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Tag: Phoenix Raceway

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Phoenix

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. William Byron: Byron was strong early in the United Rentals Work United 400, winning Stage 1. After falling back from the front late, Byron used a fast two-tire pit stop, and two timely cautions, to win his second consecutive race.

    “That’s two in a row,” Byron said. “And I really don’t know which flag to keep as a souvenir – the checkered or the yellow. Sometimes, your reputation as a great driver is built on the backs of those not-so-great drivers.”

    2. Kevin Harvick: Harvick, historically dominant at Phoenix, blew by Kyle Larson for the lead late, but a sure win was foiled by a late caution. Harvick eventually finished fifth.

    “Losing like this really sucks,” Harvick said. “Building such an insurmountable lead, only to have it wiped away by a caution, makes me sick to my stomach, much like Hunt Brothers Pizza.”

    3. Kyle Larson: Larson started on the pole at Phoenix, and used a quick two-tire pit stop with eight laps to go to gain the lead. Larson was leading with two laps to go, but another late caution forced another restart, and Larson couldn’t hold off William Byron. Larson finished fourth.

    “Let’s face it,” Larson said, “Kevin Harvick should have won this race. Harvick went by me on Lap 269 faster than Hunt Brothers Pizza through your digestive system.”

    4. Alex Bowman: Bowman finished ninth at Phoenix, as all four Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 10, with William Byron taking the win.

    “Hendrick Motorsports builds cars that almost any driver can put in the top 10,” Bowman said. “Take Josh Berry, for example. He basically came off the street and was able to drive Chase Elliott’s car to success. So, driving a Hendrick car is a springboard to success, whereas Chase himself is a snowboard to the hospital.”

    5. Christopher Bell: Bell posted his second top 10 with a sixth in the United Rentals Work United 500.

    “Former Formula 1 world champions Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen are scheduled to drive in the Cup race at the Circuit Of The Americas on March 26th,” Bell said. “I think that would be a great time to prank those two guys by convincing them that NASCAR also begins races with a standing start.”

    6. Kyle Busch: Busch overcame a slow Stage 2 pit stop and came back to finish eighth at Phoenix.

    “It just goes to show that if you work hard and have a sizable budget,” Busch said, “anything is possible. That, of course, is a reference to my lawyer that got me out of that jam in Mexico. And yes, bribery does work.

    “Some people are calling me the ‘Ja Morant of NASCAR. I think that’s a compliment. In any case, let’s holster that comparison for now.”

    7. Ross Chastain: Chastain finished 24th in the United Rentals Work United 500, after dropping from the top five on the final restart.

    “Sometimes,” Chastain said, “your car is fast, like Michael Waltrip at Daytona in 2001. Sometimes, your car is slow, like Michael Waltrip running through the grid on Sunday. Mine was both.”

    8. Joey Logano: Logano struggled with handling early and never was competitive up front on his way to an 11th-place finish at Phoenix.

    “That handling caused early contact with Martin Truex Jr.,” Logano said. “Luckily, Martin didn’t get too angry. I mean, he could have pulled a ‘Mexican Kyle Busch’ and gone ‘ballistic.’”

    9. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started second at Phoenix but faded fast on the final restart, finishing 23rd.

    “I just had no grip at the end,” Hamlin said, “which made the handling of my No. 11 Toyota a disaster. In a car sponsored by Shingrex, you could say my car drove like ”S’ on a shingle.’”

    10. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished second at Phoenix, posting his first top-5 finish of the season.

    “Congratulations to William Byron,” Blaney said. “I think his celebration of putting on that oversized big hat is cool. Funny thing is, that hat would fit Ryan Newman perfectly.”

  • Late caution ruins Harvick’s run to Phoenix victory

    Late caution ruins Harvick’s run to Phoenix victory

    Ten laps.

    Kevin Harvick needed to complete 10 more laps to score his 10th career victory at Phoenix Raceway. He pulled to a five-second lead over Kyle Larson, who led a race-high of 201 laps, when he powered under him in Turn 2 on Lap 270 and his long-run strength made him all but untouchable.

    Then the caution flew.

    AVONDALE, Ariz. – MARCH 12: Harrison Burton, driver of the #21 DEX Images Ford, spins down the frontstretch with 10 laps to go in the NASCAR Cup Series United Rental Works United 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 12, 2023, in Avondale, Arizona. Photo: Ron Olds/SpeedwayMedia.com

    Just ahead of Harvick, Harrison Burton spun at the start/finish line, cut a tire down and shed debris on the track. Everybody came down pit road, but six cars took just right-side tires, while he took four.

    “It’s what I would have done (taking four tires),” he said. “I’d always rather be on offense.”

    Compounding the matter, his car was geared towards long runs, and struggled on short runs. So on the ensuing restart with three laps to go, he pulled up along the outside of Denny Hamlin, but was boxed in by him and Ross Chastain ahead.

    “Kind of lost our chance,” he said. “Still thought I had a chance there at the end.”

    And he got another shot, after AJ Allmendinger, Ty Gibbs and a few others tangled in Turn 2 and forced overtime.

    In overtime, Harvick chose the outside line, but the same song and dance played out.

    “Those cars were quite a bit slower,” he said. “They get all jammed up.”

    He made up a measly two spots as William Byron scored his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory and he brought his car home fifth.

    “That’s the way it goes,” he said. “Just smoked ‘em up until the caution. They did a great job with our Hunter Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang. Didn’t need the caution at the end.”

    While it’s no silver lining for the all-time wins leader at Phoenix, Harvick extended the series record for most consecutive top-10 finishes at a single track to 20. Furthermore, he leaves Phoenix second in points. Just three behind points leader Alex Bowman.

    He’ll have one more chance to score win No. 10 at Phoenix in November. Where he could retire as one of just six drivers to win 10 or more races at a single track.

  • Byron capitalizes late for dramatic overtime victory at Phoenix

    Byron capitalizes late for dramatic overtime victory at Phoenix

    A week after cashing in with a dramatic overtime victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, William Byron conquered the desert valley amid a late caution period, a two-tire strategy and two late-race restarts to fend off the field and win the United Rentals Work United 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 12.

    The 25-year-old Byron from Charlotte, North Carolina, led two times for 64 of 317 over-scheduled laps in an event where he led early before keeping his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports entry towards the front of the field while teammate Kyle Larson dominated the event. Then as Kevin Harvick emerged late and was headed for a potential victory, a caution for Harrison Burton’s spin with 10 laps remaining enabled Byron and crew chief Rudy Fugle to draw themselves back into contention by opting for a two-tire strategy to battle teammate Larson through two restarts. During the second restart that sent the event into overtime, Byron peeked ahead of Larson with a bump from Tyler Reddick to clear the field and navigate around the Phoenix circuit for a final lap before cruising to his second consecutive NASCAR Cup Series victory in recent weeks.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Kyle Larson notched his first Cup pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 130.237 mph in 27.642 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Denny Hamlin, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 129.931 mph in 27.707 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Zane Smith dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Larson rocketed with the lead on the inside lane as the field fanned out through the frontstretch dogleg. With the field continuing to fan out and jostle for early positions through the first two turns and entering the backstretch, Larson cleared the field and was able to lead the first lap ahead of teammate Byron, who also ignited an early charge at the front. Shortly after, however, Byron muscled his No. 24 Valvoline Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 beneath Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the dogleg and entering Turn 1 to assume the lead. Byron was then able to stretch his advantage to half a second over teammate Larson by the fifth lap while Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Christopher Bell occupied the top five on the track.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by more than six-tenths of a second over teammate Larson followed by Hamlin, Keselowski and Bell while Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Tyler Reddick, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell were running in the top 10. By then, rookie Ty Gibbs in 11th followed by Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Kevin Harvick and Chris Buescher while Alex Bowman, Martin Truex, Bubba Wallace, Chase Briscoe and Joey Logano, who got loose after contact with Truex in Turn 1, rounded out the top 20.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Byron extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Larson while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than four seconds. While Keselowski and Bell remained in the top five, Reddick moved up to seventh behind Blaney, Chastain fell back to eighth in front of teammate Suarez and Ty Gibbs cracked the top 10 in front of Kyle Busch, McDowell and Harvick.

    Ten laps later, Byron stretched his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Larson while third-place Hamlin trailed by more than six seconds. By then, Bell and Blaney moved up into the top five while Reddick was up in sixth in front of Keselowski, Chastain, Harvick and Suarez as Kyle Busch remained in 11th.

    By Lap 50, Byron stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Larson. By then, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and Bell trailed by more than five seconds while fifth-place Reddick trailed by more than eight seconds. Meanwhile, Harvick remained in ninth behind Blaney, Keselowski and Chastain while Kyle Busch cracked the top 10 in front of Suarez, McDowell, Buescher, Erik Jones and Gibbs.

    A few laps later, BJ McLeod fell off the pace after his car went wide in Turn 4, but he was able to limp his car back to pit road without drawing the caution as Byron retained a steady advantage over teammate Larson. McLeod’s issue came after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scraped the outside wall entering Turn 1 while running within the top 25.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Byron, who swept both stages en route to his dominant victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a week ago, notched his third stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Teammate Larson settled in second followed by Bell, Hamlin and Reddick while Blaney, Chastain, Harvick, Keselowski and Kyle Busch were scored in the top 10. By then, 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names like Logano, Stenhouse, rookie Noah Gragson, Austin Cindric, Justin Haley, Corey LaJoie, Austin Dillon and Harrison Burton were mired a lap down. Logano, however, was the beneficiary of the first stage’s break period by receiving the free pass and cycling his way back to the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors led by Byron pitted, but teammate Larson managed to beat Byron off of pit road to inherit the lead. Bell exited pit road in third followed by Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Chastain. Following the pit stops, AJ Allmendinger and Ty Dillon were penalized for speeding on pit road. Reddick.

    The second stage started on Lap 68 as teammates Larson and Byron occupied the front row. At the start, both Hendrick Motorsports teammates dueled for the lead as the field fanned out again through the frontstretch dogleg. Amid a tight battle, Larson, who used the dogleg at the start to maintain his battle for the lead against Byron, was able to peek ahead with the lead on the inside lane as he then cleared Byron during the following lap. With Larson ahead of teammate Byron for the lead, Hamlin was under attack from teammate Bell and Chastain for third while Keselowski was in sixth ahead of a battle for seventh between Harvick and Kyle Busch.

    At the Lap 75 mark, Larson was leading by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Byron followed by Hamlin, Bell and Chastain while Keselowski, Harvick, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Blaney were in the top 10. By then, Buescher, Bowman, Suarez, Wallace and McDowell were running in the top 15 while Briscoe, Erik Jones, Truex, Gibbs and Josh Berry rounded out the top 20. Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola, Logano and AJ Allmendinger rounded out the 24-car field of competitors running on the lead lap.

    Through the first 100 scheduled laps, Larson continued to lead by half a second over teammate Byron, who kept his Hendrick teammate within his sights and started to close in. Bell trailed by more than four seconds in third place followed by teammate Hamlin and Chastain while Harvick, Keselowski, Reddick, Kyle Busch and Blaney were battling in the top 10.

    Ten laps later, Larson retained his advantage to nearly a second over teammate Byron as Bell and Hamlin remained in third and fourth, respectively. By then, Harvick, who started 15th, cracked the top five after overtaking Chastain a few laps earlier while Keselowski, Blaney, Kyle Busch and Reddick ran in the top 10.

    Another eight laps later, the first round of green flag pit stops ensued as Hamlin pitted his No. 11 SHINGRIX Toyota TRD Camry. The leader Larson would pit during the following lap followed by teammate Byron, Bell, Blaney, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Chastain and others. Once Keselowski pitted on Lap 120 after leading a lap for himself and with most of the lead lap competitors having made a pit stop, Larson cycled his way back to the lead followed by Byron, Hamlin, Harvick and Chastain. Following the pit stops, McDowell, Erik Jones and Cindric were penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Kyle Busch’s steady run to the front evaporated when he was nabbed for two different penalties: one for an uncontrolled tire violation and for speeding on pit road.

    Then on Lap 137, the caution flew when Almirola went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 4 past the start/finish line with the right-front tire coming off of Almirola’s No. 10 Go Bowling Ford Mustang while the Floridian nursed his damaged car back to his pit stall. After making a pit stop to have a new right-front wheel attached to his car, Almirola then had to reverse his car back to his pit stall to address a broken right-rear toe link. By then, he was assessed a two-lap penalty for having the broken wheel come off on the track. Back on the track, Larson was out in front ahead of teammate Byron, Hamlin, Harvick and Chastain while Bell, who endured a slow pit stop during the first round of green flag pit stops, was battling Keselowski for seventh.

    During the caution period, the leaders led by Larson returned to pit road for service and Larson retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Byron, Hamlin, Harvick, Chastain and Keselowski.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 146, Larson retained the lead ahead of teammate Byron while running on the inside lane as the field fanned out through the frontstretch dogleg and entering the first two turns. As the field cycled back to the frontstretch, Larson was able to keep his No. 5 entry out in front of the field while a multitude of competitors behind, including Bell, jostled for positions. By then, Harvick carved his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang into third place while Hamlin and Keselowski occupied the top five.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 156, Larson was leading by nearly a second over teammate Byron followed by Harvick, Keselowski and Hamlin while Bell, Reddick, Chastain, Blaney and Bowman were in the top 10. By then, Bubba Wallace was up in 11th ahead of Buescher, Briscoe, Suarez and Josh Berry while Logano, Preece, Truex, Gibbs and Kyle Busch were mired in the top 20. In addition, 23 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while names that included Austin Dillon, Gragson, Corey LaJoie, Cindric, Stenhouse, Justin Haley and Harrison Burton were mired a lap down.

    Nearly 20 laps later, Larson retained the lead by more than a second over runner-up and teammate Byron while third-place Harvick trailed by two seconds as he started to gain ground on the two Hendrick leaders. By then, fourth-place Keselowski trailed by more than four seconds, fifth-place Reddick trailed by more than five seconds and sixth-place Hamlin trailed by nearly six seconds.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 185, Larson captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Teammate Byron settled in second, trailing by more than a second, while Harvick settled in third, trailing by more than two seconds. Keselowski, Reddick, Hamlin, Bell, Blaney, Chastain and Briscoe were scored in the top 10 while 23 of 38 starters were recorded on the lead lap. This stage break period enabled Austin Dillon, who was in 24th, to cycle back to the lead lap with the free pass benefit.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Larson pitted and Larson edged Harvick and Byron amid three lanes to retain the lead, with Keselowski, Reddick and Bell following suit. Following the pit stops, Ty Gibbs was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 118 laps remaining, the final stage started as Larson and Harvick occupied the front row. At the start, Larson and Harvick dueled for the lead as the field fanned out to four and five lanes through the dogleg and the backstretch. With the field continuing to fan out and jostled for positions when returning to the frontstretch, Larson managed to retain the lead ahead of Harvick and Byron as he continued to use the inside lane to his advantage.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead followed by Harvick, Byron, Bell and Reddick while Keselowski, Hamlin, Blaney, Briscoe and Bowman occupied the top 10 as 24 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    With 75 laps remaining, Larson extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Harvick while third-place Byron trailed by six seconds. As Toyota competitors Bell and Reddick ran in the top five, Keselowski continued to run in sixth followed by Hamlin, Briscoe, Blaney and Bowman while Logano, Buescher, Chastain, Suarez and Kyle Busch were mired in the top 15.

    Not long after, another round of green flag pit stops ensued as Logano, McDowell and Corey LaJoie pitted along with Harvick, Bell, Byron, Briscoe, Hamlin, Suarez, Preece, the leader Larson and others. During the pit stops, Suarez was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track with nearly 60 laps remaining, Erik Jones, who had yet to pit, was leading by more than seven seconds over Larson, who had Harvick reeling in on him for the potential lead by nearly two-tenths of a second as a result of Harvick pitting under green a lap prior to Larson. Then with 52 laps remaining, Larson caught and overtook Jones for the lead. Harvick then moved his No. 4 entry back into second place a lap later but was trailing Larson by a second.

    Then with 44 laps remaining, The Closer struck as Harvick overtook Larson from the frontstretch to Turn 1 to assume the lead, much to Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniel’s displeasure. As Harvick started to pull away by half a second over Larson, Bell trailed in third place by more than four seconds while Byron and Reddick occupied the top five.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Harvick extended his advantage to more than a second over Larson while third-place Bell trailed by more than five seconds over Bell. Byron and Reddick remained in the top five while Blaney, Keselowski, Briscoe, Hamlin and Chastain were scored in the top 10 as 21 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap. By then, Erik Jones had made a pit stop under green and was mired in 23rd, a lap down.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Harvick continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by more than three seconds over Larson while third-place Bell trailed by more than five seconds. Harvick would continue to stretch his lead to more than five seconds as the event was nearing its final 10-lap mark.

    Just then with 10 laps remaining, the caution flew when Harrison Burton spun just past the frontstretch and below the dogleg, with the driver shredding debris from his right-front tire as he limped back to his pit stall. During the caution period, the lead lap competitors led by Harvick pitted and Larson regained the lead after only opting for a two-tire pit stop. Teammate Byron followed suit in second along with Blaney, Chastain, Kyle Busch and Hamlin, all of whom elected for two fresh tires, while Harvick, the first competitor opting for four fresh tires, dropped back to seventh.

    Down to the final three laps, the event proceeded under green as Larson, who started on the inside lane, and teammate Byron, who lined up as the lead competitor on the outside lane, occupied the front row. At the start, Larson blocked Blaney to retain the lead over him and Byron as the field fanned out through the frontstretch and entering the first two turns. Shortly after, however, the caution returned and the event was sent into overtime for a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 that started when Allmendinger and Gragson made contact, which resulted with Allmendinger spinning as Gibbs also scraped the outside wall. With Larson still out in front over Byron and Blaney, Harvick was mired back in seventh behind Denny Hamlin.

    At the start of the first overtime attempt, teammates Larson and Byron battled dead even for the lead through the frontstretch dogleg in front of the pack as the competitors behind jostled for late positions. Then as Larson and Byron continued to duel through the backstretch, Blaney and Reddick, who had four fresh tires, joined the battle as Blaney drew Byron and Larson in a three-wide battle while Reddick gave Byron a bump exiting the backstretch. This allowed Byron to muscle ahead on the outside lane while Reddick and Blaney continue to duel against Larson for second place.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Byron remained as the leader ahead of a three-wide battle involving Blaney, Larson and Reddick. Through Turns 1 and 2, Blaney and Reddick tried to gain a run on Byron, but the latter pulled away entering the backstretch. With Reddick boxed in between Blaney and Larson, this allowed Byron to cycle his way back to the frontstretch with no late challenges and claim his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2023 season.

    With the victory, Byron notched his sixth NASCAR Cup Series career victory in his 184th series start and his first at Phoenix as he became the first repeat winner of the 2023 Cup season. In addition, he notched the 293rd Cup victory for Hendrick Motorsports and the 99th for the No. 24 in NASCAR’s premier series.

    “I owe the last couple of weeks to [crew chief Rudy Fugle],” Byron said on FOX. “He’s done a really good job strategy-wise and execution-wise. We’ve done a good job to put ourselves in those positions on the front row with a shot at the end. Just thanks to everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports [for] putting together great cars and just doing a great job. This is a big credit to them, the engine shop, Mr. [Rick] Hendrick, everybody. Cool to have Valvoline back on the car. Really historic looking paint scheme, so nice to get it into Victory Lane.”

    Amid a flurry of late battles during the overtime shootout, Blaney navigated his way into the runner-up result followed by Reddick, who nabbed his first top-five result of the season. Larson, who led a race-high 202 laps, ended up fourth while Harvick, who led 36 laps and was aiming for a 10th victory at Phoenix, settled in fifth.

    “Well, we got lucky with the one caution,” Larson said. “[The] Team made a great call to take two [tires] and get us out to the lead. Restarts were just tough. I felt like I ran William [Byron] up pretty high and was expecting him to lose some grip, but he did a really good job of holding us up to his outside and clear me down the [backstretch]. I’m pissed off, but a great fight by the team. Great car. Way better than where we were last year. It’s a long season, but hopefully, we’re in the Final Four when we come back here in November and can have a run just similar to [today] with speed and try to execute a little bit better at the end.”

    “I’d always rather be on offense,” Harvick said. “I just didn’t get a couple of cars when that first caution came out and kind of lost our chance, and still thought I had a chance there at the end. Those cars were quite a bit slower, but they get all jammed up. That’s the way it goes. Just smoked’em up until the last caution. [The crew] did a great job with our Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford Mustang. Just didn’t need that caution at the end.”

    Bell came home in sixth while Briscoe, Kyle Busch, Bowman and Josh Berry completed the top 10 on the track.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 35 laps. In addition, 24 of 36 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the fourth event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Alex Bowman leads the regular-season standings by three points over Kevin Harvick, six over Ross Chastain, 10 over William Byron and 17 between Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.

    Results.

    1. William Byron, 64 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Ryan Blaney

    3. Tyler Reddick

    4. Kyle Larson, 201 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    5. Kevin Harvick, 36 laps led

    6. Christopher Bell

    7. Chase Briscoe

    8. Kyle Busch

    9. Alex Bowman

    10. Josh Berry

    11. Joey Logano

    12. Ryan Preece

    13. Michael McDowell

    14. Bubba Wallace

    15. Chris Buescher

    16. Austin Dillon

    17. Martin Truex Jr.

    18. Brad Keselowski

    19. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    20. AJ Allmendinger

    21. Erik Jones

    22. Daniel Suarez

    23. Denny Hamlin

    24. Ross Chastain

    25. Austin Cindric, one lap down

    26. Corey LaJoie, one lap down

    27. Justin Haley, one lap down

    28. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    29. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    30. Ty Dillon, two laps down

    31. Zane Smith, two laps down

    32. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

    33. Aric Almirola, four laps down

    34. Cody Ware, six laps down

    35. Harrison Burton, seven laps down

    36. BJ McLeod – OUT, Fuel pump

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a trip back to the south for the series’ first of two visits of this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, March 19, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Sammy Smith dominates for first Xfinity Series career win at Phoenix

    Sammy Smith dominates for first Xfinity Series career win at Phoenix

    In the valley of the desert where a handful of NASCAR’s future stars battled against the all-time series winner and champion Kyle Busch, a new star shined the brightest as rookie Sammy Smith notched his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in the United Rentals 200 at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 11.

    The 18-year-old Smith from Johnston, Iowa, led a race-high 92 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final 52, as he withstood a flurry of cautions, a 15-lap dash to the finish and a late charge from teammate Ryan Truex to claim his first Xfinity career victory in his 13th start in the series and become the first first-time winner across NASCAR’s top three national touring series for the 2023 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his first Xfinity pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 129.959 mph in 27.701 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 129.706 mph in 27.755 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Kyle Busch and Jeffrey Earnhardt dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch dogleg as Custer, who also went through the dogleg, retained the lead ahead of Daniel Hemric and Sheldon Creed while Allgaier fell back into a side-by-side battle with John Hunter Nemechek for fourth. At the conclusion of the first lap, Custer led ahead of Hemric and Creed while Allgaier retained fourth in front of Nemechek and the field.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Custer was leading by nine-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Hemric, Allgaier and Nemechek while rookie Chandler Smith, Josh Berry, rookie Sammy Smith, Riley Herbst and Austin Hill were in the top 10. Behind, Ryan Truex was in 11th ahead of Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer, Brett Moffitt and Kaz Grala while Jeb Burton, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones, Kyle Sieg and rookie Parker Retzlaff rounded out the top 20.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Custer extended his advantage to more than a second over Creed while third-place Allgaier trailed by more than two seconds. By then, Nemechek and Hemric remained in the top five while the two Smiths involving Sammy and Chandler battle for sixth. In addition, Kyle Busch cracked the top 20 after starting towards the rear of the field.

    Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by more than two seconds over the new runner-up competitor Allgaier while Creed fell back to third as he trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nemechek and Sammy Smith were in the top five in front of Herbst while Hemric was back in seventh in front of teammate Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Austin Hill. By then, Ryan Truex was back in 11th in front of Mayer and Brandon Jones while Kyle Busch was up in 14th.  

    Another eight laps later, the first caution of the event flew when the back bumper from Leland Honeyman’s No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing entry came loose and fell onto the frontstretch. The cause of the loose bumper happened a few laps earlier when Honeyman got loose and made contact against the outside wall towards Turn 1.

    With 10 laps remaining in the first stage, the event proceeded under green. At the start, Custer bolted ahead with the lead as the field fanned out through the dogleg again. Behind, Sammy Smith challenged Allgaier for second while Creed, Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Herbst battled for fourth. Shortly after, Allgaier launched a challenge to the outside of Custer for the lead but was unable to prevail as Custer maintained the lead on the inside lane.

    Then on Lap 37, Allgaier made his move to the outside of Custer as he assumed the lead in his No. 7 hellowater Chevrolet Camaro through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch. A lap later, the caution returned when Berry, who was running in eighth, got bumped by Chandler Smith as he spun in the middle of Turn 3. Despite the spin, the entire field managed to dodge Berry as he continued without sustaining any damage. During the caution period, some led by Nemechek pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining in the first stage, the event resumed under green. At the start, the field fanned out to four lanes through the dogleg and through the frontstretch as Allgaier retained the lead. Behind, Creed made his way into second in front of a bevy of competitors that continued to fan out to multiple lanes. This, however, allowed Allgaier to pull away from the field.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allgaier claimed his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Creed fended off Sammy Smith for second followed by Herbst and Hemric while Custer, Busch, Mayer, Nemechek and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allgaier pitted for the first time in the event while the rest led by Mayer and Nemechek remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 55 as Mayer and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the dogleg, Nemechek muscled into the lead on the inside lane while Hill and Mayer battled for second in front of a flurry of competitors. As the battles around the circuit proceeded, the caution returned during the following lap when Moffitt, who was running just outside the top 10, got loose underneath Jeremy Clements and spun in the middle of Turn 3, though he was narrowly dodged by the field.

    During the following restart on Lap 62, Nemechek rocketed with the lead on the inside lane while Hill made his way into second. Behind, Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton challenged Mayer for third, though the later prevailed exiting the backstretch. As Nemechek retained the lead, Berry, who spun towards the conclusion of the first stage, carved his way back to sixth with multiple battles ensuing behind.

    Following another caution period for a two-car incident involving Connor Mosack and Josh Williams in Turn 2 on Lap 68 and another restart on Lap 74, Nemechek battled and fended off Hill to remain the lead on the inside lane. Shortly after, however, NASCAR assessed Nemechek a pass-through penalty through pit road as a result of Nemechek dipping his No. 20 Safeway/Albertsons Toyota Supra below the frontstretch’s double yellow line boundary, which was deemed a violation. With Nemechek penalized, Hill assumed the lead followed by Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex, Mayer, Berry and Busch occupied the top six.

    By Lap 84, the caution flew when Berry, who was running in fourth, got bumped by teammate Mayer as he spun his No. 8 Jarrett Logistics Systems Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2 and towards the pit road’s entrance while being dodged by Busch. By then, Nemechek, who was mired in the next-to-last position in 37th place, managed to remain on the lead lap while Hill retained the lead in front of Sammy Smith and Truex. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, the event restarted under green as Allgaier and Anthony Alfredo occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Alfredo dueled for the lead through the frontstretch with the field behind fanning out to multiple lanes. As the field continued to battle through the backstretch, Allgaier pulled away as he commenced the final lap of the second stage. With no competition luring behind, Allgaier claimed his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the season and third overall at the Lap 90 mark. Hill carved his way back to second followed by Hemric, Sammy Smith and Kyle Busch while Alfredo, Mayer, Herbst, Kaz Grala and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a few drivers including Allgaier and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Hill remained on the track.

    With 100 laps remaining, which marked the event’s halfway mark, the final stage started as Hill and Hemric occupied the front row. At the start, a three-wide battle ensued through the frontstretch as Kyle Busch and Hemric challenged Hill for the lead.  In the process, Sammy Smith made it a four-car battle as he joined the battle while Busch carved his way into the lead by a hair over Smith. Soon after, Smith launched his challenge on Busch for the lead before prevailing in Turn 2 with 97 laps remaining. As Smith assumed the lead, Busch fell back to second while Hemric, Hill and Mayer were scored in the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Truex was in sixth in front of teammate Nemechek, who rallied from his restart penalty, while Herbst, Custer and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

    With 90 laps remaining, Sammy Smith was leading by more than a second over Busch followed by Hemric, Hill and Nemechek while Mayer, Herbst, Ryan Truex, Custer and Chandler Smith occupied the top 10. Behind, Creed was in 11th ahead of Brandon Jones, Kyle Weatherman, Grala and Parker Kligerman while Berry, Jeb Burton, Allgaier, Moffitt and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 20.

    Fifteen laps later, Sammy Smith extended his advantage to more than three seconds over the new runner-up competitor Hill as Busch, who had debris on his front grille, slipped back to third to remove the debris behind Hill’s rear bumper. By then, Nemechek moved up to fourth in front of Mayer while Herbst, Hemric, Custer, Chandler Smith and Creed were running in the top 10.

    With 62 laps remaining, the caution flew when Gray Gaulding wrecked against the Turn 1 outside wall as his event came to a late end. During the caution period, the field led by Sammy Smith pitted, but Hill reassumed the lead following a stellar pit service from his No. 21 crew followed by Busch while Sammy Smith dropped to third. Nemechek, Herbst and Mayer exited fourth through sixth while Allgaier gained four spots to move up to eighth.

    Down to the final 53 laps, the event restarted under green. At the start, Hill led a stampede of competitors through the frontstretch until Kyle Busch pulled his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro even to Hill’s outside through the backstretch. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Busch peaked ahead with the lead, but Hill fought back on the inside lane. Then As Sammy Smith drew himself in between Busch and Hill to regain his lead through Turn 2, the caution returned when Creed got loose beneath Custer as he spun his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2 while being dodged by the field. At the moment of caution, Smith had reassumed the lead in front of Busch and Hill.

    During the following restart with 44 laps remaining, Smith fended off Kyle Busch to retain the lead through the frontstretch and entering the backstretch. In the process, Busch came under attack from Nemechek for the runner-up spot, which he lost in Turn 3 while Hill fell back to fourth in front of Berry and Allgaier. As the field behind jostled for late positions, Smith maintained the lead as he also started to extend it over teammate Nemechek while third-place Busch trailed by more than a second.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, the caution flew when Alfredo got loose and spun in Turn 2. By then, Sammy Smith was leading by more than two seconds over teammate Nemechek while third-place Busch trailed by more than three seconds.

    When the race restarted under green with 24 laps remaining, Kyle Busch launched a three-wide challenge on Sammy Smith and Nemechek in his bid for the lead through the frontstretch. Then in Turn 1, Nemechek went up the track and tagged the outside wall as he began losing spots. Meanwhile, Busch and Smith dueled for the lead through the backstretch, but Smith prevailed on the outside lane to remain as the leader. As Smith began to pull away during the following lap, a flurry of competitors running in the middle of the pack fanned out and jostled for late positions. Then with 22 laps remaining, Allgaier, who nearly got turned by teammate Brandon Jones in Turns 3 and 4 while running ninth, collided against Kaz Grala, who got pinned by Moffitt, and wrecked into the outside wall across the frontstretch as his eventful event came to an end with a wrecked race car.

    During the following restart with 15 laps remaining, Smith rocketed his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra away with the lead on the inside lane while Busch battled and just fended off Hill for second. Through the backstretch, Chandler Smith made his way into third followed by Ryan Truex as Hill fell back to fifth. Back at the front, Busch tried to launch an attack beneath Smith on the backstretch, but Smith fended off Busch to retain the lead as Chandler Smith joined the battle in his No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet Camaro.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Sammy Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Ryan Truex, who was piloting Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra, while Busch was being challenged by teammate Chandler Smith for third. Meanwhile, Herbst carved his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to fifth while Nemechek, Creed, Hill, Berry and Hemric occupied the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Sammy Smith continued to lead by nearly half a second over teammate Ryan Truex, who continued to reel in on his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate for the lead and potential win, while third-place Busch trailed by more than a second in front of teammate Chandler Smith and Herbst.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Sammy Smith remained as the leader by six-tenths of a second over teammate Ryan Truex, who kept Smith close within his sights but was running out of time to bid for the lead. Despite Truex executing a late valiant effort for his first NASCAR victory, he ran out of time as Smith was able to cycle his No. 18 Supra way back to the start/finish line and claim his first checkered flag in the series.

    With the victory, Smith, whose previous best result was 17th through the first three scheduled events, became the 172nd different competitor to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series level, the 21st to win an Xfinity event while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing and the third different winner of the 2023 season. He also became the youngest series winner at Phoenix and the fourth-youngest overall at age 18 years, nine months and seven days. In the process, he recorded the record 16th Xfinity victory for JGR at Phoenix.

    “It’s amazing,” Smith, a two-time ARCA Menards Series East champion, said on FS1. “It’s a dream come true. Just thanks to Pilot Flying J, TMC, Allstate Peterbilt Group, Toyota, all the guys on the [Joe Gibbs Racing] team for giving me this opportunity. It’s awesome.”

    Teammate Ryan Truex notched a career-best runner-up result in his first of six scheduled starts with Joe Gibbs Racing for this season, which marked his third runner-up finish in the series overall and his first runner-up result in the series since Phoenix in March 2019, which occurred while driving a part-time stint with JR Motorsports.

    “I thought we were good at the start,” Truex said. “Man, I think the track just changed a lot more than I expected it too. That long run, we were really bad. I was just hanging on, but [crew chief] Jason [Ratcliff] and these [No. 19] guys let me complain on the radio and made the right adjustments. That was a good restart at the end. Glad I could at least try to make it exciting. Congrats to Sammy. He was just the class of the field all day. His car just looked so good. [He] Could really kind of do whatever he wanted. Just thankful to be here. Thanks to Toyota Genuine Parts. Sammy was just a little bit faster, but I’ll try again next time.”

    Sheldon Creed muscled his way to third in front of Herbst while Chandler Smith, who had a last-lap dust-up with Kyle Busch, completed the top five. Nemechek, Hill and Berry finished sixth through eighth, respectively, while Busch, who got sideways beneath teammate Chandler Smith and hit the Turn 1 outside wall on the final lap, ended up ninth. Hemric completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 69 laps. In total, 33 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the fourth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill continues to lead the regular-season standings by 30 points over John Hunter Nemechek, 39 over Justin Allgaier and 40 over both Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst.

    Results.

    1. Sammy Smith, 92 laps led

    2. Ryan Truex

    3. Sheldon Creed

    4. Riley Herbst

    5. Chandler Smith, two laps led

    6. John Hunter Nemechek, 19 laps led

    7. Austin Hill, 22 laps led

    8. Josh Berry

    9. Kyle Busch, three laps led

    10. Daniel Hemric

    11. Sam Mayer, four laps led

    12. Cole Custer, 38 laps led

    13. Brett Moffitt

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Parker Kligerman

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. Kyle Weatherman

    18. Parker Retzlaff

    19. Ryan Ellis

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Josh Williams

    22. Jeb Burton

    23. Brandon Jones

    24. Connor Mosack

    25. Kyle Sieg

    26. Joey Gase

    27. Leland Honeyman

    28. Bayley Currey

    29. Brennan Poole

    30. Patrick Emerling

    31. Joe Graf Jr.

    32. Garrett Smithley

    33. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    34. Kaz Grala, one lap down

    35. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Suspension

    36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 20 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    37. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Accident

    38. Dawson Cram – OUT, Fuel pump

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a trip back to the south for the series’ first of two visits this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 18, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Phoenix

    Weekend schedule for Phoenix

    The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series head to Phoenix Raceway this weekend while the Camping World Truck Series is off until March 18 at Atlanta Speedway. The ARCA Menards Series will kickstart the racing action with the General Tire 150 at 8 p.m. Friday night.

    Chase Elliott is recovering from a broken left tibia he sustained in a snowboarding incident and JR Motorsports driver, Josh Berry, will fill in as the relief driver of the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet at all of the oval tracks. IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car driver, Jordan Taylor, is slated to drive the No. 9 at Circuit of The Americas. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe won his first Cup Series race last spring at the 1-mile track and is the defending race winner.

    Drivers to watch during the Xfinity United Rentals 200 at Phoenix include Austin Hill who has been on a hot streak with two wins in three events this season and Cup Series regular Kyle Busch.

    Busch will make his second Xfinity start this season at Phoenix and is currently tied with Mark Martin for the most Xfinity Series wins at a single track. Busch has 11 wins at Phoenix and Martin won 11 races at Rockingham Speedway.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, March 10

    5 p.m.: ARCA Practice – No TV
    6 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying – Impound, Timed, All Entries – No TV

    6:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – All Entries – FS2

    7:40 p.m.: ARCA Driver Intros
    8 p.m.: ARCA General Tire 150 (150 Laps, 150 Miles) FS2/MRN/SiriusXM

    Saturday, March 11

    12:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – FS1
    1:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – FS1
    Impound: Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, All Entries – FS1

    2:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound
    Group A & B, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    4 p.m.: Xfinity Driver Intros
    4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series United Rentals 200
    Stages end on Laps 45/90/200 – 200 miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,385,615

    Post Xfinity Series race – NASCAR Press Pass

    Sunday, March 12

    3 p.m.: Cup Driver Intros
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series United Rentals Work United 500
    Stages end on Laps 60/185/312 – 312 miles
    FOX/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $7,453,660
    Post Cup Series race – NASCAR Press Pass

  • Logano captures second NASCAR Cup Series championship with dominant victory at Phoenix

    Logano captures second NASCAR Cup Series championship with dominant victory at Phoenix

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results.

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

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

    3. Ross Chastain

    4. Chase Briscoe, 11 laps led

    5. Kevin Harvick

    6. William Byron

    7. Kyle Busch

    8. Denny Hamlin

    9. Kyle Larson

    10. Christopher Bell

    11. Austin Cindric

    12. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

    13. Austin Dillon

    14. Erik Jones

    15. Martin Truex Jr.

    16. Cole Custer, three laps led

    17. Daniel Hemric

    18. Corey LaJoie

    19. Harrison Burton

    20. Aric Almirola

    21. Chris Buescher

    22. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

    23. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

    24. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    25. Michael McDowell, one lap down

    26. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    27. Justin Haley, one lap down

    28. Chase Elliott, two laps down

    29. Todd Gilliland, three laps down

    30. Cody Ware, four laps down

    31. BJ McLeod, five laps down

    32. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., five laps down

    33. Garrett Smithley, eight laps down

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

    35. Brad Keselowski – OUT, Electrical

    36. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Joey Logano

    2. Ross Chastain

    3. Christopher Bell

    4. Chase Elliott

    5. Denny Hamlin

    6. William Byron

    7. Kyle Larson

    8. Ryan Blaney

    9. Chase Briscoe

    10. Daniel Suarez

    11. Austin Dillon

    12. Austin Cindric

    13. Kyle Busch

    14. Tyler Reddick

    15. Kevin Harvick

    16. Alex Bowman

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

  • Ty Gibbs dominates for first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix

    Ty Gibbs dominates for first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix

    In a season highlighted with competitive runs and big victories while also mired with controversial run-ins towards his fellow competitors amid his aggressive driving style, Ty Gibbs silenced his critics and responded back with redemption by winning the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship after muscling his way to a dominant victory in the Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, Nov. 5.

    The 20-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, led seven times for a race-high 125 of 200-scheduled laps and took care of business during the first half of the finale by sweeping both stages. Despite being pitted in a head-to-head matchup against a trio of JR Motorsports’ competitors highlighted by Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Josh Berry throughout the final stage, Gibbs did not relent by remaining competitive and battling towards the front with a strong race car and stellar work from his pit crew. After assuming the lead from Allgaier with 21 laps remaining, he then fended off a late charge from rival Gragson before claiming his first Xfinity title in his first full-time campaign in the series along with the second consecutive title for Joe Gibbs Racing in recent years.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Ty Gibbs, a Championship 4 finalist, claimed the final pole position of the 2022 season, which marked his fifth of this season, after posting a pole-winning lap at 134.298 mph in 26.806 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Sammy Smith, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 134.058 mph in 26.854 seconds. Gibbs’ title rivals that included Noah Gragson, Josh Berry and Justin Allgaier qualified fourth, ninth and 11th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, Rajah Caruth dropped to the rear of the filed for missing driver introductions along with Joe Graf Jr., who fell back in a backup car.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gibbs launched ahead with an early advantage as he retained the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out through the dogleg. With the clean air to his advantage, Gibbs went on to lead the first lap followed by Nick Sanchez and Sammy Smith while Noah Gragson was in fourth ahead of Brandon Jones, Landon Cassill, Sheldon Creed and Daniel Hemric.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Gibbs was leading by more than a second over Smith followed by a hard-charging Gragson while Sanchez fell back to fourth. Brandon Jones retained fifth ahead of Cassill, Creed, Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry and AJ Allmendinger while Hemric, who got bumped and nearly turned sideways by Allgaier early in the event, was back in 11th in front of rookie Austin Hill.

    At the Lap 10 mark, Gibbs extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Gragson, who overtook Smith three laps earlier, as Sanchez and Jones started to close in on Smith for more. Meanwhile, Allgaier was in seventh after overtaking Creed while Berry remained in ninth.

    Ten laps later, Gibbs, who was approaching lapped traffic, continued to extend his advantage as he was out in front by more than three seconds over runner-up Gragson. While Smith and Sanchez remained in third and fourth, Allgaier was up in fifth place ahead of Cassill and Brandon Jones while Berry, the fourth title contender, was in eighth in front of Creed and Allmendinger.

    Another 10 laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Brandon Brown blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 2 as he sustained significant right-side damage to his car. By then, three of the four championship finalists were running first through third on the track, with Gibbs retaining the lead by more than two seconds over runner-up Gragson and more than seven seconds over third-place Allgaier. By then, Berry, the fourth championship competitor, was still mired in eighth behind Brandon Jones.

    During the first caution period, some led by Smith and Sanchez pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

    With eight laps remaining in the first stage, the race proceeded under green. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Gibbs fended off Gragson to retain the lead as Gragson also fended off teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot through the first two turns. Behind, Cassill was in fourth ahead of Berry while the field continued to fan out to multiple lanes through the frontstretch and entering the backstretch. In the midst of the hard racing towards the middle of the pack, Sanchez and Smith were trying to carve their way back to the front on four fresh tires.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Gibbs struck first early as he claimed his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season. Title rivals Gragson, Allgaier and Berry settled in second through fourth, respectively, followed by Cassill while Creed, Sanchez, Smith, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the majority of the field led by Gibbs pitted while four competitors led by Sanchez remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gibbs was the first competitor to exit pit road first followed by teammate Brandon Jones, Cassill, Allmendinger, Gragson and Allgaier.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as Sanchez and Smith occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg again, Smith launched ahead of Sanchez followed by a hard-charging Gibbs through the first two turns. A lap later, however, Gibbs muscled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra back to the lead as teammate Brandon Jones joined the battle. Meanwhile, teammates Allgaier and Gragson were mired back in eighth and ninth while Berry was in 12th. Shortly after, Gragson pulled off a bold three-wide move on Allgaier and Riley Herbst through the dogleg for seventh place as he tried to march his way back to the front.

    By Lap 59, the caution returned when JJ Yeley spun in Turn 1 following contact from Kris Wright. At the moment of caution, Gibbs was leading both the race and the championship by nearly two seconds over Smith followed by Jones, Cassill and Hemric while Gragson, Allgaier, Sanchez, Herbst and Berry were running in the top 10.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 65, teammates Gibbs and Smith dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Smith rocketed ahead through the backstretch with the lead. A lap later, however, Gibbs fought back on the inside lane, though Smith did not relinquish the lead. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Gragson overtook Jones for third place as he started to close in on the two leaders. With Gragson in third, Allgaier was in fifth as he tried to close in on Jones for fourth place.

    Then on Lap 68, Gragson pulled a bold three-wide move on Gibbs and Smith through the frontstretch and the dogleg to take the lead entering Turn 1. Smith, however, fought back on the outside lane through Turn 2 and the backstretch as he retained the top spot by a hair. Then as Gibbs tried to overtake Gragson for the runner-up spot, Gragson fought back and retained the spot while Allgaier tried to close in while in fourth place.

    At the Lap 74 mark, Gragson muscled his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro into the lead through the frontstretch and the dogleg. Not long after, Gibbs overtook teammate Smith for the runner-up spot through Turn 3 as Allgaier made his way into third place, thus dropping Smith to fourth place. Behind, Cassill was in fifth followed by teammate Allgaier while Jones was being pressured by Sam Mayer and Berry for seventh place.

    On Lap 79, Gibbs reassumed the lead from Gragson, who then was being attacked by teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Despite attempting to fend off his JR Motorsports teammate for the spot during the next few laps, Gragson lost the spot to Allgaier as Smith and Cassill closed in to join the battle. Meanwhile, Gibbs started to pull away with the clean air to his advantage.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Gibbs captured his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season as he swept both stages in the finale and struck again in his quest for his first Xfinity title. Allgaier settled in second followed by Gragson, who recorded the most stage victories of this season at 16. Smith and Cassill were scored in the top five followed by Mayer, Jones, Allmendinger, Creed and Berry.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier emerged with the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Gibbs, Jones, Gragson, Smith and Cassill while Berry was mired back in 10th.

    With 102 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allgaier and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Gibbs dueled for the lead for a full lap as the field behind jostled for positions. During the following lap, Gibbs used the outside lane to his advantage as he reassumed the lead through Turns 1 and 2 while Allgaier was trying to fend off Gragson and Jones for third place. By then, the event surpassed its halfway mark. 

    On Lap 101, however, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck that erupted in Turn 4 when Smith got into the left rear fender of Mayer and ignited a chain reaction with Herbst, Anthony Alfredo, Kaz Grala, Kyle Weatherman, Ryan Sieg and Stefan Parsons all wrecking and sustaining damage to their respective cars.

    When the race restarted with 92 laps remaining, Gibbs and Allgaier dueled again for the lead through the first two turns until Gibbs pulled ahead on the outside lane during the following lap to retain the lead. Behind, teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for the runner-up spot while Allmendinger was in fourth in front of Creed, Jones and Berry.

    With 90 laps remaining, the caution flew when Smith, who had a good day gone bad during the previous caution period, had his race gone from bad to worse when he spun and wrecked along with Kyle Weatherman, Joey Gase and Mason Massey in Turn 2.

    During the following restart with 84 laps remaining, Gibbs and Gragson briefly dueled for the lead through the dogleg until the former pulled ahead through the backstretch. Then through Turns 3 and 4, Gragson muscled his car into the lead on the inside lane. Gibbs then tried to fight back on the inside lane during the following lap, but Gragson retained the spot while running the outside lane.

    With 80 laps remaining, however, a side-by-side action for the lead was instigated once again between Gragson and Gibbs, with the latter trying to pressure the former for the top spot. Gragson, however, refused to relinquish the lead through every turn, every straightaway and through every attempt made by Gibbs as Allgaier started to close in on the two leaders. By then, Berry was in fourth place as all four championship finalists were running first through fourth.

    With 75 laps remaining, Gragson was out in front by two-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier, who pressured Gibbs for the runner-up spot before succeeding, as Berry was trailing the lead by a second. 

    Five laps later, Gragson retained the lead on the track and for the championship battle by four-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier, seven-tenths of a second over third-place Gibbs and more than a second over fourth-place Berry. By then, Jones was in fifth while Creed, Cassill, Allmendinger, Hemric and Sanchez were scored in the top 10.

    Then with 55 laps remaining, the battle for the lead started to intensify as Gragson was starting to be intimidated by teammate Allgaier for the lead through the turns and the straightaways followed by Gibbs while Berry trailed by more than two seconds. By then, the leaders were also starting to catch lapped traffic. 

    With 53 laps remaining, Gragson went wide in Turn 3, which allowed Allgaier to assume the lead followed by a hard-charging Gibbs. Despite gathering his car back to his groove, Gragson was losing ground of the two leaders. Not long after, however, Mayer, who was on the track and multiple laps down, briefly stalled Gibbs’ momentum as Allgaier retained the lead, which allowed Gragson to close back in.

    Then with 47 laps remaining, Gibbs ignited a side-by-side battle for the lead against Allgaier, but Allgaier defended the top spot while running on the outside lane. Two laps later, however, the caution flew due to possible fluid on the track when Dillon Bassett’s No. 77 Chevrolet went up in smoke before coming to a stop below the apron in Turn 3.

    During the caution period, the field led by Allgaier made the left-hand turn to pit road for fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the pit stops, Gibbs exited with the lead followed by Allgaier, Berry, Creed, Allmendinger, Jones and Cassill while Gragson fell all the way back to eighth following another slow pit stop from his pit crew.

    Down to the final 36 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Gibbs and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier received a push from Creed to assume the lead through the dogleg and the frontstretch. He then went wide in Turns 1 and 2, which allowed Gibbs to rocket by with the lead as Allgaier, who had light smoke coming out of his car prior to the restart, was being challenged by Creed and Allmendinger for the runner-up spot in a three-wide battle. During the following lap, the caution returned when Gragson, who was trying to fight his way back to the front, got into the left-rear fender of Jones as Jones spun his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra towards the pit road entrance in Turn 2. By then, Allgaier retained second ahead of teammate Berry and behind title rival Gibbs.

    During the following restart with 30 laps remaining, Allgaier, who had light smoke puffing out of his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro again prior to the restart, received a strong start on the inside lane as he fended off Gibbs to assume the lead. Behind, Berry’s No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro washed up the track and he lost a bevy of spots through the first two turns while Gibbs launched a side-by-side attack on Allgaier for the lead. As Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Gibbs, Gragson was trying to fend off Creed for third place, which he persevered as he then tried to close in on the two leaders.

    With 21 laps remaining and following several laps of Gibbs and Allgaier trading spots back and forth between each turn and straightaway, a three-wide action for the lead occurred as Allgaier, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead. Then in Turn 1, Gibbs crossed over on Allgaier’s Chevrolet to reassume the lead. Gragson then overtook teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot while trying to keep rival Gibbs close enough to his front windshield.

    Down to the final 15 laps of the event, Gibbs was leading by more than half a second over Gragson while Allgaier trailed by a second in third place. Meanwhile, Berry was mired back in 14th place.

    Five laps later and with 10 laps remaining, Gibbs continued to lead the race and the championship by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Gragson while Allgaier was behind by a second in third place. In the midst of the battle for the lead, Berry was back in 14th as his title hopes were evaporating.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Gibbs retained the lead by half a second over Gragson, who was slowly running out of time. By then, Allgaier was also losing ground as he was more than a second behind in third place. 

    Then with two laps remaining, Gibbs’ momentum was briefly stalled by Mayer, who was multiple laps down, as he drew himself alongside Gibbs’ Toyota with both competitors battling through the backstretch. This allowed Gragson to slightly close in, but not enough as Gibbs pulled ahead of Gragson through Turns 3 and 4.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gibbs remained as the leader by three-tenths of a second over Gragson. Through Turns 1 and 2, Gibbs overtook the lapped car of Dawson Cram to try to increase his light advantage over Gragson. With a final opportunity to steal the victory and title, Gragson stepped on the gas through the backstretch as he overtook Cram. He then tried to get to Gibbs’ rear bumper, but the gap was not close enough for him to pounce. With Gragson unable to close back in, Gibbs cycled back to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line in first place to win both the finale and the championship. 

    With his accomplishment, Gibbs, who won the 2021 ARCA Menards Series championship and won in his Xfinity debut at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course during the same season, became the 32nd different competitor to win a NASCAR Xfinity Series championship as he recorded the fourth Xfinity drivers’ title for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. He also became the fourth-youngest competitor to win an Xfinity championship at age 20 years, one month and one day old. The title was also the seventh Xfinity Series owner’s championship title for Joe Gibbs Racing and the first for crew chief Chris Gayle.

    Upon performing his victorious burnout and waving the championship flag on the frontstretch, Gibbs’ championship celebration was met with an unpopular response from the crowd through a chorus of boos. The unpopular response from the crowd did very little to damper Gibbs’ celebratory mood, with the driver taking responsibility for his aggressive actions last weekend at Martinsville Speedway that eliminated teammate Brandon Jones’ opportunity to transfer to the finale.

    “First off, I just wanna say thank you to my team,” Gibbs, who notched his seventh victory of the season en route to the title, said on USA Network. “Every one of these guys. My pit crew. They did an awesome job. They put us here. Great job to my team. What I did last week was unacceptable. I apologize once again, but it was unacceptable because we could have had two shots to win this deal, and it was stupid from an organizational standpoint. I will sit here and tell you I’m sorry as much as I can, but it is not going to fix it. I’ve got to fix my actions. I feel like today I had a good race. We made some good moves. Me and [Allgaier] were racing really hard. Hopefully, we put on a good show for you fans. Thank you for all that you guys do.”

    “I don’t want to be the one with the boos,” Gibbs added. “I’m the one that put myself in that position, but whatever. I don’t want this championship to be remembered for boos. I want it to be remembered for the hard work on our team. Awesome job. Let’s go, Monster Energy! Thank you to the fans. Even though I don’t have many, hopefully, I earned some respect back. We’ll move on. Thank you, guys. I focused out the windshield. I felt like we had a great race with [Gragson]. Great job to JR Motorsports, but the 25% won. I had an awesome time racing in the Xfinity Series this year. Looking for more and I’m very excited. We’re champions. We’re champions.”

    Joe Gibbs, the team owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, added, “It was a tough week. We hated last week. We’re just trying to walk through this, since then, trying to do it the right way. Our family’s walking with Ty. Today was a huge day for all of us and particularly for the Xfinity group. They worked so hard. This is confidence [for Ty]. I felt like that race today was really exceptional. I think everybody was up there and everybody was battling. I appreciated the sportsmanship with the way everybody raced. I thought it was a great race. To be a part of that and somehow come out winning is just great. We’re excited about tomorrow [for the Cup Series finale], but we’ll kind of see what our guys do.”

    While Gibbs celebrated a championship on the main stage, Gragson was left disappointed on pit road after finishing in second place on the track and in the final standings, thus falling one spot short of winning his first NASCAR national touring series title in his final season with JR Motorsports. Nonetheless, the 2022 season was a career-defining season for the Las Vegas native, who notched a series-leading eight victories, two poles, 21 top-five results and 26 top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule. For the 2023 season, Gragson is set to graduate to the NASCAR Cup Series to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet for Petty GMS Motorsports.

    “[The difference was] Executions on pit stops,” Gragson said. “We just need to be better as a Bass Pro Shops team all around, but so proud of everyone’s efforts. Thought we really had a good car there in the second half. Restarted eighth on that last restart, got up to second. Just too tight there at the end, but still super proud of everybody. Just didn’t have enough for [Gibbs] at the end. It wasn’t from a lack of trying. I was gonna drive it in, if I was any closer and get that POS. Definitely sucks to lose to someone like that, but it’s not from a lack of effort.”

    “This Bass Pro Shops team was really good all year,” Gragson added. “Eight wins, led the most laps, most top fives. Just come up one race short, but just so thankful for everybody at JR Motorsports. It sucks. As a team effort, we win and lose as a team. Still proud of everyone’s efforts all year. We’ve been in position to win a lot of races and have executed them all. Just come up one spot short. Definitely bittersweet moving on to the Cup Series next year with Petty GMS [Motorsports]. Big thanks to them for putting me in the No. 42 car next year for them, but I’m gonna miss this JR Motorsports team. I know everyone’s pissed, but still an unbelievable year. Just gotta keep working hard. That’s all there is to it.” 

    Like Gragson, teammates Allgaier and Berry were also left disappointed after falling short of winning the title for JR Motorsports. For Allgaier, he capped off the season in third place both on the track and in the final standings. On the other hand, Berry settled in 13th place on the track and back in fourth place in the final standings.

    “Honestly at the end of the race there, we had some issues going on,” Allgaier said. “Not so sure the engine’s not blowing up. We didn’t have any gauges all night and it definitely was a struggle at the end to hold on. We just got a little bit too loose. Nothing to hang our heads over. Obviously, we’re dejected not one of our JR Motorsports’ cars went to Victory Lane or got the championship. It’s gonna make me even hungrier to go back to work on Monday and try to make this program better. Just proud of our team. Proud of the effort. We wanted it. I gave these guys 110%. I was actually yelling in the car just because I was frustrated at the end there not being able to catch [Gibbs]. My voice is gone. Just proud of the effort all year. You come to Daytona at the beginning of the year to make a shot at the Final Four and we did that. We’re gonna go back to work and we’ll come back next year ever stronger. Try to do it all over again.”

    “[It] Just was a long day,” Berry added. “Just a tough day. All weekend, we’ve just been fighting it a little bit. Just super, super loose at the start. Worked on it and got better. Got some track position. A couple restarts went our way. We were able to get up there, but the last restart, I don’t know. It’s so hard to tell with that traction compound. Sometimes, you go up [the high lane] and you can look like a hero. Sometimes, you look like a zero. I went up there. It just wasn’t cleaned off and got loose and got up too high. Lost all those spots. Just a tough day. I hate I made that mistake, but we were behind all day. Just wasn’t our day. Gonna work hard over the off-season to be better. Maybe, we can be back here next year.”

    Kaulig Racing’s Cassill and Allmendinger came home in fourth and fifth on the track while Creed, Herbst, Hemric, Hill and Sammy Smith completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    With his 21st top-10 result of the season, Hill clinched the 2022 Xfinity Series Rookie-of-the-Year title. With 24 victories throughout the 33-race schedule, Chevrolet capped off this season with the manufacturer’s title.

    There were 15 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 49 laps.

    Results.

    1. Ty Gibbs, 125 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Noah Gragson, 35 laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, 26 laps led

    4. Landon Cassill

    5. AJ Allmendinger

    6. Sheldon Creed

    7. Riley Herbst

    8. Daniel Hemric

    9. Austin Hill

    10. Sammy Smith, 10 laps led

    11. Brandon Jones

    12. Nick Sanchez, four laps led

    13. Josh Berry

    14. Kyle Weatherman

    15. Josh Williams

    16. Jeb Burton

    17. Rajah Caruth

    18. Alex Labbe

    19. Bayley Currey

    20. Ryan Sieg

    21. Parker Retzlaff

    22. Kyle Sieg

    23. Kaz Grala

    24. Joey Gase

    25. Myatt Snider

    26. Kris Wright

    27. Jeremy Clements

    28. Stefan Parsons, one lap down

    29. Brennan Poole, two laps down

    30. JJ Yeley, three laps down

    31. Dawson Cram, four laps down

    32. BJ McLeod, four laps down

    33. Mason Massey, four laps down

    34. Sam Mayer, five laps down

    35. Anthony Alfredo, six laps down

    36. Joe Graf Jr., seven laps down

    37. Brandon Brown – OUT, Suspension

    38. Dillon Bassett – OUT, Engine

    *Bold indicates Championship finalists

    Final standings.

    1. Ty Gibbs

    2. Noah Gragson

    3. Justin Allgaier

    4. Josh Berry

    5. AJ Allmendinger

    6. Austin Hill

    7. Sam Mayer

    8. Brandon Jones

    9. Daniel Hemric

    10. Riley Herbst

    11. Ryan Sieg

    12. Jeremy Clements

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action on February 18, 2023, at Daytona International Speedway to commence a new season of competition.

  • Zane Smith earns first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    Zane Smith earns first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship at Phoenix

    After finishing in the runner-up spot in the final standings during the previous two seasons, the third time was the lucky charm for Zane Smith as he prevailed in a late battle against his title rivals to win the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship along with the season-finale Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix Raceway on Friday, November 4.

    In total, the 23-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, led five times for a race-high 77 of 154 over-scheduled laps during the finale from pole position. Despite losing a combined five spots on pit road during the conclusion of both stages, which he won both, he remained within striking distance of the title fight and against his title rivals throughout the final stage. From executing a bold three-wide pass for the lead during a restart with 39 laps remaining to pitting for four fresh tires and restarting towards the top 10 with 10 laps remaining, Smith carved his way back to the runner-up spot and received another opportunity to reassume the lead after title rival Ty Majeski spun with four laps remaining, an incident that nearly collected Smith. Then during an overtime attempt, Smith prevailed in a late battle against Rhodes and Chandler Smith, including a final lap “bump-and-run” attempt from Rhodes, to assume the lead for good and proceed to win both the finale and claim his first elusive NASCAR national touring series championship.  

    The 2022 Truck Series championship comes in Smith’s third full-time season in the series and his first with Front Row Motorsports, where he commenced the season by winning at Daytona International Speedway in February and notching two additional victories throughout the regular-season stretch before clinching the 2022 Truck Series regular-season title, entering the Playoffs with momentum and utilizing consistency to transfer all the way to the Championship 4 round.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Zane Smith, a Championship 4 finalist, claimed the final pole position of the 2022 season and the first of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 138.032 mph in 26.081 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Layne Riggs, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 137.825 mph in 26.120 seconds. Zane Smith’s other three championship rivals that included Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski and Chandler Smith qualified sixth, eighth and 12th, respectively.

    Prior to the event, Derek Kraus dropped to the rear of the field in a backup truck along with rookie Dean Thompson, who dropped back due to an engine change to his truck.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Zane Smith fended off an early charge from rookie Corey Heim to retain the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as he went on to lead the first lap. During the following lap, however, Layne Riggs mounted a charge through Turns 1 and 2 as he overtook Smith for the lead. Despite being challenged by Smith, Riggs retained the top spot as the field behind jostled for positions.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Riggs was leading by two-tenths of a second over Zane followed by Heim, Stewart Friesen and Ben Rhodes while Ty Majeski, Matt Crafton, John Hunter Nemechek, Tanner Gray and Christian Eckes were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith, the fourth and final title contender, was in 12th while trying to march his way to the front.

    Two laps later, the first caution flew when Keith McGee and Armani Williams, both of whom were battling at the rear of the field, wrecked in Turn 3. The two-truck wreck occurred a lap early after Zane Smith had reassumed the lead over Riggs.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, Zane Smith rocketed with a strong start to retain the lead as the field fanned out through the dogleg and entering Turn 2. Meanwhile, Heim moved up to second followed by Riggs, who soon after lost third place to teammate Friesen, while Rhodes retained fifth.

    By Lap 20, Zane Smith’s No. 38 Michael Roberts Construction Ford F-150 was leading by more than a second over Heim’s No. 51 Crescent Tools Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by Friesen, Riggs and Rhodes while Grant Enfinger, Nemechek, Crafton, Eckes and Chandler Smith occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Majeski, who was running within the top 10, was back in 11th ahead of brothers Tanner and Taylor Gray while Rajah Caruth and Matt DiBenedetto were running in the top 15.

    Five laps later, Zane Smith stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Heim while Friesen, Riggs and Rhodes remained in the top five. By then, Nemchek moved up to sixth following a fierce battle against Enfinger, who fell back to seventh and was being pressured by Matt Crafton for more. Chandler Smith and Majeski were back in ninth and 11th, respectively.

    Another 10 laps later, Zane Smith extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Heim followed by Friesen and a side-by-side battle for fourth place between Riggs and Nemechek. While Zane Smith remained as the top-running title contender with the race lead, his title rivals that included Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Majeski were back in seventh, ninth and 10th, respectively.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Zane Smith struck first early in his championship bid by capturing his ninth stage victory of the 2022 season. Heim settled in second followed by Friesen, Nemechek and Crafton while Rhodes, Enfinger, Chandler Smith, Eckes and Riggs were scored in the top 10. By then, Majeski was scored in 11th after getting edged by Riggs at the start/finish line.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Zane Smith pitted for fresh tires, fuel and adjustments. Following the pit stops, Heim exited first followed by teammate Nemechek, Zane Smith, teammate Chandler Smith, Enfinger, Majeski and Crafton. Following the pit stops, trouble struck for Eckes, who initially exited ninth but limped back to his pit stall with the left-front tire on his No. 98 CMR Toyota Tundra TRD Pro locked up and igniting sparks around the circuit.

    The second stage started on Lap 53 as teammates Heim and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg, Heim retained the lead ahead of teammates Nemechek and Chandler Smith followed by Zane Smith. During the following lap, however, Nemechek assumed the lead in his No. 4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Tundra TRD Pro followed by Heim, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith as the field behind continued to jostle for positions. By then, Carson Hocevar was assessed a pass-through penalty for a restart violation.

    By Lap 60, Nemechek was leading by a second over title contender Zane Smith followed by Chandler Smith, Heim and Majeski while Friesen, Enfinger, Crafton, Taylor Gray and Rhodes were in the top 10.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 75, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Zane Smith followed by Chandler Smith, Heim and Friesen while Majeski, Crafton, Enfinger, Taylor Gray and Rhodes were scored in the top 10 ahead of Caruth, Tyler Ankrum, Riggs, DiBenedetto, Tanner Gray and Eckes. By then, 22 of 35 competitors were scored on the lead lap.

    Nearly five laps later, the battle for the lead ignited between Nemechek and Zane Smith as Smith tried to overtake Nemechek through the backstretch. Nemechek, however, retained the top spot through Turns 3 and 4 and continued to lead ahead of a hard-charging Smith.

    Then with four laps remaining in the second stage and following his late battle against Nemechek, Zane Smith emerged out in front with the lead despite Nemechek fighting back through every turn and straightaway. Despite being drawn against Nemechek during the following three laps, Zane Smith was able to fend off Nemechek as he went on to capture his series-leading 10th stage victory of the 2022 season and second of the night on Lap 90 as he struck yet again in his bid to claim his first NASCAR championship. Nemechek settled in second while Chandler Smith, Heim, Majeski, Crafton, Enfinger, Friesen, Taylor Gray and Rhodes were scored in the top 10. 

    Under the stage break, the field led by Zane Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited with the top spot followed by Chandler Smith, Heim, Zane Smith, Majeski and Rhodes. In the midst of the pit stops, DiBenedetto was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 52 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Nemechek and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the dogleg again, Chandler Smith retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Zane Smith and Heim. Then the caution quickly returned when Eckes spun and backed his truck against the Turn 1 outside wall after getting hit by Tyler Ankrum entering the turn and in the midst of the field fanning out to multiple lanes.

    When the race restarted with 45 laps remaining, Chandler Smith briefly retained the lead ahead of the field through the dogleg and the first two turns until teammate Nemechek challenged and overtook Smith on the outside lane for the top spot. The caution, however, quickly returned once again due to a multi-truck wreck in Turn 1 that involved Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Riggs and Kraus.

    During the following restart with 39 laps remaining, Zane Smith, who restarted on the inside lane behind Nemechek, used the dogleg to his advantage as he launched a three-wide challenge and drew himself in a bid for the lead alongside Chandler Smith. He then managed to overtake and clear Chandler Smith for the lead exiting the backstretch and entering Turn 3 while Nemechek settled in third. 

    With 30 laps remaining, Zane Smith was leading both the race and the championship by seven-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith’s No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota Tundra TRD Pro while Nemechek, Enfinger and Majeski and Rhodes were in the top six ahead of Heim, Crafton, Kaden Honeycutt and Ankrum.

    Ten laps later, Zane Smith continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while Nemechek, Enfinger and Majeski remained in the top five on the track. Meanwhile, the fourth and final Playoff competitor, Rhodes, was back in seventh behind Heim.

    Then another four laps later, the caution flew when Hailie Deegan cut a left-tire tire and went dead straight into the outside wall in Turn 3 as her final race with David Gilliland Racing came to a late end. During the caution period, Friesen and Hocevar remained on the track while the rest led by Zane Smith pitted. Following the pit stops, Rhodes exited pit road first after opting for a two-tire pit strategy followed by DiBenedetto, Honeycutt and the Gray brothers, all of whom opted for just two fresh tires. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was the first competitor to exit pit road with four fresh tires in sixth place followed by Majeski, Nemechek and Zane Smith.

    With the race restarting with 10 laps remaining, the field fanned out as Friesen retained the lead ahead of Rhodes and Hocevar. As both Zane and Chandler Smith were trying to carve their way back towards the front, teammates Rhodes and Majeski battled for second and for the title, with the former trying to overtake Friesen for the race lead. 

    With seven laps remaining, Rhodes overtook Friesen for the lead on two fresh tires entering the backstretch as he commenced his late charge to defend his series title. By then, however, Zane Smith carved his way back into the runner-up spot while both Majeski and Chandler Smith were were trying to overtake Friesen to maintain their title hopes.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, the final four title contenders were first through fourth on the track, with Rhodes leading ahead of Zane Smith, Majeksi and Chandler Smith. 

    Then during the following lap, Majeski’s championship hopes evaporated after the Wisconsin native made contact with Zane Smith entering the backstretch while battling for the runner-up spot, which caused Majeski’s No. 66 Road Ranger Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to get loose as he spun and made light contact against the inside wall. Majeski’s incident was also enough to send the event into overtime as the event exceeded past its scheduled distance.

    During the first overtime attempt, Zane Smith, who opted to restart behind Rhodes on the inside lane, used the dogleg to his advantage as he managed to overtake both Chandler Smith and Rhodes through the first two turns to reassume the lead. Chandler Smith then crossed over to Zane’s Ford on the inside lane as he tried to stall Zane’s run while drawing even with Zane through the backstretch. Chandler, however, slightly slid up the track through Turn 3, which allowed Zane Smith to pull ahead while Rhodes rejoined the battle for the lead and the championship.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zane Smith was out in front by a mere margin over Chandler Smith and Rhodes. Through the first two turns, Zane Smith pulled ahead followed by a hard-charging Rhodes while Chandler Smith fell back to third. With Rhodes setting up a final attempt on Zane Smith for the victory and the title, he then got to Zane’s rear bumper in an attempt to bump and move him up the track to overtake him. The bump, however, was not enough to stall Smith’s momentum as the Californian managed to remain ahead of Rhodes and beat him to the finish line by two-tenths of a second to win the finale and clinch his first series championship.

    With his accomplishment, Zane Smith, who ended up as the championship runner-up during the previous two seasons while competing for GMS Racing, became the 20th different competitor to win the Truck Series championship along with becoming the first Ford competitor to win a Truck title since Matt Crafton made the last accomplishment in 2019. He also recorded the first NASCAR drivers’ and owners’ championships to Front Row Motorsports in the team’s third season in the series with crew chief Chris Lawson also achieving his first NASCAR Truck title. With the champion Zane Smith winning the finale, this marks the third time since the series’ Playoff elimination-style format was incepted in 2016 where the championship-winning competitor won the finale.

    “Oh my god,” Smith, who will be remaining in the Truck Series with Front Row Motorsports for 2023, said on FS1. “Third time’s a charm. I wanted this [championship] more than anyone in the world. I don’t care what anyone says. Thank you, all you race fans. My whole team, man. I was crying that whole lap. My fiancé, McCall, stuck to me with all the brutal times. I’ve wanted this championship for so long. I’ve wanted this moment all my whole life. Thank you, everyone. That’s all I got. I wasn’t gonna let it go down like that. I was either wrecked or I was winning this [championship]. There was no other option. Last year and the year before, we showed so much speed and should’ve won a lot more races than we did, but [team owner] Bob Jenkins is the only reason why I’m here right now. Without him, none of this would be possible. When I came [to Front Row Motorsports], all I cared about was the guys that were on this team and I had seen their work ethics. I’d seen the effort they put in and I know they wanted it as bad as I do. I didn’t care what the trucks looked like. All I knew was their work ethic was there and we could make a championship out of this team.”

    While Smith celebrated a championship on the championship stage, Rhodes was left disappointed with his runner-up result both in the event and in the final standings as he came one position shy of defending his series crown.

    “Two tires versus four. That was the name of the game,” Rhodes said. “We didn’t have the pace all night that we needed to be up there and compete, so it was a great heads-up call by my crew chief. Ultimately, we just didn’t need that last caution. I think we could’ve held [the field] off for the final few laps. I was giving [Zane Smith] all the dirty air he could handle. I think we were gonna be fine until that caution just got us. I did what I could on the restart to try to get a jump, but with two tires versus four, I just didn’t have the grip I needed. I tried to hold him off the best I could. [I] Threw a move on him at the very end and just didn’t have enough grip to make it stick. All in all, I am proud of my Kubota Toyota Tundra team, ThorSport Racing. We didn’t have the pace, but we got up there. That’s what matters at the end. We just got to go back, do our homework. Second is not fun. I’m gonna mope my way all the way back to Kentucky…I’d like to not be coming to clutch all the time.”

    With Zane Smith and Rhodes finishing first and second both on the track and in the final standings, Chandler Smith ended up in third place while Majeski, who settled in 20th place during the finale, ended up in fourth place in the final standings. Despite ending up in third place in his final event with Kyle Busch Motorsports, Chandler Smith remained optimistic approaching next season as he will be moving up to the Xfinity Series to drive for Kaulig Racing.

    “It just wasn’t meant to be,” Smith said. “We were mistake free. The pit crew was on top of it. [We] Gained positions every time on pit road. Had a shot at the end. I’m at peace with that because at the end of the day, it’s all part of the bigger plan. It was fun racing with [Zane Smith]. I appreciate the opportunity [from] Safelite,[Kyle Busch Motorsports], Toyota Racing Development’s given me for the past six-plus years. It sucks that it’s ending, but onwards to bigger and better things over at Kaulig Racing. Really looking forward to starting next year already.”

    Like Smith, Ty Majeski, who clinched his spot for the Championship 4 on the strength of Playoff victories at Bristol Motor Speedway and at Talladega Superspeedway, remained positive over his attempted run for the title as he looks ahead to next season.

    “I was being aggressive there,” Majeski said. “We wanted to bring a championship home for Duke and Rhonda [Thorson] and everybody at ThorSport [Racing]. I thought the best opportunity there for us was to try to wiggle [Smith] a little bit and try to get underneath him and try to set up the race between Ben [Rhodes] and I. I was just trying to be aggressive underneath him and lost it off of [Turn] 2. All you can ask for is the chance to win the championship with five to go and we had that tonight, and it just didn’t pan out. I’m proud of our season and proud of what we accomplished as a 66 bunch. [Crew chief] Joe [Shear Jr.] and the team have been great to work with. It just stings to be that close and see it in front of you and just come up a little bit short. We will come back next year and come back stronger.”

    John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth in the finale and fifth in the final standings in his second and final campaign with Kyle Busch Motorsports while Friesen wrapped up the season in fifth place on the track and in sixth place in the standings. Enfinger, Heim, Tanner Gray, Kaden Honeycutt and Carson Hocevar completed the top 10 on the track.

    With his seventh-place result, Heim clinched the 2022 Truck Series Rookie-of-the-Year title. With 12 victories to this season, Toyota was awarded their 13th manufacturer’s title in the Truck circuit.

    The 2022 NASCAR Truck Series season marks the 14th and final season under title sponsorship from Camping World as Craftsman Tools will be filling in the role and returning as a title sponsor for the series since 2008.

    There were 15 lead changes for seven different leaders. The finale featured five cautions for 42 laps.

    Results.

    1. Zane Smith, 77 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    2. Ben Rhodes, eight laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, nine laps led

    4. John Hunter Nemechek, 44 laps led

    5. Stewart Friesen, six laps led

    6. Grant Enfinger

    7. Corey Heim, five laps led

    8. Tanner Gray

    9. Kaden Honeycutt

    10. Carson Hocevar 

    11. Derek Kraus

    12. Matt Crafton

    13. Layne Riggs, five laps led

    14. Tyler Ankrum

    15. Colby Howard

    16. Jake Garcia

    17. Taylor Gray

    18. Lawlesss Alan

    19. Chase Purdy

    20. Ty Majeski 

    21. Dean Thompson

    22. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

    23. Tyler Hill, two laps down

    24. Austin Wayne Self, two laps down

    25. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

    26. Chris Hacker, two laps down

    27. Timmy Hill, two laps down

    28. Johnny Sauter, two laps down

    29. Jack Wood, three laps down

    30. Christian Eckes, three laps down

    31. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

    32. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

    33. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Too slow

    34. Keith McGee – OUT, Dvp

    35. Armami Williams – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Championship finalists

    Final standings

    1. Zane Smith 

    2. Ben Rhodes

    3. Chandler Smith

    4. Ty Majeski

    5. John Hunter Nemechek

    6. Stewart Friesen

    7. Grant Enfinger

    8. Christian Eckess

    9. Matt Crafton

    10. Carson Hocevar

    The NASCAR Truck Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2023, to commence a new season of racing.

     

  • Justin Allgaier – Driven by desire, fueled by family

    Justin Allgaier – Driven by desire, fueled by family

    As Justin Allgaier prepares for the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway, he does so with the confidence and experience of a seasoned veteran in the sport.

    He has qualified for the Xfinity Playoffs under the current format for seven consecutive years and this season is the fifth time that Allgaier has advanced to the Championship Round of 4.

    “The final-four race is truly special. I don’t think I realized that as much as I did last year when I missed it. You know, we were the first car out last year. And I came to Phoenix and the word deflated doesn’t even begin to describe last year.“

    Looking ahead to this weekend’s race, Allgaier is hoping that past experience will translate into success, but he also realizes that the competition will be fierce.

    “As a veteran, I’d love nothing more than to walk out of here with a win and a championship,” he said. ”But I got three other competitors that I know are extremely talented and you got three race teams that are extremely talented.

    “So, we’re gonna have our work cut out for us. But, the only advantage I got right now is I got time on my side, I got experience, and we’ve been in this position before, and hopefully, we can make the most of it.”

    And while a championship title is on the line, Allgaier approaches it like any other race during the year.

    “If I look at this race as being different, how did I get here? I didn’t get here by being different. I got here because I did the things that I know how to do. What I will say is this, you have to respect this race. It’s not a matter of, it’s just another race, in the terms of the respect level that you have to have for this event. But the way you approach it has to be that you’re not going to do anything different.”

    Allgaier also acknowledged that racing against teammates can be tricky.  

    “When it comes down to the checkered flag, I think the gloves are off and we gotta do what we gotta do. I think we gotta race each other to the start/finish line.”

    What would a championship mean to Allgaier?

    “My reason for wanting to win a championship is probably a little different than everybody else,” he explained. “I have a debt to pay to every man and woman that has helped me in my career to get to this level. I want to win because I’m competitive. But when it’s all said and done I want to equally win as much for all the people, all the companies, all the partners, everybody that’s been a part of this. I want my guys to stand in victory lane and I want them to experience that. So that’s what it would mean to me.”

    Regardless of the outcome, Allgaier’s belief in his abilities will remain unchanged.

    “If we don’t win it, it’s not because of lack of effort. When Saturday is over, if we win or we lose, it will not define the career that I’ve had. I want to add champion to my name, but it’s not going to define who I am.”

    And while there is no doubting his desire to win as a competitor, he would not have this opportunity without the continuing support of his family.

    “What’s cool for me is the family dynamic that we have in our race team, Allgaier added. “Number one, Mom and Dad, Mom actually started it all, funded me, time and effort, everything you could ever ask for from a set of parents.

    “I meet my wife and my wife has carried that banner. “She’s an amazing parent and she has taken what my parents started and she has embodied that and truly been an incredible part of my career and getting me to where I’m at.”

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on the USA Network with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM.

    *Justin Allgaier Quotes via SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

  • Weekend schedule for NASCAR Championship finale at Phoenix

    Weekend schedule for NASCAR Championship finale at Phoenix

    NASCAR travels to Phoenix Raceway this week for the final race of the year where the driver that achieves the highest finish in their respective series will be crowned the 2022 NASCAR Champion.

    Chase Elliott, 2020 Champion, Joey Logano, 2018 Cup Series Champion, Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain will be competing for the NASCAR Cup Series trophy Sunday afternoon.

    Justin Allgaier, Josh Berry, Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson will race Saturday evening for the NASCAR Xfinity Series title, each hoping to claim their first championship.

    The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship contenders will hit the track Friday night as Ty Majeski, Ben Rhodes, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith battle for the coveted trophy.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, Nov. 3

    8:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – All Entries – No TV
    9:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West – Practice/Qualifying – No TV

    Friday, Nov. 4

    2:30 p.m.: ARCA Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 – FloRacing/MRN
    6 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound – Single Vehicle/1 Lap/ All Entries) FS1
    7:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – All Entries – USA
    8:05 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – All Entries – USA/MRN

    10 p.m.: Truck Series Lucas Oil 150
    Distance 150 Laps = 150 Miles
    Stages: 45/90/150 Laps
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $817,025

    Saturday, Nov. 5

    2:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – (Impound – Single Vehicle/1 Lap/ All Entries) NBC Sports App
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – (Impound – Group A & B/ Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds) USA/MRN/NBC Sports App

    6 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race
    Distance: 200 Laps = 200 Miles
    Stages 45/90/200 Laps
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    The Purse: $1,645,625

    Sunday, Nov. 6

    3 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Championship race
    Distance: 312 Laps = 312 Miles
    Stages: 60/185/312 Laps
    NBC/Peacock/MRN/SiriusXM
    The Purse: $10,542,284