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  • Daniel Suarez earns first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Sonoma

    Daniel Suarez earns first NASCAR Cup Series victory at Sonoma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Daniel Suarez, 47 laps led

    2. Chris Buescher, four laps led

    3. Michael McDowell

    4. Kevin Harvick

    5. Austin Cindric

    6. Ryan Blaney

    7. Ross Chastain

    8. Chase Elliott, 26 laps led

    9. William Byron

    10. Brad Keselowski, three laps led

    11. Austin Dillon

    12. Justin Haley

    13. Chase Briscoe

    14. Aric Almirola

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

    16. Alex Bowman

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

    18. Kurt Busch

    19. AJ Allmendinger

    20. Joey Hand

    21. Cole Custer

    22. Erik Jones

    23. Ty Dillon

    24. Todd Gilliland

    25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    26. Martin Truex Jr.

    27. Christopher Bell

    28. Harrison Burton

    29. Josh Bilicki

    30. Kyle Busch

    31. Denny Hamlin

    32. Cody Ware, one lap down

    33. Scott Heckert, one lap down

    34. Corey LaJoie, nine laps down

    35. Tyler Reddick, 13 laps down

    36. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Engine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Kurt Busch and rookie Austin Cindric are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Aric Almirola and Tyler Reddick occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by two points, Erik Jones trails by 26, Austin Dillon trails by 29, Daniel Suarez trails by 60, Michael McDowell trails by 86, Bubba Wallace trails by 96, Justin Haley trails by 101, Chris Buescher trails by 104 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 107. 

    Results.

    1. Joey Logano, 22 laps led

    2. Kyle Busch, 66 laps led

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

    4. Ryan Blaney, 12 laps led

    5. Aric Almirola

    6. Martin Truex Jr., 42 laps led

    7. Erik Jones, four laps led

    8. Ross Chastain

    9. Christopher Bell

    10. AJ Allmendinger

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

    12. Kyle Larson

    13. Alex Bowman

    14. Justin Haley

    15. Austin Dillon

    16. Tyler Reddick

    17. Zane Smith

    18. Michael McDowell, 34 laps led

    19. William Byron

    20. Brad Keselowski

    21. Chase Elliott

    22. Todd Gilliland

    23. Daniel Suarez

    24. Chase Briscoe, 27 laps led

    25. Harrison Burton

    26. Bubba Wallace

    27. Ty Dillon

    28. Josh Bilicki

    29. Cole Custer

    30. BJ McLeod

    31. Parker Kligerman

    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., four laps down

    33. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

    34. Denny Hamlin, 11 laps down

    35. Cody Ware – OUT, Power

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

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

  • Blaney survives for first NASCAR All-Star Race victory at Texas

    Blaney survives for first NASCAR All-Star Race victory at Texas

    From having the race won to not having it won before officially emerging triumphant under the lights, Ryan Blaney outlasted Denny Hamlin and the field during an overtime shootout to win the 2022 NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 22.

    The 28-year-old Blaney from High Point, North Carolina, led a race-high 84 of 140 over-scheduled laps and was initially within striking distance of claiming the checkered flag and the win during the final 50 scheduled laps.

    However, an untimely caution due to an incident involving Ricky Stenhouse Jr. sent the event into overtime as part of the All-Star Race format that stated the event could not finish under caution.

    Despite initially having issues re-attaching his window net after having it partially down prior to overtime, Blaney managed to streak away from the competition that included his Team Penske teammates and Denny Hamlin to win NASCAR’s annual exhibition event with a million dollars on the line for the first time in his career.

    The starting lineup for the event was based on a newly-formatted qualifying session, consisting of a single qualifying lap session before the top-eight competitors transferred to the second round, which was an elimination bracket session. In this session, the drivers competed against one another in a side-by-side four-tire pit stop before drag-racing off of pit road and cycling for a full lap, where the first competitor across the start/finish line would transfer to the following round.

    Following all qualifying sessions and rounds, Kyle Busch started in the pole position for the third time in his career. Joining him on the front row was Ryan Blaney. Twenty competitors earned guaranteed spots for the main event and they were joined by Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones (fan vote), all of whom transferred from the All-Star Open.

    Prior to the event, Alex Bowman dropped to the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments were made to his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Kyle Busch broke ahead with an early advantage followed by Blaney while teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson battled for third place. Behind, Kurt Busch and Ross Chastain raced one another for fifth place.

    Following the first lap, Kyle Busch was out in front ahead of Blaney, Byron, Larson, Chastain, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, AJ Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Kyle Busch continued to lead by nearly half a second over Blaney followed by Larson, Byron and Kurt Busch while Truex, Chastain, Logano, Allmendinger and Briscoe were in the top 10. Chase Elliott was in 11th followed by Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell, Bubba Wallace, Aric Almirola, Denny Hamlin, rookie Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Erik Jones and Chris Buescher.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Kyle Busch stabilized his advantage to half a second over Blaney while Larson, Byron, Kurt Busch, Chastain, Truex, Logano, Allmendinger and Briscoe remained in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, Kyle Busch remained as the leader and led by four-tenths of a second over Blaney while third-place Larson trailed by nearly two seconds. Byron remained in fourth followed by Kurt Busch, Chastain and Truex. By then, Christopher Bell was in ninth behind Logano while Elliott cracked the top 10 ahead of Bubba Wallace, Hamlin, Allmendinger, Suarez and Briscoe.

    At the start of the final lap of the first stage, Kyle Busch was leading by nearly half a second over Blaney. Remaining uncontested at the front, Busch was able to cruise his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry back to the start/finish line and win the first stage on Lap 25. With the stage win, Busch was guaranteed to start with the lead for the final stage as long as he remained in the top 15 for the following two stages.

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

    The second stage started on Lap 26 as Kyle Busch and Blaney occupied the front row once again. At the start, Kyle Busch received a strong push from Chastain to maintain the lead. Blaney got loose behind Chastain entering the first turn, which allowed Kyle Larson to rocket into the runner-up spot while Cindric and Bell also moved into the top five. In the midst of the restart, Blaney was left battling Byron for sixth place.

    On Lap 30 and while Kyle Busch remained as the leader. Blaney got into the rear of Chastain through the frontstretch in a bid for third place but got loose and shot up the track toward the outside wall. As a result, Blaney dropped from fourth to sixth. By then, Bubba Wallace had made an unscheduled pit stop under green and was a lap behind the leaders.

    By Lap 35, Kyle Busch continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Larson followed by Chastain, Byron and Cindric. Running in sixth was Suarez followed by Hamlin, Bell, Truex and Elliott.

    Just then, the caution flew when Larson, winner of the last two All-Star events, lost a right-front tire and pounded the outside wall hard in Turn 4. Despite limping back to pit road, the damage to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was terminal as Larson retired in his pit stall.

    “[I] Hate that that happened,” Larson, who was released from the infield care center, said on FS1. “I felt like our car was good enough, depending on restarts since you can’t pass at all, especially the leader anyways. It’s pretty impossible to pass. Yeah, we’ll move on and look forward to the [Coca-Cola] 600 and hopefully, put on some good racing there.”

    During the caution period, names like McDowell, Wallace, Almirola, Briscoe and Erik Jones pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the lead lap.

    Following an extensive cleanup, the race proceeded under green on Lap 43. At the start, Kyle Busch and Chastain dueled for the lead for a full lap until Busch managed to pull ahead and clear Chastain for the lead during the following lap. Soon after, Cindric moved his No. 2 Keystone Ford Mustang into the runner-up spot while Blaney and Byron were in the top five. 

    By Lap 45, Kyle Busch was leading by nearly half a second over Cindric and Chastain while Blaney and Elliott were in the top five. 

    Two laps later, trouble ensued when Kyle Busch cut a right-rear tire and was off the pace through the frontstretch. Just as Busch moved his slow car to the inside lane, he was T-boned by an oncoming Chastain, whose No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 got airborne and nearly flipped as he shot up the track, clipped Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and sent him hard against the Turn 1 wall while Chastain came to a stop below the apron. The incident, which knocked out all three competitors, was enough for NASCAR to cease the competition for more than 14 minutes.

    “I felt like the driver of the No. 1 car chose the wrong lane to go,” Chastain said. “I saw Kyle have an issue, like a tire down, and I guessed left [lane] and I should’ve guessed right. Big hits. Tough break, but fast cars.”

    “Just got a flat tire off of [Turn] 4,” Kyle Busch said. “Right rear’s flat. Unfortunate for our guys. Everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, M&M’s. We had a really fast race car. Led all the laps up until that point. Disappointing not to be able to finish it out and go race for the million bucks.”

    The second stage resumed with a two-lap, overtime dash and teammates Cindric and Blaney dueled for the lead through the backstretch until the former pulled ahead through Turns 3 and 4 as the field behind jostled for positions. When the second stage concluded on Lap 54, Cindric claimed the second stage victory.

    During the stage break, a pit stop competition occurred as all the remaining competitors on the track led by Cindric pitted for four tires. Following the pit stops, Team Penske’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang team, piloted by Joey Logano and led by crew chief Paul Wolfe, was awarded $100,000 for performing the fastest pit stop during the stage break and won the pit stop challenge. With that, Logano was given a guaranteed starting spot toward the front for the fourth and final stage so long as he remained in the top 15 during the third stage.

    During the pit stops, Kurt Busch was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes.

    The third stage started on Lap 55 as Byron and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Suarez gave Byron a bump to enable Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead while Blaney dueled against Suarez to retain the runner-up spot. With the field stacked up and dueling for spots, Bell was in fourth followed by Cindric.

    Two laps later, Blaney moved his No. 12 Menards/Wrangler Ford Mustang to the front ahead of Byron as Bell tried to close in on the two leaders. 

    At the halfway mark between Laps 64 and 65, Blaney was leading by more than half a second over Bell followed by Byron, Suarez, Truex, Cindric, Buescher, Hamlin, Stenhouse and Logano while Kurt Busch, Keselowski, Bowman, McDowell, Wallace, Harvick, Erik Jones, Allmendinger, Almirola and Briscoe were still running on the track and on the lead lap.

    By Lap 70, Blaney stabilized his advantage to nearly eight-tenths of a second over Bell followed by Byron, Suarez and Truex. Soon after, Stenhouse, who was in ninth, dropped off the pace after his No. 47 Viva Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sustained a flat right-rear tire.

    On Lap 75, the caution returned when Bell, who was in the runner-up spot, got his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry loose as he made contact against the outside wall between Turns 3 and 4.

    Under caution, a majority of the field led by Byron pitted while the rest, including Blaney, Cindric, Logano and McDowell remained on the track.

    With the third stage sent into another two-lap, overtime shootout, Blaney rocketed away with the lead entering the first turn while his teammates Logano and Cindric struggled to go as they briefly stacked up the field. 

    At the start of the final lap of the third stage on Lap 80, Blaney was leading by half a second over teammate Logano, who had Suarez pressuring him for the runner-up spot. By then, Blaney was long gone as he went on to claim the third stage victory on Lap 82. Behind, Suarez was able to overtake Logano for the runner-up spot followed by McDowell, Cindric, Byron, Hamlin, Buescher, Truex and Kurt Busch.

    During the stage break and amid the reshuffling of the field, Cindric emerged with the top starting spot for the final stage followed by teammates Logano and Blaney. In addition, names like Cindric, Logano, Blaney, Michael McDowell and Stenhouse pitted while the rest remained on the track.

    With the race entering the final stage comprised of 50 laps, the race proceeded under green. At the start, teammates Cindric and Blaney dueled for the lead while Suarez and Logano battled against one another for third place. As Blaney started to pull ahead of Cindric and Logano, Hamlin moved his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry against Suarez’s No. 99 Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in a bid for fourth place.

    Down to the final 40 laps of the event, Blaney was leading by nearly a second over teammate Cindric while teammate Logano trailed by nearly two seconds. Suarez and Hamlin were in the top five followed by Truex, Byron, Kurt Busch, Buescher and Brad Keselowski while Allmendinger, Bowman, Harvick, Erik Jones, Wallace, Bell, McDowell, Almirola, Stenhouse and Briscoe were still running on the track and on the lead lap.

    Just past the final 35 laps of the event, Wallace pitted his No. 23 Dr. Pepper Dark Berry Toyota TRD Camry under green after he suffered a flat tire while Blaney continued to lead ahead of his Team Penske teammates.

    With 30 laps remaining, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Cindric while teammate Logano trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Suarez and Hamlin remained in the top five ahead of Truex, Byron, Kurt Busch, Buescher and Keselowski.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Erik Jones, the Fan Vote winner, got loose and spun his No. 43 Focus Factor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 against the outside wall entering Turn 4, with Jones’ car suffering significant damage as the driver retired.

    Under caution, a majority of the field led by Hamlin pitted while eight competitors led by Blaney and including Cindric, Logano, Suarez, Buescher, Keselowski and Almirola remained on the track.

    With 21 laps remaining, the race resumed under green. At the start, teammates Blaney and Cindric dueled for the lead until Blaney managed to clear the field entering the backstretch. Behind, Suarez moved up to third place while Logano and Hamlin battled for fourth place in front of Buescher, Keselowski and Byron.

    Six laps later, Blaney extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Cindric, who had Hamlin closing in for the spot.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Blaney continued to lead by more than two seconds over Hamlin, who overtook Cindric for the runner-up spot three laps earlier. Behind, Suarez and Logano remained in the top five ahead of Buescher, Keselowski, Alex Bowman, Bell and Kurt Busch. Meanwhile, Byron was back in 11th ahead of Harvick, Stenhouse, Allmendinger and Truex.

    With five laps remaining, Blaney extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Hamlin while Cindric, Suarez and Logano were running in the top five. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney remained as the leader by nearly three seconds over Hamlin. Just as Blaney was within reach of crossing the finish line to capture the victory, the caution flew when Stenhouse got into the wall. As part of NASCAR’s policy for this year’s All-Star event to conclude under green, the event was sent into overtime.

    During the caution period, some like Harvick, Truex, Almirola and Kurt Busch pitted while the rest led by Blaney, who was struggling to get his window net secured, remained on the track.

    During the start of the first overtime attempt, Blaney, who was able to attach his window net to an acceptable rate without having to pit, received a push from teammate Cindric to take off with the lead ahead of Hamlin.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Blaney was still out in front of Hamlin and the field. As he cycled his way back to the finish line and with no cautions in the air, Blaney officially crossed the finish line in first place as he cashed in a million dollars.

    With the victory, Blaney became the 26th different competitor to win the All-Star Race and recorded the fourth All-Star victory for Team Penske while Ford earned its first All-Star win since 2016 with Joey Logano. The victory was also a first in the Cup Series for crew chief Jonathan Hassler as Blaney also won for the first time in 2022.

    “It was about to be real bad for us,” Blaney said on FS1. “I thought the race was over. Everyone thought the race was over. I already had my window net down. I do wanna thank NASCAR for letting me kind of fix it and not make us come down pit road. Yeah, that was really tough and then, having to do it all over again after trying to get that window net back up there. Great car. [Crew chief] Jonathan Hassler, everybody on this No. 12 group did a great job. Can’t thank Menards, Ford enough…This is cool! I know it’s not a points race win, but it’s gonna be a lot of fun. The party’s gonna be pretty big.” 

    Hamlin, who won the All-Star Race in 2015, settled in second place but was left fuming over NASCAR’s decision to not penalize Blaney for having his window net not properly secured prior to the overtime attempt.

    “You know, it’s tough because he deserved to win the race, but if you mess up and you break a rule – not intentionally, but there’s rules and we have rules in place for safety,” Hamlin said on MRN. “My crew chief is taking four weeks off [a penalty from a pit road infraction earlier in the season] because of safety. I nearly crashed him off of Turn 2 when I got squeezed there. If I send him into traffic and he’s got no window net, then what, right? Luckily, that didn’t happen.”

    Cindric, who made his All-Star debut, came home in third place followed by teammate Logano while Suarez, the All-Star Open winner, completed the top five. 

    Finishing in the top 10 were Bowman, Allmendinger, Buescher, Keselowski and Bell.

    There were three lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 31 laps. Nineteen of the 24 starters finished the event, with 18 finishing on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Ryan Blaney, 84 laps led

    2. Denny Hamlin

    3. Austin Cindric, seven laps led

    4. Joey Logano

    5. Daniel Suarez

    6. Alex Bowman

    7. AJ Allmendinger

    8. Chris Buescher

    9. Brad Keselowski

    10. Christopher Bell

    11. William Byron, two laps led

    12. Aric Almirola

    13. Kurt Busch

    14. Martin Truex Jr.

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Bubba Wallace

    17. Kevin Harvick

    18. Chase Briscoe

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    20. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    21. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, 47 laps led

    22. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

    23. Chase Elliott – OUT, Accident

    24. Kyle Larson – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 29, during Memorial Day weekend. The event is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Darlington delivers as Logano wins with controversial bump and run

    Darlington delivers as Logano wins with controversial bump and run

    With two laps to go, Joey Logano used his bumper to move leader William Byron out of his way, take over the lead and cruise to his first win of the season in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway.

    It was his first victory at Darlington and the 28th Cup Series win of his career.

    Logano indicated that his move was payback for earlier contact while racing Byron.

    “Yeah, you’re not going to put me in the wall and not get anything back,” he said. “That’s how that works. Man, super proud of the Shell-Pennzoil team, getting a victory here in Darlington. You know what it’s like. I’ve never won here in a Cup race before.”

    “So proud of this race team, great execution all day long. I’ll tell you what, the coolest thing is getting this car into Victory Lane. This is the car where it all started for me back in ’95 in a quarter midget. Really, honestly, all the young kids racing out there right now, this could be you.”

    The maneuver caused Byron to slide up the track into the outside wall resulting in a disappointing 13th place finish. Byron was understandably upset.

    “We were really close off of 2, and I think it spooked him and got him tight, and he was right against the wall, and I got the lead,” he said. “He’s just an idiot. He does this stuff all the time. I’ve seen it with other guys.
    “He drove in there 10 mph too fast, and with these Next-Gen cars, he slammed me so hard it knocked the whole right side off the car, and no way to make the corner.

    “Yeah, he’s just a moron. He can’t win a race, so he does it that way. It was close racing on the restart. We were faster than him. Obviously, at the end the right rear started to go away, and, yeah, he didn’t even make it a contest.”

    Justin Haley finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick. It was Harvick’s 13th top-10 at Darlington, a track record. Chase Elliott managed a fifth-place finish after starting the race at the back of the field in 34th place in a backup car.

    Harrison Burton was the highest-finishing (14) rookie.

    The ending wasn’t the only drama that fans saw as Darlington lived up to its reputation as the track Too Tough to Tame. There were nine cautions, 23 lead changes (among 13 drivers) and 13 cars out of the 36 that were entered did not finish the race.

    Did not Finish:
    • Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, accident
    • Erik Jones, Chevrolet, accident
    • Cole Custer, Ford, accident
    • Bubba Wallace, Toyota, accident
    • Kurt Busch, Toyota, accident
    • Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, accident
    • Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, accident
    • Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, engine
    • BJ McLeod, Ford, brakes
    • Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident
    • Brad Keselowski, Ford, accident
    • Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, accident
    • Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, engine

    The post-race inspection was clear with no issues and the results are final. NASCAR is also taking the No. 2 Team Penske Ford of driver Austin Cindric and No. 31 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet of Justin Haley back to the NASCAR R&D Center.

  • Joey Logano earns pole for Goodyear 400 at Darlington

    Joey Logano earns pole for Goodyear 400 at Darlington

    Joey Logano won the pole for the NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at Darlington after posting a lap of 28.805 (170.720 mph) Saturday morning during qualifying.

    It was his first pole since June of 2019 and the 23rd of his career.

    “Oh, it was so much needed for all of us here,” Logano said. “The last couple of weeks were pretty rough, getting in a couple of crashes and not being strong at Dover.”

    Kyle Larson qualified second with a 170.236 mph lap followed by Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch to round out the top five fastest drivers.

    Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick were unable to take part in qualifying after problems in the preceding practice session.

    Elliott made hard contact with the wall due to a flat left rear tire and will have to go to a backup car for the race. Harvick had a flat tire which damaged the rear diffuser and was unable to qualify while his team made repairs. Both drivers will start from the rear of the field for the Goodyear 400 along with B.J. McLeod who also did not make a qualifying attempt.

    Additionally, there were issues during pre-qualifying inspection. The following teams failed inspection twice Friday and each team will have a crew member ejected and will lose their pit stall selection:

    No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team
    No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
    No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford
    No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

  • Chastain executes final lap pass for second Cup career triumph at Talladega

    Chastain executes final lap pass for second Cup career triumph at Talladega

    From losing a lap to the leaders to rallying his way back to the front and having the seas parting way for him with the finish in sight, Ross Chastain overtook Erik Jones at the tri-oval on the final lap to win the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24.

    The 29-year-old Chastain from Alva, Florida, was penalized for speeding on pit road during an exchange of green-flag pit stops nearing the Lap 40 mark, but he was able to cycle his way back on the lead lap following the first stage’s conclusion. From there, he muscled his way to the front and remained within sight of the lead pack. Then on the final lap and entering the tri-oval, Chastain was lined up in third place while awaiting his moment to strike. With the field fanning out and initial leader Erik Jones trying to prevent a run from Kyle Larson in the outside lane, Chastain had the inside lane to himself. He seized the opportunity to snatch the lead and emerged victorious for the second time in his NASCAR Cup Series career. 

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Christopher Bell notched his second Cup Series pole position of the season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 180.928 mph in 52.927 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Martin Truex Jr., who posted a fast lap at 180.652 mph in 53.008 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Landon Cassill was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start due to his No. 77 Spire Motorsports entry failing pre-qualifying technical inspection three times. Noah Gragson, the winner of Saturday’s Xfinity event at Talladega, also dropped to the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment to his No. 62 Beard Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry in front of teammate Truex’s No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry as he maintained the lead through the first two turns while Daniel Suarez charged as the lead competitor on the outside lane. 

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Bell led the first lap. Suarez, however, fought back on the outside lane in his No. 99 Tootsies Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with drafting help from Kurt Busch, but Bell maintained his line on the inside lane. Suarez, though, was able to lead the second lap as he and Bell were locked dead even for the lead. By then, the entire field was stacked up through two long double lines.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes, Suarez received a draft from William Byron to overtake Bell for the lead followed by Truex, Kurt Busch, Daniel Hemric, Kyle Busch, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson and Joey Logano. By then, Bell had led seven of the first 10 laps while Suarez led the remaining three. In addition, Cassill, who served his pass-through penalty at the start, was lapped by the field. 

    By Lap 20, eight competitors broke away from the pack fanning out to two packed lanes as Suarez continued to lead ahead of Byron, Bell, Truex, Hemric, Larson, Haley and Kurt Busch while Ty Dillon and Erik Jones were in the top 10.

    Five laps later, the top-10 competitors led by Suarez had broken away from the rest of the pack stacked through two lanes while 11th-place Kevin Harvick initiated a charge as the lead competitor on the outside lane. By then, all but one of the 39 starters were separated by less than three seconds.

    By Lap 30, Suarez continued to lead on the inside lane ahead of Byron, Bell and Truex while Chase Elliott, who was in fifth ahead of Hemric, mounted a charge on the outside lane with drafting help from Kevin Harvick and the field.

    On Lap 32, Reddick pitted as the crew lifted the hood up on the No. 8 Bet MGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 due to a mechanical issue.

    By Lap 34, the Ford competitors peeled off the track to pit under green. During the Ford pit stops, Keselowski was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Cody Ware spun his No. 51 Nurtec ODT Ford Mustang while entering pit road, but he was able to proceed without drawing a caution. Soon after, the Toyota competitors along with Chevrolet competitor Alex Bowman pitted. During the Toyota pit stops, Hamlin slid his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry through his pit box. By the end of Lap 36, the Chevrolet competitors pitted. During the Chevrolet pit stops, Ross Chastain was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. 

    At the Lap 40 mark and with the pit stops complete, Larson cycled his way to the lead followed by teammates Byron and Elliott while Erik Jones and Hemric were in the top five. Harvick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Logano, Ty Dillon, rookie Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, Bell, Truex, Chris Buescher, Kurt Busch, Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch and Aric Almirola. By then, Suarez had fallen back to 23rd while Reddick retired in the garage.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead ahead of teammates Byron and Elliott while Wallace mounted a charge on the outside lane in fourth place. By then, Keselowski was lapped by the field.

    Soon after, Wallace drew himself into a side-by-side against Larson for the lead through the backstretch. Despite the field having to fan out while lapping Chastain and Michael McDowell, they gathered themselves through the tri-oval as Wallace received a push from Bell to briefly lead until Larson fought back on the inside lane. By Lap 53, Wallace led a lap for himself and had both lanes in control through the backstretch until Larson mounted another challenge on the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Byron.

    With four laps remaining in the first stage and while the field fanned out, the first caution flew when Hemric fell off the pace and was bumped sideways by Austin Dillon through Turns 3 and 4 as he radioed engine issues to his No. 16 Majestic Steel Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. While trying to straighten his car below the apron, Hemric then shot back across the track and made heavy contact against Chris Buescher and Chase Briscoe, whose No. 14 Mahindra Ford Mustang burst into flames. At the moment of caution, Chastain received the free pass to return on the lead lap due to being the first competitor that was scored a lap behind which left Keselowski still trapped a lap behind.

    The three-car wreck between Turns 3 and 4 was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 60 to conclude under caution as Bubba Wallace claimed his first stage victory of the season and third at Talladega. Larson settled in second followed by Bell, Byron, Truex, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Bowman and Stenhouse.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Larson reassumed the lead following his pit service followed by Byron, Elliott, Erik Jones, Truex and Wallace. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for dragging his gas can out of his pit box.

    The second stage started on Lap 64 as teammates Larson and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Larson moved in front of teammates Byron and Elliott to maintain the lead on the inside lane while Erik Jones was the lead competitor on the outside lane as he received a push from Wallace to battle and overtake Larson for the lead when the field returned to the start/finish line.

    By Lap 67, Erik Jones was out in front while Wallace and Larson battled for second place. Soon after, Larson challenged for the lead on the inside lane while Jones maintained his ground on the outside lane. 

    At the Lap 75 mark, Erik Jones’ No. 43 Air Force Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was still leading by 0.013 seconds over Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry while Larson, Kurt Busch, Byron, Harvick, Elliott, Truex, Bowman and Logano were scored in the top 10.

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Greg Biffle fell off the pace with no power and was unable to limp his No. 44 Morehouse College Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road as he stalled in Turn 4. At the moment of caution, Keselowski received the free pass to return to the lead lap due to being the first competitor scored a lap behind.

    Under caution, the field returned to pit road for service, mainly for fuel, and Byron emerged with the lead followed by Truex, Elliott, Larson, Blaney and Erik Jones.

    On Lap 85, the race proceeded under green as Byron maintained the lead ahead of the packed field. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when BJ McLeod spun in Turn 2 as the right-rear wheel of McLeod’s car came out.

    Another four laps later, the race restarted under green. The caution, however, followed suit for a multi-car wreck that sparked due to a stack-up at the front and resulted in Logano receiving a bump from Wallace that turned Logano into the outside wall in Turn 1. With Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang then slowly creeping towards the straightaway amid the ongoing field, he was hit by Ty Dillon as rookies Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland along with Suarez, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and Stenhouse were sent spinning and wrecking through Turn 1. 

    By Lap 97, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron and Truex dueled with Truex receiving a draft from former teammate Erik Jones while Byron had teammates Elliott and Larson lined up behind him along with Kurt Busch. 

    At the Lap 100 mark, Byron and Truex dueled for the top spot with Elliott, Erik Jones and Larson scored in the top five while Blaney, Kurt Busch, Wallace, Bowman and Harvick were in the top 10. By then, 24 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Six laps later, the caution flew when Cody Ware got turned by David Ragan past the start/finish line. Under caution, some like Erik Jones, Wallace, Blaney, Harvick, Cindric, Bell, Keselowski, Corey LaJoie and Gragson pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Wallace made an extra pit stop to address a potential loose wheel on his car.

    With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Byron maintained the lead as all four Hendrick Motorsports competitors were lined up from first through fourth on the inside lane while Truex was in fifth.

    As the field settled in a long single-file line with five laps remaining in the second stage, Byron continued to lead ahead of his Hendrick teammates while Truex, Chastain, Almirola, Erik Jones, Cindric and Harvick were in the top 10. By then, the Busch brothers along with Keselowski, Wallace, LaJoie, Blaney, Bell, Hamlin, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley were in the top 20.

    At the start of the final lap of the second stage, the field fanned out to multiple lanes as Kyle Busch mounted a charge on the outside lane. Byron, however, was able to maintain the lead ahead of the fanned field to claim his third stage victory of the season on Lap 120. Teammates Elliott and Larson followed pursuit along with Truex, Bowman, Kyle Busch, Almirola, Erik Jones, Chastain and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Erik Jones emerged with the lead following a two-tire stop followed by Kyle Busch, Harvick, Blaney, Keselowski and Wallace.

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Kyle Busch gained a brief advantage through the first two turns on the outside lane before Harvick gave Erik Jones a huge push for Jones to assume the lead through Turns 3 and 4. 

    During the following lap, Ryan Blaney gave Kyle Busch a big draft that enabled Busch to challenge Jones for the top spot before Busch prevailed when he returned to the start/finish line. Then through the backstretch, Busch moved in front of Jones to maintain the lead ahead of Jones on the inside lane until Blaney received drafting support from Wallace to mount his challenge for the lead. 

    With 58 laps remaining, Blaney and Wallace managed to pull themselves in front of Kyle Busch on the inside lane as Blaney maintained the lead, By then, a long single-file line was being formulated on the inside lane while Cindric lost the draft and was losing spots on the track. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the field remaining in a long single-file line, Blaney was leading ahead of Wallace, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Harvick, Keselowski, Bell, Larson, Elliott and Byron while Chastain, McDowell, Denny Hamlin, Austin Dillon, Truex, David Ragan, LaJoie, Kurt Busch, Haley and Landon Cassill were in the top 20. By then, 25 of 39 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Ten laps later, Blaney maintained the lead ahead of Wallace, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Harvick and the long line of competitors on the inside line.

    Shortly after, a group of competitors led by Chastain moved to the outside lane and started to gain a run to the front with Chastain scored in ninth place. During the following lap, he moved up to seventh while Blaney continued to lead on the inside lane. 

    Then with 37 laps remaining, Wallace made a move to the outside of Blaney and he muscled his way into the lead followed by Kyle Busch and Erik Jones. Jones, however, made his move during the following lap beneath Wallace to take the lead while Kyle Busch, who had a momentum going on the outside lane, got shuffled out of line. In addition, Blaney moved into second followed by Harvick, Wallace, Keselowski and Chastain.

    With 33 laps remaining, Wallace received a draft from Chastain to reassume the lead over Erik Jones as he was placed on defense mode through both lanes.

    Three laps later, Wallace and Erik Jones were locked in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead as Wallace moved up the outside lane in front of Chastain and Hamlin while Jones had drafting support from Blaney and Harvick.

    Another lap later, a handful of competitors led by Blaney peeled off the track to pit under green. During the next lap, another wave of competitors led by Wallace pitted while another wave led by LaJoie pitted during the next lap. During the pit stops, Keselowski was busted with his second pit road speeding penalty. In addition, contact between Gragson and Kyle Busch sent Bell spinning towards the inside wall on the frontstretch. The race, however, proceeded under green as Bell was able to continue without sustaining any significant damage.

    Back on the track with less than 25 laps remaining, Hamlin cycled his way into the lead followed by Larson, Erik Jones, Byron and Chastain.

    With 20 laps remaining and the field settled in a long single-file line on the inside lane, Hamlin was leading ahead of Larson, Erik Jones, Byron and Chastain while Haley, Kurt Busch, Truex, LaJoie and Austin Dillon were in the top 10. Wallace was back in 11th ahead of Elliott, Blaney, Harvick, Almirola, Bowman, McDowell, Cindric, Kyle Busch and Cassill. 

    Three laps later, Larson moved into the lead while Hamlin, who briefly lost the draft, fell back to sixth place in an effort to save fuel. By then, Keselowski was lapped by the field.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the field fanning out and stacked up to multiple lanes, Larson was leading by a hair over Chastain followed by Haley, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Byron, Truex, Elliott and Blaney. By then, Bell was lapped by the field.

    With seven laps remaining, Erik Jones gained a huge draft from Byron and Elliott on the outside lane to move into third place behind Larson and Chastain as he made his bid for the lead. As the field remained in a tight, deadlock through double lanes, Jones peaked ahead with drafting help from Byron while Larson had drafting support from Chastain on the inside lane. 

    With five laps remaining, Jones maintained the lead before Larson fought back on the inside lane as the intensity towards the pack intensified.

    Down to the final two laps, Jones remained as the leader ahead of Larson, Chastain, Kurt Busch and Byron, all of whom were briefly ahead of the pack in a single-file line. By then, Hamlin pitted under green after running out of fuel.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Jones continued to lead a long parade of competitors with some moving up to the outside lane through the backstretch. Then in Turns 3 and 4, Kurt Busch, who was in fourth place, bolted to the outside lane while waiting to gain a draft from Truex and Wallace. 

    Then through the tri-oval, Larson tried to make a move to the outside of Jones, but he made contact with Kurt Busch that sent Busch’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry hard against the tri-oval outside wall as he collected teammate, Wallace. In the process, Jones, who moved up the outside lane to block Larson, opened the inside lane for Ross Chastain to make his move along with Austin Dillon. Having open race track to himself at the right timing on the final straightaway, Chastain maintained the lead through all lanes to grab the win by 0.105 seconds over Dillon while LaJoie spun across the finish line. 

    With the victory, Chastain, who only led the final lap out of the event’s 188-scheduled laps, notched his second NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 125th series start and his first at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition, he achieved the second NASCAR victory for Trackhouse Racing nearly a month after the team and Chastain achieved their first win at Circuit of the Americas.

    “Holy cow,” Chastain, who celebrated with his trademark by smashing a watermelon on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “I’m always the one going to the top [lane] too early and making the mistake. There at the end, it was like eight [laps] to go, I was like I’m not going up there again. I did that a couple of times today. I was like, ‘I’ll just ride the bottom.’ I’m not gonna lose the race for us. I’ll just let them. To win with the Moose [Fraternity] on board, they’ve been with me for a few years now and supported me everywhere I went. I have no idea. [The leaders] just kept going up and they just kept moving out of the way.”

    “I’ve wrecked myself so many times, gotten into it with guys,” Chastain added. “[Team owner] Justin Marks and what he laid out for us was ambitious and I had no idea what to expect other than I knew I had my group from last year, I had AdventHealth, the Moose, now with Worldwide Express, Jockey coming on board. We’ve got partners. They’re believing in us. We started the year with a lot of races open. We’re almost full now [with sponsors]. It’s because of the vision of Justin Marks and Pitbull. Armando [Pitbull], we won, dude!”

    Austin Dillon came home in second place for his second runner-up result of the season while Kyle Busch, Larson and Truex finished in the top five. 

    Erik Jones, who led 25 laps and was within a straightaway of snapping a two-year winless drought, settled in sixth place for his third top-10 result of the season.

    “Last lap, it’s typical here,” Jones said. “I’ve been close here so many times in this race and the fall race. The U.S. Air Force Chevy had good speed. It just felt good to run up front, but come there that last lap, we were single file. I felt pretty good about it. They kind of doubled up behind us and that top lane was getting some momentum. Looking back, I wished I would’ve stayed on the bottom [lane], let [Chastain] push me. I didn’t realize they were coming with that much speed, but I tried to defend on [Larson]. We were too far ahead already right here. Obviously, defense on [Larson] kind of gives the door to [Chastain]. It is what it is. You’re just trying to win the race. You can only see how much so much is going on from the seat. You’re trying to make the best decision you can on the last 15-100 feet. Happy to run up front, lead laps. Just really would love to get the No. 43 [car] to Victory Lane. I thought today might be the day. All day long, we were fast and had speed and especially being up front there at the end on the last 10 [laps], I knew we had a shot. Just couldn’t quite close it out.”

    Elliott, McDowell, Bowman and Harvick rounded out the top 10 on the track. Notably, teammates Kurt Busch and Wallace finished 16th and 17th behind Byron and in front of bossman Denny Hamlin following their final lap wreck.

    There were 41 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps.

    With his seventh-place result, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular-season standings by 21 points over Ryan Blaney, 34 over William Byron, 56 over Kyle Busch, 59 over Alex Bowman and 60 over Joey Logano.

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, one lap led

    2. Austin Dillon

    3. Kyle Busch, three laps led

    4. Kyle Larson, 32 laps led

    5. Martin Truex Jr.

    6. Erik Jones, 25 laps led

    7. Chase Elliott

    8. Michael McDowell

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Kevin Harvick

    11. Ryan Blaney, 23 laps led

    12. Justin Haley

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. Corey LaJoie, one lap led

    15. William Byron, 38 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    16. Kurt Busch, one lap led

    17. Bubba Wallace, 15 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    18. Denny Hamlin, nine laps led

    19. Landon Cassill

    20. Noah Gragson

    21. Austin Cindric

    22. Christopher Bell, one lap down, seven laps led

    23. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

    24. David Ragan, two laps down

    25. JJ Yeley, three laps down, one lap led

    26. BJ McLeod, 16 laps led, two laps led

    27. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

    28. Cody Ware – OUT, Dvp

    29. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    30. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

    31. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Dvp, 28 laps led

    32. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    33. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    34. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    35. Greg Biffle – OUT, Fuel pump

    36. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    37. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    38. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    39. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of this season at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, for a 400-mile feature on Sunday, May 1. The event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Bristol Dirt

    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.”

  • Kyle Busch claims 60th Cup career win in wild finish at Bristol Dirt Course

    Kyle Busch claims 60th Cup career win in wild finish at Bristol Dirt Course

    In an unexpected turn of events, Kyle Busch benefitted from a final lap incident involving leaders Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe to storm to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season in the second annual, rain-delayed Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on Sunday, April 17.

    The two-time Cup champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, came into Sunday night’s feature on Bristol’s dirt course with five results in the top 10 through the first eight scheduled events. When the final lap of the main event occurred, Busch appeared to have a solid third-place result sealed. Then as Reddick and Briscoe tangled while battling for the win on the final lap, Busch managed to erase his deficit and cycle to the lead ahead of Reddick to capture another win at Thunder Valley and achieve career win No. 60 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The starting lineup was determined through four 15-lap heat events on Saturday, where the competitors accumulate points for their finishing results and for passes that improved their original starting spots. 

    Despite finishing in the runner-up spot behind Tyler Reddick during the first heat event, Cole Custer earned his first Cup career pole position for the main event after accumulating 16 points, nine for finishing in second place and seven for improving from his ninth-place starting spot. Joining him on the front row was Christopher Bell, who won the second heat event and racked up 14 points, 10 for winning the heat event and four for improving from his fifth-place starting spot.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Custer shot out with a brief early advantage until teammate Chase Briscoe, who qualified in fourth place, challenged and assumed the top spot when the field returned to the start/finish line. As Briscoe led the first lap, Christopher Bell moved his No. 20 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry into the runner-up spot while Custer fell back to third. Behind, Tyler Reddick and Justin Haley battled for fourth place in front of a hard-charging Kyle Larson in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Briscoe retained a narrow advantage ahead of Bell while Custer, Reddick and Larson were in the top five. Ty Dillon, who won the fourth and final heat event, was up in sixth place followed by Haley, Alex Bowman, Joey Logano and Kyle Busch.

    By Lap 12, Custer pitted due to an overheating issue while teammate Kevin Harvick was lapped by the field. Just as Aric Almirola was making a pit stop to have the front grille of his No. 10 Cummins/Rush Truck Center Ford Mustang clean during the following lap, the first caution of the event flew due to mud on the track.

    Under the first caution, the entire field made a mandatory pit stop to have their grilles and windshields clean from the mud and the dirt, with Briscoe retaining the lead ahead of Bell, Reddick, Larson and Haley. By then, teammates Harvick and Custer were pinned a lap behind the leaders despite taking the wave around.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Briscoe rocketed away from Bell to retain the lead as Larson also muscled his way into the runner-up spot. At the same time, Ty Dillon battled against Bell for third place while Kyle Busch moved into the top five ahead of Reddick and Austin Dillon.

    By Lap 35, Briscoe was leading by more than half a second over Larson followed by Ty Dillon, Bell, Kyle Busch, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Bowman and Haley.

    Just then, trouble struck for the leader Briscoe on Lap 49, who got up on the high banking in Turn 3 and fell off the pace entering Turn 4 while Larson stormed to the lead. Two turns later, Briscoe spun in Turn 2 after cutting a right-rear tire on his No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang.

    On Lap 55, the race restarted under green as Larson retained the lead. Behind, Ty Dillon and Bell battled for second while Austin Dillon and Bowman were up in the top five ahead of Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry.

    With reports of light rain lingering close to the track under the final 10 laps of the first stage, Larson extended his advantage to eight-tenths of a second ahead of Ty Dillon while Bell, Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch while Bowman, who nearly spun, slipped back to sixth ahead of Joey Logano, Reddick, Blaney and Chris Buescher.

    When the first stage concluded under caution on Lap 75 due to Justin Allgaier wrecking in Turn 3, Larson captured his first stage victory of the season. Ty Dillon settled in second followed by Bell, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Logano, Reddick, Blaney and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    Under the stage break, some like Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain and Briscoe remained on the track while the rest of the field led by Larson peeled off the track to pit road for service. By then, Harvick received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap while Custer was still pinned a lap behind.

    The second stage started on Lap 75 as teammates Suarez and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Suarez rocketed with the lead ahead of Larson, who overtook Chastain for the runner-up spot while Briscoe and Bell battled in the top five. Behind, Kyle Busch was in sixth ahead of Ty and Austin Dillon.

    On Lap 91, the caution flew when Alex Bowman got loose and spun his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 off the front nose of Chris Buescher in Turn 4. Under the caution period, Hamlin took his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry to the garage due to a blown engine as he suffered his fourth DNF of the season.

    Six laps later, the race proceeded under green as Suarez retained the lead ahead of Larson and the field. Not long after, however, the caution returned for a multi-car pileup on the backstretch that involved Corey LaJoie, Noah Gragson, Bowman and Harvick, who retired his No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang in the garage.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 105, teammates Suarez and Chastain dueled for the lead with the former retaining the top spot while Kyle Busch tried to split both Trackhouse Racing teammates. 

    By Lap 110, Trackhouse teammates Suarez and Chastain battled for the lead while Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Bell dueled for third place. Briscoe, meanwhile, was in fifth ahead of the field. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned when Brad Keselowski made contact against Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through Turns 1 and 2, which got Keselowski sideways as he spun while barely clipping former teammate Ryan Blaney.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 119, Suarez retained the lead while Bell muscled his way into the runner-up spot as he started to put pressure on Suarez for the lead.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Suarez was leading ahead of Bell, Larson, Briscoe and Kyle Busch while Chastain, Chase Elliott, Logano, Ty Dillon and Blaney were in the top 10. Then during the following lap, the caution flew due to debris reported on the backstretch.

    By Lap 131, the race restarted under green as Suarez retained the lead while Briscoe issued a challenge for the lead. The caution, however, flew due to an incident on the backstretch that involved LaJoie, Harrison Burton and Bubba Wallace,

    On Lap 139, the race restarted under green. At the start, Suarez was locked in a three-wide battle with Bell and Briscoe before Briscoe assumed the top spot. In the process, Bell moved up to second while Suarez fell back to third place ahead of Chase Elliott.

    By Lap 145, Briscoe was leading by more than four-tenths of a second over Bell while Suarez, Elliott and Logano were in the top five.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 150, Briscoe captured his first stage victory of the season. Bell settled in second followed by Suarez, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Larson, Logano, Michael McDowell, Blaney and Reddick.

    Under the stage break, names like Kyle Busch, Logano, Blaney, Reddick, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Haley, William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Buescher, rookie Harrison Burton, Bowman, JJ Yeley, Aric Almirola, rookie Austin Cindric and Cody Ware remained on the track while the rest led by Briscoe pitted.

    Following the pit stop procedures, the race was red-flagged due to precipitation. At the moment of the event’s hiatus, Briscoe was scored the leader. When the red flag was lifted following an extensive delay and the race proceeded under caution, Kyle Busch cycled to the lead. As the competitors made their way back on the track, Ross Chastain, who noted that his engine expired during the red flag period, retired.

    With 100 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green. At the start, Kyle Busch was leading until Tyler Reddick made his way to the front. 

    Eleven laps later, the caution flew due to a multi-car stack-up and wreck in Turn 3 that involved Cody Ware, Elliott, Suarez, Martin Truex Jr. and Stenhouse.

    With 83 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Reddick retained the lead ahead of Logano, Blaney, Austin Dillon and the field. It took only one lap, however, for the caution to return when Erik Jones made contact with Stenhouse entering Turn 2 before spinning his No. 43 Tide Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 across the outside wall.

    Down to the final 75 laps, the race proceeded under green as Reddick retained the lead ahead of Logano, Austin Dillon and the field. The caution, however, returned three laps later when rookie Todd Gilliland got loose and spun in Turn 2.

    Another five laps later, the race restarted under green and it was Reddick who fended off the pack and retained the lead. 

    With 43 laps remaining, the caution returned when Stenhouse spun for the second time in the event. It then took only three laps for the event to restart under green.

    Then with 39 laps remaining, trouble ignited for Austin Dillon when he fell off the pace in Turn 4 and caused the field to scramble to avoid hitting him. In the midst of the scramble, JJ Yeley barely made contact with Dillon while Kurt Busch, who veered dead right to avoid hitting Dillon, ended up turning himself into the outside wall as he also collected Almirola.

    During the caution period, the race was red-flagged for a second time due to another round of precipitation. 

    When the red flag lifted and the race restarted with 24 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Reddick retained the lead ahead of Kyle Busch, Logano, Briscoe, Blaney, Bell and the field.

    Under the final 20 laps, Briscoe and Kyle Busch engaged in a fierce battle for the runner-up spot while Reddick continued to lead. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Reddick, who continued to lead, had Briscoe starting to erase his deficit as he was half a second behind.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick was ahead by less than two-tenths of a second over Briscoe, who was right behind the rear bumper of Reddick’s No. 8 3Chi Chevrolet. Through Turns 1 and 2, Reddick retained the lead. Then in Turn 3, Briscoe made a final lap dive beneath Reddick’s car in a bid for the lead, but slipped sideways in the dirt and clipped Reddick in the process as both spun from the top to the bottom lane in Turn 3. 

    Following a full 360 spin, Reddick tried to limp to the finish line with the lead while Briscoe came to a rest backward below the apron. Just as Reddick had victory within his grasp, Kyle Busch, who was trailing the two leaders by less than four seconds at the start of the final lap, managed to edge Reddick at the finish line to win by 0.330 seconds. 

    With his first victory of the season and by becoming the eighth different winner through the first nine events of the 2022 season, Kyle Busch notched his 60th NASCAR Cup Series career win in his 615th series start, which kept him in ninth place on the all-time Cup wins list. In addition, Busch tied seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty’s record of achieving at least one Cup victory in 18 consecutive seasons. He also achieved his ninth Cup victory at Bristol Motor Speedway, but first on dirt. 

    Photo by Christian Gardner for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “We got one,” Busch, who only the final lap of 250, said on FOX. “It doesn’t matter how you get them. It’s all about getting them. Man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn’t even do anything. Just a testament to our team, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota, M&M’s…[The car] being fast. Fast enough to stay in contention. Fast enough to see those guys. I don’t know why we just couldn’t fire off after the rain. Every time it rained, both times, it just would not fire. It took it about 20 laps to get going. Overall, just real pumped to be back. Real pumped to get a win. This one means a lot. I could win on any surface here at Bristol. Bring it on, baby!”

    Reddick, who led a race-high 99 laps and was a few feet away from achieving his first Cup career win, settled in a disappointing second place for the fourth time in his career while Briscoe, who led 59 laps and rallied from his early spin to contend for his second Cup triumph, tumbled down the leaderboard to 22nd. Following the event, both competitors managed to share their perspectives on the incident and shake hands in the process.

    “I don’t think I did everything right, to be honest with you,” Reddick said. “Briscoe was able to run me back down there. Just looking at it, I should have done a little bit better job of just…I don’t know. I shouldn’t have let him get that close. He ran me back down. Worked really hard to do that. I mean, you’re racing on dirt; going for the move on the final corner. It’s everything that as a driver you hope to battle for in his situation. Made it really exciting for the fans. It does suck, but we were able to finish second still. I’m being honest. I should have done a better job and pulled away so he wasn’t in range to try to make that move. That’s how I look at it.”

    Logano, the reigning Bristol Dirt Course winner, came home in third place as Larson and Blaney finished in the top five. Rounding out the top 10 were Bowman, Bell, Elliott, McDowell and Ty Dillon.

    There were six lead changes among five different drivers. The race featured 14 cautions for 82 laps. 

    With his eighth-place finish, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular-season standings by three points over Ryan Blaney, 21 over Joey Logano, 29 over William Byron and 51 over both Alex Bowman and Kyle Busch.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Busch, one lap led

    2. Tyler Reddick, 99 laps led

    3. Joey Logano

    4. Kyle Larson, 27 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Ryan Blaney

    6. Alex Bowman 

    7. Christopher Bell

    8. Chase Elliott 

    9. Michael McDowell

    10. Ty Dillon

    11. Brad Keselowski

    12. Daniel Suarez, 64 laps led

    13. Cole Custer

    14. Justin Haley

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Austin Cindric

    17. Todd Gilliland

    18. William Byron

    19. Corey LaJoie 

    20. Harrison Burton 

    21. Martin Truex Jr.

    22. Chase Briscoe, 59 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    23. Aric Almirola

    24. Erik Jones

    25. Josh Williams

    26. Cody Ware

    27. Noah Gragson, two laps down

    28. Bubba Wallace, five laps down

    29. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 10 laps down

    30. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    31. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    32. Kurt Busch – OUT, Accident

    33. Ross Chastain – OUT, Engine

    34. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Accident

    35. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Engine

    36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Talladega Superspeedway, the first of two visits to the 2.66-mile superspeedway venue in Lincoln, Alabama, for the series, which is scheduled to occur on Sunday, April 24. The coverage for the event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Rhodes earns dominant Truck victory at Bristol Dirt Course

    Rhodes earns dominant Truck victory at Bristol Dirt Course

    A year after finishing in the runner-up spot during the inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course, Ben Rhodes was not going to be denied. On Saturday night, April 16, during Easter weekend, Rhodes rose to the occasion and persevered over a five-lap shootout against Carson Hocevar to win the Pinty’s Truck Race on Bristol’s dirt course.

    The reigning Truck Series champion from Louisville, Kentucky, led a race-high 95 of 150-scheduled laps and captured both stages before losing the lead and having to methodically carve his way to the front throughout the final stage. Then during a restart with five laps remaining, Rhodes was able to utilize the outside lane and his fast truck to his advantage as he rocketed to the lead and muscled away from Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek for the remainder of the event to capture his first victory of the 2022 season as he pursues his quest to defend his series championship.

    The starting lineup for the main event was determined through four 15-lap heat events on Saturday, where the competitors accumulate points for their finishing results and passing by improving from their original starting spots. 

    By winning the third heat event and earning a total of 15 points, 10 for winning the heat event and five for improving from his sixth-place starting spot, Joey Logano started on pole position for the main event. Joining him on the front row was Ben Rhodes, who finished in the runner-up spot behind Logano but earned 14 points, nine for finishing second and five for improving from his seventh-place starting spot.

    Jessica Friesen, wife of driver Stewart Friesen, and veteran Norm Benning were the two competitors who failed to qualify for the main event.

    Prior to the event, Hailie Deegan dropped to the rear of the field due to starting the event in a backup truck along with Andrew Gordon, who received unapproved adjustments to his truck.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Rhodes launched his No. 99 Tenda Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to an early challenge for the lead beneath Logano’s No. 54 Planet Fitness Ford F-150 through the first two turns. Rhodes would then prevail entering the third turn and come back around to lead the first lap.

    Behind Rhodes and Logano, Stewart Friesen was in third place ahead of Chandler Smith, who had Parker Kligerman and Carson Hocevar engaged in a side-by-side battle for a spot in the top five. 

    By the fifth lap, Rhodes stretched his advantage to half a second over Logano. Friesen and Chandler Smith retained their respective spots of third and fourth while Chase Elliott, who was piloting the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports, was up in the top five.

    Through the first 20 laps of the event, Rhodes was leading by more than a second over Logano followed by Friesen, Elliott and Ty Majeski while Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Carson Hocevar, Matt DiBenedetto and Colby Howard were in the top 10. Matt Crafton was in 11th ahead of Austin Wayne Self, Grant Enfinger, John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Dillon while Christian Eckes, Derek Kraus, Zane Smith, Tate Fogleman and rookie Jack Wood were in the top 20. Tyler Ankrum was in 21st ahead of Buddy Kofoid, Kaz Grala, Harrison Burton and Andrew Gordon while Hailie Deegan was mired inside the top 30.

    Four laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Andrew Gordon spun in Turn 4.

    When the race restarted on Lap 31, Rhodes retained the lead following a strong start while Majeski overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Soon after, Majeski challenged teammate Rhodes for the lead, but the latter prevailed as Stewart Friesen, who also passed Logano, joined the battle.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 40, Rhodes, who led all the laps in the first stage, captured his fourth stage victory of the season. Teammate Majeski settled in second followed by Friesen, Logano, Chandler Smith, Kligerman, Elliott, Crafton, Carson Hocevar and Matt DiBenedetto.

    Under the stage break, names like Rhodes, Majeski and Austin Wayne Self remained on the track while the rest led by Friesen pitted. It was soon revealed that Rhodes, who did not pit, meant to, though he retained the lead.

    The second stage started on Lap 41 as teammates Rhodes and Majeski occupied the front row. At the start, Rhodes rocketed with another strong start to retain the lead ahead of teammate Majeski and Austin Wayne Self while Friesen and Logano battled for fourth place ahead of a pack of competitors that included Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Elliott, Nemechek and Crafton. 

    At the Lap 50 mark, Rhodes was leading by less than four-tenths of a second over teammate Majeski while Self, Logano and Kligerman were in the top five. Elliott was in sixth ahead of Chandler Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Friesen and Hocevar while Buddy Kofoid was in 11th ahead of Crafton, Christian Eckes, Grant Enfinger and Zane Smith.

    Five laps later, the caution returned when Dean Thompson spun and backed his No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST against the outside wall between Turns 2 and 3. In the midst of the incident, Blaine Perkins got turned below the apron, though he continued without sustaining any significant damage.

    By Lap 61, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Rhodes retained the lead on the outside lane while Majeski fended off Logano for the runner-up spot. Meanwhile, Nemechek challenged Self for fourth place.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, a battle for the lead ignited between teammates Rhodes and Majeski as Majeski launched repeated attacks on Rhodes for the top spot. Meanwhile, Logano trailed by more than two seconds in third place while Nemechek and Kligerman were in the top five. Elliott was in sixth ahead of Self, Hocevar, Buddy Kofoid and Chandler Smith while Derek Kraus, Eckes, Zane Smith, Friesen and Austin Dillon were in the top 15. By then, Crafton, Enfinger and DiBenedetto were mired in the top 10 while Hailie Deegan was in 26th behind Harrison Burton.

    Ten laps later, Rhodes continued to lead ahead of teammate Majeski while Nemechek muscled his No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to third place ahead of Logano and Kligerman, though Nemechek and Logano bumped against one another in Turn 3. With Elliott in sixth, Kofoid was up in seventh place ahead of Hocevar.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Rhodes, who swept both stages of the event, captured his fifth stage victory of the season. Teammate Majeski settled in second followed by Nemechek, Kligerman, Logano, Elliott, Kofoid, Hocevar, Chandler Smith and Derek Kraus.

    Under the stage break, names like Nemechek, Kligerman, Kofoid, Hocevar, Chandler Smith, Enfinger, Eckes, Zane Smith, Tate Fogleman, Mike Marlar, Chase Purdy and Deegan remained on the track while the rest led by Rhodes pitted.

    With 58 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Nemechek retained the lead through the first two turns until Hocevar launched his No. 42 Premier Security Solutions Chevrolet Silverado RST into the lead approaching Turn 4. Despite being pressured by Nemechek, Hocevar retained the lead while Kligerman, Enfinger and Kofoid were in the top five. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith, Elliott and Majeski were in the top 10 while Rhodes and Logano were mired in the top 15.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Self got the front nose of his No. 22 AM Chevrolet Silverado RST dead-locked and stuck to the rear bumper of DiBenedetto’s No. 25 TW Frierson Chevrolet Silverado RST entering Turn 4. With both competitors trying to shake one another off of each other, they eventually came to a stop in Turn 2 while still stuck to one another. The incident was enough for NASCAR to pause the event to allow the safety crew to separate the competitors.

    Following a delay of nearly six minutes as the red flag was lifted, the race restarted under green with 45 laps remaining. At the start, Hocevar retained the lead ahead of Nemechek, who was soon overtaken by Enfinger.

    Five laps later, Hocevar was leading by more than half a second over Nemechek while Kligerman, Enfinger and Kofoid were in the top five. Meanwhile, Rhodes, who was in the top 10, was trying to march his way back into the top five.

    A few laps later, the caution flew due to a single-truck incident between Turns 2 and 3 that involved Keith McGee.

    Down to the final 32 laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hocevar prevailed on the outside lane to retain the lead while Nemechek tried to launch another attack on Hocevar for the lead. Behind, Buddy Kofoid muscled his way into third place ahead of Kligerman, Enfinger and Rhodes.

    Six laps later, the caution returned when Chandler Smith spun his No. 18 Charge Me Toyota Tundra TRD Pro after being bumped by Eckes through Turns 2 and 3. The contact caused Smith’s truck to spin in a looped circle and he spun it again while trying to straighten his truck, though he was dodged by the field.

    Another seven laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hocevar retained the lead following another strong start while Nemechek fended off Kligerman to remain in second place. Behind, Majeski and Kofoid battled for fourth place while Rhodes was in sixth.

    With 15 laps remaining, Rhodes muscled his way into the top five as he went to pursue Kofoid for fourth place. Meanwhile, Hocevar retained a narrow advantage over Nemechek. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution flew when Rhodes, who was battling Kofoid for fourth place, pulled a slide job on Kofoid through Turns 1 and 2, which caused Kofoid to step out of the gas and spin his No. 51 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Behind, Majeski also spun as both competitors came to a sliding halt on the bottom lane. Both competitors, however, were unable to escape damage as Kraus, who was unable to slow his truck below the apron, collided with them. The incident spoiled Kofoid and Majeski’s run towards the front.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Hocevar retained the lead while Rhodes used the outside lane to rocket past Nemechek and Kligerman for the runner-up spot. Just as the field returned to the start/finish line, Rhodes challenged and quickly overtook Hocevar for the lead. Hocevar then tried to mount a challenge beneath Rhodes in Turn 3, but the latter remained on the outside lane to muscle away with the lead.

    With two laps remaining, Rhodes was leading by less than four-tenths of a second over Hocevar while Nemechek retained third ahead of Kligerman, Eckes and Elliott.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Rhodes was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hocevar while third-place Nemechek trailed by more than a second. Having no challengers put the pressure to him for a final lap, Rhodes was able to pull away, slide back around to the frontstretch and claim the victory by more than eight-tenths of a second over Hocevar.

    In addition to claiming his first victory of the season, first at Bristol and first on dirt, Rhodes claimed his sixth career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in his 147th series start. The victory was enough for Rhodes to add 34 points to his lead in the regular season standings as he became the third series regular to be guaranteed a spot in this year’s Truck Playoffs.

    Photo by Christian Gardner for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I thought we gave it away for a moment,” Rhodes, who led a race-high 95 of 150 laps, said on FS1. “Michael Waltrip asked me on the radio, ‘Did you mean to stay out [after the first stage]?’ The real answer was no. Driving back through the pack like that was really, really tough. Not something we wanted to do. My crew gave me such an awesome Tenda Toyota Tundra this weekend. I wasn’t gonna let them down. I had to go back up there and earn the spot back. Really, really proud of all their effort. It looked like I had really fast teammates today, too. Thanks, everybody, for coming out. Happy Easter!” 

    Hocevar, who led 55 laps, notched the second runner-up result of his career while Nemechek notched his third consecutive top-five result in recent weeks by finishing in third place.

    “[I could have] Either ripped the top or crashed [Rhodes],” Hocevar said. “I hate saying that, but that’s part of this racing, right? I just really couldn’t compete with him. He just had better tires. He was the fastest truck all day, so I was just trying really hard and hoping I could hold off. I kept looking up in the mirror. I was like, ‘Man, he’s fifth. He can’t really go anywhere.’ Once I knew he was in fourth, I was like, “Oh, I’m in trouble here.’ He slide-jobbed me and I should’ve prepared for it. crossed him over and then, raced him really hard. Second just sucks. It does. It’s terrible, especially being that close…Just close, but [the late Bryan Clauson] was definitely with me tonight, running that thing as hard as we were” 

    “Just didn’t quite have it tonight,” Nemechek said. “We struggled with some forward drive, just couldn’t get it off the corner kind of like [Rhodes] could. He was definitely the dominant truck tonight. Congrats to those guys. Thank you to everyone at [Kyle Busch Motorsports]. After the first string of races, I feel like we’re kind of on a roll here with top fives.”

    Kligerman brought the No. 75 Henderson Motorsports entry to a fourth-place result while Eckes recorded his second top-five result of the season by finishing fifth. Logano, Elliott, Enfinger, Crafton and Zane Smith finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Friesen finished 11th, Austin Dillon came home in 14th and Deegan settled in 18th ahead of Chandler Smith and Harrison Burton. Majeski fell back to 21st while Buddy Kofoid ended up in 27th place behind Kaz Grala.

    There were three lead changes for two different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 43 laps. All 36 starters finished the event, with 27 finishing on the lead lap.

    With his first victory of the season, Ben Rhodes continues to lead the regular-season standings by 38 points over Chandler Smith, 51 over Stewart Friesen, 54 over Zane Smith and 62 over John Hunter Nemechek.

    Results.

    1. Ben Rhodes, 95 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Carson Hocevar, 55 laps led

    3. John Hunter Nemechek

    4. Parker Kligerman

    5. Christian Eckes

    6. Joey Logano

    7. Chase Elliott

    8. Grant Enfinger

    9. Matt Crafton

    10. Zane Smith

    11. Stewart Friesen

    12. Colby Howard

    13. Chase Purdy

    14. Austin Dillon

    15. Tanner Gray

    16. Dean Thompson

    17. Mike Marlar

    18. Hailie Deegan

    19. Chandler Smith

    20. Harrison Burton

    21. Ty Majeski

    22. Jack Wood

    23. Timmy Hill

    24. Spencer Boyd

    25. Blaine Perkins

    26. Kaz Grala

    27. Buddy Kofoid

    28. Tate Fogleman, one lap down

    29. Derek Kraus, one lap down

    30. Lawless Alan, one lap down

    31. Tyler Ankrum, three laps down

    32. Andrew Gordon, four laps down

    33. Kris Wright, four laps down

    34. Keith McGee, four laps down

    35. Matt DiBenedetto, five laps down

    36. Austin Wayne Self, seven laps down

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is the series’ first of two visits of this season at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur on May 6 at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Martinsville

    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.”