NASCAR CUP SERIES
PHOENIX RACEWAY
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE REPORT
NOVEMBER 6, 2022
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP AT PHOENIX RACEWAY
· In his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 appearance, Ross Chastain drove his No. 1 Worldwide Express / AdventHealth Camaro ZL1 to a third-place finish, ending the 2022 season second in the Driver’s Championship.
· Chevrolet drivers powered the Camaro ZL1 to two of the top six positions in NASCAR Cup Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway.
· Chase Elliott was involved in an on-track incident on lap 200, resulting in a 28th-place finish in his No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1. Elliott took the fourth position in the final points standings.
· Chevrolet captured its 41st NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer’s Championship with nine drivers from four different Chevrolet teams collecting a series-leading 19 wins this season.
· With the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season complete, Chevrolet led its manufacturer competitors in NASCAR Cup Series wins (19), top-fives (83), top-10s (157), laps led (4,208) and stage wins (28) this season.
TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
3rd Ross Chastain, No. 1 Worldwide Express / AdventHealth Camaro ZL1
6th William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Camaro ZL1
9th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1
12th AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Celsius Camaro ZL1
13th Austin Dillon, No. 3 Get Bioethanol Camaro ZL1
14th Erik Jones, No. 43 FOCUSfactor Camaro ZL1
18th Corey LaJoie, No. 7 Schluter Systems Camaro ZL1
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
POS. DRIVER
1st Joey Logano (Ford)
2nd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
3rd Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
4th Chase Briscoe (Ford)
5th Kevin Harvick (Ford)
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on February 5, 2023.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 WORLDWIDE EXPRESS / ADVENTHEALTH CAMARO ZL1 – FINISHED THIRD: “Starting better and racing up there with those guys all day (would have helped). We got our car really good there at the end. Hats off to Phil Surgen (crew chief) and everybody at Trackhouse. It’s incredible to build from 2011. To have my family push me away from the farm to chase this dream. For my mom, my dad and my brother to come out and keep pushing me, keep supporting me and keep being there for me. But today was all about winning the big trophy and we came up just a little bit short.”
MORE ON THE SEASON: “I think we did everything right there at the end. That was a heck of a drive by us. Who had the No. 1 car second in points on their bingo card on February 1? This is pretty wild. This is a continuation of a lot of people believing in me. To build everything together to come drive this car, there are so many team owners and so many crew members that have put in the work. It’s pretty wild to fight for a Cup Series championship and to have a car fast enough to chase them down to the end. It’s also a testament to everyone at Chevy and GM to make me a better racecar driver. And my family… they have stuck with me and pushed me from the farm to NASCAR. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to do at the track and on the farm. A lot of people probably weren’t sure how I’d be getting out the car. But I’m so proud of the effort and so proud of the execution on pit road of our pit crew. This is only our first shot with Trackhouse. For Justin Marks, Ty (Norris) and Pitbull to believe in me to drive this 1 car, it’s incredible.”
DID YOU THINK THE MARTINSVILLE MOVE COULD WORK HERE TO CATCH THE 22? “I didn’t think it would. I think we were going too fast here and didn’t think it would work. I thought it would at Martinsville and feel like I was very blessed and fortunate that it did. But not here.”
ON THE CONTACT WITH CHASE ELLIOTT. WAS IT A RACING INCIDENT? “Absolutely. I think I got a better start. I got to his left-rear and he tried to cover it late and I was already there. I feel like it was just hard racing and I had position. We could have raced down in the corner side-by-side if he had just kept going the way we were going.
“I had a really good run. It looked like William (Byron) didn’t get going quite as well as he wanted to. I got to the left of (Elliott) and saw an erratic move that he made to turn left to cover it but I was already there. It’s not who I want to race them or those guys. For everyone at GM, I needed other Chevys up there to fight those other guys. It’s not what I want to do, but I feel like I had position on him and he tried to cover it late. Hats off to Penske and everyone on Joey’s team. I’m happy for them and I’m genuinely happy right now for our team. I wish we had another go at it.”
CAN YOU EXHALE NOW AFTER THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS? “I actually feel similar because it’s competition, and I love it and I crave it. I love that I get to feel this way about something so strongly. For our first go at it to race with the team’s we’re racing with in our first go at it as Trackhouse is a dream come true. This is our team. We’re going to keep building this thing. We’re going to be here more years than not fighting for this thing. I couldn’t be prouder to do it with anybody else.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1 – FINISHED 28TH: “I’m not sure what happened (with Ross Chastain). I haven’t seen it. Unfortunately it ruined our day. Congratulations to Joey (Logano) and their team. They did a really good job all weekend. He’s a very deserving champion so that’s a positive at least. If you’re going to lose to one, lose to a deserving one.”
“I’m proud of my team for the effort they put in this weekend. I felt like we had gotten our car a lot better throughout the race. For that I think we should be very proud. It’s very nice to make the (final) round. It’s a very difficult thing to do. Obviously I’m not content with that but certainly it’s not to come out here with a shot. Hopefully we can come back stronger next year and give ourselves another chance and make it go our way next time.”
IMPRESSIONS ON THE SEASON: “I mentioned this a lot over the last few weeks, but in each of the last three seasons I felt like we had made the Round of Four in very different ways. For that, we should be very proud. The playoff points we accumulated this year in the regular season championship really is what got us here. It was kind of a rough nine weeks up until today. I actually thought today was going pretty good. We had just had our best pit stop of the day and we had just gotten our car driving pretty decent, too. That’s the way it goes. I appreciate my team. They’ve worked extremely hard and we’ve put a lot of effort into trying to be better. I felt like we were heading in the right direction today.”
TY DILLON, NO. 42 BLACK RIFLE COFFEE COMPANY CAMARO ZL1 – FINISHED 26TH: “We rebounded there at the end, our Petty GMS team was able to get the car a little bit better towards the end of the race. I’d say it was a decent end to the year. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to drive the No. 42 Chevy this season, we had a lot of memories made this season and I had a lot of fun behind the wheel. Thank you to Maury Gallagher, Richard Petty, the fans, and all of our partners. Onto what’s next for me.”
About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, available in 79 countries with more than 3.2 million cars and trucks sold in 2020. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.
