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NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch locked up his rear tires and spun on a restart on Lap 88, ruining his shot at challenging for the win at Sonoma. Busch finished 30th.

“Braking news,” Busch said. “I really put the ‘F’ in ‘KFB’ on that restart.”

2. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished seventh in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“I talked to Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott in regards to my mistakes at Gateway,” Chastain said. “But that was nothing compared to getting called out by Tony Stewart, who was in the Fox Sports booth. If I had a resume to match that of Stewart, I would tell him to ‘Eat those words.’ And the thing is, Tony would probably do it anyway.”

3. Chase Elliott: Elliott led 26 laps and finished eighth in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“We really blew a pit stop that cost us any chance of winning,” Elliott said. “We didn’t fully tighten a lug nut and then had to back up. That’s a penalty for pitting outside the box. So, even though I’m the one shifting the car in reverse, it’s my team that actually makes me go backwards.”

4. Joey Logano: Logano captured Stage 2 at Sonoma and finished 17th.

“I’m happy for Daniel Suarez,” Logano said. “And I think it’s awesome he celebrated by breaking a taco pinata in Victory Circle. I can only imagine the promotional tie-in a certain fast-food restaurant could be planning. Suarez’s is a Cinderella story, and I’m guessing his date for the ball in this commercial is the ‘Taco Belle.’”

5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished 6th at Sonoma.

“You may have heard me on my radio commenting on the difficulty of passing,” Blaney said. “I was dropping truth bombs while simultaneously dropping ‘F-bombs.’”

6. Daniel Suarez: Suarez snatched his first Cup series win with a brilliant drive at Sonoma to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“I’m the first Mexican driver to win in the Cup series,” Suarez said. “That’s a big deal. I can’t wait to go home and celebrate with my fans. So, for all the Americans who want me to ‘go back from where I came,’ I plan to.”

7. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole at Sonoma and won Stage 1, but disaster struck when his No. 5 Chevy lost its right front wheel on lap 84. Larson finished 15th.

“I could have won this race,” Larson said. “I won the pole, and the car was set up perfectly. I was fully prepared to drive the wheels off my car until my pit crew beat me to it.”

8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick took fourth at Sonoma, posting his fourth top-five of the season.

“I was lucky to finish fourth,” Harvick said. “We had a pit stop in which the car fell off the jack. My pit crew’s been all over the place. Therefore, my season’s had more ups and downs than the jack.”

9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex struggled at Sonoma with a 26th-place finish.

“The Clash is returning to the Los Angeles Coliseum in 2023,” Truex said. “So, we’re all heading back to ‘La La Land.” Now, if Michael Waltrip does his grid walk at the Clash, it will most certainly be ‘Blah Blah Land.’”

10. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 16th in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.

“My team was one of the few Hendrick Motorsports teams that understand that race cars work better with four wheels,” Bowman said.

“It’s always fun to visit Sonoma. It’s wine country and probably the only stop on the season where the word ‘charcuterie’ is used correctly.”

June 13, 2022
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Busch: Busch suffered several spins at Charlotte, but attrition and a big crash in the first overtime restart opened the door for Busch to contend for the win. He finished second to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin.

“I was frustrated for most of the race,” Busch said. “But when the going gets tough, you can do one of two things–either stay positive and hope for the best, or whine, complain, and moan and pray you get lucky. I chose the latter.”

2. Ross Chastain: Chastain ran up front consistently, winning Stage 3, and was in line for a certain top-five finish before being collected in an accident after the first overtime restart. Chastain finished 15th.

“I’m disappointed,” Chastain said. “Luckily, I already have two wins this season. I come from a family of watermelon farmers. So, qualifying for the NASCAR playoffs is important to me and my family. The last thing we want is for me to be ‘seedless’ once the post-season starts.”

3. Kyle Larson: Larson found trouble on many occasions early at Charlotte, but bounced back and was leading with a lap to go when Chase Briscoe lost control while chasing Larson, bringing out a caution. Larson spun on an overtime restart, and eventually finished ninth.

“Let’s see,” Larson said. “I wrecked in Saturday practice, had two equipment violations during Sunday’s race, hit the wall twice, had a fire in the pits, and spun a few times. Just a disastrous weekend. Heck, I don’t know what to say. I do know what not to say.”

4. Chase Elliott: Elliott won Stage 1 and led 86 laps, but a spin on lap 186 caused damage when he hit the wall. Elliott retired on Lap 193 and finished 33rd.

“I wasn’t around for all of it,” Elliott said, “but that race lasted more than five hours. To put that into perspective, it lasted as long as what Michael Waltrip’s ‘Grid Walk’ feels like.”

5. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 10th at Charlotte.

“You saw an abundance of tire issues at Charlotte,” Bowman said. “There were blown tires, flat tires, runaway tires, and if you looked in the stands, plenty of spare tires.”

6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney got loose and tapped the wall on Lap 164, then lost control and triggered a big pileup on Lap 191, which involved 12 cars. Blaney finished 29th.

“I won $1,000,000 in the All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway,” Blaney said. “So, much like in Texas, I cost several drivers $1,000,000 at Charlotte.”

7. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 12th at Charlotte.

“The Sunday before Memorial Day is the greatest day in auto racing,” Truex said. “You can wake up to the Monaco Grand Prix, have lunch with the Indianapolis 500, and get put to sleep by the Coca-Cola 600.”

8. Joey Logano: Logano finished 20th in the Coca-Cola 600.

“Like many other drivers,” Logano said, “I got taken out by a driver who made a dumb mistake. Charlotte was the long-time home of NASCAR’s All-Star Race. As you saw in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600, the drivers in NASCAR are not all-stars. Some are scrubs.”

9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started on the pole at Charlotte, but faded quickly and was not much of a factor until a big wreck on an overtime restart left Hamlin with the lead. Hamlin battled Kyle Busch in the second overtime and edged his teammate by 0.014 seconds.

“That crash on the first overtime restart damaged the cars of a lot of contenders,” Hamlin said. “So, I have to thank Austin Dillon for ‘going for ‘broke.’”

10. William Byron: Byron was a victim of a Lap 191 crash triggered by Ryan Blaney, who lost control near the apron and veered into traffic. Byron’s day was done, and he finished 32nd.

“Six hundred miles is a long way,” Byron said. “It’s a physically draining race for the drivers, but even more mentally draining, especially for the fans who have to watch it.”

May 30, 2022
Elliott conquers Dover for first Cup victory of 2022

The one-day wait was worth the wait for Chase Elliott, who rose to the occasion in the late stages to win the rain-postponed DuraMAX Drydene 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on Monday, May 2, for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.

The 2020 Cup champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, led three times for 73 of 400-scheduled laps and rocketed away from Ross Chastain during a 53-lap dash to the finish before beating Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to conquer the Monster Mile in Dover, Delaware, for the second time in his career.

With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Chris Buescher notched his first NASCAR Cup Series career pole after turning in a pole-winning lap at 160.149 mph in 22.479 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Denny Hamlin, who recorded a fast lap at 159.744 mph in 22.536 seconds.

Prior to the event, William Byron and Josh Bilicki dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars along with Kurt Busch due to a steering adjustment. Rookies Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their cars.

When the green flag waved and the race started on a cloudy afternoon on Sunday, Buescher rocketed with an early advantage over the field as he went on to lead the first lap while Chase Elliott moved up to second place over Hamlin, who was under threat by Kyle Larson for more. Behind, Ryan Blaney was able to settle into fifth place ahead of Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez and Ross Chastain.

Through the first 10 laps, Buescher continued to lead ahead of Elliott, Hamlin, Larson and Blaney while Bowman, Suarez, Chastain, Kyle Busch and Bubba Wallace occupied the top 10.

Nine laps later, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the lead over Buescher’s No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.

On Lap 40, a scheduled competition caution flew with Hamlin retaining the lead over Larson, Buescher, Elliott, Blaney and the rest of the field. By then, 27 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted and Hamlin retained the lead ahead of Larson, Buescher, Elliott and Chastain.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 45, Larson and Hamlin dueled for the lead until Hamlin used the outside lane to retain the top spot. Behind, Chastain moved into third place followed by Buescher, Elliott and Blaney while Suarez and Kyle Busch battled for seventh place as more battles ensued behind in the field.

By Lap 50, Hamlin was leading by nearly a second over Larson followed by Chastain, Buescher and Elliott while Blaney, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Bowman and Stenhouse were scored in the top 10.

On Lap 68, the caution flew due to precipitation on the track. During the caution period, the competitors remained on track under a cautious pace. Soon after, nearly the entire field led by Hamlin pitted while Larson, Elliott, Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola and William Byron remained on the track.

Then on Lap 78, the field led by Larson was brought down to pit road and the race was red-flagged due to the precipitation intensifying around the circuit. More than an hour later and with the jet dryers unable to enter the circuit due to the increased precipitation, NASCAR declared that the event would be postponed to Monday.

When the field returned to action on Monday under a cautious pace, Blaney surrendered third place to make a pit stop and for adjustments to his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang.

By Lap 83, the race resumed under green. At the start, Larson retained the lead over teammate Elliott and Truex while Hamlin bolted his way into the top five on four fresh tires as he challenged Byron for fourth place, which he succeeded. Soon after, Hamlin was challenged by teammate Truex for the spot while Byron and Bell battled for fifth place in front of Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola.

Four laps later, however, the caution flew when rookie Austin Cindric got loose and smacked the outside wall in Turn 3. In the process, rookie Todd Gilliland was hit and spun into the wall by Blaney.

Another five laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Larson and Elliott dueled for the top spot through the first turn until Elliott managed to assume the lead for the first time. Behind, Hamlin, who rocketed to third place during the previous restart, retained the spot ahead of teammates Christopher Bell and Truex. Behind, Byron was in sixth while Kyle Busch and Chastain battled for seventh place.

At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by more than seven-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Larson, Bell and Truex occupied the top five. Byron retained sixth ahead of Chastain, Kyle Busch, Buescher and Bowman while Brad Keselowski, Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kevin Harvick and Justin Haley were in the top 15. Bubba Wallace was back in 16th ahead of Daniel Suarez, Ryan Preece, Kurt Busch and Erik Jones while Blaney was back in 27th behind Tyler Reddick, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell and Chase Briscoe. By then, Cindric retired to the garage.

By Lap 110, Hamlin trailed Larson by two-tenths of a second in a bid for the lead while Larson and Bell battled for third place in front of Truex and Chastain. Two laps later, Hamlin overtook Elliott to reassume the lead. At the same time. Chastain made a bold three-wide move on Truex and Larson to move into fourth place.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 120, Hamlin claimed his second stage victory of the season. Elliott settled in second followed by Bell, Chastain, Truex, Larson, Byron, Buescher, Kyle Busch and Keselowski.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hamlin, who exited pit road with the lead, lost the left-front wheel as the wheel came off of his car. With Hamlin returning to pit road, Chastain assumed the lead followed by Bell, Truex, Elliott, Byron and Buescher.

The second stage started on Lap 128 as Chastain and Bell occupied the front row, At the start, Chastain retained the lead while Truex, Buescher and Elliott all overtook Bell for positions in the top five. In the process, Bell made an unscheduled pit stop after falling off the pace with the driver suspecting a loose wheel on his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry. The issue cost Bell two laps, though he continued.

Back on the track on Lap 135, Chastain’s No. 1 Pitbull Tour 2022 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was leading by four-tenths of a second over Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry while third-place Buescher trailed by less than a second. Elliott and Kyle Busch occupied the top five ahead of Byron, Larson, Keselowski, Harvick and Stenhouse.

On Lap 156, the caution returned when Larson spun his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the frontstretch and made light contact with the inside wall after cutting a tire. At the moment of caution, Chastain retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Truex while Buescher, Elliott and Kyle Busch remained in the top five.

Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Chastain exited with the top spot ahead of Truex, Justin Haley, Elliott and Keselowski.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 163, Chastain retained the lead while Haley moved his No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into second place ahead of Truex, Elliott, Keselowski and Kyle Busch while Harvick and Buescher battled for seventh place.

By Lap 175, Chastain was leading by nearly nine-tenths of a second over Truex while Haley, Elliott and Keselowski were scored in the top five. Kyle Busch retained sixth ahead of Buescher, Harvick, Byron and Blaney.

On Lap 188 and just as Truex issued a challenge on Chastain for the lead, the caution flew when AJ Allmendinger made contact with Kurt Busch entering Turn 2, which got Busch’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry loose before the car spun and made contact with the inside wall.

Under caution, some competitors like Haley, Bowman, Allmendinger, Tyler Reddick, Wallace, Suarez, Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon remained on the track while the rest led by Truex pitted.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 194, Haley assumed the lead while teammate Allmendinger overtook Bowman for the runner-up spot, thus placing both Kaulig Racing competitors in the top-two spots.

A lap later, however, the caution returned when Joey Logano, who was struggling with pace, slid sideways and made contact with the outside wall in Turn 1 following contact with Erik Jones exiting the frontstretch.

As the race restarted at the halfway mark on Lap 200, Haley retained the lead over teammate Allmendinger while Bowman muscled his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the runner-up spot. Way behind the field, Ty Dillon got bumped and loose in Turn 3, but the race proceeded under green as Dillon continued to lose spots on the track.

Back at the front, Haley was leading by two-tenths of a second over Bowman while Reddick was locked in a battle with Kyle Busch for fourth place behind Allmendinger.

By Lap 210, Bowman made a bold move through Turn 2 to move into the lead over Haley as Kyle Busch joined the battle. Two laps later, however, Busch rocketed his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry from third to first after overtaking both Haley and Bowman on the frontstretch. With Elliott and Allmendinger remaining in the top five, Truex, Chastain and Hamlin battled within the top-10 mark.

At the Lap 225 mark, Kyle Busch, who celebrated his 37th birthday, was leading by nearly two seconds over Elliott while Bowman, Truex and Byron were in the top five. Behind, Hamlin, following his early pit road issues, was in sixth ahead of Haley, Allmendinger, Chastain, Reddick, Harvick, Stenhouse, Erik Jones, Wallace, Buescher, Blaney, Almirola, Suarez, Chase Briscoe and Keselowski. By then, Larson was in 23rd behind Bell while Harrison Burton was the highest-running rookie candidate in 27th.

Seven laps later, Reddick made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to a shredded right-front tire as he lost two laps in the process. Shortly after, Ty Dillon made an unscheduled pit stop to address a flat right-front tire.

Just past the Lap 240 mark and while Kyle Busch maintained a one-and-a-half second advantage over Elliott, the caution flew when Cody Ware got loose and smacked the outside wall on the frontstretch. In the process of his spin, Ware clipped Hamlin as Hamlin was sent backward against the inside wall with right-side damage to his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry, thus making his afternoon tougher to overcome.

Under caution, Blaney and Harrison Burton remained on the track while the rest led by Kyle Busch pitted.

With three laps remaining in the second stage, Blaney retained the lead while teammates Kyle Busch and Truex overtook Burton for second and third. Behind, Elliott nearly made contact with the outside wall on the frontstretch while battling Chastain.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 250 in a flurry of late jostling for positions, Blaney fended off Kyle Busch to claim his fifth stage victory of the season. Bowman settled in third ahead of Truex, Stenhouse, Chastain, Erik Jones, Burton, Buescher and Elliott.

Under the stage break, Blaney, whose strategy to win the second stage worked, pitted along with Burton and Austin Dillon, whose pit crew lifted the hood of Dillon’s No. 3 Breztri Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for adjustments, while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

With 143 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes, Kyle Busch retained the lead over Bowman while Stenhouse moved into third place. Shortly after, Chastain overtook Truex for fourth place in front of Erik Jones. By then, Larson was back in the top 10 in ninth place ahead of teammate Elliott.

With 125 laps remaining, Kyle Busch continued to lead by more than half a second over Bowman while Stenhouse, Chastain and Truex remained in the top five. Erik Jones remained in sixth place ahead of Larson, Elliott, Buescher and Aric Almirola while Allmendinger, Bell, Harvick, Keselowski, Byron, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, Haley, Preece and Wallace. By then, Reddick and Blaney were mired outside of the top 20 while Hamlin was back in 27th ahead of Austin Dillon.

Fifteen laps later, Kyle Busch, who lapped Austin Dillon, stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Bowman while Chastain, Truex and Stenhouse remained in the top five.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over Bowman while Chastain, Truex, Stenhouse, Elliott, Larson, Erik Jones, Buescher and Bell occupied the top 10. Almirola was in 11th ahead of Allmendinger, Harvick, LaJoie, McDowell, Preece, Haley, Byron, Blaney and Wallace while Briscoe, Suarez, Keselowski and Hamlin were scored on the lead lap. By then, names like Reddick, Custer, Austin Dillon and Harrison Burton were lapped. In addition, Logano was mired in 30th and three laps behind the leaders while Kurt Busch was in 32nd and eight laps behind.

Just as Kyle Busch and Bowman peeled off the track to pit under green, the caution flew when the right-front tire off of Allmendinger’s No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came off in Turn 1.

Under caution, the majority of leaders that did not pit prior to the caution led by Truex pitted and Chastain assumed the lead after exiting with the top spot ahead of Truex, Elliott, Bell, Stenhouse and Larson. Prior to the restart, Kyle Busch and Bowman took the wave around to return to the lead lap.

Down to the final 70 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chastain took off with a brief advantage until he was pressured by Elliott for more.

Four laps later, the caution flew when Suarez and LaJoie made contact entering Turn 3, which sent LaJoie into the outside wall while Suarez spun and forced the field to scatter.

With 61 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chastain and Elliott dueled for the lead through the first two turns with Elliott briefly peaking ahead until Chastain fought back on the outside lane.

During the following lap, both Chastain and Elliott made contact through Turn 2, but both continued to battle dead even for the top spot. They made contact again during the next lap, but both continued to battle for the lead in a heated battle until the caution returned when Reddick spun and wrecked his No. 8 Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on the backstretch. At the moment of caution, Chastain retained the lead over Elliott.

With 53 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Elliott prevailed on the inside lane to move his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the lead while Chastain was left in a battle against Stenhouse for the runner-up spot. Following an intense battle for a few laps, Stenhouse took the runner-up spot while Chastain settled in third ahead of Truex and Bell.

Under the final 50 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Stenhouse while Chastain, Truex, Bell, Erik Jones, Larson, Bowman, Buescher and Kyle Busch occupied the top 10.

With 35 laps remaining, Elliott extended his advantage to more than a second over Stenhouse while Chastain, Truex and Bell remained in the top five.

Fifteen laps later, Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 continued to lead by more than a second over Stenhouse’s No. 47 Kroger/Frozen Farmer Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, who started to have Chastain and Truex reel in on him for the runner-up spot. With Bell in fifth, Bowman and Kyle Busch were up in sixth and seventh followed by Larson, Erik Jones and Buescher. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 11th ahead of teammate Briscoe, Haley, Wallace, Suarez and Cole Custer.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Elliott remained the leader by more than two seconds over Stenhouse while Chastain and Truex battled for third place ahead of Bell. By then, 17 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

With five laps remaining, Elliott stabilized his advantage to less than two seconds over Stenhouse while working his way through lapped traffic. Meanwhile, Chastain continued to fend off Truex for third place.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Elliott continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Stenhouse. Having no competition closing in on him for a final circuit, Elliott cycled his way back around to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line for his first victory of the season as the caution flag flew for a final lap incident involving Chastain and Truex.

With his first victory of the season, Elliott became the ninth different winner through the first 11 events of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. The Dover victory marked Elliott’s second at the Monster Mile, the 14th of his Cup career, his first since winning at Road America in July 2021 and his first oval victory since winning the 2020 season finale at Phoenix Raceway, where he celebrated his first Cup championship.

In addition, Hendrick Motorsports achieved its 22nd overall win at Dover Motor Speedway, leaving the team 15 victories shy of reaching 300 Cup career victories, as all four HMS competitors have recorded a victory this season.

“[I] Just had some good circumstances finally,” Elliott said on FS1. “Really appreciate [crew chief] Alan [Gustafson] and our entire team. We were just sticking with it. We’ve had some tough races over the last four or five months and just great to get NAPA back to Victory Lane. Great to get Hendrick Motorsports back to Victory Lane. Just so proud. This one means a lot in a lot of different ways. Just appreciate all the effort. Thanks to all the fans for coming out. You are always awesome. Hope to see this big crowd here next year. Just a huge thanks to everybody involved. It’s been a fun day and we’re certainly gonna enjoy it. Like I told [the crew] after the race, they’ve been deserving of one for a while. Glad we could get it across the line first. We’ll enjoy it for a few days and go to work next week.”

Finishing two-and-a-half seconds behind Elliott with a stellar runner-up result was Stenhouse, who notched the first top-five result of the season for himself and JTG-Daugherty Racing following a difficult start to the year.

“It’s been a rough start to the season,” Stenhouse said. “Our short track program’s been off and then all of our other good races that we’ve had good runs going, something always happens. Really good to put this all together. It was a really great day for us. I felt like we had a car capable of winning. The pit crew did a great job keeping us up front all day. This feels good. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum on the big tracks. The tracks we got coming forward are really good tracks for us. That was a lot of fun. Lot of battling. It was tough to pass, but it was fun running through lapped traffic. I really wished we had a 70-lap run to the end there, but all in all, our Kroger team’s doing a great job and looking forward to carrying that momentum on.”

Meanwhile, Chastain came home in third place despite making contact with Truex on the final lap that sent Truex sideways and into the inside wall on the backstretch. The incident dropped Truex to 12th place in the final running order while Bell, who rallied from his early issues, and Bowman finished in the top five.

Following the event, Chastain and Truex met on pit road and exchanged words before Truex walked away.

“[Truex and I] were talking about where we were gonna go finishing next week,” Chastain said. “Super proud of this effort. I thought we were a fifth-place car and a couple of guys had misfortune with the caution coming out. That cycled us to the lead. The pit crew was incredible. They were just picking up spots every stop and got us the lead. I’m racing with champions and I got beat.”

Larson, Kyle Busch, Buescher, Harvick and Erik Jones finished in the top 10 as 15 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

There were 17 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured 13 cautions for 75 laps.

With his first victory of the season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by 50 points over Ryan Blaney, 65 over William Byron and Kyle Busch, 69 over Alex Bowman, 80 over Ross Chastain, 82 over Martin Truex Jr. and 83 over Kyle Larson.

Results.

1. Chase Elliott, 73 laps led

2. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

3. Ross Chastain, 86 laps led

4. Christopher Bell

5. Alex Bowman, two laps led

6. Kyle Larson, 19 laps led

7. Kyle Busch, 103 laps led

8. Chris Buescher, 18 laps led

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Erik Jones

11. Justin Haley, 19 laps led

12. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

13. Chase Briscoe

14. Daniel Suarez

15. Cole Custer

16. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

17. Michael McDowell, one lap down

18. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

19. Aric Almirola, one lap down

20. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

21. Denny Hamlin, one lap down, 67 laps led, Stage 1 winner

22. William Byron, one lap down

23. Austin Dillon, two laps down

24. Harrison Burton, two laps down

25. Ryan Preece, two laps down

26. Ryan Blaney, three laps down, eight laps led, Stage 2 winner

27. Ty Dillon, four laps down

28. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

29. Joey Logano, four laps down

30. Tyler Reddick, 10 laps down

31. Kurt Busch, 12 laps down

32. Josh Bilicki, 19 laps down

33. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Brakes

34. Cody Ware – OUT, Dvp

35. BJ McLeod – OUT, Brakes

36. Austin Cindric – OUT, Dvp

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Darlington Raceway, the first of two series events at the venue in Darlington, South Carolina, on Sunday, May 8, which marks Mother’s Day and the sport’s annual Official Throwback weekend. The event is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 2, 2022
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Dirt

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Ryan Blaney: Blaney charged from 25th on the starting grid to post a fifth at Bristol, his fourth top-five finish of the year.

“Ty Dillon’s car was sponsored by ‘Gain,’” Blaney said. “Erik Jones had ‘Tide’ on his car, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car sported the ‘Irish Spring’ logo. I’m not sure what race teams charge for sponsorship at a dirt race, but you can bet those got ‘taken to the cleaners.’”

2. Joey Logano: Despite not leading a single lap, Logano was a fixture up front all night at Bristol and finished third.

“Drivers one and all love racing on the dirt at Bristol,” Logano said. “I think NASCAR should consider some other surfaces to race on, like linoleum, vinyl, tile, or carpet. Just call the event the ‘Floor It 500.’”

3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started ninth and finished ninth at Bristol, and remains atop the points standings, three points up on Ryan Blaney.

“I had an incident with Cody Ware in Stage 3,” Elliott said. “He retaliated and gave me a pretty hard bump. Somebody needs to tell that kid who I am because I am a ‘somebody.’ Somebody also needs to tell him who he is, because he’s a ‘nobody.’”

4. Kyle Busch: Busch ran up front all night at Bristol and stole the win when Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick wrecked battling for the win.

“I don’t have a background in dirt racing,” Busch said. “I grew up on the clean streets of Las Vegas, which are hard, smooth, and paid for with the life savings and crushed hopes of many a failed and addicted gambler.

“You could say I ‘backed’ into the win at Bristol. You could also say Chase Briscoe ‘backed’ into Tyler Reddick, thus backing me into the win. Either way, I’m back in Victory Lane.”

5. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe suffered an early flat tire at Bristol but recovered to put himself in position to win on the final lap. But his kamikaze move on race-leader Tyler Reddick backfired, as Briscoe spun himself and Reddick, which allowed Kyle Busch to steal the win.

“I made it a point to apologize to Tyler,” Briscoe said. “I offered him a handshake, and he graciously accepted. If you ask some of the old school drivers, they’ll tell you that’s the closest us youngsters will come to ‘throwing hands.’”

6. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished sixth at Bristol.

“It’s really special racing on Easter,” Bowman said. “Probably more so for Kyle Busch. I’m sure Kyle and his team were resigned to finishing third. But then, all of a sudden, he was in first. And all his stunned followers could say was, ‘Look! He is risen!’

“And let me apologize for even remotely comparing Jesus to Kyle Busch. As Brad Keselowski might say, ‘You just put the ‘a$$’ in ‘blasphemy.’”

7. Tyler Reddick: While seemingly headed for his first win, Reddick was wrecked by Chase Briscoe, who spun Reddick while attempting a daring, potential race-winning pass in the final corner. Reddick recovered to finish second, while Briscoe dropped to 22nd as Kyle Busch won.

“My No. 8 Chevy was great,” Reddick said. “I’d like to thank everyone associated with Richard Childress Racing and 3CHI. RCR brings the speed, and 3CHI brings the weed.

“I could have tried to be a tough guy and take a swing at Briscoe for wrecking me. But I tried to be the ‘bigger man,’ which is hard because it ain’t easy being the ‘bigger man’ when you’re 5′ 5″ and Briscoe is 6′ 1″ and looks like he’s hiding Tony Stewart under his driver’s suit.”

8. Kyle Larson: Larson won Stage 1 and came home fourth in the Bristol Dirt Race.

“I’m totally at home racing on dirt,” Larson said. “In fact, I love it, even though the end result is often a mouthful of dirt. And, it gives me an opportunity to literally ‘wash my mouth out with soap,’ something I’ve done before figuratively.”

9. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex experienced engine issues at Bristol and struggled to a disappointing 21st.

“Luck just wasn’t on our side,” Truex said. “It was, however, on the side of my JGR teammate Kyle Busch. Seeing the discrepancy in luck between a good guy like me and a punk like Kyle brings tears of pain to me, and tears of joy to him. That’s why Kyle is considered by many to be a ‘lucky SOB.’

“That being said, I’d rather be unlucky than be Kyle Busch.”

10. William Byron: Byron finished 18th in the dirt at Bristol while his three Hendrick Motorsports teammates all placed in the top 10.

“Racing on dirt is the closest we come to ‘drifting,’” Byron said. “It may not be ‘The Fast And The Furious,’ but I’ll put my driving up against any street racer any day, and I’ll put my acting up against Vin Diesel’s every day.”

April 18, 2022
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. William Byron: Byron held off Joey Logano in overtime at Martinsville to win the Blu-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400, Byron’s second straight win.

“I also won the Truck race on Thursday,” Byron said “which means I left Martinsville with two grandfather clocks. It’s the greatest example of ‘two-timing’ in NASCAR since Jeff Gordon’s marriage.”

2. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished fourth at Martinsville, posting his third top-five of the year.

“I’m still looking for my first win,” Blaney said. “I’m sure it will come in due time. Obviously, it’s all about confidence, and I’m extremely confident, even though I’m winless. Who’s better than Ryan Blaney? ‘No won.’”

3. Chase Elliott: Elliott started on the pole and led the first 185 laps, winning the first two stages before fading late to finish 10th.

“It was like Christmas in April at Martinsville,” Elliott said. “Why do I say that? Because there was wintry weather and a boring ‘parade.’”

4. Joey Logano: Logano was running second at the overtime restart at Martinsville, but couldn’t get around William Byron, who controlled the final two laps for the win. Logano’s runner-up finish left him fourth in the points standings, 27 behind Chase Elliott.

“I got close enough to bump Byron once,” Logano said. “If I had it to do over, I would have bumped him harder. I’m pretty disappointed that I didn’t knock Byron out of the way. Just think, all this time, Matt Kenseth thought I had learned my lesson.”

5. Ross Chastain: Chastain came home fifth at Martinsville, and is fifth in the points standings, 42 out of first.

“The start of the race was delayed for an hour due to rain and sleet,” Chastain said. “What else is cold and wet and lasts an hour at Martinsville? A 12-pack.”

6. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe came home ninth at Martinsville.

“Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced in Friday’s Xfinity race,” Briscoe said, “and shared a few beers with some fellow drivers after the race. That story is wholesomely known as Dale Earnhardt’s alcohol ‘content,’ and has nothing to do with how much he drank.”

7. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 12th at Martinsville.

“I can’t wait for the Bristol Dirt Race on Sunday,” Bowman said. “And, it also takes place on Easter Sunday. It’s a race fan’s dream: Bristol, on dirt, on Easter. It’s practically the Holy Trinity.’”

8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex struggled at Martinsville, finishing 22nd.

“It wasn’t the greatest day for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Truex said. “But it wasn’t a lost weekend for Joe Gibbs. On Friday, he got to witness his grandson Ty, who was wearing his helmet, punch Sam Mayer, who wasn’t wearing his helmet.

9. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished eighth at Martinsville, posting his first top 10 since Las Vegas on March 6.

“Darrell Waltrip will serve as the guest analyst for Fox at the upcoming Bristol Dirt Race,” Almirola said. “So, the tiny broadcast booth he’ll share with Mike Joy and Clint Bowyer at the Coliseum will temporarily be known as the ‘Tide Pod.’”

10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh at Martinville, as the remaining three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers struggled, all finishing 20th or worse.

“How about that post-Xfinity race brawl between Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer?” Busch said. “I’ve been on both sides of that situation. I can relate to Ty’s feelings because I’ve been mad enough to take a swing at a fellow driver. I can relate to Sam’s predicament because I also have a punchable face.”

April 12, 2022
Chastain grabs first Cup victory in a wild finish at COTA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

1. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

2. Alex Bowman

3. Christopher Bell

4. Chase Elliott

5. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

6. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Austin Cindric, 11 laps led

9. Erik Jones

10. Austin Dillon

11. Kevin Harvick

12. William Byron

13. Michael McDowell

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Justin Haley

16. Todd Gilliland

17. Harrison Burton

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

19. Aric Almirola

20. Ty Dillon

21. Chris Buescher

22. Josh Bilicki

23. Cole Custer

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

25. Kaz Grala

26. Boris Said

27. Cody Ware

28. Kyle Busch

29. Kyle Larson

30. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

31. Joey Logano, two laps led

32. Kurt Busch

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

34. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Rear gear

35. Joey Hand – OUT, Suspension

36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Drivetrain

38. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Suspension

39. Andy Lally – OUT, Suspension

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

March 27, 2022
Zane Smith notches a thrilling, double overtime Truck victory at COTA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

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

2. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap led

3. Kyle Busch, 31 laps led

4. Ben Rhodes

5. Chandler Smith, one lap led

6. Christian Eckes

7. Tyler Ankrum

8. Carson Hocevar

9. Stewart Friesen

10. Grant Enfinger

11. Lawless Alan

12. Derek Kraus

13. Matt Crafton

14. Kaz Grala

15. Kris Wright

16. Chase Purdy

17. Tanner Gray

18. Tate Fogleman

19. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

20. Brad Perez

21. Will Rodgers

22. Timmy Hill

23. Spencer Boyd

24. Colby Howard

25. Alex Bowman, one lap led

26. Taylor Gray

27. Austin Wayne Self, one lap down

28. Logan Bearden – OUT, Fuel pump

29. Dean Thompson, six laps down

30. Ty Majeski, seven laps down

31. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Rear gear

32. Jack Wood – OUT, Dvp

33. Matt Jaskol – OUT, Electrical

34. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

35. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Transmission

36. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Drivetrain

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

March 26, 2022
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe used a quick late pit stop and nailed two restarts to win the Rouff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix, securing his spot in the NASCAR playoffs.

“I became the 200th winner in NASCAR’s history,” Briscoe said. “And I’m proud to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing. Tony Stewart was my childhood hero. As a kid, I would eat, breathe, and sleep racing. And just like Tony, the eating part was my favorite.”

2. Joey Logano: Logano finished eighth at Las Vegas.

“The restarts at Phoenix were wild,” Logano said. “Turn 1 is wide enough for cars to take several different lines. In essence, NASCAR is encouraging drivers to ‘cut corners,’ much like the lame punishment of starting in the back for unapproved adjustments encourages drivers to ‘cut corners.’”

3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney started on the pole at Phoenix and won Stage 2 on his way to a fourth-place finish in the Rouff Mortgage 500.

“I also was fastest in Saturday’s practice,” Blaney said, “and I led the most laps in Sunday’s race. Combine that with the pole and Stage 2 win, and you could say we checked all the boxes, except one.”

4. Kyle Larson: Larson broke a valve spring with about 74 laps remaining and limped home to a 34th-place finish.

“With a championship last year,” Larson said, “and a win already this year, we were operating under the motto ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ That obviously changed.”

5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh at Phoenix.

“I realize I was wrong to criticize Alex Bowman for his lucky win at Las Vegas,” Busch said. “I should be more complimentary, so here goes: I think every driver at Phoenix performed well. In fact, I would give all of them a passing grade for the race. In other words, my stance on other drivers is this: ‘zero F’s given.’”

6. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished 12th, his first finish outside the top 10 this year.

“You could say I’m ‘flying under the radar,’” Almirola said. “Apparently, the ‘radar’ gauges drivers with an actual chance of winning a Cup championship.”

7. Tyler Reddick: Reddick finished third in the Rouff Mortgage 500

“I think it’s a brilliant strategy for NASCAR to have a race sponsored by a home loan financing company,” Reddick said. “It may be the only way to draw more ‘interest’ in the sport.”

8. Chase Elliott: After challenging for the win with about 25 laps remaining, Elliott faltered with a slow pit stop and a spin on the backstretch. He finished a disappointing 11th.

“This just goes to show,” Elliott said, “that I don’t need anyone else to cost me a win, because me and my team are perfectly capable of doing it ourselves.

“Alex Bowman was driving the ‘Best Friends’ No. 48 Chevrolet. That paint scheme describes the animal welfare non-profit organization, and in no way represents my relationship with Kyle Larson.

9. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished sixth at Phoenix and tied a Cup record with his 18th straight top 10 at one track.

“My good friends at Hunt Brothers Pizza were my main sponsor for the race at Phoenix,” Harvick said. “As you know, Hunt Brothers Pizza is arguably the nation’s best gas station pizza. And in these uncertain times, isn’t it nice to know you can get a large Hunt Brothers Pizza for less than a gallon of gas?”

10. (tie): Martin Truex Jr.: Truex blew a tire on Lap 221 and slammed the wall hard, ending his day at Phoenix. He finished 35th.

“I was stunned,” Truex said. “Not because of the impact, but because Brad Keselowski had nothing to do with my accident.”

10. (tie): Alex Bowman: Bowman finished 14th in the Rouff Mortgage 500.

“It would have been nice to win two in a row,” Bowman said. “Then I could tell Kyle Busch he was exactly right, because I’d ‘back’ into another win because I’d be back in Victory Lane.

“But I must say, it’s entertaining to get under Kyle’s skin. As much as I hate to give him props, Kyle’s skin is unmatched by any other driver, because it’s the thinnest and the palest.”

March 14, 2022
NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

1. Kyle Larson: Larson took two tires during the final pit stop and assumed the lead at Las Vegas. But Hendrick teammate Alex Bowman got the best of Larson and took the win as Larson settled for the runner-up spot.

“Hopefully, I think I’ve smoothed things over with Chase Elliott,” Larson said. “We may not see eye to eye, mostly because Chase insists things should be an eye for an eye.

“But one thing we can agree on is the use of the abbreviation ‘MF.’ Of course, our meanings of the abbreviation differ greatly. All I can tell you is to me, it means ‘my fault.’”

2. Kyle Busch: After a spin into the wall in Saturday practice, Busch was forced to resort to a backup car on Sunday. He steadily made his way to the front and led with three laps to go before a late caution ultimately cost him the win.

“Nothing is more upsetting than ruining your primary car in practice,” Busch said. “Trust me, I was in a panic after that. My car may have had ‘Ethel M Chocolates’ on it, but my driver’s suit had ‘Fudge Stripe’ in it.

“But Erik Jones really screwed us when he lost control and caused that final caution. Erik used to be a Joe Gibbs Racing driver. Apparently, whether driving for JGR or not, Erik is still a liability.”

3. Martin Truex, Jr.: Truex surged late and was battling with Kyle Busch for the win when a caution flew with two laps to go. Truex and Busch took four tires but lost track position, and Truex eventually finished eighth.

“My battle with Kyle should have been for the win,” Truex said. “That’s what racing is all about. Two of NASCAR’s all-time bests going head to head. Some would call it ‘great versus great.’ Others would call it ‘good versus evil.’”

4. Alex Bowman: Bowman out-dragged Kyle Larson after a late restart and held on to win the Pennzoil 400.

“I think I speak for most, but not all, of Hendrick Motorsports drivers when I say nothing is safer than racing side by side with Kyle Larson with the outcome on the line, ” Bowman said.

5. Aric Almirola: Almirola finished sixth in the Pennzoil 400 and is the only driver with a top 10 finish in all three races this year.

“That’s called ‘consistency,’” Almirola said. “And as the NASCAR playoff format, and Mark Martin can tell you, consistency will get you nowhere.”

6. Joey Logano: Logano finished 14th at Las Vegas and is third in the points standings.

“The average age of this season’s three race-winners is approximately 27,” Logano said. “As a 31-year-old, that makes me feel somewhat ancient. But they all have something I want, which is a race victory, as well as a non-receding hairline and 20/20 vision.”

7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney was collected when Brad Keselowski got loose and spun on lap 104. Blaney finished 36th.

“Brad just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Blaney said. “Or I should say, given his history of accidents this year, Brad seems to be in the wrong place every time.”

8. Austin Dillon: Dillon finished 11th at Las Vegas and is ninth in the points standings.

“How about this ‘Next Generation’ car?” Dillon said. “And how about these ‘Next Generation’ sponsors? Like Tyler Reddick’s sponsor, 3Chi, which is a supplier of cannabinoids. Cannabinoids is just a fancy way of saying ‘marijuana,’ much like ‘dysentery’ is a fancy way of saying ‘Martinsville hot dog.’”

9. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished ninth at Las Vegas.

“Did Kyle Larson really not see me when he ran me into the wall at Fontana?” Elliott said. “Maybe. Did I spin on purpose after that incident in an attempt to ruin Larson’s shot at winning? I won’t dignify that with an answer, but I will say that I went to a casino with Clint Bowyer, where we played roulette, and we both did, in fact, ‘intentionally’ spin the roulette wheel.”

10. Austin Cindric: Daytona 500 champ Cindric finished 19th ay Las Vegas.

“Denny Hamlin broke a gear on Lap 219,” Cindric said. “And a lot of drivers sarcastically said to Denny, ‘You’ve got no gears.’ And Denny of course replied, ‘No shift, Sherlock.’”

March 7, 2022
Bowman utilizes pit strategy to win in overtime at Las Vegas

Seizing an opportunity with a late two-tire pit strategy and rallying from an early pit road penalty, Alex Bowman prevailed in an overtime shootout against teammate Kyle Larson to win the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 6, and capture his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2022 season.

The 28-year-old native from Tucson, Arizona, led three times for 16 laps, including the final three, as he dueled and fended off teammate Larson entering the final turn on the final lap to grab the unlikeliest of victories following a late turn of events, where a late multi-car incident spoiled Kyle Busch’s opportunity in winning at his home track.

With on-track qualifying determining the starting lineup on Saturday, Christopher Bell captured his first NASCAR Cup Series career pole with a pole-winning lap at 182.673 mph in 29.561 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Kyle Larson, the reigning Cup Series champion and winner of last weekend’s event at Auto Club Speedway who posted a qualifying speed at 182.014 mph in 29.668 seconds.

Prior to the event, Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines along with Kyle Busch, who competed in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s practice session.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell took off with an early advantage while rookie Austin Cindric challenged Larson for the runner-up spot followed by Chase Elliott and Chase Briscoe. When the field returned to the start/finish line, Bell led the first lap as Larson managed to clear Cindric to retain second entering the first two turns.

With the field engaged in early, competitive racing around the circuit through the first five laps, Bell was leading by more than a second over Larson while Briscoe, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin were in the top five. Meanwhile, Cindric had fallen back to ninth place.

By Lap 10, Bell extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Larson followed by Logano, Hamlin and Ryan Blaney. Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Cindric, William Byron and Ross Chastain were in the top 10 ahead of Martin Truex Jr., Chase Elliott, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon and Michael McDowell.

Ten laps later, Bell continued to lead by more than two seconds over Hamlin, who made his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the runner-up spot followed by Logano and Blaney while Larson had fallen back to fifth place.

When the competition caution flew on Lap 30, Bell remained as the leader by more than two seconds over teammate Hamlin and Blaney, both of whom were engaged in a tight battle for the runner-up spot. Teammates Bowman and Larson were in the top five followed by Truex, Logano, Byron, Briscoe and Chastain. By then, Elliott and Cindric were in 11th and 12th, Kevin Harvick was in 14th, Brad Keselowski was in 16th ahead of Reddick, Kyle Busch was up in 18th area of Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and rookie Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon was in 26th, Aric Almirola was in 29th and Bubba Wallace was in 31st.

Under the competition caution, the leaders pitted for service and Blaney exited with the top spot ahead of Hamlin, Bell, Bowman, Chastain and the field. Following the pit stops, Larson pitted for a second time to address loose lug nuts along with Kyle Busch, who had a transmission issue.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 35, Blaney battled against Hamlin before maintaining the lead as Alex Bowman joined the party and overtook Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Soon after, a three-car battle ensued between Blaney, Bowman and Hamlin as Bowman started to challenge Blaney for the top spot.

Then on Lap 37, the caution flew when Cole Custer spun his No. 41 HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang in Turn 2.

Five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Blaney and Bowman engaged in a side-by-side battle in front of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Truex. Shortly after and with the field stacking up, the caution returned when Austin Dillon made contact with Justin Haley through Turns 1 and 2, which sent both competitors sideways as Kyle Busch also got sideways after getting hit by Hemric. At the moment of caution, Bowman emerged ahead of Blaney to take the lead.

Under caution and while pit road was closed for the field, Hemric pitted for the third time of the day with the driver reporting brake issues to his No. 16 South Point Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. When pit road opened, Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon pitted after both flat-spotted their tires.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 47, Bowman and Blaney battled dead even for the lead until Bowman managed to pull ahead entering Turn 3. Behind, teammates Truex and Hamlin battled for third and Byron battled for a spot in the top five as the field fanned out to multiple lanes.

Then on Lap 49, Bowman got his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 loose entering the backstretch, which allowed Hamlin to take the lead followed by Blaney, who got loose entering Turn 3, as Bowman fell back to third. Behind, Byron moved his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into fourth place followed by Truex and Chastain.

Through the first 60 laps of the event, Hamlin was leading by more than a second over Blaney while Truex, Bowman and Byron were in the top five. Chastain, Christopher Bell, Elliott, Larson and Kurt Busch were in the top 10 followed by Harvick, Logano, Briscoe, Erik Jones and Cindric.

Three laps later, the caution flew when Reddick spun his No. 8 Bet MGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 off of Turn 4 and through the frontstretch grass as his car briefly came off the ground. Under caution, nearly the entire field returned to pit road for service while Kurt Busch, Corey LaJoie, Custer, Josh Bilicki and Cody Ware remained on the track. During the pit stops, Truex was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 68, Kurt Busch maintained the lead, but was quickly pursued and challenged by Byron for the lead. Then on Lap 70, Byron emerged with the lead on four fresh tires followed by teammate Bowman.

By Lap 75, Byron was leading by less than four-tenths of a second over teammate Bowman while teammate Elliott trailed by more than a second. Chastain and Hamlin were in the top five followed by Larson, Blaney, Briscoe, Harvick and Bell.

Two laps later, however, Bowman reassumed the lead after overtaking his teammate Byron for the top spot. Behind, Chastain started to challenge Elliott for third place.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Bowman claimed his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second place followed by Chastain, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, Blaney, Briscoe, Kyle Busch and Bell. Following the first stage, Kyle Busch ran into Briscoe’s rear bumper to express his displeasure stemming from his battle with Briscoe prior to the stage’s conclusion.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field returned to pit road for service and Brad Keselowski emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop followed by Hamlin, Elliott, Bowman and Cindric, all of whom had four tires changed to their respective machines. Back on the track, Michael McDowell remained on the track followed by Josh Bilicki and BJ McLeod before the latter two pitted.

The second stage started on Lap 87 as McDowell and Keselowski occupied the front row. At the start, Keselowski managed to fend off McDowell, Elliott and Hamlin to lead by a narrow margin before Chastain joined the party during the following lap. With Keselowski clearing the field, Hamlin moved to second followed by Chastain and Bowman while McDowell started to drift to the back.

Approaching Lap 91, Hamlin utilized the outside lane and four fresh tires to his advantage as he took the lead. Soon after, Bowman and Chastain overtook Keselowski for spots in the top three.

Then during the following lap, the caution flew when Briscoe got loose as McDowell slid up in front of him, which resulted in Briscoe clipping Daniel Suarez and sending Suarez’s No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 hard into the frontstretch wall and sliding sideways as his race came to an end.

Under caution, some like Almirola, Austin Dillon, McDowell, Briscoe and Corey LaJoie pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 97, Hamlin retained the lead following a push from Chastain on the inside lane as Chastain moved into second place. Behind, teammates, Byron and Bowman battled for third place while Keselowski maintained fifth ahead of Kyle Busch, Elliott and Larson.

At the Lap 100 mark, Hamlin was leading by less than four-tenths of a second over Chastain followed by Byron and Bowman while Kyle Busch emerged in the top five. Behind, Truex and Larson battled for sixth while Keselowski was back in eighth ahead of Blaney and Erik Jones.

Then on Lap 103, the caution flew when Keselowski, who was back in eighth place, got loose and spun entering Turn 4. He was then hit by ex-teammate Blaney’s No. 12 Menards/Pennzoil Ford Mustang as Keselowski’s No. 6 Fastenal Ford Mustang continued to spin in a series of circles across the frontstretch, though he was dodged by the field. The incident terminated Blaney’s strong run while Keselowski continued.

Under caution, the majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

On Lap 109, the race restarted under green. At the start, Kyle Busch maintained the lead followed by Aric Almirola, Chastain and Hamlin while Austin Dillon was fading with no fresh tires. Meanwhile, Larson issued a challenge for a spot in the top five.

During the following two laps, Kyle Busch remained in the lead as Chastain and Larson started to challenge Busch for the top spot. Then on Lap 113, Chastain moved his No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the front as Larson followed suit.

A few laps later, Larson got loose in Turn 3 while battling Chastain for the lead as he slipped out of the top five.

By Lap 120, Chastain was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Bowman, Larson and Truex were in the top five. Kyle Busch was back in sixth ahead of Byron, Bell, Elliott and Harvick while Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Logano, Bubba Wallace and Briscoe were in the top 15.

Ten laps later, Chastain continued to lead by more than three-tenths of a second over Hamlin while Larson, Bowman and Bell were scored in the top five. By then, Kyle Busch was back in eighth place ahead of Elliott and Harvick.

Just past the halfway mark on Lap 135, the caution flew when Briscoe got loose and spun in Turn 3 as he was narrowly dodged by rookie Harrison Burton when his car rolled back to the apron. At the same time, Cindric spun at the exact turn after getting hit by Almirola. Both managed to pit their respective cars, but Briscoe eventually retired in the garage.

Under caution, the field pitted and Larson exited with the top spot followed by Chastain, Bell, Elliott and Kyle Busch. During the pit stops, Hamlin ran over his air hose, In addition, Bowman was penalized for an equipment interference when a tire rolled into Cody Ware’s pit box,

When the race restarted on Lap 139, Larson received a push from Chastain to retain the lead while Bell battled against Elliott and Kyle Busch for third place.

A few laps later, the caution flew when Bell got loose and spun his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry through the backstretch. Behind him, Harrison Burton also spun in his No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Mustang.

Under caution, Burton along with McLeod and Bilicki pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

When the race restarted on Lap 147, teammates Larson and Elliott battled dead even for the lead followed by Chastain, Kyle Busch, Truex and Byron.

During the following lap, Larson managed to clear the field to retain the lead while Chastain challenged Elliott for the runner-up spot.

By Lap 155 and with the laps in the second stage dwindling, Larson was out in front by less than two-tenths of a second over Chastain while third-place Elliott trailed by less than a second. Behind, Kyle Busch and Byron battle for fourth place in front of Truex while Logano, Harvick, Bubba Wallace and Hamlin were in the top 10.

Then on Lap 160, Chastain emerged with the top spot following a fierce battle with Larson, though Larson kept Chastain within his sights. Soon after, Elliott started to close in on teammate Larson for the runner-up spot.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 165, the No. 1 ACM/Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 piloted by Chastain retained the No. 1 spot and claimed the stage victory. Elliott raced his way into second place followed by Larson, Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex, Logano, Harvick, Hamlin and Wallace. By then, 30 of the 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the leaders peeled to pit road for service and Chastain retained the top spot after exiting with the lead followed by Kyle Busch, Larson, Elliott and Truex.

Prior to the start of the final stage, Cole Custer stalled his car in Turn 4 and eventually retired due to an engine failure and with smoke brewing beneath his car.

With 93 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Chastain and Kyle Busch battled for three full laps until Chastain managed to fend off a ferocious battle against Busch to retain the lead.

Soon after, Chastain was out in front by nearly half a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott, Larson and Logano were in the top five.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Chastain stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott and Truex battled for third place. Behind, Larson was in fifth ahead of teammates Bowman and Byron while Hamlin, Logano and Reddick were in the top 10.

Fifteen laps later, Chastain continued to lead by more than eight-tenths of a second over Kyle Busch while third-place Truex trailed by less than three seconds. Meanwhile, Bowman was in fourth while Larson, who was reporting a vibration to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, was in fifth. Hamlin was in sixth followed by Byron, Reddick, Elliott and Logano.

Approaching the final 50 laps of the event, green flag pit stops commenced as Austin Dillon pitted along with Almirola, Bubba Wallace, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Harvick, Truex, Hamlin, Elliott, Larson, Logano, Elliott and the leader Chastain. During the pit stops, Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road.

Then with 47 laps remaining, the caution flew when Hamlin, who had completed his pit service under green, spun before coming to a stop below the apron in Turn 2 due to a mechanical issue. He ended up needing assistance from a wrecker to return to his pit stall, but his strong afternoon came to a late conclusion as Hamlin was strapped with two DNFs through the first three scheduled events. At the moment of caution, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who had yet to pit, was scored the leader followed by Ty Dillon, who also needed to pit, while Kyle Busch was out in front ahead of Chastain and Truex.

Under caution, Stenhouse and Dillon pitted as Kyle Busch assumed the lead followed by Chastain and Truex.

With 41 laps remaining, the race restarts under green. At the start, Kyle Busch battled against Chastain through the first two turns before he moved his No. 18 Ethel M Chocolates Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. With Chastain managing to retain second, Truex was engaged in a battle with Bowman for third place while Stenhouse was in fifth ahead of Byron.

With 30 laps remaining, Kyle Busch extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Truex, who earlier battled and prevailed over a battle with Chastain for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bowman settled in fourth in front of teammate Byron. By then, Reddick, who spun on Lap 63, was in sixth followed by Stenhouse and Almirola while 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace were in the top 10.

Ten laps later, Kyle Busch’s advantage was reduced to a tenth of a second over teammate Truex while third-place Chastain trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Bowman continued to run in fourth place while trailing by less than two seconds, teammate Byron trailed in fifth place by more than four seconds and sixth-place Reddick trailed by more than eight seconds.

Soon after, the battle for the lead between Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch and Truex ignited as Truex started to challenge Busch for the top spot.

At the start/finish line with 15 laps remaining, Kyle Busch was ahead by a hair over teammate Truex, but Busch could not drive away from Truex as he launched another attack on the inside lane. By then, the teammates were pulling away by more than a second over Chastain.

Then with 13 laps remaining, Truex gained a run through the backstretch to peek ahead and try to clear Busch entering Turns 3 and 4, but Busch utilized a crossover move on the inside lane to reassume the lead through Turn 4 and during the following lap.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Kyle Busch continued to lead by a narrow margin over teammate Truex while Chastain was trailing the leaders by more than two seconds.

With five laps remaining, Kyle Busch retained the lead by less than four-tenths of a second over teammate Truex, who kept teammate Busch within his sights but could not gain a strong run to attack nor clear Busch for the lead.

Just then, Erik Jones pounded the outside wall hard entering Turn 4 with three laps remaining. Though the race briefly remained under green flag conditions, the caution flew when Jones, who was trying to straighten his car below the apron, slipped sideways and spun back across the middle of the track as he was narrowly dodged by Bubba Wallace, who spun and hit the tire barriers near the pit road exit. At the moment of caution, Kyle Busch had managed to maintain a stable advantage over teammate Truex.

Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop along with teammates Bowman and Byron while Kyle Busch, the first competitor with four fresh tires, exited in fourth place followed by Chastain and Truex.

With the event sent into overtime, teammates Larson and Bowman occupied the front row when the race restarted under green. At the start, teammates Larson and Bowman battled dead-even for the lead ahead of Byron, Kyle Busch, Truex and Chastain for a full lap.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Bowman and Larson continued to battle dead even for the lead and the win ahead of the field with no runs occurring for the two leaders. Entering Turns 3 and 4, Bowman started to peek ahead and he managed to clear teammate Larson to take over the lead. Larson then tried to pull a crossover move on Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet, but he could not gain momentum through the frontstretch as Bowman streaked across the finish line in first place for his first checked flag of the season.

By capturing his first victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the second consecutive victory of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, Bowman became the third different winner through the first three scheduled events of 2022 as he captured his seventh NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 228th series start. The 2022 season marked Bowman’s fourth consecutive year of notching at least one Cup victory as he also recorded the first win for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports entry at Vegas since 2010 that was last made by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

“I just can’t thank Ally and Chevrolet, everybody from Hendrick Motorsports enough,” Bowman said on FOX. “This thing was so fast all day. Just never really had the track position we needed to show it, but man, what a call by [crew chief] Greg Ives and the guys to take two [tires] there. Obviously, it paid off. Racing Kyle’s [Larson] always fun. [I] Got to race him for a couple of wins. We’ve always raced each other super clean and super respectfully. Just can’t say enough about these guys. It’s been a pretty awful start to the year. To come out here and get a win on a last restart deal like that is pretty special.”

Teammate Larson rallied from an adversity-filled event to settle in second place while Chastain, who led a race-high 83 of 274 laps, came home in third place for his first top-five result of the season.

“A dream come true,” Chastain said. “This is what all the work is for. This is why we train and try to build our whole lives and careers once we can race at this level is to have race cars like that. I couldn’t be more proud of Trackhouse [Racing]. It took a lot of patience inside the car from our fast racing. It’s tough for me to not get too aggressive and a lot of neutral thinking. Josh Wise and a book by Trevor Moawad really helped me today and that’s progress.”

Despite falling short of the victory at his home track, Kyle Busch, who finished in fourth place after leading 49 laps, praised the Joe Gibbs Racing organization and the teams for their support in preparing Busch’s backup car for the main event after he wrecked his primary car during Saturday’s practice session.

“Yeah, true testament to everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing,” Busch said. “[I] Really appreciate the No. 18 guys, my guys, but also the Nos. 11, 19 and 20, all them, for coming over, pitching in. Everybody had a hand in being able to make us go today. [I] Really appreciate that. Great Ethel M Chocolates Toyota Camry TRD today. [The car] Was good there, fast at the end. Trying to just do what I could to hold the lead there with Truex and felt like I inched away finally. We were coming to the white [flag] or something. I don’t know what it was. Anyways, [it] wasn’t meant to be. Not our day. See you next week.”

Byron rallied from sustaining two consecutive DNFs through the first two scheduled events to complete the top five in fifth place. Almirola, Reddick, Truex, Elliott and Bell finished in the top 10. Harrison Burton was the highest-finishing rookie in 16th place while Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Joey Logano finished 12th, 13th and 14th. Cindric ended up in 19th while Keselowski settled in 24th ahead of Bubba Wallace, both of whom were scored a lap down.

There were 23 lead changes for 15 different leaders. The race featured 12 cautions for 60 laps.

With his runner-up result, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by six points over Martin Truex Jr., nine over Joey Logano, 10 over rookie Austin Cindric and 11 over Kyle Busch.

Results.

1. Alex Bowman, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Kyle Larson, 27 laps led

3. Ross Chastain, 83 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Kyle Busch, 49 laps led

5. William Byron, eight laps led

6. Aric Almirola

7. Tyler Reddick

8. Martin Truex Jr., one lap led

9. Chase Elliott

10. Christopher Bell, 32 laps led

11. Austin Dillon

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Kurt Busch, four laps led

14. Joey Logano

15. Corey LaJoie

16. Harrison Burton

17. Justin Haley

18. Chris Buescher

19. Austin Cindric

20. Ty Dillon, one lap led

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps led

22. Daniel Hemric

23. Todd Gilliland

24. Brad Keselowski, one lap down, three laps led

25. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

26. Cody Ware, one lap down

27. Michael McDowell, one lap down, four laps led

28. BJ McLeod, two laps down

29. Josh Bilicki, three laps down

30. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

31. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

32. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Drivetrain, 31 laps led

33. Cole Custer – OUT

34. Greg Biffle – OUT, Fuel pump, one lap led

35. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

36. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led

37. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series’ West Coast swing will cap off its three-race West Coast swing next weekend at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, March 13, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

March 6, 2022