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  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indy Road Course

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Indy Road Course

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished 17th in the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis.

    “I was battling for the lead on a late restart and got spun from behind,” Elliott said. “It’s always a crapshoot going into Turn 1 at Indy. There’s only one thing you can say about Indy’s Turn 1, and that is that more than 1 will be turned.”

    2. Joey Logano: Logano finished seventh at Indy, recording his ninth top-10 result of the season.

    “A race on the Indy road course is incredibly more entertaining than a Brickyard 400,” Logano said. “Heck, you could even say that Turn 1 in this race alone packed more excitement than 27 years of the Brickyard 400.”

    3. Tyler Reddick: Reddick took the lead on Lap 62 at Indy and survived several restarts to win the Verizon 200, taking his second win of the year.

    “That’s also my second road course win,” Reddick said. “I think that easily establishes me as the greatest race car driver who looks absolutely nothing like a great race car driver. My apologies to Indy car great Bobby Rahal, who used to hold that distinction”.

    4. Christopher Bell: Bell won Stage 2 in the Verizon 200, but had a top 10 finish derailed by a flat tire with six laps to go. He eventually finished 12th.

    “I braked a little too heavily entering Turn 12,” Bell said, “and flat spotted the right-front tire. That’s what happens under braking at Indy, especially when you’re over-braking.”

    5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin finished 15th in the Verizon 200 as no Joe Gibbs Racing cars placed in the top 10.

    “That was my 600th career Cup start,” Hamlin said. “That’s impressive, and it’s really the story of my career because I can start with the best of ’em, but I can’t finish as the best of ’em.”

    6. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 12th at Indy.

    “I’m still a free agent,” Busch said, “so I’m weighing my options. Trust me, I’ve had offers. Many have been for me to go to this team, and many have been for me to go to that team, but most have been for me to go to hell.”

    7. Ross Chastain: Chastain charged late and briefly took the lead over Tyler Reddick when he bailed on Turn 1 and took the access road through. Alas, Reddick got back by Chastain, and NASCAR deemed Chastain’s pass illegal anyway, a penalty which relegated him to 27th.

    “NASCAR is really cracking down on drivers taking shortcuts,” Chastain said. “Just ask Denny Hamlin or Kyle Busch. Suffice it to say that if it’s me ‘cutting corners,’ NASCAR has ‘straightened’ me out.”

    8. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished 22nd at Indy, and is fifth in the points standings, 133 out of first.

    “I’m good on points for the playoffs,” Truex said, “but it would be nice to get a win and clinch it for sure. And I’m sure I can get it. In fact, I guarantee I’ll get in. I’m confident in my abilities, and when you’re confident in yourself, you’re a lot like Kyle Larson’s brakes—there’s no stopping you.”

    9. Ryan Blaney: Blaney used a bold fuel-only pit stop early at Indy, which worked out until he was collected in one of many Turn 1 incidents. A sure top five turned into a 27th-place finish.

    “The fuel-only pit stop was crucial,” Blaney said, “and obviously the right decision. I mean, it’s a quicker stop without tires, and you gain lots of track position. It’s a ‘win-win’ situation, which is two more wins that I have so far this year.”

    10. AJ Allmendinger: Allmendinger finished seventh in the Verizon 200, one day after triumphing in the Xfinity Series race.

    “Sunday’s was a grueling race for me,” Allmendinger said. “Not only was the cooling system in my race suit not working, but I also ran out of water. I was overheated but was still able to push the car to the limit. Heat exhaustion aside, I can still appreciate being called ‘Hot Flash.’”

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Pocono

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished third in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono, but was awarded the win when first and second place winners Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified.

    “My goals this season are twofold,” Elliott said. “First and foremost, I want to win my second Cup championship. Secondly, I want to see if I can convince fans to select me as NASCAR’s most popular driver for the fifth time, even with this villainous mustache.”

    2. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin got past Ross Chastain on a Lap 19 restart and held off Kyle Busch over the final laps to win at Pocono, his seventh career win at the Tricky Triangle. But the win was later negated when Hamlin’s No. 11 car failed post-race inspection.

    “This might be the biggest story in all of the sports world,” Hamlin said. “I may be biased, but I think NASCAR is the greatest sport in the world. In short, NASCAR rules.

    “As for Chastain, if by ‘got past’ you mean ‘sent into the wall, then yes, that’s what happened. Ross had this coming, so it was well-deserved, and well, deserved. Sending a message to Chastain was No. 1 on my list of things to do, and I obviously sent it Fed Ex Priority.”

    3. Kyle Busch: Busch took second in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400, but was disqualified after failing post-race inspection.

    “I’m gonna plead ignorance,” Busch said. “I tried that in court once for a reckless driving charge, and it didn’t work.

    “But if you want to hear about a real ‘Tricky Triangle,’ ask me about my agent, Joe Gibbs Racing, and myself in contract talks.”

    4. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 34th after Denny Hamlin squeezed him into the wall on a restart with 19 laps to go. Chastain’s No. 1 Chevy bounced off the wall and into the path of Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford.

    “It’s one thing to have it coming,” Chastain said, “and it’s another thing to see it coming. I had both.”

    5. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex finished ninth at Pocono as all four Joe Gibbs Racing cars posted top-10 finishes, although Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were later disqualified

    “What a day for Joe Gibbs,” Truex said. “Not only did JGR cars dominate, but his grandson Ty Gibbs subbed for Kurt Busch and looked strong with an 18th-place finish. It all adds up to Joe’s belief that any Busch brother, Kurt or Kyle, especially, is replaceable.”

    6. Ryan Blaney: Blaney got loose coming out of Turn 3 and slammed the inside wall hard on Lap 136. He finished 35th.

    “Wow,” Blaney said, “I can’t believe Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified. Those are some high profile ‘DQ’s.’ You know what else is a high profile ‘DQ?’ Any Dairy Queen at which Jimmy Spencer chooses to eat.”

    7. Christopher Bell: Bell followed up his win at New Hampshire with a solid sixth at Pocono.

    “Make that a fourth,” Bell said. “Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing post-race inspection, and since I also drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, I’d like to disassociate myself from them.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano finished 22nd at Pocono.

    “There’s gonna be a race next season in Chicago on a street circuit,” Logano said. “The race is scheduled for July 2nd, 2023, and I’m expecting it to be a huge success. I mean, how can it not be great for the city? It’s Chicago, for Christ’s sake; having race cars flying through the streets means there won’t be bullets doing the same.”

    9. Kyle Larson: Larson finished third in the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono.

    “First and second place finishers Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing post-race inspections,” Larson said. “There are words in this sport you never want to hear, and as an expert on the subject, I can tell you definitively that ‘disqualification’ is high on the list.”

    10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished a disappointing 29th at Pocono after suffering damage when he was collected in the Denny Hamlin-Ross Chastain incident with 19 laps to go.

    “I may be one of the oldest drivers in the Cup series,” Harvick said, “but I’m sick and tired of being the ‘adult in the room.’ I hate being collateral damage in someone else’s feud. It disgusts me and leaves a bad taste in my mouth, just like Busch Light Apple.”

  • Elliott awarded Cup Series victory at Pocono; Hamlin, Kyle Busch DQ’d following post-race inspection

    Elliott awarded Cup Series victory at Pocono; Hamlin, Kyle Busch DQ’d following post-race inspection

    In a late turn of events, Chase Elliott was declared the winner of the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday, July 24, after NASCAR disqualified the initial results of race winner Denny Hamlin and runner-up finisher Kyle Busch.

    The 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Dawsonville, Georgia, initially came home in third place behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Busch. Two hours after Hamlin claimed the checkered flag on the track, however, the news of the disqualification involving Hamlin and Busch following the post-race inspection process was announced. This prompted NASCAR to award Elliott, who currently leads the regular-season standings, his fourth victory of the 2022 Cup season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin claimed his third pole position of the season after his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry posted a pole-winning lap at 169.991 mph in 52.944 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Kyle Busch, whose No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry clocked in a fast qualifying lap at 169.498 mph in 53.098 seconds.

    On Saturday, NASCAR assessed L1 penalties to Petty GMS Motorsports’ two entries piloted by Ty Dillon and Erik Jones after both were found to have violated NASCAR’s Rule Book pertaining to the Rocker Box Assemblies. As a result, both entires were docked 35 driver/owner points and their crew chiefs, Jerame Donley and Dave Elenz were suspended for Sunday’s event. With the team electing not to appeal the penalty, Joey Cohen served as Dillon’s interim crew chief while Danny Efland served as Jones’ interim crew chief.

    Prior to the event, William Byron, Ross Chastain, Justin Haley, Erik Jones and Cody Ware dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. In addition, the No. 45 23XI Racing entry normally piloted by Kurt Busch dropped to the rear of the field due to a back-up car and for a driver change as Xfinity Series competitor Ty Gibbs took over the ride. Gibbs filled in for Busch, who was not medically cleared to compete following his wreck during qualifying on Saturday.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Hamlin rocketed toward the front with an early advantage exiting the frontstretch, but Kyle Busch gained a huge run through the first turn and grabbed the lead. Then, entering the Long Pond straightaway, Hamlin scrubbed the outside wall as he was overtaken by Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney. As the field fanned out through the Tricky Triangle’s three turns, Busch led the first lap as the field returned to the frontstretch. By then, Hamlin was back in fifth.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Kyle Busch was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Chase Elliott followed by Larson, Hamlin and Blaney while Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Martin Truex Jr., Bubba Wallace and Alex Bowman were in the top 10.

    During the following lap, the first caution flew when rookie Austin Cindric slipped sideways and spun in Turn 3 as he barely tapped the inside wall toward the frontstretch and flat-spotted the tires on his No. 2 Keystone Ford Mustang. During the extensive caution period, Joey Logano, Justin Haley, Bubba Wallace, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, rookie Todd Gilliland, Aric Almirola, rookie Harrison Burton, Michael McDowell, Cole Custer, Josh Bilicki and JJ Yeley pitted while the rest, led by Kyle Busch, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 12, Kyle Busch launched ahead on the outside lane, but he then went wide entering the first turn and lost both the lead and his momentum. With Busch losing the top spot and a bevy of spots, a three-wide battle for the lead occurred between Larson, Elliott and Hamlin through the Long Pond straightaway before Larson assumed the top spot with a strong move on the outside lane through the Tunnel Curve.

    By Lap 15, Larson was leading by more than six-tenths of a second over teammate Elliott followed by Hamlin, Blaney and Suarez while Bubba Wallace, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell, Chris Buescher and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were in the top 10. Ross Chastain was in 11th followed by Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Martin Truex Jr. and Erik Jones while Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, William Byron and rookie Harrison Burton were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick was mired in 23rd behind teammate Chase Briscoe, Aric Almirola was in 25th in front of Logano, Brad Keselowski was in 29th and newcomer Ty Gibbs was in 33rd.

    At the Lap 20 mark, Larson continued to lead by nearly four-tenths over teammate Elliott while Hamlin, Blaney and Suarez were in the top five. Behind, Kyle Busch started to challenge Suarez for sixth place while Wallace, Bell, Buescher and Chastain were in the top 10. Shortly after, Austin Dillon pitted under green as part of a strategic move.

    By Lap 27, Bubba Wallace, Bell, Buescher, Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman and Stenhouse pitted under green. Just as they all peeled off the track to pit, the caution flew when Aric Almirola got loose and spun his No. 10 Haas Automation Ford Mustang in Turn 3 as he flat-spotted his tires. Almirola’s spin was enough for NASCAR to conclude the first stage scheduled for Lap 30 to conclude under caution and Larson claimed his third stage victory of the 2022 Cup season. Teammate Elliott settled in second followed by Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Suarez, Blaney, Erik Jones, Byron, Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick.

    Under the stage break, Burton, Logano, BJ McLeod, Cody Ware, Bell, Chastain, Wallace, Buescher, Gilliland, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Reddick and Custer remained on the track while the rest, led by Larson, pitted.

    The second stage started on Lap 34 as Burton and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn as Bell, who restarted behind Burton, challenged Burton for the lead. When the field returned to the start/finish line, Bell assumed the lead while Wallace overtook Bell for the runner-up spot. By then, Logano was back in sixth as Kyle Busch and Chastain were in the top five.

    During the following lap and as the field continued to scramble for positions, the caution returned when Josh Bilicki suffered a flat tire, spun and wrecked in Turn 1.

    As the race proceeded under green on Lap 40, the field fanned out to multiple lanes again approaching the first turn as Bell’s No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry retained the top spot ahead of Harrison Burton’s No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang and Wallace’s No. 23 DoorDash Toyota TRD Camry. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Hamlin, who was running in 18th, got loose and spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry past the Tunnel Curve in Turn 2 as he was dodged by the field. During the caution period, some drivers, including Austin Dillon, pitted, while the rest, led by Bell, remained on the track.

    As the race restarted under green on Lap 44 and with the field fanning out, Bell retained the top spot on the outside lane while Wallace and Kyle Busch battled for the runner-up spot. Just as the field made its way through the first turn and entering the Long Pond straightaway, the caution flew when Corey LaJoie got loose underneath Michael McDowell. This caused McDowell to slip and slap the outside wall while LaJoie pounded the wall and came to a rest sideways and with damage to his car. During the caution period, Erik Jones, Stenhouse, Haley, McDowell, Noah Gragson, Cody Ware and McLeod pitted while the rest, led by Bell, remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 48, Kyle Busch’s No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry received a push from Ross Chastain’s No. 1 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead ahead of teammate Bell as the field spread out through the Long Pond straightaway and entering the Tunnel Curve.

    By Lap 55, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over teammate Bell followed by Wallace, Larson and Byron while Truex, Chastain, Reddick, Bowman and Blaney were in the top 10. Burton was back in 11th ahead of Suarez, Buescher, Elliott and Harvick while Logano, Hamlin, Erik Jones, Briscoe and Almirola were in the top 20. By then, Logano pitted under green.

    Two laps later, Wallace and Burton pitted under green while Kyle Busch extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Bell and more than three seconds over third-place Larson. Bowman would also pit his No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 under green.

    Just past the Lap 60 mark, Byron and Harvick also pitted under green along with Bell, Larson, Suarez and Elliott as Kyle Busch remained the leader by more than six seconds over teammate Truex and nearly seven over Chastain.

    On Lap 65, Kyle Busch surrendered the lead to pit under green followed by Buescher as Truex assumed the lead. By then, Chastain had also pitted. Another two laps later, Truex surrendered the lead to pit along with Almirola as Blaney cycled to the lead. By then, Reddick had completed his pit stop.

    Through Lap 75, Erik Jones, who overtook Blaney for the lead two laps earlier, was leading by six-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Blaney Austin Dillon and Ty Dillon while Stenhouse, Brad Keselowski, McDowell, Kyle Busch and LaJoie were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 80, Erik Jones continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin followed by Blaney, Austin Dillon and Stenhouse while Kyle Busch, McDowell, LaJoie, Gilliland and Larson were in the top 10. Shortly after, Blaney, who led seven laps, pitted under green.

    Two laps later, the caution flew when Ty Dillon, who had just made a pit stop under green, spun past the Tunnel Curve in Turn 2. During the caution period, Wallace and Blaney remained on the track while the rest of the field, led by Erik Jones, pitted. 

    With seven laps remaining in the second stage, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Wallace received a push from Kyle Busch on the outside lane to emerge with the lead followed by Busch while Blaney fell back to third in front of Erik Jones, Hamlin, Chastain, Larson, Suarez and Byron. Through the Tunnel Curve, Busch quickly cycled his way back to the lead as Blaney also overtook Wallace for the runner-up spot. Not long after, Chastain, Erik Jones and Hamlin all overtook Wallace for spots in the top five as Kyle Bush ran away from the field.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, Wallace, who was falling below the leaderboard on old tires, pitted under green as Kyle Busch was out in front by nearly a second over Chastain. Meanwhile, Blaney and Erik Jones battled for third in front of Hamlin.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 95, Kyle Busch clinched his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Chastain settled in second followed by Blaney, Erik Jones, Hamlin, Harvick, Byron, Suarez, Elliott and Larson.

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

    With 60 laps remaining, the final stage started as Kyle Busch and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Kyle Busch retained the lead ahead of Chastain while Hamlin made a bold three-wide move on Blaney and Erik Jones through the Long Pond straightaway and entering the Tunnel Curve to move into third place. Shortly after, Byron rocketed his No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into fourth place as Jones and Blaney fell back to fifth and sixth in front of Harvick and Bell.

    Ten laps later, Kyle Busch retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Chastain while Hamlin, Byron, Bell, Harvick, Erik Jones, Suarez, Elliott and Larson were in the top 10. A few laps earlier, Blaney pitted under green after his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang sustained a flat left-rear tire.

    Nearing the final 40 laps, names like Chris Buescher, Reddick, Stenhouse, Harvick and Austin Dillon pitted under green while Kyle Busch held a narrow advantage over Chastain. Soon after, Elliott pitted along with Suarez, Truex, Larson, Byron, Erik Jones and Aric Almirola. Following the pit stops, Byron was penalized for equipment interference.

    With 37 laps remaining, Kyle Busch surrendered the lead to Chastain as he pitted under green along with teammate Bell and Bowman. During the following lap, Chastain pitted under green as Hamlin cycled to the lead.

    Two laps later, Buescher spun in Turn 3, but the race continued under green as the leader, Hamlin, pitted under green. Once the rest of the field, including Logano and Wallace, pitted, Chastain cycled to the lead ahead of Kyle Busch and Hamlin.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Chastain was leading by nearly a second over rival Hamlin while third-place Kyle Busch trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. 

    Then seven laps later, the caution flew when Blaney got loose in Turn 3, spun and pounded the inside wall head-on. During the caution period, names like Gilliland, Austin Dillon, Keselowski, Bowman, Chase Briscoe, Byron, Haley, Ty Dillon, Gragson and Stenhouse pitted while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.

    With 19 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Chastain and Hamlin dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then through the first turn, Hamlin, who was still irritated over his share of run-ins with Chastain throughout the season and vowed payback, moved up the track and edged Chastain into the outside wall, causing him to pound the wall. While Hamlin ran away with the lead, Chastain, who lost his momentum, was then hit by Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang and Bell scraped the outside wall as Chastain spun and clipped the inside wall. The wreck spoiled Chastain’s opportunity to win along with Harvick’s opportunity to grab a win and keep his Playoff hopes alive. 

    When the race proceeded under green with 13 laps remaining, Hamlin retained the lead with a strong start on the outside lane followed by teammate Kyle Busch while Elliott was in third followed by Bell and Reddick. Behind, Suarez was in sixth followed by McDowell, Truex, Larson and Erik Jones.

    With 10 laps remaining, Hamlin continued to lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch followed by Elliott and Reddick while Suarez and Bell battled fiercely for fifth in front of McDowell, Truex and Larson. By then, Wallace rallied his way into 10th place.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hamlin remained the leader by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch followed by Elliott, Reddick and Suarez.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hamlin led by nearly nine-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch. Despite enduring a bumpy road to victory from start to finish, Hamlin was able to smoothly navigate his way around the Tricky Triangle’s turns and straightaways for a final time as he beat Busch by nearly a second to grab what would have been his third victory of the 2022 season and a record-achieving seventh victory at Pocono.

    “It’s the team,” Hamlin, who shared a victorious moment with his daughter, Taylor, on the frontstretch, said on USA Network. “They just were able to come back with a great strategy there to get us back upfront from the mistake I made. I just wanted to be a local short-track racer in Virginia. That’s all I really cared about. I was able to get a great break from [the late] J.D. Gibbs. That’s why I’m driving the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. It feels good to win here at Pocono.”

    Following the event, however, NASCAR disqualified the first and second-place cars of race winner Hamlin and runner-up, Kyle Busch, due to their cars failing the post-race inspection process. NASCAR later stated that an issue with the front fascia was found on both cars, which prompted the sanctioning body to strip the results of both Joe Gibbs Racing competitors.

    With Hamlin and Busch disqualified, Chase Elliott, who initially finished in third place, was awarded the victory. As a result, Elliott notched his fourth victory of the year, becoming the first four-time winner of this season. It was his first at Pocono and his 17th career win in NASCAR’s premier series. This also marks the first time this season that an initial Cup winner was disqualified due to an issue stemming from the post-race inspection process.

    “Yeah, unfortunately, we were doing our post-race inspections, which we do,” Brad Moran, NASCAR Cup Series managing director, said following the announcement. “There were some issues discovered that affect aero of the vehicle. The part was the front fascia. There really was no reason why there was some material that was somewhere it shouldn’t have been, and that does basically come down to a DQ. It is a penalty, both for the 11 of Denny Hamlin and the 18 of Kyle Busch have been DQed. Their vehicles are being loaded in the NASCAR hauler and they’re going to go back to the R&D Center [in Concord, North Carolina].”

    Joe Gibbs Racing has been given until 12 p.m. ET Monday to file an appeal.

    Tyler Reddick was promoted to second place while Suarez, Bell and Larson finished in the top five. McDowell, Truex, Wallace, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon completed the top 10. Notably, Ty Gibbs finished 16th in his Cup debut.

    There were 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 37 laps.

    With five regular season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 105 points over Ross Chastain. 

    Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, rookie Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe and Kurt Busch are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning at least once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 83 points, Aric Almirola by 140, Erik Jones by 182, Austin Dillon by 206, Michael McDowell by 207, Bubba Wallace by 236, Justin Haley by 247, Chris Buescher by 266, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 287 and Cole Custer trails by 301.

    Results.

    1. Chase Elliott

    2. Tyler Reddick

    3. Daniel Suarez

    4. Christopher Bell, 14 laps led

    5. Kyle Larson, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Michael McDowell

    7. Martin Truex Jr., two laps led

    8. Bubba Wallace, four laps led

    9. Erik Jones, 11 laps led

    10. Austin Dillon

    11. Alex Bowman

    12. William Byron

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. Brad Keselowski

    15. Chase Briscoe

    16. Ty Gibbs

    17. Cole Custer

    18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    19. Corey LaJoie

    20. Joey Logano

    21. Justin Haley

    22. Ty Dillon

    23. Harrison Burton, four laps down

    24. Noah Gragson

    25. Todd Gilliland

    26. Cody Ware

    27. Kevin Harvick

    28. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    29. Chris Buescher, two laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, two laps down

    31. Austin Cindric, six laps down

    32. Ross Chastain – OUT, Accident 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner (*Awarded after Kyle Busch’s disqualification)

    33. Ryan Blaney – OUT, Accident, seven laps led

    34. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    35. Denny Hamlin – Disqualified, 21 laps led

    36. Kyle Busch – Disqualified, 63 laps led

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, which will also mark the series’ fourth road course event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 31, at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Bell clinches 2022 Cup Playoff spot with a victory at New Hampshire

    Bell clinches 2022 Cup Playoff spot with a victory at New Hampshire

    Christopher Bell punched his ticket to the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs after claiming a late victory in the Ambetter 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 17.

    After starting the day on the bubble for the Playoffs, the 27-year-old from Norman, Oklahoma, led the final 42 laps overtaking Chase Elliott for the lead. He pulled away and beat Elliott by more than five seconds to achieve his first victory of the season and became the 14th different competitor to win and secure a spot in the postseason championship in NASCAR’s premier series. 

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Martin Truex Jr. started in the pole position after posting a winning lap at 127.113 mph in 29.964 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Chase Elliott, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway after he clocked in a fast qualifying lap at 126.922 mph in 30.009 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started amid a 20-minute delay due to a brief shower, Truex rocketed forward with an advantage on the outside lane while Bubba Wallace launched an early attack on Elliott for the runner-up spot. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Truex led the first lap followed by Wallace, Elliott, Kurt Busch, William Byron and Kyle Larson as the field jostled early for positions.

    Five laps into the event, the first caution flew when Ty Dillon made contact with Justin Haley entering the backstretch, which caused Dillon to get loose. He veered his No. 42 Allegiant Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to the right and collided head-on into the outside wall along with Alex Bowman as Josh Bilicki and BJ McLeod also wrecked.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 12, Truex and Wallace dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Truex managed to clear Wallace and retain the lead through the backstretch. Behind, Elliott and Kurt Busch fought for third ahead of Larson, Aric Almirola and Byron as the field fanned out to double lanes.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Truex was leading by six-tenths of a second over Wallace followed by Elliott, Kurt Busch and Larson while Almirola, Byron, Kevin Harvick, Christopher Bell and Joey Logano were in the top 10. Brad Keselowski was in 11th ahead of Denny Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick while AJ Allmendinger, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Corey LaJoie and Erik Jones were in the top 20. By then, Daniel Suarez was in 22nd behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chase Briscoe was mired in 24th, rookie Austin Cindric was in 26th ahead of Harrison Burton and Austin Dillon was back in 30th.

    By Lap 35, Truex extended his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Wallace while Elliott remained in third. Behind, Larson overtook Kurt Busch for fourth place while Byron was back in ninth behind Almirola, Harvick and Bell.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Truex stabilized his advantage to one-and-a-half seconds over Wallace while Larson, Elliott and Kurt Busch remained in the top five.

    Ten laps later, Truex continued to extend his advantage as he was more than three seconds over both Wallace and Larson, with both dueling for the runner-up spot. Elliott remained in fourth while Harvick emerged into the top five ahead of Kurt Busch. By then, Denny Hamlin was in the top 10 in 10th place while names like Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Michael McDowell, Stenhouse and Justin Haley were lapped by the field.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 70, Truex captured his sixth stage victory of the season. Wallace fended off Larson to retain second ahead of Elliott, Harvick, Bell, Kurt Busch, Almirola, Byron and Hamlin. By then, Cole Custer, who was running in 23rd, remained on the lead lap while Harrison Burton was the recipient of the free pass after being scored as the first competitor a lap down in 24th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders, led by Truex pitted, and Truex retained the lead followed by Harvick, Larson, Wallace, Bell and Kurt Busch.

    The second stage started on Lap 77 as Truex and Harvick occupied the front row. At the start, Truex managed to retain the lead ahead of Harvick, Larson and the field entering the first two turns. Shortly after, however, the caution flew when Kyle Busch spun in the middle of the backstretch, but managed to proceed without sustaining any damage to his No. 18 DeWalt Toyota TRD Camry.

    As the race proceeded under green on Lap 83, Truex kept the lead ahead of Larson while Wallace and Harvick raced for third. Behind, three-wide action occurred between Kurt Busch, Almirola and Bell while Elliott was mired in eighth ahead of Joey Logano, Byron and Keselowski.

    Six laps later, the caution returned due to a heavy multi-car wreck on the backstretch involving Harrison Burton, Michael McDowell and Corey LaJoie, whose No. 7 Built.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 sustained heavy front-nose damage.

    During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Truex pitted while names like Logano, Austin Cindric, Chris Buescher and Harrison Burton remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Elliott pitted for a second time to address loose right-side wheels on his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 100, Logano retained the lead followed by Buescher while Cindric and Truex competed for third in front of Harvick, Kurt Busch, Almirola, Larson and Wallace.

    Ten laps later, Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Truex’s No. 19 Interstate Batteries Toyota TRD Camry while Harvick started to pressure Buescher for third place. Behind, Cindric was in fifth ahead of Wallace, Larson, Kurt Busch, Almirola and Bell while Elliott was up in 11th ahead of Hamlin, Byron, Ross Chastain and Ryan Blaney.

    Another 10 laps later, Logano’s advantage decreased to two-tenths of a second over Truex while Buescher, Harvick and Larson remained in the top five. During the following lap, however, Truex reassumed the top spot.

    Just past the Lap 135 mark, Truex extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Logano while Larson, Harvick and Cindric were scored in the top five. Behind, Kurt Busch was in sixth while Buescher, Elliott, Wallace and Bell were in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, the caution flew when Ryan Blaney spun and backed his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang into the Turn 4 outside wall. Under caution, the leaders led by Truex pitted as Truex, who opted for four fresh tires, retained the lead amid a flurry of different strategies while Suarez, who opted for two fresh tires, came out in second.

    When the event restarted on Lap 151 at the halfway mark, Truex pulled away with the lead followed by Logano as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. With the field still fanned out through Turns 3 and 4, the caution returned when Chase Briscoe spun his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang in Turn 4.

    As the field restarted under green on Lap 156, Truex received another strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead while Harvick, Logano and Kurt Busch challenged for the runner-up spot. Behind, Cindric retained fifth ahead of a hard-charging Elliott while Suarez was being pressured by Larson, Bell, Byron, Chastain and Wallace. By then, Almirola, who won last year’s event at New Hampshire, took his No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang to the garage due to a mechanical issue.

    Then on Lap 162, the caution flew again when Kyle Busch, who was battling Suarez for 12th place, got loose and spun entering the frontstretch, which marked his second spin of the day. At the moment of caution, tempers flared between Austin Dillon and Keselowski after both collided and rubbed fenders against one another through the backstretch, with Keselowski claiming that Dillon attempted to wreck him on the backstretch. The contact resulted in Keselowski’s No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang cutting a left-front tire as he pitted along with Dillon and Kyle Busch.

    With the race proceeding under green on Lap 167, Truex gained another strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead ahead of Harvick, Logano and Kurt Busch as the field fanned out through the first two turns. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Elliott launched his attack on Kurt Busch for fourth place while Bell and Larson vied for sixth. With Elliott clearing Busch for the position, he then managed to overtake Logano for third place while Truex continued to lead.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the second stage, Truex stabilized his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Harvick followed by Elliott, Logano and Larson while Chastain started to close in on Kurt Busch for sixth place. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 185, Truex captured his seventh stage victory of the season and the second of the day after being Harvick by four-tenths of a second. Elliott settled in third followed by Logano, Larson, Kurt Busch, Chastain, Byron, Bell and Wallace.

    Under the stage break, the leaders led by Truex pitted as he retained the lead. During the pit stops, Cindric had to back his car to his pit stall after the left-front wheel from his No. 2 AutoTrader Ford Mustang came off while exiting his pit stall.

    With 109 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Harrison Burton and Briscoe occupied the front row in front of Truex and Kyle Busch. At the start, Briscoe pulled ahead with the top spot while Truex and Harrison Burton dueled for a lap for the runner-up spot in front of Kyle Busch, Elliott, Harvick, Logano and the field.

    Six laps later, Truex muscled his No. 19 Toyota to the outside of Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford to reassume the lead. Another six laps later, the caution returned for an incident involving rookie Todd Gilliland in Turn 4. During the caution period, a majority led by Truex pitted while the rest led by Kurt Busch remained on the track. During the caution period, Harvick, who was exiting his pit stall after completing his service, collided with Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 as Dillon ended up pitting backward. In addition, Harrison Burton was penalized for equipment interference.

    With 92 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as Kurt Busch cleared the field with the lead followed by Logano, Cole Custer and Larson while Truex was mired in eighth behind Byron, Elliott and Harvick.

    With less than 75 laps remaining, Kurt Busch remained the leader by four-tenths of a second over Logano as Elliott started to challenge Logano for the runner-up spot. Custer and Bell were in the top five followed by Kyle Busch, Larson, Wallace, Harvick and Truex, who was unable to march his way back to the front.

    Fifteen laps later, Kurt Busch stabilized his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Logano before he was overtaken by Elliott shortly after. Bell would also overtake Logano for third place as Logano was trapped behind the lapped car of Cody Ware through the backstretch.

    Another six laps later, Elliott overtook Kurt Busch’s No. 45 SiriusXM Toyota TRD Camry for the lead as Bell also moved his No. 20 Rheem Toyota TRD Camry into the runner-up spot.

    Then with 41 laps remaining, Bell used the lapped car of Todd Gilliland to his advantage as he trapped Elliott to the outside lane before overtaking him for the lead.

    Nearing the final 30 laps, Kurt Busch surrendered third place to pit under green. By then, Bell was leading by nearly a second over Elliott while Bubba Wallace cycled his No. 23 DraftKings Toyota TRD Camry into third place ahead of Harvick and Truex. Another four laps later, Austin Dillon pitted.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Bell was leading by nearly two seconds over Elliott while third-place Wallace trailed by nine-and-a-half seconds. Harvick and Truex remained in the top five while Hamlin, Logano, Custer, Byron and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top 10. By then, Kyle Bush was in 11th ahead of Chastain, Suarez, Larson and Briscoe while Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Buescher and Blaney were all on the lead lap. Kurt Busch was the first competitor a lap down in 20th.

    With 10 laps remaining, Bell stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Elliott while Wallace, Harvick and Truex remained in the top five.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Bell continued to extend his advantage to more than four seconds over Elliott as third-place Wallace trailed by 11 seconds. Meanwhile, Harvick, racing in his No. 4 Gearwrench Ford Mustang, settled in third while Truex was mired back in fifth. Shortly after, Logano, who was told that he was short on fuel for the finish, pitted under green while Truex caught and overtook Harvick for fourth.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Bell, who lapped Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, remained the leader by more than five seconds over Elliott. Despite being mired by lapped traffic in the closing laps, Bell was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch with a clear race track and claim both his first checkered flag of the 2022 Cup season and a spot in the 2022 Cup Playoffs.

    In addition, Bell, who became the third Joe Gibbs Racing competitor to win this season, recorded his second career win in the NASCAR Cup Series and his first since winning his first series victory at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in February 2021. With Bell becoming the 14th different winner of this season, this marks the first time since 2011 that a Cup season has featured 14 winners through the first 20 scheduled events.

    “Man, that one was much needed right there,” Bell, who finished second at New Hampshire one year ago, said on USA Network. “I’ll tell you what. That was a hell of a race from my viewpoint. That was so much fun. Racing with [Kurt Busch], [Logano] and [Elliott]. We were all running different lines. That was a blast. Just so happy. So happy to be here at Joe Gibbs Racing. All of our partners on this No. 20 car. It’s good to get Rheem back in Victory Lane.”

    “Man, winning Cup races is hard,” Bell added. “You [fans] are awesome. Thank you for coming out, but it just seems like we’ve been so close and then we’ve fallen off a little bit last week. I was talking to my best friend. I told him I said earlier in the year, I felt like we were right on the verge of winning and in the last couple of weeks, I felt like we were pretty far away. But here we are today.”

    Elliott, who led 13 laps in comparison to Bell’s 42, came home in the runner-up spot for his fourth consecutive top-two result while Wallace earned a strong third-place result for his second top-three result of the season.

    “Just do a better job again,” Elliott said. “Same conversation as Road America, unfortunately. I felt like just a poor run of execution on my end throughout that last run. Man, I felt like it took me a while to get past Joey [Logano] and [Kurt Busch]. [I] Had to run a little harder than I wanted to and got in front of those guys. Just made a couple of mistakes and couldn’t get much breathing room. Christopher did a good job. Congrats to those guys. I know they stayed close to winning, so that’s cool, but obviously, for us, we were in a position where guys at this level should close out a race if you got a lead like that. Just poor effort on my part.”

    “Just proud of the team,” Wallace said. “Proud of myself. Proud of everybody at the shop. They brought a decent DraftKings Toyota Camry TRD. It didn’t handle that great, but it had speed. We knew that. Just the mental preparation and had to set yourself up for a long day, and then we did. I had no idea where we were running there at the end. I knew it was inside the top five, but just tire management there at the end and we were able to capitalize. Just proud of everybody. Happy. It’s been hell the last month and so, good to come out with a top five.”

    Truex, who led a race-high 172 laps and claimed the first two stages, could only carve his way to fourth place while Harvick completed the top five.

    “Just Loudon, for us,” Truex said. “It’s every year. We lead a ton of laps. We run really well here and then, we find a way to give it away. I’m frustrated for Intestate [Batteries], Toyota, all of our partners. Overall, it was a hell of a run. This place, man, it’s killing me. It’s not like we haven’t been trying to win. We’ve had cars to win. We’ve had some really strong cars and everybody at [Joe Gibbs Racing]’s working really hard. Our short track stuff’s been off and we came here and dominated, and [Bell] winning. Congratulations to him. They were smarter than us at the end. I’m happy for him. I’m just really disappointed for us.”

    Finishing in the top 10 on the track were Hamlin, Keselowski, Chastain, Suarez and Kurt Busch, who ended up leading 40 laps.

    There were eight lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 52 laps.

    With six regular season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 67 points over Ross Chastain and 78 over Ryan Blaney. 

    Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, Tyler Reddick, Chase Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, rookie Austin Cindric and Christopher Bell are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 68 points, Aric Almirola trails by 129, Erik Jones, trails by 154, Austin Dillon trails by 198, Michael McDowell trails by 204, Justin Haley trails by 228, Bubba Wallace trails by 230, Chris Buescher trails by 239 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 286.

    Results.

    1. Christopher Bell, 42 laps led

    2. Chase Elliott, 13 laps led

    3. Bubba Wallace

    4. Martin Truex Jr., 172 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. Denny Hamlin

    7. Brad Keselowski

    8. Ross Chastain

    9. Daniel Suarez 

    10. Kurt Busch, 40 laps led

    11. William Byron

    12. Kyle Busch 

    13. Austin Cindric

    14. Kyle Larson, one lap down

    15. Chase Briscoe, one lap down, six laps led

    16. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    17. Chris Buescher, one lap down

    18. Ryan Blaney, one lap down

    19. Erik Jones, one lap down

    20. Justin Haley, one lap down

    21. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

    22. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    23. Austin Dillon, one lap down

    24. Joey Logano, one lap down, 25 laps led

    25. Todd Gilliland, one lap down

    26. Harrison Burton, one lap down, three laps led

    27. Cole Custer, one lap down

    28. Michael McDowell, two laps down

    29. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    30. Cody Ware, four laps down

    31. Aric Almirola, 19 laps down

    32. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

    33. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    34. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    35. Alex Bowman – OUT, Accident

    36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ lone annual visit of the season to Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 24, at 3 p.m. on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Atlanta

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Chase Elliott: Elliott started on the pole and swept all the stages, taking the win with a pass for the lead on Corey LaJoie with two laps to go. It was Elliott’s third win of the season, and he leads the points standings.

    “They sounded the siren at Dawsonville Pool Room, ” Elliott said. “That means that I won a race. It also means the good people of Dawsonville are smiling, although it’s sometimes hard to tell when they are.”

    2. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished second in the Quaker State 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    “I was involved in quite a few incidents on Sunday,” Chastain said. “I mean, if you’re one of the few drivers I haven’t wrecked, you can best bet I’ll ‘turn’ you against me very soon.”

    3. Ryan Blaney: Blaney ran in the top 10 for the majority of the day and eventually crossed the line fifth in the Quaker State 400, earning his seventh top-five of the year.

    “I was lucky to avoid all the spins and incidents that characterized Sunday’s race,” Blaney said. “Honestly, with cars spinning and smoking, sometimes it feels like I’m driving blind out there. I’m sure Ross Chastain knows the feeling.”

    4. Martin Truex Jr.: Truex survived an early spin and battled back from a lap down to contend for the win at Atlanta. He finished ninth.

    “Not surprisingly,” Truex said, “my spin was caused by Ross Chastain. It’s very fitting that Chastain has ‘Jockey’ on his car because when you race near him, you’ll need a change of underwear.”

    5. Kyle Larson: Larson finished 11th at Atlanta as Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott took the win.

    “I think all drivers love racing at Atlanta Motor Speedway,” Larson said. “You can go wide open and don’t have to worry about braking. And personally, I’d like to keep my foot on the floor. That way, it stays out of my mouth.”

    6. Joey Logano: Logano was involved in two incidents at Atlanta, the last of which sent him limping to the pits. He eventually finished 26th.

    “I was involved in an early wreck and my car briefly got some air under it,” Logano said. “That’s a scary feeling. I certainly don’t want the car to roll. The only thing I’m interested in ‘flipping’ is the bird, to Matt Kenseth.”

    7. Kyle Busch: Busch struggled to a 20th-place finish at Atlanta.

    “I still don’t have a contract for 2023,” Busch said. “I haven’t felt this unwanted since I was first born.”

    8. Kevin Harvick: Harvick finished 10th in the Quaker State 400, his eighth top-10 of the year.

    “Hunt Brothers Pizza was the primary sponsor of my No. 4 Ford,” Harvick said. “I run well when that’s the case. It’s like they say: ‘Good things happen when Hunt Brothers Pizza is on you. It’s an entirely different story when Hunt Brothers Pizza is in you.”

    9. Daniel Suarez: Suarez finished sixth in the Quaker State 400.

    “Corey LaJoie actually led 19 laps in the race,” Suarez said. “For a low-budget team like LaJoie’s, that’s mega-cool. Heck, it’s even MAGA-cool. Corey was going all out for the win but came up just short. Or did he? Honestly, I’ve got a feeling that he might challenge the outcome of that race.”

    10. Aric Almirola: Almirola led the charge for Stewart Haas Racing, posting an eighth at Atlanta.

    “I’ll take an eighth-place finish,” Almirola said, “but I think it could have been much better. If I had to give my performance a grade, it would be a B minus. If I had to give my parents a grade on spelling ‘Eric’ correctly, it would be a D minus.”

  • Elliott captures first home Cup victory at Atlanta

    Elliott captures first home Cup victory at Atlanta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

    2. Ross Chastain, 32 laps led

    3. Austin Cindric, seven laps led

    4. Erik Jones, 10 laps led

    5. Ryan Blaney, two laps led

    6. Daniel Suarez

    7. Justin Haley

    8. Aric Almirola

    9. Cole Custer

    10. Harrison Burton, nine laps led

    11. Martin Truex Jr., 27 laps led

    12. Kevin Harvick

    13. Kyle Larson

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Chase Briscoe

    17. Todd Gilliland

    18. Brad Keselowski

    19. Christopher Bell

    20. Kyle Busch

    21. Corey LaJoie, 19 laps led

    22. Kurt Busch, one lap down

    23. Cody Ware, one lap down

    24. Landon Cassill, one lap down

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

    26. Joey Logano – OUT, Dvp

    27. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

    28. Ty Dillon – OUT, Dvp

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

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

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

    32. Alex Bowman – OUT, Dvp

    33. Chris Buescher – OUT, Accident

    34. Noah Gragson – OUT, Suspension

    35. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

    36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Accident

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

  • Kyle Busch Motorsports to surpass 750 combined Truck Series starts at Mid-Ohio

    Kyle Busch Motorsports to surpass 750 combined Truck Series starts at Mid-Ohio

    With the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular season stretch reaching its conclusion, Kyle Busch Motorsports is set to surpass a milestone start in the team’s 13th season in Truck competition. When KBM drivers Corey Heim, John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith compete in this weekend’s inaugural event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, KBM will surpass a combined 750 career starts in the Truck Series.

    Kyle Busch Motorsports debuted in the NASCAR Truck Series in 2010 with trucks purchased from Roush Fenway Racing and assets acquired from Xpress Motorsports as the team headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina. By then, Busch had campaigned in seven part-time seasons in the series while accumulating 16 victories, all occurring with Billy Ballew Motorsports.

    For the 2010 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports planned on fielding three trucks: one that would be split between Busch and Brian Ickler, another that would be driven on a full-time basis by Taylor Malsam and a third that would be piloted by former champion Johnny Benson Jr. pending additional sponsorships. Prior to the start of the season, however, Miccosukee Resorts, one of Busch’s key Truck sponsors that initially followed him to KBM from Billy Ballew Motorsports, terminated its partnership with NASCAR and left Busch without a full-time sponsor throughout his part-time campaign. In addition, Benson’s role was limited to a part-time status as he shared the No. 18 Toyota Tundra entry with Busch, Ickler and Kasey Kahne while the second KBM entry, the No. 56 Toyota Tundra that was piloted by Malsam, was terminated following the first seven events. Despite the rocky start, it only took the first four events of the season for Kyle Busch to record the first victory for KBM at Nashville Superspeedway in April 2010. Busch went on to achieve victories at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, Bristol Motor Speedway and Chicagoland Speedway in August, New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, Talladega Superspeedway in October and at Texas Motor Speedway in November, all occurring in the No. 18 entry. After winning the season-finale event at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November following a four-lap shootout, Busch captured the 2010 Truck Series owners’ championship on the strength of eight victories in 16 starts throughout the 25-race schedule. In total, KBM achieved eight victories, six poles, 16 top-five results and 21 top-10 results in its first season in NASCAR competition.

    For the team’s second season in 2011, Busch fielded the No. 18 Toyota Tundra as the primary, “all-star” entry that was split between himself, Kasey Kahne, Brian Ickler, Josh Richards and Denny Hamlin. Busch also fielded the Nos. 15 and 51 entries that both campaigned in limited events and was shared between Kimi Räikkönen, German Quiroga and Richards. Throughout the 2011 Truck season, Busch notched six victories in 16 starts, Kahne won at Darlington Raceway in March and Hamlin notched his first Truck victory at Martinsville Speedway in October, all occurring in KBM’s No. 18 entry. Despite accumulating a total of eight victories, two poles, 16 top-five results and 18 top-10 results throughout the 25-race schedule, the No. 18 entry settled in second place in the final owners’ standings behind the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. entry.

    Photo by Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR.

    The 2012 Truck season was a difficult season for Kyle Busch Motorsports despite the team fielding the No. 18 Toyota Tundra on a full-time basis for a third consecutive season while the No. 51 Toyota Tundra competed the final five scheduled events with Quiroga and Hamlin behind the wheel. At the start of the season, veteran Jason Leffler piloted the No. 18 Toyota as the team’s primary competitor, but was released in August after only recording six top-10 results through the first 10 events. For the remainder of the season, the No. 18 entry was split between Busch, Hamlin, Brian Scott, Kurt Busch, Drew Herring and David Mayhew. After going winless for the majority of the season, Hamlin recorded the first victory of 2012 for KBM when he piloted the No. 51 Toyota to a win at Martinsville in October. Two races later, Scott overtook rookie Kyle Larson during a two-lap shootout to wheel the No. 18 Toyota to a late victory at Phoenix Raceway in November. In the end, KBM capped off the season with Busch being edged by Cale Gale in a photo finish at Homestead as Busch concluded a Truck season winless for the first time since 2004.

    In 2013, Kyle Busch Motorsports fielded three full-time entries for the first time in the team’s history with the No. 51 Toyota Tundra entry becoming the team’s “all-star” entry that was piloted between Busch, Erik Jones, Chad Hackenbracht, Scott Bloomquist and Hamlin throughout the 22-race schedule. For the new season, the No. 18 Toyota Tundra entry was taken sole possession by full-time competitor Joey Coulter while KBM’s No. 54 Toyota Tundra entry debuted for newcomer Bubba Wallace. Through the first 20 events, the No. 51 entry visited Victory Lane four times, all with Busch. At Phoenix in November, Jones became the youngest winner in the series at age 17 years, five months and nine days after recording his first career victory in KBM’s No. 51 truck. During the following weekend at Homestead, Busch survived three late-race restarts to capture his fifth win of the 2013 season and clinch the owners’ title for his No. 51 entry in a tie-breaker against ThorSport Racing’s No. 88 entry piloted by the 2013 drivers’ champion Matt Crafton. Meanwhile, the No. 18 entry that was piloted by Coulter achieved a total of five top-10 results and a 15th-place result in the final drivers’ standings while the No. 54 entry managed to earn a trip to Victory Lane at Martinsville in October as Wallace became the first African-American competitor to win in the Truck Series. To go along with his first Truck career victory, Wallace capped off his first full-time campaign in the series with a pole, five top-five results, 12 top-10 results and an eighth-place result in the drivers’ standings.

    Photo by Kala Perkins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
    Photo by Gary Buchanan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2014 season was a breakout year for Kyle Busch Motorsports, which featured Busch and Erik Jones splitting driving responsibilities of the No. 51 Toyota Tundra while Bubba Wallace returned as the driver of the No. 54 Toyota Tundra. In total, KBM won 14 of the 22 races to the schedule as Busch and Jones, both of whom earned a combined 10 victories, guided the No. 51 entry to the team’s third owners’ championship. Wallace piloted the No. 54 truck to four victories, two poles, nine top-five results and 14 top-10 results as he finished in third place in the final drivers’ standings. 

    A month following the conclusion of the 2014 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports unveiled its driver lineup for the 2015 season with Erik Jones headlining the lineup as he was promoted to a full-time Truck Series campaign in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while newcomer Justin Boston replaced Bubba Wallace, who graduated to the Xfinity Series with Roush Fenway Racing, in the No. 54 Toyota Tundra. Meanwhile, KBM’s No. 51 Toyota Tundra team remained as an “all-star” entry that was split between Busch, Daniel Suarez, Matt Tifft and Christopher Bell. Early in the season, Suarez and Tifft served as the primary competitors of the No. 51 entry with Busch recovering from injuries sustained in a late multi-car wreck during the Xfinity season-opening event at Daytona in February. Boston, however, was released by KBM nine races into the new season due to a breech of contract involving the driver and his sponsor Zloop. With Boston out, the No. 54 entry was split between Tifft, Cody Coughlin, Gray Gaulding, Bell and Busch, who returned to full-time competition in May. Despite the early season drama for KBM, Bell captured his first career victory at Eldora Speedway in July following a two-lap shootout while Busch piloted the No. 51 truck to two victories at Pocono Raceway and at Michigan International Speedway between July and August. Meanwhile, Jones earned victories at Iowa Speedway in June, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in August and at Texas Motor Speedway in November. To go along with five poles, 11 top-five results and 20 top-10 results, Jones claimed the 2015 Truck Series championship following a sixth-place result at Homestead and by 15 points over Tyler Reddick and 22 over Matt Crafton. With Jones’ accomplishment, Kyle Busch Motorsports achieved its first drivers’ championship along with its fourth owners’ title in NASCAR.

    Photo by Don Dunn for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The 2016 Truck Series season featured another new driver lineup for Kyle Busch Motorsports as Bell, coming off his first career victory at Eldora, replaced Erik Jones, who moved up to the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing, as the driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while William Byron, the reigning ARCA Menards Series East champion who made his Truck debut with KBM at Phoenix in November during the previous season, piloted the No. 9 Toyota Tundra. The No. 51 Toyota Tundra entry was split between Daniel Suarez, Cody Coughlin, Jones and Gary Klutt throughout the season while the No. 18 KBM entry made a total of five starts between Busch, Coughlin and Harrison Burton. Throughout the season, Busch wheeled the No. 18 truck to victories at Martinsville in April and at Chicagoland Speedway in September while Suarez drove the No. 51 Toyota to his first Truck career victory at Phoenix in November. The No. 9 Toyota team piloted by Byron achieved great success throughout the season with the Charlotte native earning his first career victory at Kansas Speedway in May after dodging a final lap incident involving Johnny Sauter and Ben Rhodes. He went on to win at Texas and Iowa Speedway in June followed by Kentucky Speedway in July as KBM became the winningest team in the Truck Series with 51 victories. After Byron won at Pocono in July, he established a new record for achieving the most victories by a rookie Truck competitor with five. After qualifying for the inaugural 2016 Truck Playoffs, he won the first postseason event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September and utilized consistency to transfer all the way to the Playoff’s Round of 6. Byron’s title hopes, however, came to an end at Phoenix in November after his No. 9 entry suffered an engine failure with 10 laps remaining while he was leading, which prevented him from earning a ticket to the Championship Round at Homestead. Nonetheless, he went on to win the season-finale event at Homestead for his unprecedented seventh victory of the season as he wrapped up both the 2016 Rookie-of-the-Year title and the fifth career owners’ title for KBM. In comparison to Byron and the No. 9 team, Bell and the No. 4 team rallied from a rocky start to generate a consistent regular season run, including a victory at Gateway in June, to qualify for the Playoffs. Bell remained consistent throughout the Playoffs to make it all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead and contend for the drivers’ title. During the finale, however, Bell finished in eighth place on the track and in third place in the final drivers’ standings.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For the 2017 season, Kyle Busch Motorsports retained Bell as driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra while welcoming Noah Gragson as a full-time competitor of KBM’s No. 18 Toyota Tundra. Busch remained as a part-time competitor of his No. 51 Toyota Tundra as he split the ride with rookies Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliland and Myatt Snider while also debuting the No. 46 Toyota Tundra for a total of four events, with himself and Gilliland earning two events apiece. Busch earned a total of three victories throughout the 2017 Truck season: two in the No. 51 entry at Kansas and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and one in the No. 46 entry at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. In addition, the No. 51 team earned a total of nine top-10 results and settled in fourth place in the final owners’ standings. For the No. 18 entry, Gragson earned his first career victory at Martinsville in October following a late duel with former champions Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter. To go along with three poles, four top-five results and 13 top-10 results, Gragson finished in 10th place in the final drivers’ standings and in his first full-time Truck campaign. For Bell, who entered the season as a potential title favorite, he achieved five victories along with five poles, 15 top-five results and 21 top-10 results as he made his second consecutive appearance both in the Playoffs and in the Championship Round at Homestead. During the finale, Bell finished in the runner-up spot on the track and captured the 2017 Truck Series drivers’ championship over Sauter, Austin Cindric and Crafton. With his first championship in NASCAR, Bell recorded the second drivers’ championship and the sixth owners’ title overall for KBM.

    Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images.

    During the following season, Busch retained Gragson in the No. 18 KBM Toyota Tundra while Todd Gilliland contended for the 2018 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title in the No. 4 Toyota Tundra, thus replacing Bell as Bell became a full-time Xfinity competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing. Gilliland, however, missed four of the first six events due to age restrictions and spent the early portions of the season splitting the No. 4 Toyota with his father David, Busch and newcomer Spencer Davis while Davis, Busch, David Gilliland, Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Logan Seavey and Christopher Bell took turns piloting the No. 51 Toyota Tundra. The No. 46 KBM Toyota Tundra also returned for a total of six events that was split between Brandon Jones, Herbst and newcomer Christian Eckes. Throughout the season, the No. 46 entry’s best on-track result was third at Charlotte in May made by Jones while the No. 4 entry achieved a season-best result of second place at Gateway in June with Todd Gilliland, who finished in 10th place in the final drivers’ standings. The No. 51 entry went to Victory Lane twice during the season with Busch at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March and at Pocono in July while Gragson wheeled the No. 18 entry to a dominant win at Kansas in May. Despite being absent at Pocono due to illness, where he was replaced by Erik Jones, Gragson utilized consistency to qualify for the 2018 Truck Playoffs and transfer all the way to the Championship Round at Homestead, where he settled in the runner-up spot in the final drivers’ standings.  

    The 2019 season featured Harrison Burton replacing Noah Gragson, who graduated to the Xfinity Series, as the driver of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ No. 18 Toyota Tundra while Todd Gilliland remained as a full-time driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra. Meanwhile, the No. 51 Toyota Tundra entry returned as the “all-star” entry that was split between Busch, Eckes, Brandon Jones, Greg Biffle, Chandler Smith, Alex Tagliani and Riley Herbst. The No. 46 Toyota Tundra entry returned for a total of seven events that was split between Herbst, Smith and Raphaël Lessard. In comparison to recent seasons, KBM endured a difficult 2019 season as both Burton and Gilliland did not make the Playoffs. While Burton finished in 12th place in the final drivers’ standings with no victories and 11 top-10 results, Gilliland managed to record his first Truck career victory at Martinsville in October along with 14 top-10 results before settling in 11th place in the final standings. With the No. 46 entry finishing no higher than fourth at Gateway in June made by Chandler Smith, the No. 51 entry won six of the 23-scheduled events: five with Busch and one with Biffle. To go along with a total of 15 top-five results and 17 top-10 results throughout the 23-race schedule, the No. 51 entry managed to capture the 2019 Truck owners’ title as KBM achieved its seventh owners’ championship in NASCAR.

    Photo by Brad Keppel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    For the following season, Kyle Busch Motorsports introduced new drivers to the Nos. 4 and 18 entries as Harrison Burton moved up to the Xfinity Series with Joe Gibbs Racing while Todd Gilliland moved over to Front Row Motorsports. The No. 18 Toyota was taken over by Christian Eckes while Raphaël Lessard took over the No. 4 Toyota. The No. 51 Toyota also returned as Busch, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, Riley Herbst and Alex Tagliani took turns to drive the truck throughout the season. In his first full-time campaign in the series, Eckes qualified for the 2020 Truck Playoffs, but was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 10 as he ended up in eighth place in the final drivers’ standings with no victories and 11 top-10 results. Lessard, on the other hand, did not make the Playoffs, but he managed to capture his first career victory at Talladega in October along with a total of seven top-10 results before finishing in 12th place in the final standings. Meanwhile, the No. 51 entry went to Victory Lane four times: three with Busch and once with Brandon Jones, who captured his first elusive series win at Pocono in June. To go along with a total of 10 results in the top five, the No. 51 entry settled in sixth place in the final owners’ standings.

    This past season, Kyle Busch Motorsports welcomed John Hunter Nemechek as the driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra, where he replaced Lessard, while Chandler Smith replaced Christian Eckes as a full-time competitor of the No. 18 Toyota Tundra. The No. 51 Toyota Tundra remained as the “all-star” entry for a ninth consecutive season as the truck was piloted between Busch, Drew Dollar, Parker Chase, Martin Truex Jr., Corey Heim, Brian Brown, Derek Griffith and Dylan Lupton throughout the 22-race schedule. Three races into the new season, Nemechek recorded his first win with KBM at Las Vegas in March before the No. 51 entry visited Victory Lane during the following two events: the first with Busch at Atlanta and the second at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course with Truex, who claimed his first Truck career victory. Not long after, Nemechek fended off Busch to win at Richmond Raceway before Busch capitalized on a late restart to win at Kansas. Those five victories followed by three additional victories by Nemechek capped off a strong regular season stretch as Nemechek, who claimed the regular season championship, and Chandler Smith qualified for the 2021 Truck Playoffs. During the Playoffs, Smith claimed his first Truck career victory at Bristol in September to advance from the Round of 10 to 8 along with Nemechek. During the Round of 8, Smith’s title hopes evaporated while Nemechek was able to earn enough points through consistency to secure a spot in the Championship 4 finale at Phoenix Raceway. An early tire issued, however, derailed Nemechek’s title hopes as he ended up in third place in the final drivers’ standings while Smith won the finale and captured the 2021 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title. Meanwhile, the No. 51 entry settled in 10th place in the owners’ standings.

    This season, Kyle Busch Motorsports retained John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith as drivers of the Nos. 4 and 18 entries, respectively. In addition, Corey Heim returned with an expanded part-time Truck schedule as he split the No. 51 entry with Kyle Busch and Buddy Kofoid. Through the first 14 scheduled events, all three KBM entries have visited Victory Lane at least once, with Smith winning at Las Vegas in March, Nemechek winning at Darlington in May, Busch winning at Sonoma Raceway in June and Heim recording his first two career victories in the series at Atlanta in March followed by Gateway in June. Heim is scheduled to take over the No. 51 entry for the remainder of the season as he contends for the 2022 Truck Rookie-of-the-Year title while Nemechek and Smith, both of whom are pursuing their first championship in NASCAR, are guaranteed spots for the 2022 Truck Playoffs.

    Photo by Simon Scoggins for SpeedwayMedia.com.
    Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Through a combined 749 Truck starts, Kyle Busch Motorsports has achieved two drivers’ championships, a record seven owners’ championships, 95 victories, 63 poles, 276 top-five results, 439 top-10 results and 13,196 laps led with 51 different competitors making at least one start for the organization.

    Kyle Busch Motorsports is primed to surpass 750 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, July 9, with coverage to occur at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Jason Ratcliff to call 500th Xfinity event as a crew chief at Atlanta

    Jason Ratcliff to call 500th Xfinity event as a crew chief at Atlanta

    A significant milestone achievement is in the making for Jason Ratcliff, crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 Toyota Supra team piloted by multiple competitors in this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series. By participating in this weekend’s event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ratcliff will call his 500th Xfinity event as a crew chief.

    A native of Sumter, South Carolina, Ratcliff, who began his racing career working on mini Sprint Cars in Texas before working for the Sadler Brothers Racing Team in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1995, made his debut as a NASCAR crew chief in 2000 for Casey Atwood and the No. 27 Brewco Motorsports Chevrolet team. In his first season as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series, Ratcliff led Atwood and the No. 27 team to two poles and eight top-10 results throughout the 32-race schedule before Atwood settled in eighth place in the final standings.

    During the following two Xfinity seasons, Ratcliff remained at Brewco Motorsports while being paired with rookie driver Jamie McMurray, who replaced Atwood. Together, the duo achieved a total of six top-five results and 17 top-10 results through the two seasons with a best points result of sixth place in 2002. In addition, Ratcliff achieved his first two career wins as a NASCAR crew chief in back-to-back weekends as he guided McMurray to his first two career victories in the Xfinity circuit at Atlanta Motor Speedway and at Rockingham’s North Carolina Speedway between October and November.

    In 2003, Ratcliff was paired with the 1996 Xfinity champion David Green, who was driving the No. 37 Pontiac for Brewco Motorsports. After calling his 100th Xfinity event as a crew chief during the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, Ratcliff guided Green to three victories: Nashville Superspeedway in April, New Hampshire International Speedway in July and at Kansas Speedway in October. To go along with two poles, 11 top-five results, 21 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 11.1, they settled in second place in the final standings and fell 14 points shy of the title to driver Brian Vickers and crew chief Lance McGrew from Hendrick Motorsports.

    After leading Green to a seventh-place result in the final standings in 2004 despite going winless, Ratcliff joined forces with Joe Gibbs Racing to serve as a crew chief for JJ Yeley and the No. 18 Chevrolet team for the 2005 Xfinity season. Throughout the season, Ratcliff and Yeley achieved a season-best runner-up result at Memphis Motorsports Park in October along with a pole, six top-five results and 16 top-10 results throughout the 35-race schedule before Yeley finished in seventh place in the final standings. By then, Ratcliff surpassed 200 career events as an Xfinity crew chief. 

    Despite enduring a winless season in 2006 while guiding Yeley and the No. 18 JGR team to four poles, nine top-five results, 22 top-10 results and a fifth-place result in the final standings, Ratcliff retained his role as a crew chief for the No. 18 team in 2007. On this occasion, the No. 18 entry was piloted between Aric Almirola, Brad Coleman, Kevin Conway and Tony Stewart throughout the 35-race schedule. The team’s best result throughout the season was a runner-up performance by Coleman at Kentucky Speedway in June coupled with two poles, five top-five results and eight top-10 results throughout the 35-race schedule.

    Ratcliff remained at JGR and as crew chief for the team’s No. 18 entry for the 2008 season that competed on a part-time basis and was shared between Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart in the early stages of the season. By then, the organization swapped manufacturers from Chevrolet to Toyota. After leading Busch and the No. 18 team to a runner-up result at Daytona in February and a 31st-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, Ratcliff and Busch achieved their first victory of the season and with JGR when Busch claimed a dominant win at Texas Motor Speedway in April. Ratcliff went on to achieve three additional victories with Busch and another with Hamlin during the next nine events that the No. 18 entry competed in the Xfinity circuit. In August, however, Ratcliff was among a number of JGR employees, including crew chief Dave Rogers, who were suspended from NASCAR indefinitely after NASCAR penalized JGR’s Nos. 18 and 20 Xfinity Series teams due to rule violations discovered by NASCAR inspectors prior to post-race testing on the chassis dynamometer at Michigan. Despite the hefty points penalties and suspensions, JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team went on to win five more events for the remainder of the season as Wally Brown, Doug Hewitt and Joel Weidman were atop the pit box of JGR’s Xfinity Series operations.

    Following his indefinite suspension, Ratcliff returned as a crew chief in the Xfinity Series for JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Camry team piloted by Kyle Busch, who elected to run a full Xfinity schedule along with a full Cup Series schedule in 2009. Despite being absent for the season-opening event at Daytona, Ratcliff earned a one-way trip to Victory Lane in his return atop the pit box at Auto Club Speedway in February when Busch won after leading all but seven of the 150-scheduled laps. The 2009 season proved to be a memorable one for the South Carolina native, who led Busch to eight additional victories, three poles, 24 top-five results and 29 top-10 results throughout the season. When the final checkered flag flew at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November, Busch, who fended off title rival Carl Edwards to win the finale, claimed his first Xfinity Series championship by 210 points over Edwards. The 2009 Xfinity title was also a first for Joe Gibbs Racing, a first for Toyota in the series and for Ratcliff, who surpassed 300 career events as an Xfinity crew chief and recorded nine victories, three poles, 24 top-five results and 29 top-10 results with the No. 18 team. 

    In 2010, Ratcliff remained as a crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 Toyota team while Kyle Busch, who decided to not defend his series title, participated in 29 of the 35-race schedule. Brad Coleman drove the No. 18 car in the remaining six vacant events. Despite not being in contention for the drivers’ championship, JGR’s No. 18 entry achieved the 2010 Xfinity owners’ championship on the strength of 13 victories, all achieved by Busch, as Busch established an all-time record of most victories produced by a driver in an Xfinity season. The No. 18 team also achieved a total of three poles, 22 top-five results and 28 top-10 results throughout the 35-race schedule. 

    Ratcliff remained as a crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Camry team for a seventh consecutive season in 2011 that was piloted between Kelly Bires, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Logano, Michael McDowell and Ryan Truex. Throughout the season, Ratcliff achieved eight victories, all with Busch. In addition, the No. 18 entry achieved three poles, 21 top-five results, 27 top-10 results and a runner-up result in the final Xfinity owners’ standings behind Roush Fenway Racing’s No. 60 Ford Mustang team.

    Following 12 seasons in the Xfinity circuit, Ratcliff graduated to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2012, where he assumed the role of crew chief for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry team. From 2012 through 2017, he notched 15 victories in NASCAR’s premier series while working with Logano and Matt Kenseth. Then in 2018, Ratcliff returned to the Xfinity Series to serve as a crew chief for JGR’s No. 20 Toyota Camry piloted by Christopher Bell, who was coming off a Camping World Truck Series championship with Kyle Busch Motorsports. Eight races into the new season, Ratcliff and Bell achieved their first victory of the season at Richmond in April. The duo went on to achieve three consecutive victories in July at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Iowa before entering the 2018 Xfinity Playoffs as a title favorite. After collecting victories at Richmond and Dover between September and Dover to transfer from the Playoff’s Round of 12 to 8, Ratcliff and Bell rallied from sustaining back-to-back DNFs at Kansas and Texas during the Round of 8 to win for the seventh time of the season at Phoenix in November and clinch a Championship 4 spot at Homestead. During the finale, however, Bell cut a tire in the closing stages and finished 11th on the track while also settling in fourth place in the final drivers’ standings. Despite falling short of winning his second championship, Ratcliff, who surpassed 400 Xfinity events as a crew chief, achieved great success in his return to the series as he led Bell and the No. 20 to seven victories, five poles, 18 top-five results, 20 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 10.3.

    Remaining as Bell’s crew chief for the 2019 Xfinity Series season, Ratcliff achieved another successful season that started with a victory during the second event of the season at Atlanta. The duo went on to achieve seven additional victories, qualify for the Xfinity Playoffs and transfer all the way to the Championship 4 finale at Homestead with another opportunity to contend for the drivers’ championship. The duo, however, settled in fifth place during the finale and in third place in the final standings in a season where they recorded an additional victory, pole and top-10 result along with two additional top-five results and a higher average-finishing result (9.1) in comparison to 2018.

    Following two strong consecutive seasons in the Xfinity circuit highlighted with 15 victories and two championship finale appearances, Ratcliff and Bell moved up to the NASCAR Cup Series and joined forces with Leavine Family Racing for the 2020 season. Once Leavine Family Racing ceased operations at the conclusion of the 2020 season and Bell re-joined Joe Gibbs Racing to pilot the No. 20 Toyota in the Cup Series, Ratcliff returned to the Xfinity Series for the 2021 season as a crew chief for the No. 20 Toyota Supra team piloted by Harrison Burton, the reigning Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year who won four races during his rookie campaign. Despite being absent at Darlington Raceway in September due to COVID-19 protocols and enduring a winless season, the new duo achieved a consistent season highlighted with nine top-five results, 21 top-10 results and a spot in the Xfinity Playoffs before finishing in eighth place in the final standings.

    For this season, Ratcliff was assigned to lead JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Supra entry that has been piloted by Trevor Bayne, Drew Dollar, Connor Mosack, John Hunter Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Ryan Truex and Bubba Wallace. Through the first 16 events of 2022, Ratcliff has led the No. 18 team to a pole, four top-five results and seven top-10 results as they are situated in 10th place in the Xfinity owners’ standings. The No. 18 entry, which is coming off a 24th-place run at Road America with newcomer Sammy Smith, is set to be piloted by Ryan Truex for this upcoming weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Through 499 previous appearances, Ratcliff has achieved one championship, 55 victories, 33 poles, 167 top-five results and 266 top-10 results while working with 22 different competitors.

    Ratcliff is scheduled to call his 200th Xfinity Series event as a crew chief at Atlanta on Saturday, July 9, with the event’s coverage to occur at 5 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Tyler Reddick fends off Elliott for first Cup Series victory at Road America

    Tyler Reddick fends off Elliott for first Cup Series victory at Road America

    A day after solidifying his plans to return to Richard Childress Racing for the 2023 season, Tyler Reddick achieved his long-awaited first NASCAR Cup Series career victory in the third running of the Kwik Trip 250 at Road America on Sunday, July 3.

    The 26-year-old Reddick from Corning, California, who is also a two-time champion in the Xfinity Series, led the final 16 of 62-scheduled laps as he overtook and muscled away from Chase Elliott to etch his name as a winner in NASCAR’s premier series in his third full-time season in the series along with placing himself in the picture to make the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs. 

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Chase Elliott notched his second NASCAR Cup Series pole position of the season after claiming the top starting spot with a pole-winning lap at 108.407 mph in 134.427 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Chase Briscoe, who clocked in a fast qualifying lap at 108.376 mph in 134.465 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change along with Loris Hezemans, who fell back due to unapproved adjustments made to his car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Elliott took off with a brief, early advantage until Briscoe drew himself alongside Elliott’s No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the first three turns. Despite remaining side-by-side with Briscoe through Turn 5, Elliott managed to pull ahead and retain the lead ahead of Briscoe entering Turn 6 as the field behind jostled for positions. As the field made its way through the 14-turn circuit, Elliott led the first lap ahead of Briscoe.

    Through the second lap of the event, Elliott was leading by exactly eight-tenths of a second over Briscoe followed by Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell while rookie Austin Cindric, Alex Bowman, Cole Custer, Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher were in the top 10. Behind, Joey Hand was in 11th ahead of Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. while Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon and AJ Allmendinger were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch was in 21st ahead of rookie Harrison Burton, Erik Jones, Aric Almirola and Bubba Wallace while Josh Bilicki, Ty Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and William Byron were in the top 30. Justin Haley was in 31st, two spots ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., while rookie Todd Gilliland was in 34th.

    Two laps later, Kyle Busch got loose entering Turn 5 while battling William Byron, spun and made the slightest of contact with Aric Almirola, who was running wide entering the turn, but both proceeded without drawing a caution. Meanwhile, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over Briscoe followed by Larson, Reddick and McDowell.

    Ten laps into the event, Elliott extended his advantage to more than four seconds over Briscoe while Larson, Reddick and McDowell remained in the top five. Cindric also remained in sixth place followed by Ross Chastain, Buescher, Bowman and Custer.

    A few laps later, a bevy of names including Larson, Reddick, McDowell, Chastain, Buescher, Custer, Joey Hand, Truex, Suarez, Hamlin, Bell, Keselowski, Austin Dillon, Blaney, Byron, Custer, Harvick, Gilliland and Stenhouse pitted under green while Elliott continued to lead. Just as Lap 13 struck, Elliott pitted while Briscoe assumed the lead. Following the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for driving his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry through too many pit boxes and was required to start at the rear of the field for the start of the second stage.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 15, Briscoe captured his second stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second place followed by Bowman, Logano, Kurt Busch, Harrison Burton, Bubba Wallace, Erik Jones, Haley and Elliott.

    Under the stage break, some led by Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 17 as teammates Elliott and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott briefly dueled with Larson for the lead before he cleared the field entering Turn 3 and approaching a long straightaway through Turns 4 and 5. As the field jostled for positions, Elliott retained the top spot by a tenth of a second over teammate Larson while Reddick battled Chastain for third place. 

    Just past the Lap 20 mark, Elliott continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Larson followed by Reddick, Chastain and McDowell while Buescher, Custer, Truex, Suarez and Bell were in the top 10. By then, Byron was in 12th, Blaney was in 15th, Briscoe was mired in 17th ahead of teammate Harvick and Cindric, Bubba Wallace was back in 20th ahead of teammate Kurt Busch, Logano was back in 24th in between Bowman and Allmendinger and Hamlin was in 29th ahead of teammate Kyle Busch following his pit road penalty.

    Three laps later, Larson went wide in Turn 5 and lost the runner-up spot to Reddick while Elliott cruised with a lead of nearly three seconds. Shortly after, Logano made contact with Wallace as both spun in Turn 5 while battling towards the top 20.

    By Lap 25, Elliott stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Reddick while Larson, Chastain and McDowell stabilized themselves in the top five. By then, Byron was in eighth place behind Buescher and Custer while Suarez and Truex filled in the final spots in the top 10. Following his spin, Logano was mired back in 31st behind Wallace.

    Two laps later, another cycle of green-flag pit stops occurred as McDowell, Buescher, Custer, Byron, Suarez, Truex, Keselowski, Bell, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Briscoe, Bowman, Allmendinger, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Todd Gilliland and Stenhouse pitted while Elliott continued to lead. Just as Lap 28 struck, Elliott pitted followed by Reddick, Larson and Chastain while Blaney assumed the lead. Following the pit stops, Keselowski was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes prior to his own while Kyle Busch was also penalized for having a crew member jump over the wall too soon. In addition, Gilliland was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box,

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 30, Blaney captured his fifth stage victory of the season. Joey Hand settled in second followed by Ty Dillon, Kurt Busch, Erik Jones, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Wallace, Elliott and Reddick. By then, Logano ran his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang off the track between Turns 13 and 14 while racing in front of Wallace. In addition, Byron pitted for a second time to address a loose right-front wheel.

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

    With 30 laps remaining and the event surpassing its halfway mark, the final stage started under green as Elliott and Reddick occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott and Reddick dueled for the lead through the first turn until Elliott managed to clear the field through Turn 3. With Reddick in second, Larson overtook Chastain for third place. He then tried to overtake Reddick for the runner-up spot but went briefly wide in Turn 5 as he was quickly overtaken by Chastain while Suarez was in fifth. Then in Turn 12, Elliott went briefly wide, but he managed to retain the lead ahead of Reddick as the field returned to the start/finish line.

    Two laps later, Wallace got loose entering the first turn, made contact with Keselowski and spun through the gravel trap, though he continued without drawing a caution.

    Another three laps later, Elliott stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Reddick followed by Larson, Reddick and Suarez while McDowell, Buscher, Austin Dillon, Cindric and Truex were in the top 10. Bell was in 11th ahead of Harvick, Briscoe, Allmendinger and Bowman while Stenhouse, Custer, Hamlin, Blaney and Erik Jones were in the top 20.

    Nearing the final 20 laps of the event, another cycle of green-flag pit stops ignited as Truex pitted followed by teammate Kyle Busch, Gilliland and Josh Bilicki. Three laps earlier, Keselowski, who made contact with the wall in Turn 11, pitted while Elliott continued to lead.

    With 20 laps remaining, more competitors peeled off to pit road, among which included Bell, Allmendinger, Harvick, Buescher, Almirola, McDowell and Wallace. By then, Kyle Busch was penalized for speeding his No. 18 Skittles Toyota TRD Camry on pit road. During the following lap, Elliott pitted followed by runner-up Reddick, Larson, Chastain, Suarez, Cindric, Austin Dillon, Bowman and Briscoe.

    Following the pit stops, Elliott managed to exit pit road ahead of Reddick, but Reddick started to issue his own bid on Elliott as he got close to Elliott’s rear bumper. Elliott, however, managed to remain ahead of Reddick while Blaney, who had yet to pit, was leading.

    Then with 17 laps remaining, Reddick battled and overtook Elliott for position through Turn 6 after Elliott missed the turn in Turn 5. By then, Hamlin, who had yet to pit, was leading while Blaney, Ty Dillon, Kurt Busch, Stenhouse, Custer, Erik Jones and Byron pitted. Once Hamlin and Hand pitted, Harrison Burton, who had yet to pit, moved into the lead while Reddick and Elliott made their way to second and third. 

    When the race reached its final 15-lap mark, Reddick cycled his No. 8 3Chi Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead while Elliott was left to battle Harrison Burton, who remained on the track for another lap, for the runner-up spot. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Reddick was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Elliott while Larson, Chastain and Buescher were in the top five. Suarez was in sixth while Cindric, Truex, McDowell and Harvick occupied the top 10. Mired in 11th was Allmendinger while Austin Dillon, Bowman, Briscoe, Bell, Blaney, Custer, Stenhouse, Hamlin and Byron were in the top 20. 

    Three laps later, Wallace pulled his No. 23 Columbia Toyota TRD Camry off the course in Turn 5 due to a brake issue while Reddick continued to lead by half a second over Elliott. 

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Reddick, who remained the leader while smoothly and methodically navigating his way through every turn, stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Elliott. Meanwhile, third-place Larson, who had Kevin Meendering calling the shots while Cliff Daniels was suspended for the loose wheel at Sonoma Raceway, trailed by more than 15 seconds in his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Chastain and Buescher were in the top five.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick extended his advantage to nearly four seconds over Elliott. By then, teammate Austin Dillon was slowly limping his way around the circuit after losing a left-front tire while the event remained under green. Having a clear view in front of him and with Elliott not being able to narrow the deficit, Reddick, who remained cautious through every turn for a final turn, cycled his way through the uphill climb to the finish line and claim his first checkered flag in the Cup Series following five runner-up results.

    With the victory, Reddick became the fifth first-time winner of the 2022 Cup season, the third to claim a first Cup victory on a road course and the 203rd different competitor to achieve a victory in NASCAR’s premier series. He also became the 13th different competitor to win through the first 18 events of this season and to be guaranteed a spot for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs. Reddick’s first Cup victory was also the first in the series for crew chief Randall Burnett, who guided Reddick to the 2019 Xfinity Series championship, and for Richard Childress Racing since the organization last won at Texas Motor Speedway with Austin Dillon in July 2020. By becoming the 10th different competitor to win a Cup event while driving for Richard Childress Racing, Reddick also delivered the 110th career win for the organization and he became the 41st different competitor to achieve a victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series (Camping World Truck, Xfinity and Cup).

    “I definitely knew [Elliott] was fast,” Reddick, who was congratulated by multiple competitors during the cooldown lap, said on USA Network. “We could stay with him on the long run, which told me if we cycle through that last pit sequence, we would be close or get around him, we have a great shot. [I] Didn’t quite get around him. We were within reach and thankfully, just waited for the right opportunity and was able to take advantage to it in Turn 6. I thought he was gonna run me back down. I started to makes some mistakes, started to take care of the brakes. Turns out, I didn’t need to and yeah, we were in good shape there. What a day.”

    “We had to [put the pressure],” Reddick added. “What better place than Road America! I love the fans. I love this racetrack. Being here on the Fourth of July weekend is just so special. We got it done. We won the race. [Crew chief] Randall’s [Burnett] been working on this for a very long time. He’s always believed in me. Everyone on this team at Richard Childress Racing has believed in me. I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but man, this year’s been the one-step, one mistake away from greatness all year long and we finally did it today.”

    “The biggest thing [I told Reddick was] it’s coming,” Richard Childress, owner of Richard Childress Racing, said. “We just can’t beat ourself. We beat ourself a few times and we got beat a few times, but today, when you beat the best, which is Chase Elliott, it was a great win for us. We’re still here hammering away. I’m just so happy for Tyler. I knew watching him back in the Trucks, then he went to Xfinity and won the championship, I knew he could do it and here we are. He’s got that will to do whatever it takes to get up there and win the race. He’s got it in his heart to be a winner and that’s what he wants to be. Now, he wants to be a champion and I think we can push him into it.”

    Elliott, who led a race-high 36 laps and was coming off his recent victory at Nashville Superspeedway, settled in second place for the first time of this season while teammate Larson, Chastain and Suarez finished in the top five.

    “First off, congrats to [Reddick],” Elliott said. “I know he’s been super close to that first win. I’ve been down that road and it can be a rocky one, so I’m happy for those guys. They deserve it. For us, just proud of our NAPA team. I didn’t do a very good job there. I just let him stay close enough to pressure me there while we had decent tires. Never could get enough of a gap. Made a couple of mistakes. I was gaining a gap a couple of times and made a couple of mistakes and let him get that close enough to get me out of sync. After that, [I] started struggling and obviously, it was super difficult to get somebody to pass him. It was impressive that he was able to get up there and capitalize on my mistake…Appreciate the effort at our team. Wished I could’ve done a better job there. I felt like we probably needed a little bit, but I thought we were good enough to win, so those always hurt.”

    “Tyler and Chase were really good throughout the duration of a run,” Larson said. “I seem to be OK early and then would kind of slowly fade away from them, so I don’t really know. I felt, honestly, pretty good, but they must’ve just had better grip and they’re really good road racers, probably a little bit better than I am. It was a good, clean race for us. Happy to get a top-three [finish]. It was successful for my standards.”

    “Incredible day for Trackhouse [Racing], Team Chevy as a whole,” Chastain said. “To sweep the top five for Team Chevy and to control the race all day is incredible work for what we’re doing. To prepare to come to the track for both the car and the driver side. Hats off to everybody involved on both sides. I can’t ask for much more.”

    “I think it’s not just Ross and myself,” Suarez said. “It’s everyone at Trackhouse. Every man and woman that is working very hard to put fast race cars every single weekend. We have a lot of great people and great sponsors. It was very good. I also felt like, Ross and I, we’ve been doing a decent job, but today, we didn’t have the best car. We were probably a top-10 to top-seven car, and that’s kind of where we finished. We have to go back home and try to see what we can keep on improving.” 

    Buescher, Cindric, McDowell, Allmendinger and Harvick completed the top 10 on the track. Notably, Blaney, Bowman, Truex, Briscoe and Custer finished in the top 15 followed by Byron, Hamlin, Bell, Stenhouse and Ty Dillon. Kurt Busch finished 23rd, Logano ended up 27th ahead of Almirola and Kyle Busch concluded his long afternoon in 29th, the final competitor on the lead lap.

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

    With eight regular-season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott leads the regular-season standings by 33 points over Ryan Blaney, 35 over Ross Chastain, 71 over Kyle Larson, 73 over Joey Logano, 77 over Kyle Busch, and 84 over Martin Truex Jr. 

    Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick, rookie Austin Cindric, Kurt Busch, Chase Briscoe and Daniel Suarez are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr. and Christopher Bell are above the top-16 cutline based on points. Kevin Harvick trails the top-16 cutline by 20 points, Aric Almirola trails by 47 points, Erik Jones trails by 85 points, Austin Dillon trails by 94 points, Michael McDowell trails by 115 points, Chris Buescher trails by 143, Justin Haley trails by 155 points, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 172 points, Bubba Wallace trails by 177 points.

    Results.

    1. Tyler Reddick, 16 laps led

    2. Chase Elliott, 36 laps led

    3. Kyle Larson

    4. Ross Chastain

    5. Daniel Suarez

    6. Chris Buescher

    7. Austin Cindric

    8. Michael McDowell

    9. AJ Allmendinger

    10. Kevin Harvick

    11. Ryan Blaney, four laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Alex Bowman

    13. Martin Truex Jr.

    14. Chase Briscoe, four laps led, Stage 1 winner

    15. Cole Custer

    16. William Byron

    17. Denny Hamlin, one lap led

    18. Christopher Bell

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    20. Ty Dillon

    21. Joey Hand

    22. Harrison Burton, one lap led

    23. Kurt Busch

    24. Justin Haley

    25. Todd Gilliland

    26. Erik Jones

    27. Joey Logano

    28. Aric Almirola

    29. Kyle Busch

    30. Kyle Tilley, one lap down

    31. Austin Dillon – OUT, Brakes

    32. Cody Ware, three laps down

    33. Brad Keselowski, four laps down

    34. Corey LaJoie, five laps down

    35. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Brakes

    36. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps down

    37. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Fuel pump

    Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second visit of the season at the reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Sonoma

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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