Logano were in the top 10 followed by Blaney, Buescher, Keselowski, Erik Jones, Haley, Chastain, Biffle, Cody Ware, Corey LaJoie and BJ McLeod.

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to debris on the track in Turns 3 and 4. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Almirola exited with the top spot followed by Byron, Wallace, Blaney, Jones and Truex, all of whom elected for four fresh tires.

    With 66 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Almirola maintained the lead followed by Wallace before Byron overtook Wallace for the runner-up spot. 

    Four laps later, Byron reassumed the lead as Wallace and Blaney followed pursuit while Almirola settled in fourth ahead of Truex. 

    With 50 laps remaining, Byron continued to lead ahead of Wallace, Blaney, Almirola and Erik Jones as the top-23 competitors, all of whom were on the lead lap, were separated by less than three seconds.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Byron remained as the leader followed by Bubba Wallace, Blaney, Chastain, Almirola, Elliott, Erik Jones, Suarez, Briscoe and Bowman. Just then, the caution flew when rookie Todd Gilliland, who was lapped by the field, spun through the backstretch while Cody Ware, who was trying to dodge Gilliland, was sandwiched between two competitors and ended up pounding the inside wall head-on and with a vicious hit. 

    Under caution, some including Bowman, Keselowski, Truex, Corey LaJoie, Logano, Kurt Busch and Haley pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 19 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry received a push from Blaney’s No. 12 Body Armour Ford Mustang to challenge Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the lead, but Byron received a push from Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang to retain the lead. Just then, the caution flew when Almirola spun off the front nose of Chastain across the frontstretch grass, though he did not sustain any significant damage to his Ford.

    With 13 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Byron received a push from Erik Jones’ No. 43 Focus Factor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to maintain a narrow advantage until Wallace also received a push from Blaney to take the lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Wallace was leading with a narrow advantage until Byron fought back on the inside lane. While Byron had Erik Jones pushing him on the inside lane, Wallace continued to receive support from Blaney. During the following lap, however, Byron managed to pull in front of Wallace to maintain the lead and clear the pack.

    With five laps remaining, Byron maintained the lead followed by Wallace, Blaney and Chastain while fifth-place Elliott started to mount a challenge on the inside lane before he moved back to the outside lane. Briscoe, Truex, Suarez, Bell and Erik Jones were in the top 10 as the top-18 competitors were separated by less than a second.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron continued to lead ahead of Wallace while Ross Chastain mounted a challenge on Wallace to the inside lane followed by Bell and Suarez. Then in Turn 1, Wallace got loose in front of Blaney and Blaney ended up scraping the wall in front of Briscoe. As Blaney dropped out of contention while Wallace lost his momentum, Byron remained as the leader through the backstretch while Bell made a move beneath Chastain in a bid for second place. 

    Despite having a pack of cars up close in the rearview mirror exiting the backstretch, Byron managed to fend off the momentum through the bottom and inside lanes in the final two turns as he stormed back to the frontstretch straight and streaked across the finish line to claim the victory by more than a tenth of a second.

    With the victory, Byron notched his third career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, his first at Atlanta and his first since winning at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February 2021. He also became the third competitor from Hendrick Motorsports to win in 2022 alongside Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson.

    “[The race] was so different,” Byron said on FOX. “Honestly, the last few laps there, [I] was just trying to manage the gap to Bubba [Wallace] and trying not to get too out front. My spotter Brandon [Lines], this is his first win, so congrats to him. Just thanks to this whole team. They’ve done a great job this year. Lots of changes with the Next Gen car, but the Liberty University Chevrolet was awesome there. [The team] Worked hard overnight. We had a pretty rough practice and worked hard on it and got it handling well. It was kind of an intermediate style with a little bit of speedway into it. Lot of fun. Thanks to everyone at Hendrick Motorsports and super exciting.”

    Behind Byron, a multi-car wreck erupted that involved Buescher, Haley and Wallace as they were all battling for the finish, with Buescher managing to claim seventh place while Haley and Wallace ended up 11th and 13th respectively. In addition, Bell, who initially claimed the runner-up spot over Chastain, was credited with 23rd place, the final competitor on the lead lap, because he had advanced his position over Chastain below the white line markings, which was deemed illegal as part of Atlanta Motor Speedway’s reconfigured surface. 

    This allowed Chastain, who blew a right-rear tire while leading early and was multiple laps down, to finish in second place for the second time in back-to-back weekends while Kurt Busch posted his second consecutive top-five result in third place. Suarez, Chastain’s teammate, came home in fourth place while Corey LaJoie notched his first career top-five result in the Cup Series. 

    “What a day,” Chastain said. “That’s the fight in Trackhouse [Racing]. This Gen 7 car, to take a lick like that, blow a tire out of nowhere, leading, just cruising, blow a right rear [tire], slamming the wall. I thought our day was over. Our guys went underneath the car, got the tow closer and we got the balance back where I could drive it, This AdventHealth Chevy was fast. It was so fast. We were fighting with Will [Byron] there at the beginning. It’s so cool with, again, buddies. Like the last two [races], I’ve been able to race with my buddies…Daniel Suarez, what a teammate to push me there at the end.”

    Elliott, Buescher, Truex, Logano and Bowman finished in the top 10. Notably, Erik Jones finished 14th ahead of Briscoe, Blaney fell back to 17th, teammates Harvick and Almirola ended up 21st and 22nd and Harrison Burton was the highest-finishing rookie in 25th.

    There were a record-setting 46 lead changes for a record-setting 20 different leaders. The race featured a record-tying 11 cautions for 56 laps.

    With his sixth-place result, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by seven points over Joey Logano, 15 over Chase Briscoe, 20 over William Byron and 23 over Ryan Blaney and Kurt Busch.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 111 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ross Chastain, 42 laps led

    3. Kurt Busch, four laps led

    4. Daniel Suarez, 13 laps led

    5. Corey LaJoie

    6. Chase Elliott, 29 laps led

    7. Chris Buescher

    8. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

    9. Joey Logano, 12 laps led

    10. Alex Bowman

    11. Justin Haley, one lap led

    12. Brad Keselowski

    13. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    14. Erik Jones

    15. Chase Briscoe, five laps led

    16. Josh Bilicki

    17. Ryan Blaney, 15 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    18. David Ragan

    19. BJ McLeod, two laps led

    20. Greg Biffle

    21. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

    22. Aric Almirola, six laps led

    23. Christopher Bell, 16 laps led

    24. Michael McDowell, four laps down

    25. Harrison Burton, four laps down

    26. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    27. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Dvp

    28. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    29. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    30. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident, 22 laps led

    32. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

    33. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, 21 laps led

    34. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

    35. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    36. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second running of the EchoPark Automotive Texas Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, March 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Newgarden captures thrilling last lap victory over McLaughlin at Texas

    Newgarden captures thrilling last lap victory over McLaughlin at Texas

    In what appeared to be a dominant victory within grasp for Scott McLaughlin for the second consecutive time into a new season of racing, teammate Josef Newgarden spoiled the party as he overtook McLaughlin with a daring pass on the outside lane on the final lane and with the finish in sight to win the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20.

    The 31-year-old Newgarden from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led a total of three of 248-scheduled laps compared to McLaughlin’s 186, but benefitted with the last lap pass and lapped traffic that briefly stalled McLaughlin’s progress to become the second winner of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday that determined the starting lineup, Felix Rosenqvist captured the pole position after posting a pole-winning, two-lap average of 221.110 mph. Joining him on the front row was Scott McLaughlin, who earned his maiden IndyCar victory at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, in February and posted a two-lap average at 221.096 mph.

    Prior to the event, Santino Ferrucci replaced Jack Harvey in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda after Harvey did not receive medical clearance to compete following a practice accident on Saturday.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Rosenqvist maintained a steady advantage for nearly a full lap until McLaughlin used the outside lane to lead the first lap by a hair. 

    As the field fanned out and jostled for positions early, McLaughlin was out in front followed by Rosenqvist, Will Power, Takuma Sato and Helio Castroneves, who was being pressured by Colton Herta for more.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, McLaughlin was leading by two-tenths of a second over Rosenqvist while Sato, Power and Herta were in the top five. Castroneves was in sixth followed by Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus Veekay. By then, Alexander Rossi, who was in 12th place, was penalized for jumping the start when he pulled his No. 27 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda out of line prior to the start.

    Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Rossi fell off the pace due to a mechanical issue and was creeping to pit road below the apron.

    Four laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of Rosenqvist and Sato as the field settled in a long single-file line.

    By Lap 25, McLaughlin was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over Rosenqvist followed by Sato, Herta and Power while Castroneves, Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Ericsson and rookie Kyle Kirkwood were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Newgarden was back in 11th, Alex Palou was in 13th ahead of Romain Grosjean and Simon Pagenaud and Jimmie Johnson was in 20th ahead of Graham Rahal.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, McLaughlin stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over Rosenqvist while Sato, Herta, Power, Castroneves, Dixon, O’Ward, Kirkwood and Newgarden were scored in the top 10.

    Nearly five laps later, pit stops under green commenced as Rinus VeeKay pitted followed by Marcus Ericsson and the leader McLaughlin. During the pit stops, David Malukas stalled his car while trying to exit his pit stall and nearly collided with Sato, which cost the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion from Japan time on pit road. 

    By Lap 75 and with the pit stop cycle under green complete, McLaughlin was back in the lead by more than 12 seconds over his Team Penske teammate Newgarden while Arrow McLaren SP’s O’Ward and Rosenqvist battled for third place. Behind, Herta for Andretti Autosport was in fifth ahead of Ericsson, Dixon, Power, VeeKay and Castroneves. Meanwhile, Conor Daly was penalized for pit speed violation.

    On Lap 99, the caution flew when Sato slipped in the marbles and made light contact against the outside wall in Turn 1 as a result of making earlier contact with Devlin DeFrancesco’s No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Dallara-Honda entering the turn. By then, McLaughlin had his advantage of nearly 12 seconds over teammate Newgarden reduced to half.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power along with Dixon and Ericsson. During the pit stops, O’Ward hit his left-front tire changer while teammate Rosenqvist overshot his pit stall and endured a slow pit stop, which cost him time and positions. In addition, Romain Grosjean retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 28 Andretti Autosport Dallara-Honda.

    When the race restarted on Lap 113, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power as the field scrambled for positions. 

    Just then, the caution returned when Kyle Kirkwood, who was battling DeFrancesco on the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4, got loose, spun and backed his No. 14 AJ Foyt Dallara-Chevrolet against the outside wall, which ended his day with a wrecked race car.

    With the race surpassing its halfway mark under caution on Lap 124, McLaughlin was out in front ahead of teammates Newgarden and Power along with Dixon, Ericsson, VeeKay, Herta, Alex Palou, Pagenaud and Graham Rahal, who started at the rear of the field. 

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 127, McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of teammates Newgarden, Power and the field. Not long after, however, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that involved DeFrancesco, Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves in Turn 3. During the caution period, Rosenqvist’s strong start to the weekend ended on a low note after he retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet

    With the event reaching the final 100 scheduled laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, McLaughlin maintained a steady lead until Newgarden assumed the top spot a lap later. Behind, Rinus VeeKay charged his way towards the front as he moved into the top four before moving into third place ahead of Power.

    Shortly after, the battle for the lead ignited as McLaughlin reassumed the lead while VeeKay joined the battle and overtook Newgarden for the runner-up spot. 

    On Lap 159, VeeKay moved his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet to the top spot. Five laps later, however, Power muscled his No. 12 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet to the lead as Scott Dixon was in third place.

    With less than 50 laps remaining and pit stops under green occurring for a majority of the field, David Malukas, who has yet to pit, was leading followed by Callum Ilott. Behind, VeeKay, who pitted, was in third ahead of McLaughlin and Newgarden. 

    On Lap 206, McLaughlin cycled back to the lead after Ilott pitted while Newgarden, VeeKay, Ericsson and Power were in the top five. Behind, Pagenaud was in sixth while Jimmie Johnson was up in seventh place ahead of teammates Scott Dixon and Alex Palou.

    With 30 laps remaining, McLaughlin was leading by nearly a second over teammate Newgarden while Ericsson was in third place. Power was in fourth ahead of VeeKay while Pagenaud, Johnson, Dixon, Palou and Santino Ferrucci were in the top 10. 

    Ten laps later, McLaughlin continued to lead by more than two-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden while Ericsson remained in the final podium spot in third place. While Power and Pagenaud settled in fourth and fifth, Johnson was up in sixth place. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, McLaughlin was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden amid lapped traffic followed by Ericsson while Power and Johnson were in the top five. Pagenaud, Dixon and Palou were in sixth, seventh and eighth while VeeKay was back in ninth ahead of Ferrucci. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, McLaughlin, who continued to navigate his way through lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden, who was trying to reduce the gap between himself and his Penske teammate. Then with McLaughlin mired behind some more lapped cars, this allowed Newgarden to narrow the deficit and gain a huge run to the outside of teammate McLaughlin through Turn 3. With both Penske teammates dead even approaching the finish line, Newgarden muscled ahead and stole the show and the win by 0.0669 seconds over McLaughlin.

    The victory was Newgarden’s first of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season, second at Texas and the 21st of his career. With the victory, Newgarden also rewarded the 600th overall motorsports win for Team Penske as he ignites his bid for his third IndyCar title.

    “Oh my gosh!” Newgarden exclaimed on NBC. “I was fuming in the car. We had all this traffic and it wasn’t helping me. And then right when I needed it to help me, it helped me literally last corner, last lap. The traffic helped me out. Unbelievable. I hate doing that to a teammate, but I was going for it just like he was. We were driving hard. Man, I was loose. I was driving things sideways off in [Turns] 3 and 4 every lap I was trying to get a run, but Team Chevy, what an unbelievable job. Just so pleased for everybody. It was so good to drive this PPG car again with Team Chevy. That’s what it’s all about at Texas. I hope we come back [to Texas]. Let’s come back!”

    McLaughlin, who led a race-high 186 of 248 laps, settled in second place as he fell short in his bid to claim back-to-back IndyCar victories. Despite the result, McLaughlin made a trip to Victory Lane to congratulate teammate Newgarden on the win.

    “Second’s a great day,” McLaughlin said. “Unfortunately, we led a lot of laps and at the end of the day, we lost it though. If you’re gonna lose to anyone, your teammate is a great guy to lose it to. Congrats to Josef and the PPG team. Gutted I couldn’t get it done for XPEL and Chevy but at the end of the day, with the air, I learned a lot [from] this race. I’m gutted. It’s how it is, but I’m pretty proud of how we’re running.”

    Ericsson came home in a strong third place for his fifth top-three career result in IndyCar competition while Will Power and Scott Dixon finished in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson achieved his maiden top-10 result in IndyCar competition after methodically racing his way to a career-best sixth-place result in his maiden IndyCar oval event and at a track where he won at seven times in NASCAR.

    “I had hoped to qualify in the top 10 and race in the top 10,” Johnson said. “Once we hit the halfway point in the race, I really could sense and feel the car, and it became second nature, and off I went. I’m just very thankful for the support that I have from Chip Ganassi Racing, my teammates, team members, fantastic support from Carvana. We knew going oval racing would help, and today got us in a competitive mix. When I was racing with [Dixon] at the end, I thought that was pretty cool and pretty fun. We had a little trouble with our telemetry and didn’t know how much fuel I had saved, so I had to really go into conserve mode at the end and couldn’t fight for that top five, but what a special day. Just very thankful.”

    Teammate Palou finished seventh while Pagenaud, Ferrucci and VeeKay completed the top 10.

    With his runner-up result, Scott McLaughlin continues to lead the points standings by 28 points over teammate Will Power, 30 over Alex Palou, 32 over teammate Josef Newgarden, 39 over Marcus Ericsson and 42 over Scott Dixon.

    Results.

    1. Josef Newgarden, three laps led

    2. Scott McLaughlin, 186 laps led

    3. Marcus Ericsson, 10 laps led

    4. Will Power, 20 laps led

    5. Scott Dixon

    6. Jimmie Johnson

    7. Alex Palou

    8. Simon Pagenaud

    9. Santino Ferrucci

    10. Rinus VeeKay, five laps led 

    11. David Malukas, three laps led

    12. Colton Herta, one lap down

    13. Ed Carpenter, one lap down

    14. JR Hildebrand, one lap down

    15. Pato O’Ward, one lap down

    16. Callum Ilott, one lap down

    17. Dalton Kellett, two laps down

    18. Conor Daly, three laps down

    19. Christian Lundgaard – OUT, Accident

    20. Takuma Sato – OUT, Accident

    21. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Halfshaft

    22. Graham Rahal – OUT, Accident

    23. Helio Castroneves – OUT, Accident

    24. Devlin DeFrancesco – OUT, Accident

    25. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Accident

    26. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Engine

    27. Alexander Rossi – OUT, Battery

    Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, which will occur on April 10 at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Leclerc leads a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

    Leclerc leads a 1-2 finish for Ferrari in 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix

    Charles Leclerc and Ferrari commenced the 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship season with an emphatic statement after both captured a dominant victory in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, March 20.

    The 24-year-old Leclerc from Monte Carlo, Monaco, who qualified on pole position on Saturday, took off with the lead at the start, led all but two of the 57-scheduled laps and benefitted from three strong, strategic pit stops to remain ahead of his front-runners en route to a victory over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. under caution as Ferrari captured a 1-2 finish to commence their bid for this year’s championship battle. 

    The victory at Bahrian was the third of Leclerc’s Formula One career and first since winning the Italian Grand Prix in September 2019. In addition, Ferrari captured its first Grand Prix victory since the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix in September with Sebastian Vettel.

    “It feel amazing,” Leclerc said. “It really feels amazing. After all the hard work, to do the pole yesterday felt good, but I had to finish the business today and to have a race win, especially with a one, two [finish] for the team, it feels absolutely incredible.”

    “A victory’s always very, very special,” Leclerc added. “I definitely feel much grown as a driver compared to my victory in 2019. Here today, everything felt a bit more under control and it felt nice. Obviously, there were some tense moments on track with Max [Verstappen] after the first stop, with the Safety Car restart after that, but everything was managed well. It’s great.”

    “So happy,” Mattia Binotto, Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari, added. “I think we’re not expecting or hoping for such a good result at the end. It’s great to be here, to win and finally, a one, two [finish]. I think it has been, overall, a great team effort, great team result. Everyone worked very well. Both drivers did a fantastic race.”

    Behind, Sainz, who qualified in third place, commenced his eighth full-time season in F1 competition by tying his career-best result of second place.

    “I think it’s a great day for the team,” Sainz said. “It’s a massive day. I just need to say congratulations to everyone, to everyone back at the factory because you cannot imagine how much hard work there’s behind these results. These last two years, there’s been a lot of struggles, a lot of suffering and suddenly, to come back with a one, two, it’s something huge for Italy, for Ferrari. Great day. Time to celebrate and then, time to get our heads down and keep going.”

    Rounding out the podium was Sir Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time F1 champion, who never contended for the victory but settled quietly near the top five, settled in third place for his 183rd career podium in Formula One competition.

    “Honestly, I’m generally quite happy with today, given the struggle that we’ve had in the forms we’ve had,” Hamilton said. “I’m positive. I had a pretty decent lap in the end. I’m excited. I know it’s a long, long season. It’s easy to get down when you know that you can’t compete for wins, but just proud of the team. Proud of us all keeping our heads down. I know that this is the best team. We will huddle together, unite and fix whatever problems we have, and be back in the fight with these guys.”

    While Ferrari celebrated their strong start to the season, Red Bull Racing, the reigning champions, were left disappointed after both Max Verstappen and Sergio “Checo” Perez retired late due to late fuel pump issue. Verstappen, the reigning champion, retired on Lap 54 of 57 after he fell off the pace due to his mechanical issues while running in second place, thus retiring in 19th place. Meanwhile, Perez, who had third place locked up on the final lap, spun through the first turn and just in front of Hamilton as he was unable to continue. With his late issues, Perez settled in 18th place as both competitors failed to record points for Red Bull Racing one race into the new season and in their bids to defend the drivers’ championship.

    George Russell, Hamilton’s new full-time Mercedes teammate, came home in fourth place while Kevin Magnussen finished fifth in his return to Formula One competition following a one-year absence, thus scoring the first points for the Haas F1 Team since the Eifel Grand Prix in October 2020 with former F1 competitor Romain Grosjean.

    Valtteri Bottas earned a strong sixth-place result in his first event with Alfa Romeo F1 Team Orlen followed by Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Fernando Alonso. Rookie Guanyu Zhou for Alfa Romeo completed the top-10 points-paying results by capturing his maiden point in F1 with a 10th-place result.

    The first competitor to finish outside of the points was Mick Schumacher, who rallied from an early spin following contact with Ocon, in 11th place followed by Lance Stroll, Alexander Albon, Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris. Nicholas Latifi finished 16th while Nico Hülkenberg, who filled in as an interim competitor for Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel after Vettel tested positive for COVID-19, settled in 17th place.

    Pierre Gasly settled in 20th place, dead last, following a late overheating issue to his AlphaTauri-RBPT under the final 15 laps.

    Results:

    1. Charles Leclerc, 26 points, 55 laps led

    2. Carlos Sainz Jr., 18 points, two laps led

    3. Lewis Hamilton, 15 points

    4. George Russell, 12 points

    5. Kevin Magnussen, 10 points

    6. Valtteri Bottas, eight points

    7. Esteban Ocon, six points

    8. Yuki Tsunoda, four points

    9. Fernando Alonso, two points

    10. Guanyu Zhou, one point

    11. Mick Schumacher

    12. Lance Stroll

    13. Alexander Albon

    14. Daniel Ricciardo

    15. Lando Norris

    16. Nicholas Latifi

    17. Nico Hülkenberg

    18. Sergio Perez – Retired

    19. Max Verstappen – Retired

    20. Pierre Gasly – Retired

    Following the first event of the 2022 F1 season, Charles Leclerc leads the drivers’ standings by eight points over teammate Carlos Sainz Jr., 11 over Lewis Hamilton, 14 over George Russell, 16 over Kevin Magnussen and 18 over Valtteri Bottas. 

    In addition, Ferrari leads the constructors’ standings by 17 points over Mercedes, 34 over Haas Ferrari, 35 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 36 over Alpine Renault.

    Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Jeddah Corniche Circuit for the second running of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which will occur on Sunday, March 27.

  • Ty Gibbs storms to a final lap Xfinity victory at Atlanta

    Ty Gibbs storms to a final lap Xfinity victory at Atlanta

    In the first NASCAR Xfinity Series event at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway that featured close-quarters competition from start to finish, including through two overtime attempts, Ty Gibbs used a bold crossover move on Ryan Sieg on the final lap to win the Nalley Cars 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 19.

    The 19-year-old grandson of team owner Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, survived a chaotic afternoon featuring nine cautions as he only led the final lap and became the first repeat winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season.

    The starting lineup for the event was determined through the Performance Metrics formula based on four statistics: drivers’ results, owners’ race and points results and the fastest lap from the previous Cup event. With that, Noah Gragson, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Phoenix Raceway, started on pole position. Joining him on the front row was teammate Josh Berry.

    The use of the Performance Metrics formula occurred after rain cancelled all on-track activities on Friday, which resulted with the Xfinity competitors receiving a single practice session on Saturday in place of on-track qualifying.

    Prior to the event, Matt Mills, Jeffery Earnhardt, Loris Hezemans, Ryan Sieg and Stefan Parsons dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustment to their respective machines. In addition, Riley Herbst pitted prior to the start due to a tire issue.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gragson took off with an early advantage followed by teammate Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Trevor Bayne and Justin Allgaier.

    By the fifth lap, Gragson was leading by over Brandon Jones followed by Trevor Bayne, Ty Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger and the field.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event, Gragson continued to lead by more than a tenth of a second over Jones while Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five. Bayne was back in sixth followed by Justin Allgaier, Brandon Brown, Berry and Brett Moffitt were in the top 10.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Gragson fended off Allmendinger to retain the lead and the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Gragson remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric, who initially pitted under the completion caution, pitted again.

    On Lap 26, the race restarted under green. At the start, Brandon Jones peaked ahead before Gragson reassumed the lead on the inside lane and when the field returned to the start/finish line. 

    By Lap 30, Gragson was leading by more than a tenth of a second over Jones followed by Gibbs, Allgaier, Berry and the field. 

    Shortly after, Berry used the inside lane to his advantage as he challenged Jones for the runner-up spot before teammate Gragson moved to the inside lane to retain the lead. That, however, allowed Jones, who was the lead competitor on the outside lane, to challenge Gragson for the lead. 

    As the field continued to battle dead even towards the front, Gragson continued to lead followed by Jones and Berry as teammate Sam Mayer joined the battle for the lead.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 40, Berry managed to overtake and edge teammate Gragson to claim the stage victory, which was also his first of the season. Behind Berry and Gragson were teammates Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer while Trevor Bayne settled in the top five. Austin Hill, Jeb Burton, Brandon Brown, Brandon Jones and Brett Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

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

    The second stage started on Lap 47 as Allmendinger and teammate Landon Cassill occupied the front row. At the start, the Kaulig Racing teammates battled dead even until Allmendinger pulled ahead through the frontstretch. With Allmendinger ahead by a narrow margin, Cassill battled Jade Buford for the runner-up spot followed by rookie Austin Hill and Daniel Hemric. 

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, Gragson, who was trying to carve his way back to the front, pitted under green after making contact with the outside wall. Not long after, Riley Herbst pitted to address an overheating issue to his Ford.

    Back on the track, Allmendinger was leading ahead of teammate Hemric while Jade Buford, Tommy Joe Martins and Sage Karam were in the top five. 

    On Lap 60, Allmendinger continued to lead by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Hemric followed by Buford, Martins, Karam, Brandon Brown, Bayne, Allgaier, Jeb Burton and rookie Sheldon Creed.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger remained in the lead ahead of teammate Hemric, Buford, Martins, Karam and the field, with the top-15 competitors separated by less than two seconds. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 80, Allmendinger retained the top spot as he claimed his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Hemric settled in second followed by Buford, Martins, Karam, Creed, Brown, Hill, Jeb Burton and Cassill.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for adjustments as Creed emerged with the top spot.

    With 75 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Creed received a push from teammate Hill to lead ahead of Allmendinger while the field jostled for positions.

    Five laps later, Creed was leading followed by teammate Hill, Jones, Bayne and Buford while Allmendinger, Mayer, Allgaier, Myatt Snider and Gibbs were in the top 10.

    Another six laps later, Bayne stormed to the front followed by Snider and Gibbs while Creed and Hill were left battling with Gragson in the top five. Then, an intense side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Snider and Bayne while Gibbs, Gragson, Creed and Hill were left battling in the top six. 

    Under the final 60 laps of the event, the top-15 competitors were separated by a second as Bayne was out in front followed by teammate Gibbs and Gragson. 

    Then with 57 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jade Buford spun and wrecked in the backstretch as he also collected Jeremy Clements, Jeb Burton and Anthony Alfredo. The incident spoiled Buford’s strong run towards the front as he parked his car in the garage.

    Under caution, some led by Bayne remained on the track while others led by Gragson pitted.

    With 51 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Bayne and Hill battled dead even for the lap. Just as the field returned to the start/finish line, the caution returned when Hemric, who battling Joe Graf Jr. and Brandon Brown in a three-wide battle, slid in front of Joe Graf Jr. and made hard contact against the Turn 4 outside wall.

    Following an extensive clean-up session, the race restarted under green with 41 laps remaining. At the start, Hill battled for the lead on the inside lane, but Bayne used the outside lane to fight back on the outside lane. 

    During the following lap, Bayne received a push from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs and Brandon Jones to storm clear with the lead as Brandon Brown moved into fourth place while Hill was left battling Allmendinger for fifth place.

    A few laps later, Hill slipped back to eighth place in front of teammate Sheldon Creed as the front-runners settled in a long single-file line towards the outside wall. By then, Bayne remained as the leader followed by teammates Gibbs and Jones.

    Then with 34 laps remaining, the caution flew when Sam Mayer spun across the frontstretch and near the pit road entrance. 

    Four laps later and with darkness looming over the track, the race restarted under green. At the start, Bayne rocketed with the lead followed by teammates Gibbs and Jones. Soon after, Brown moved up to fourth followed by Hill while Allmendinger launched a challenge as the lead competitor on the inside lane. Hill, however, moved to the inside lane as he then made a bid for the lead against Bayne.

    With 25 laps remaining, the caution flew when Brandon Brown spun in Turn 1 after making contact with Creed, which Brown barely clipped Berry before he spun below the apron. At the moment of caution, Hill emerged with the lead over Bayne. During the caution period, Allgaier pitted while the rest of the field pitted.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Hill and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Bayne gave Hill a shove for the latter to lead and clear the field. 

    With 15 laps remaining, the top-nine competitors were separated under a second as Hill was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Cassill, Berry, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Bayne and Ryan Sieg. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, Bayne, who was trying to overtake Hill for the lead on the outside lane, made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1. With the field scrambling and moving to the inside lane, Bayne made contact with Berry in Turn 2, which sent Berry and teammate Gragson around as a multi-car wreck ensued. Among those involved included Allgaier, Mayer, Jeb Burton, Alex Labbe, Martins, Karam, Gibbs and Parsons.

    Following another extensive clean-up period, the race restarted with three laps remaining. Just as Hill started to peak ahead of Snider with drafting help from Ryan Sieg, the caution flew and the race was sent into overtime when Riley Herbst clipped and turned Myatt Snider in Turn 1.

    During the first overtime attempt, Sieg briefly battled against Hill for the lead when the caution flew due to a three-car wreck that involved Matt Mills, Stefan Parsons and Tommy Joe Martins. The wreck placed the competition in a red flag period before the competitors were sent into a second overtime attempt.

    At the start of the second overtime attempt, Hill and Sieg battled dead even through the first two turns and the backstretch before Sieg pulled ahead in Turn 3. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sieg was out in front until a strong crossover move by Gibbs enabled the No. 54 Sport Clips Toyota Supra to storm to the lead entering Turn 1. Meanwhile, Sieg was being overtaken by the field as he received no drafting help to return back to the lead. As the battles continued behind him, Gibbs was gone as he returned to the finish line uncontested and claimed his second checkered flag of this season.

    In addition to claiming his second victory of the 2022 Xfinity season, Gibbs recorded his first win in his first NASCAR national touring series start at Atlanta and his sixth career victory in his 23rd series start.

    “First of all, I wanna say all glory to God!” Gibbs exclaimed on FS1. “I wanna say thank you for letting Him be able to get me in these moments. Second of all, I wanna say thank you to my team. What the heck? Oh my gosh. I did not expect this at all. That was one of those where I learned a big lesson. Just never give up. Let’s go!”

    Hill, who notched his first Xfinity career win at Daytona International Speedway in February, settled in second place followed by AJ Allmendinger while Herbst and Landon Cassill finished in the top five.

    Mason Massey, a 25-year-old native from Douglasville, Georgia, notched his first top-10 career result in sixth place while Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Creed and Sieg completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were 11 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 56 laps.

    Despite finishing 26th, Gragson retains the lead in the regular season standings by 19 points over Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger with Justin Allgaier trailing by 51, Josh Berry by 59 and Brandon Jones over 70.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

    2. Austin Hill, 27 laps led

    3. AJ Allmendinger, 41 laps led

    4. Riley Herbst

    5. Landon Cassill

    6. Mason Massey

    7. Brandon Jones, one lap led

    8. Kyle Weatherman

    9. Sheldon Creed, 15 laps led

    10. Ryan Sieg, six laps led

    11. JJ Yeley

    12. Ryan Vargas

    13. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    14. Brett Moffitt

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Anthony Alfredo

    17. Shane Lee

    18. Brandon Brown

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Tommy Joe Maartins

    21. Sam Mayer

    22. Josh Williams

    23. Joe Graf Jr.

    24. Kyle Sieg

    25. Stefan Parsons

    26. Noah Gragson, 38 laps led

    27. Jesse Iwuji

    28. Trevor Bayne, 38 laps led

    29. Bayley Currey

    30. Myatt Snider, one lap down, two laps led

    31. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    32. Sage Karem – OUT, Accident

    33. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    34. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    35. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    36. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    38. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second trip to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 26, at 4:30 p.m ET on FS1.

  • Corey Heim scores first Truck Series career win at Atlanta

    Corey Heim scores first Truck Series career win at Atlanta

    Rookie Corey Heim executed a bold final lap pass over teammate Chandler Smith and fended off the field to win the Fr8 208 at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 19, for his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in his fifth series start.

    The 19-year-old Heim from Marietta, Georgia, who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series for Venturini Motorsports and in the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports, led four times for 22 of 150-scheduled laps as he received a boost from teammate John Hunter Nemechek, who was two laps behind, to overtake teammate Chandler Smith at the start of the final lap. Then for a single lap, Heim fended off a pack of storming trucks to notch his first career victory in his second series start of the season.

    The starting lineup for the event was determined through the Performance Metrics formula based on four statistics: drivers’ results, owners’ race and points results and the fastest lap from the previous Cup event. With that, Chandler Smith, winner of the previous scheduled Truck event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, started on pole position. Joining him on the front row was Stewart Friesen.

    The use of the Performance Metrics formula occurred after rain cancelled all on-track activities on Friday, which resulted with the Truck competitors receiving a single practice session earlier on Saturday in place of on-track qualifying.

    Prior to the event, Jordan Anderson, John Hunter Nemechek, Thad Moffitt, Chase Purdy and Ty Majeski dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustment to their respective trucks.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith peaked ahead with an early advantage until Friesen received a strong push from Matt DiBenedetto to take the lead. Then in Turn 3, DiBenedetto got into the outside wall in Turn 3 as the field overtook DiBenedetto’s slow truck through the turn. Meanwhile, Friesen led the first lap ahead of the field as the race continued to run under green. 

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Friesen was leading followed by Grant Enfinger, Carson Hocevar, Derek Kraus and Matt Crafton while Chandler Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Christian Eckes, Austin Wayne Self and Tanner Gray were in the top 10. 

    By Lap 20, Friesen continued to lead ahead of the field with the competitors mired in a tight, side-by-side battle for positions.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Friesen captured his first Truck stage victory of the season. Enfinger settled in second followed by Kraus, Eckes, Matt Crafton, Gray, Chandler Smith, Ross Chastain, John Hunter Nemechek and Ankrum. Meanwhile, Hailie Deegan pulled her No. 1 David Gilliland Racing Ford F-150 to pit road as her left-rear tire was on fire. The incident was enough to terminate her event on pit road.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Eckes emerged out in front with the lead. During the pit stops, Tyler Ankrum and Rhodes overshot their pit stalls. Chase Purdy and Brennan Poole were busted for speeding while Jesse Little and Chris Hacker were penalized for having a crew member over the pit wall too soon.

    The second stage started on Lap 37 as Friesen and Eckes occupied the front row. At the start, the leaders battled dead even through the backstretch until Friesen stormed to the lead on the outside lane. 

    At the Lap 40 mark, Friesen was leading by a tenth of a second over Nemechek followed by Eckes, Crafton, Majeski, Kraus, Chandler Smith, Preece, Zane Smith and Enfinger.

    Nearing the Lap 50 mark, the caution flew due to debris on the frontstretch that came off of the No. 20 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST piloted by Matt Mills. Under caution, some led by Friesen pitted while the rest of the field led by Nemechek remained on the track.

    With five laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek received a push from Eckes on the outside lane to peak ahead of Majeski for the lead. A few laps later, Majeski received a push from Chandler Smith to move in front of Nemechek for the lead. 

    Then prior to the final lap of the second stage, Nemechek bolted to the inside lane to reassume the lead over Majeski followed by teammate Chandler Smith. Shortly after, the caution flew due to a tire tread that came off of Ross Chastain’s No. 41 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST. The caution was enough for the second stage scheduled for Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Nemechek captured the stage victory. Majeski settled in second followed by Chandler Smith, Eckes, Ankrum, Crafton, Dean Thompson, Gray, Hocevar and Preece were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, names like Friesen, Rhodes, Enfinger and Jack Wood remained on the track while the rest of the field remained on the track. 

    The third and final stage restarted under green on Lap 66. At the start, Grant Enfinger muscled his GMS Racing machine to the top spot over Friesen.

    Then on Lap 68, the caution flew for a multi-truck wreck in Turn 3 that consumed Eckes, Jack Wood, Dean Thompson and Lawless Allen. Under caution, some including Preece remained on the track while the rest led by Enfinger pitted.

    Seven laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Heim received a push from teammate Chandler Smith to retain the lead over Preece while the field jostled for positions.

    The caution returned, however, on Lap 80 when Tate Fogleman spun on the frontstretch. Four laps later, the race proceeded under green as Heim moved into the lead over Preece. By then, Enfinger, who pitted, was penalized for running over his air hose on pit road.

    Then on Lap 91, the caution once again flew when Jordan Anderson and Tanner Gray made contact entering Turn 1, which got Anderson loose as he came down across the track and hit Tate Fogleman, which then sent Fogleman hard against the Turn 1 outside wall. 

    With 38 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Majeski shoved teammates Rhodes to the lead over Heim as the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch. 

    With the majority of the field settling in a long single file line, Rhodes was ahead of teammate Majeski, Heim, Preece and Zane Smith while Chandler Smith, Kraus, Nemechek, Chastain and Friesen were in the top 10.

    Following an incident involving Kris Wright with 35 laps remaining, the race restarted under green six laps later. At the start, the field locked in a side-by-side battle for the top spot until Rhodes managed to retain the lead by a narrow margin. Shortly after, Heim challenged Rhodes for the lead as he led the following lap. With Heim and Rhodes running the outside lane along with Preece, Chandler Smith challenged on the inside lane followed by Kraus. 

    Not long after, the battle for the lead intensified between Heim and Chandler Smith, both of whom representing Kyle Busch Motorsports and as Georgia natives competing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, teammate Nemechek, who was running near the top 10, was off the pace after making contact with Crafton through the backstretch. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with the battle for the lead fanning out to two lanes as the top-20 competitors were mired in a tight pack towards the front, Chandler Smith was ahead over teammate Heim followed by Tanner Gray, Friesen and Tyler Ankrum. 

    Five laps later, Chandler Smith settled with an advantage of more than a tenth of a second over teammate Heim while Friesen, Zane Smith and Rhodes were in the top five. Majeski was in sixth followed by Gray, Austin Wayne Self, Kraus and Ankrum.

    With 10 laps remaining, Chandler Smith continued to lead followed by teammate Heim, Friesen, Zane Smith, Rhodes and the field.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the front-runners continued to run in a single file line with the top-11 trucks separated by more than a second as Chandler Smith remained in the lead ahead of teammate Heim, Zane Smith, Rhodes and Majeski. By then, Nemechek, who was two laps down, blended in with the leaders.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Heim made his move beneath teammate Chandler Smith followed by teammate Nemechek, Rhodes and the field while Chandler Smith was trapped on the outside lane. Through the backstretch and Turn 3, Heim continued to lead as Rhodes tried to make a final lap charge for the top spot. With the field fanning out approach the finish line, Heim managed to streak across the finish line in first place to claim his first checkered flag by 0.173 seconds over Rhodes.

    With the victory, Heim became the 119th different competitor to achieve a Truck Series victory and the 12th to do so while competing for Kyle Busch Motorsports as KBM notched its fourth Truck victory at Atlanta. Heim is scheduled to compete in 13 of the remaining 21 Truck events in KBM’s No. 51 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

    “That was awesome!” Heim said on FS1. “I can’t believe it. We just put ourselves in the right place at the right time. Our JBL Tundra TRD Pro was amazing today. Just can’t thank everyone enough back at the shop. Toyota Racing helped so much to get here and this truck looks awesome in Victory Lane. So glad to be here.”

    “[There were] No team orders there [for the finish],” Heim added. “As long as one [Kyle Busch Motorsports] truck won, that’s all that matters. [Teammate Chandler Smith] did an awesome job defending for most of the race there and [teammate John Hunter Nemechek] stuck with me when it mattered the most. [I] Got to give all the credit to John Hunter Nemechek for helping out there. It’s surreal. Awesome.” 

    Rhodes settled in second place followed by Majeski while Chandler Smith fell back to fourth place in front of Zane Smith.

    “I would’ve liked to duke it out with [Heim], just us and not have anyone else in the middle of it,” Chandler Smith said. “It is what it is. I’m happy for [the 51 team]. That’s their first win of the year and first win for Corey. That’s exciting, I remember how it was to get my first and it was a really cool moment. Happy for him and happy for that whole group. [Crew chief Danny] Stockman and everybody back at KBM. They give me a really fast Safelite/Charge Me/NGE Roofing Toyota Tundra TRD Pro today. It just sucks that it had to end like that. I wish we could’ve duked it out.

    Friesen, Preece, Gray, Kraus and Austin Wayne Self came home in the top 10. Notably, Enfinger finished 14th, Eckes finished 17th, Nemechek and Crafton finished 24th and 25th and DiBenedetto settled in 30th.

    There were 18 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 40 laps.

    With his fourth-place result, Chandler Smith continues to lead the regular season standings by 13 points over Tanner Gray, 17 over Ty Majeski, 26 over Stewart Friesen and 27 over Ben Rhodes.

    Results.

    1. Corey Heim, 22 laps led, 

    2. Ben Rhodes, nine laps led

    3. Ty Majeski, one lap led

    4. Chandler Smith, 21 laps led

    5. Zane Smith

    6. Stewart Friesen, 49 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Ryan Preece, four laps led

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Derek Kraus

    10. Austin Wayne Self

    11. Tyler Ankrum

    12. Grant Enfinger, 14 laps led

    13. Jack Wood

    14. Chase Purdy

    15. Jesse Little

    16. Christian Eckes, three laps led

    17. Chris Hacker

    18. Jordan Anderson

    19. Matt Jaskol

    20. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    21. Kris Wright, one lap down

    22. Timmy Hill, one lap down

    23. Ross Chastain, two laps down

    24. John Hunter Nemechek, two laps down, 11 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    25. Matt Crafton, two laps down, one lap led

    26. Colby Howard, two laps down

    27. Carson Hocevar, three laps down

    28. Brennan Poole, five laps down

    29. Blaine Perkins, nine laps down

    30. Matt DiBenedetto, 12 laps down

    31. Tate Fogleman – OUT, Accident

    32. Thad Moffitt – OUT, Engine

    33. Lawless Alan – OUT, Accident

    34. Dean Thompson – OUT, Accident

    35. Matt Mills – OUT, Suspension

    36. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Tire

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which will occur on Saturday, March 26, at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.