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‘I’m not willing to lose. I’m not willing to fail.’ – Ryan Preece

Stewart-Haas Racing announced today that Ryan Preece will move to a full-time position with the team in 2023, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang in the NASCAR Cup Series.

He will replace Cole Custer who has driven the SHR No. 41 since 2020 with one Cup Series win at Kentucky Speedway. Custer will remain with the team but return to the Xfinity Series where he has 10 wins, highlighted by seven victories during the 2019 season.

Preece’s promotion signifies the end of a somewhat unique alliance. In January 2022 Preece was signed as a reserve driver for the organization while also competing on a limited schedule in all three of NASCAR’s top series. His results included one Camping World Truck Series win at Nashville Superspeedway.

Though it was an unconventional arrangement with no guarantee that it would evolve into a full-time position, Preece seized the opportunity. It was a calculated decision by the Berlin, Connecticut native, who made his mark in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, winning the championship in 2013 and earning 25 career wins.

But despite his success across multiple series, he wanted more.

“This is a second chance and something where I’ve won in everything I’ve ever been in. I’ve won so many different championships at a local level, whether it was track championships or regional championships, it’s just been something where I’ve learned how to be a winner and I wanted to do it at NASCAR’s highest level.”

And for Preece, it was a gamble he was willing to take.

“This could have gone way different, but I’ve never been the conservative type of person. I’m willing to risk it all and it’s worked out.

“I did turn down truck opportunities, Xfinity opportunities,” he added. “There were quite a few different teams that came to me, whether they were full-time or part-time, and I thought about if there was the smallest bit of opportunity for me to end up at Stewart-Haas, I wasn’t gonna walk away. I was willing to sit there until there was absolutely no hope and possibly be jobless, possibly not have a ride, but I was willing to take that risk.”

As an added bonus, Preece heads into next season with the support of team co-owner, Tony Stewart, who reportedly was one of the main factors in the decision to promote Preece.

“To have a guy like him in your corner trying to help you fight for that opportunity because sometimes it just takes somebody cracking that door open so you can bust through it,” he said, “and it’s taken a lot of people to do this.

“Ultimately, it’s worked out and this opportunity has come.”

Preece is determined to make the most of it.

“A lot of that comes down to how bad somebody wants it and what they’re willing to do, and I think my past experiences show that I’m willing to do whatever it takes.

“I’m not willing to lose. I’m not willing to fail.”

November 16, 2022
Herbst retained by Stewart-Haas Racing for 2023 Xfinity Series season

Stewart-Haas Racing took to social media to announce that Riley Herbst will be retaining his role as a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for the organization and in the No. 98 Ford Mustang sponsored by Monster Energy for the upcoming racing season.

The 23-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, is coming off his second full-time campaign with SHR and third overall in the Xfinity circuit, where he achieved a pole at Nashville Superspeedway in June, a career-high eight top-five results and 20 top-10 results, 12 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 13.0 throughout the 33-race schedule. He also qualified for the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs, where he was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 before he went on to finish in a career-best 10th place in the final championship standings.

After achieving his first ARCA Menards Series career victory at Pocono Raceway in 2017 while competing for Joe Gibbs Racing, Herbst made his Xfinity Series debut during the following season at Iowa Speedway, where he piloted JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Camry to a sixth-place result. He then campaigned in nine Xfinity events in 2019, where he recorded three top-10 results, before competing on a full-time basis in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Supra for the 2020 Xfinity season. He proceeded to finish 12th in the final standings, where he also recorded two runner-up results, 17 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 16.0 and made the Xfinity Playoffs.

Herbst moved to Stewart-Haas Racing to drive the No. 98 Ford Mustang in 2021. He concluded the season with an 11th-place result in the final standings after recording his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May along with a total of five top-five results, 13 top-10 results, a career-high 57 laps led, an average-finishing result of 17.1 and a second consecutive berth to the Xfinity Playoffs.

Through a total of 109 career starts in the Xfinity circuit, Herbst has achieved two poles, 17 top-five results, 54 top-10 results, 85 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.4 as he continues to pursue his first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

The Monster is back and stronger than ever.@rileyherbst returns to the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for 2023. pic.twitter.com/Ta75BwVWjM
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) November 15, 2022

With his plans for next season set, Herbst will return to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, which will mark the start of the 2023 Xfinity Series season. The event’s coverage is scheduled to occur at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

November 15, 2022
Herbst to make 100th Xfinity career start at Darlington

Competing in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Riley Herbst is within reach of a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity event at Darlington Raceway, the driver of the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Herbst made his Xfinity Series debut at Iowa Speedway in June 2018. By then, he was a full-time ARCA Series competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing and a part-time NASCAR Truck Series competitor for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He had also earned a single ARCA career victory at Pocono Raceway in 2017. Driving the No. 18 JGR Toyota Camry, Herbst started ninth and finished an impressive sixth-place in his Xfinity debut.

The following season, Herbst returned for nine Xfinity races, all in JGR’s No. 18 Toyota Supra. Starting with a ninth-place result at Richmond Raceway in April, Herbst earned a total of three top-10 results and six top-15 results.

In 2020, Herbst earned a full-time ride in the No. 18 JGR Toyota Supra in the Xfinity circuit, where he entered as a Rookie-of-the-Year contender. His rookie season started off on a low note when he finished 32nd at Daytona International Speedway in February following a multi-car accident a lap shy of the halfway mark. Herbst, though, rebounded the following three weekends by finishing ninth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a career-best second place at Auto Club Speedway following a late battle with teammate Harrison Burton and 10th at Phoenix Raceway in March. Eleven races later, Herbst notched another runner-up result behind Austin Cindric in the first of a Kentucky Speedway doubleheader feature in July. Overall, Herbst earned four top-five results and 16 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to qualify for the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs based on points. His pursuit for the championship, however, came to an end following results of 12th, 35th and 12th in the first round of the Playoffs. Earning just one top-10 result in the final four races of the schedule, Herbst concluded his first full-time Xfinity season in 12th place in the standings with a total of four top-five results and 17 top-10 results.

The following season, Herbst joined Stewart-Haas Racing to pilot the No. 98 Ford Mustang, an entry that had achieved nine victories the previous Xfinity season with Chase Briscoe. Despite achieving his first career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, the 2021 regular season stretch for the Las Vegas native was a difficult stretch as his best on-track result was third at Bristol Motor Speedway in September. To go along with a total of four top-five results and 11 top-10 results, Herbst managed to grab a spot in the 2021 Xfinity Playoffs. Following three consecutive DNFs and finishes outside the top 25 during the Round of 12, his titles hopes came to an early end as he was one of four competitors to be eliminated from the Playoffs. He managed to record two top-10 results during the final four scheduled races, including a fourth-place effort in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, before finishing in 11th place in the final standings in a season where he earned five top-five results and 13 top-10 results.

Remaining at Stewart-Haas Racing for a second consecutive season, Herbst commenced the season with a fourth-place result at Daytona followed by a ninth-place run at Auto Club Speedway in February. Since then, he earned his second Xfinity career pole at Nashville Superspeedway in June along with a total of five top-five results and 15 top-10 results. He is currently ranked in eighth place in the regular-season standings and is 107 points above the top-12 cutline to qualify for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs that will commence in September.

Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Herbst has achieved two poles, 14 top-five results, 49 top-10 results, 84 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.5 while he continues to pursue his first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

Herbst is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, September 3, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 31, 2022
Custer to make 100th Cup career start at Watkins Glen

Competing in his third full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Cole Custer is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup event at Watkins Glen International, the driver of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will reach 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Ladera Ranch, California, Custer made his Cup Series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2018. By then, he was competing in his second season as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Stewart-Haas Racing. Driving the No. 51 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, Custer started 30th and finished 25th in his series debut. He competed in two additional Cup races for RWR at Pocono Raceway in June and at Richmond Raceway in September, where he finished 26th in both events.

Following back-to-back runner-up results in the final Xfinity Series standings in 2018 and 2019, Custer was promoted to the NASCAR Cup Series as a full-time competitor for Stewart-Haas Racing and in the No. 41 Ford Mustang. He kicked off his rookie Cup season with a 37th-place result in the Daytona 500 following a rear end failure. He rebounded three races later by finishing ninth at Phoenix Raceway in March, which marked his first top-10 result in the Cup circuit.

After finishing no higher than 12th through the following 11 scheduled races, Custer notched his first top-five result in the Cup Series after finishing fifth at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July. Then, the Californian scored his first Cup career victory during the following weekend at Kentucky Speedway after he overtook Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. with a bold four-wide pass on the final lap and during an overtime attempt. The victory, which occurred in his 20th series start, made Custer the 194th different competitor to win in the Cup Series and it guaranteed the driver and his No. 41 SHR team a spot in the 2020 Cup Playoffs. Custer went on to record three additional top-10 results during the 26-race regular-season stretch before the Playoffs commenced. By then, Custer wrapped up the 2020 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year title since he was the lone rookie contender to make the Playoffs and would finish higher in the standings than his fellow contenders (Tyler Reddick, Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Brennan Poole and Quin Houff).

After finishing no higher than 12th during the Round of 16 in the Playoffs, Custer’s title hopes came to an end as he was one of four competitors eliminated from the postseason. Nonetheless, he went on to record a ninth-place result at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval in October before capping off his rookie Cup season in 16th place in the final standings.

Custer, who returned to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2021, kicked off his sophomore Cup season by finishing 11th in the Daytona 500. His lone highlights throughout the season, however, were a pair of 10th-place results (Talladega Superspeedway in April and Dover International Speedway in May) as he endured an inconsistent regular season stretch that prevented him from making the 2021 Cup Playoffs. Finishing no higher than 11th during the final 10 scheduled events, Custer capped off his sophomore Cup season in 26th place in the final standings.

Through 99 previous Cup starts, Custer has achieved one victory, one pole, two top-five results, 11 top-10 results, 17 laps led and an average-finishing result of 20.7. This season, he achieved his first Cup career pole at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in April and has recorded two top-10 results through the first 24-scheduled events, which are a pair of ninth-place runs at Atlanta Motor Speedway and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July. He is also ranked in 25th place in the regular-season standings and trails the top-16 cutline to make the 2022 Cup Playoffs by 363 points with two regular-season events remaining to the schedule.

Custer is primed to make his 100th Cup Series career start at Watkins Glen International on Sunday, August 21, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 17, 2022
Harvick shakes up the 2022 Cup Playoff field; snaps two-year winless drought at Michigan

With the start of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs looming, the battle for the final transfer spots to the postseason witnessed a major shakeup as Kevin Harvick vaulted himself into the Playoff picture by returning to Victory Lane after winning the FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday, August 7.

The 2014 Cup Series champion led the final 35 of 200-scheduled laps as he managed to pull away during a 35-lap dash to the finish and beat pole-sitter Bubba Wallace by less than three seconds to snap a 65-race winless drought and capture his first elusive NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2022 season in the Irish Hills. The victory was one that placed Harvick’s name above top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Bubba Wallace achieved the first Cup Series pole position for himself and for 23XI Racing after posting a pole-winning lap at 190.703 mph in 37.755 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Christopher Bell, who posted his best lap at 189.898 mph in 37.915 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the race started following a one-hour delay due to rain, Wallace received a push from Joey Logano to retain the lead through the first two turns while Logano, Bell and Kyle Busch engaged in a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot. Soon after Logano grabbed the runner-up spot, Tyler Reddick bolted his way in a three-wide move between Bell and Kyle Busch in a bid for third place while Wallace proceeded to lead the first lap.

During the second lap, Wallace maintained the top spot ahead of Logano while Kyle Busch engaged in a tight, side-by-side battle with Reddick for third place in front of Bell and Kyle Larson.

Through the first five laps, Wallace was leading by four-tenths over Logano followed by Reddick, Kyle Busch and Bell while Larson, Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Michael McDowell and rookie Austin Cindric were in the top 10. Behind, Kevin Harvick was in 11th ahead of Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Ty Gibbs and Ross Chastain while Noah Gragson, Aric Almirola, Daniel Suarez, Chase Briscoe and Chris Buescher occupied the top 20.

At the Lap 10 mark, Wallace continued to lead by more than a second over Reddick. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch, Larson and Bell were scored in the top five while Logano, who reported debris on the front grille of his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang, had fallen back in sixth ahead of Erik Jones.

When the event reached Lap 20, the first caution flew due to NASCAR establishing a competition caution amid the rain-delayed start. At the time of caution, Wallace retained the lead by more than a second over Reddick while Kyle Busch, Bell and Larson were in the top five. By then, Logano had fallen back to ninth while being overtaken by Erik Jones, Truex and Hamlin. During the competition caution period, some led by Wallace pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 24, Bell and Erik Jones, both of whom did not pit during the competition caution, dueled for the lead until Bell managed to pull ahead on the outside lane. Shortly after, however, the caution flew when JJ Yeley, who appeared to fall off the pace through the first two turns as the field fanned out to avoid Yeley, got hit by Michael McDowell, which triggered a multi-car wreck that involved Aric Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., rookies Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland, Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric, who pounded the outside wall head-on and demolished the front nose of his No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang. All competitors involved, including Cindric, emerged uninjured, though big names that included Cindric, Kyle Busch, Almirola and Stenhouse were eliminated from further competition.

Following an extensive caution period, the race proceeded under green on Lap 32. At the start, Bell retained the lead on the outside lane while teammate Denny Hamlin made his way into the runner-up spot over Erik Jones as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Bell captured his second stage victory of the 2022 season. Teammate Hamlin trailed in the runner-up spot followed by Erik Jones, Martin Truex Jr., Chris Buescher, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Chase Briscoe.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Bell pitted and amid a flurry of different strategies, Chastain exited with the lead followed by Larson, Blaney, Wallace and Harvick. Back on the track, however, Ty Gibbs and Corey LaJoie remained on the track

The second stage started on Lap 51 as Gibbs and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain rocketed his No. 1 AdventHealth Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to the lead on the inside lane. Behind, Gibbs retained the runner-up spot followed by LaJoie, Blaney and the field. Then through the frontstretch and as Blaney took over third place, Erik Jones made a bold four-wide move in a bid for fourth place over Harvick, Larson and LaJoie before he settled behind LaJoie and Larson through the first two turns as Wallace tried to work his way back to the front.

By Lap 60, Chastain was leading by three-tenths of a second over Larson followed by Gibbs, Bell and Blaney while Hamlin, Wallace, Gragson, Erik Jones and Harvick were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Truex was mired back in 11th ahead of Reddick, Byron, Buescher and Bowman while Logano, Elliott, LaJoie, Briscoe and Brad Keselowski were scored in the top 20.

At the Lap 75 mark, Chastain continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Hamlin, who overtook teammate Bell on the frontstretch while Noah Gragson, who was making his ninth Cup career start, was scored in fourth place ahead of Larson. Gibbs was back in sixth ahead of Harvick, Wallace, Erik Jones and Truex.

Four laps later, Hamlin used the outside lane to muscle his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry into the lead. In the process, teammate Bell navigated his No. 20 SiriusXM Toyota TRD Camry into the runner-up spot. By then, Wallace outlasted a four-car battle against Reddick, Erik Jones and Truex to move into eighth place.

A few laps later, Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs, who was substituting for the injured Kurt Busch for a third consecutive event, pitted under green. Cole Custer also pitted not long with a flat left-front tire.

Nearing the Lap 90 mark, Blaney pitted his No. 12 Menards Ford Mustang under green along with Harvick and Wallace. Byron would also pit his No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 along with Chastain as Hamlin continued to lead. During the pit stops, Chastain was assessed a drive-through penalty for an uncontrolled tire violation when two tires rolled out of his pit box.

Then just as Hamlin pitted along with Larson, Reddick, Truex, Logano, Bell, Elliott, the caution flew on Lap 97 when Cole Custer, who fell off the pace starting in the backstretch, had fire erupting out of the left front of his No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang. Despite the fire, Custer managed to nurse his car back to his pit stall, where he quickly emerged uninjured as his race came to an end.

During the caution period, some like Erik Jones, Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Briscoe, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon, Josh Bilicki, Truex, Larson, Byron and Cody Ware pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

With 15 laps remaining in the second stage, the race restated under green. At the start, Harvick and Hamlin dueled for the lead while Brad Keselowski settled in third ahead of Bell and Larson. Shortly after, Bell overtook Keselowski for third as the field fanned out through the frontstretch. By then, Reddick pitted under green as his No. 8 pit crew popped the hood of his No. 8 Chevrolet open to address a mechanical issue, an issue that would eliminate him from further competition.

Three laps later, the caution returned when Noah Gragson spun after he broke a toe link and slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 as he nursed his No. 16 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road with extensive damage. Under caution, some led by Harvick and Bell pitted while the rest led by Hamlin remained on the track.

With the race restarting under green with seven laps remaining in the second stage, Hamlin managed to pull ahead with the lead as Suarez muscled his way into the runner-up spot over Keselowski and Larson as the field fanned out through the backstretch and back to the frontstretch. As the field continued to jostle for positions, Hamlin pulled away with the lead.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Hamlin captured his third stage victory of the 2022 season. Suarez settled in second followed by Larson, Bell, Keselowski, Erik Jones, Austin Dillon, Alex Bowman, Byron and Logano.

Under the stage break, some led by Hamlin pitted while the rest led by Suarez remained on the track. During the pit stops, Larson was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, Austin Hill, a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Richard Childress Racing who was making his Cup Series debut, was penalized for having a crew member jump over the wall too soon.

With 74 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Suarez and Bell occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the first two turns, Suarez managed to fend off Bell to retain the lead while Chastain rallied from his uncontrolled tire violation that pinned him a lap behind to work his way back into third place ahead of Logano and Austin Dillon. Behind, Harvick overtook teammate Chase Briscoe for sixth while Hamlin started to close in while running in eighth place.

Nearing the final 60 laps of the event, the battle for the lead intensified between Suarez and Bell as both dueled dead even for the lead with Chastain closing in. Despite Bell’s intimidation, Suarez maintained the lead by a tenth of a second while Chastain remained in third and trailing by six-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Logano was in fourth ahead of Harvick and Hamlin while Austin Dillon was in seventh ahead of Wallace, Briscoe and Gibbs.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, the battle for the lead continued to intensify as Trackhouse Racing’s Suarez and Chastain battled for the lead with the former leading the latter. Behind, Hamlin overtook teammate Bell for third place as he continued to power his way to the front while Bubba Wallace, who overtook Logano for sixth place earlier, started to challenge Harvick for fifth, which he succeeded during the following lap. Not long after, Austin Dillon and Briscoe pitted under green.

Then with 45 laps remaining, the cycle of green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Buescher pitted. During the following lap, teammates Suarez and Chastain pitted together, with Chastain managing to exit ahead of Suarez, as Hamlin assumed the lead. Harvick would then pit during the following lap.

With 41 laps remaining, trouble ensued in Turn 4 when Chastain, who had just pitted for fresh tires and fuel but a lap behind, made contact with Bell as he sent Bell’s No. 20 Toyota into the outside wall in Turn 4 with Bell’s car suffering significant right-front damage. The incident was enough for NASCAR to display the caution.

Under caution, the majority of the field that had not yet pitted led by Hamlin and Wallace pitted as Hamlin exited pit road first ahead of Wallace, Larson, Bowman and Logano. Back on the track, however, Harvick and BJ McLeod remained on the track as Harvick, who pitted prior to the caution and remained on the lead lap, assumed the lead. Following the pit stops, Hamlin was penalized for having too many crew members over the wall when a crew member leaned over his pit box to catch a loose tire. In addition, Ty Gibbs was penalized for speeding on pit road.

Down to the final 35 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Harvick received a push from Larson to retain the lead through the first turn. Despite being pressured by Wallace entering the backstretch, Harvick managed to pull away with the lead while Wallace and Larson dueled for second. Then in Turn 1, Logano, who joined the battle ensuing between Larson and Wallace in Turn 4, washed up the track and forced Wallace wide, which also affected Larson as his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 slid outside of the top 10 and back in ninth while Logano and Wallace battled for the runner-up spot.

With 30 laps remaining, Harvick was leading by more than a second over Logano while Wallace was being pressured by Blaney for third place. Erik Jones was in fifth followed by Bowman, Truex, Elliott, Larson and Hamlin.

Ten laps later, Harvick extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Logano, who had Wallace pressuring him for the runner-up spot, while Blaney and Erik Jones remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who was trying to carve his way back to the front, challenged Larson for eighth place. In addition, Erik Jones was being pressured by Truex for fifth place while Bowman started to close in.

Another two laps later, Wallace dueled and overtook Logano for the runner-up spot as he began his pursuit on Harvick for the lead. Meanwhile, Blaney started to pressure teammate Logano for third place while Hamlin rocketed his way to sixth behind Erik Jones.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang continued to lead by more than four seconds over Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry while his team owner Hamlin battled Logano for third place in front of Blaney.

With five laps remaining, Harvick stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Wallace. By then, Suarez limped his No. 99 Worldwide Express Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road after he cut a left-front tire and limped around the speedway for a full lap. Despite the late incident, the race proceeded under green.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Harvick remained as the leader by less than four seconds over Wallace. With Wallace unable to narrow the deficit in a single lap, Harvick cruised his way around the two-mile speedway circuit for a final time and cycled his way back to the frontstretch to claim his first checkered flag in two years.

In addition to snapping a 65-race winless drought, Harvick achieved his sixth victory at Michigan, the second victory of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing and his 59th career win in NASCAR’s premier series. In addition, he became the 15th different competitor to win this season and be guaranteed a spot to the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs after coming into the event trailing the cutline by 96 points.

Photo by Tim Jarrold for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Just good timing, for sure,” Harvick said on USA Network. “We’ve had several good runs the last few weeks. Loudon, Pocono, where the car ran good and just didn’t have everything work out. Just really proud of everybody on our Busch Light Apple Ford Mustang. They’ve been digging along all year long, trying to make these Mustangs run faster and they haven’t been great this year. Our guys have done a good job in trying to take what we have, maximize it and do the things that we need to do. Really proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

“Everybody who doubted us doesn’t know us,” Harvick added. “They obviously know that we thrive in these types of situations. A lot of things went our way today, which we haven’t had, all year long, have things go our way and things fall our way. There at the end, we pitted, didn’t go a lap down, the caution came out, got control of the race. That’s the thing I struggled with the most today was traffic, the restarts and just having to make up ground. Once I got clear of traffic, [the car] was hunting. It’s been a while. Coming to Michigan, this has been a great place for us. Just gotta thank all the fans. They’ve stuck with us through this little dry spell, so hopefully, we can back to Victory lane again soon.”

Wallace, who started on pole position and came into this weekend in a “must-win” scenario to draw himself into the Playoff picture, claimed the runner-up spot for the second time this season and for his fourth consecutive top-10 result in recent weeks after leading the first 22 laps. The result, however, kept Wallace in 20th place in the regular-season standings as he trails the top-16 cutline by 235 points.

“[I’m] Replaying everything I could have done,” Wallace, who fought tears of disappointment, said. “[I] Should have taken the top on the restart. Thought I could hang with [Harvick] and just got to racing [Larson] and [Logano]. [Logano] did a great job of getting another Ford contract by helping another Ford win. All in all, an incredible weekend. Appreciate my team. Wish we could have gotten Toyota in victory lane. Wish we could have got McDonalds in victory lane again. [The car] was fast all weekend. I will wear this one on my heart for a while. I failed everybody…Hate it. Hate it for our team. Sucks. It was a hell of a job for our team. There were a lot of positives from this weekend, but I’m a person that looks more at the negatives and I need to change that. I want to win so bad and this was the best opportunity.”

Hamlin rallied from his late pit road miscue to finish in third place while Logano and Blaney finished in the top five. The top-three result, however, did little to ease Hamlin’s frustration in having a potential victory slip out of his grasp following his late pit road penalty.

“It’s just frustrating,” Hamlin said. “We’ve had really fast cars throughout the year and Dover comes to mind and Pocono comes to mind and this race comes to mind and a bunch of others. Just cant get a [win] in the column. Hats off to Joe Gibbs Racing for giving me a car that fast and my team for setting it up really good. This is a piece of the puzzle you have to have to win races. Everyone has to do their job to the best of their ability and we just are lacking in one little section of our team that we just can’t hem up…I just hope that we make strides and keep getting better. It’s just frustrating when you have fast cars like our Toyotas did this weekend, there’s just absolutely no excuse for not winning. We’re the ones that have to look each other in the face on Monday and figure out how we just keep doing this. Hopefully we can make it constructive and continue to get better, but obviously it’s disappointing.”

Completing the top 10 on the track were Truex, Larson, Erik Jones, Bowman and Ty Gibbs.

There were 15 lead changes for 10 different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 36 laps.

With three regular season races remaining this season, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular season standings by 119 points over Ryan Blaney, 137 over Ross Chastain, 138 over Martin Truex Jr. and 142 over Kyle Larson.

Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, rookie Austin Cindric and Kevin Harvick are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch while Ryan Blaney occupies the 16th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs based on points. Martin Truex Jr. trails the top-16 cutline by 19 points, Erik Jones trails by 190 points, Aric Almirola trails by 210 points, Bubba Wallace trails by 235, Austin Dillon trails by 245, Justin Haley trails by 283, Chris Buescher trails by 286 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 333 points.

Results.

1. Kevin Harvick, 38 laps led

2. Bubba Wallace, 22 laps led

3. Denny Hamlin, 38 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Joey Logano

5. Ryan Blaney

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Kyle Larson

8. Erik Jones, five laps led

9. Alex Bowman

10. Ty Gibbs, two laps led

11. Chase Elliott

12. William Byron

13. Austin Dillon

14. Ty Dillon

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Chris Buescher, one lap led

17. Justin Haley

18. Austin Hill

19. Corey LaJoie

20. Chase Briscoe

21. Josh Bilicki

22. Cody Ware

23. BJ McLeod, one lap down, one lap led

24. Ross Chastain, two laps down, 29 laps led

25. Daniel Suarez, seven laps down, 33 laps led

26. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident, 31 laps led, Stage 1 winner

27. Todd Gilliland, 12 laps down

28. Michael McDowell, 13 laps down

29. Tyler Reddick – OUT, Engine

30. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

31. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident

32. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

33. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

34. Aric Almirola – OUT, Accident

35. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

36. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident

37. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ second and final visit of the season to Richmond Raceway. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, August 14, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 7, 2022
Drew Blickensderfer to call 400th Cup event as crew chief at Atlanta

A significant milestone achievement is in the making for Drew Blickensderfer, crew chief for Aric Almirola and the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s Cup event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Blickensderfer will call his 400th race as a crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Mount Zion, Illinois, Blickensderfer, who grew up interested in racing and had a brief career as a modified racer before relocating to North Carolina and working as a crew member for Dale Earnhardt Inc., Bill Davis Racing and Roush Racing, became a crew chief for the first time during the 2006 Xfinity Series season when he worked atop the pit box of the No. 50 Roush Racing Ford team driven by Danny O’Quinn Jr. He then remained as an Xfinity crew chief for the newly named Roush Fenway Racing in 2007, where he led the No. 17 Ford team to his first two career victories as a crew chief with Matt Kenseth piloting the ride. After commencing the 2008 season as a crew chief for the No. 17 entry, where he went to Victory Lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Kenseth in March, he made a mid-season swap to Roush’s No. 60 Ford team that was being piloted by Carl Edwards. With Edwards behind the wheel, Blickensderfer led the No. 60 team to seven victories and a runner-up result in the 2008 Xfinity drivers’ standings.

In 2009, Blickensderfer graduated to the NASCAR Cup Series to work as a crew chief for the 2003 Cup champion Matt Kenseth and the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion team. In his first appearance as a Cup crew chief, Blickensderfer achieved his first career win in the rain-shortened 51st running of the Daytona 500, which marked the first 500 victory for both Kenseth and Roush Fenway Racing. The duo then went two-for-two early in the 2009 season after Kenseth held off Jeff Gordon to win at Auto Club Speedway during the following weekend. Their flawless start to the season, however, came to an end during the following weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when Kenseth retired in 43rd place, dead last, due to an early engine failure. Then for the remaining 23 regular season events, the No. 17 team led by Blickensderfer only achieved seven additional top-10 results as they slipped out of the top-12 postseason cutline during the regular season finale at Richmond Raceway in September and resulted with Kenseth failing to make the Cup Series Playoffs for the first time in his career. Kenseth and Blickensderfer went on to record three top-three results during the final 10 events before finishing in 14th place in the final standings.

Early in the 2010 Cup Series season, Blickensderfer was replaced by veteran Todd Parrott despite guiding Kenseth to an eighth-place result during the 52nd running of the Daytona 500 in February. Seven months later, he returned as a crew chief for David Ragan and the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion team, beginning at Kansas Speedway. Blickensderfer served as Ragan’s crew chief for six of the final eight scheduled events as they achieved a season-best result of eighth place at Texas Motor Speedway in November before Ragan finished in 24th place in the final standings.

Blickensderfer remained as Ragan’s crew chief for the 2011 Cup Series season. During the 53rd running of the Daytona 500, Ragan was in position to win until he was penalized for a late restart violation, where he swapped lanes from the top to the bottom prior to reaching the start/finish line to restart the event. The penalty sent him to the rear of the field as he ended up in 14th place in the final running order. Blickensderfer and Ragan then recorded four top-10 results, including a runner-up result in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May, during the following 15 scheduled events. They also managed to earn a victory in the non-points All-Star Open at Charlotte in May that allowed Ragan to compete in his first All-Star Race, where he finished eighth. Then when NASCAR returned to Daytona in July, Ragan redeemed himself by claiming the Coke Zero 400 and notching his first career victory in NASCAR’s premier series. The victory also snapped Blickensderfer’s 57-race winless drought dating back to February 2009. For the remainder of the season, however, the duo earned only three additional results in the top 10 and did not make the Playoffs as Ragan fell back to 23rd place in the final standings.

For the 2012 Cup season, Blickensderfer transitioned from Roush Fenway Racing to Richard Childress Racing, where he served as a crew chief for veteran Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Chevrolet Impala team. The duo earned a fifth-place result during the 54th running of the Daytona 500 before finishing sixth at Bristol Motor Speedway three races later. Despite achieving a runner-up result at Daytona in July, Burton and Blickensderfer struggled with consistency as they did not make the Playoffs. Then with three races remaining to the season, Blickensderfer moved to Richard Petty Motorsports to serve as crew chief for Australia’s Marcos Ambrose and the No. 9 Ford Fusion team. During the three-race stint, the new duo managed a season-best result of 13th place during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November before Ambrose finished in 18th place in the final standings, one spot ahead of Jeff Burton. By then, Blickensderfer surpassed 100 career events as a Cup Series crew chief.

Blickensderfer remained as Ambrose’s crew chief for the following two seasons. During the two seasons, the duo earned a pole, three top-five results and 13 top-10 results with Ambrose’s best points result being 22nd in 2013. Their best on-track moment during the two-year stretch was at Watkins Glen International in August 2014, where Ambrose settled in second place following a late battle with eventual winner AJ Allmendinger.

Ten races into the 2015 Cup Series season, Blickensderfer was a crew chief for Sam Hornish Jr., who replaced Ambrose in the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford Fusion but finished no higher than sixth place at Talladega Superspeedway in early May. After being replaced by veteran crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion in May, Blickensderfer did not return as a Cup Series crew chief until late into the 2016 season, where he worked atop the No. 43 RPM Ford Fusion pit box piloted by Aric Almirola. Appearing in seven of the final eight scheduled events, Almirola and Blickensderfer finished no higher than eighth place, which occurred at Talladega in October, before Almirola finished in 26th place in the final standings for a second consecutive season. By then, Blickensderfer surpassed 200 Cup career events as a crew chief.

Remaining as Almirola’s crew chief, Blickensderfer commenced the 2017 Cup season with a fourth-place result in the 59th running of the Daytona 500. Nine races later at Talladega in May, however, Blickensderfer was hit with a three-race suspension and a $65,000 fine due to Almirola’s fourth-place car failing post-race inspection. By the time Blickensderfer returned atop the No. 43 paddock, Almirola was absent and recovering from injuries sustained from a harrowing wreck at Kansas Speedway in May. At Pocono Raceway in June, Blickensderfer worked with Bubba Wallace, who finished 26th in his Cup debut. After spending the following four scheduled events working with Wallace and road-ringer Billy Johnson, Blickensderfer reunited with Almirola at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. The duo, however, could not generate on-track consistency for the remainder of the regular season stretch as they missed the Playoffs. They went on to finish in the top 10 three times during the final 10 events before Almirola settled in 29th place in the final standings.

For the 2018 Cup Series season, Blickensderfer was paired with Bubba Wallace, who took over the No. 43 RPM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and contended for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. During the 60th running of the Daytona 500, Wallace rubbed fenders with Denny Hamlin to earn a strong runner-up result by a nose. Blickensderfer and Wallace would proceed to finish in the top 10 on two additional occasions for the remainder of the season as Wallace settled in 28th place in the final standings and a runner-up to the Rookie-of-the-Year title behind William Byron.

In 2019, Blickensderfer departed Richard Petty Motorsports and joined Front Row Motorsports to serve as a crew chief for Michael McDowell and the No. 34 Ford Mustang team. The new duo earned a strong fifth-place result during the 61st running of the Daytona 500 before earning one additional top-five result at Talladega in October and finishing in 27th place in the final standings. By then, Blickensderfer surpassed 300 Cup career events as a crew chief.

Despite finishing in 16th place during the 62nd running of the Daytona 500 in 2020, Blickensderfer and McDowell doubled their top-10 results from the previous season to four and boosted their final standings result by four places to 23rd.

Then in 2021, Blickensderfer etched his name as a two-time Daytona 500 winning crew chief and returned to Victory Lane after McDowell dodged a multi-car melee on the final lap to take the lead at the moment of caution and claim his first victory in his 358th career start in NASCAR’s premier series. The Daytona 500 victory along with four additional results in the top 10 during the 26-race regular season stretch were enough for McDowell to claim a spot for the 2021 Cup Playoffs, which marked Blickensderfer’s first postseason appearance as a Cup Series crew chief. The duo’s run for the title, however, came to an early end during the Round of 16 after McDowell finished 37th, 28th and 24th respectively. Finishing no higher than 16th place twice during the final seven events, McDowell settled in a career-best 16th place in the final standings.

Following a three-year stint at Front Row Motorsports, Blickensderfer announced his departure from the team in December 2021. A month later, he was announced as a crew chief for Almirola, who was set to retire as a full-time competitor following the 2022 season, and the No. 10 Ford Mustang team for Stewart-Haas Racing. The move marked a reunion for both the crew chief and the driver since 2017. Through the first half of the 2022 Cup season, Blickensderfer and Almirola have achieved two top-five results and five top-10 results. Despite being ranked in 12th place in the regular season standings, they trail the cutline to qualify for the 2022 Cup Playoffs by 47 points with eight regular season events remaining to the schedule.

Through 399 previous appearances, Blickensderfer has achieved four victories, four poles, 26 top-five results and 68 top-10 results while working with nine different competitors.

Blickensderfer is scheduled to call his 400th Cup Series career event at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, July 10, at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

July 6, 2022
Almirola to make 400th Cup career start at Darlington

Embarking in his 11th and final full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series, Aric Almirola is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway, the driver of the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang will achieve career start No. 400 in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Tampa, Florida, Almirola made his inaugural presence in the Cup Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March 2007. By then, he had made 10 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and 29 starts in the Truck Series as he was competing on a part-time schedule with Joe Gibbs Racing. Driving the No. 80 Chevrolet Monte Carlo for JGR, Almirola started 31st and finished 41st in his Cup debut after being involved in an early accident.

Later in the 2007 season, Almirola transitioned from Joe Gibbs Racing to Dale Earnhardt Inc. as he piloted the No. 01 Chevrolet in five of the remaining 13 Cup races to the schedule. His best result during his span was a 30th-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway in October.

In 2008, Almirola served as a co-primary driver of the No. 8 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet Impala alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin. His first start of the season occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in March, where he achieved his first top-10 career finish in eighth place. He then made 11 additional starts throughout the 2008 Cup season, where he collected two 13th-place results (Bristol Motor Speedway in August and Talladega Superspeedway in October). He also led 53 laps at Martinsville Speedway in October before falling back to 20th place. When the final checkered flag of the 2008 season flew, Almirola capped off his part-time Cup campaign by finishing in 35th place in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November following an early spin.

Almirola commenced the 2009 Cup Series season as a full-time competitor in DEI’s No. 8 Chevrolet Impala. He finished 30th in the 51st running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in two separate incidents, but rallied three races later by finishing 21st at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March. Following the first seven races of the season, however, Almirola’s full-time Cup ride with DEI was cut short due to sponsorship issues. Returning to compete in four Xfinity and 16 Truck Series races for the remainder of the 2009 season, he also made an additional Cup start at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September, where he drove the No. 09 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Impala to a 29th-place result.

Almirola entered the 2010 season with plans of competing with Phoenix Racing on a full-time basis in the Cup Series while also racing in the Camping World Truck Series for Billy Ballew Motorsports. His Cup plans with Phoenix Raceway, however, came to an early end after he failed to qualify in three of the first seven scheduled events and finished no higher than 39th, which was sat Bristol in March. He then set his main focus towards vying for the 2010 Truck title with Billy Ballew Motorsports, where he went on to win his first two Truck career races and finish in second place in the final standings. He also competed in eight Xfinity races with JR Motorsports. A month prior to the 2010 Cup season’s conclusion, however, Almirola drove the No. 9 Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports at Martinsville as an interim competitor in place of veteran Kasey Kahne, who left RPM for Red Bull Racing. Finishing 21st at Martinsville, Almirola ended up competing in the final four Cup races of the season with RPM. During this short span, he notched his first career top-five result in the Cup Series after finishing fourth in the season finale at Homestead in November.

After spending the 2011 season in the Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports, where he earned 18 top-10 results and finished in fourth place in the final standings, Almirola was signed by Richard Petty Motorsports to drive the iconic No. 43 Ford Fusion for the 2012 Cup season. Almirola started the season by finishing in 33rd place in the 54th running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car accident. He managed to finish 12th at Phoenix Raceway, but fell back to 24th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. During the first nine events of the season, he had one top-10 result logged in, which was an eighth-place result at Martinsville in April. After finishing 12th at Talladega and 19th at Darlington Raceway in May, Almirola captured his first Cup career pole at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600. Despite finishing in 16th place in the Coke 600, Almirola rebounded the following week at Dover International Speedway by finishing in sixth place. From Pocono Raceway in June through Richmond Raceway in September, Almirola finished no higher than 17th place on the track, which were enough to prevent him from qualifying for the 2012 Cup Playoffs. At Kansas Speedway in October, he led 69 laps but was involved in three separate incidents that dropped him to 29th place in the final running order. He rallied during the following event at Martinsville by finishing fourth. He then capped off the season with a seventh-place result at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November and a 20th-place result in the final standings.

Remaining at Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2013 Cup season, Almirola finished 13th in the 55th running of the Daytona 500 and 15th during the following race at Phoenix. Following the first 10 Cup races of the season, he was coming off four consecutive top-10 results and was in eighth place in the regular-season standings. The early consistency for Almirola and the No. 43 team, however, did not last for the remainder of the 26-race regular-season stretch as he achieved only one top-five result, which was a season-best fifth place at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, and failed to make the Playoffs. He went on to conclude the 2013 season in 18th place in the final standings along with six top-10 results and a career-best average result of 18.8. Following the 2013 season, Almirola surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

After inking a three-year extension to remain at Richard Petty Motorsports, Almirola commenced the 2014 season with a 39th-place result in the Daytona 500 after being involved in a late multi-car accident. Three races later, he captured his first top-three result in the Cup circuit after finishing in third place at Bristol Motor Speedway behind Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

When NASCAR returned to Daytona in July, which marked the halfway point of the season, Almirola had achieved one top-five result and three top-10 results, but came into Daytona with an opportunity to grab a victory and race his way into the 2014 Cup Playoffs. During the race, Almirola dodged two multi-car accidents and outlasted the field, including late challenges from Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch and Casey Mears, to retain the lead when the race was red-flagged and deemed official on Lap 112 of 160 due to heavy precipitation. The call handed Almirola his first Cup career victory in his 125th series start as he snapped five-year winless drought for Richard Petty Motorsports. Almirola’s first Cup victory marked the first win for the No. 43 since 1999, which was last made by the late John Andretti at Martinsville Speedway. It also occurred 30 years to the day where Richard Petty recorded his unprecedented 200th and final NASCAR win at Daytona. With his victory, Almirola clinched a spot for the 2014 Cup Playoffs.

Following the breakthrough victory at Daytona, Almirola recorded two top-10 results for the remaining eight regular-season races before entering the Playoffs as one of 16 competitors vying for the 2014 Cup championship. He, however, was one of four competitors who was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 16 despite finishing as high as sixth place at New Hampshire in September. Despite his early exit from title contention, Almirola went on to finish the season in a career-best 16th place in the final standings and with a career-high seven top-10 results.

Following a breakthrough 2014 season, Almirola started the 2015 season with a 15th-place result in the 57th running of the Daytona 500 followed by an 11th-place run at Atlanta. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, he achieved two top-five results and 14 top-15 results. During the regular-season finale at Richmond in September, Almirola, who was within striking distance of the lead, recorded a strong fourth-place result, which would mark his season-best result, but he missed the Playoffs by 17 points. He went on to notch one additional top-five run and four top-10 results for the remaining 10 Playoff races before finishing in 17th place, best of the non-Playoff competitors, in the final standings. In light of missing the Playoffs, he achieved a career-best average-finishing result of 17.9, compared to his average result of 21.4 in 2014 when he won a race and made the Playoffs.

Remaining at Richard Petty Motorsports for a fifth consecutive season, Almirola’s 2016 season started with a 12th-place result in the 58th running of the Daytona 500. He then finished in 15th place during the following race at Atlanta despite being involved in a four-car wreck during an overtime shootout to the finish. Compared to his previous two seasons, the 2016 season was a disappointing season for Almirola, who achieved only one top-10 result, which was a season-best eighth-place result at Talladega in October, and an average result of 23.3 before falling back to 26th place in the final standings. Following the 2016 season, Almirola surpassed 200 career starts in the Cup Series.

Returning for a sixth full-time Cup season with RPM in 2017, Almirola commenced the season on a high note by finishing in fourth place in the 59th running of the Daytona 500. During the first 10 scheduled races, he achieved three top-10 results, including another fourth-place result at Talladega despite being penalized 35 points for a post-race infraction.

Then during the following race at Kansas Speedway in May, Almirola was involved in a late horrific accident, where he collided into Joey Logano and Danica Patrick’s cars at full speed in Turn 1 as both competitors wrecked in front of Almirola seconds prior to his involvement. The impact launched the back of Almirola’s car off the ground amid a shower of flames and sparks before his No. 43 Ford came to rest against the outside wall. Following the incident, Almirola had to be extricated from his car and placed on a stretcher, where he was airlifted to the University of Kansas Hospital. It was later determined that he had suffered a compression fracture of his T5 vertebrae. While Almirola spent time recovering from his injuries, he was absent for eight races, including the All-Star Open/Race weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway. During his absence, Regan Smith, Bubba Wallace and Billy Johnson each took turns piloting the No. 43 Ford Fusion.

In July at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Almirola, who received medical clearance to return to race, finished in 24th place. Given seven races to try to win and position himself into the top-30 in the standings to make the Playoffs through an injury waiver, he finished no higher than 12th place and was unable to compete for the 2017 title. Nonetheless, he collected three top-10 results, including a fifth-place result at Talladega in October, as he finished in 29th place in the final standings. He also recorded an average-finishing result of 18.8, which matched his result from 2013.

A week and a half prior to the 2017 Cup season’s conclusion in November, Almirola announced a new partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing to drive the No. 10 Ford team for the 2018 Cup Series season, where he replaced Danica Patrick. Three months later, Almirola made his first Cup start with SHR in the 60th running of the Daytona 500. During the event, he was leading on the final lap when Austin Dillon made contact and turned Almirola into the outside wall in Turn 3, which spoiled Almirola’s opportunity in winning the Daytona 500 for the first time as he ended up in 11th place and with a wrecked race car.

During the first 16 Cup races of the new season, Almirola recorded seven top-10 results and 14 top-15 results. By then, he was ranked in 10th place in the regular-season standings. He went on to record three additional top-10 results and secure a spot in the 2018 Playoffs based on points and following a strong consistent regular-season stretch despite having no victories under his belt.

Returning to the Playoffs for a second time and following a three-year absence, Almirola commenced his title run in September by finishing sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and fifth at Richmond Raceway. Despite finishing in 19th place at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in September, he transferred to the Playoff’s Round of 12 in a three-way tie-breaker that included Kyle Larson and saw seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson eliminated from title contention.

After leading 64 laps and finishing 13th at Dover in October due to being involved in a late multi-car incident, Almirola, who was still within reach of transferring from the Round of 12 to 8, came into the following race at Talladega Superspeedway with an opportunity to fulfill his first victory as a Stewart-Haas Racing competitor. After spending the majority of the race running towards the front with his Stewart-Haas Racing teammates, he capitalized on a late two-lap restart and with teammate Kurt Busch running out of fuel on the final lap to hold off teammate Clint Bowyer entering the tri-oval and capture his first elusive victory of the season along with his second Cup career victory. The victory earned Almirola and his No. 10 SHR Ford team a one-way ticket into the Playoff’s Round of 8.

After finishing 10th the following week at Kansas, Almirola finished 11th, eighth and fourth respectively in the Round of 8. Despite the results, he failed to advance to the Championship 4 round at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he capped off the season in ninth place on the track. While he did not emerge as a Cup champion, the 2018 season stands as Almirola’s productive season to date that includes a win, a career-high four top-five result, a career-high 17 top-10 results, a career-high 181 laps led, a career-best average-finishing result of 12.8 and a career-best points result of fifth place.

With the 2018 season in the record books, Almirola entered the 2019 Cup season with high aspirations of repeating his on-track success from the previous season, beginning with the 61st running of the Daytona 500. His season, however, started off on a low note when he was involved in a late multi-car accident and was scored in 29th place. He rebounded the following six weeks by finishing in the top 10 in all of them. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Almirola and his No. 10 SHR team achieved 10 top-10 results, as Almirola qualified for his third Cup Playoffs. After finishing 13th, 16th and 14th respectively during the Round of 16, however, he was eliminated from title contention. With his 2019 title hopes coming to an early end, he went on to capture two top-five results, including a season-best second place behind teammate Kevin Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway in November, and conclude the season in 14th place in the final standings. Overall, he recorded a pole, three top-five results and 12 top-10 results despite logging in zero victories. In addition, Almirola surpassed 300 Cup career starts.

The 2020 Cup Series season, which marked Almirola’s third full-time campaign with Stewart-Haas Racing, started off with the Floridian wrecking out of the season-opening Daytona 500. Two weeks later, he finished eighth at Auto Club Speedway, which he backed up with another eighth-place result at Phoenix in March. When NASCAR returned to on-track competition for a Darlington Raceway doubleheader feature in May amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Almirola finished 12th and seventh respectively. From a pair of Charlotte Motor Speedway events in May to Martinsville Speedway in June, he finished no higher than 15th. Then, beginning at Homestead in June through New Hampshire in July, he recorded nine consecutive finishes inside the top five or top 10. During this streak, he also started on pole position three times through a random draw. To go along with two additional top-10 results during the final six regular-season events, Almirola clinched a spot to the 2020 Playoffs for the fourth time in his career and third in a row in recent years. Three consecutive top-10 results during the Round of 16 transferred the driver of the No. 10 SHR Ford into the Round of 12, but his title hopes came to an end following finishes of 17th, 37th and 16th respectively. Despite settling in 15th place in the final standings, he achieved a career-high six top-five results and 18 top-10 results. His total laps led of 305 throughout the season was also his personal best.

The 2021 Cup season marked a difficult start for Almirola, who won the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel at Daytona in February but ended up in 34th place in the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 after being involved in an early multi-car wreck. Through the first 16 scheduled events, his best result was sixth at Richmond in April while he finished outside of the top 20 10 times. He then rallied at Nashville Superspeedway in June, where he started on pole and finished fourth, but finished no higher than 14th place during the following four events.

Then at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Almirola persevered through his difficult start to 2021 by leading twice for 25 laps, including the final 20, to win over Christopher Bell and claim his third NASCAR Cup career victory. The victory, which was Almirola’s first since winning at Talladega in 2018, sent the driver and his No. 10 SHR team into the 2021 Cup Playoffs. During the Playoff’s Round of 16, however, he missed the cutline to the Round of 12 by two points despite logging in three consecutive top-20 results. Capping off the season with back-to-back sixth-place results on the track, Almirola capped off his 10th full-time season in the Cup Series in 15th place in the final standings.

In January 2022, Almirola announced his intentions to retire from full-time NASCAR competition at the conclusion of the season. He commenced his final full-time season with a fifth-place run during the 64th running of the Daytona 500 in February followed by back-to-back top-10 results before finishing no higher than eighth place during the next eight events. He is currently ranked in 11th place in the drivers’ standings.

Through 399 previous Cup starts, Almirola has achieved three victories, three poles, 27 top-five results, 88 top-10 results, 899 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.0.

Almirola is set to make his 400th Cup Series career start in the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday, May 8, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 4, 2022
Briscoe scores first Cup career victory at Phoenix; becomes 200th overall Cup winner

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

1. Chase Briscoe, 101 laps led

2. Ross Chastain

3. Tyler Reddick

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

5. Kurt Busch

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Busch

8. Joey Logano, four laps led

9. Daniel Suarez

10. Chris Buescher

11. Chase Elliott, 50 laps led

12. Aric Almirola

13. Denny Hamlin

14. Alex Bowman

15. Ty Dillon

16. Cole Custer

17. Justin Haley

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

19. Todd Gilliland

20. AJ Allmendinger

21. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident

22. Bubba Wallace, one lap down

23. Brad Keselowski, one lap down

24. Austin Cindric, one lap down

25. Erik Jones, one lap down

26. Christopher Bell, two laps down

27. Michael McDowell, two laps down

28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., two laps down

29. Harrison Burton, three laps down

30. Landon Cassill, four laps down

31. Cody Ware, five laps down

32. Garrett Smithley, seven laps down

33. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

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

35. Martin Truex Jr. – OUT, Accident

36. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

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

March 13, 2022
Austin Dillon to make 300th Cup career start at Phoenix

With the 2021 NASCAR season less than a week away from concluding, Austin Dillon is within reach of achieving a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Cup Series finale at Phoenix Raceway, the driver of the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE will reach career start No. 300 in NASCAR’s premier series.

A native of Welcome, North Carolina, and the eldest grandson of NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress, Dillon made his inaugural appearance in the Cup circuit at Kansas Speedway in October 2011. By then, he was a full-time NASCAR Truck Series competitor for Richard Childress Racing and contending for the series’ championship. Driving the No. 98 Curb Racing Chevrolet Impala, Dillon started and finished 26th in his Cup debut.

After making one Cup start in 2012, where he finished 24th at Michigan International Speedway in June, Dillon made his Daytona 500 debut in 2013, where he finished 31st in RCR’s No. 33 Chevrolet SS. He competed in 10 additional Cup races throughout the 36-race schedule, piloting between the No. 33 RCR Chevrolet SS and the No. 51 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet SS. He also made two starts in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet SS as an interim competitor for three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, who suffered a broken right leg following a sprint car accident at Iowa in August and was forced to sit out the remainder of the season. Throughout the 11-race schedule, Dillon’s best Cup results were a pair of 11th-place finishes in both Michigan International Speedway scheduled events (June and August). At Talladega Superspeedway in October, Dillon, who was driving the No. 14 SHR Chevrolet, was running in third place on the final lap and was primed at a run for the win until slipping sideways in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., spinning in the middle of the backstretch and being t-boned by Casey Mears that sent Dillon’s car airborne before landing on all four wheels. Despite the accident, Dillon, who survived, nursed the car back to the garage and in 26th place.

A month after the 2013 NASCAR season concluded, where Dillon achieved his first Xfinity Series championship despite going winless, RCR promoted Dillon as the driver of the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet SS for the 2014 NASCAR Cup Series season. The 2014 season marked the return of the No. 3 in the Cup Series since the 2001 Daytona 500, where the late seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. died after an accident on the final lap.

In Dillon’s first run in the No. 3 car in the Cup circuit, he won the pole position for the Daytona 500, thus becoming the fifth rookie competitor to achieve the 500 pole and the fourth overall to do so in the No. 3 car. Despite finishing ninth, Dillon went on to achieve one top-five result and three additional top-10 result throughout the 36-race schedule before finishing in 20th place in his rookie Cup season and missing out on the Rookie-of-the-Year title to Kyle Larson.

Dillon’s sophomore Cup season, 2015, was overshadowed by a harrowing last-lap accident at Daytona International Speedway in July, where Dillon hit the spinning Toyota Camry of Denny Hamlin across the finish line at the tri-oval, launched over a handful of cars and smashed into the catchfence while upside down. After coming to rest on his roof, his battered No. 3 Chevrolet was then hit by a spinning Brad Keselowski before coming to a full stop on the roof. With several crew members running across the track to aid to Dillon, Dillon was able to exit the carnage uninjured, where he was diagnosed with a broken tailbone and a bruised forearm. In the midst of the incident, Dillon managed to finish in seventh place, which was one of five total top-10 results he achieved throughout the 2015 Cup season. Managing a season-best result of fourth place at Michigan International Speedway in August, Dillon was unable to make the Playoffs as he finished in 21st place in the final standings.

The 2016 Cup season was one of Dillon’s consistent seasons to date, where he earned two poles, four top-five results, 13 top-10 results and a career-best average-finishing result of 15.9, throughout the 36-race schedule. He also made the Playoffs for the first time in his career and advanced into the second round of the Playoffs before his title hopes came to an end prior to the penultimate round, where he was beaten by Hamlin in a tie-breaker for the final spot to the third round. Nonetheless, Dillon settled in 14th place in the final standings. By then, Dillon surpassed 100 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series.

Commencing the 2017 Cup season in 19th place in the Daytona 500, Dillon achieved his first NASCAR Cup Series career victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May after he overtook Jimmie Johnson when Johnson ran out of fuel with two laps remaining before fending off Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. at the finish line. With his first Cup career victory, Dillon returned the iconic No. 3 to Victory Lane in the Cup circuit since Dale Earnhardt won at Talladega Superspeedway in October 2000. He also became the seventh different competitor to achieve a first Cup win in the Coke 600. Dillon went on to achieve a total of three top-five results and four top-10 results throughout the season before making the Playoffs and settling in a career-best 11th-place result in the final standings.

Dillon opened the 2018 Cup season on a high note by winning the 60th annual Daytona 500 in February and claiming his second Cup career victory after he turned Aric Almirola on the final lap and muscled away from the field entering the frontstretch. The victory made Dillon the 38th different competitor to achieve a victory in the 500 as he also recorded the third 500 win for Richard Childress Racing and the first for the No. 3 since Dale Earnhardt won his first and only Daytona 500 title in 1998 following a 20-year effort. To go along with a total of two top-five results and eight top-10 results, Dillon made the Playoffs, but was eliminated from title contention following the first round. He went on to finish in 13th place in the final standings. By then, he was nearing 200 Cup career starts.

Coming off a disappointing 2019 Cup season, where he earned a total of six top-10 results and finished 21st in the final standings despite winning three poles, Dillon, who earned four top-10 results through the first 17 events of the 2020 season, achieved his third Cup career victory at Texas Motor Speedway in July following a late two-tire strategic pit stop and a battle with teammate Tyler Reddick. Despite being absent for the inaugural Cup event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course due to a positive COVID-19 test in August, Dillon qualified for the Playoffs for the fourth time in his Cup career. Despite being eliminated from title contention following the second round, he went on to finish in 11th place in the final standings and cap the season with four top-five results and nine top-10 results.

This season, Dillon, who won the second of two Bluegreen Vacations Duel events at Daytona in February following a final lap, slingshot move on Bubba Wallace approaching the tri-oval, has recorded one top-five result and eight top-10 results, with his best on-track result occurring in the Daytona 500. Though he did not make the 2021 Cup Playoffs, he is currently ranked in 17th-place in the standings, the highest-ranked position for the remaining competitors whom did not make the Playoffs.

Through 299 previous Cup starts, Dillon has accumulated three career victories, six poles, 16 top-five results, 57 top-10 results, 333 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.8 with his best points result being 11th (2017 and 2020).

Dillon is primed to make his 300th Cup career start at Phoenix Raceway, host of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship event, on Sunday, November 7. The event is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

November 3, 2021
Exclusive: First-Seasons with Greg Zipadelli

In this edition of Speedway Media’s first-seasons column, we caught up with former NASCAR Crew Chief and now Vice President of Competition for Stewart-Haas Racing, Greg Zipadelli. He discusses how he became a crew chief in NASCAR, how he connected with Joe Gibbs Racing, his success with Tony Stewart, and more.

SM: You burst onto the NASCAR scene in the early 90s when you were only 21-years-old as a crew chief for your family team in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with Mike McLaughlin in 1988. The team advanced to the Busch North Series in the early 90s and had success. What drew you to make a career in racing and why did you choose the role of crew chief versus being a driver?

GZ: “I don’t know, I just always remember being three or four years old going to the races because my uncle, he always owned an asphalt modified and ran in New England, my dad built the motors in the early days and the car was kept in our house a little bit so I was just around it,” Zipadelli said.

“I always liked working on them (cars), that seemed to be my comfort zone. I just never had a desire to drive. I never had money to speak of to build my own car or even try that. I just don’t know, I didn’t have a lot to desire (to drive a car) I always enjoyed working on them more.”

SM: You had a lot of success early on in your career, winning a combined eight races in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Why did you have so much success in your career as you started?

GZ: “Well, I had been involved early on when I was working on them,” he said. “I was just young as a crew chief. I think when a lot of people come into the sport young, they have a different mindset. I didn’t have any bad habits or notions of this is what works. It was like, ‘let’s try this. Let’s do that.’

“I was working on the same car when Brett Bodine came to work for us. With Mike (McLaughlin), we ran (NASCAR) Busch North Cars. Mikey was doing really well at that time and him and I hit it off.”

SM: After spending some time in the Modified Tour and Busch North Tour, your first major break came in 1997 as a crew chief for Mike Stefanik in the Nazareth race. Unfortunately, your day ended early due to a crash. But, in the weeks leading up to that event, were you anxious or nervous about working as a crew chief in the Busch Series knowing it was your big break?

GZ: In ’88, ’89, ’90, we ran the Modified and then ’91 we ran with a limited schedule with McLaughlin,” Zipadelli said. “We were kind of dabbling with the Busch North Car, going back and forth. We then went Busch North racing for a few years. McLaughlin was there for a few years and then Stefanik came and took the ride.”

“I had crew chiefed all those years in the Busch North Tour. We did a lot of things together as friends.”

SM: Following the ‘97 season in the K&N East Series, you were on a one-year hiatus before returning to the sport full-time crew as a crew chief for one of the up-and-coming drivers of the sport, Tony Stewart. How did you connect with Joe Gibbs Racing and get paired with Stewart for your first season in Cup?

GZ: “So, in ’92 and ’93, I moved down and worked for Todd Bodine in the Busch Series, but I still owned a house in New York with Mike McLaughlin,” he said. “That’s when I took McLaughlin and said ‘come on back here. We’ll put you full-time’ and so I packed up and moved home.

“Honestly, it felt like I never accomplished something in the Busch North Tour. I wanted to win a championship in that series before I left to crew chief in the Cup Series.

“I went to work for Jeff Burton and I built shocks, changed tires, I was the car chief for that role in that year (1998). We were parked next to the 18 (Bobby Labonte) and I got to meet with Jimmy Makar and they were starting their second team and he asked if I was interested in working for their second team. I met Jimmy at the old Cracker Barrel and we hung out for a while and talked.

“That afternoon, I got a call from Joe Gibbs and he asked if I could meet him at Denny’s in Huntersville, North Carolina and we sat down and just talked. At that time, I could do anything on a racecar. Jimmy was talking to me about doing shocks and car chiefing that team. However, a day later, Joe called me back and asked me if I was interested in the crew chief job. It literally happened that quick. I’ve been fortunate to be surrounded with a lot of great drivers in my life. With that being said, it was fun and we had a lot of fun.”

SM: Do you remember your first conversations with Tony Stewart? How did that all become about?

GZ: “I talked to Joe (Gibbs) and I accepted the offer,” Zipadelli said. “Afterward, he gave me Tony’s number and I gave him a call. (Tony) was still in Columbus, Indiana. I called him and Tony had a bunch of people over at his place playing pool and we talked for a quite bit. I don’t know when (we met), but it wasn’t long after that where we went down to Daytona and started working the test session.

“Tony wasn’t very involved in what went on with the team, he would just show up and drive. My personality was just to take ownership of everything and being responsible, it worked good for us.”

SM: Your first Daytona experience was that year and your driver was on the front row in your first gig as a crew chief in the Cup Series. Even though you, unfortunately, finished 28th, 19 laps down, do you have good memories of that experience? Do you remember your thoughts when you first entered the track and experienced all of the excitement that racing at Daytona brings? Did you look forward to it and did you feel ready or were you nervous?

GZ: “Oh gosh, there’s always nerves,” he said. “To roll down to Daytona, we didn’t have any points. Back then, you had 50 cars (show up and qualify) and we had to qualify our way in. Fortunately, we tested and had a really good racecar and qualified on the outside pole. However, we had an issue with the intake manifold and we ended up not running very well in that race.”

SM: At the Martinsville race that season, you qualified on the pole with Stewart and were a part of helping the team gain momentum with a string of top-five finishes, with the exception of Richmond. Was there a particular moment during the ‘99 season when you and the team began to get comfortable with the car or was there still a learning curve as the season progressed?

GZ: “I’ll be honest with you, I’m always a believer that there is a learning curve,” Zipadelli said. “I don’t know, if the learning curve ever ends, you’re always trying to adjust. There was a time during midseason, I don’t know when exactly, but I think it was the Loudon race that we should have won but ran out of gas. At that point, we realized, we can do this but we just have to clean up the loose ends. Winning a Cup race is hard.

“I learned a lot and I still beat myself up over it. Shortly after, we won Richmond, then Phoenix and Homestead. We had a very successful rookie season.”

SM: You got your first Cup Series win at Richmond as Stewart dominated the race leading 333 of the 400 laps. What does that victory mean to you today and have you ever had a chance to go back and re-watch that race?

GZ: “No, I haven’t been able to re-watch that win,” he said. “I haven’t done a good job in my life of going back to enjoy those special moments. It’s kind of been, what’s next and working harder to go to the next race.

“As far as that moment, it was surreal. We ran really well that night. That night, we closed the deal.”

SM: You and the team finished fourth in the points standings in 1999. Did finishing fourth in your first season exceed your expectations especially after earning two more wins at Phoenix and Homestead?

GZ: “Oh, absolutely,” Zipadelli said. “I don’t know if there’s anyone who has ever had that kind of season. If you go back and look, I don’t know if anyone has won three races and finish fourth (in the standings) in a rookie year as we did.”

SM: When you reflect on your career, are there any races that you wish you could go back to and have a do-over, such as a win that got away? Is there one race in particular that stands out?

GZ: “There’s a few that got away from us that we never did win,” he said. “A couple of Daytona 500s where we had some good racecars, good opportunities, but things always seem to get taken away from us at the end of the day. It is what it is at the end of the day.”

SM: Do you collect memorabilia from your career? If so, what do you have in your collection that reminds you of your early years in the sport?

GZ: “I have some articles that were done,” Zipadelli said. “I try to keep a shirt or firesuit every year that I crew chief. Other than that, not a lot. some collectible cars that we used to get all the paint schemes. I’ve got a few hoods in my shop, just the normal stuff.”

SM: Do you have a favorite victory or two from your career? What were your favorite wins and why?

GZ: “Obviously, the first Indy win for sure because that was more of a relief than excitement,” Zippadelli said. “Tony put a lot of pressure on himself to go out and perform and we had a good racecar that day. Without the Loudon win, the Indy win is definitely a highlight.”

SM: What do the Winston Cup championships in ‘02 and ‘05 mean to you and were they the highlights of your career?

GZ: “Yeah, for a kid to grow up in New England and have the opportunity to work yourself through the ranks, I mean at the time, (winning the championship) was pretty special,” he said. “During that period, there were some tough characters you were racing against, some of the greats of the sport. We were fortunate enough to have that success early on.”

SM: Do you miss working as a crew chief?

GZ: “I do. The ups and downs, the adrenaline, making good calls and bad calls. I didn’t think I would miss it as much as I do I honestly, sincerely miss it.”

SM: It’s hard to believe your first start as a crew chief came 33 years ago. If time travel was possible, what would a 54-year-old Greg Zipadelli tell a 21-year-old Greg Zipadelli? Is there anything you would do differently?

GZ: “Man, I don’t know,” the two-time Cup Series champion crew chief said as he reflected on his career. “You always look back and think if I can go back and know what I know today, how much could you do? I don’t know if I would have a whole lot to change. I was an extremely dedicated hard worker, very motivated. I think I would do the same things.

“Would I go back and do it all over again today? Definitely, I would. Honestly, I don’t know if there’s anything I could change. I would have to really think about that. I had a lot of fun crew chiefing for 33 years and having that success. I was fortunate to meet a lot of good people and make really good friends. I don’t think I would script it (my career) that much different.”

Fans of Greg Zipadelli can follow him on Twitter and visit his website here.

Throughout Zipadelli’s Cup Series career, the New Britain, Connecticut native has made 468 starts, earned 34 career victories, 143 top fives, 237 top-10 finishes and won 13 poles. Additionally, he won two Cup Series championships with former NASCAR driver and Hall of Famer Tony Stewart in 2002 and 2005.

Special thanks to Greg Zipadelli for taking the time out of his busy schedule to conduct the interview.

September 10, 2021