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Byron caps dominant run with thrilling overtime victory at Las Vegas

In an event dominated by a trio of Hendrick Motorsports competitors, William Byron benefitted from a two-tire pit strategy during a late caution period to win the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in overtime on Sunday, March 5.

The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 176 of 271 over-scheduled laps in an event where he swept both stages and kept his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports entry upfront throughout the event. In the closing laps, however, he found himself trailing teammate Kyle Larson by more than two seconds.

Initially set for a runner-up finish, Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle seized an opportunity when Aric Almirola drew a caution with four laps remaining by opting for two fresh tires and exiting pit road ahead of Larson. From there, Byron battled Martin Truex Jr., who remained on the track on old tires, through three turns before rocketing away from the field and cruising to the first victory of the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season for himself and for Hendrick Motorsports.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Joey Logano recorded his first Cup pole of the season and the 27th of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 186.053 mph in 29.024 seconds. Joining him on the front row was William Byron, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 185.153 mph in 29.165 seconds.

Prior to the event, Tyler Reddick dropped to the rear of the field after making an engine change to his No. 45 23XI Racing entry along with Harrison Burton, who competed in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s practice session. BJ McLeod also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his car.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Logano checked out with a strong start on the inside lane as he retained the lead for a full cycle before leading the first lap while the field behind fanned out and jostled for positions. With Logano leading, Byron battled and fended off Ryan Blaney for the runner-up spot while Kyle Larson was in fourth ahead of Ross Chastain, rookie Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

Then on the 10th lap, Byron tracked and overtook Logano with a strong move entering Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead. Larson would soon follow in the runner-up spot while Logano fell back to third in front of Chastain and Blaney.

Through the first 25 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by Chastain, Christopher Bell and Hamlin while Logano, Blaney, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. Behind, Bubba Wallace was in 11th ahead of Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick while Alex Bowman and Austin Cindric were running in the top 15. Meanwhile, Erik Jones was in 16th ahead of Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Aric Almirola and Daniel Suarez while Josh Berry, who was filling in the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the injured Chase Elliott, was mired back in 29th. By then, Gibbs had fallen back to 22nd, Chase Briscoe was in 25th, Harrison Burton was mired in 28th and Austin Dillon was back in 31st.

Then on Lap 32, Blaney, who was running in 10th place, pitted his No. 12 Pennzoil/Menards Ford Mustang under green. Blaney’s pit stop commenced the first cycle of green flag pit stops as Truex pitted followed by Hamlin, Cindric, Ryan Preece, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, rookie Noah Gragson, Logano, Harvick, Bell and Kyle Busch, who got into the backstretch’s outside wall a few laps earlier and had fallen out of the top 10. The leader Byron would soon pit on Lap 37 followed by teammate Larson as Keselowski cycled to the lead for a lap before he too pitted and gave the lead to Reddick. Following the pit stops, Michael McDowell and Gragson were penalized for speeding on pit road. Gragson’s event, however, went from bad to worse when he was penalized for speeding again while serving his first speeding penalty. Gibbs was also penalized for having too many crew members over the pit wall during his pit stop.

By Lap 41 and with the first round of green flag pit stops completed, Byron cycled his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back into the lead followed by teammate Larson while Chastain, Bell and Hamlin were in the top five. By then, Keselowski was up in sixth place followed by Truex while Wallace, Kyle Busch and Logano were in the top 10.

At the Lap 50 mark, Byron was out in front by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Larson followed by Chastain, Bell and Hamlin, all of whom, retained their respective spots in the top five while Keselowski, Truex, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Logano continued to run in the top 10. Behind, Blaney was in 11th while Reddick was up in 12th after starting at the rear of the field. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 14th in front of Erik Jones, Suarez was back in 18th and the following names that included Briscoe, Josh Berry and Austin Dillon were mired as the last competitors on the lead lap from 25th to 27th.

Fifteen laps later, Byron continued to lead by half a second over teammate Larson, who was slowly gaining ground on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, while Chastain, Bell and Hamlin remained in the top five. By then, Keselowski had fallen back to 10th while Truex, Wallace, Kyle Busch and Bowman moved up to sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. In addition, Reddick was in 11th while Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney fell back to 12th and 15th.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Byron claimed his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season after retaining the lead by four-tenths of a second over teammate Larson, who settled in second. Chastain settled in third ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Bell and Hamlin while Truex, Bowman, Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch and Keselowski were scored in the top 10. By then, 22 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names that included Preece, Berry, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe, Burton, McDowell and Gibbs were trapped a lap down.

Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Byron pitted and Byron retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by teammate Larson, Hamlin, Chastain, Truex and Bell. During the pit stops, Reddick, who pitted from 11th, was blocked by AJ Allmendinger and had to back up to leave his pit stall, thus dropping him to 20th.

The second stage started on Lap 89 as teammates Byron and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Byron rocketed with the lead ahead of teammate Larson as the field fanned out behind while jostling for positions. With Byron slowly checking out with a stable lead, Larson was being intimidated by Hamlin for the runner-up spot while Bell, Truex and Chastain jostled for fourth. Behind, Bowman challenged Wallace for seventh while Keselowski and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by Chastain while Bell, Bowman and Truex were in the top six. Meanwhile, Hamlin fell back to seventh in front of Wallace while Keselowski and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. Behind, Harvick was in 12th, Logano was still mired in 14th, Blaney was back in 17th behind Suarez and Cindric was running in 22nd, with 23 competitors scored on the lead lap. By then, on-track troubles ensued for a number of competitors running towards the middle and the rear of the field, among which included Gibbs who sustained left-front damage to his car and Berry making contact with the backstretch’s outside wall. Suarez and Buescher also encountered issues after they made contact with one another.

Twenty laps later, Byron extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Larson while their third teammate Bowman was up in third, trailing by more than seven seconds, in front of Bell and Truex while Chastain fell back to sixth in front of Hamlin.

Shortly after, Buescher pitted under green while most of the front-runners remained on the track. Then on Lap 124, Truex commenced the second wave of green flag pit stops as he pitted followed by teammate Bell, Chastain, Wallace, Keselowski and a bevy of competitors. Larson would also pit by Lap 126 along with Hamlin while Byron and Bowman pitted during the following lap. Once the second wave of green flag pit stops was completed, Byron cycled back to the lead by more than two seconds over teammate Larson while Bell, Bowman and Chastain were running in the top five.

At the halfway mark between Laps 133 and 134, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Larson followed by Bell, Bowman and Chastain while Wallace, Truex, Keselowski, Hamlin and Kyle Busch were competing in the top 10. By then, 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names like McDowell, Gibbs, Berry, Austin Dillon, Gragson, Burton, Briscoe and Stenhouse were not on the lead lap.

By Lap 150, Byron stabilized his advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Larson and more than eight seconds over teammate Bowman, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports competitors on the podium spots. By then, Bell and Truex were running in the top five while Wallace, who briefly ran in the top five a few laps earlier, was back in sixth in front of Chastain, Hamlin, Keselowski and Kyle Busch.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 165, Byron notched his second consecutive stage victory of the 2023 Cup season and of the event. Teammate Larson settled in second in front of teammate Bowman while Truex, Bell, Wallace, Chastain, Hamlin, Keselowski and Harvick were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors led by Byron returned to pit road for service and Byron retained the lead upon exiting pit road followed by teammates Larson and Bowman while Truex, Chastain and Bell exited in fourth through sixth, respectively. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch had issues exiting his pit stall while situated behind Reddick’s car, which was blocking Busch’s, as he dropped to 15th.

With 94 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as teammates Byron and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Byron muscled ahead on the inside lane and pulled away through the first two turns in front of Larson while Bowman settled in third. Behind, Truex was in fourth while Wallace battled Bell, Chastain, Suarez and Hamlin within the top 10. Wallace and Bell would continue to engage in a fierce side-by-side battle for fifth place while Suarez closed in on both.

Then with 84 laps remaining, the caution flew when Logano, who was engaged in a tight three-wide battle with Keselowski and Kyle Busch for spots in the top 15, made slight contact with Keselowski as he smacked the outside wall entering Turn 4 before spinning his No. 22 Pennzoil Ford Mustang across the grass while barely avoiding Stenhouse. Despite limping his car back to his pit stall, Logano’s pit crew exceeded the seven-minute Damaged Vehicle Policy rule while trying to repair the No. 22 entry, which ended his long afternoon in the garage.

During the caution period, the leaders led by Byron returned to pit road and Hamlin emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop. Bowman exited in second place and as the first competitor with four fresh tires while Larson, Byron, Suarez, Truex and Wallace followed suit. During the pit stops, Erik Jones backed up his No. 43 Legacy Motor Club entry to return to his pit stall to tighten a loose left-front wheel.

With 78 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Hamlin and Bowman occupied the front row. At the start, Hamlin maintained the lead while the field behind fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch. In the process, Truex, who pulled a bold three-wide move through the backstretch, moved up to second followed by Bowman and Larson while Byron was back in sixth behind Chastain. Shortly after, however, the Hendrick trio of Bowman, Larson and Byron overtook Truex as they launched their charge on Hamlin.

Then with 71 laps remaining, Larson, who stalked and battled with Hamlin for the top spot, succeeded in grabbing the lead from Hamlin while Chastain battled and overtook Bowman and Byron for third. Behind, Reddick was in sixth and was in the process of grabbing more against the Hendrick drivers before he got loose toward the outside lane and wall between Turns 1 and 2, which dropped him to 10th. As the series of battles ensued around the track continued, Harvick was up in sixth behind Byron, Bowman and Truex while Chastain fell back in seventh in front of Wallace and Suarez.

With 60 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than a second over Hamlin while Byron, Bowman and Truex were scored in the top five. Chastain was in sixth while Harvick, Wallace, Blaney and Suarez occupied the top 10 in front of Reddick, Kyle Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Keselowski and Aric Almirola. Meanwhile, Bell, who restarted 10th during the previous restart, was back in 20th after reporting a vibration to his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota TRD Camry.

With less than 50 laps remaining, Larson continued to lead by six-tenths of a second in front of Hamlin while third-place Byron trailed by more than two seconds. Bowman remained in fourth followed by Truex while Chastain, Harvick, Blaney, Wallace and Suarez battled in the top 10. Shortly after, another round of green flag pit stops ensued as Hamlin pitted followed by the leader Larson. Truex would also pit along with Kyle Busch, Harvick, Austin Dillon, Byron, Chastain, Reddick, Erik Jones, Wallace, Suarez and others. During the pit stops, Gragson was busted for speeding on pit road for a third time in the event.

Back on the track with less than 45 laps remaining, Keselowski, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Larson, Hamlin, Byron and Truex, all of whom pitted earlier. Keselowski, however, would pit with 40 laps remaining as Larson cycled back to the lead by more than a second over Hamlin and more than two seconds over Byron.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Byron as Hamlin fell back to third. Truex and Bowman were running in the top five while Chastain, Harvick, Wallace, Blaney and Kyle Busch contended in the top 10. By then, Suarez and Bell were back in 11th and 12th, Reddick was mired back in 15th and Keselowski fell back to 18th in front of Ty Gibbs.

With 20 laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Byron and more than six seconds over third-place Hamlin. Larson continued to lead by more than three seconds over Byron with 10 laps remaining and by more than two seconds with five laps remaining.

Then with four laps remaining, the caution flew when Almirola got loose and slapped his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang into the outside wall in Turn 4. The caution all but erased Larson’s steady advantage of more than two seconds over Byron and sent the event into overtime. During the caution period, Truex remained on the track on old tires and inherited the lead while the rest of the leaders led by Larson pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron, who opted for two fresh tires, edged teammate Larson to exit pit road first followed by Hamlin, Bowman, Chastain and Wallace.

At the start of the first overtime attempt, where Truex and Byron occupied the front row, Byron challenged Truex dead even through the first two turns while the field behind fanned out to three and four lanes. As Truex tried to peek ahead entering Turn 3, the two fresh tires played into the favors of Byron as he rocketed away with the lead while clearing the field.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron was out in front over Truex, who had Bowman, Larson, Wallace and Bell jostling behind him. Then entering the backstretch, Larson and Bowman threaded Truex through three lanes as they overtook him for second and third. By then, however, their teammate Byron was gone. With a multi-car wreck erupting on the backstretch that involved Allmendinger, Preece and McDowell, Byron remained as the leader and was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch to claim his first checkered flag of the season.

In addition to becoming the third different winner through the first three races of the 2023 season, Byron notched his fifth career victory in NASCAR’s premier series, his first at Vegas and his first since winning at Martinsville Speedway in April 2022. He also recorded the third consecutive victory of the season for Chevrolet, the 292nd career win for Hendrick Motorsports and the 98th victory for the No. 24 in the Cup circuit.

“[I’ve] just been really confident about the group of guys that I have on this No. 24 team,” Byron said on FOX. “They work extremely hard. We spent a lot of time in the off-season just going through running at the sim [simulator] with Chevy and running on iRacing and just trying to get better as a race car driver and as a team. It’s all about the team. It’s a great pit crew. This RaptorTough.com Chevy was awesome. When we got back in traffic, it was a little bit tight, but we knew we had speed, so we just had to have the right things play out and [crew chief] Rudy [Fugle] made a good call. It was good. I knew [the pit crew] could get it done at the end. Luckily, it worked out there. Excited for the year.”

Meanwhile, Larson, who led 63 laps and was poised for the victory during the race’s scheduled distance, settled for a disappointing runner-up result. This season marks his second consecutive runner-up result in the spring Cup event at Vegas.

“It’s just part of Cup racing,” Larson said. “It seems like kind of [count] laps down, lap by lap and then, sure enough, the yellow lights come on. You just got to get over that and then try to execute a good pit stop. I thought I did a really good job getting to my pit sign and getting to the commitment line. I had a gap to William behind me. Their pit crew must have just did a really good job and got him in front of us. That gave up the front row to us, so I knew I was in trouble with [Truex] staying out. I felt like William was gonna get by him. Just a bummer that we didn’t end up the winner, but all in all, William probably had a little better car than I had today. Their pit crew executed when they needed to at the end.”

Bowman came home in third place, thus placing three Hendrick Motorsports competitors in the top three, while Bubba Wallace capped off a strong run by finishing fourth and achieving his first top-five run of the season following two consecutive DNFs. Bell rallied late to complete the top five in fifth while Cindric, Truex, Justin Haley, Harvick and Suarez finished in the top 10.

“If you can somehow get a good restart, get to the white flag and they crash, you can win the [race],” Truex said. “It almost happened. We were second at the white, we were second into Turn 1 on the last lap and just got tight and got into a bad spot off of [Turn] 2. Lost momentum down the [backstretch]. All in all, it was a solid day for our Bass Pro Shops Camry TRD. Everybody did a good job. I think we were about a third-place car or maybe fourth. Just a good solid day. We’re in Vegas. We might as well roll the dice and like everybody says, you come here to gamble. We gave up a few spots, but all in all, it was a solid day.”

Notably, Josh Berry finished 29th while filling in for the injured Chase Elliott. In addition, Hamlin ended up 11th in front of Chastain, Blaney rallied for 13th, Kyle Busch ended up 14th in front of Reddick, Keselowski settled in 17th and Ty Gibbs ended up as the highest-finishing rookie in 22nd.

There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 26 laps. Only 18 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the third event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Ross Chastain continues to lead the regular-season standings by three points over Alex Bowman, 21 over Kevin Harvick, 25 over Daniel Suarez, 27 over Martin Truex Jr. and 30 over Denny Hamlin.

Results:

1. William Byron, 176 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Kyle Larson, 63 laps led

3. Alex Bowman, two laps led

4. Bubba Wallace

5. Christopher Bell

6. Austin Cindric

7. Martin Truex Jr., three laps led

8. Justin Haley

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Denny Hamlin, 10 laps led

12. Ross Chastain

13. Ryan Blaney

14. Kyle Busch

15. Tyler Reddick, three laps led

16. Aric Almirola

17. Brad Keselowski, five laps led

18. AJ Allmendinger

19. Erik Jones, one lap down

20. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

21. Chris Buescher, one lap down

22. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

23. Ryan Preece, one lap down

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

25. Michael McDowell, one lap down

26. Harrison Burton, two laps down

27. Austin Dillon, two laps down

28. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

29. Josh Berry, two laps down

30. Noah Gragson, two laps down

31. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

32. BJ McLeod, five laps down

33. JJ Yeley, six laps down

34. Ty Dillon, six laps down

35. Cody Ware, 12 laps down

36. Joey Logano – OUT, DVP, nine laps led

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the series’ third and final stretch of a three-race West Coast swing. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 12, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

March 5, 2023
Stenhouse survives double overtime for first Daytona 500 title

In NASCAR’s longest-ever running of the Great American Race to commence the sport’s 75th anniversary of competition, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. muscled his way to win the 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 19, amid two overtime attempts and a series of late carnages.

The 35-year-old Stenhouse from Olive Branch, Mississippi, rallied from a late pit road speeding penalty to take the lead from reigning series champion Joey Logano during the first of two overtime attempts. He then had to endure a second overtime attempt, where he nearly lost the lead on the final lap before a draft from Christopher Bell enabled Stenhouse to fend off Logano and remain ahead of him prior to a vicious multi-car wreck on the final lap that concluded the event under caution and sent the driver of the No. 47 JTG-Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team to Victory Lane. In total, Stenhouse led the final 10 of 212 over-scheduled laps.

The starting lineup was determined through two single-car qualifying sessions that occurred on Wednesday, February 15, followed by a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that occurred on Thursday, February 16. For the third time in his career, Alex Bowman started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.057 mph in 49.708 seconds. Joey Logano and Aric Almirola occupied the second row after both won their respective Duels. The only competitor to drop at the rear of the field was Kyle Busch in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the second Duel event.

When the green flag waved and the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, teammates Bowman and Larson dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes entering the first two turns. While Larson tried to pull ahead on the inside lane with drafting help from Logano, Bowman muscled away with the lead as he had a stronger draft on the outside lane followed by Almirola entering the backstretch. Larson then tried to pull even to Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the inside lane exiting the backstretch as he had Logano drafting him. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Larson managed to pull ahead and lead the first lap by a hair over Bowman as the field remained dead tight through two packed lanes.

Through the first five scheduled laps and with the field remaining in tight formation through two tight-packed lanes, teammates Bowman and Larson remained dead even for the lead followed by Almirola, Logano and Christopher Bell while Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski and Corey LaJoie were in the top 10. Behind, Chris Buescher occupied 11th while Todd Gilliland, Michael McDowell, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Ryan Preece, Zane Smith and Noah Gragson were running in the top 20.

At the Lap 10 mark, Bowman managed to break ahead with the lead followed by teammate Larson, while Almirola, Logano and Cindric were in the top five. By then, names like William Byron, Ross Chastain, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon were mired outside the top 20 while Conor Daly, Travis Pastrana, rookie Ty Gibbs and Jimmie Johnson were running towards the rear of the field.

Two laps later and just as Larson managed to break away from the pack with drafting help from Logano, Bell gained a strong run on both front-runners and made his move to the outside lane entering the frontstretch as he challenged Larson for the lead with drafting help from Bowman. He would prevail through the backstretch and clear the field with Bowman remaining right behind his No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota TRD Camry.

By Lap 25, Bell was scored as the leader despite remaining in a tight side-by-side battle against Larson amid two packed lanes. Bowman, Almiorla, Logano, Cindric, Blaney, Elliott, LaJoie and Keselowski were running in the top 10 while Johnson and Kyle Busch were scored in 26th and 33rd, respectively. A few laps later, Ty Dillon fell off the pace and took his car to the garage following a mechanical issue to his Spire Motorsports entry while the race remained under green flag conditions.

At the Lap 35 mark, Almirola ignited his challenge for the lead as he gained a draft from Cindric on the inside lane to lead a lap for himself ahead of Bell. By then, Conor Daly made a pit stop under green while names like Corey LaJoie, Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin emerged in the top 10. A lap later, however, Bowman navigated his way back into the lead as he had LaJoie pushing him while battling Bell.

Then during the following lap, the Ford competitors led by Almirola and Logano peeled off the track and on pit road for their first service of the event. A bevy of Chevrolet competitors led by rookie Noah Gragson and Bowman would pit during the following lap while the rest of the field that included a multitude of Toyota competitors and Chevrolet competitor Kyle Busch pitted during the following lap. During the final wave of pit stops, newcomer Riley Herbst locked up the front tires and spun his No. 15 SunnyD Ford Mustang behind Busch while trying to enter pit road, but the event remained under green flag conditions. Herbst, however, was assessed a pass-through penalty for a commitment line violation. Despite remaining on track to lead two laps for himself before pitting by himself under green, Pastrana was also penalized with a pass-through penalty for driving his No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota TRD Camry through too many pit boxes while exiting his pit stall.

By Lap 40 and with the first wave of pit stops being completed under green, Hamlin cycled his way into the lead followed by teammate Bell, Reddick, Briscoe and Almirola while Wallace, Cindric, Truex, Blaney and Kyle Busch were running in the top 10. Soon after, the field returned to competing within two tight-packed lanes as Briscoe drew himself in a side-by-side challenge against Hamlin for the lead.

On Lap 52, early trouble struck for Bubba Wallace, who moved up to the outside lane while battling with Briscoe for the lead before he got bumped by a fast-charging Truex on the backstretch as he slapped the outside wall. Despite keeping his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry straight, he dropped to the rear of the field, pitted under green and returned on the track as he would eventually lose a lap to the leaders. Amid Wallace’s issue, Truex moved into the lead followed by his Toyota teammates Hamlin, Bell, Tyler Reddick and Gibbs.

By Lap 60, Truex retained the lead ahead of a long line of competitors that included teammates Hamlin and Gibbs while Almirola and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top five. By then, Jimmie Johnson was in eighth in between Ryan Preece and Kevin Harvick while Reddick and Bell were mired back in 12th and 25th, respectively.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 65, Keselowski, who commenced a late drafting charge to the front before overtaking Truex during the stage’s final lap with drafting help from a multitude of Ford competitors, claimed the first stage victory of the 2023 season. Ford competitors Preece, Buescher, Harvick and McDowell followed suit in the top five while Gibbs, Johnson, Almirola, Truex and Todd Gilliand were scored in the top 10, all of whom received the first wave of stage points. By then, names that included Hamlin, Byron, Cindric, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch, Justin Haley, Chase Elliott, Logano, Reddick and Blaney were running in the top 20 as 32 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap. In addition, AJ Allmendinger received the free pass after managing to remain as the first competitor a lap down ahead of Wallace, Zane Smith and BJ McLeod.

Under the stage break, the entire field led by Keselowski pitted and Preece exited with the lead followed by Keselowski, Harvick, Almirola and McDowell. During the pit stops, Buescher had to back up to get into his pit stall while Hamlin and Logano nearly made contact against one another, with Logano running his car into the grass, while trying to exit pit road amid a tight scramble.

The second stage started on Lap 71 as Preece and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Preece and Keselowski duked for the lead until Keselowski gained a draft from Almirola through the backstretch and moved in front of Preece’s No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang to lead a lap for himself. Almirola, however, was quick to challenge Keselowski on the outside lane as he had Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang drafting him while Keselowski remained in front of Preece and Harvick on the inside lane.

Through the first 80 scheduled laps, Keselowski and Almirola continued to duke for the lead followed by Preece, Cindric and Harvick while Byron, McDowell, Buescher, Truex and Gilliland were in the top 10. Behind, Kyle Busch, Logano, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Blaney, Johnson, Larson, Elliott, Haley and Reddick were running in the top 20 while Gibbs, Bowman, Stenhouse, Ross Chastain, Briscoe, Harrison Burton, Bell, Gragson, Allmendinger and Daniel Suarez were mired in the top 30. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon was scored as the final competitor on the lead lap in 33rd while Wallace was still mired a lap down in 34th in front of Zane Smith and Pastrana.

Ten laps later, Keselowski continued to lead on the inside lane followed by Preece and Harvick while McDowell and Almirola battled for fourth place in front of two tight-packed lanes.

At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Keselowski retained the lead ahead of the pack and a long line of competitors running on the inside lane. By then, Preece remained behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot followed by Harvick, McDowell and Erik Jones while Johnson, Larson, Reddick, Stenhouse and Truex were running in the top 10. By then, Kyle Busch was trying to launch a second drafting lane on the outside lane as he was just scored outside of the top 10 while 33 of 40 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Eight laps later, a multitude of competitors led by Kyle Busch and including a majority of Chevrolet competitors pitted under green for a second time while the rest of the field led by Keselowski remained on the track. Following the first wave of pit stops, Busch was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. Shortly after, a small wave of competitors led by Keselowski pitted for service under green. A wave of Toyota competitors including Ford competitor Harvick, followed suit during the next lap before Logano led the final wave of competitors down to pit road by the Lap 110 mark.

Once the green flag pit stops completed, Logano cycled into the lead followed by Buescher and Blaney. All three, however, were quickly caught by the field led by Reddick entering the frontstretch and chaos nearly ensued when Blaney and Buescher tried to stall the run from the pack. Once the field settled through two packed lanes, Logano retained the lead followed by teammate Blaney while Truex, Gibbs and Larson were in the top five. By then, Erik Jones, Buescher, Byron, Reddick and Harvick occupied the top 10.

Then on Lap 118, the caution flew when Harvick bumped and got Reddick’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry loose in Turn 4 as he clipped Blaney while barely missing Truex before both veered sideways and hit the outside wall. While the oncoming competitors behind scrambled to avoid the carnage, Erik Jones veered sideway below the apron along with Larson before he spun backwards and was hit by Elliott while Suarez also made contact against Elliott. While Blaney continued despite falling off of the lead lap category, top names that included Elliott, Jones and Reddick were eliminated from contention. During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while others led by Logano remained on the track.

With six laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Logano and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Logano rocketed away with the lead on the inside lane followed by Truex while Chastain was locked in a battle with AJ Allmendinger for third place. A lap later, Chastain drew his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 alongside Logano as he proceeded to lead a lap for himself before Logano returned the favor during the next lap. Chastain would then manage to reassume the lead and have both lanes to his control while Bowman and Logano dueled for second.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 130, Chastain edged Bowman by 0.015 seconds to claim the second stage victory. Logano settled in third while Stenhouse, Logano, Cindric, Truex, Byron, Allmendinger, Buescher and Bell were scored in the top 10 as the field fanned out to three lanes while streaking across the start/finish line.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Chastain, except for Wallace, pitted for service and Almirola exited with the lead after only opting for fuel followed by Buescher, Byron, Larson and Cindric. During the caution period, Chastain was penalized for speeding while entering pit road along with Gragson, who was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Bell was also penalized for running over his air hose.

With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Wallace and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Wallace jumped ahead with the lead as he had both lanes to his control through the first two turns. Through the backstretch, he moved from the bottom to the top lane to remain in front of Byron. This, however, allowed Almirola to gain the draft and move into the lead on the inside lane followed by Buescher as Larson also moved up to third.

Two laps later, the caution returned due to debris in the form of a right-front tire that came off in Turn 2 and off of Blaney’s damaged No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang. During the caution period, names that included Larson, Byron, Briscoe, Logano, Gragson, Truex, Cody Ware, Allmendinger, Stenhouse, Gilliland, Zane Smith, Bowman, Logano and Kyle Busch pitted, mainly for fuel. During the pit stops, Bowman endured a slow pit service to have his car repaired after making contact with Gragson while trying to enter his pit stall.

During the following restart with 57 laps remaining, Wallace and Almirola dueled for the lead for a second time before Almirola quickly pulled away on the inside lane as he was being drafted by Buescher and Harvick while Wallace had Cindric drafting him. During the following lap, Cindric along with a majority of competitors running on the outside lane overtook Wallace as Wallace lost the draft while being stuck in the middle of three packed lanes and fell back to 16th. Meanwhile, a side-by-side action for the lead was occurring between Almirola and Buescher.

With 50 laps remaining, Buescher was leading ahead of teammate/owner Keselowski followed by Almirola, Hamlin and Harvick while LaJoie, Cindric, Haley, Preece and Johnson were in the top 10. Shortly after, Hamlin drew his challenge for the lead beneath Buescher’s No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang, but the latter remained within contention.

Under the final 40 scheduled laps, the top-33 competitors on the track were separated by less than two seconds and within two packed lanes as Buescher continued to lead with drafting help from Keselowski while Almirola, Cindric and Preece settled in the top five ahead of Harrison Burton, McDowell, Hamlin, Suarez and Larson.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Buescher retained the lead followed by a long line of competitors running on the outside lane, which included seven Fords occupying the top-seven spots that included Keselowski, Almirola, Cindric, Preece, Burton and McDowell. A lap later, Wallace pitted for fresh tires and fuel under green.

Then with 25 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Buescher pitted under green, mainly for fuel, as Suarez took over the lead. The Toyota competitors led by Hamlin and Truex would pit during the following lap before a group of five led by McDowell pitted during the ensuing lap. More competitors led by Suarez would then pit with 21 laps remaining as Burton emerged with the lead. Shortly after, Burton pitted along with a handful of competitors including Logano. During the pit stops, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.

Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when a stack-up on the outside lane entering Turns 1 and 2 resulted with McDowell hitting and sending Preece sideways as Preece spun below the track and hit the right side of Johnson’s car before he shot back up to the wall and ignited a multi-car wreck that collected Truex, Briscoe, Gibbs and Harvick. At the moment of caution, Burton, who had just pitted under green, cycled into the lead followed by Logano, Byron, Kyle Busch and Larson while Austin Dillon, Suarez, Allmendinger, Keselowski and Gragson were running in the top 10.

Down to the final 13 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Burton and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Burton and Logano battled dead even for the lead. As Burton tried to pull ahead through the backstretch, Logano gained the upper hand on the inside lane as he assumed the lead followed by Byron, Allmendinger and Larson. Then through the frontstretch, Logano’s car dipped below the double yellow lines. This caused a brief stack up as Byron was left in the middle of a three-wide battle and began losing spots after losing the draft. Then through the backstretch, Allmendinger forced his way below Logano as he took the lead followed by Larson as Logano was losing spots on the outside lane while nearly making contact with Burton.

As the field fanned out and jostled for positions toward the front with 10 laps remaining, Keselowski cycled his way back into the lead followed by Buescher, Allmendinger, Larson and Busch. Busch would soon move up to third followed by teammate Austin Dillon and Byron while Allmendinger was slowly losing ground after losing the lead pack.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Keselowski was leading teammate Buescher while Busch settled in third as he had teammate Dillon and Byron drafting him while Stenhouse, Logano, Cindric, Bell and Larson in top 10.

Then with four laps remaining, Busch dropped the hammer through the backstretch as he moved to the outside lane and was drafted into the lead followed by Dillon, Byron and Stenhouse while Keselowski and Buescher were stuck on the inside lane with no additional help as they dropped to fifth and sixth. Then as Busch led the field towards the frontstretch with the start/finish line within sight, the caution flew with two laps remaining and the event was sent into overtime when Suarez got turned and spun towards the frontstretch before getting his No. 99 Tootsies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 stuck on the frontstretch grass.

At the start of the first overtime attempt, Busch, who started on the outside lane alongside Dillon, jumped ahead before crossing over in front of Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to get the draft from his Richard Childress Racing teammate while Logano tried to rally on the outside lane. Logano would gain the upper hand through the backstretch as he had Stenhouse, Larson and Bell pushing him while Busch had to save his No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from going off the track after getting bumped by Dillon. Then, Stenhouse moved to the inside of Logano as he took the lead followed by Larson. Not long after, however, the caution returned and the field was sent into a second overtime attempt when Dillon got bumped and turned by Byron exiting the backstretch as he bumped into Hamlin before sending himself and Byron for a spin. Both Dillon and Byron then veered back up the track and ignited another multi-car pileup in Turn 3 that involved Haley, Gilliland, Cindric, Burton, Gragson, Chastain, Zane Smith, Herbst and Johnson, whose strong run came to an end with a wrecked race car. In the midst of the carnage, Busch, who lost his teammate and drafting partner, fell back to sixth behind Logano and Allmendinger.

At the start of the second overtime attempt, where Stenhouse and Larson occupied the front row, Stenhouse retained the lead despite receiving pressure from Logano, Larson, Busch and a pack of cars through double lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Stenhouse remained as the leader before being overtaken by both Logano and Larson exiting the frontstretch. Entering Turns 1 and 2, however, Stenhouse received a push from Bell on the inside lane to mount his way back to the front and draw himself alongside Logano. Then through Turns 1 and 2, Pastrana got bumped by Almirola as he clipped Larson and sent Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 head-on into the outside wall. The contact triggered a massive wreck on the final lap that included Busch, Blaney, Cindric, Wallace, Keselowski, Hamlin and Allmendinger. The wreck on the final lap was also enough for NASCAR to conclude the event under caution and Stenhouse, who was low on fuel in overtime, emerged as the winner as he was out in front when the caution was displayed ahead of Logano and Bell.

With the victory, Stenhouse became the 42nd different competitor to win the Daytona 500 as he notched his third NASCAR Cup Series career victory and snapped a 199-race winless drought, with his last victory occurring at Daytona in July 2017. He also recorded the second Cup career victory for JTG-Daugherty Racing, which celebrated a Daytona 500 pole with Stenhouse in 2020, as co-owners Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty became the first female and African-American duo as co-owners of a car to win the 500. Stenhouse’s victory also occurred in his first race being reunited with veteran Mike Kelley, who led Stenhouse to back-to-back Xfinity Series championships in 2011 and 2012.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I think this whole off season [period], [crew chief] Mike [Kelley] just preached how much we all believed in each other,” Stenhouse, who celebrated by climbing the frontstretch catchfence, said on FOX. “[The team] left me a note on the car that said they believe in me and to go get the job done tonight. I made a few mistakes. We were able to battle back. This Kroger/Cottonelle team worked really, really hard this off-season. Great pit stops, Hendrick engines, glad a Chevy won. Man, this is unbelievable. This is the sight of my last win back in 2017. We worked really hard. We had a couple shots last year to get a win and fell short. It was a tough season, but man, we got it done. Daytona 500.”

“I knew I was gonna take the top [lane for the second overtime],” Stenhouse added. “I was hoping [Logano] was gonna follow and he did. He was able to push us out. I went to the bottom [lane]. [Busch] and [Logano] got a huge run. [Larson] split me in the middle, but another fellow dirt racer with Bell gave me a good shot down the little short chute into [Turn] 1. Man, we were out front when the caution came out. We were out of fuel, so the fuel light was going crazy, but man, I hope you all [fans] had fun. That was a heck of a race!”

While Stenhouse celebrated the victory, Logano, the reigning series champion, settled in a disappointing second place while Bell, Buescher and Bowman finished in the top five.

“Second’s the worst, man,” Logano said. “You’re so close. Leading the white flag lap there, I was up front. Kyle gave me a good push and you’re watching in the mirror and you’re three wide across there…You think you’re racing to the checkered flag and you put yourself in the best position to try to win at the start/finish line, and just caution came out. You wish you could race to the end. Obviously, you can’t when they wreck that much. Congratulations to Ricky. There’s nothing like winning the Daytona 500. That’s why it stings so much finishing second, but still proud of the team, still proud of the effort coming off the championship last year and bringing this Shell/Pennzoil Mustang back toward the front and getting a Ford close to the front. Wish it was in Victory Lane, though.”

“If you would’ve told me pre-race I was gonna run third, I would’ve jumped up and down and smiling ear to ear,” Bell said. “I am very happy and very, very thankful that I would get this Rheem and DeWalt Camry a good solid finish, but man, just so close to a crown jewel. I feel like if [the race] would’ve stayed green, I would’ve been on offense. Who knows, who knows, but very proud and thankful to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing. That’s really cool. Very, very happy for Ricky.”

Allmendinger, who was involved in the final lap multi-car melee, rallied to come home in sixth place while Suarez, Blaney, Chastain and Riley Herbst achieved top-10 results. Notably, Pastrana finished 11th in his Cup debut, Harvick finished 12th in his 22nd and final Daytona 500 career start in front of Zane Smith, Hamlin fell back to 17th while Larson, Kyle Busch, Wallace, Almirola, Keselowski and Cindric ended up 18th through 23rd, respectively, after wrecking on the final lap. In addition, Conor Daly and Johnson ended up 29th and 31st, respectively, in the final running order.

There were 53 lead changes for 21 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 38 laps. At 212 laps (530 miles), this season marked the longest-ever running of the Daytona 500 in distance.

Following the first event on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule, Joey Logano leads the regular-season standings by two points over Chris Buescher, four over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., eight over Christopher Bell, 11 over Alex Bowman and 14 over Ross Chastain.

Results.

1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10 laps led

2. Joey Logano, 12 laps led

3. Christopher Bell, 20 laps led

4. Chris Buescher, 32 laps led

5. Alex Bowman, 12 laps led

6. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

7. Daniel Suarez, three laps led

8. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

9. Ross Chastain, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

10. Riley Herbst

11. Travis Pastrana, two laps led

12. Kevin Harvick, one lap led

13. Zane Smith

14. Cody Ware

15. Martin Truex Jr., 13 laps led

16. Corey LaJoie

17. Denny Hamlin, six laps led

18. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident, six laps led

19. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, six laps led

20. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident, five laps led

21. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

22. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Accident, 42 laps led, Stage 1 winner

23. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

24. Noah Gragson, two laps down

25. Ty Gibbs, two laps down

26. Harrison Burton, two laps down, nine laps led

27. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

28. Michael McDowell, four laps down

29. Conor Daly, six laps down

30. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

31. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Accident

32. Justin Haley – OUT, Accident

33. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

34. William Byron – OUT, Accident

35. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident, five laps led

36. Ryan Preece – OUT, Accident, four laps led

37. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

38. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident

39. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

40. Ty Dillon – OUT, Engine

With the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season underway, the competitors and teams will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing, beginning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which will mark the sport’s final competition at the two-mile speedway venue. The event is scheduled to occur on next Sunday, February 26, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

February 19, 2023
Logano edges Bell for first Bluegreen Vacations Duel win; Zane Smith transfers to Daytona 500

The reigning two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano prevailed in a final lap duel against Christopher Bell to win the first of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 16.

The first Duel victory for Logano occurred as he led the final 29 of 60 scheduled laps, with his first opportunity of leading occurring following the first and only cycle of green flag pit stops just past the halfway mark. Then on the final lap, he fended off a brief challenge from teammate Ryan Blaney and Kevin Harvick entering the backstretch before he came under fire from Bell entering the frontstretch. Locked in a side-by-side battle with Bell coming to the finish line, Logano was able to pull ahead and edge him by 0.018 seconds to win a Daytona Duel event for the third time in his career.

The Duel victory also awarded Logano a handful of championship points and the third-place starting spot for this year’s 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 as he will contend for his second victory in the Great American Race.

Prior to the event, Alex Bowman, who claimed the pole position for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Wednesday night, started on the pole for the first Duel event and was joined on the front row by teammate William Byron. Meanwhile, newcomer Chandler Smith dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his Kaulig Racing entry.

When the green flag waved and the first Duel event commenced, teammates Bowman and Byron dueled for the lead early through the first two turns. As Byron peeked ahead on the inside lane, Bowman fought back on the outside lane through the backstretch as he had drafting help from Ryan Blaney and Bubba Wallace. Shortly after, Blaney ducked his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang below Bowman’s No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 3 and 4 as he assumed the lead followed by Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Blaney led the first lap followed by Wallace, Bowman, Ross Chastain and Byron as the field started to fan out to three lanes. Shortly after, Bowman dropped to the rear of the field to preserve his pole-winning car as Chastain launched his early bid for the lead against Blaney.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Blaney and Chastain were engaged in a side-by-side battle for the lead while rookie Ty Gibbs, Wallace, Christopher Bell, Byron, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Erik Jones and Harrison Burton were in the top 10 amid the field being stacked up and competing through two lanes. By then, all but one of 21 starters were separated by nine-tenths of a second while Bowman was mired all the way at the rear of the field in 21st place.

At the Lap 10 mark and with the front-runners settling in a single-file line, Blaney was leading ahead of Wallace, Byron, Logano and Burton while Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Michael McDowell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chastain were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Zane Smith and Chandler Smith, who were battling for a transfer spot for Sunday’s Daytona 500, were in 11th and 14th, respectively.

By Lap 20, Blaney continued to lead ahead of Wallace, Byron, Logano, Burton, Buescher, Harvick, McDowell, Stenhouse and Zane Smith while Bell, Gibbs, AJ Allmendinger, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Chandler Smith, Cody Ware, Johnson, Ty Dillon and Bowman rounded out the 21-car field.

A lap later, green flag pit stops ensued as all the Chevrolet competitors pitted. Following the pit stops, however, Stenhouse and Chandler Smith were penalized for speeding on pit road as they were forced to serve a drive-through penalty through pit road under green.

At the halfway mark on Lap 30, Blaney retained the lead ahead of Wallace, Logano, Burton, Buescher, Harvick, Bell, McDowell, Zane Smith and Gibbs, with the top-nine competitors being separated by a second while the Chevrolet competitors led by Byron in 12th were trailing the leaders by more than 45 seconds. By then, Zane Smith occupied a transfer spot in 10th while Chandler Smith was mired back in 20th.

Shortly after, a host of competitors led by Blaney pitted under green. Following the pit stops, Gibbs was penalized with a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. When the field returned to the track under green, Logano cycled his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang into the lead followed by Harvick and Blaney.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Logano was leading a nine-car breakaway that included Harvick, Blaney, Buescher and Bell while Burton, Wallace, McDowell and Zane Smith while Byron was mired back in 10th. By then, the top-nine competitors who pitted on Lap 31 were leading 10th-place Byron and a host of Chevrolet competitors who pitted on Lap 22 by more than nine seconds. In addition, Zane Smith, who opted only for fuel during his green flag pit stop, was running in a transfer spot in ninth while Chandler Smith was mired towards the rear of the field in 21st place and a lap down.

With 10 laps remaining, Logano continued to lead ahead of Harvick, Blaney, Buescher and Bell while Burton, Wallace, McDowell, Zane Smith and Byron remained in the top 10. Logano would also retain the lead ahead of Harvick and a bevy of competitors with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader ahead of Harvick as Blaney, Bell and Wallace moved to the outside lane in their bids to challenge Logano for the win. Just past the frontstretch, Harvick pulled up to block Blaney’s momentum, but Blaney ducked to the inside lane as he tried to challenge Harvick for second place. Harvick, however, fought back on the outside lane with drafting help from Bell and Wallace while Blaney was slowly losing ground and the draft.

Then through the backstretch, Bell pulled his No. 20 DeWalt/Rheem Toyota TRD Camry below Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Ford Mustang as he moved into second place. Shortly after, he made his move to the outside of Logano through Turns 3 and 4. Entering the frontstretch, Bell and Logano remained dead even for the lead until Logano, who had teammate Blaney gaining ground on him in the draft, managed to pull his Ford on the inside lane and edge Bell by 0.018 seconds to win the first Duel event.

Logano’s Duel victory was his first since 2020 and also the seventh overall for Team Penske as the Ford nameplate has achieved at least one Duel victory for a seventh consecutive victory.

“Just a great job by the Shell/Pennzoil team,” Logano said on FS1. “The execution of this race is everything. You know most likely there won’t be a caution, so you got to do a good job on pit road, cycle yourself to the front, but then, I’m sitting there as the leader. I’m thinking, ‘Man, I am a sitting duck. This is not where I want to be.’ I was hoping they started racing back there, which they did, which ended up kind of working out for me. When [Bell] got to me, I saw Blaney was behind me and I was like, ‘There’s my buddy. I gotta stick with him.’ I knew [Bell] would make the run to the outside [lane] and I probably wasn’t going be able to defend that. [I] Waited for [Blaney] to push me through there, so good Penske effort there to get a Duel win. Much better than what happened last year. I’m glad to have a nice start over here to this season.”

Bell settled in second place followed by Blaney, Buescher and McDowell while Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Zane Smith, Harrison Burton and Byron finished in the top 10 on the track.

Meanwhile, Zane Smith was also left smiling on pit road after finishing in eighth place and racing his way into the Daytona 500 for the first time in his career. The 500 event will mark his second career start in NASCAR’s premier series and the first of select Cup starts for the Californian as he is set to compete in this year’s Craftsman Truck Series season to defend his series title.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Once we got to about 10 [laps] to go, I’m like, ‘Man, please, please, no caution,” Smith said. “Just a huge shoutout to my whole [Front Row Motorsports] team. Our Wellcare Mustang was good enough to get in, which there was a lot of really good open cars. Just so proud of everyone. Just unbelievable to be in the Great American Race.”

As a result, Chandler Smith, who could not recover from his early pit road speeding penalty, finished 21st and failed to qualify for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Nonetheless, he is set to compete on a full-time basis for Kaulig Racing in this year’s Xfinity Series season along with select Cup events throughout the year.

“Before [the race], I said I’m fine if I don’t make it, but it’d be awesome if I made it,” Smith said. “I’m a believer. I had a lot of fun right there. Even from that one Duel, I just learned so, so much, which was awesome taking that in. We weren’t able to get it this year, but hopefully, we can come back next year, make another attempt and get in on time.”

Amid the battles between the two Smiths, Jimmie Johnson, who finished 14th, claimed his starting spot for the 500 based on his qualifying speed from Wednesday night.

There were four lead changes for three different leaders. The event featured no cautions.

Results.

1. Joey Logano, 29 laps led

2. Christopher Bell

3. Ryan Blaney, 30 laps led

4. Chris Buescher

5. Michael McDowell

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Bubba Wallace

8. Zane Smith

9. Harrison Burton

10. William Byron

11. Ross Chastain, one lap led

12. Erik Jones

13. Austin Dillon

14. Jimmie Johnson

15. AJ Allmendinger

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

17. Alex Bowman, one lap down

18. Chandler Smith, one lap down

19. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

20. Cody Ware, one lap down

21. Ty Dillon, one lap down

The second Bluegreen Vacations Duel is underway at Daytona International Speedway, which will complete the starting lineup for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for Sunday, February 19.

February 16, 2023
Bowman claims third Daytona 500 pole; Larson completes Hendrick Motorsports front row sweep

For the eighth time in nine seasons, Hendrick Motorsports captured the spotlight in a Daytona 500 pole qualifying session as Alex Bowman muscled his way to win the pole position for this year’s 65th annual running of the Great American Race at Daytona International Speedway on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

The qualifying format that determined the front row of this year’s 500 event was based on two qualifying sessions comprised of a single-lap session for each competitor. Following the first round, the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42 transferred to the second and final single-lap round to contend for the pole and a front-row starting spot.

In the end, Bowman, who was the antepenultimate competitor during the first session and the final competitor during the second session rolled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the track to post a qualifying lap. He secured the Busch Light Pole Award after posting a blazing pole-winning time of 49.536 seconds at 181.686 mph, which was enough to knock teammate Kyle Larson off the top of the qualifying chart. It was the 11th consecutive Daytona 500 pole for Chevrolet and the 16th overall for Hendrick Motorsports.

With his accomplishment, the 29-year-old Bowman from Tucson, Arizona, notched his fourth NASCAR Cup Series career pole and his third in the 500, which placed him in a tie with Fireball Roberts, Ken Schrader and Dale Jarrett for the second-most 500 poles in the series history. He also extended a personal record by claiming a front-row starting spot in the 500 for a sixth consecutive season. Bowman’s third 500 pole occurred in his first Cup points-paying qualifying attempt with his new crew chief Blake Harris, who replaced veteran Greg Ives after Ives retired from being a crew chief at the conclusion of the 2022 season. It also occurred after Bowman inked a three-year contract extension to remain at Hendrick Motorsports earlier in the day as he now attempts to win his first 500 in what will be his seventh start this Sunday.

“That’s the trick, right? We’ve, obviously, not been able to [win the Daytona 500] for the last five years,” Bowman said on FS1. “[We’re] Just trying to make the right decisions and transfer everything over to race trim for Sunday the best we can. Just so proud of Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop, all the guys. This Ally No. 48 Camaro’s, obviously, really fast. I don’t have a lot to do with qualifying here. Just fortunate to qualify some really fast race cars. Really cool to see Hendrick Motorsports one, two, three. I’ll take it. It’s pretty cool.”

Joining Bowman on the front row will be his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson, who posted the second-fastest qualifying time of 49.708 seconds at 181.057 mph as Hendrick competitors swept the front row for the 500 for the eighth time in 14 seasons. This season will mark both the second consecutive season and second overall where Larson will start on the front row for the Great American Race after winning his first 500 pole a year ago. Like Bowman, Larson will vie for his first 500 victory with this season marking his 10th career start in the Great American Race.

“[Owner Rick Hendrick]’s, obviously, really excited,” Larson said. “I think this is a big deal for him and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports, the engine shop at Hendrick. Really cool for the No. 48 team. That’s awesome. That’s pretty incredible, so hats off to that team. Congrats to Alex. Proud of everybody on the No. 5 team as well. It’s really awesome to be on the front row and know if you just finish the Duels tomorrow and don’t have to go to a backup car, you get to start on the front row on Sunday. Really looking forward to the Duels, getting some more laps, getting comfortable and then, get to race it on Sunday.”

William Byron, the 2019 Daytona 500 pole winner, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 49.799 seconds at 180.727 mph as he will be one of the remaining 40 competitors to vie for their official starting spots for the 500 through a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duel that will take place on Thursday, February 16. Veterans Aric Almirola and Joey Logano completed the top five in qualifying time and speed while Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Kyle Busch, all of whom advanced to the second and final qualifying round, rounded out the top 10 on the qualifying chart. Busch originally posted the sixth-fastest qualifying lap, but his time was stripped by NASCAR after he went below the yellow line boundary on the backstretch to complete his qualifying lap.

Bubba Wallace, who was one of 32 competitors who did not transfer to the second round, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 49.997 seconds at 180.011 mph followed by Daniel Suarez, Chris Buescher, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Ryan Preece, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, rookie Ty Gibbs and Tyler Reddick.

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson and Travis Pastrana were left celebrating on pit road with their respective teams and with each other after both achieved guaranteed spots for this year’s Daytona 500 by being the fastest two qualifiers competing for non-chartered teams.

Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and a two-time Daytona 500 champion with 83 career wins, emerged as the fastest competitor competing for a non-chartered team after posting the 23rd-fastest qualifying time of 50.202 seconds in 179.276 mph, which was enough to lock himself and his No. 84 Carvana Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team into the field. The accomplishment comes as Johnson enters the 2023 season as a part-time owner and competitor of Legacy Motor Club, rebranded from Petty GMS Motorsports, following a two-year absence from NASCAR competition. Sunday’s Daytona 500 will mark his 20th start in the Great American Race and the first of select events that have yet to be determined aside from the inaugural Cup event at the Chicago Street Course for Johnson.

“It feels great,” Johnson said. “Just a massive thank you to everyone at Legacy Motor Club. It’s been a lot of work to get three cars here, especially with how late this opportunity came along for me. That was stressful. It was hard to tell inside the car if it was a good lap or not. The RPM range is much different than the last time I was in a car and it just sounded flat and felt slow, but we’re sitting in a great spot as the fastest unchartered car. Very thankful for that.”

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Pastrana, a former NASCAR and stunt competitor with championship-winning and X Games gold medals across supercross, motorcross and rally competition, posted the 25th-fastest qualifying time of 50.208 seconds in 179.254 mph, which was enough to fulfill a childhood dream by securing his No. 67 Black Rifle Coffee Toyota TRD Camry team owned by 23XI Racing into Sunday’s main event. With his accomplishment, he will make his inaugural presence in NASCAR’s premier series during Sunday’s main event as he has previously made 42 career starts in the Xfinity Series and five in the Craftsman Truck Series. Pastrana’s previous NASCAR national touring series career start to date occurred during the Truck Series Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September 2020, where he finished 21st.

“I tell you what, qualifying for the 500, this is literally a dream come true,” Pastrana exclaimed. “This is bigger than big. Thank you so much to Black Rifle [Coffee], Dixon for giving me the opportunity to be here and for Denny [Hamlin], Michael [Jordan], everyone at the 23XI team for giving me a great car. I was sweating having to go to tomorrow. Like Kurt Busch said, now we go to tomorrow, now we learn. Now, the work starts.”

The remaining four open competitors that include Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Conor Daly will compete for the final two open spots for this weekend’s Daytona 500 through Thursday’s Duels. Smith, who was the first competitor to roll off of pit road to post his qualifying lap, rallied from stalling his car due to a mechanical issue with his No. 13 Quick Tie Inc. Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that forced the Georgian to return to pit road before he returned two competitors later to post his qualifying lap. Daly was the only competitor who did not post a qualifying lap due to an oil line issue to his No. 50 BitNile Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as he will start his Duel at the rear of the field.

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule are a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for February 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. First, on Thursday, the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel is slated to commence at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Duel event will follow suit at approximately 8:45 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 16, 2023
Logano captures second NASCAR Cup Series championship with dominant victory at Phoenix

Joey Logano capped off one of NASCAR’s competitive seasons to date by etching his name as a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion while claiming a dominant victory in the Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 6.

The 2018 Cup Series champion from Middletown, Connecticut, led five times for a race-high 187 of 312-scheduled laps, including the final 29. After receiving a stellar pit stop from his crew during a late caution period with nearly 40 laps remaining, Logano, who restarted behind Chase Briscoe and teammate Ryan Blaney with 33 laps remaining, managed to reassume the lead with 29 laps remaining. From there, he held off a late charge from Blaney and title rival Ross Chastain to win both the finale and the overall championship in 2022.

Logano’s second Cup Series championship comes in his 14th full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, his 10th while driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske and four years after claiming his first title.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Joey Logano, a Championship 4 finalist, claimed the final pole position of the 2022 season, which marked his fourth of the season and the 26th of his Cup career, after posting a pole-winning lap at 134.389 mph in 26.788 mph. Joining him on the front row was teammate Ryan Blaney, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 134.373 mph in 26.791 seconds. Logano’s title rivals Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain qualified fifth, 17th and 25th, respectively.

Prior to the event, Daniel Hemric was named an interim competitor of the No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry in place of Ty Gibbs, the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship. The news occurred after Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Coy Gibbs, co-owner of JGR and Ty Gibbs’ father, died at age 49 on Saturday evening and hours after Ty won the title, with the driver electing to not participate in the finale.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Logano fended off teammate Blaney and Chase Briscoe through the frontstretch dogleg to retain the lead as he also made his way through the first two turns. As the field fanned out and jostled for early positions for a full lap, Logano proceeded to lead the first lap.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Logano was leading by four-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney followed by Briscoe, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott while Martin Truex Jr., William Byron, rookie Harrison Burton, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Cole Custer was scored in 11th ahead of teammate Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola and Brad Keselowski while Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain and Michael McDowell were mired in the top 20.

Five laps later and at the Lap 10 mark, Logano retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney while Briscoe, Larson and Elliott remained in the top five. While title contenders Logano and Elliott were running in the top five, Bell, the third title contender, was back in 16th while Chastain, the fourth and final title contender who started 27th, was up in 18th while battling Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Hamlin for more.

Another 12 laps later, Blaney, who was running in second place, made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1. Despite the incident, Blaney managed to keep his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang running straight and in second place without drawing a caution but now found himself trailing Logano by more than two seconds.

At the Lap 30 mark, Logano continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Blaney followed by Briscoe, Larson and Elliott while Truex, Byron, Harvick, Reddick and Burton occupied the top 10 on the track. By then, all four championship finalists were running in the top 15 as Bell and Chastain were up in 13th and 14th, respectively.

By Lap 45, Logano’s advantage over teammate Blaney decreased to half a second, with the latter recovering from his early scrub against the outside wall to gain ground and commence his challenge for the lead. With Logano leading both the race and the championship early, his three title rivals that included Elliott, Bell and Chastain were in sixth, 11th and 14th, respectively.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Logano navigated his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang through lapped traffic and fended off teammate Blaney to capture his seventh stage victory of the 2022 season and strike first towards his bid to become a two-time Cup champion. Briscoe settled in third behind the two Team Penske Ford competitors while Larson, Truex, Elliott, Byron, Harvick, Reddick and Cindric were scored in the top 10. By then, title rivals Bell and Chastain were up in 11th and 13th, respectively, while 28 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the field led by Logano pitted for the first time for fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the pit stops, Logano retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Larson, Briscoe, Byron, Truex, Elliott, Blaney, Harvick, Bell and Chastain. By then, all four title contenders were scored in the top 10.

The second stage started on Lap 68 as Logano and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Logano rocketed with a strong start as he retained the lead through the first two turns followed by a side-by-side battle against Larson and Briscoe while the field fanned out and jostled for positions. With Logano out in front, Elliott was being challenged by Bell for sixth place while Truex and Byron were in the top five. Meanwhile, Chastain was in 11th while Blaney was back in eighth.

A few laps later, Bell overtook Elliott to move his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry into sixth place as he became the second-highest title contender on the track. Behind, Chastain navigated his way back into the top 10 in ninth while Truex muscled his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into third place over Briscoe’s No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang.

By Lap 80, Logano was leading by more than two seconds over Larson followed by Truex, Byron and Briscoe while Bell, Blaney, Elliott, Harvick and Chastain were in the top 10. Behind, Reddick was in 11th ahead of Cindric, Almirola, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones while Burton, Bubba Wallace, Alex Bowman, Hamlin and Austin Dillon occupied the top 20. Meanwhile, Allmendinger was back in 21st ahead of Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Daniel Hemric and McDowell while Brad Keselowski, Cole Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Justin Haley and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 30.

Five laps later, the caution returned when Landon Cassill slipped sideways and smacked the outside wall in Turn 2, where he was then hit by Stenhouse as Stenhouse, who had nowhere to go, spun. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Logano returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Erik Jones exited first after opting for a two-tire pit stop followed by Logano on four fresh tires, Larson, Truex, Briscoe, Blaney, Bell, Byron, Chastain and Elliott. Back on the track, however, Cole Custer assumed the lead after electing to remain on the track.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 90, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the dogleg as Logano pulled a bold three-wide move to reassume the lead. Behind, Jones retained second while Larson, Blaney and Truex were carving their way through the field to return toward the top of the leaderboard. As the field jostled for positions, Custer was slowly losing spots on the track while on worn tires.

By Lap 94, Bell, who made contact with Elliott a lap earlier, got loose entering Turn 4 as he checked up and fell back to 14th while Elliott was trapped in a three-wide battle against Kevin Harvick and Custer for a spot in the top 10. This allowed Chastain to rocket his No. 1 Worldwide Express/Advent Health Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 past both and into seventh place as he became the second-highest title contender on the track while Logano preserved his advantage of more than a second.

At the Lap 100 mark, Logano was leading by more than two seconds over Larson followed by Blaney, Truex and Briscoe while Chastain was up in sixth place. Meanwhile, Elliott was in ninth behind Erik Jones while Bell was mired back in 12th in front of teammate Denny Hamlin.

Five laps later, Chastain ignited a challenge on Briscoe for fifth place while Logano retained the lead by more than two second over teammate Blaney. Behind, Elliott and Bell remained in ninth and 12th, respectively.

Another 20 laps later, Logano retained the lead both on the track and in the championship battle by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney while Larson, Truex and Briscoe were running in the top five. By then, Chastain was still in sixth place ahead of Harvick, Elliott moved his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in eighth and Bell remained in 12th behind Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

By Lap 140, Logano continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney. Behind, Chastain retain sixth ahead of Harvick, Elliott remained in eighth and Bell was up a single spot in 11th.

Just past the Lap 145 mark, Byron, who was running in the top 10, made a scheduled pit stop for four fresh tires and fuel under green. By then, Logano remained as the leader ahead of teammate Blaney followed by Larson, Truex and Briscoe.

At the halfway mark on Lap 156, Logano was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Blaney while Truex, Larson, Briscoe, Harvick, Chastain, Bell, Reddick and Hamlin were scored in the top 10. By then, Elliott, who was initially scored in eighth, was back in 28th and a lap down after pitting two laps earlier for fresh tires and fuel.

Three laps later, Blaney, who stalked teammate Logano throughout the first half of the event, overtook Logano to emerge with the lead. Not long after, Byron was able to un-lap himself after pitting a few laps earlier under green. By then, Elliott was still mired a lap behind while Bell and Chastain were in seventh and eighth, respectively.

At the Lap 175 mark, Blaney was leading by more than a second over teammate Logano followed by Truex, Briscoe and Harvick while Larson was back in sixth. With Logano remaining as the top title contender on the track in second place, Bell and Chastain were scored in seventh and 10th, respectively. By then, Elliott was mired back in 18th, but back on the lead lap after overtaking leader Blaney five laps earlier.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 185, Blaney captured his series-leading ninth stage victory of the 2022 season before running out of fuel. Teammate Logano fended off Truex to settle in second while Briscoe, Harvick, Bell, Byron, Larson, Reddick and Cindric were scored in the top 10. By then, Chastain fell back to 11th while Elliott carved his way back to 12th.

Under the stage break, the field led by Blaney pitted for fresh tires and fuel. Following the pit stops, Blaney retained the lead after exiting first followed by Briscoe, Harvick, Byron, Logano and Elliott while Chastain and Bell were back in ninth and 11th.

With 120 laps remaining, the final stage started as Blaney and Briscoe occupied the front row. At the start and the field fanning out through the dogleg, Blaney retained the lead ahead of Briscoe while Harvick and Byron dueled for third in front of Elliott and Logano. A lap later, the caution returned when Reddick, who was making his first start with Richard Childress Racing, got pinned in a four-wide situation against Allmendinger, Hemric and Almirola entering Turns 3 and 4, where he was bumped against Almirola and Allmendinger before spinning. In the process, McDowell made contact with Ty Dillon and spun while trying to avoid Reddick’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

During the following restart with 113 laps remaining, disaster struck for Elliott, who restarted in fifth, after Chastain, who restarted seventh, made contact with Elliott as Elliott was turned and sent spinning towards the infield before he made right-side contact with the inside wall. Following the incident, Elliott pitted his damaged No. 9 Chevrolet for repairs. Despite returning to the track, he was mired back in 30th place and a lap down.

When the race restarted with 108 laps remaining, the field fanned out through the frontstretch and through the dogleg while Blaney fended off Briscoe to lead through the backstretch. Behind, Logano overtook Byron for third while Chastain was in fifth ahead of Bell and Harvick.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Briscoe while Logano retained the lead in the championship standings while back in third place on the track. Byron was in fourth ahead of Chastain, Harvick and Kyle Busch while Bell was back in eighth despite reporting signs of his car blowing up.

Twenty-five laps later, Blaney continued to lead by more than two seconds over Briscoe followed by Logano, the highest-running title contender on the track. Behind, Byron and Harvick battled for fourth while Chastain was in sixth. Bell, who continued to run under full power, was in seventh in front of teammate Kyle Busch and Cindric while Elliott was mired back in 30th place, two laps behind as his title hopes were slowly evaporating.

With 65 laps remaining, green flag pit stops ensued as Briscoe pitted followed by Kyle Busch, Bell and Almirola. Soon after, Chastain pitted along with Byron, Truex, Harvick, Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Logano, Cindric, the race leader Blaney and others.

With 58 laps remaining and with most of the field having made a pit stop under green, Blaney cycled back to the lead ahead of Briscoe and Harvick. Meanwhile, Logano was being pressured by a hard-charging Bell for fourth place on the track and for the top seed in the championship battle.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Blaney was leading by nearly two seconds over Briscoe while Harvick was trying to fend off Logano for third place. By then, however, Logano remained as the highest-running title contender on the track ahead of fifth-place Bell while Chastain, who endured a slow pit stop under green, was back in ninth. Elliott, meanwhile, was mired back in 29th and off the pace to the front-runners.

Then with 44 laps remaining, the caution flew when Alex Bowman, who returned behind the wheel following a five-race absence while recovering from concussion-like symptoms, was hit and turned by McDowell entering the backstretch as Bowman spun his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the backstretch inside wall. During the caution period, the field led by Blaney and including the three title contenders (Logano, Bell and Chastain) pitted. Following the pit stops, Briscoe exited with the lead followed by Blaney, Logano, Harvick, Byron, Truex, Kyle Busch and Chastain while Bell, who endured a slow pit stop from his No. 20 pit crew due to an issue while changing the left-rear tire, came out in 16th. During the pit stops, Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road. As the field proceeded under a cautious pace behind the pace car, trouble then struck for Keselowski, who parked his car on the frontstretch as his No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang burst into flames.

When the race restarted with 33 laps remaining, the field fanned out through the dogleg as Briscoe emerged out in front ahead of Blaney, Logano and Byron. As Logano battled teammate Blaney for the runner-up spot, Chastain went to work in challenging Harvick for fifth place before succeeding during the following lap.

With 30 laps remaining, Briscoe was leading by a tenth over Logano while Blaney was fending off Chastain for third place as Byron and Harvick trailed behind. A lap later, however, Logano muscled his car back into the lead ahead of Briscoe, Blaney and Chastain.

Five laps later, Logano was leading both the race and the championship battle by more than a second over teammate Blaney, who was locked in a tight battle for second place against Briscoe, while Chastain, Logano’s closest title contender, was still mired in fourth, two seconds behind Logano, in front of Byron. By then, Bell was up in 10th place and five seconds behind Logano while Elliott was two laps behind in 29th place.

Another seven laps later, Chastain pulled a bold, slide job move on Briscoe through Turns 1 and 2 to move into third place on the track. He, however, remained in the runner-up spot in the championship battle while Logano retained the top spot by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Blaney.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Logano continued to lead the race and the championship battle by four-tenths of a second over teammate Blaney while third-place Chastain was trying to close in on the two Team Penske competitors as he was two seconds behind Logano.

With five laps remaining, Logano retained the lead by half a second over teammate Blaney and over more than a second over third-place Chastain, who continued to gain ground but was running out of time.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Logano remained as the leader with a reasonable advantage over teammate Blaney while Chastain continued to trail by more than a second. With the clean air to his advantage and no late challenges lurking behind him, Logano cycled his way back to the frontstretch for a final time and streaked across the finish line in first place to win the finale and the championship.

With his accomplishment, Logano, who started the season by winning the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in February, became the 17th different competitor to achieve multiple NASCAR Cup Series championships, which was last made by Kyle Busch in 2019. He also recorded the third Cup title for Team Penske and the second for veteran crew chief Paul Wolfe while delivering the first drivers’ title for the Ford nameplate since 2018. As a result, Logano became the second Ford driver to achieve multiple Cup titles since the late NASCAR Hall of Famer David Pearson made the last accomplishment between 1968 and 1969.

With the champion Joey Logano winning the finale, this marks the ninth consecutive season since the series’ Playoff elimination-style format was incepted in 2014 where the championship-winning competitor won the finale as Logano recorded his 31st career win in NASCAR’s premier series and fourth of the season.

“We did it! We’re champions again! Yes!” Logano exclaimed on the frontstretch on NBC. “Oh, my God, I’m so excited. Thank you to everybody, my team. You guys are amazing. [They] Gave me a good race car, good pit stop there at the end, got us up in front. Boy, that was just intense there at the end. It’s all about championships. That’s what it’s all about, and we worked so hard the last couple of weeks trying to put ourselves in position. And everything that happened in 2020, I knew we just wanted to have a solid run and do this today.”

“I can’t thank Ford and Shell/Pennzoil enough for supporting me over the last 10 years, getting us a couple championships together,” Logano added. “All our partners at Team Penske, everybody that works on these cars. It’s such a big deal to win these championships. It impacts so many people’s lives. Just an incredible day for us. I knew going into this [event] that we were going to win the championship. I told the guys, ‘We’re the favorite from Daytona.’ We truly believed it and that’s the difference. I had a good time with a bunch of confidence and we had all the reason in the world to be confident. I said I’d never been truly this ready for a championship race and we did it. Man, I can’t believe it.”

Upon saluting the fans, driving his car to the championship stage and hoisting the championship trophy while celebrating with his team, Logano also took the time to cherish the victory with his family, among which included his four-year-old Hudson, who rode with Logano to the championship stage.

“Ever since [Kevin] Harvick gave his son a ride in the car, I always wanted to do that with Hudson,” Logano said on the championship stage. “He’s such a little car guy. It was a special moment to ride together. Man, I can’t say enough about this race team. They just grind it out. They’re so amazing. [Crew chief] Paul Wolfe, everybody that puts so much time and effort into the last few weeks. And not just this 22 team. This goes so much deeper when you think of Roush Yates Engines and the motor that’s in this bad boy. You think of everyone at Ford, all the employees at Shell and Pennzoil, everyone that’s supported me. It’s been 10 years with Shell, and to get a couple of championships and 31 wins is special. [This is] Just a really special year for us. No. 22 [car] in ’22. I told you so!”

Like Logano, team owner Roger Penske was also with a smile after becoming the first owner to win both the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship and the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series championship in the season, the latter of which he achieved with newly crowned two-time champion Will Power in September.

“It’s a great team effort for everybody here today at Phoenix,” Roger Penske added. “[To] End up in the winner’s circle and also winning the championship is special. What a day for Ford, what a day for Pennzoil and what a day for our team. Tremendous. It took 31 years to [win both NASCAR and IndyCar championships in the same season]. That shows you I’m getting pretty old. Can you believe it? I can’t, but to watch that [finale] at the end and the teamwork with [Ryan] Blaney and all the Ford teams. It was a full team effort. I’m so thrilled to be here.”

“[My last championship] was a long time ago,” Paul Wolfe, Logano’s crew chief who won his first Cup title in 2012 with Brad Keselowski, added. “Ten years later, here we are again. So much has changed, but [it was] so tough. There was so much thrown at us this year with that new [Next Gen] car. So proud of all the guys on the team, Team Penske. To be able to get the first win with this Next Gen car, starting the season off at the Coliseum and ending it like this with a win and a championship. It’s real special. There’s just so many people that have supported me along the way. It’s a lot of hard work. A lot of dedication by a lot of people within the company. I told a lot of people this week, I knew we were prepared. I felt good about it. I just didn’t want to screw it up. I wanted to give Joey the best shot he could at getting it done. He was flawless. He’s been great through the Playoffs.”

While Logano celebrated a championship, Chastain managed a smile on pit road after finishing in third place on the track and in a career-best runner-up result in the final championship standings. The 2022 season, overall, generated a historic season for Chastain and Trackhouse Racing, with the Floridian notching his first two Cup career victories at Circuit of the Americas in March followed by Talladega Superspeedway in April. To go along with a total of 18 top-five results, 30 top-10 results. 692 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 13.3 throughout the 36-race schedule, the runner-up result in the final standings have fueled Chastain and Trackhouse, which completed its second campaign in NASCAR, to ignite another run for the title in 2023.

“I think we did everything right there at the end,” Chastain said. “That was a heck of a drive for us. Who had the No. 1 car in second in points on their bingo card [on] February 1st? It’s pretty wild. This is a continuation of a lot of people believing in me. I came into the Truck Series in 2011 with Stacy Compton, Bobby Dotter, Brad. [I moved] On up through Xfinity [Series] with Johnny Davis and got the chance with Jay Robinson, got the chance with Chip Ganassi. To build everything together, to come and drive this No. 1 car, the No. 42 car last year, there’s so many team owners, so many crew members that have put in the work. It’s pretty wild to think we just fought for a Cup Series championship and to have a car to chase [Logano] down at the end. That’s a testament to everybody at Chevy and GM, making me a better racecar driver.

“And my family, they have stuck with me and pushed me forward from the farm to NASCAR. It’s wild why we’re here. I don’t understand. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do at the track and on the farm. A lot of people, maybe thought, weren’t sure how I’d be getting out the car. But I’m so proud of the effort and so proud of the execution on pit road of our pit crew. This is only our first shot with Trackhouse [Racing]. For Justin Marks, Ty [Norris] and Pitbull to believe in me to drive this No. 1 car, it’s incredible.”

“I didn’t think [the move at Martinsville Speedway] would [work],” Chastain added. “I think we were going too fast here and didn’t think it would work. I thought it would at Martinsville and feel like I was very blessed and fortunate that it did. But not here. I got to the left of [Elliott] and saw an erratic move that he made to turn left to cover it but I was already there. Look, it’s not who I want to race them or those guys. For everyone at GM, I needed other Chevys up there to fight those other guys. It’s not what I want to do, but I feel like I had position on him and he tried to cover it late. Hats off to Penske and everyone on Joey’s team. I’m happy for them and I’m genuinely happy right now for our team. I wish we had another go at it.”

Like Chastain, the 2022 season was a stellar season for Christopher Bell, who ended up in 10th place in the finale and in a career-best third place in the final championship standings. Overall, Bell capped off his third full-time campaign in the Cup Series with three victories, including two in the Playoffs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course and Martinsville Speedway in October that enabled him and the No. 20 team to transfer all the way to the Championship 4 round. He also achieved his first four career poles, 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 573 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 13.8 throughout the 36-race schedule. The final result, however, left Bell with mixed emotions amid the loss of Coy Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing who died the night before and following Ty Gibbs’ Xfinity Series championship.

“Wow, wow, wow,” Bell said. “From being out and then, the wins at Charlotte and Martinsville. Then all of a sudden, you wake up this morning and you’re racing for a championship. You’re happy, you’re belated and then, your world comes crashing down. Whenever you get news like that, it definitely puts into perspective that there’s more to this than outside of racing. The whole Gibbs family is in all of our prayers and thinking of [Coy Gibbs]. Ultimately today, the best car won the championship. [Logano] was really strong. Proud of our No. 20 group, though. We fought hard. Whenever it was at the end of the race, the last pit stop, or we thought was gonna be the last pit stop, we were right there battling for it. Just proud to be in this position. Proud to be at Joe Gibbs Racing driving this No. 20 car. We were there and hopefully, we can come back again next year.”

Rounding out the Championship 4 field was Chase Elliott, who ended up in 28th place on the track and in fourth place in the final championship standings after he was unable to recover from his late incident involving Chastain. Despite falling short of winning his second Cup title, the 2022 season generated a strong season for the 2020 champion, who achieved a series-leading five victories along with three poles, 12 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 857 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.5 throughout the 36-race schedule.

“[I’m] Proud of my team for the effort that they put in this weekend,” Elliott said. “[I] Felt like we got our car a lot better throughout the race. For that, I think we should be very proud. It was nice to make the [championship] round. It’s a very difficult thing to do. Obviously, [I’m] not content with that, but certainly, nice to come out here and have a shot. Hopefully, we can come back stronger next year and give ourselves another chance, and make it go our way next time.”

Ryan Blaney, who ended up in eighth place in the final standings and winless for the first time since 2016, came home in second place during the finale while Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick finished completed the top five. William Byron, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson finished sixth through ninth, respectively.

Notably, Kyle Busch finished seventh in his 528th and final Cup start behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Tyler Reddick finished 23rd in his 110th and final start in the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing while Ty Dillon finished 26th in his 36th and final start driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Petty GMS Motorsports.

In addition, crew chiefs Greg Ives and Justin Alexander called their final Cup Series events as crew chiefs for Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon, respectively.

Martin Truex Jr., who finished 15th during the finale and winless for the first time since 2014, concluded the 2022 season as the highest non-Playoff competitor in the standings in 17th place followed by Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace, Aric Almirola and Chris Buescher.

With an 11th-place result during the finale and a 12th-place result in the final standings, Austin Cindric was officially named the 2022 Cup Series Rookie of the Year over Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland. With 19 victories to this season, Chevrolet was awarded its 41st Cup manufacturer’s title, an achievement that was accomplished two weeks ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Kyle Larson winning the event.

There were 11 lead changes for six different leaders. The finale featured six cautions for 39 laps.

Results.

1. Joey Logano, 187 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Ryan Blaney, 109 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Ross Chastain

4. Chase Briscoe, 11 laps led

5. Kevin Harvick

6. William Byron

7. Kyle Busch

8. Denny Hamlin

9. Kyle Larson

10. Christopher Bell

11. Austin Cindric

12. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

13. Austin Dillon

14. Erik Jones

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Cole Custer, three laps led

17. Daniel Hemric

18. Corey LaJoie

19. Harrison Burton

20. Aric Almirola

21. Chris Buescher

22. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

23. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

24. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

25. Michael McDowell, one lap down

26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

27. Justin Haley, one lap down

28. Chase Elliott, two laps down

29. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

30. Cody Ware, four laps down

31. BJ McLeod, five laps down

32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down

33. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

34. Alex Bowman, eight laps down, one lap led

35. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Electrical

36. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Championship finalists

Final standings

1. Joey Logano

2. Ross Chastain

3. Christopher Bell

4. Chase Elliott

5. Denny Hamlin

6. William Byron

7. Kyle Larson

8. Ryan Blaney

9. Chase Briscoe

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Austin Dillon

12. Austin Cindric

13. Kyle Busch

14. Tyler Reddick

15. Kevin Harvick

16. Alex Bowman

The NASCAR Cup Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash on February 5, 2023. This event will be followed by the 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which will occur on February 19, 2023, and officially commence the 75th anniversary of NASCAR competition.

November 6, 2022
Buescher conquers a wild Bristol Night Race; Playoff’s Round of 12 field set

On a night where multiple Playoff contenders encountered on-track issues from start to finish, another non-Playoff contender captured the spotlight as Chris Buescher made a triumphant return to Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series in the Bass Pro Shops Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 17.

The 29-year-old Buescher from Prosper, Texas, led twice for a race-high 169 of 500-scheduled laps, including the final 61, as he prevailed through a two-tire pit strategy and in a 57-lap dash to the finish by holding off Playoff contender Chase Elliott to score his second career win in NASCAR’s premier series and snap a 222-race winless drought under the lights at Thunder Valley.

Buescher’s victory served as one of two major storylines to Saturday night’s event at Bristol. The second was the Playoff battle as the Round of 16 concluded with four big names, including Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick, being eliminated from the Playoffs.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Aric Almirola claimed his first pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 127.826 mph in 14.946 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Chase Briscoe, the highest-starting Playoff contender who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 127.503 mph in 14.968 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Almirola jumped ahead with the advantage on the outside lane followed by teammate Briscoe and Denny Hamlin as the field jostled early between two lanes for positions. When the field made their way back to the frontstretch, Almirola managed to lead the first lap ahead of Hamlin and Briscoe while Ryan Blaney was in fourth ahead of Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Almirola remained as the leader ahead of Hamlin followed by Blaney, Briscoe and Bell while Bowman, Larson, Keselowski, Ross Chastain and Kevin Harvick were in the top 10. Bubba Wallace, the winner of last weekend’s event at Kansas Speedway, was in 11th ahead of William Byron, rookie Austin Cindric, Cole Custer and AJ Allmendinger while Michael McDowell, Joey Logano, Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr. and Justin Haley occupied the top 20. By then, Playoff contenders Tyler Reddick, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez were mired in 21st, 24th, 26th, 30th and 32nd, respectively.

Fifteen laps later on Lap 25, Almirola, who approached lapped traffic, stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over a side-by-side battle between Hamlin and Blaney while Briscoe and Bell remained in the top five. By then, half of the 16 Playoff contenders were scored in the top 10 while Kyle Busch, Reddick, Elliott, Austin Dillon and Suarez were among five Playoff contenders still mired outside of the top 20 on the track.

Another 11 laps later, Blaney muscled his No. 12 Pennzoil/Menards Ford Mustang into the lead after he overtook Almirola as Hamlin started to challenge Almirola for the runner-up spot.

On Lap 42, the first caution of the event flew due to debris on the backstretch and following two right-front incidents affecting two competitors. The first was when JJ Yeley smacked the outside wall in Turn 2 and fell off the pace after losing a right-front tire. The incident occurred as Yeley, who was multiple laps down, was battling the top-five front-runners on the track. By then, rookie Harrison Burton got into the outside wall in Turn 3 after he lost a right-front tire to his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang.

During the caution period, a majority of the field led by race leader Blaney pitted wile the rest led by Keselowski remained on the track.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 49, Keselowski rocketed his No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang with the lead while teammate Chris Buescher and Wallace battled for the runner-up spot, with the former prevailing over the latter. Behind, Tyler Reddick was in fourth followed by Corey LaJoie and Almirola, the first competitor on four fresh tires, while Hamlin was in seventh as he was trying to navigate his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry back to the front.

By Lap 60, Keselowski was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Buescher followed by Wallace, Reddick and Almirola while Hamlin, Bell, Blaney, LaJoie and Suarez occupied the top-10 spots on the track. Briscoe was in 11th followed by teammate Harvick, Larson, Byron and Kyle Busch while Bowman, Chastain, Logano, McDowell and Truex were in the top 20. By then, Cindric was in 22nd ahead of Austin Dillon and Elliott was mired back in 25th ahead of Ty Gibbs and Ty Dillon.

Fifteen laps later and at the Lap 75 mark, Keselowski continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Buescher while Wallace, Hamlin and Reddick were running in the top five. Blaney, meanwhile, was in sixth while Almirola, Bell, Briscoe and Harvick were in the top 10 ahead of Larson, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Byron, Suarez and Chastain. While Logano and Austin Dillon were in 18th and 20th, Elliott was mired back in 22nd and Cindric was back in 24th.

Nine laps later, early disaster struck for Cindric, who pitted under green after he lost a right-side tire to his No. 2 Freightliner Ford Mustang and scrubbed the outside wall entering Turn 2. By the time he returned to the track, his hopes of advancing to the Playoffs were jeopardized as he was mired back in 36th place on the track, dead last, and five laps down to the leaders.

Then on Lap 91, the caution returned when Blaney smacked the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 after losing a right-front tire to his No. 12 Ford. In the process to avoid hitting Blaney, Almirola spun his No. 10 Ford BlueOval City Ford Mustang in Turn 4 as he brushed the outside wall. Then as Blaney pitted for four fresh tires, the situation for him from bad to worse. In an effort to remain on the lead lap, he left his pit stall, but was unaware that his pit crew had removed the center lug nut from the left-rear wheel. This caused the left-rear wheel to roll off of Blaney’s car as Blaney came to a stop before spinning his car back to his pit stall for fresh left-side tires. In the process, he lost a lap to the leaders.

During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while the rest led by Keselowski remained on the track.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 99, Keselowski retained the lead on the outside lane for a second time while Bell quickly challenged and overtook Reddick for the runner-up spot in his No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota TRD Camry. Behind, Kyle Busch, who restarted seventh, used the outside lane to his advantage as he bolted his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry past a bevy of names, including Larson, Briscoe and Reddick, in one lap before settling in third place behind teammate Bell.

By Lap 115, Keselowski retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Bell and nine-tenths of a second over third-place Kyle Busch while Briscoe and Larson battled for fourth. Meanwhile, Blaney, who had a part dragging to the rear end of his car following his pit road incident, had returned to the track following a lengthy pit stop as he was mired back in 36th place, dead last, and five laps behind the leaders. He would eventually be posted by NASCAR for not meeting minimum speed and pitted again to address a flat right-rear tire.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 125, Keselowski, who came into the event with an average-finishing result of 19.2, captured his first stage victory of the 2022 season. Bell settled in second followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Briscoe, Larson, Bowman, Buescher, Reddick, Byron and Truex. By then, Elliott was in 12th, Harvick and Hamlin were mired in 14th and 15th, Austin Dillon was in 17th, Chastain was in 19th ahead of Logano, Suarez was in 23rd, Cindric was five laps down in 35th and Blaney was 15 laps down in 36th, dead last.

Under the stage break, some led by Keselowski, who pitted for the first time, pitted while the rest led by Buescher remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 133 as Buescher and Harvick occupied the front row. At the start, Buescher retained the lead ahead of Harvick while Chastain and Hamlin duked for third in front of Wallace, Custer and Justin Haley.

Following another caution period on Lap 139 when Harrison Burton got hit by Cindric and spun on the frontstretch and during the following restart on Lap 145, Buescher retained the top spot in his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang over Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang and the rest of the field.

At the Lap 150 mark, Buescher continued to lead by half a second over Harvick followed by Hamlin, Wallace and Custer while Chastain, Haley, Suarez, Briscoe and Logano were in the top 10.

Twenty-five laps later on Lap 175, Buescher stabilized his advantage to a tenth of a second over Harvick while Hamlin, Wallace and Chastain were scored in the top five. Shortly after, however, Wallace, who had smoke coming out of his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry, pitted under green. The situation, which was deemed a right-front brake line failure, cost Wallace multiple laps as he remained in his pit stall while his pit crew diagnosed the issue.

Back on the track on Lap 190 and while Buescher continued to lead by a tenth of a second, seven of 16 Playoff contenders were scored in the top 10, with Harvick in second ahead of Hamlin and Chastain while Briscoe was in sixth, two spots ahead of Bowman, Larson and Bell. Kyle Busch was in 11th while Elliott was up in 12th place. Suarez was in 14th, Byron was in 16th, Logano was in 18th, Reddick was back in 23rd, Cindric was four laps down while mired in 34th and Blaney was 78 laps down in 36th as he continued to lose more laps to the leaders while he remained in the garage to have his car repaired. By then, Wallace’s 23XI Racing teammate Ty Gibbs took his No. 23 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry to the garage due to a power steering issue.

Six laps later, the caution flew when Erik Jones, who just went a lap down to the leader Buescher, spun his No. 43 U.S. Air Force Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the backstretch after making contact with teammate Ty Dillon. The incident occurred as both Petty GMS Motorsports competitors were trying to avoid Harrison Burton, who encountered his third right-front tire issue of the night. During the caution period, names like Bell, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Suarez, Keselowski, Byron, Logano, McDowell, Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Todd Gilliland Reddick and the Dillon brothers pitted while the rest led by Buescher and Harvick remained on the track. By then, Truex took his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry to the garage and retired due to a power steering issue.

With 45 laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Buescher retained the lead over Harvick while Harvick was being challenged by Hamlin and teammate Custer. Behind, Chastain battled for fifth over Briscoe as both Haley and Larson joined the battle.

Twenty laps later and with 25 laps remaining in the second stage, Buescher stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Hamlin, Custer and Larson while Chastain was locked in a side-by-side battle with Bell for sixth. Behind, Briscoe was left battling Kyle Busch for eighth while Keselowski was back in 10th ahead of Elliott, Bowman, Byron, Almirola, Haley and Logano. By then, Austin Dillon and Suarez were back in 20th and 21st while Cindric was in 31st, five laps down.

With 16 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Hamlin, who was in third, fell off the pace after blowing a right-front tire to his No. 11 Toyota as he just managed to keep his car off the outside wall. During the caution period, some led by Buescher pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

When the second stage proceeded with 10 laps remaining, Bell took off with the lead followed by a side-by-side battle involving Chastain and Briscoe while Elliott and Kyle Busch battled for fourth in front of Bowman and Byron.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 250, which marked the halfway point of the event, Bell, who is already guaranteed a spot in the Round of 12, captured his fourth stage victory of the 2022 season. Chastain settled in second followed by Briscoe, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Byron, Austin Dillon, Larson and Harvick. By then, Suarez was in 11th, Logano was in 18th, Reddick was back in 23rd ahead of Hamlin, Cindric was five laps down in 31st and Blaney was still in the garage and mired in 36th place, 138 laps down.

Under the stage break, names like Chastain, Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Bowman, Harrison Burton and Almirola pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

With 241 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Bell and Elliott occupied the front row. At the start, Bell retained the lead while Byron made his way into the runner-up spot over teammates Larson and Elliott. Behind, Harvick battled McDowell for fifth while Keselowski was in seventh over Custer.

Eleven laps later, the caution returned when Kyle Busch, who came into the event two points below the top-12 cutline, fell off the pace entering the frontstretch and steered his car, which was billowing smoke, below the apron and to the garage, where he retired from contention due to an engine failure.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Busch said on USA Network. “I’m flabbergasted. I just feel so bad for my guys. They don’t deserve to be in this spot. They worked too hard, were too good of a group to be this low, down on the bottom and fighting for our lives just to make it through. Two engine failures in three weeks. That’ll do to you…This is not our normal.”

When the race restarted with 224 laps remaining, Bell cleared Byron to retain the lead as Larson went to work on teammate Byron for the runner-up spot followed by teammate Elliott and Harvick. Just as the front-runners were approaching Turns 3 and 4, the caution quickly returned for a multi-car wreck that started when Suarez got loose entering the backstretch as he clipped Stenhouse and spun, thus igniting carnage that collected teammate Chastain, Austin Dillon, Gilliland, Cindric, Elliott, Cassill, Burton, Briscoe, Reddick and Bowman, who retired after busting the radiator from his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, while Blaney, who returned to the track and was more than 150 laps down, was able to dodge the carnage.

When the race restarted with 214 laps remaining, Bell outdueled Byron to remain as the leader as Larson and Keselowski overtook Byron for second and third. Behind, Harvick, faced in a “must-win” situation to advance to the Playoffs, was in fifth and Elliott made his way up to sixth in front of Buescher, McDowell and Logano.

With 200 laps remaining, Bell was leading by six-tenths of a second over Larson followed by Keselowski, Byron and Harvick while Elliott, Buescher, Logano, McDowell and AJ Allmendinger were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Hamlin, Chastain and Briscoe were running 12th through 14th while Reddick was mired back in 28th place and still undergoing repairs to his No. 8 Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Meanwhile, Austin Dillon, who was involved in the latest multi-car wreck, took his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the garage as he retired and failed to advance past the Round of 12.

Fifty-two laps later, the caution flew when Erik Jones fell off the pace through the backstretch after he cut a right-rear tire to his No. 43 Chevrolet. By then, Bell continued to lead by by half a second over Larson followed by Keselowski, Elliott and Buescher while Harvick, Logano, Byron, McDowell and Allmendinger were in the top 10. In addition, Reddick, who found himself five points outside of the top-12 cutline to advance to the Playoffs, made another pit stop as his No. 8 pit crew went under the hood.

Under caution, the leaders led by Bell pitted and Larson emerged with the lead after beating Bell off of pit road in first place.

During the following restart with 140 laps remaining, Larson retained the lead over Bell while Keselowski launched a challenge on Bell for second place as the field scattered and jostled for positions. By then, Reddick, who was in 28th and 29 laps down, was scored four points behind Kyle Busch for the 12th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs.

With less than 120 laps remaining, Larson was leading ahead of Keselowski, Bell, Harvick and Buescher while Logano, Byron, Elliott, Allmendinger and Custer occupied the top 10. By then, Hamlin was in 11th, Chastain and Briscoe were in 14th and 15th, Suarez was back in 22nd, Cindric was in 25th and Reddick was in 28th. Blaney, meanwhile, was in 35th after he overtook a retired Truex.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Keselowski, who overtook Larson for the lead following a slide job 12 laps earlier, was leading by six-tenths of a second over Larson while Bell, Harvick and Buescher remained in the top five. By then, six of 16 Playoff contenders were scored in the top 10.

Not long after, Logano, who is guaranteed a spot in the Round of 12, made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat right-front tire to his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang.

Then wit 87 laps remaining, disaster struck for Keselowski, who lost a right-front tire entering Turn 3 after he popped a right-front tire to his No. 6 Ford Mustang. With Keselowski limping his car back to pit road, the race remained under green as Bell returned to the lead followed by Larson, Harvick, Buescher and Elliott.

With less than 70 laps remaining, Bell remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Larson and more than a second over third-place Harvick while Buescher and Elliott remained in the top five. By then, pole-sitter Almirola took his car to the garage due to a power steering issue.

Down to the final 64 laps, however, the caution flew when Bell cut a right-rear tire as he lost the lead to Larson and fell off the pace through the backstretch, though he remained in second place in front of Harvick. During the caution period, the leaders led by Larson and including Bell pitted. Following the pit stops, Buescher emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop followed by Elliott, Byron, Larson and Allmendinger, all of whom elected for four fresh tires. During the pit stops, disaster struck for both Harvick and Hamlin after both encountered loose wheels that stalled their progress towards the front. For Harvick, he had fallen back to 10th after he backed his car back to his pit stall due to his left-front tire not being secured. For Hamlin, he was back in 11th after he had a loose left-rear wheel that needed to be tightened while trying to exit his pit stall.

With 57 laps remaining and with the field restarting under green, Buescher retained the lead while teammates Byron and Elliott battled for second in front of Larson, Bell and Allmendinger.

Sixteen laps later and with 40 laps remaining, Buescher stabilized his advantage to nearly nine-tenths of a second over Elliott while Byron, Larson and Bell battled for third. By then, Cindric, who took the wave around and was up in 21st while six laps behind, drew himself into a one-point advantage over Kyle Busch for the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12. In addition, Logano retired due to a suspension issue.

Another 20 laps later, Buescher, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Elliott. Behind, Byron and Bell trailed by more than a second while fifth-place Larson trailed by more than two seconds. Meanwhile, Chastain was in sixth while Hamlin and Harvick were mired back in ninth and 10th.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Buescher was ahead by eight-tenths of a second over Elliott while Byron continued to fend off Bell for third place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Buescher remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Elliott’s No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Despite encountering more lapped traffic for a final circuit, Buescher was able to maintain a reasonable gap to Elliott as he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his first checkered flag in six years.

The Bristol victory was Buescher’s second in the Cup Series and first since he claimed his first career win in the rain-shortened event at Pocono Raceway in August 2016. He also became the 19th different winner through 29 scheduled events of the 2022 Cup season and the 139th different competitor to achieve multiple victories in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition, Buescher recorded the first NASCAR victory for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing since the organization last won at Daytona International Speedway in July 2017, their first since the team was rebranded to RFK Racing and the first Cup victory for crew chief Scott Graves.

With Buescher’s victory, this marked the first time since the Playoff-elimination format debuted in 2014 where a Playoff round’s three events were swept by non-title contenders after Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace won the previous two Round of 16 events.

Photo by Jim Barnes for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Man, this is just so special,” Buescher said on the frontstretch. “This team did such a great job. First Cup win for [sponsor] Fastenal for a points-paying race. That’s awesome. Glad to have Fastenal onboard tonight. Just so special here at Bristol. I love this racetrack. I love the fans. I love every time we come here. It’s so special. [I] Lost one [at Bristol] that really broke our heart back in 2015 on the Xfinity side with [Scott] Graves atop the pit box. This makes up for that. That’s pretty awesome. Pretty special.”

“It was up to me at that point [during the final restart],” Buescher added. “Just hold on and make it work. We really had a fast Fastenal Mustang. Just so proud of everybody. We knew we had a good race car after practice. [I] Didn’t quite get the job done in qualifying, but what a race car. It’s special. Get [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing] in Victory Lane for the first time. We had great race cars. Brad [Keselowski] had really good speed, too. I don’t know what else to say. I’m out of breath. This place will wear you flat out and I love that about it, but such a special night. This [race] is number one on the list right here. This is it.”

Meanwhile, Elliott rallied from qualifying 23rd to finish in second place for his 11th top-five result of the season while Byron, Bell and Larson completed the top five on the track. All four are among 12 competitors to advance to the Playoff’s Round of 12.

“I wasn’t close enough to do anything with [Buescher],” Elliott said. “We had a long day yesterday. [I] Was able to battle back for a bad qualifying effort to get a top two [finish. Proud of that. Glad to be moving on [in the Playoffs]. Looking forward to some more opportunities in these coming weeks.”

Playoff contender Chastain came home in sixth while Allmendinger, Custer, Hamlin and Harvick completed the top 10 on the track.

When all was said and done on the track, drivers Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and rookie Austin Cindric transferred to the Round of 12 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, Tyler Reddick, Austin Dillon and Kevin Harvick were eliminated from title contention for the 2022 season.

For Cindric, good fortune was on the rookie’s side in spite of the early unscheduled pit stop for a flat right-front tire. With a multitude of Playoff contenders also running into on-track issues throughout the night, Cindric’s 20th-place result was enough for him to claim the 12th and final transfer spot to the Round of 12 by two points over both Kyle Busch and Reddick.

“That was easy, right?” Cindric said. “[I] Came in plus two [points] and leave plus two. Just how we drew it up. What a night. We had right-front tires going down left and right from the beginning of the race. To get all of us into the Round of 12 after a very scary night for Team Penske, proud to do my job and hang in there. Got that one out.”

For Harvick, the final pit stop prior to the final restart was the endgame of his hopes of transferring to the Round of 16 as he left Bristol mired in 16th place in the standings and without an opportunity to contend for a second championship despite rallying for a 10th-place result.

“It was pretty tough,” Harvick said. “We pitted in front of [Buescher], so just kind of the way the year has gone. [I] Just went from having a chance to lead the parade to being a part of the parade. Just difficult to pass.”

The night was also adventurous for both Blaney and Reddick, both of whom encountered on-track issues of their own from start to finish. In the end, Blaney managed to work his way to 30th place in the final leaderboard and transfer to the Round of 12 while Reddick failed to transfer to the Round of 12 by two points for a second consecutive season.

“Lucky to get in, I guess,” Blaney said. “We were really fast early and just had a right front [tire] go down like almost everybody else in the race. We just hit the wall a little bit harder than some other guys. Spent a long time fixing [the car], but was able to get back out. We built a good enough gap the first two [Playoff] races to give ourselves a bit of a cushion and then, some guys had their issues tonight. Pretty crazy turn of events, for sure. Good perseverance by this No. 12 group. Looking forward to getting into Texas.”

“Frustrating, for sure,” Reddick said. “We unloaded in the race and just quite didn’t have the pace or the balance to make our car better. Unfortunately, with the balance issues we were fighting, we were pretty much limited. We couldn’t really adjust on it without hurting the downforce of the car, overall. We were kind of boxed in. Then, we just got collected in that accident back there. I checked up in time, but yeah, I got absolutely ran over from there. Caught the right front and broke the upper control arm for the second week in a row.”

There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 80 laps.

Results.

1. Chris Buescher, 169 laps led

2. Chase Elliott

3. William Byron

4. Christopher Bell, 143 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Kyle Larson, 34 laps led

6. Ross Chastain

7. AJ Allmendinger

8. Cole Custer

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Michael McDowell

12. Justin Haley

13. Brad Keselowski, one lap down, 109 laps led, Stage 1 winner

14. Chase Briscoe, two laps down

15. Corey LaJoie, three laps down

16. Harrison Burton, three laps down

17. Cody Ware, three laps down

18. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

19. Daniel Suarez, six laps down

20. Austin Cindric, seven laps down

21. Erik Jones, eight laps down

22. Landon Cassill, eight laps down

23. JJ Yeley, nine laps down

24. BJ McLeod, nine laps down

25. Tyler Reddick, 31 laps down

26. Ty Dillon – OUT, Steering

27. Joey Logano – OUT, Suspension

28. Aric Almirola – OUT, Steering, 36 laps led

29. Bubba Wallace, 92 laps down

30. Ryan Blaney, 162 laps down, nine laps led

31. Austin Dillon – OUT, Dvp

32. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

34. Kyle Busch – OUT, Engine

35. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Steering

36. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Steering

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings

1. Chase Elliott – Advanced

2. Joey Logano – Advanced

3. Ross Chastain – Advanced

4. Kyle Larson – Advanced

5. William Byron – Advanced

6. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

7. Christopher Bell – Advanced

8. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

9. Chase Briscoe – Advanced

10. Alex Bowman – Advanced

11. Daniel Suarez – Advanced

12. Austin Cindric – Advanced

13. Kyle Busch – Eliminated

14. Tyler Reddick – Eliminated

15. Austin Dillon – Eliminated

16. Kevin Harvick – Eliminated

The Round of 12 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for a 500-mile feature on Sunday, September 25. The event is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

September 18, 2022
Bubba Wallace spoils the Playoffs with second Cup career victory at Kansas

Bubba Wallace wheeled the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota TRD Camry to a late victory in the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, September 11. It was the second time in recent weeks that a non-Playoff competitor spoiled the show in the early stages of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. On this occasion, it was a team that celebrated an automatic transfer to the second round in the owners’ standings.

The 28-year-old Wallace from Mobile, Alabama, led two times for 58 of 267-scheduled laps, including the final 43, and rallied from an early loose wheel that forced him to pit for a second time prior to the start of the second stage as he held off team owner Denny Hamlin amid lapped traffic to score his second career win in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory enabled the No. 45 team to earn an automatic pass to the Round of 12 in the owners’ standings with Wallace not contending for the drivers’ title.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff contender Tyler Reddick secured his second pole position of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.608 mph in 29.899 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Joey Logano, who posted the second-best lap sat 180.385 mph in 29.936 seconds.

Prior to the event, Aric Almirola and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Reddick and Logano dueled early for the lead entering the first turn before Logano capitalized on the inside lane to assume the lead. With the field fanning out through the backstretch, Logano went on to lead the first lap while Alex Bowman muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the runner-up spot over Reddick’s No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

Two laps later, however, Bowman battled and overtook Logano on the outside lane for the lead. Reddick would soon overtake Logano for the runner-up spot while Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain occupied the top five ahead of a side-by-side battle between Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Bowman was leading by six-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Logano, Bell and Chastain while Wallace, Larson, Kevin Harvick, rookie Austin Cindric and Martin Truex Jr. were in the top 10 ahead of Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Chris Buescher, Ryan Blaney and Austin Dillon.

At the Lap 10 mark, Bowman stabilized his advantage to nearly eight-tenths of a second over Reddick followed by Logano and Bell while Wallace muscled his No. 45 Root Insurance Toyota TRD Camry into the top five. By then, half of the 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 while Chase Elliott was the lowest-running Playoff contender in 26th. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was in 22nd while Chase Briscoe was mired in 17th behind William Byron, Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin.

On Lap 25, a competition caution was displayed as scheduled by NASCAR. At the moment of caution, Bowman had extended his advantage to more than a second over Reddick while Logano, Bell, Wallace, Chastain, Truex, Larson, Harvick and Cindric were scored in the top 10.

During the competition caution, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Reddick reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Bowman, Logano, Bell, Truex and Wallace. Following the pit stops, however, Brad Keselowski, Briscoe and Truex were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. In addition, Hamlin was penalized for an equipment interference.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 31, Reddick and Bowman dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch and entering Turn 3. As Bowman and Reddick continued to battle dead even for the lead, a three-wide action for third place ignited between Logano, Chastain and Wallace as Harvick closed in.

Two laps later, however, the caution returned when Chastain and Wallace slid up the track and in front of Harvick entering Turn 4. This caused Harvick to get loose before he veered back to the right and smacked the outside wall in Turn 4 as he sustained significant right-side damage to his No. 4 Rheem Ford Mustang. The damage on the No. 4 Ford, which included the right-front suspension, was too extensive for Harvick to continue as he took his car to the garage and retired in 36th place, dead last.

At the start of the following restart on Lap 38, Reddick retained the lead while fending off Blaney and Bowman before Logano challenged Bowman for third place through the first two turns. Behind, Chastain rocketed his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to fifth after he overtook Wallace and Bell as the field continued to dice for positions towards the front.

By Lap 50, Reddick was ahead by nearly a second over Blaney, Bowman, Chastain, Bell, Wallace, Logano, Buescher, Cindric and Byron. Behind, Stenhouse was in 11th ahead of Larson, Suarez, Kyle Busch, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Almirola, Truex and Hamlin while Briscoe was in 29th.

Fifteen laps later, however, the caution flew when the race leader Reddick slipped sideways and slapped the outside wall after he cut a right-rear tire in Turn 2. The situation went from bad to worse for Reddick, who then spun below the apron as he was entering pit road and ultimately retired from the race. Under caution, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Austin Dillon assumed the lead following a two-tire pit stop.

With nine laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Austin Dillon and Bell dueled until Bell prevailed on the inside lane. Shortly after, Blaney battled and overtook Dillon for third before Truex and Chastain took Dillon three-wide in a bid for fourth followed by Stenhouse and Wallace.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Bell, who was making his 100th Cup career start, captured his third stage victory of the 2022 season. Blaney settled in second while Truex, Stenhouse, Wallace, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Logano and Austin Dillon, who fell back on two fresh tires, were scored in the top 10. By then, Hamlin was in 11th ahead of Byron and Larson while Cindric was in 15th followed by Suarez and Bowman. Briscoe was mired back in 25th while Reddick and Harvick were officially out of the event.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Bell returned to pit road for service while Almirola remained on the track to inherit the lead. Following the pit stops, Blaney and Wallace pitted to address loose wheels on their respective cars.

The second stage started on Lap 86 with Almirola and McDowell, who opted for two fresh tires, on the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out, McDowell pulled ahead with the lead while Almirola, who slid up the track, made the slightest of contact with Bell and Elliott, though all continued to run straight.

During the following lap, Truex muscled his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. Behind, Stenhouse moved in second over McDowell while Bell and Byron were in the top five. In addition, Almirola was in sixth in front of Elliott and Suarez while Kyle Busch and Logano were in the top 10.

Another three laps later, the caution flew for Ty Gibbs, who got loose after making contact with Corey LaJoie and slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 as he flattened both right-side tires and sustained right-side damage to his No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry. During the caution period, Almirola and Ty Dillon pitted while the rest of the field led by Truex remained on the track.

During a Lap 95 restart, Truex and Stenhouse dueled for the lead before Truex managed to clear himself with the lead and with a clear racetrack in front of him two laps later. Meanwhile, Bell and Byron battled for third in front of Kyle Busch and McDowell.

At the Lap 100 mark, Truex was leading by more than half a second over Stenhouse while Bell was the highest-running Playoff contender in third in front of Kyle Busch and Byron. By then, seven of 16 Playoff contenders were running in the top 10 as Briscoe, Cindric, Suarez, Chastain, Austin Dillon, Blaney and Hamlin were mired outside of the top 10 on the track.

Nine laps later, the caution returned when Stenhouse, who was running in second place, slapped the outside wall in the backstretch after he blew a right-rear tire on his No. 47 SunnyD Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. During the caution period, the leaders led by Truex pitted and Truex retained the lead after exiting with the top spot followed by Byron, Bowman, Logano, and Kyle Busch. Following the pit stops, however, Truex limped his way back to pit road to address a loose left-rear wheel. In addition, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Suarez were all penalized for equipment interference.

On Lap 114, the race restarted under green as teammates Byron and Bowman occupied the front row. Entering the first turn and with the field bunched up, however, the caution returned when Erik Jones, winner of last weekend’s Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, made contact with rookie Harrison Burton and Corey LaJoie while trying to squeeze himself in between both competitors as both LaJoie and Burton went up the track and clipped Almirola, who went spinning before both collided with one another toward the outside wall.

At the start of another restart on Lap 120, Bowman used the inside lane to his advantage as he assumed the lead over teammate Byron while Logano was left in a three-wide battle against Briscoe and Elliott for third as Bell pursued behind.

At the halfway mark in between Laps 133 and 134, Bowman was leading by eight-tenths over Logano, Byron, Elliott, Briscoe, Cindric, Bell, Blaney, Larson and Wallace. Chastain, Kyle Busch and Hamlin were in 12th, 14th and 17th while Suarez was in 21st and Austin Dillon was in 22nd.

Then on Lap 136, the caution flew when Kyle Busch, who was in 12th in front of Truex and Chastain, got loose and spun his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry into the frontstretch grass after he cut a right-rear tire. During the caution period, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Bowman retained the lead ahead of teammate Byron.

With 22 laps remaining in the second stage, Bowman received a push from Bell on the inside lane to maintain the lead before Byron used the outside lane to overtake Bell for the runner-up spot. In addition, Logano moved up to third while Bell maintained fourth in front of Blaney and Elliott.

With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Bowman remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Bell while Byron, Elliott and Wallace were in the top five. Wallace’s owner Hamlin was in sixth in front of Logano, Larson, Blaney and Chastain.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 165, Bowman captured his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Bell settled in a close second place followed by Byron, Wallace, Elliott, Hamlin, Larson, Logano, Blaney and Chastain.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Bowman pitted and Bowman retained the lead following another strong pit stop from his pit crew while Wallace and Hamlin moved up to second and third.

With 96 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Bowman retained the lead while Wallace challenged Byron for the runner-up spot as the field fanned out through the backstretch. A few laps later, teammates Byron and Larson overtook Wallace for second and third as Logano and Bell closed in while Bowman started to pull away with the lead.

With 87 laps remaining, Larson got loose entering Turns 3 and 4 while running on the outside lane. This allowed Byron and Wallace to go three wide on Larson as Wallace muscled his way into the runner-up spot. By then, Bowman was out in front by more than a second.

Eight laps later and with 75 laps remaining, Bowman stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Wallace followed by Byron, Bell and Larson, who continued to run in the top five despite brushing the wall earlier. Hamlin was in sixth while Blaney, Truex, Chastain and Logano were in the top 10 in front of Cindric, Elliott, Justin Haley, Suarez and Christopher Buescher.

Another eight laps later, Wallace, who slowly tracked Bowman, overtook Bowman to assume the lead for the first time.

Just past the final 55 laps of the event, green flag pit stops ensued as Truex pitted followed by teammate Hamlin and Byron. Shortly after, the leader Wallace pitted along with Bell, Blaney, Larson, Cindric, McDowell, Kyle Busch, Bowman and others.

When the latest cycle of green flag pit stops concluded with 42 laps remaining, Wallace cycled his way back into the lead after Logano and Suarez, who endured a slow pit stop, pitted under green. By then, Bell moved into second followed by teammate Hamlin while Byron and Bowman were in the top five.

With less than 30 laps remaining, Wallace was leading by two seconds over Bell, who was slowly gaining ground on Wallace for the lead as Wallace was navigating his way through lapped traffic. Hamlin was in third followed by Byron and Bowman while Chastain, Larson, Truex, Blaney and Elliott were in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Cindric, Austin Dillon, Briscoe, Suarez, Logano and Kyle Busch were in 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 18th and 24th.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Wallace stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over Bell while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than two seconds. Another four laps later, Hamlin dueled and overtook teammate Bell on the frontstretch to assume the runner-up spot.

With 10 laps remaining, Wallace continued to lead by two seconds over team owner Hamlin, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, while third-place Bell trailed by less than three seconds.

Five laps later, Wallace’s advantage decreased to less than a second and a half over Hamlin, though the former retained the top spot.

When the white flag waved and the final lap commenced, Wallace remained as the leader by more than a second over Hamlin. Despite having lapped traffic in front of his windshield, Wallace was able to navigate his way around Kansas for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2022 season by a second over Hamlin.

With his second Cup career victory and by transferring the No. 45 23XI Racing entry into the Round of 12 in the owners’ standings, Wallace also became the 138th different competitor to achieve multiple wins in NASCAR’s premier series, he recorded the third career win for 23XI Racing and he became the 18th different winner through the first 28 scheduled events, which was a record in NASCAR history. The victory also meant that the No. 45 23XI Racing entry swept both Kansas Cup victories of the season after winning in May with Kurt Busch.

This also marks the first time since the Playoffs debuted in 2004 where the first two Playoff events were won by non-title contenders after Erik Jones won at Darlington Raceway a week ago.

Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Man, just so proud of this team,” Wallace said on USA Network. “So proud of the effort that they put in each and every week. Just thankful for the opportunity, right? Took this jump from an idea two years ago from a text from Denny [Hamlin] before [23XI Racing] all even happened. He was ready to get the deal done. Appreciate him, appreciate [Michael Jordan]…everybody at 23XI. They work their tails off. Just so proud. Pit crew was awesome today. We had one loose wheel. Just thankful. Thankful for the opportunity and thankful to shut the hell up for a lot of people.”

“I knew Denny was gonna be strong,” Wallace added. “That’s the things I look at. He wasn’t that good at the beginning of the day, and he comes up and finishes P2. That’s what I wanna start doing. We don’t have the best days. Just capitalize on moments like that. It’s cool to beat the boss, but man, we were just lights out today once we got to the lead. It was a lot of fun. It was just cool, calm and collective, and here we are. True fans that are out there, thank you, guys. I love you. It’s been a tough road. You [fans] are the best. Let’s keep this train rolling.”

The runner-up result provided mixed emotions for Hamlin, positives from an owner’s perspective but disappointment from a driver’s perspective.

“It’s a good overall day,” Hamlin said. “Just still frustrated about the first half of the race, obviously. We just aren’t executing that well. Really happy for our No. 11 Toyota team. They fought hard. They really stepped up that last half. We made the car quite a bit better. Just really happy about the outcome and really happy for that No. 45 team, Bubba Wallace and [crew chief] Bootie [Barker]. Bubba’s just really worked hard on his craft. We’ve just given him fast race cars and now, he’s showing what he’s got. I nearly wrecked to try to catch him off of [Turn] 4. I got bad loose and hit the fence, but I was driving as hard as I could. Nothing will ever come for free when you’re driving for me. If you think that I’m gonna let you win, you better go get another job. Just what a great day overall for Toyota.”

The third-place finish for Bell felt like a victory for the Oklahoma native as he garnered enough points (58) to become the first Playoff competitor to secure a spot for the Round of 12 in the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs.

“[I] Just got off a little bit on our balance that last run, but overall a great points day and very proud of everyone on this DEWALT No. 20 team,” Bell said. “Great day for Toyota and happy for Bubba to get a win. He was really deserving, really fast all day. Great points day. We’ll move on and try and win one. I’m very happy that we’re finally getting the results that this team deserves. Our speed has been there all year, and I feel like we’ve given up a couple good finishes. Last couple of weeks we’ve been building on it, and hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling.”

Bowman, who led the most laps at 107, came home in fourth place in front of Truex. Byron, Chastain, Larson, Blaney and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10 in the final running order.

There were 16 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 43 laps.

Results.

1. Bubba Wallace, 58 laps led

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Christopher Bell, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner

4. Alex Bowman, 107 laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Martin Truex Jr., 24 laps led

6. William Byron, nine laps led

7. Ross Chastain

8. Kyle Larson

9. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

10. Daniel Suarez, eight laps led

11. Chase Elliott

12. Austin Cindric

13. Chase Briscoe

14. Austin Dillon, three laps led

15. Chris Buescher

16. Michael McDowell, one lap led

17. Joey Logano, one lap down, two laps led

18. Noah Gragson, one lap down

19. Justin Haley, one lap down

20. Ty Dillon, one lap down

21. Aric Almirola, one lap down, three laps led

22. Cole Custer, one lap down

23. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

24. Landon Cassill, one lap down

25. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

26. Kyle Busch, two laps down

27. Cody Ware, two laps down

28. JJ Yeley, three laps down

29. Erik Jones, three laps down

30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down

31. BJ McLeod, five laps down

32. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

33. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

34. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident

35. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, 38 laps led

36. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings

1. Christopher Bell – Advanced

2. William Byron +48

3. Denny Hamlin +47

4. Joey Logano +40

5. Ryan Blaney +36

6. Alex Bowman +30

7. Chase Elliott +28

8. Kyle Larson +27

9. Ross Chastain +26

10. Daniel Suarez +6

11. Tyler Reddick +2

12. Austin Cindric +2

13. Kyle Busch -2

14. Austin Dillon -3

15. Chase Briscoe -9

16. Kevin Harvick -35

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race and where the first round of eliminations will occur. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

September 11, 2022
Reddick wins wild overtime thriller at the Indianapolis Road Course

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

1. Tyler Reddick, 38 laps led

2. Austin Cindric

3. Harrison Burton

4. Todd Gilliland, four laps led

5. Bubba Wallace

6. Joey Logano

7. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led

8. Michael McDowell

9. Cole Custer

10. Chris Buescher

11. Kyle Busch

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

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Denny Hamlin

15. Erik Jones

16. Chase Elliott

17. Ty Gibbs

18. Corey LaJoie

19. Justin Haley

20. Brad Keselowski

21. Martin Truex Jr.

22. Josh Bilicki

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

24. Cody Ware

25. Josh Williams

26. Ryan Blaney, 17 laps led

27. Ross Chastain

28. Daniel Suarez

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

30. Austin Dillon, one lap down

31. William Byron – OUT, Accident

32. Alex Bowman – OUT, Dvp

33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

34. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

35. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

36. Daniil Kvyat – OUT, Suspension

37. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Drivetrain

38. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

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

July 31, 2022
Allmendinger dominates Indianapolis Road Course for third Xfinity win of 2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

1. AJ Allmendinger, 42 laps led

2. Alex Bowman, four laps led

3. Justin Allgaier, four laps led

4. Ross Chastain

5. Chase Briscoe

6. Riley Herbst

7. Sam Mayer

8. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

9. Austin Hill

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

11. Landon Cassill

12. Alex Labbe

13. Sage Karam

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

15. Brandon Jones

16. Brett Moffitt

17. Santino Ferrucci

18. Anthony Alfredo

19. Jeremy Clements

20. Ty Dillon

21. Bayley Currey

22. Daniel Hemric

23. Sheldon Creed

24. Miguel Paludo

25. Andy Lally

26. Austin Dillon

27. Ryan Sieg

28. Patrick Gallagher

29. Preston Pardus

30. Kyle Weatherman

31. Scott Heckert

32. Kaz Grala, one lap down

33. Myatt Snider, one lap down

34. Brandon Brown – OUT, Suspension

35. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Engine

36. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

37. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

38. Jeb Burton – OUT, Trackbar

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

July 30, 2022
Elliott captures first home Cup victory at Atlanta

The crowd inside Atlanta Motor Speedway was left cheering with pride and joy as Chase Elliott achieved his first victory on home turf following a wild and dominant run in the Quaker State 400 on Sunday, July 10. The 2020 Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led nine times for a race-high 97 of 260-scheduled laps and swept all three stages of the race.

During a three-lap dash to the finish, Elliott muscled his way from fourth to first before he fended off a valiant run by Corey LaJoie on the final lap to emerge out in front of the field with the caution flying for a multi-car wreck that involved LaJoie. From there, Elliott cruised back to the frontstretch to claim his long-awaited first win at his home track amid a chorus of cheers from the crowd.

With on-track qualifying that was initially set for Saturday canceled due to rain, the starting lineup was determined by NASCAR’s rulebook’s qualifying metric. As a result, Chase Elliott was awarded the pole position at his home track. Joining him on the front row was Ross Chastain.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chastain received a strong push from Kyle Larson on the inside lane to jump to an early advantage as he led the first lap ahead of Elliott, Tyler Reddick and the field while Larson got loose entering Turn 4 and dropped out of the top 10. During the following lap, however, Elliott assumed the lead after overtaking Chastain’s No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 1 as he led the second lap before Chastain reassumed the top spot.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with the front-runners packed tightly in superspeedway formation, Chastain was leading followed by Ryan Blaney, Reddick, Denny Hamlin and Elliott while Alex Bowman, Michael McDowell, Chase Briscoe, Daniel Suarez and Chris Buescher were in the top 10. William Byron was in 11th followed by Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Larson, Cole Custer and Kurt Busch. By then, Martin Truex Jr. was in 21st, rookie Austin Cindric was in 24th ahead of Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski was in 27th and Erik Jones was in 31st.

Ten laps later and with the 36-car field separated by 12 seconds, Chastain continued to lead ahead of a side-by-side duel between Hamlin and Blaney while Reddick and Elliott battled for fourth. By then, Kyle Busch challenged Bowman for sixth while Byron cracked the top 10.

Two laps later, Hamlin muscled his No. 11 Coca-Cola Toyota TRD Camry into the lead as he overtook Chastain on the outside lane with drafting help from Blaney’s No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang. Another two laps later, Blaney used the outside lane to his advantage as he moved into the lead. With Elliott and Chastain battling for the runner-up spot, Hamlin settled back in fourth.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 25 and with the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the frontstretch, Elliott, who managed to overtake Blaney during the previous lap, was scored the leader followed by Blaney, Reddick, Bowman and Hamlin while McDowell, Kyle Busch, Chastain, Bell and Byron were in the top 10. Prior to the competition caution, Hamlin made the slightest contact with Chastain through Turns 3 and 4 as Chastain briefly lost his momentum and dropped from the top five to the top 10.

During the competition caution, some of the drivers, led by Elliott, remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. During the pit stops, Larson’s pit crew popped the hood of the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to diagnose steering issues in the car while Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez had to back up for missing their mark toward their pit lanes. Following the pit stops, Truex was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 30, Elliott assumed the lead and managed to retain the top spot when the field returned to the start/finish line despite being challenged by Blaney and teammate Alex Bowman.

Through the first 40 scheduled laps, Elliott remained as the leader followed by Blaney, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch and Bowman while Byron, Chastain, Reddick, Hamlin and rookie Todd Gilliland were in the top 10.

Eleven laps later and with the front-runners continuing to run in a tight, side-by-side pack, Blaney made his move through the backstretch to assume the lead as he led a lap for himself. Elliott, however, quickly returned to favor and reassumed the top spot entering the first two turns, leaving Blaney to settle in the runner-up spot in front of Bowman while Chastain and Hamlin battled for fourth place.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Elliott managed to fend off a steaming pack of cars to claim his fourth stage victory of the season. Teammate Bowman settled in second followed by Chastain, Blaney, Byron, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Larson and Bell. By then, the top 17 competitors were separated by under two seconds.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Elliott pitted and Reddick utilized a two-tire pit stop to his advantage as he exited with the lead followed by Chastain, Truex, Elliott and Bell.

The second stage started on Lap 66 as Reddick and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start and with the field jostling for positions in a tight, side-by-side pack, Reddick rocketed with the lead as he defended the field from the top to bottom lane to lead through the frontstretch before Chastain launched his challenge through the backstretch. Truex, however, drafted Reddick’s No. 8 Alsco Uniforms Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to the front as he commenced his challenge for the lead.

Then on Lap 70, Truex launched his No. 19 Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota TRD Camry into the lead following a bold pass on the inside lane over Reddick through the first two turns as teammate Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry followed in pursuit.

By Lap 75, Truex was ahead by a hair over Blaney followed by Bell, Reddick and Elliott while Hamlin, Chastain, Kurt Busch, McDowell and Larson were in the top 10. By then, the top-eight competitors were locked in a tight side-by-side battle as Truex and Blaney continued to duel dead even for the lead.

A few laps later, the caution flew for a three-car wreck that ensued on the backstretch and involved Ty Dillon, Chris Buescher and BJ McLeod. During the caution period, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 83, teammates Truex and Bell dueled for the lead through the backstretch as Truex retained the lead with drafting help from Blaney. Shortly after, Blaney attempted to launch his bid for the lead on the inside lane, but Truex remained as the leader with the outside lane gaining the advantage as Elliott and Reddick moved up into the top three. Elliott, however, made his bid for the lead executed perfectly on Lap 86 as he overtook Truex on the inside lane and gained control of both lanes through the frontstretch.

Then on Lap 90, the caution flew when Truex slipped sideways off the front nose of Chastain as he spun and made contact against the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. The incident between Truex and Chastain ignited a multi-car wreck that collected McDowell, Logano, Kyle Busch, Larson, Noah Gragson, Bell and Austin Dillon, whose No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 took a hard hit against the outside wall after being clipped by a spinning McDowell.

During the extensive caution period, most of the front-runners led by Blaney pitted while some led by rookie Harrison Burton remained on the track.

When the event resumed under green on Lap 98, Stenhouse, who spent the majority of the event having the hood of his car up during his pit stops, assumed the lead while Byron and Harrison Burton battled for the runner-up spot.

At the Lap 100 mark, Stenhouse was leading ahead of Burton while Byron, who briefly got loose entering the first turn, was in third. During the following lap, Burton received a draft from Byron to assume the lead and Todd Gilliland and Blaney made their move to the front. Another five laps later, Byron returned to the front as Reddick charged his way into the top five behind Stenhouse, Reddick, Burton and Gilliland. Not long after Byron assumed the lead, the caution flew when Buescher made contact with the outside wall in Turn 4 after blowing a right-rear tire.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 112, Byron and Stenhouse dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Byron received a push from Burton to clear the field and gain control of both lanes entering the frontstretch. Not long after, the field lapped Kyle Busch as Byron continued to lead ahead of Stenhouse, Reddick, Burton and Gilliland. During this process, Kurt Busch bolted his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry into fourth place followed by Blaney while Burton and Gilliland fell back to sixth and seventh.

On Lap 119, Stenhouse briefly lost his momentum in Turn 1 and was slowly drifting out of the top 10 as Kurt Busch, Bell and Blaney made their way into the top five. By then, Byron remained the leader ahead of Reddick. McDowell also made an unscheduled pit stop under green to address a flat tire.

Eleven laps later and with most of the front-runners settling in a long single-file line, Byron continued to lead ahead of Reddick, Kurt Busch, Bell and Blaney while Burton, Gilliland, Erik Jones, Bowman and Elliott were in the top 10. By then, Keselowski was in 11th ahead of Chastain, Almirola, Corey LaJoie, Haley, Briscoe, Hamlin, Stenhouse, Daniel Suarez and Kevin Harvick. Wallace, Truex, Cindric and Larson were mired outside of the top 20.

Another seven laps later, the caution returned when Briscoe spun his No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford Mustang through the backstretch after cutting a right-rear tire. During the caution period, some, led by Erik Jones, pitted while the rest, led by Byron, remained on the track.

During a restart on Lap 142, Byron and Reddick dueled for the lead as Byron managed to make the outside lane work to his advantage again. Five laps later on Lap 147, Reddick made a bold move to the outside of Byron between Turns 1 and 2 to return to the lead followed by Blaney while Byron remained in hot pursuit for the lead on the inside lane.

Then with seven laps remaining in the second stage, Elliott navigated his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the bottom to the top and back to the bottom for a full lap as he returned to the lead followed by Reddick while Kurt Busch battled Blaney for third place. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski made his way into the top five as he battled Blaney and Bowman.

Just prior to the start of the final lap of the second stage, the caution flew when Bowman, who was running towards the front, slipped sideways after cutting a right-rear tire and backed his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which his car came to a rest near the restart zone and needed assistance from a wrecker to return to his pit stall due to both rear tires on his car flat. The incident was enough for the second stage scheduled for Lap 160 to conclude under caution as Elliott claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Reddick settled in second followed by Keselowski, Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bell, Burton, Byron, Chastain and Corey LaJoie.

Under the stage break, some led by Elliott pitted while others led by Cindric and Almirola remained on the track. Stenhouse, who had the hood of his No. 47 Kroger/Ball Park Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 pop up again, retired due to engine issues that had persisted in his car throughout the event.

With 95 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Cindric and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric and Almirola dueled for the top spot before Cindric benefitted on the outside lane with drafting help from Erik Jones. Harvick would soon join the battle and draft Jones clear of the field in the runner-up spot while Justin Haley and Chastain made their way into the top five.

Four laps later, the caution returned when Larson sent Ty Dillon into Garrett Smithley, which sent Smithley spinning entering Turns 3 and 4 and in front of a pack of cars as a number of competitors including Byron, Reddick, Gilliland, Keselowski, Wallace and Landon Cassill wrecked. The wreck spoiled strong runs being produced by Keselowski, Gilliland, Byron and Reddick, with the latter two retiring in the garage.

With 84 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Erik Jones received drafting help from Cindric on the outside lane to emerge out in front while Chastain fought back as the lead competitor on the inside lane. Four laps later, however, Chastain muscled his way into the lead on the inside lane while Elliott, LaJoie and Bell broke away from the pack and settled from second to fourth. Behind, Hamlin and Jones battled for fifth ahead of Cindric, Suarez, Harvick and Haley.

Nearing the final 70 laps of the event, the ninth caution of the event flew when Kyle Busch spun entering Turn 2 while Cody Ware, who was loose in Turn 2, ended up veering into the outside wall in the backstretch. Under caution, names like LaJoie, Suarez, Blaney, Logano and Kurt Busch pitted only for fuel while others like Chastain, Elliott, Hamlin, Bell, Truex, Erik Jones, Cindric, Harvick, Larson, Burton and Haley pitted for two fresh tires. Everyone else pitted for four tires.

With 66 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as LaJoie made his way into the lead followed by Elliott and Chastain as the field duked and jostled for positions through multiple lanes.

Then with less than 60 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited between LaJoie and Elliott as both led a group of competitors stacked up through double lanes. Despite LaJoie’s persistence on the outside lane, Elliott managed to carve his way back to the lead as he cleared LaJoie with 55 laps remaining. By then, Truex was back in the race for the win as he battled LaJoie for the runner-up spot.

With 50 laps remaining, Elliott retained the lead ahead of Truex while LaJoie, Kurt Busch and Chastain were in the top five. By then, Blaney, Hamlin, Bell, Erik Jones and Suarez were in the top 10 as the top 18 competitors were separated by less than two seconds.

Ten laps later and with the field settling in a long single-file line, Elliott continued to lead ahead of Truex, LaJoie, Chastain and Hamlin while Bell, Blaney, Erik Jones, Haley and Cindric were scored in the top 10.

Another 15 laps later, the caution flew when Bell, who was running in sixth place, slipped sideways as he spun below the apron and through the frontstretch grass before he straightened his car through pit road. During the caution period, the situation went from bad to worse for Bell, whose left-rear tire came off as he was exiting his pit stall. Along with Bell, names like Wallace, Harvick, Gilliland, Kurt Busch, Almirola and Briscoe pitted under caution while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

Down to the final 19 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott and Truex dueled for the lead until Truex received a strong push from Chastain on the inside lane to take the lead. With Truex clearing the field, Elliott and Chastain battled for the runner-up spot before Chastain attempted to make his move for the lead on the inside lane.

Three laps later, Elliott made his move to the inside of Truex through Turns 1 and 2 in a bid for the lead before Truex fought back on the outside lane as LaJoie made his way into the runner-up spot while Elliott fell back to third.

Then with 14 laps remaining, the caution flew when contact from Chastain sent Hamlin, who was running in fourth, spinning in Turn 4 as Keselowski also spun through the frontstretch grass to avoid hitting Hamlin.

Down to the final eight laps of the event, the race proceeded under green as Truex and LaJoie occupied the front row. At the start, Truex received drafting help from Elliott on the outside lane while LaJoie bolted his way into the lead on the inside lane with drafting help from Chastain. Just as the field led by LaJoie was approaching Turns 3 and 4, the caution quickly returned when Bell made contact with teammate Hamlin and Logano as all three collided and wrecked across the backstretch.

With the event set for a three-lap dash to the finish, the field restarted under green. At the start, LaJoie and Truex briefly dueled until LaJoie managed to pull ahead through the backstretch. Behind, Elliott, who restarted fourth, made a bold between Chastain and Truex as he launched his final bid for the lead and win. Then through the frontstretch, Elliott rocketed to the outside of LaJoie and he assumed the lead while Erik Jones and LaJoie battled for the runner-up spot in front of Chastain and Blaney.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Elliott was still leading ahead of LaJoie and Erik Jones. Then in Turn 1, LaJoie tried to make a move to the outside of Elliott, but Elliott fended off LaJoie’s charge as LaJoie, who got into the rear of Elliott, got loose and scraped the wall. After trying to keep his car straight, LaJoie veered sideways and barely clipped Blaney before he turned back across the outside wall and wrecked along with Kurt Busch and Cole Custer. The wreck was enough to conclude the event under caution as Elliott emerged out in front of Chastain and made his way back to the frontstretch for his first checkered flag at his home track.

In addition to claiming his first victory at his home track, Elliott became the first three-time winner of this year’s NASCAR Cup Series season as he recorded his 15th career win in his 240th series start. The Atlanta victory was the 16th for Hendrick Motorsports as Elliott joined a long list of icons, including his father Bill, to win a Cup race at Atlanta, Georgia.

“This one’s up there, for sure,” Elliott said on USA Network. “To win at your home track is a really big deal, I think, to any race car driver. I’ve watched a lot of guys do it over the years. Jimmie [Johnson] out in California. We haven’t really had a very good run here, so I felt like today was a great opportunity for us. Just so proud. This is home for me, home to a lot of great fans who made a lot of noise out today, home to NAPA. Couldn’t be more proud of the team. What a car. I’m not sure we’ve ever had a speedway car that good. If we had, I probably wrecked it at Daytona. What a few weeks it’s been. I felt like I gave one away last week [at Road America]. To come back and put on a performance like that, I’m really proud of that. Excited to get home. It’s gonna be a big one tonight. I’m looking forward to it.”

While Elliott was left beaming and saluting the crowd on the frontstretch, LaJoie, who was in position to achieve his first Cup victory, was left heartbroken on pit road as he concluded the event in 21st place and with a wrecked race car.

“[That was the] Closest I’ve ever been, for sure,” LaJoie said. “That was fun. I’m proud of my guys, Spire [Motorsports], RAZE Energy, Built Bar, Schluter, everybody that’s helped us out. It was nice to have [the car] out in the wind for once. I made my move, didn’t work out. [Elliott] made a good block and the siren’s ringing in Dawsonville. Unfortunately, I wished that granny in the front row over there wouldn’t have been clapping so much. I wished that No. 7 car was going to Victory Lane. We keep running like this, more consistently, that time will come…I was having some fun. I know that. Hopefully, we can have that No. 7 car up front more often.”

Chastain settled in second place after finishing in second at Atlanta earlier in March while Cindric came home in third place. Erik Jones earned his second top-five result of the season by finishing fourth while Blaney finished fifth.

“I hated I took the best car here and I tore it a couple of times,” Chastain said. “It’s incredible. Hats off to Chevrolet and Trackhouse [Racing] for bringing this fast of a Jockey Chevrolet. To be able to come back, our road crew and pit crew did an awesome job. To rebound through all the damage repairs. We had a shot and I got inside of [Elliott] coming off of [Turn] 2, coming to the checkered, and the caution came out…Almost gave it to us.”

Suarez, Haley, Almirola, Custer and Harrison Burton completed the top 10 on the track.

There were 27 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 64 laps.

With seven regular-season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by 47 points over Ryan Blaney and 50 over Ross Chastain.

Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman and rookie Austin Cindric are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 19 points, Aric Almirola trails by 42, Erik Jones, trails by 76, Austin Dillon trails by 116, Michael McDowell trails by 117, Justin Haley trails by 149, Chris Buescher trails by 163, Bubba Wallace trails by 178, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 190 and Cole Custer trails by 200.

Results.

1. Chase Elliott, 96 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Ross Chastain, 32 laps led

3. Austin Cindric, seven laps led

4. Erik Jones, 10 laps led

5. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

6. Daniel Suarez

7. Justin Haley

8. Aric Almirola

9. Cole Custer

10. Harrison Burton, nine laps led

11. Martin Truex Jr., 27 laps led

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Kyle Larson

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Michael McDowell

16. Chase Briscoe

17. Todd Gilliland

18. Brad Keselowski

19. Christopher Bell

20. Kyle Busch

21. Corey LaJoie, 19 laps led

22. Kurt Busch, one lap down

23. Cody Ware, one lap down

24. Landon Cassill, one lap down

25. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, two laps led

26. Joey Logano – OUT, Dvp

27. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

28. Ty Dillon – OUT, Dvp

29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident, 13 laps led

30. William Byron – OUT, Accident, 41 laps led

31. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Engine, two laps led

32. Alex Bowman – OUT, Dvp

33. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

34. Noah Gragson – OUT, Suspension

35. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of the season to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 17, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

July 10, 2022