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  • Byron becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2022 with dominant Martinsville victory

    Byron becomes first repeat Cup winner of 2022 with dominant Martinsville victory

    Having a fast and strong race car when it mattered from start to finish, including through a late overtime shootout, William Byron became the first repeat winner in the early stages of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series after scoring a dominant victory in the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 9.

    The 24-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for 212 of 403 laps as he fended off a late challenge from Joey Logano through an overtime attempt to grab his second Cup victory of the season and his second grandfather clock trophy two days after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Martinsville, which marked his first NASCAR national touring series victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track in Ridgeway, Virginia.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Friday, Chase Elliott claimed his first pole position of the season after recording a pole-winning lap at 96.151 mph in 19.694 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Aric Almirola, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 95.641 mph in 19.799 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a delay due to rain, Elliott launched his No. 9 Llumar Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the front and clear of the field entering the first turn. He then went on to lead the first lap ahead of Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and the field. During the opening lap, AJ Allmendinger served a drive-through penalty through pit road due to his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 failing pre-qualifying inspection three times on Friday.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Elliott was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by William Byron, Christopher Bell and Almirola while Chris Buescher, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson were in the top 10.

    Fifteen laps later, Elliott continued to lead by less than two seconds over Custer’s No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang while third-place Byron trailed by two seconds in his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. By then and with Elliott still leading, Hendrick Motorsports became the first Cup team to lead 10,000 laps at a single track.

    By the Lap 50 mark, Elliott, who was approaching lapped traffic, remained the leader by more than two seconds over teammate Byron followed by Custer, Bell and Almirola while Buescher, Harvick, Keselowski, Larson and Joey Logano were in the top 10. Rookie Austin Cindric trailed in 11th followed by Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe, rookie Todd Gilliland, Austin Dillon and Justin Haley. Tyler Reddick was mired in 21st ahead of Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr., Michael McDowell, Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Daniel Suárez, rookie Harrison Burton, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie.

    Twenty laps later, the battle for the lead intensified as Byron caught and pressured teammate Elliott for the lead, though the former could not find a way to navigate his way around his teammate. By then, Hamlin, who was in 25th place behind Michael McDowell and Erik Jones, was trying to remain on the lead lap.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 80, Elliott, who was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic while also putting McDowell, Hamlin, Daniel Suárez and Erik Jones a lap down, captured his first stage victory of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second followed by Custer, Bell, Almirola, Harvick, Blaney, Logano, Cindric and Kurt Busch.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead followed by teammate Byron, Bell, Almirola, Custer and Logano. Following the pit stops, Bubba Wallace was penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon. In addition, Justin Haley and Brad Keselowski were penalized for having equipment over the wall too soon.

    The second stage started on Lap 91 as teammates Elliott and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott took off with the lead while Byron and Custer battled for the runner-up spot. Behind, Bell and Logano dueled for fourth place in front of Almirola while Blaney moved up to seventh in front of teammate Cindric, Bowman, Harvick, Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Elliott was leading by more than a second over teammate Byron while Custer, Bell and Logano settled in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin and Erik Jones were battling for the 24th-place spot while both were scored two laps behind the leaders.

    Twenty-five laps later, Elliott continued to lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Byron followed by Custer, Bell, Logano, Almirola, Blaney, Cindric, Harvick and Austin Dillon. By then, Larson was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, Bowman, Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Truex, Chastain, Buescher, Reddick and Gilliland. Bubba Wallace was mired in 23rd behind Keselowski while Hamlin was pinned in 25th place, the second competitor a lap behind Erik Jones.

    Through the first 150 scheduled laps, Elliott remained as the leader despite having his advantage decreased to four-tenths of a second over teammate Byron. By then, 22 of 36 competitors were scored on the lead lap while names like McDowell, Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Denny Hamlin, Harrison Burton, Daniel Suárez, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie and Justin Haley were lapped.

    By Lap 165, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly half a second over teammate Byron. Behind, Team Penske’s Logano and Blaney moved into third and fourth while Custer was being pressured by Bell and Almirola for more.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 180, Elliott, who was navigating his way through lapped traffic, claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the event and of the season. Teammate Byron settled in second followed by Logano, Blaney, Custer, Austin Dillon, Almirola, Cindric, Bell and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit road and Byron managed to emerge out in front of teammate Elliott for the first time after exiting with the top spot followed by Blaney, Logan, Austin Dillon and Almirola. During the pit stops, Custer was penalized for hitting a loose tire while exiting his pit stall. In addition, Stenhouse was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 208 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Byron retained the lead ahead of Elliott and Logano while Blaney followed in pursuit. Behind, Austin Dillon was in fifth followed by Bell, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Cindric and Larson. Way behind the field, a brief stack-up occurred that started with Larson and involved Harvick, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Chastain and Briscoe, with the latter two making contact with Bowman, Busch and Harvick. 

    With less than 200 laps remaining and the race surpassing its halfway mark, Byron was out in front by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon while Bell, Almirola, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Cindric were in the top 10.

    Fifty laps later, Byron continued to lead by less than three-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott, who started to reel in on his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the top spot, while Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon stabilized themselves in the top five. By then, 22 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Another 25 laps later, Byron extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Elliott while the third- and fourth-place competitors of Logano and Blaney trailed by less than two seconds. Austin Dillon, meanwhile, was still in fifth place while trailing by more than three seconds.

    A few laps later, Logano made contact with Elliott as Logano moved into the runner-up spot followed by Blaney and Austin Dillon while Elliott, who was trapped on the outside lane, fell back to fifth place. By then, Allmendinger, who was two laps behind, pitted.

    Nearing the final 110 laps of the event, green flag pit stops ensued as Kyle Busch pitted his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry. Shortly after, teammate Martin Truex Jr. pitted his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry, but he eventually returned to pit for a second time due to a flat right-front tire. Bowman also pitted along with Keselowski, Reddick, Bell, Elliott, Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace, Almirola, Harvick, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon, Cindric, Byron and others. Following the pit stops, Bell was penalized for having a crew member over the pit wall too soon along with Larson, who sped on pit road.

    With 91 laps remaining, Byron cycled back to the lead after Blaney pitted. Logano cycled back into the runner-up spot followed by Austin Dillon and Elliott while Blaney settled in fifth. 

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Hamlin stalled his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota TRD Camry through the frontstretch after running out of fuel.

    Under caution, some like Elliott, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Erik Jones, Buescher, Bowman and Wallace pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    With 80 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Byron and Austin Dillon occupied the front row. At the start, Byron fended off Dillon to retain the lead while Dillon managed to fend off Logano for the runner-up spot. Behind, a flurry of battles ignited within the pack as Blaney and Kurt Busch battled for fourth place in front of Almirola, who ran into the rear of Blaney’s No. 12 Advance Auto Parts Ford Mustang, while Chastain, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Cindric duked for seventh place.

    Fifteen laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to nearly seven-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney while Almirola, Chastain, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick were in the top 10. By then, Elliott was in 11th followed by Cindric, Erik Jones, Wallace, Bowman, Buescher and Harvick, who got bumped by Elliott earlier and trapped on the outside lane as he lost a bevy of spots.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Byron continued to lead by more than a second over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch, Blaney, Chastain, Almirola, Kyle Busch, Briscoe and Reddick.

    Twenty laps later, Byron stabilized his advantage to a little above one-and-a-half seconds over Austin Dillon while Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney remained in the top five. 

    With 20 laps remaining, Byron remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Austin Dillon while third-place Logano trailed by more than two seconds. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Byron was leading by more than two seconds over Austin Dillon followed by Logano, Kurt Busch and Blaney while Chastain, Almirola, Briscoe, Kyle Busch and Elliott were in the top 10. Cindric was in 11th ahead of Erik Jones, Wallace, Bowman, Harvick, Reddick, Keselowski and Buescher, all of whom were on the lead lap.

    Just then, the caution flew with six laps remaining when Todd Gilliland locked up his front tires and hit the wall between Turns 3 and 4. The caution all but erased Byron’s advantage of more than two seconds over Austin Dillon as the field stacked up under a cautious pace. It also sent the event into overtime.

    Under caution, some led by Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Byron remained on the track.

    During the first overtime attempt, Byron and Logano occupied the front row followed by Austin Dillon, Blaney, Kurt Busch and Chastain. At the start, Byron dueled with Logano through the first turn until Byron managed to clear Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang to retain the lead through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron continued to lead by a narrow margin over Logano while Austin Dillon followed in pursuit. Through the final circuit, Logano drew himself close to the rear bumper of Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet, but he could not execute a bump-and-run move through Turns 3 and 4 as Byron managed to pull away and fend off Logano to claim his second victory of the weekend and add another grandfather clock to his trophy case. 

    In addition to claiming his second victory of the season and second of the weekend at Martinsville, Byron claimed his fourth career win in NASCAR’s premier series in his 152nd career start. The victory was also the 27th at Martinsville for Hendrick Motorsports as HMS’ No. 24 car returned to Victory Lane at the Paperclip-shaped short track since Jeff Gordon won in November 2015.

    “Man, it feels awesome,” Byron said on FS1. “I knew when that last caution came out, I thought everybody behind us would pit. Luckily, we stayed out. We were aggressive. We felt like we could re-fire on the tires and be OK. You got one of the most aggressive guys behind you and Logano. I chattered the tires in [Turns] 3 and 4 and left the bottom [lane] open, but [I] was able to block my exit and get a good drive off.” 

    This one’s for my mom,” Byron added. “This same weekend last year, she had a mini-stroke and was diagnosed with brain cancer. It means a lot to have her here. It’s been a crazy year, but she’s doing great. Thanks, everybody for the support. Kind of felt like she was riding there with me. It’s cool to have her here and I’m definitely gonna enjoy this one.”

    Logano, who was within striking distance of claiming his first victory of the season, settled in second place followed by Austin Dillon, who has not won in the Cup Series since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in July 2020.

    “It was a good race down to the end,” Logano said. “[It was] Really hard to pass…That final restart there, I had a front row. That’s what you can ask for. Got cleared to second, and Willy [Byron] kind of messed up off of [Turn] 4 and let me get to him, and he did a really good job of brake-checking…He did what he was supposed to do, and kind of got me all stuffed up behind him, and I couldn’t accelerate off the corner and be as close as I needed to be down into [Turn] 3 to execute the ol’ bump-and-run. [I] Couldn’t get quite to him, but his corner entry was really strong, too, which I think allowed him to get in there pretty strong. Overall, the Shell/Pennzoil Mustang had a solid run. Just hate being that close to winning and not making it happen. But big points today, and it just stings. Second just sucks sometimes, that’s all.”

    “Well, I’m a little bummed,” Dillon added. “I’d like to pride myself in when we get in those situations is being clutch. That was anything but that on that last restart. I spun the tires pretty good through the gears. Once I got back in line there, I had some grip and I feel like we had good forward drive all night long. I just felt like if we got through the gears, we’re gonna have a shot at them, but our Get Bioethanol Chevy was really fast. We’ve been working our tails off. I’m not gonna say we haven’t because we’ve been in the simulator. We’ve been working really hard to make these cars as good as possible. We wanna get [Richard Childress Racing] a win and that’s what we’re here racing for. Thank the good Lord for bringing us a good run. That was a lot of fun.”

    Blaney and Chastain finished in the top five while Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Almirola, Briscoe and Elliott completed the top 10 on the track. 

    There were five lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 36 laps.

    With his 10th-place result, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by three points over Ryan Blaney, 12 over teammate William Byron, 27 over Joey Logano, 42 over Ross Chastain and 51 over both Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 212 laps led

    2. Joey Logano

    3. Austin Dillon, one lap led

    4. Ryan Blaney, five laps led 

    5. Ross Chastain

    6. Kurt Busch

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Chase Elliott, 185 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    11. Austin Cindric

    12. Alex Bowman

    13. Erik Jones

    14. Kevin Harvick

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Bubba Wallace

    17. Brad Keselowski

    18. Tyler Reddick

    19. Kyle Larson

    20. Christopher Bell, one lap down

    21. Cole Custer, one lap down

    22. Martin Truex Jr., two laps down

    23. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    24. AJ Allmendinger, two laps down

    25. Michael McDowell, three laps down

    26. Harrison Burton, three laps down

    27. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., three laps down

    28. Denny Hamlin, three laps down

    29. Daniel Suarez, four laps down

    30. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

    31. Justin Haley, five laps down

    32. Corey LaJoie, six laps down

    33. Cody Ware, nine laps down

    34. JJ Yeley, 11 laps down

    35. Josh Bilicki, 12 laps down

    36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Handling

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second annual Food City Dirt Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in Bristol, Tennessee, on April 17, which marks Easter Sunday. The event is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Logano to make Truck return with David Gilliland Racing at Bristol Dirt Course

    Logano to make Truck return with David Gilliland Racing at Bristol Dirt Course

    The 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano will be making a one-race return to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the upcoming Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on April 16.

    In a news release through social media from David Gilliland Racing, Logano, who currently competes as a full-time Cup Series competitor for Team Penske, will be joining the organization and pilot the No. 54 Ford F-150 sponsored by Planet Fitness as he seeks his second victory on the Bristol Dirt Course one year after winning the inaugural Cup event on Bristol’s dirt layout.

    Logano, who won the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum this past February, is embarking in his 10th full-time Cup season for Team Penske, where he has recorded one top-five result and three top-10 results through the first seven scheduled events. He is ranked in fifth place in the regular season standings.

    The Bristol Dirt event will mark Logano’s first event on a dirt course in the Truck Series and first appearance in the Truck circuit since he last competed at Martinsville Speedway in March 2015, where he notched his lone Truck career victory from pole position while competing for Brad Keselowski Racing. He made his Truck debut at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2008 for HT Motorsports, where he finished 26th, before competing in six additional Truck events between 2013 and 2015 for Brad Keselowski Racing.

    In seven Truck career starts, Logano has recorded one victory, one pole, four top-five results, 191 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.1.

    The news comes nearly two weeks after Logano took to social media to unveil his plans of competing in the event. It also comes a day after David Gilliland Racing announced that Harrison Burton, a 2022 NASCAR Cup Series rookie candidate, will be making a one-race Truck return in the team’s No. 17 Ford F-150 entry for the event. Both Logano and Burton will compete alongside David Gilliland Racing’s full-time competitors Hailie Deegan and Tanner Gray

    https://twitter.com/dgr_racing/status/1511735846180986880?cxt=HHwWgIC9ncPv4fopAAAA

    Logano is scheduled to compete in the Pinty’s Truck Race at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course on April 16 with coverage to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

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

    Chastain grabs first Cup victory in a wild finish at COTA

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

    1. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

    2. Alex Bowman 

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. Chase Elliott

    5. Tyler Reddick, two laps led

    6. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    7. Martin Truex Jr.

    8. Austin Cindric, 11 laps led

    9. Erik Jones

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Kevin Harvick

    12. William Byron

    13. Michael McDowell

    14. Brad Keselowski

    15. Justin Haley

    16. Todd Gilliland

    17. Harrison Burton

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

    19. Aric Almirola

    20. Ty Dillon

    21. Chris Buescher

    22. Josh Bilicki

    23. Cole Custer

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

    25. Kaz Grala

    26. Boris Said

    27. Cody Ware

    28. Kyle Busch

    29. Kyle Larson

    30. Chase Briscoe, two laps led

    31. Joey Logano, two laps led

    32. Kurt Busch

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

    34. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Rear gear

    35. Joey Hand – OUT, Suspension

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Engine

    37. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Drivetrain

    38. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Suspension

    39. Andy Lally – OUT, Suspension

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

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Joey Logano: Logano finished ninth in the Folds Of Honor Qwik Trip 500 at Atlanta.

    “Atlanta gives fans superspeedway racing on a small scale,” Logano said. “Warm and sunny weather indicates that shirtless fans’ bellies still come in the large scale.”

    2. William Byron: Byron led a race-high 111 laps and sailed to the win at Atlanta, giving Hendrick Motorsports its third win this year.

    “Contrary to what the actions of two of our drivers may indicate,” Byron said, “Hendrick Motorsports is a tightly-knit, cohesive, and always-friendly group. The only ‘ill will’ in this organization is me when I don’t get enough sleep. Or, at least that’s what Rick Hendrick would like me to say in public.”

    3. Chase Briscoe: Briscoe started on the pole and finished 15th at Atlanta.

    “I’m just glad I made it to the finish line,” Briscoe said. “As you saw, there were a lot of wrecks and spins. But for once this season, Brad Keselowski wasn’t involved in any of them. It just goes to show, there’s chaos, and then there’s ‘K-os.’”

    4. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished sixth at Atlanta.

    “I think the racing at Atlanta was incredible,” Elliott said, “for fans in attendance, as well as those watching on television. There were 46 lead changes. Usually, if you’re watching at home, there are at least 46 channel changes.”

    5. Ryan Blaney: Blaney won Stage 2 and was contending for the win late before contact with Bubba Wallace sent Blaney into the outside wall. Blaney finished 17th.

    “Bubba may drive the McDonald’s car,” Blaney said, “but I’m definitely not loving it. But that’s the nature of fast tracks like Atlanta’s: you just never know when you’re gonna get taken out by the ‘Big One,’ or, in this case, the ‘Big Mac.’”

    6. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex led five laps and finished eighth in the Folds Of Honor Qwik Trip 500.

    “Atlanta Motor Speedway was recently resurfaced,” Truex said. “Many of us are wondering when Denny Hamlin will ‘resurface’ this season.”

    7. Aric Almirola: Almirola was running in the top five late before being bumped into a spin. He recovered to finish 22nd.

    “We would have loved to have a top-10 finish,” Almirola said. “That’s what our sponsors want to see as well. Especially Smithfield. Those guys party when we do well. If we’re lucky enough to win, it’s a downright sausage fest.”

    8. Kurt Busch: Busch survived a major accident on Lap 145 and recovered to finish third at Atlanta, his second top-five of the season.

    “And speaking of ‘major accidents,’” Busch said, “my younger brother Kyle was one, if you listen to my parents, which Kyle does not. They shouldn’t feel bad, though, because Kyle doesn’t listen to anyone.”

    9. Kyle Larson: While getting a push from Denny Hamlin on lap 212, Larson spun and hit the wall, ending his day. He finished 30th.

    “I’m not going to blame Denny for the incident,” Larson said. “But I will say this: some of us wear crowns, while others wear dunce caps.”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 35th after wrecking with Austin Dillon in Stage 1. Busch was able to continue but called it a day after 171 laps.

    “It’s early retirements like this,” Busch said, “that make me consider early retirement.

    “Now, did I refuse to apologize to Austin Dillon for my part in wrecking him? I did not. But that doesn’t mean I’m not sorry. Heck, ask anybody around here. They’ll tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I’m the ‘sorriest.’”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

    2. Ross Chastain, 42 laps led

    3. Kurt Busch, four laps led

    4. Daniel Suarez, 13 laps led

    5. Corey LaJoie

    6. Chase Elliott, 29 laps led

    7. Chris Buescher

    8. Martin Truex Jr., five laps led

    9. Joey Logano, 12 laps led

    10. Alex Bowman

    11. Justin Haley, one lap led

    12. Brad Keselowski

    13. Bubba Wallace, three laps led

    14. Erik Jones

    15. Chase Briscoe, five laps led

    16. Josh Bilicki

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

    18. David Ragan

    19. BJ McLeod, two laps led

    20. Greg Biffle

    21. Kevin Harvick, 11 laps led

    22. Aric Almirola, six laps led

    23. Christopher Bell, 16 laps led

    24. Michael McDowell, four laps down

    25. Harrison Burton, four laps down

    26. Cody Ware – OUT, Accident

    27. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Dvp

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

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

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

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

    32. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

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

    34. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

    35. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    36. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    37. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

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

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    5. Kyle Busch: Busch finished seventh at Phoenix.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Briscoe scores first Cup career victory at Phoenix; becomes 200th overall Cup winner

    Briscoe scores first Cup career victory at Phoenix; becomes 200th overall Cup winner

    In a three-lap shootout between three competitors vying for their first career win in the NASCAR Cup Series level, Chase Briscoe came out on top at Phoenix Raceway. After fending off Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick he won the Ruoff Mortgage 500 Sunday afternoon and claimed his first victory in his 40th career start in NASCAR’s premier series.

    The 27-year-old Briscoe from Mitchell, Indiana, led three times for 101 of the 312-scheduled laps, including the final 24, and had enough horsepower within his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang to hold off the field, including Chastain, Reddick and teammate Kevin Harvick in a three-lap shootout. Briscoe is the second first-time winner of the 2022 season and the 200th different competitor to win in the NASCAR Cup Series’ 74th season of competition.

    With on-track qualifying occurring on Saturday, Ryan Blaney claimed his seventh Cup career pole after notching the top starting spot with a pole-winning lap at 132.709 mph. Joining him on the front row was Denny Hamlin, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 132.353 mph.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Larson (unapproved adjustment), rookie Harrison Burton (unapproved adjustment) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (engine change) dropped to the rear of the field.  

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kyle Busch used the dogleg to vault himself into the top 10 from his 11th-place starting spot while Blaney rocketed with an early advantage ahead of the field. Behind, William Byron challenged Hamlin for the runner-up spot. Following the first lap, Blaney was out in front of a side-by-side battle between Hamlin and Byron while Christopher Bell settled behind in fourth, followed by Chase Briscoe and Aric Almirola.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps of the event, Blaney was leading by more than a second over Hamlin, who was followed by Byron, Bell and Chase Briscoe while Kyle Busch, rookie Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman and Tyler Reddick were in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, Blaney continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Hamlin, who was engaged in a battle with Byron for the runner-up spot. Behind, Briscoe was in fourth followed by Kyle Busch, Logano, Reddick and Bowman while Bell slipped back to ninth ahead of Kevin Harvick.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Blaney was out front by more than two seconds over Hamlin and Byron. By then, Larson was scored in 20th after starting at the rear of the field.

    Under the competition caution, the field pitted for early adjustments and Blaney retained the lead after exiting pit road with the lead followed by teammate Logano, Briscoe, Hamlin and Reddick. During the pit stops, Kyle Busch stalled his No. 18 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry on pit road after running in fifth place, Following the pit stops, Blaney was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road along with Michael McDowell, Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The penalties moved Logano, who opted for a two-tire pit stop, to the lead followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Byron and Alex Bowman.

    When the race restarted on Lap 31, the field fanned out through the dogleg as Logano retained a narrow advantage followed by Briscoe, Byron, Reddick and Chase Elliott. 

    Two laps later, Briscoe moved his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang into the lead ahead of Logano while Hendrick Motorsports’ Byron and Elliott battled for third place. 

    On Lap 45, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie smacked against the backstretch, outside wall. The hard impact knocked the tire carcass off of LaJoie’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Cody Ware hit and ran over the carcass. 

    Under caution, some including Blaney, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, rookie Harrison Burton and Ross Chastain pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 52, Byron used the inside lane to his advantage as he stormed his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead while teammate Elliott challenged Briscoe for the runner-up spot. As Briscoe used the outside lane to retain the runner-up spot, Reddick started to challenge Elliott for third place while Bowman settled in fifth.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Byron notched his first stage victory of the season. Briscoe settled in second followed by Elliott, Reddick, Bowman, Bell, Larson, Harvick, Logano and Austin Dillon while Martin Truex Jr., the reigning Phoenix spring winner, was in 11th ahead of Kurt Busch, Blaney, Cindric, Chris Buescher and Kyle Busch.

    Under the stage break, some led by Blaney, Kyle Busch, Cole Custer and Burton remained on the track while the rest led by Byron pitted. During the pit stops, Elliott was the first competitor to exit first followed by Briscoe, Reddick, Byron and Harvick.

    The second stage started on Lap 69 as Blaney and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Blaney retained the lead while Kyle Busch was left to retain the runner-up spot ahead of Briscoe, Elliott, Byron and Reddick.

    By Lap 75 and with the field jostling for positions, Blaney was leading by a second over Kyle Busch while Elliott, Briscoe and Byron were in the top five. Reddick was in sixth ahead of Harvick, Larson, Custer and Logano while Burton, Bowman, Cindric, Truex and Hamlin were in the top 15.

    Fifteen laps later, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Elliott while Byron was in third place ahead of Kevin Harvick, a nine-time Phoenix winner who was on a quest to end a 46-race winless drought. Reddick was in fifth followed by Kyle Busch, Larson, Briscoe, Logano and Bowman. 

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps of the event, Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang continued to lead by more than a second over Elliott’s No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Byron, Harvick, Reddick, Kyle Busch, Larson, Briscoe, Logano and Bowman remained in the top 10. Behind, Ross Chastain was in 11th followed by Austin Dillon, Custer, Truex, Hamlin, Bell, Kurt Busch, Cindric, Almirola and Chris Buescher while Harrison Burton was mired in 21st ahead of Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, rookie Todd Gilliland and Justin Haley. Meanwhile, Daniel Suarez, AJ Allmendinger, Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Stenhouse were in the top 30 while Michael McDowell was the final car on the lead lap in 31st.

    On Lap 118, the caution flew when Bell got loose and spun his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry through the backstretch. By then, names like Keselowski, Wallace, Burton and Stenhouse were lapped.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott emerged with the top spot for the first time after exiting with the lead followed by Blaney, Byron, Harvick, Larson and Briscoe.

    When the race restarted on Lap 125 and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Elliott persevered over a brief battle with Blaney to retain a narrow advantage while Byron fended off Harvick and Larson to retain third place.

    Eight laps later and following a side-by-side battle with Elliott, Blaney re-emerged with the lead, though Elliott kept Blaney’s No. 12 Ford within his close sights. 

    By Lap 140, Blaney extended his advantage to more than a second over Elliott, who started to have Harvick close in on him for the runner-up spot. Byron was back in fourth ahead of teammate Larson while Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Logano were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 156, Blaney stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott and less than two seconds over Harvick while Byron and teammate Larson remained in the top five. Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Logano remained in the top 10 ahead of Truex, Kyle Busch, Bowman, Almirola, Suarez, Buescher, Hamlin, Custer, Kurt Busch and Gilliland while Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, Haley, Cindric, Allmendinger, Keselowski, Wallace, Stenhouse, Bell and McDowell rounded out the top 30.

    By Lap 175, Blaney continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Elliott while third-place Harvick trailed by more than three seconds. Trailing by more than four seconds behind were teammates Byron and Larson. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 185, Blaney fended off Elliott to claim his first stage victory of the 2022 season. Harvick crossed the start/finish line in third followed by Byron, Larson, Reddick, Chastain, Briscoe, Austin Dillon and Logano.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Elliott returned to the top of the leaderboard followed by Harvick, Reddick, Blaney, Byron and Larson.

    With 118 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start and with the fan fanning out through the dogleg, Reddick was quick to attack Elliott for the lead, but Elliott was just able to utilize the outside lane to his advantage as he retained the lead. Meanwhile, Blaney moved up to third while Larson challenged Harvick for fourth place. 

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by less than half a second over Reddick while Blaney, Harvick and Larson were in the top five. Briscoe was back in sixth followed by Chastain, Austin Dillon, Byron and Truex. Bowman was in 11th followed by Logano, Suarez, Buescher and Kyle Busch while Aric Almirola, Kurt Busch, Hamlin, Erik Jones and Custer were in the top 20. 

    Eight laps later, the caution flew when Truex went dead straight after cutting a right-front tire and pounded his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry into the backstretch outside wall hard. The incident was enough to terminate Truex’s event as he emerged uninjured and made the mandatory trip to the infield care center.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Elliott retained the lead followed by Harvick, Briscoe, Chastain, Austin Dillon and Byron while Blaney dropped to ninth place. Following the pit stops, Daniel Suarez was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

    With 83 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe assumed the lead over Elliott and Harvick retained third place as the field jostled for positions.

    Eight laps later, Briscoe was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Elliott while Harvick, Logano and Chastain were in the top five. Byron was in sixth followed by Austin Dillon, Blaney, Larson and Bowman. Shortly after, Larson fell off the pace and had to limp his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for another full lap before pitting. Soon after pitting, it was determined that a broken valve spring was detected in Larson’s car, which forced the reigning Cup champion to nurse his car to the garage.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Briscoe continued to lead by more than three-tenths of a second over Elliott, who continued to stalk Briscoe for the lead, while Harvick, Chastain and Blaney were in the top five.

    Not long after and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, the battle for the lead intensified as Elliott pressured Briscoe for the top spot. Despite Elliott’s efforts in closing the gap and trying to navigate his way around Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford for the lead, Briscoe was able to maintain the top spot.

    With 30 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to lead by less than half a second over Elliott while third-place Harvick trailed by more than a second. Chastain, coming off his strong run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, was in fourth followed by Team Penske’s Blaney and Logano. Reddick was in seventh ahead of teammate Austin Dillon while Bowman and Almirola were in the top 10.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Erik Jones spun off of Turn 2 and made contact with the inside wall.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Briscoe managed to retain the lead ahead of teammate Harvick, Chastain and the field.

    With 20 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start and with the field fanning out, Chastain bolted below the dogleg to challenge Briscoe for the lead along with Harvick, but Briscoe managed to retain the lead by a narrow margin. Not long after, Chastain fought back on the inside lane and he drew himself alongside Briscoe as Tyler Reddick joined the party after he passed Harvick.

    Shortly after, a three-wide battle ensued between three competitors seeking their first Cup victory before Briscoe managed to remain ahead of Reddick and Chastain. 

    With less than 15 laps remaining, Briscoe, who was representing Stewart-Haas Racing, was leading by half a second over Reddick, who was representing Richard Childress Racing, and more than a second over Chastain, who was representing Trackhouse Racing. Meanwhile, Harvick was mired back in fourth, trailing by more than a second, while Blaney was in fifth.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Briscoe continued to lead by more than half a second over Reddick while Chastain was being pressured by Harvick for third place.

    Just then, the caution flew with eight laps remaining when Elliott got loose and spun through the backstretch while running in seventh place. The caution evaporated Briscoe’s steady margin over Reddick.

    Under caution, the top-13 competitors led by Briscoe remained on the track while the rest led by Chris Buescher, who was in 14th place, pitted. 

    Down to the final three laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Briscoe, who restarted on the inside lane, darted his car to the dogleg and received a bump from Chastain to clear the field and retain the lead entering the backstretch. Behind, Chastain challenged Reddick for the runner-up spot as Kurt Busch challenged Blaney and Harvick for fourth place. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Briscoe was still leading by over Chastain and Reddick. With all types of battles ensuing behind, Briscoe was able to pull away and streak across the finish line in first place as he emerged victorious for the first time in his second full-time season in the Cup circuit.

    With the victory, Briscoe recorded the first win for Stewart-Haas Racing this season and for SHR’s No. 14 team currently led by crew chief Johnny Klausmeier since former veteran, Clint Bowyer, won a rain-shortened event at Michigan International Speedway in June 2018. In addition, Briscoe, who claimed the Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title in 2021, became the 38th different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup).

    “That’s unbelievable,” Briscoe, who was emotional on the frontstretch, said on FOX. “I was crying the whole last lap. I mean, this is definitely a team win, but I gotta thank everybody that’s got me to this point. Seven years ago, I was sleeping on couches, volunteering at race shops and was literally driving home to give up. [Owners] Briggs Cunningham [III] and Kerry Scherer and Beth Cunningham gave me an opportunity and it’s led to this. Unbelievable. So blessed to be driving at the organization of the team and the car that was my hero [Tony Stewart] growing up. To get this No. 14 back in Victory Lane, to do it with Mahindra Tractors, their first year in the sport…it’s unbelievable.”

    Behind, Chastain edged Reddick to finish in the runner-up spot, with both competitors claiming their best results through the first four events of the 2022 campaign.

    “Like a day at the K1 track, that was so much fun,” Chastain said, “To get to race like that at this level. Trackhouse Racing believes in me. These people, they believed in me early in the season whenever stuff wasn’t going so great. If we can keep putting these together. That’s so cool to race with Tyler [Reddick] and Chase [Briscoe]. That’s everything I’ve ever wanted. My crew chief Phil Surgen, people don’t know how good he is. His adjustments this year have been so incredible and he gave me exactly what I needed. We just came up one spot short, but I’m so happy.”

    “I thought we got a really good launch [on the restart] considering all things,” Reddick added. “Being right there with [Briscoe] going into [Turn] 1, but I knew about how deep I could drive it in Turn 1 all day. I thought I got pretty good heat in the tires. I still over-stepped it. I couldn’t have drove it any deeper than I did and I thought I was still gonna get up in the fence. Chase was just able to drive it off in there. Kind of like dirt racing, clear high and take the lead. It was a lot of fun. It was great to claw back from a hiccup we had early in the race. Everyone on this Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet did a really, really good job all day. We had one little miscue that took us from second to 12th, but my pit crew did an amazing job. They got us right back out of that hole and we had one good restart at the end to put ourselves in position. It was a fun day. It was a nice way to recover. It’s nice to recover from a mistake that late in the race and still be battling for the win there at the end. All in all, great day. We’ll see what else we can learn from this and get ready for what lies ahead.”

    Blaney, who led a race-high 144 laps, finished fourth and Kurt Busch claimed his first top-five result of the season and with 23XI Racing after muscling his No. 45 MoneyLion Toyota TRD Camry in fifth place. 

    Harvick came home in sixth place while Kyle Busch, Logano, Suarez and Chris Buescher finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Elliott settled in 11th following his late spin, Hamlin ended up in 13th place in between Almirola and Bowman, Byron fell back to 18th and Austin Dillon finished 21st after being involved in a last-lap skirmish with Daniel Suarez while battling for a top-10 spot. Todd Gilliland was the highest-finishing rookie in 16th place while Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski and Austin Cindric finished 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

    There were 14 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 52 laps.

    Despite finishing in eighth place, Joey Logano leads the regular-season standings by four points over Kyle Busch, five over Chase Elliott, 10 over Chase Briscoe and Kyle Larson and 14 over Aric Almirola.

    Results.

    1. Chase Briscoe, 101 laps led

    2. Ross Chastain

    3. Tyler Reddick

    4. Ryan Blaney, 143 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Kurt Busch

    6. Kevin Harvick

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Joey Logano, four laps led

    9. Daniel Suarez

    10. Chris Buescher

    11. Chase Elliott, 50 laps led

    12. Aric Almirola

    13. Denny Hamlin

    14. Alex Bowman

    15. Ty Dillon

    16. Cole Custer

    17. Justin Haley

    18. William Byron, 12 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    19. Todd Gilliland

    20. AJ Allmendinger

    21. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    22. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    23. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

    24. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    25. Erik Jones, one lap down

    26. Christopher Bell, two laps down

    27. Michael McDowell, two laps down

    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down

    29. Harrison Burton, three laps down

    30. Landon Cassill, four laps down

    31. Cody Ware, five laps down

    32. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

    33. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

    34. Kyle Larson – OUT, Engine, two laps led

    35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

    36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway, the first of two stops at the venue for the series and the first race since the track was reconfigured for this season. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, March 20, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Las Vegas

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Larson muscles to a chaotic Cup victory at Fontana

    Larson muscles to a chaotic Cup victory at Fontana

    The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson outlasted the field through a four-lap shootout and through a series of carnages to win the WISE Power 400 at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday, February 27, in NASCAR’s return to Fontana, California.

    Larson, a 29-year-old native from Elk Grove, California, led four times for 28 of 200 laps and received a stellar pit stop from his pit crew with less than 10 laps remaining before fending off Austin Dillon, Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Joey Logano through the final four laps to collect his second victory at Auto Club Speedway and his first NASCAR Cup victory of the 2022 season.

    Qualifying determined the starting lineup on Saturday, February 26, as rookie Austin Cindric, winner of this year’s Daytona 500, notched his first Cup career pole with a pole-winning lap at 174.647 mph. Joining him on the front row was Erik Jones, who earned his first front row starting spot since Texas Motor Speedway in November 2019.

    Prior to the event, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Bubba Wallace dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective machines. In addition, all competitors had a respective crew member ejected from the event. Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to an oil cooler change along with Ross Chastain, who competed in a back-up car after wrecking his primary car on Saturday.

    Another driver that was penalized prior to the event was Kurt Busch, whose No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry failed pre-qualifying inspection three times on Friday, February 25, and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty through pit road at the start of the event. In addition, David Bryant, Busch’s car chief, was ejected from the event. 

    Following a five-wide salute from the field to the fans and when the green flag waved as the race commenced, Cindric and Jones battled dead even for the lead as Jones took an early command entering the backstretch. 

    When the field returned to the frontstretch, Erik Jones, piloting the No. 43 FOCUSfactor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 led the first lap while Cindric settled in second in front of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch. By then, Kurt Busch served his pass-through penalty and was able to remain on the lead lap. 

    By the second lap, Jones maintained a healthy advantage over Cindric. Behind, Tyler Reddick challenged Hamlin for third place as Ryan Blaney moved up to fifth while Kyle Busch dropped to sixth.

    Three laps later, Jones was leading by nearly a second over Cindric, who had Reddick close in for the spot. Blaney and Hamlin were in the top five followed by Chase Elliott, William Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. while Kyle Busch continued to fall back in 11th ahead of Daniel Hemric.

    By Lap 10, Jones continued to lead by while Reddick and Blaney were up in second and third.

    A lap later, however, Reddick muscled his No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead.

    On Lap 15, the first caution of the event flew when Kyle Busch, who was running in 11th place, spun his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota TRD Camry in the backstretch, though he continued without sustaining any significant damage. 

    With Busch’s incident serving as the competition caution planned for Lap 20, the field led by Reddick pitted as Reddick exited with the lead followed by Byron, Elliott, Hamlin and Jones.

    When the race restarted under green nearing the Lap 20 mark, Reddick maintained the lead ahead of Byron and Elliott as Elliott overtook teammate Byron to move into second while the field fanned out through the first two turns and through the backstretch. 

    On Lap 23, Elliott muscled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead. 

    Through the first 30 laps of the event, Elliott was leading by more than a second over Reddick while Byron, Erik Jones and Stenhouse were in the top five. Blaney, Truex, Logano, Hamlin and Kyle Larson were in the top 10 while Cindric was back in 11th ahead of Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Chris Buescher and Hemric. Kyle Busch was mired back in 16th ahead of Cole Custer, Daniel Suarez, Michael McDowell and Brad Keselowski while Aric Almirola was in 21st ahead of Chase Briscoe, Kurt Busch, Corey LaJoie and rookie Harrison Burton. Kevin Harvick was mired in 26th ahead of Justin Haley, Ross Chastain, Austin Dillon and Bubba Wallace.

    Then by Lap 35, Reddick reassumed the lead followed by Byron and Jones while Elliott, who scraped the outside wall near Turn 3 once on Lap 33 and again on Lap 35, was losing ground of the lead pack.

    Not long after, Elliott’s race went from bad to worse as he spun through the backstretch and drew the second caution of the event. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was on pit road as his No. 18 pit crew popped the hood up to diagnose overheating issues to Busch’s car.

    Under caution, the field returned to pit road for serve as Reddick, who reported numbness to his left leg, retained the lead followed by Jones, Byron, Cindric, Stenhouse and Hamlin. By then, Christopher Bell remained on pit road as he was dealing with cooling issues to his car. Following the pit stops, Austin Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the field restarted on Lap 42, Byron shoved Reddick as Reddick retained the lead briefly before Jones mounted a challenge on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, however, Jones lost the runner-up spot to Byron as Reddick maintained the lead. 

    With the field fanning out, a five-car battle for the lead ensued as Reddick was ahead of Byron, Stenhouse, Jones and Truex.

    By Lap 50, Reddick was leading more nearly two seconds over Byron, who remained engaged in a battle with Stenhouse for the runner-up spot. Jones was in fourth followed by Joey Logano while Truex was back in seventh behind Blaney’s No. 12 Wurth Ford Mustang. Briscoe, Cindric and Hamlin were in the top 10.

    Then on Lap 52, Truex, who was, got loose entering the backstretch and scraped the outside wall as he was narrowly avoided by Cindric. The caution then returned when Josh Bilicki spun in Turn 2.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road as Reddick received another stellar pit stop from his No. 8 crew to retain the lead followed by Byron, Jones, Kurt Busch and Briscoe. During the pit stops, Blaney endured a slow pit stop for a second time as he exited in the top 20 after pitting from third place. Following the pit stops, however, Kurt Busch was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. In addition, Kevin Harvick pitted for a second time.

    On Lap 57, the race restarted under green as Reddick and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Reddick received another boost from Byron’s No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to retain the lead ahead of Jones and the field fanning out through the backstretch. 

    At the Lap 60 mark, Reddick was leading by half a second over Jones while Byron, Briscoe and Kyle Larson were in the top five. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 65, Reddick claimed his first stage victory of the 2022 Cup Series season and the fifth of his career after fending off Jones. Byron settled in third followed by Briscoe and Larson while Alex Bowman, Logano, Blaney, Cindric and Stenhouse were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted as Reddick exited with the lead followed by Briscoe, Byron, Larson and Bowman. Following the pit stops, rookie Todd Gilliland lost a right-front wheel and returned to pit road.

    The second stage started on Lap 73. At the start, Reddick and Briscoe battled dead even through the backstretch as Larson joined the battle. When the field returned to the frontstretch, Larson led a lap for himself before Briscoe moved his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang to the lead followed by Reddick.

    By Lap 76, Reddick mounted a challenge to regain the lead against Briscoe, but was unable to complete his task as Briscoe maintained the top spot. 

    Through the first 80 laps of the event, Briscoe was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Reddick while Byron, Logano and Larson were in the top five. Blaney, Hamlin, Bowman, Erik Jones and Cindric were in the top 10.

    On Lap 86, Kyle Busch pitted under green after sustaining a flat left-rear tire. By the time he returned on the track, he was mired in 36th place and six laps behind the leaders.

    Four laps later, the caution flew when Bell spun his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry in Turn 4. In the midst of Bell’s spin, teammate Denny Hamlin steered his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry to pit road as he reported overheating issues. At the moment of caution, Briscoe continued to lead by more than half a second over Reddick while third-place Byron trailed by more than three seconds. Blaney and Logano were in the top five ahead of Jones, Larson, Cindric, Bowman and Brad Keselowski.

    Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road as Reddick entered and exited in first place followed by Briscoe, Byron, Blaney, Cindric and Logano.

    On Lap 96, the race restarted under green. At the start, Reddick received another strong push from Byron to take the lead on the outside lane while Briscoe fell back to second ahead of Byron and the field.

    While Reddick retained the lead ahead of Byron, a multi-car battle for third place ensued as Larson moved into the top-three followed by Logano, Briscoe, Blaney, Erik Jones and Cindric while Bowman and Austin Dillon were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Byron moved into the lead over Reddick as Larson retained third place ahead of Logano and Briscoe. While Blaney was in sixth, Jones and Cindric, both of whom rubbed fenders in Turn 1 a lap earlier, were in seventh and eighth while Bowman and Cole Custer were in the top 10.

    Eleven laps later, the caution flew when Chris Buescher spun and backed his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang into the outside wall entering Turn 2.

    Under caution, the field pitted and Reddick reassumed the lead followed by Larson, Jones, Custer, Keselowski and Cindric. Meanwhile, Briscoe, who pitted as the leader, exited in 17th place after enduring a slow pit stop.

    When the field restarted on Lap 115, Reddick and Jones battled for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as Jones moved into the lead. Then just as the field returned to the start/finish line, Keselowski, who was battling for a spot in the top five, got sideways and spun in Turn 4 as the caution flew. In the midst of the spin, Keselowski was narrowly missed by ex-teammate Logano and Hamlin.

    On Lap 121, the race restarted under green. At the start, Jones utilized the inside lane to his advantage for a second time to retain the lead. Shortly after, Reddick challenged and reassumed the lead from Jones as Logano moved up to third place followed by Larson, Custer, Blaney and Cindric. Meanwhile, Byron was back in the top 10 while Briscoe was mired in 16th.

    With the laps in the second stage dwindling, Reddick extended his advantage to more than a second over Jones while Logano, Larson and Blaney were in the top five. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 130, Reddick captured his second stage victory of the season. Jones settled in second followed by Logano, Blaney, Larson, Custer, Cindric, Almirola, Byron and Hamlin.

    Under the stage break, the leaders returned to pit stop as Reddick retained the lead followed by Jones, Larson, Custer and Hamlin.

    With 64 laps remaining, the final stage started under green. At the start, Reddick retained the lead while Logano moved up to second in front of Jones. Entering Turn 4, Aric Almirola got sideways, but he straightened his car below the apron and the race remained under green.

    At the front with 60 laps remaining, Reddick remained as the leader by more than a second over Logano, who had Erik Jones challenging him for the runner-up spot. Bowman, a former winner at Auto Club Speedway in 2020, was in fourth followed by Blaney while Custer and Byron battled for sixth place. Behind, Hamlin, who made light contact with the outside wall, was in eighth ahead of Cindric, Austin Dillon, Larson and Daniel Suarez.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Reddick, who withstood repeated challenges from Jones, continued to lead by nearly seven-tenths of a second over Jones’ No. 43 Chevrolet while Logano settled in third place as he trailed by more than three seconds. Behind, Blaney overtook Bowman for fourth, Byron was in sixth ahead of Custer, Larson was in ninth and Cindric was in 11th. Briscoe, meanwhile, was mired in 22nd behind teammate Kevin Harvick.

    A lap later, Reddick’s strong, prominent run towards a possible first Cup victory evaporated when he cut a left-rear tire and fell off the pace entering Turns 1 and 2. Then while Reddick was limping towards the outside wall, he was sideswiped by Byron, which sent both cars into the outside wall as Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet came to a rest below the apron while Reddick limped back to pit road. In the midst of the turn of events, Jones returned to the lead followed by Logano, Blaney, Bowman and Custer.

    Under caution for the incident, the leaders returned to pit road as Jones edged Bowman to retain the lead followed by Logano, Larson, Bowman and Elliott.

    With 44 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Logano emerged with the lead for the first time as Larson overtook Jones for the runner-up spot in front of the field fanning out. 

    During the following lap, the caution returned when Bubba Wallace made contact with Keselowski in Turn 2, which sent Keselowski sideways and sparked a multi-car wreck that involved Wallace, Harrison Burton and Cindric. Under caution, some led by Logano remained on the track while the rest pitted.

    With 35 laps remaining, the field restarted under green. At the start, Logano blocked and maintained the lead over Larson. Shortly after, Larson made his way to the front over Logano as Jones, Elliot and Blaney battled for third place.

    With 30 laps remaining, Larson was leading by less than a second over Blaney while Logano, Elliott and Bowman were in the top five. Meanwhile, Ross Chastain was in sixth place in a back-up car while Jones, Austin Dillon, Hamlin and Daniel Suarez were in the top 10. 

    A few laps later, the caution returned when Chastain, who was running in the top 10, spun in Turn 4. Under caution, nearly the entire field returned to pit road for service and Elliott exited first followed by Bowman, Larson, Logano, Austin Dillon and Daniel Suarez. Back on track, Briscoe remained on the track to inherit the lead.

    With 22 laps remaining, the field restarted under green. At the start, teammates Larson and Elliott overtook Briscoe entering the first turn before Larson assumed the lead while Logano joined the party. 

    During the following lap, Bowman, who was running in the top five, pitted after making contact with the outside wall. At the front, Logano and Larson dueled for the lead as Elliott tried to overtake both. Then in Turn 4, Larson moved up and ran his teammate Elliott into the outside wall as Elliott began to fall off the pace. With Elliott out of contention, Austin Dillon appeared in third place followed by Daniel Suarez, Hamlin and Erik Jones.

    With 15 laps remaining, Larson was leading by half a second over Logano while Austin Dillon, Suarez and Jones were in the top five. By then, names like Harvick, Stenhouse and Michael McDowell were in the top 10 while Cindric, Kurt Busch, Haley, Almirola and Daniel Hemric were in the top 15. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Logano while Austin Dillon Dillon, Jones, Blaney, Suarez, Hamlin, Stenhouse, Harvick and Cindric were in the top 10. 

    Then a lap later, the caution flew when Elliott spun in Turn 2. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Larson exited with the lead followed by Suarez, Logano, Austin Dillon and Jones.

    With four laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, a three-car battle ensued between Larson, Suarez and Logano for the lead for a full lap. Then with three laps remaining, Larson led at the line before Suarez received a push from Erik Jones to boost to the lead entering the backstretch. 

    Suarez, however, lost the lead entering the frontstretch after Larson gained an advantage and reassumed the lead with two laps remaining, where he brought Austin Dillon with him.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson was ahead by three-tenths of a second over Austin Dillon as Erik Jones challenged Suarez for third place. Behind, Justin Haley got turned and spun through the infield grass as he pounded the inside wall. 

    With the race remaining under green, Larson continued to lead ahead of a hard-charging Dillon. Through Turns 3 and 4, Dillon mounted a final lap charge through the inside lane, but it was too little, too late as Larson took the checkered flag by less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Austin Dillon.

    In addition to claiming his second victory at Auto Club Speedway, Larson notched his 17th NASCAR Cup Series career victory and his 11th driving the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Hendrick Motorsports as he begins his pursuit to defend his series championship.

    “It’s always fun here to win at the home state,” Larson said on FOX. “Hard work all weekend there. [I] Didn’t feel great in practice yesterday. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] and everybody made some good adjustments overnight and the car handled a lot better. There was definitely some guys that were quicker than us, but they had their misfortunes. Just kept our heads in it all day. Long race. [The] Restarts were crazy. The whole runs were crazy, so definitely wild, but cool to get a win here at California. Hopefully, we get on a little streak. ”

    Austin Dillon settled in second place while Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez delivered strong results of third and fourth place. Logano settled in fifth place. 

    “We’re going to win a few races very soon here,” Suarez said. “I just can’t thank everyone enough on my team. We had a fast car, but we went through a lot of adversity. We had a few issues. We hit the wall once. We had an issue with a diffuser. My pit crew, those guys are legends, it’s unbelievable. It’s the best pit crew I’ve ever had, and it’s a lot of fun to race like that. The Freeway Insurance Chevrolet, everyone that helps Trackhouse [Racing] out, to be able to be here and perform this way… I can tell you that I’m going to work very, very hard to go to Victory Lane very, very soon here.”

    Almirola, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Hemric and Stenhouse completed the top 10 on the track.

    Cindric, the pole-sitter, finished 12th in front of Martin Truex Jr. while Kyle Busch rallied from falling six laps behind the leaders to finish 14th in front of teammate Denny Hamlin. Briscoe, Blaney and Wallace finished 16th, 18th and 19th, Reddick settled in 24th and Elliott ended up in 26th place in between teammate Bowman and Keselowski.

    There were 32 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured a record-tying 12 cautions for 59 laps.

    Following his 12th-place result, Austin Cindric continues to lead the regular season standings by eight points over teammate Joey Logano, 12 over Martin Truex Jr., 15 over Ryan Blaney, 16 over Chase Briscoe and 17 over Erik Jones.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 28 laps led

    2. Austin Dillon

    3. Erik Jones, 18 laps led

    4. Daniel Suarez 

    5. Joey Logano, 14 laps led

    6. Aric Almirola

    7. Kevin Harvick, one lap led

    8. Kurt Busch

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    11. Cole Custer

    12. Austin Cindric

    13. Martin Truex Jr. 

    14. Kyle Busch

    15. Denny Hamlin

    16. Chase Briscoe, 20 laps led

    17. Ty Dillon

    18. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

    19. Bubba Wallace

    20. Todd Gilliland

    21. Garrett Smithley

    22. BJ McLeod

    23. Justin Haley

    24. Tyler Reddick, one lap down, 90 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    25. Alex Bowman, one lap down

    26. Chase Elliott, two laps down

    27. Brad Keselowski, two laps down

    28. Corey LaJoie, two laps down

    29. Ross Chastain, two laps down

    30. Josh Bilicki, two laps down

    31. Michael McDowell – OUT, Electrical

    32. Cody Ware, 13 laps down

    33. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    34. William Byron – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

    35. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    36. Christopher Bell – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the second of the series’ three-race West Coast swing. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, March 6, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Cindric prevails for first Cup triumph at the Daytona 500

    Cindric prevails for first Cup triumph at the Daytona 500

    In a late war of attrition between the young guns and the veterans, rookie Austin Cindric captured the main spotlight to commence a new season of NASCAR competition by winning the 64th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 20, and capturing his first NASCAR Cup Series career victory after fending off the field during an overtime attempt.

    The 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion from Mooresville, North Carolina, led four times for 21 laps, including the final eight, to fend off challenges from teammate Ryan Blaney, ex-teammate Brad Keselowski and Bubba Wallace on the final lap to grab his first win in his eighth career start in NASCAR’s premier series and in his first event driving the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske as a full-time Cup Series rookie candidate.

    The starting lineup was determined through two single-car qualifying rounds on Wednesday, February 16, followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duels on Thursday, February 17. Kyle Larson, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.159 mph and was joined on the front row with teammate Alex Bowman, who qualified at 181.046 mph. Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher, both of whom represent the newly named Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, occupied the second row after each won their respective Duel events.

    Prior to the event, George Spencer, the engineer for Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team, and JD Frey, the car chief for Daniel Hemric and the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team, were ejected from the event due to their respective cars failing pre-race inspection twice. In addition, Hemric was assessed a drive-through penalty at the start. Joey Logano also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car along with Jacques Villeneuve, who dropped to the rear due to an engine change.

    When the green flag waved and the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season commenced, Larson jumped with an early advantage and moved in front of teammate Bowman from the tri-oval through the back straightaway while running on the inside lane. The outside lane, however, proved to be the fastest, preferred lane for a majority of competitors as Keselowski received drafting help from Ford teammates Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher and Michael McDowell to move into the lead entering Turns 3 and 4.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Brad Keselowski, making his first start as a driver/co-owner of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Ford Mustang, led the first lap ahead of Cindric and Buescher while Larson settled in fourth ahead of Michael McDowell, the reigning Daytona 500 champion. By then, Hemric served his drive-through penalty through pit road.

    By the fifth lap, a majority of the competitors were running in a long single-file line on the outside lane as Keselowski was leading Cindric, Buescher, McDowell and Kyle Busch. Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Bubba Wallace and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were in the top 10 while rookie Harrison Burton was the lead car on the inside lane in 14th place while receiving drafting help from names like Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin.

    Two laps later, the momentum for the competitors running on the inside lane gained momentum towards the ones running on the outside lane as Kyle Busch, who darted to the inside lane, moved his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry to the front of the pack followed by teammate Bell. Soon after, Busch was engaged in a side-by-side battle with Keselowski’s No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang for the top spot.

    Through the first 10 laps of the event and with the field continuing to engage in close-quarters racing through multiple lanes, Keselowski, who fought back on the outside lane to retake the lead on Lap 8, was leading followed by Cindric, Buescher, McDowell and Stenhouse while Kyle Busch fell back to sixth ahead of Erik Jones, Bell, Larson and Truex. By then, Hemric was lapped behind the field.

    Five laps later, Jacques Villeneuve was lapped by the field as Keselowski continued to lead a bevy of competitors running towards the outside lane while Kyle Busch was the lead car for multiple competitors running on the inside lane.

    By Lap 20, Keselowski remained out in front on the outside lane ahead of Cindric, Buescher, McDowell, Stenhouse and a majority of the competitors while Kyle Busch continued to serve as the lead car on the inside lane with drafting help from his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Bell and Truex along with 23XI Racing’s Kurt Busch and Bubba Wallace.

    Seven laps later, the battle for the lead reignited between Keselowski and Kyle Busch as Busch received drafting help from his Toyota teammates on the inside lane to return to the lead. 

    Through the first 30 laps of the event, Kyle Busch remained as the leader of the field by a narrow margin over teammate Keselowski while Bell, Cindric, Truex, Buescher, Kurt Busch, McDowell, Wallace and Denny Hamlin were in the top 10. By then, Greg Biffle, making his return to the Cup Series following a five-year absence, took his No. 44 NY Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the garage due to an engine issue. 

    By Lap 35, a majority of the field moved to the inside lane as Kyle Busch continued to lead ahead of Bell, Truex, Kurt Busch, Wallace, Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Keselowski and William Byron.

    A few laps later, the first round of green-flag pit stops commenced as names like Cindric, Blaney, McDowell, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Cole Custer, David Ragan, Aric Almirola and Chase Briscoe pitted. During the following lap, a majority of competitors led by Kyle Busch pitted. Then during the following lap and with another wave of competitors pitting, Villeneuve spun near the pit road entrance, but he proceeded without making contact with the wall as the race continued to run under green. In the midst of the pit stops, Ty Dillon was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Then on Lap 40, the first caution of the event flew when Kaz Grala lost a right-rear wheel of his No. 50 Money Team Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 2. At the same time, Briscoe got bumped by Cindric entering Turn 1 and spun his No. 14 Mahindra Ford Mustang, though he continued without sustaining any significant damage. Under caution, some like Larson and Bowman pitted.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 45, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano occupied the front row ahead of Hamlin and Harrison Burton. At the start, Busch jumped ahead through Turns 1 and 2, but Logano used the outside lane to his advantage as he received a push from Burton’s No. 21 Motorcraft/DEX Imaging Ford Mustang to challenge Busch for the lead.

    Through the first 50 laps of the event, Kyle Busch was leading ahead of teammates Hamlin and Bell while Byron and Kurt Busch were in the top five. By then, Elliott, rookie Todd Gilliland, McDowell, Logano and Ross Chastain were in the top 10. 

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Justin Haley lost a right-front tire from his No. 31 LeafFilter Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in Turn 1. Under caution, some like Noah Gragson, Harvick, Custer, and Almirola pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track.

    On Lap 56, the race proceeded under green as teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin occupied the front row. At the start, Busch, who restarted on the outside lane, jumped with another strong advantage before moving in front of teammate Hamlin’s No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry to retain the lead. Behind, Byron challenged Logano for third place with drafting help from Harrison Burton. During the following lap, Byron moved his No. 24 AXALTA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead through the back straightaway as he also moved in front of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota. 

    Then with the field engaged in close-quarters racing through double lanes, Harrison Burton received a push from Truex to challenge Byron for the lead.

    By Lap 60, Burton was leading ahead of Keselowski before Truex mounted his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry alongside Burton’s car in Turn 1 in a bid for the lead. 

    Two laps later, however, the caution flew for a multi-car that started when Harrison Burton, who was challenging Truex for the lead, got bumped and turned off the front nose of Keselowski entering the back straightaway as he made contact with Byron, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Bell. While Byron slid and pounded the inside wall head-on, Burton’s No. 21 Ford went airborne and landed upside down on the roof before flipping back on all four wheels and coming to rest with a destroyed race car. Also involved were Ross Chastain and Alex Bowman. Despite the incident, Burton emerged uninjured as his strong start to the race came to an early end along with Byron, Hamlin and Chastain.

    The multi-car wreck concluded the first stage scheduled for Lap 65 under caution as Truex claimed the first stage victory of the season. Keselowski settled in second ahead of Todd Gilliland, Stenhouse, Logano, Austin Dillon, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Larson and Elliott.

    Under the stage break, some including Kurt Busch, who received minor damage from the multi-car wreck, pitted early. Not long after, the remainder of the field led by Truex pitted for service.

    The second stage started on Lap 71 as Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Jones and Blaney dueled through the first two turns until Blaney received a push from teammate Cindric to clear Jones for the lead and retain the top spot when he returned to the start/finish line. 

    By Lap 75 and with the field fanning out to double lanes, Blaney continued to lead ahead of teammate Cindric and Jones, both of whom battled dead even for the runner-up spot. Chris Buescher and Stenhouse were in the top five ahead of Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Keselowski, Larson and Gilliland.

    Fifteen laps later on Lap 90, Blaney remained as the leader ahead of teammate Cindric, Buescher, Harvick and Keselowski as the field settled in a long single-file line towards the inside lane.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Blaney was leading ahead of teammates Cindric, Buescher, Harvick, Gilliland, Custer, McDowell, Ty Dillon and Briscoe as Ford competitors occupied nine of the top-10 spots. Almirola, Logano, Larson, Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones, Truex, Wallace and Kyle Busch were running in the top 20 ahead of Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez and Elliott, all of whom were running under three seconds behind the leader. Hemric, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon were in 24th, 25th and 26th followed by Landon Cassill, Codey Ware, David Ragan and Jacques Villeneuve, all of whom were on the lead lap.

    Shortly after, names like Austin Dillon, Hemric, LaJoie, Cassill, David Ragan and Corey Ware pitted under green as Blaney continued to lead the field. During the pit stops, Cassill nearly clipped two of Cody Ware’s crew members while trying to exit his pit stall.

    Then on Lap 107, a wave of competitors led by Blaney pitted, but Keselowski and Buescher managed to exit pit road ahead of Blaney. During the next lap, another wave led by Truex pitted. In the midst of the pit stops, Briscoe slid past his pit stall while Elliott stalled his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 on pit road. In addition, Suarez was busted for speeding on pit road and forced to serve a drive-through penalty through pit road.

    By Lap 110, Keselowski returned to the lead followed by Buescher, Blaney and the field. A few laps later, Custer pitted for a second time due to not getting fuel in his car during his first stop.

    Through Lap 120, Keselowski continued to lead ahead of Buescher, Blaney, Harvick and Gilliland while Larson, who was running within the top 10, formed a line on the outside lane in his bid for the lead followed by Stenhouse, Logano and Truex. 

    Then five laps later, Larson motored his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead, but Keselowski fought back on the inside lane after receiving a push from ex-teammate Logano. As Larson drifted back into the top 10 while receiving no drafting help, Keselowski retained the lead ahead of Logano, Truex, Wallace and Cindric.

    Then approaching the final lap of the second stage, Briscoe blocked Keselowski in an attempt to remain on the lead lap. Entering Turn 1, Keselowski moved to the inside lane in an attempt to pass Briscoe, but the rest of the field drafted with Briscoe as Logano moved his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang into the lead followed by Truex and Wallace. Then entering the tri-oval, Truex made his move beneath Logano and edged Logano to claim the second stage victory on Lap 130. Logano settled in second followed by Wallace, Keselowski, Stenhouse, Cindric, Buescher, Harvick, Larson and Gilliland.

    Under the stage break, the field returned to pit road for service and Keselowski exited with the lead followed by Cindric, Larson, Wallace and Harvick. During the pit stops, McDowell was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Logano made a second trip to pit road to have the lug nuts on his car tightened. 

    With 63 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Keselowski quickly moved in front of Cindric to retain the lead and gain momentum. Behind, Wallace was in third while Harvick gained a run on the outside lane. 

    Soon after, Keselowski led a seven-car breakaway from the field followed by Cindric, Wallace, Erik Jones, Blaney, Buescher and Briscoe while Harvick fell back in a side-by-side battle with Gragson, who was piloting the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in his Cup debut.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the majority of the field running on the inside lane while the rest settled on the outside lane, Keselowski was leading ahead of Cindric, Wallace, Jones and Blaney. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Tyler Reddick got bumped and turned off the front nose of Villeneuve entering the frontstretch and came across the path of Truex, Kurt Busch and Logano, with the former sustaining front-nose damage while the latter two spinning towards the tri-oval grass as Stenhouse also sustained damage. In the aftermath of the wreckage, Logano and Reddick needed assistance from wreckers to get their stuck cars out of the grass, which dropped them out of lead lap contention. 

    Under caution, the field pitted for a potential final round of fresh tires, fuel and adjustments as Cindric exited with the top spot following a two-tire pit stop ahead of Wallace, Blaney and Jones,  all of whom took fuel only, while Keselowski exited in fifth place with two fresh tires.

    With 41 laps remaining, the green flag waved. At the start, Cindric retained the lead ahead of teammate Blaney and Jones while Wallace got shoved out of the top five while making an attempt for the lead on the outside lane. 

    During the following lap, Cindric was out in front of a four-car breakaway followed by Blaney, Jones and Keselowski while Briscoe, Wallace and the field closed in through Turns 3 and 4. 

    Another three laps later, Kyle Busch shoved Bubba Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry to the lead on the outside lane as Cindric fought back on the inside lane with drafting help from Blaney’s No. 12 Menards Blue DEF Ford Mustang.

    With 35 laps remaining and the field engaged in a duel and close-quarters racing, Wallace, who had Kyle Busch pushing him on the outside lane, battled Cindric, who had teammate Blaney pushing him on the inside lane, for the lead. By then, the top-15 competitors were separated by half a second.

    Five laps later, Wallace and Cindric continued to duel dead even for the lead. Soon after, the inside lane gained a brief advantage as Cindric cleared Wallace to assume full command of the lead followed by Blaney, Erik Jones, Keselowski and Briscoe while Wallace was back in sixth alongside McDowell’s No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang.

    Another five laps later, the outside lane regained their momentum as Kyle Busch shoved Wallace back to the lead ahead of Cindric. Soon after, Wallace and Kyle Busch cleared the field and moved in front of Cindric’s No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang. By then, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. started to formulate a run for the lead on the outside lane with drafting help from Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang.

    With 20 laps remaining, the battle for the lead and the win continued to intensify as Wallace and Stenhouse engaged in a heated duel for the top spot. While Stenhouse’s No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 had drafting help from Buescher, Wallace continued to fight back on the inside lane with drafting support from Kyle Busch.

    Two laps later, the outside lane prevailed as Stenhouse started to lead a multi-car breakaway followed by Buescher, Larson, Gilliland, Harvick and Erik Jones. The field soon settled in a long single-car line on the outside lane as Wallace was mired back in 11th.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with fuel in question for the front-runners, Stenhouse, who was told he had enough fuel to finish, continued to lead. Then just as the intensity started to crescendo with the competitors fanning out to double lanes, a multi-car wreck erupted just past the start/finish line when Harvick, who got caught up in an accordion effect with Buescher and Larson, slipped sideways off the front nose of Larson’s No. 5 Chevrolet and clipped Gragson, who pounded the inside wall head-on in front of Larson, which destroyed his car. Also involved were Erik Jones, Elliott and rookie Todd Gilliland, who also impacted the inside wall head-on. The wreck was enough for NASCAR to pause the race for approximately five minutes before the field proceeded under caution.

    When the race proceeded under green with six laps remaining, Stenhouse and Cindric engaged in a heated battle for the lead before Cindric started to pull away on the inside lane with drafting help from Blaney. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Stenhouse got turned off the front nose of Keselowski and bounced off of Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota before spinning and slapping the outside wall as Buescher got collected in the carnage. The wreck evaporated Stenhouse’s hopes of winning his first Daytona 500 as he was unable to continue.

    The late incident involving Stenhouse was enough to send the event into overtime. At the start, Cindric jumped with an early advantage and immediately moved in front of teammate Blaney from the outside to the inside lane to retain the lead. Through the back straightaway, Keselowski received a push from Briscoe to try to close in on Cindric on the outside lane. 

    When the white flag waved, Cindric was still leading by a narrow margin over teammate Blaney, Keselowski and the field. Through the first two turns and the back straightaway, Cindric continued to maintain his ground on the inside lane with teammate Blaney settling behind him while Keselowski continued to lurk but not close on the outside lane. 

    Then entering Turns 3 and 4, Cindric started to pull away followed by Blaney and Wallace while Keselowski could not gain drafting help from Briscoe. Entering the frontstretch and the tri-oval, Briscoe then squeezed himself past Keselowski towards the outside wall as Blaney and Wallace mounted a final challenge on Cindric for the win. As Blaney made a move to the outside of Cindric, Cindric blocked Blaney while making slight contact with his Penske teammate. That opened the door for Wallace to pounce, but at the finish line, Cindric edged Wallace by 0.036 seconds to win as another multi-car wreck erupted behind, among which were involved included Blaney and Keselowski.

    With the victory, Cindric, who won in NASCAR’s first points-paying event with the new Next Gen stock cars, became the 41st different competitor to win the Daytona 500 and the ninth to notch a first Cup career victory in the 500 as he delivered the 17th 500 triumph for the Ford nameplate, the first for crew chief Jeremy Bullins and the third for Team Penske and team owner Roger Penske, who turned 85 years old. In addition, Cindric became the 199th different competitor to win in NASCAR’s premier series and the 37th different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup).

    Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Oh my god!” Cindric exclaimed on FOX. “You know what makes [winning] better. A packed house! A packed house at the Daytona 500! I’ve got so many people to thank, first and foremost. Roger Penske, happy birthday! Oh my gosh! [I] Appreciate Ryan [Blaney] being a great teammate. Obviously, he wants to win this one. I’m so pumped for Discount Tire, Menards, Ford, everyone who works so hard with this Next Gen car through this whole process. I am so excited. This makes up for losing a [Xfinity] championship last race I did.”

    “I’m surrounded by great people,” Cindric added. “That’s all there is to it. I know there’s gonna be highs and lows being a rookie in a field of drivers this strong. I’m just grateful for the opportunity. [I’m] Excited to climb the mountain we got ahead of us on this No. 2 team. We’re in the Playoffs! That’s one good box check, but oh my gosh! What an awesome group of fans. What an awesome race car. Just really thankful.” 

    Behind Cindric was Wallace, who nursed his car with a damaged right-front fender to tie his best Daytona 500 result with a runner-up result while Briscoe made a late charge to finish third, which marks his first top-five result in the Cup circuit. Blaney fell back to fourth despite getting consumed in the final lap accident while Aric Almirola commenced his final full-time Cup season in fifth place.

    “What could have been, right?” Wallace said. “Just dejected, but the thing that keeps me up is just the hard work that we put into our speedway stuff. The hard work from everybody at 23XI [Racing]. Proud of them. Can’t thank them enough. I knew this was a big move last year for me to go out and be competitive. We’re showing that. There’s always a first race into the season. You’re getting through everything, but when you come out of the gates like that, it’s empowering. It’s encouraging, so thanks to everybody back at the shop. McDonald’s almost got them another [win], back-to-back superspeedway wins. That would’ve been awesome, especially with them being in the 500. Just short…Great Speedweeks, though. We come home second. I’m gonna be pissed off about this for a while. I was happy on the first second-place we got a couple years ago. This one sucks when you’re that close, but all in all, I’m happy for our team. Happy for our partners and on to California.”

    “I needed to be able to get to Brad [Keselowski to win],” Briscoe said. “He was having to drag so much brake for me to be able to help him that I wished I was more help. I felt like if I could’ve just locked on, I could’ve gotten him up there. To be sleeping on couches and volunteering at shops six or seven years ago, and now to have a chance to win the Daytona 500 at the end, to finish third and start the year off with these Mahindra Tractors folks and HighPoint.com, all the people that get us to the race track. We wanna be a Playoff contender this year and having a good run here is a good start. [I] Wished we could’ve had one more lap. You never know what could happen, but yeah, super cool to finish third.”

    “Coming to the restart there for the green-white-checkered, I really had those thoughts like, ‘Man, this is gonna be a storybook ending coming down here for my last full-time season with this team,” Almirola said. “Having Shane [Smith, President and CEO of Smithfield] and so many people from Smithfield here. I felt like I was in a great spot. It still hurts. It’s an awesome feeling. I’m gonna miss that, coming down the white flag lap, feeling like you have a shot to win the Daytona 500. That’s an incredible feeling. Just so proud of Ford for getting to Victory Lane…This is incredible to come here and almost feel like we had a shot at getting it done. Dang it. So close.”

    Kyle Busch, McDowell, Ragan, Keselowski and Elliott finished in the top 10 as 15 competitors finished on the lead lap.

    Truex settled in 13th behind Daniel Hemric, Daniel Suarez ended up in 18th ahead of Kurt Busch and Logano finished 21st ahead of Villeneueve. Stenhouse, Harvick and Larson were scored in 28th, 30th and 32nd after having their opportunities to win the 500 spoiled due to the late carnage.

    There were 36 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 37 laps.

    Following the first event of the 2022 Cup Series event, Austin Cindric and Brad Keselowski are locked in a tie for the lead in the regular-season standings by five points ahead of Martin Truex Jr., seven over Bubba Wallace and 13 ahead of Chase Briscoe and Ryan Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Austin Cindric, 21 laps led

    2. Bubba Wallace, 12 laps led

    3. Chase Briscoe

    4. Ryan Blaney, 36 laps led

    5. Aric Almirola

    6. Kyle Busch, 28 laps led

    7. Michael McDowell

    8. David Ragan

    9. Brad Keselowski, 67 laps led

    10. Chase Elliott

    11. Ty Dillon

    12. Daniel Hemric

    13. Martin Truex Jr., 11 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    14. Corey LaJoie

    15. Landon Cassill

    16. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    17. Cody Ware, one lap down

    18. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    19. Kurt Busch, two laps down

    20. Cole Custer, two laps down

    21. Joey Logano, three laps down, one lap led

    22. Jacques Villeneuve, three laps down

    23. Justin Haley, three laps down

    24. Alex Bowman, four laps down

    25. Austin Dillon, four laps down

    26. Kaz Grala, five laps down

    27. BJ McLeod, five laps down

    28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident, 16 laps led

    29. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    30. Kevin Harvick – OUT, Dvp

    31. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

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

    33. Todd Gilliland – OUT, Accident

    34. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

    35. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Accident

    36. Greg Biffle, 65 laps down

    37. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident

    38. William Byron – OUT, Accident, one lap led

    39. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    40. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident

    With the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season underway, the competitors will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing over the next three weeks, beginning with the return of Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, following a one-year absence. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, February 27, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX.