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Toyota Racing NCS Post-Race Recap — Pocono 7.24.22

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Official Release
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HAMLIN’S TOYOTA TAKES CHECKERED FLAG AT TRICKY TRIANGLE
Camry TRD’s of Hamlin and Busch Tally Toyota One-Two Finish

LONG POND, Penn. (July 24, 2022) – Denny Hamlin drove his Toyota Camry TRD to his third win of the 2022 season and 49th of his career in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) race at Pocono Raceway. Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch led a significant portion of the race before following Hamlin to the checkered flag with a second-place finish. Toyota drivers Christopher Bell (sixth), Martin Truex Jr. (ninth) and Bubba Wallace (10th) also scored top-10 finishes. Ty Gibbs made his first career NCS start in Sunday’s race and finished in the 18th position subbing for Kurt Busch, who was not medically cleared to compete after a qualifying accident on Saturday.

Toyota Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Pocono Raceway
Race 21 of 36 – 400 miles, 160 laps

**UPDATED FINISHING POSITIONS BELOW FOLLOWING THE POST-RACE INSPECTION FAILURES ANNOUNCED FOR NO. 11 and NO. 18 CAMRYS.

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS

1st, Chase Elliott*

2nd, Tyler Reddick*

3rd, Daniel Suarez*

4th, CHRISTOPHER BELL

5th, Kyle Larson*

7th, MARTIN TRUEX JR.

8th, BUBBA WALLACE

16th, TY GIBBS

35th, DENNY HAMLIN

36th, KYLE BUSCH

*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Office Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 1st

With a spin on Saturday, the lap 1 contact today, a spin in stage 2 and the fuel concerns – how did you overcome all of that to get to victory lane for the seventh time at Pocono?

“It’s the team. They were able to come back with a great strategy there to get us back upfront from the mistake I made.”

Was the contact with Ross Chastain straight payback?

“I mean, what did you want me to do? What did you expect me to do? We got position on him, and he just ran out of race track.”

Is it now over between you and Ross Chastain in your book?

“We’re just going to keep racing hard until we get the respect back from these guys. It’s not just that, we’ve been wrecked four times. Twice while leading in the last 10 months and I’m at the end of it.”

This is win 49 and it ties you with your former teammate Tony Stewart. Did you ever believe you’d be at this point?

“No, never. I just wanted to be a local short track racer in Virginia. That’s all I really cared about, but I was able to get a great break from JD Gibbs and that’s why I’m driving the No. 11 for Joe Gibbs Racing. I’ve just got to say thank you so much to Toyota, FedEx, Shady Rays, the Jordan Brand, Coca Cola, Sport Clips – everyone who makes this possible. It feels good to win here at Pocono.”

How have you been able to win seven Cup races at Pocono?

“I’ve been blessed to be with a great race team my entire career and that’s carried me a long way. But today was definitely a team thing. This guy right here, Chris Gabehart (crew chief), just made some great strategy calls to make up the positions that I lost when I spun out. Wow, just a great team effort.”

What happened in the accident with you and Ross Chastain?

“We drove in deep and he (Ross Chastain) drove in deep and I’m not even sure if we made contact, maybe we did. He ended up running out of race track. He knew I was going to race him hard, what else do you want me to do after the wrecks that I’ve had and that’s what we did today.”

Is there a scorecard among drivers in these scenarios?

“You just race people the way you get raced in the end. It was egged on my his car owner on Twitter and said he can’t wait so it just fired me up over those incidents. We’re just going to continue to race hard and I’m going to race him the same way.”

What happened when you spun out in the opening laps?

“The resin didn’t match up with the tire heat that I had in the race car so it just slid across the race track. It certainly caught me by surprise and then it caught Kyle Busch by surprise on the next restart. Have to thank our sponsors, Sport Clips, FedEx, Toyota, TRD, Logitech, Shady Rays, Coca-Cola – I couldn’t do it without those names and they’ve been with me a long time. Relationships is what makes all this happen.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

What did you need to catch your teammate in the closing laps?

“The second-to-last run there where we had the 1 (Ross Chastain) car there trailing us, he was a little better than us. It’s hard to pass, but having the car trending loose on me, we made an adjustment for that with as many laps as there was going to be to go with that last pit stop, but we just over did it I guess and missed it on that last run unfortunately. I was just way too tight and didn’t have the roll speed that I needed through the corners. The guys did a great job and bust their tails for me every week and do a really great job for me on this M&M’s Camry. Appreciate all of them and their support and what they do. Obviously, wish we had a little bit more today and of course with the M&M’s Fan Appreciation 400 race, it would have been nice to honor all the associates that were here in attendance to give them something to celebrate with us in victory lane. Just one spot short in qualifying and one spot short in the race. “

How much did the track change during the race and did you notice the change?

“I noticed that and maybe that was something I missed, but I just felt like as I ran, I lost grip and I think the race track was losing the spray, the additive that was down on the race track. So just losing grip there and trying to keep up with the race track you’re just trying to add grip to your car. That’s hard to do.”

What more did you need to beat Denny Hamlin today?

“We were trending loose there in that run where the 1 (Ross Chastain) car was trailing me and keeping up with me, so I figured that was our hindrance. We snuck it up a little bit and overjumped it too far and was way tight that whole last run. When the 1 and the 11 (Denny Hamlin) were out in front of us I was falling back from those guys. We were lucky to get a couple cautions there, lucky to keep pace like we did there at the end to the 11. We didn’t have a shot there, we were just too tight. Didn’t adjust right or didn’t call something right there, but thanks to all of my guys. Appreciate them and all of the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing for what they do. All of the hard work on the Toyota Camry I get to drive. M&M’s being the Fan Appreciation 400 – this was something special we wanted to go out and honor all of our associates and honor all of them. Came up one spot short in qualifying and one spot short in the race. It’s definitely frustrating. Hate it for all of them too. We’ll go to next week I guess.”

What can you learn from a day like today?

“If we left it alone there was too many laps to go. We would’ve trended loose and probably lost it loose. So, I don’t know. We need to go back to the setup sheets and look and see what was different for the 11 (Denny Hamlin) and their adjustments that allowed them to be that much better at the end. But, man, we’re talking half tenths. It’s all so close. Here at a race track like Pocono, if you’re not a half a second faster than the guy in front of you anyway, you’re going to have a hard time passing him regardless. Even if we would’ve had a tenth or a tenth and a half better than them at the end of the race and ran up to him and caught to him, I don’t know that I would’ve been able to maneuver around him.”

TY GIBBS, No. 45 McDonalds Toyota Camry TRD, 23XI Racing

Finishing Position: 18th

Can you describe this day for you and what it’s meant?

“First of all, I want to say thank you to God for giving me this opportunity. Thank you to Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin. Everybody at 23XI. The most important thing right now is about Kurt’s health and hopefully he can get back in this seat. He drives way better than me so he deserves this. He’s been awesome. He’s helped me out so much. I want to say thank you to him. We had a fast McDonald’s Camry TRD. I had a great time so Michael (Jordan), if you’re watching I want to say thank you. It’s a big pleasure to wear this on my shoulder and on my shoes. I had a great time and I learned a lot so it was awesome. Thank you to Monster Energy.”

What was the biggest surprise being in the Cup car for the first time?

“Just the dirty air and how bad that affects you. Just being able to make sure I was getting out far enough. I was a little bit tight all day, so just trying to get front turn and trying to get more center turn which would help me. It was a learning day. I felt like I learned a lot. I’m very thankful. It was close to almost a top 15. It was fun racing with Brad (Keselowski). Never thought I’d race with these guys. It was just cool being next to them on the track. So, to 10-year-old Ty that means a lot. I don’t think I would ever expect that.”

#

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

Ford Performance NASCAR: McDowell’s Top-10 Leads Ford at Pocono

By
Official Release
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Ford Performance Notes and Quotes
NASCAR Cup Series
Pocono Post Race | Sunday, July 24, 2022

FORD FINISHING RESULTS

8th – Michael McDowell

15th – Aric Almirola

16th – Brad Keselowski

17th – Chase Briscoe

19th – Cole Custer

22nd – Joey Logano

25th – Harrison Burton

27th – Todd Gilliland

28th – Cody Ware

29th – Kevin Harvick

30th – JJ Yeley

31st – Chris Buescher

32nd – BJ McLeod

33rd – Austin Cindric

35th – Ryan Blaney

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 Fr8Auctions.com Ford Mustang (Finished 8th)

“It was a good day. I had a couple good restarts that got us track position, then I had one really bad one where we got hit in the left rear and about spun out and went back to last. That hurt us really bad. My guys called a good race and we tried some different strategies to try to get track position. We stayed out on old tires but I felt like if I got a good restart and got into the top 10 I could hold on. We restarted 16th with no tires and drove up to eighth so I am really proud of that finish. It is still not the day you want. You don’t want to be eighth, you want to win the race, but we are doing a great job and I feel like we are getting close.”

RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 Menards/Duracell Ford Mustang – Accident Quote (Lap 135)

“I just got loose. It was one of those things. You get loose off three and think you can save it but you can’t. I just couldn’t save it. Gosh, I hate it for everyone on the 12 group. We finally got the car decent and we were running top five there and had a flat tire and had to come in and then I just tried too hard and it stepped away from me. I hate it for Menards and Ford and everybody. That was my mistake. We will go at it again next week.”

THAT LOOKED LIKE A BIG HIT: “Yeah, it wasn’t terrible but I have had softer before. It is just one of those things. It just stepped away from me. That corner is pretty tricky. I probably should have spun out about five other times today off the corner. It finally got me. I hate we tore the car up. Long day, that is for sure.”

Pato O’Ward grabs late victory in the second IndyCar doubleheader feature at Iowa

By
Andrew Kim
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Photo by Chris Owens (Penske Entertainment).

A day after losing to Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward benefitted from a late incident involving Newgarden to win the Hy-Vee Salutes to Farmers 300 at Iowa Speedway on Sunday, July 24.

The 23-year-old O’Ward from Monterrey, Mexico, spent the majority of Sunday’s event in the top five and was running in the runner-up spot on Lap 235 when Newgarden, who dominated and was vying for a weekend sweep at Iowa, wrecked in front of him following a mechanical failure. Taking control by leading the final 66 laps, O’Ward made a restart with 51 laps remaining work to his advantage as he rocketed away from Will Power and the field to grab his second NTT IndyCar Series victory of the season and draw himself back into the championship picture.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Will Power, who started on pole position on Saturday, also started on pole for Sunday’s main event after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 178.013 mph in 18.0796 seconds, which marked his 66th career pole in the IndyCar Series. Joining him on the front row was teammate Josef Newgarden, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 177.904 mph in 18.0907 seconds and went on to win Saturday’s event at Iowa.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Power launched his No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara-Chevrolet clear of the field and ahead of teammate Newgarden while Pato O’Ward, who started eighth, rocketed his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet to fourth place behind Takuma Sato. Through the first lap, Power led the first lap as O’Ward challenged and overtook Sato for third place. 

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Power was leading by half a second over teammate Newgarden’s No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet followed by O’Ward, Sato and Conor Daly while Scott McLaughlin, Jack Harvey, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus VeeKay were in the top 10. Romain Grosjean was in 11th followed by teammate Colton Herta, Jimmie Johnson, Alex Palou and David Malukas while Simon Pagenaud, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, Ed Carpenter, Scott Dixon and Callum Ilott were in the top 20.

By Lap 20, Power stabilized his early advantage to six-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden while O’Ward, Sato and Daly remained in the top five. Behind Rosenqvist challenged and overtook Jack Harvey for seventh while McLaughlin was in sixth.

Ten laps later, Power continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden as the leaders started to approach lapped traffic. O’Ward and Sato remained in third and fourth while McLaughlin cracked the top five in fifth ahead of Daly and Rosenqvist. By then, Jack Harvey was back in 14th as he was overtaken by Colton Herta.

Just past the Lap 40 mark, Conor Daly and Simon Pagenaud pitted under green, with Pagenaud making multiple pit stops and spending multiple laps in his pit stall as he was encountering radio issues.

Back on the track on Lap 50, Power continued to lead by nearly six-tenths of a second over teammate Newgarden followed by O’Ward, Sato and McLaughlin while Rosenqvist, Ericsson, VeeKay, Grosjean and David Malukas were in the top 10.

Nearing the Lap 60 mark, names like Alexander Rossi, Alex Palou and rookie Christian Lundgaard pitted along with Devlin DeFrancesco, Dalton Kellett, Colton Herta and Jimmie Johnson. Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Ed Carpenter and Ilott would also pit along with Grosjean, Ericsson, Rosenqvist and O’Ward.

By Lap 65, Power surrendered the lead to pit along with his Penske teammates Newgarden and McLaughlin. VeeKay also pitted as Sato cycled to the lead followed by Malukas and Kirkwood. Once Sato pitted approaching the Lap 70 mark, Power cycled back to the lead followed by teammate Newgarden while O’Ward was in third.

Through Lap 85, teammates Power and Newgarden dueled for the lead as they were also trying to make their way around the lapped car of Grosjean. Shortly after, Newgarden assumed the top spot as Grosjean and Herta were both lapped.

At the Lap 100 mark, Newgarden was leading by more than a second over teammate Power while O’Ward trailed in third place by more than four seconds. Meanwhile, Ericsson was in fourth while Jimmie Johnson, who led 19 laps and finished 11th at Iowa on Saturday, was in fifth. Scored in the top 10 were McLaughlin, Dixon, Rosenqvist, VeeKay and Herta while Ilott, David Malukas, Grosjean, Sato and Christian Lundgaard were in the top 15. Meanwhile, Palou was in 16th ahead of Conor Daly, Rossi, Kirkwood and Ed Carpenter while Graham Rahal and Helio Castroneves were in 23rd and 25th.

Twenty laps later, Newgarden extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Power while O’Ward, Ericsson and Jimmie Johnson were in the top five. By then, the top-five competitors were the only ones on the lead lap, though Newgarden went to work to lap Johnson. 

A lap later, the first caution flew when Kyle Kirkwood, who was overtaken by the leader Newgarden, wrecked his No. 14 AJ Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Chevrolet into the Turn 2 outside wall. During the caution period, the leaders led by Newgarden pitted and Newgarden retained the lead followed by teammate Power, O’Ward and Ericsson. Following the pit stops, Rinus VeeKay was given a “stop-and-go” penalty for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 132, Newgarden retained the top spot ahead of teammate Power while O’Ward and Ericsson briefly battled for third. During the following lap, however, O’Ward, who pulled away from Ericsson, engaged in a battle with Power for the runner-up spot. 

By Lap 140, Newgarden was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward settled in third ahead of Ericsson and McLaughlin. By then, Scott Dixon was in sixth ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson.

At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Newgarden continued to lead by half a second over teammate Power followed by O’Ward, Ericsson and McLaughlin while Dixon, Johnson, Rosenqvist, Grosjean and Herta were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Alex Palou was in 11th ahead of Takuma Sato, Callum Ilott, Daly, Malukas and Ed Carpenter.

Twenty-five laps later, Newgaraden stabilized his advantage to more than eight-tenths of a second over teammate Power while O’Ward and Ericsson settled in third and fourth. By then, Dixon cracked the top five followed by Rosenqvist and Johnson while McLaughlin was back in eighth ahead of Grosjean and Sato.

Another 15 laps later, the battle for the lead between Team Penske’s Newgarden and Power started to slowly brew as Power was a second behind Newgarden, who was trying to navigate and lap David Malukas.

Nearing the Lap 195 mark, the front-runners started to pit under green. By the time the final 100-lap mark of the event occurred, Newgarden cycled his way back to the lead while O’Ward emerged as the new runner-up competitor ahead of Power. 

Ten laps later, Newgarden was scored out in front by more than a second over O’Ward followed by Power, McLaughlin and Dixon while Ericsson, Johnson, Ilott, Rosenqvist and Grosjean were in the top 10.

Down to the final 75 laps of the event, Newgarden continued to lead by nearly three seconds over O’Ward while Power, McLaughlin and Dixon remained in the top five.

Then with 65 laps remaining, the caution flew when Newgarden, who led a race-high 184 laps, slipped sideways and backed his No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet hard into the outside wall in Turn 3 following a suspension failure as his hopes of sweeping the weekend at Iowa evaporated.

“Man, I wanna cry,” Newgarden said in the infield care center on NBC. “So sad for my team. I don’t know what happened. It was a good run. I feel terrible for us. The guys did a great job. I don’t know. Something went wrong there. Everything felt fine to me up until that point. I did have a vibration at the start of the stint, which is not abnormal. Totally unexpected. It caught me by surprised. This is racing. We’ll fight back. We got a great team here. We pick right back up. We don’t stop fighting.”

With Newgarden out of the event, O’Ward emerged as the new leader followed by Power, McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson.

During the caution, the leaders led by O’Ward pitted as O’Ward retained the top spot followed by Power, Dixon, McLaughlin, Ericsson and Johnson.

When the race proceeded under green wit 51 laps remaining, O’Ward took off with the lead by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Power while McLaughlin, Dixon, Johnson and Ericsson duked for spots in the top five.

Eleven laps later, O’Ward extended his advantage to more than a second over Power followed by McLaughlin, Dixon and Johnson while Ericsson, Grosjean, Herta, Malukas and Sato were in the top 10.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, O’Ward was leading by nearly three seconds over Power followed by McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson while Johnson, Grosjean, Sato, Malukas and Felix Rosenqvist were in the top 10.

With 10 laps remaining, O’Ward continued to lead by more than five seconds over Power while McLaughlin, Dixon and Ericsson remained in the top five.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Power. Despite encountering lapped traffic, O’Ward, who had no late challenges from Power mounting behind him, was able to cruise his way back to the frontstretch and claim his second checkered flag of the 2022 IndyCar season. 

With the victory, O’Ward claimed his fourth NTT IndyCar Series career victory, his second of the season and his first since winning at Barber Motorsports Park in May. The victory was the ninth of the season for Chevrolet and the second for Arrow McLaren SP.

“The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP guys in the pits were awesome,” O’Ward said on NBC. “I think that’s what gave us our win. Obviously, I did the job in the car to keep her safe and just to maintain there. I knew we had the pace, but it’s just tough whenever you’re going through the traffic. The guys in front of you have it in a different way than you do, so it’s just different every lap. Super stoked. Super happy. We knew that we had a great car, so I think it was all about just capitalizing and being there when it counted. The guys did a great job calling when we had to pit and it was very, very enjoyable. It’s been a great weekend.”

“Hopefully, we can win a couple more [races],” O’Ward added. “That’d be fantastic. I think we’ve had a good year, but we’ve dumped two wins in the past couple months, so it’s definitely been a frustrating, but yet rewarding few weeks. This is the perfect momentum we need going into the month of September, August and close out the month of July at [Indianapolis Motor Speedway] road course next week.”

Power, who swept both poles of the weekend and finished third on Saturday, came home in the runner-up spot while McLaughlin, who ended up 22nd on Saturday, rounded out the podium in third place.

“A good day,” Power said. “You would love to get the win. [I] Led some laps and I think we were really fast. Just really cool to get the Verizon Chevy on the podium again and close out the points lead. Gotta get one of these wins soon. We’re there. We get qualifying sorted. Just enjoying it. Loving the racing. Love this track.”

“That last restart, I really had to sort of get it going and through it to the outside of Dixon,” McLaughlin said. “He’s a pretty hard guy to throw it around the outside of and had a lot of fun, a lot of respect for him. Good times. The Freightliner Chevy was fast. It looked awesome all weekend. Very proud of the guys to bounce back.”

Dixon finished fourth while Jimmie Johnson earned his maiden top-five result in the IndyCar circuit by finishing fifth. 

“This is really a special day for me,” Johnson said. “For everybody that’s been on this journey with me in the IndyCar Series. So proud to have the American Legion on the car today in the race and to get my career-best finish with them. I really have to thank everybody at Carvana and taking this step with me. It took me getting on the ovals to get my best finishes and I was so happy to be able to do it here today. Tons of great support from Chip Ganassi Racing, all the teammates I have. Today was just a fun racy day out there.”

Ericsson, Rosenqvist, David Malukas, Grosjean and Sato completed the top 10 on the track.

There were seven lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured two cautions for 26 laps.

With his sixth-place result, Marcus Ericsson continues to lead the standings by eight points over Will Power, 34 over both Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon, 36 over Pato O’Ward, 44 over Alex Palou and 86 over Scott McLaughlin.

Results.

1. Pato O’Ward, 66 laps led

2. Will Power, 80 laps led

3. Scott McLaughlin

4. Scott Dixon

5. Jimmie Johnson

6. Marcus Ericsson

7. Felix Rosenqvist

8. David Malukas

9. Romain Grosjean

10. Takuma Sato

11. Callum Ilott

12. Colton Herta, one lap down

13. Alex Palou, one lap down

14. Graham Rahal, one lap down

15. Devlin DeFrancesco, two laps down

16. Conor Daly, two laps down

17. Ed Carpenter, three laps down

18. Alexander Rossi, four laps down

19. Rinus VeeKay, four laps down

20. Jack Harvey, four laps down

21. Helio Castroneves, five laps down

22. Dalton Kellett, six laps down

23. Simon Pagenaud, 19 laps down

24. Josef Newgarden – OUT, Contact, 148 laps led

25. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT, Contact

26. Christian Lundgaard – OUT, Mechanical

Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the Gallagher Grand Prix and as part of an IndyCar-NASCAR doubleheader feature, which will occur on Sunday, July 30, at noon ET on NBC.

Marco Andretti Wins 2022 SRX Championship and Chase Elliott Wins Season Finale at Sharon Speedway

By
Official Release
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SRX: Sharon Speedway Post-Race Notes

Race Recap: With the SRX season finale Saturday night at Sharon Speedway and a championship on the line, Marco Andretti was able to battle back from an early race incident to secure the 2022 SRX Series Championship and Chase Elliott held off a late-charging Tony Stewart for the race win. Matt Kenseth finished third followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay and Bobby Labonte to round out the top five.

Elliott is now two for two in SRX competition adding the win at Sharon Speedway to his 2021 win at the Nashville Fairgrounds.

Ryan Newman finished second in the point standings, two points behind Andretti and Labonte retook third followed by Stewart in fourth. The top four in points were separated by only seven points at the conclusion to the 2022 season.

Post-Race Quotes:

Marco Andretti (Champion): “The cool thing about this is you get damage, you can still play and stay on the lead lap. I broke my wrist in that last incident, got my thumb caught in the wheel, so painful last couple of laps, but I just wanted to cover and finish right where I needed to finish, and we were able to do that. This thing was pretty robust tonight.”

Chase Elliott (Race Winner): “To sit there and race on dirt with one of my heroes in Tony Stewart and throw a couple of sliders with him, obviously this is a little different than the open wheel stuff, but knowing how good he is at this stuff and being able to dice it up and race with him. I actually thought he was better than me the run before and then I was able to watch him on the top and finally get a couple of things going there. Congrats to Marco (Andretti). Great crowd. Thanks everybody for coming out tonight. And thanks to the Blaney’s for having me up here.”

Tony Stewart (Finished 2nd in the Main Event): “I wasn’t very good in the heat races and I tried everything I’ve learned my entire life on dirt and pavement and a combination of both and couldn’t get going and couldn’t get enough points to get a good starting spot. Started ninth and worked out way up to fifth and then they had a little calamity on one of the restarts that got us to third and then we were in position to race for this thing and the win. Gave Chase (Elliott) a slide job in one and two and got the lead and got going, but the longer I ran the more my forward drive gave up and Chase was really good. He did a really good job at managing tires and making sure he didn’t make his rear tires mad, he did a better job than I did. I had to use mine up to get to the front and he just did a really good job of managing tires all night. Exciting race in general, extremely exciting race for the point championship having four of us in the running, well five of us mathematically, but literally four of us with a really good shot to win it. To have a champion sitting there with a brace on his wrist because he’s broke his wrist shows how hard and how much these guys want to win races and win championships with SRX. Just eternally grateful to Camping World and Marcus Lemonis and all of his staff. Good Sam was on my car all year. Just grateful we had great partners, we had TMS, VP Fuels, had a ton of great partners that came on board. An extremely talented group of guys to race with which made this year fun. It’s cool to see Ryan Blaney get to race with his dad tonight, got to do that with Chase and Bill Elliott last year. It was really fun at the end of this race tonight to run with Chase like that. Chase has been running midgets and ran a Sprint Car race on dirt, which makes my heart happy because that’s where my heart is, is dirt track racing, so to see him get a chance to come back and do that and see that he wants to learn that and get good at that is something that makes me proud. Super excited about the season. I think probably the biggest thing is I am so proud of our staff. We were very understaffed this year compared to last year and they did every bit of the same amount of the work if not more than last year with damage we had and gave us great race cars to drive each week. It’s probably, to those guys and girls who were here for six weeks working, it’s probably the longest six weeks of their life every year, but it makes all of us drivers extremely happy to know that when we come to the track we have great race cars to drive, so very grateful for that.”

Matt Kenseth (Finished 3rd in the Main Event): “This race was really fun. I really liked the race track. Last week I really struggled a lot, different style of dirt track and plus we got wrecked out. Here we got wrecked out in the heat and the guys did a good job fixing it. It was fun, just had to be real patient. I just kind of stayed on the bottom and looked for as much moisture as I could there. I never really ventured up top and tried to figure that out very good. The track was so slick that it seemed to work for me.”

On Racing SRX this Season:

“It was fun. It was a good experience. I learned a lot. I think all three weeks, I got wrecked out two of the three, and thankfully they were able to fix it for this one and we finished last week but with half car, so I would like a little less hitting and little less wrecking. Other than that, it was really fun. I had a great time at Nashville, Pevely was a great track and I had a good time here and it ended up ok.”

Ryan Newman (Finished 2nd in the Championship Point Standings): “Thanks for SRX and Camping World and everybody involved. It’s been an honor to be a part of this. Obviously, the outcome is not what we wanted, but to be second in the championship with some of the greatest drivers in the world is still pretty special. It wasn’t the end result that we wanted, but we did get an amazing result in Stafford and to have my daughters there in victory lane was so special for me and something that I will always remember. Happy to be a part of it and excited to hopefully get a chance to do it again.”

Bobby Labonte (Finished 3rd in the Championship Point Standings): “The race tonight, I thought we had a good start. We started sixth in the first heat and finished fourth. And then started at the back and finished third, so a good average and started third in the feature and was just steady, steady as it goes. Really the only thing I screwed up was on a restart I spun the right rear tire and lost two spots and then was done after that. I couldn’t get back around anybody.”

On Racing SRX this Season:

“As for the season, highlight was Nashville starting up front, leading and winning there was awesome, but we had a good run at South Boston, a decent run at Stafford, a good run at Pensacola and then we go to Pevely and didn’t have a good finish and then had a decent finish here and finished third in the points. Can’t thank everybody enough. It was always a lot of fun. My wife and I have been road tripping on this whole thing, and we’ve had a lot of fun along the way. We call it our summer fun and we enjoyed it. Can’t thank everybody enough for doing it and it’s hard to race against these guys because they are so good, but we were able to have a good one.”

Main Event Results at Sharon Speedway:

Finishing PositionDriver Car Number
1Chase Elliott9
2Tony Stewart 14
3Matt Kenseth5
4Ryan Hunter-Reay1
5Bobby Labonte18
6Greg Biffle 69
7Ryan Blaney 12
8Ryan Newman39
9Marco Andretti98
10Paul Tracy 3
11Tony Kanaan6
12Dave Blaney10
13Michael Waltrip15

Heat 2 Results at Sharon Speedway:

Finishing PositionDriver Car Number
1Chase Elliott9
2Tony Kanaan6
3Bobby Labonte 18
4Ryan Newman39
5Dave Blaney10
6Marco Andretti98
7Ryan Hunter-Reay1
8Paul Tracy3
9Tony Stewart14
10Michael Waltrip15
11Greg Biffle69
–Matt Kenseth5
–Ryan Blaney12

Heat 1 Results at Sharon Speedway:

Finishing PositionDriver Car Number
1Ryan Newman 39
2Michael Waltrip 15
3Marco Andretti98
4Bobby Labonte18
5Tony Kanaan6
6Ryan Hunter-Reay1
7Chase Elliott9
8Tony Stewart14
9Greg Biffle 69
10Dave Blaney 10
11Paul Tracy 3
12Matt Kenseth5
13Ryan Blaney12

About SRX Racing:

Announced in July 2020, the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series was founded by NASCAR Hall of Fame Driver Tony Stewart, NASCAR Hall of Fame Crew Chief Ray Evernham, George Pyne and Sandy Montag. The series made its debut on June 12, 2021, airing on CBS Primetime. Tony Stewart won the inaugural series championship. The series has seen a plethora of racing talent behind the wheel including Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Helio Castroneves, Ernie Francis Jr., Bill Elliott, Chase Elliott, Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan, Hailie Deegan, Greg Biffle, Doug Colby, and more. The second season kicked off on June 18, 2022.

Monster Energy Racing: Riley Herbst NXS Race Report from Pocono

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Official Release
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Herbst Finishes 12th at Pocono
Monster Energy Driver Earns 14th Top-15 of 2022 Season

Date: Saturday, July 23
Event: Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 (Round 19 of 33)
Series: NASCAR Xfinity Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Format: 90 laps, broken into three stages (20 laps/20 laps/50 laps)
Start/Finish: 14th / 12th (Running, completed 90 of 90 laps)
Point Standing: 9th (518 points, 229 out of first)

Race Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 1 Winner: Justin Allgaier of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Stage 2 Winner: Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports (Chevrolet)

Overview:

Riley Herbst and the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford team persevered through an up-and-down race to finish 12th in Saturday’s Explore The Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. The Las Vegas native started 14th and was moving up in the field when he reported an issue with the right front on lap 12. He stayed on track to the end of Stage 1 and brought his Mustang to the attention of his No. 98 Monster Energy pit crew. He restarted 29th on the lead lap and was back in the top-20 just five laps later. Herbst made his way up to 15th by the end of Stage 2 and restart 14th in the final stage. After he successfully avoided several incidents in the early going, crew chief Richard Boswell opted to take advantage of the cautions and brought his driver down pit road during the caution on lap 48 to top off on fuel. When the rest of the field pitted under a lap-53 caution, the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang was able to stay on track and restart on the front row. Herbst led four laps after the restart but, as the remainder of the race went green, he began struggling with a tight-handling racecar that made it particularly difficult to negotiate the “tunnel turn.” He would ultimately earn his 14th top-15 of the season.

Riley Herbst, driver of the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had a chance there, but my Ford Mustang was just too tight in the end. I’m glad we got to lead some laps, but ultimately we want to get a win. I’m proud of my No. 98 Monster Energy team and we’ll continue to work toward the playoffs.”

Notes:

● Herbst led one time for four laps – his first laps led at Pocono.

● Noah Gragson won the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 to score his eighth career Xfinity Series victory, his third of the season, and his first at Pocono. His margin over second-place Ty Gibbs was .281 of a second.

● There were five caution periods for a total of 18 laps.

● Twenty-four of the 38 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● AJ Allmendinger remains the championship leader after Pocono with a 16-point advantage over second-place Justin Allgaier.

Next Up:

The next event on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Indianapolis 150 on July 30 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. The race starts at 3:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Wright Motorsports Claims Overall Victory, Breaks K-PAX Racing Streak

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Official Release
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Pro/Am Porsche breaks 11-race run

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (July 24, 2022) – Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen International, Porsche customer racing team Wright Motorsports put in a masterful performance in race one of the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS weekend, beating out not only all of the Pro/Am class competitors, but the Pro/Pro-ranked entries as well. Drivers Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen drove the No. 45 to victory after starting in 12th, ending the eleven-race winning streak held by Pro/Pro team K-PAX Racing.

“Race one was an incredible performance by everyone on our team,” said Team Owner John Wright. “While other programs struggled with tire issues or suffered contact, Charlie and Jan both had amazing stints, and the crew were able to gain us a spot in pit lane as well. To not only beat out the Pro/Pro lineups but also break such a long streak by another team is definitely something to be proud of. They did a great job.”

Split into three classes Pro/Pro, Pro/Am, and Am, each of the three categories in GT World Challenge America have no shortage of tight competition. The pairing of Charlie Luck (Am) and Jan Heylen (Pro) began the race event second in the championship points, eager to close the gap to Pro/Am class leaders George Kurtz and Colin Braun. Driving the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R from sixth place in class and 12th overall, the 2021 champions had their work cut out for them.

Luck gained three class positions during the opening stint, avoiding the chaos of several on-track incidents and multiple tire issues among the field. The always-rapid work in pit lane by the crew brought the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R out in front of the championship points leader, the No. 04 Mercedes AMG GT3, with Jan Heylen now handling the driving duties for the Porsche. Heylen held off heavy pressure to keep the team in front, claiming the class win. As the team continued its focus on driving to the class victory, their persistence on track paid off as each of the Pro/Pro cars ahead failed to stay up front. Wright Motorsports took the overall win and broke the streak of K-PAX Racing in the Pro/Pro class.

“We had one hell of a day,” said Luck. “I was really happy with the way I got through traffic and moved from sixth to third. We turned the car over to Jan in third and he moved to second-place in the pit stop. Jan just did a heck of a job. If there is anybody who can get every drop of performance out of the car, it’s that man. Phenomenal run today.”

With the victory, the team closed the gap to the points leaders to a mere seven markers.

“That was an awesome race,” said Heylen. “I feel like we really needed that to get the championship back on track and close the gap. I’m super happy. The car was pretty good, and it was a great stint by Charlie with all the pressure from behind. We beat the Mercedes out of the pits, so as always, that was a great stop by the team. It was just a fun race with the pressure from Colin Braun behind for the whole time. It was a great effort by all!”

The team races again on Sunday afternoon, taking the green flag at 1:15 PM ET, airing live on YouTube.com/GTWorld. Unofficially, the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R will start the race form third in class and sixth overall.

Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series and international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy, and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013, and 2015, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team, and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship. In 2021, Wright Motorsports had a wildly successful season, capturing nine championships across their five racing efforts.

RCR NXS Post Race Report: Pocono

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Official Release
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Sheldon Creed Showcases Fast No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway

Finish: 5th
Start: 6th
Points: 13th

“This top-five finish in the Whelen Chevrolet at Pocono Raceway gives us a lot of confidence. Our Chevy was fast all day. We qualified well and we’re racing closer to the front. We earned Stage Points in every stage. We were having a good time out there today. I expected a lot out of myself coming into the NASCAR Xfinity Series this year with Richard Childress Racing and I haven’t done my job. We’ve run well all season, but the finishes aren’t there. During a lot of these races, I have made mistakes. We showed up and just haven’t had the results we needed on the racetracks, so I’m really happy to get the Whelen Chevrolet running well and to finish in the top five today. I feel like we’re closing the bubble between us and some of the other cars we need to battle in order to make it into the NASCAR Playoffs on points. Thankful for this forward motion and we’re going to do what we can to try and win before the Playoffs begin.” -Sheldon Creed

Austin Hill and the No. 21 Global Industrial Team Grind Out 12th Top-10 Finish of the Season with Eighth-Place Effort at Pocono Raceway

Finish: 8th
Start: 8th
Points: 6th

“That was a solid effort today by everyone on the Global Industrial team. We’re knocking out top-10s left and right. We want to do better and win some more races. We’ve got to keep working, keeping digging, and bring some faster Chevrolet Camaros to the racetrack. I think being a rookie has some challenges. In practice we were free and we get in the race and we were really tight. I don’t know if that’s just a rookie thing and trying to figure out how free I need to be in practice to be better to start the race or what the case is there. We worked on it all day and got it better. The pit stops were great and we made the balance on the car better every stop. During that last run, I thought we were really good. We were working up through the field and all of a sudden it started getting tight on me. I tried to move my line around and do some different things but just struggled on the long run trying to get it to turn and we lost a few spots at the end. If we can just fix a few things here and there I think we can be battling for wins.” -Austin Hill

Toyota Racing NXS Post-Race Recap — Pocono 7.23.22

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Second-Place Finish for Gibbs at Pocono
No. 54 Toyota GR Supra Comes Up Just Short at the Tricky Triangle

LONG POND, Pa. (July 23, 2022) – Ty Gibbs finished runner-up in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway. Gibbs challenged race-winner Noah Gragson in the closing laps of Saturday’s race but came up just short to earn a second-place result in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota GR Supra.

Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Pocono Raceway
Race 19 of 33 – 225 miles, 90 laps

TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Noah Gragson*
2nd, TY GIBBS
3rd, Josh Berry*
4th, AJ Allmendinger*
5th, Sheldon Creed*
17th, BRANDON JONES
30th, TIMMY HILL
31st, SAMMY SMITH
35th, SANTINO FERRUCCI
*non-Toyota driver

TOYOTA QUOTES

TY GIBBS, No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing

Finishing Position: 2nd

You seemed upset when you got out of the car. Were you mad at something you did or maybe didn’t do in the final laps racing Noah Gragson?

“It definitely hurt us being on a tire disadvantage. I was so surprised to hang with the 9 (Noah Gragson) when he was on rights. I had a great car, just didn’t put it together. I want to say I felt like on my part I just made some mistakes, but we’ll come back at it next weekend. Thank you to Monster Energy, Sport Clips, Interstate Batteries, our Lord Jesus Christ and thank you to all of the fans for being here.”

How determined were you to keep it clean racing Noah Gragson for the win?

“I just put myself in a bad position there, but I always love racing out here and congratulations to the 9 team.”

Did you get too loose going into the tunnel turn?

“Yeah, you know we both went in there side-by-side and I just lost my side force and got loose under him, but that’s racing. I put myself in that position, but I feel like I definitely have to look back and see what other options I had. I just want to say thank you to my team and everybody who is a part of this deal. I had a great time.”

Did you feel like you had a car that could get the win today?

“We had a very fast Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Just made some mistakes there and I felt like that was my fault. We were on a tire disadvantage, which was kind of unbelievable that we still hung with the 9 (Noah Gragson). That shows how fast our Toyota Supra was. Thank you to Monster Energy, Sport Clips and Interstate Batteries.”

SANTINO FERRUCCI, No. 26 Freedom Alliance Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing

Finishing Position: 35th

What happened to take you out of the race early?

“I don’t know. We were just restarting. We had a really fast car. Sam Hunt and Toyota and our Freedom Alliance car was just really, really good. I got really up close to Cole (Custer) just trying to understand – being part-time it’s so hard to judge the air off the side of the cars. I just made a mistake, man. I just got a little off the bottom and I got really close to him and the side force kind of went and I started to lose the rear. Our car actually hasn’t been loose all day. It’s just a shame for everybody else because there were a lot of cars caught up in that just because we were not spaced out yet. I’m really, really bummed for the Freedom Alliance boys and Toyota and all of our crew. We qualified 11th in my first-ever qualifying and we’ve been racing right there all day. Just not how I wanted my home race to go.”

#

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.

Toyota directly employs more than 48,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of nearly 43 million cars and trucks at our 13 manufacturing plants. By 2025, Toyota’s 14th plant in North Carolina will begin to manufacture automotive batteries for electrified vehicles. With the more electrified vehicles on the road than any other automaker, more than a quarter of the company’s 2021 North American sales were electrified.

Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights the way it partners with community, civic, academic and governmental organizations to address our society’s most pressing mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move, anything is possible. For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVY IN VICTORY LANE IN HY-VEE DOUBLE HEADER RACE NO. 1

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CHEVROLET RACING IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
HY-VEE DOUBLEHEADER
IOWA SPEEDWAY
NEWTON, IOWA
TEAM CHEVY RACE #1 RECAP

JOSEF NEWGARDEN PUTS CHEVROLET IN VICTORY LANE AT IOWA RACE #1

CHEVROLET DRIVERS CAPTURED TOP-FOUR FINISHING POSITIONS

NEWTON, IOWA (July 23, 2022) – Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, was highly motivated to win after losing the pole to his teammate Will Power, No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet, earlier today so the two-time NTT INDYCAR Series’ champion took the lead for the final time on lap 80 and never looked back.

He out-ran fellow Team Chevy driver Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet and Power to claim his fourth victory at Iowa Speedway, his fourth win of the season and 24th of his career.

Newgarden jumped to 2nd in the points, just 15 points behind the leader with Power close behind just seven points behind Newgarden.

Today’s win was the 8th of the season for Chevrolet and 104 wins with the Chevrolet 2.2 liter twin turbocharged direct injected V6 engine. Chevrolet continues to lead the Manufacturer Championship standings 922 to 842 points.

Earlier today in qualifying for both races for the Hy-Vee Doubleheader weekend, Power captured the pole for both races scoring his 65th and 66th pole of his career, one away of tying the great Mario Andretti. Newgarden will start alongside power for Race #2 setting up the same scenario as today’s start with Chevrolet locking in the front row.

O’Ward claimed the runner-up position and Power finished third to sweep the podium for Team Chevy. Finishing fourth with a very strong run was Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Bitcoin Racing with Bitnile Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

Chevrolet will serve as the official pace car with a Corvette Stingray Coupe leading the field to green.

Chevrolet and the NTT INDYCAR Series return to Iowa Speedway with two races: Race #2- the Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday and will air live on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.indycar.com.

DRIVER QUOTES

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO.2 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTD 2ND, RACE WINNER:

I WOULD SAY THAT WAS A PRETTY SWEET DAY HERE IN IOWA

“I am glad I wore this cool shirt, because it was nice and easy. To be honest with you, I felt nice and cool today and this car was good. I was surprised at how hard these guys were pushing on these restarts. You know, this was a long game day and I think (Pato) O’Ward definitely looked like he was the toughest competitor today to beat. But I am really proud of our team and obviously Hitachi and Team Chevy showed up with a really good piece. I was disappointed after qualifying because I just hate losing them because I felt like we had enough to get the job done and we didn’t. That motivated me because I knew we had a car here today to win this race and in front of this great crowd. Unbelievable job by Hy-Vee, you know they are throwing concerts all weekend and they are doing everything they can amenity-wise for people out here. So, this has been a great event and its one of my favorite tracks. To be able to win here again, it’s always very special.”

JOSEF, YOU TOLD ME “WE ARE IN THE GAME FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP”. YOU GAINED SOME POINTS TODAY, YOU ARE LOOKING STRONG, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT NOW?

“I feel good. We have been in the game, just not where we want to be in the game. I think if we were ahead by a good bit, that would be a lot better position to be in at this point of the year. But you know, we are in the fight, and we are relatively there and we just have to find out how to have more consistency. We are either winning or going sideways on our weekend. I know we can do better than this. Its not that we haven’t been doing good, I just know consistently we can do better than what we have been doing. We will get there, and I always have faith every weekend that I show up with Team Penske.”

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, STARTED 4TH, FINISHED 2ND:

YOU SAID TO STAY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP, IT HAS TO BE WIN OR BUST. THAT LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE ALMOST HEADED TO WIN. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DAY?

“Yeah, I mean, I was pushing Josef (Newgarden) there in the end, but we didn’t quite have it. I have to say the car was really good and we didn’t start off the day as strong, but we kept making the car better and better every single stint. There in the end, I think we just took a little bit out of it by getting by Will (Power), getting by Alex (Palou), and getting by the lappers to try and catch the No. 2. So, we will see what we can make better for tomorrow, but the car was really good. P2 is really good for where we are in the championship and for the weekend and tomorrow, I think we start eighth. That won’t be an issue because it’s all about having a good race car here. I have to thank Arrow, Mission, and Team Chevy. It’s good to be here and I am excited for tomorrow.”

WITH THE OVERNIGHT, WILL YOU HAVE A WAY TO MAKE IT BETTER FOR TOMORROW INCLUDING MAYBE THE RESTART GEAR?

“Yeah, I knew they were playing games on the restart, but then I found a way to do it without losing any ground. At first, we lost a little bit of ground to Marcus (Ericsson), but we will be better tomorrow.”

WILL POWET, NO. 12 VERIZON 5G TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTED POLE, FINISHED 3RD:

WHAT CAN YOU THINK OF THAT YOU CAN WORK ON YOUR TEAMMATE HARDER FOR TOMORROW?

“Yeah, we were definitely strong there before it went yellow. Then on that next restart I had to push so hard to keep guys behind that I had a couple of good yaw moments and the rear just never recovered. I ended up maxed out on my tools, so that was just a matter of pushing. I mean it was either lose positions or really push in the dirty air of Josef. I was really stoked to be third for like hanging on like that. Man, the tires are so gone at the end its crazy. Its kind of fun because you slide these things a lot, but yeah it was a good effort for the Chevy Verizon 5G car. Another top three and you never look back on those as a bad day, so a good day.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 BITCOIN RACING WITH BITNILE ED CARPENTER RACING, STARTED 8TH, FINISHED 4TH

“It was pretty hard out there with the high temperatures. I struggled a lot to run the high line and it would have been a lot nicer if I could play up there. But that last long stint, I could really save the tires and capitalize on other people’s mistakes. I almost got Will (Power), we were sideways coming to the checkered flag! Tough to just miss out on a podium, but I am very happy. We did everything well, the only issue was a little hold up in pit lane with (Jack) Harvey coming in while I was going out, but that happens at tracks like this. We did well, I am happy. On to tomorrow, let’s get that podium, yeet!”

CALLUM ILOTT, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER CHEVROLET, STARTED 22ND, FINISHED 12TH:

KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 14 SEXTON PROPERTIES TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET. STARTED 24TH, FINISHED 15TH:

“Definitely, I think a solid day considering where we started P24 to P15. That’s a nine position gain and our car was really good late in stints. I think the way the race kind of played out if it was a lot more green running, we would have looked even better. But with all the cautions and people going to new tires very quickly put us in a position that we’re always on new tires and fresh tires. And then at the end we made hay, we passed I think I think five cars right at the end just because we went longer on a stint and our car stayed with it for a longer period. So that’s definitely good to know, for tomorrow, because if it stays a lot more green, we’ll probably be looking better from our better starting position in 20th.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 20 BITNILE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, STARTED 3RD. FINISHED 19TH:

“It’s obviously not how we wanted the day to go. We started off quick, but the tires just go off so aggressively all race long. It was a tough situation for us, just really hard to keep the grip underneath us. We’ll try to make some changes for tomorrow. Obviously, we have a quick car on new tires, but we need to elongate that. Really, really tough day, but thankfully we have another race tomorrow where we start up front.”

DALTON KELLETT. NO.4 L-LINE TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTED 26TH, FINISHED 20TH: “It was good to move up a few spots from starting on the last row to bring it home 20th for the No.4 K-Line Chevrolet so that was a good progression four day. I think overall we’re okay on pace and at the start of the run and the first third of the stand but it really seems like we’re abusing the rear tires and just making it pretty tough to hang on towards the end so we’ll have to figure out what we can do to kind of keep the tires under us longer in the stint. We went 78 laps on tires in that last and I was hanging on for dear life for the last 30 or 40 laps. So that’s a key factor here is how long you keep it underneath you without really losing the front or the rear end too much for us. We’re losing the rear so we’ll have to see what we can do to kind of protect those rears a little bit.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 FREIGHTLINER TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, STARTED 5TH, FINISHED 22ND:

“A pretty unfortunate day for the No. 3 Freightliner Chevy team. We were running pretty strong, and the car was feeling good, and then end up with a loose wheel after a pit stop. That took us out of contention, but we still finished and got some points. Overall, it could have been a lot better day, but we build as a team and this will make us stronger.”

ED CARPENTER, NO. 33 ALZAMED NEURO ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, STARTED 19TH, FINISHED 25th INVOLVED IN SINGLE CAR INCIDENT ON LAP 164:

“That was a difficult race. We really just struggled to get the right balance on the Alzamend Neuro car all day. Started loose, then too much understeer. I am not totally sure what happened when I lost it. There were times we had good pace we just need to make a few changes to get the balance in a better window for tomorrow. Luckily Rinus (VeeKay) had a pretty good day, we went with a little different set up than him today. We are hoping for a big rebound tomorrow.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST, NO. 7 VUSE ARROW MCLAREN SP CHEVROLET, STARTED 11TH, FINISHED 26TH :INVOLVED IN SINGLE CAR INCIDENT ON LAP 110 – “I was pretty free from the beginning and pretty early I was very conservative with my tools. I mentioned I was maxed out and I tried to hang out with the rest of the stent that were actually running pretty well. We weren’t slow but it was just very free. I just thought I could hang on but it just caught me out. I tried to hang on to it, but yeah, just a shame I feel for the guys having to to repair it. Hopefully we can get it done fairly well for tomorrow, but its not ideal. But yeah, it happens. It’s it’s tough out there. It’s I’ll get the balance completely right. It is very tough to keep on track. So tomorrow, we’ll see if we can get a better run in race number two.”

Josef Newgarden

Pato O’Ward

Will Power

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Joined by second- and third-place finishing drivers. Pato O’Ward comes home second place, and Will Power comes home third.

Pato, open us up with your thoughts on the day.

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, really solid points day for us today. I thought we had a little bit more for Josef in the end. He was really strong. All Penske cars were extremely strong.

It was all about what can we do different to them to be able to just have a shot at getting by them. I had to use my tires a bit much. I think Will was on the same train battling with me and Palou, Marcus. So I think we used up our tires a little bit more than what Josef did. He had a little bit more to give in the end.

Yeah, I was happy with my car. Didn’t really start off very good. We were just extremely, extremely loose. As we saw in the 7 car, unfortunate. Yeah, glad Felix is okay. We need to see what we can do better for tomorrow to not have that because it took a lot of pit stops to get it into a window where we could actually attack rather than just being a little bit of a passenger.

Yeah, really happy with our day.

THE MODERATOR: Will, your thoughts on the podium and the battle you had with your teammate throughout the day today?

WILL POWER: It was a good battle. Last restart is what hurt me the most, trying to keep guys behind. Had a couple of big yaw moments on the rear tire early. Pounded on that rear too much to stay ahead. Then went loose, really loose. I had some big saves.

I was happy to end up third actually. I was thinking we might fall back a bit further. Some good lessons in there for tomorrow. But it is difficult when you get attacked. You can’t do much. You want to be the leader because you’re in clean air, so much easier to conserve your tires up there.

Yeah, kind of a second-gear restart, that was a mistake. That’s what Josef got me. I should have been smarter on that.

PATO O’WARD: I did that too, mate. Retweet.

WILL POWER: It’s real life, it’s not Twitter (laughter).

THE MODERATOR: Traffic was crazy all day today. 772 total on-track passes this afternoon, 372 were for position.

We’ll open it up for questions.

Q. Will, after starting from the pole, are you disappointed with third?

WILL POWER: No. You never look back on a day when finishing third is a bad thing. There’s a few things I could have done a little better, been a bit more aggressive with the tools in the car to make sure the rear wouldn’t go off.

I felt like we had a strong car. I was a bit conservative at the start, not attacking as much as Josef was. Then when we had the restart and I was starting to attack Josef, that’s when I started to be a bit more aggressive and felt a bit stronger.

Yeah, good day. Third’s good points every time.

Q. Speaking of points, the championship race keeps changing. There’s five drivers separated by 59 points. How do you think this is going to play out?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, Newgarden has four wins, probably five tomorrow, unless I can do something.

PATO O’WARD: Don’t be so negative.

WILL POWER: Go ahead, try to beat him, man.

PATO O’WARD: I tried today (laughter).

WILL POWER: Yeah, well, I’m going to try to beat him tomorrow. So is Pato.

But, yeah, it’s still close. It’s just if you keep finishing in that top four, you’re going to be right there. At some point it’s going to be clear who are the real contenders. Maybe this goes all the way to the wire, five guys.

PATO O’WARD: What he said, yeah (smiling).

Q. Pato, were you battling something with restarts with the gearing?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, Josef had different gearing to us. I’m pretty sure he was aware of that. So the team told me to do a certain thing, which I did. It was pretty horrendous and we got passed by two guys, I think.

In the next one I did the opposite, and it worked. Yeah, it’s hard to say, right? You don’t know who’s going to be leading you. You don’t know if you’re going to be the one leading. Obviously you’re going to do the best for whatever is your pattern, gearbox pattern.

But, yeah, we only let it catch us out once. I think Will did, as well.

Q. Is that something you have to address for tomorrow?

PATO O’WARD: No. I mean, maybe yes or no. It just really depends on how bad it was. I just think knowing now what to do, it’s really not too big of an issue, I guess.

Q. Will, yesterday you said Marcus was the best driver in the series.

WILL POWER: Yeah.

Q. Today he starts 12th, gets all the way up to second. Do you see today why he’s going to be tough as the points leader?

WILL POWER: There was an example of him racing really hard. It hurt the overall finish for him because I was trying to save my tires knowing how long that stint was going to be. Those guys are attacking so hard that they are just going to fall back with someone sitting there conserving the second half of the stint.

Yeah, he’s tough on restarts. He’s a very, very good racer.

Q. Tomorrow’s race is 50 laps longer, but the temperature will be about 15 degrees cooler.

WILL POWER: 15 degrees, I’ll take that, even for 50 laps (smiling).

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, it will definitely be nicer on the deg, on the car. I think it will be a little bit friendlier.

Q. Even though he never made it all the way up to where you guys were, Jimmie had a pretty good race for most of the day. It shows he’s pretty good on ovals.

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think he’s doing a phenomenal job in the ovals. In Texas, where I had my issues, I got to follow him for a bit. I thought it was really, really cool to see him explore in areas where no one else was exploring. He was making the car work in areas where no one else was. I think that’s why he was so strong.

I think that NASCAR experience paid off in how those guys are just continuing to explore and see where the grip is. For us, I guess sometimes if you go off of what you know, it can be a big price to pay.

But, yeah, it was really cool to see that he was kind of thinking outside the box versus everybody else. Yeah, I think he’s just going to keep getting better and better.

Q. I would like to know, you got a message for your Latino fans that live in Iowa? What can they expect for tomorrow’s race?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I got to see quite a bit of you guys today. Hopefully I get to see more of you tomorrow. Come check it out. I think it’s really worth mentioning what Hy-Vee and what Penske have done for this weekend. It’s really, really cool to see. I’ve never seen Iowa this way.

I think their approach to everything has been phenomenal. I think it’s the approach that everybody else in every single event in the INDYCAR schedule should be like. So I think we can learn a lot about this weekend and how well they’ve done it.

THE MODERATOR: Will, we’ll let you go.

WILL POWER: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll continue with questions for Pato.

Q. Pato and Josef, strong day for Chevy. Did you guys on track think you had an advantage with that engine than the Honda guys? Seemed like you did.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Oh, yeah. No, I don’t know. I always feel very good with a Chevy behind me, don’t you?

PATO O’WARD: Yes, yes, yes.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, look, they’ve delivered this year on all accounts. Chevy power, durability, performance, it’s always there for us.

Q. What burgers were you talking about?

PATO O’WARD: We were just talking about…

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Shake Shack would be good.

THE MODERATOR: Wahlberg’s. There’s one in Newton, right here.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m now very excited.

PATO O’WARD: Double-double. Let’s go.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Love Mark Wahlberg’s.

Q. (No microphone.)

PATO O’WARD: It was wonderful. The worst part is the first two minutes. After that, whew, you’re chilling.

Q. (No microphone.)

PATO O’WARD: You wanted to see more, didn’t you? Sneaky (laughter).

Q. (No microphone.)

PATO O’WARD: Naughty girl.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Pato. We’ll see you back here tomorrow.

PATO O’WARD: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Josef Newgarden, with four wins at this great oval.

Congratulations. We’ll continue with questions for Josef.

Q. At the start it looked like you and Will came together. Did you discuss that or do you have an understanding of what happened here?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Came together?

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I didn’t feel that. Probably wasn’t big. I think we probably just got close. I got a really good jump beside him. But, no, I don’t think it was too big. Then he got away. I was just kind of letting him do his thing for the first 20 laps, then we tried to pick it up after that. Yeah, I don’t think it was a big deal.

Q. What is the context of the four wins within the team? Is it easier to motivate your guys because they’ve got the knowledge you’re able to go out and win four races or is it more difficult because you’ve won four races and you’re not leading the championship?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s been a frustrating year in some regards. But it’s been tempered with great results. I mean, to your point, we’ve had four wins. I feel like we’ve showed up at most of these weekends capable of winning the race.

Fortunately four of them have worked out pretty nicely. But, yeah, it’s either working out like that or it’s just going sideways to some degree. I don’t know that I want to put that on any one specific thing. It’s been kind of bad timing in a lot of respects this year. Mid-Ohio was bad timing, qualifying and the race. Toronto we had bad qualifying with P2 going out, hampered qualifying. Bad positions on the pit stop. Even the pit cycle before that was bad timing on when we pit.

I don’t really think it’s anyone’s fault. I don’t think we have a problem in any part of the team. For whatever reason, we have odd timing on most of these weekends. The other weekends where there is no odd timing, we win the race. I think if we could find the middle ground there, we’d be handily in the points lead. We can’t seem to find that balance right now.

You have to be careful trying to find it. We can’t change much. It’s just the way it is. 2018 was similar to this year, we won three races, finished fifth in the championship. We had four poles, super good. We were either winning the race or something weird was happening.

Q. You won the second race here in 2020. The first race you were seething that you didn’t win that race. A caution or something…

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, should have. Got screwed by the caution basically. We were out front. Yeah, so I was seething. I was pretty upset. It’s one of those timing things we’re talking about. You can’t control that stuff. Yellows sometimes completely bite you and you can’t point your finger or yell at anybody. Wrong place, wrong time. That was one of those races.

Q. Everybody says you’re the unquestioned favorite. When you come here, is there more pressure on you to make sure you back it up the way you did today? Now does it shift for tomorrow where maybe you demoralized the field and the pressure is off?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it gets harder every year I come here. ’16 we won the race, I felt like we demolished the field. It was like taking candy from a baby. It was stupid.

Every year since it’s just gotten harder. Feels like everyone is figuring it out. You can’t have a mega advantage on somebody forever. They slowly start to figure it out.

You can see it with Will. Will has figured out how to finesse this place. Obviously there’s a certain style, a certain technique everywhere we go that you find success with.

Scott is the same way. I think McLaughlin was picking up on what I was doing around here. Not just those guys, I look at Pato. Pato was not easy to beat today. We put the hammer down with 20 or 30 to go. Before that he was coming like a freight train at 30 laps to go. I was like, Who is this McLaren coming up on me. I was asking for feedback on that because he kind of snuck up on me.

I don’t feel like it’s an easy beat-down anymore. If we mis-step, we’ll get beat. That will happen tomorrow if we are not on our game. I don’t feel like we have an advantage anymore.

Q. Yesterday Will Power said he thinks Marcus is the best racer in the series right now. Knowing that you’re battling him for the championship, what is your assessment of how strong he appeared today? Did he show something as the points leader?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I think he’s done a great job obviously. How could you not say so, right? He’s doing a tremendous job.

He’s kind of just been level. There’s not a lot of flash to him. I would say even less so than Palou. Palou to me is like the best non-flash driver. That guy is super well-rounded, does everything well. There’s nothing much to him. You’re not seeing a lot of spark.

Ericsson is like a step below that. I would put him like maybe below Palou. They’re just having a good run. They’re doing a great job. Obviously they have a great team. You can’t do it alone in this series, they’re a great team at Chip Ganassi Racing. It’s a great combination for them.

He’s not going to be easy to beat. If he keeps doing what he’s doing, that can win championships. It’s great to win four races. Our boring days we need to be finishing second or third. We just can’t seem to do that right now. When we figure that out, I think we’ll be in the mix, we’ll be just fine.

Q. I asked the others about the championship race, how they see it playing out. Will said you’ll probably win tomorrow and take the points lead. Pato said he’s going to try to beat you. There’s five of you separated by 59 points. How do you think this is going to play out?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s been very entertaining from a fan standpoint. No one is getting away from anybody. We’re all together. So that’s exciting.

Typically this is what’s been happening the last couple years in INDYCAR, it’s always gone down to the finale. You always have a couple horses in the race at least.

I don’t know how it’s going to play out, I really don’t. Someone could go on a streak. It could keep going up and down. That’s kind of what’s happening right now. It’s so competitive that you have people sort of winning, then having a bad weekend, then you have guys like Ericsson who is in the middle and level. So no one’s getting away.

It’s impossible to predict. I have no idea. Someone could just go on a super streak, and maybe not. But tomorrow is not a given, I can tell you that. I think we have a good car and we did a good job today, but that does not guarantee tomorrow’s race. It will be just as difficult as today. Cooler, absolutely. Hallelujah.

Q. (Question about pit crew.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Kyle Lapierre (phonetic), my left front, about died two days ago. He was mowing his lawn, got attacked by a hornets net. Was in the hospital 24 hours ago. Got released. I don’t know how he got here and pitted my car, but he did. That dude almost died 48 hours ago. He was ready to rock. Doesn’t care about 100-degree heat. You ask me about my pit crew: Kyle La peer, what a champion.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: He looked great. He pitted that car just fine. Write that. We should be singing Kyle Lapierre’s praises. They’re all excellent. Typically when I go into the pits, I know I’m either going to maintain or gain. That is an asset that you cannot — you can’t second-guess that. It’s certainly something that you – what’s the right word – you just can’t undervalue that. It is so critical to win these races in the pits. My team performs every time, as well as Will’s.

Like I was talking about with Ericsson, you don’t win these championships alone, you don’t perform the way he’s performed alone. You’re normally backed up by a great team. I’ve always had great confidence that we have the best team out there. It makes a big difference to win these places, absolutely.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I don’t know. We’ve got to come up with something for Kyle.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: He is the Hornet now from now on. That’s his nickname. I was blown away by the story. I showed up. Kyle is in the hospital, he almost died. What? He’s still coming, though, don’t worry. I was like, Why? Stay home. Love that guy.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yes, yes. It wasn’t like one. He got swarmed.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, right? A.J. has almost died twice by killer bees.

THE MODERATOR: Among other things.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah.

That was the last time they did that.

Q. (No microphone.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think that was like their cousins.

THE MODERATOR: Cousins in Texas.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Seeking revenge. We’ll finish you, A.J.

Q. How was traffic today? Seemed to be quite an issue.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: How was the track?

THE MODERATOR: Traffic.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: No, the traffic was I would say normal. It’s always tough around here in Iowa. You’ve got to be really good in and out of traffic. Today was the same thing. I saw more dropoff today, though, than perhaps 2020. Being a day race makes that very different.

But it’s the name of the game. Keeping after the tires and your adjustments to keep after the tires, being able to get through traffic, those are the two ingredients you need to win here at Iowa. It will be the same tomorrow. Even with cooler conditions, it will be the same deal.

Q. What about the momentum going into tomorrow? How excited are you for the race tomorrow?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, very excited. I mean, I love this place. I mean, not just because we’re good here. Obviously that makes it better, but it’s a really fun track to race at. You have two lanes to run on, sometimes three. That’s abnormal for us in a lot of ovals we go to. It’s the most exciting race we get to partake in in INDYCAR from an oval standpoint. Excited to have two of them.

Q. You sounded a little nervous over the radio when Pato was closing up to you. Did you think you had the tires to hold on?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I was nervous with Pato there. I noticed him coming up. I thought I had a good gap on everybody about 30, 35 to go. Then I just noticed this McLaren coming on very strong in my mirrors. He snuck up on me at that point. That’s why I radioed in. Is this guy on our strategy? Is he on the same tires? Looked like he was on fresher tires when I was seeing him in the mirrors.

I was concerned at that point. I just tried to pick up my pace, make sure I could get through traffic a little bit quicker. Then we were fortunately able to sort of run away from him.

I don’t know if we can continue to do that tomorrow. He looked pretty good to me. So we’ve just got to really look at it tonight, see what we can improve on, see what the weather conditions do for us, make this thing a little bit better.

Q. (Question about points.)

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I approach every race the same. If there’s an opportunity to win, we’re going for the win. We’re trying to maximize our capabilities every weekend. When you’re doing that, you’re not aiming to make a mistake or put the car in a compromising position.

It’s the same every day. If we have an opportunity with a winning car to win the race, we’re going to go for that. If it’s not there, we aren’t forcing that. We need to maximize what the potential is.

Q. How did you manage to hold your nerve chased by everyone? What were the keys to defend your position?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It was very tough. I was quite surprised at how aggressive Will and Marcus were on the restarts. I just thought that was the wrong approach, quite honestly. Today was going to be a long game. You needed to be long on the tires, needed to be able to look after them. They were so aggressive on the restarts just to get track position. I think it ended up hurting them in the long run.

I just tried to stay in front. I tried to position myself where they would struggle to get by. Fortunately it was good enough today to manage them and hold them back.

Q. What do you think you can improve for tomorrow’s race?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think we could still make our balance better. I was up and down today. I made probably a bad adjustment in the middle of the race that we fortunately got back into the car, at least half of it. We can be better balance-wise across the stint.

It really is a balance of how you manage the tires. If you’re too aggressive on the restarts, you’re running too much front grip, you wear the rears out, and vice versa, if you’re not aggressive enough to keep the fronts working, then you just start plowing understeer. Either way you can really lose the car if you lose the front or rear aggressively with tire degradation.

Yeah, I think we can tune it up a little bit better. We just need to make the right calls for a cooler track temp, see what’s going to be right for those conditions versus today.

Q. You said on TV you were real motivated by not winning the pole. Is that really accurate?

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Unfortunately I get so annoyed these days when we miss it. I hate it. I hate losing. It’s not that I want to be a sore loser, but I’m so competitive that it is frustrating to me when we don’t execute perfectly.

It’s impossible to execute perfectly all the time. That’s the way my mind works, is that we should be able to do that. So I was very motivated to get the race win just because I knew we had a pole-capable car and we didn’t get that done. I wanted to at least finish off the race, which is the more important bit. But it’s also fun to win poles.

THE MODERATOR: There is another $10,000 for the People Ready.

JOSEF NEWGARDEN: They’re going to love that. Serious fun. Wags & Walks, they’re going to love that, absolutely.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Josef Newgarden.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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Gragson outduels Gibbs for third Xfinity victory of 2022 at Pocono

By
Andrew Kim
-
Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

A week after having a top-five result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway stripped due to a failed post-race inspection to his car, Noah Gragson rebounded with vengeance after fending off Ty Gibbs to win the Explore the Pocono Mountains 225 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 23.

The 24-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three times for a race-high 43 of 90-scheduled, including the final 21, as he overtook teammate Josh Berry for the top spot. From there, he fended off a hard-charging Gibbs, including a final lap side-by-side duel with Gibbs through the Long Pond straightaway, to retain the top spot and claim his third victory of the 2022 Xfinity Series season by more than two-tenths of a second.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Justin Allgaier, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, started on pole position after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 168.669 mph in 53.359 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 168.319 mph in 53.470 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Allgaier and Gibbs dueled for the top spot entering the first turn as Allgaier managed to fend off Gibbs and Brandon Jones to lead the field through the Long Pond straightaway. Behind, newcomer Sammy Smith and AJ Allmendinger dueled for fifth ahead of Josh Berry and Richard Childress Racing’s rookies Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill.

During the following lap, the first caution flew when Rajah Caruth made contact with Alex Labbe entering the frontstretch as both were sent spinning and colliding against the inside wall. Despite the hard accident, both competitors emerge uninjured from their wrecked race cars.

When the event restarted under green on the sixth lap, Allgaier rocketed his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro with the lead on the outside lane as he fended off Gibbs’ No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra. Shortly after, Brandon Jones overtook teammate Gibbs for the runner-up spot followed by Allmendinger and Creed as Gibbs was stuck n a side-by-side battle with Hill on the inside lane with no momentum. 

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Brandon Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra followed by Allmendinger, Creed and Gibbs while Hill, Noah Gragson, Berry, Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith were in the top 10. Riley Herbst was in 11th ahead of Santino Ferrucci, Cole Custer, Landon Cassill and Ryan Sieg while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brett Moffitt, Myatt Snider, Sam Mayer and Anthony Alfredo were in the top 20.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 20, Allgaier captured his sixth stage victory of the season as he was leading by more than a second over Brandon Jones. Allmendinger settled in third followed by Gibbs, Creed, Berry, Gragson, Sammy Smith, Hemric and Hill.

Under the stage break, Anthony Alfredo remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier pitted. During the pit stops, Allgaier dropped out of the top five due to a slow pit stop and an issue with his jack as Brandon Jones was the first competitor to exit off of pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 25 as Alfredo and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Alfredo took off with the top spot followed by a hard-charging Gragson as Gragson assumed the lead through the Long Pond straightaway. As the field, which was fanned out, returned to the start/finish line, Gragson was out in front ahead of Gibbs, Berry, Brandon Jones and Creed while Allgaier was mired in ninth in between Hemric and Sammy Smith.

By Lap 35, Gragson’s No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro was out in front by four-tenths of a second over Gibbs’ No. 54 entry while Brandon Jones, Creed and Berry were in the top five. Allgaier was back in sixth while battling teammate Berry as Allmendinger, Hemric, Landon Cassill and Hill occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Sam Mayer, who had pitted a few laps earlier due to suffering a flat tire, was back in 36th and off the lead lap from the leaders.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 40, Gragson notched his seventh stage victory of the season while Gibbs fended off teammate Brandon Jones for the runner-up spot. Creed, Berry, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Cassill, Hemric and Hill were scored in the top 10 at the stage’s conclusion.

Under the stage break, names like Hill and Myatt Snider remained on the track while the rest led by Gragson pitted as Gragson was the first competitor to exit off of pit road.

With 45 laps remaining, the final stage started as the event reached its halfway mark. At the start and as Myatt Snider took his car to pit road with a flat right-rear tire, Hill and Gragson dueled for the lead before Gragson rocketed with the lead on the inside lane as Hill was being challenged by Brandon Jones and Gibbs for the runner-up spot.

Then as the field made their way back to the frontstretch, the caution flew when Santino Ferrucci got sideways entering the frontstretch and triggered a multi-car wreck as he was hit hard by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Then as Stenhouse’s wrecked No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro slid towards the inside wall, he was hit by an oncoming Jeb Burton, who was running towards the inside wall to avoid the incident as Burton was sent upside down as his No. 27 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro slid across the frontstretch before coming to a rest just past the start/finish line while the car remained on its roof. Other competitors that were involved in the wreck included Jeremy Clements and Ronnie Bassett Jr. Despite the incident, all competitors, including Burton, emerged uninjured as the event was red-flagged for more than eight minutes.

When the red flag lifted and the race proceeded under green with 40 laps remaining, Gibbs powered his No. 54 entry to the lead followed by Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro as Brandon Jones battled Gragson for third place. Through the Tunnel Curve, Gragson held on for third place as Hemric challenged Jones for fourth place.

Two laps later, the caution returned when Sammy Smith got loose underneath Cassill in Turn 1 and backed his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra into the outside wall with significant damage. During the caution period, the field led by Gibbs pitted and Gibbs exited with the top spot followed by Berry, Allgaier, Alfredo and Creed, all of whom opted for only fuel to their respective cars, while most of the field opted for two tires. During the pit stops, Creed nearly made contact with David Starr and Stefan Parsons while trying to exit his pit stall. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized for speeding on pit road. 

With 34 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Riley Herbst and Brett Moffitt, both of whom remained on the track, occupied the front row. At the start, Herbst took off with the lead and Berry carved his way into the runner-up spot as the field fanned out through the Long Pond straightaway.

Four laps later, Berry rocketed his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro to the top of the leaderboard over Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang as Creed and Gragson duked for third place in front of Gibbs. 

Another nine laps later, Gragson, who had stalked and intimidated teammate Berry for the lead, seized an opportunity and returned to the lead while Gibbs remained in third place. By then, Brandon Jones had made a pit stop under green due to a flat right-rear tire to his car. Shortly after, Gibbs muscled his way into the runner-up spot after he overtook Berry.

With 15 laps remaining, Gragson was leading by four-tenths of a second over Gibbs followed by Berry, Allmendinger and Creed while Hill, Mayer, Allgaier, Herbst and Hemric occupied the top 10. Meanwhile, Cassill was in 11th ahead of Cole Custer, Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Myatt Snider while Brett Moffitt, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Weatherman, Josh Williams and Sage Karam were in the top 20.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Gragson continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Gibbs. Berry remained in third, trailing by nearly four seconds, while Allmendinger and Creed settled in the top five. Filling out the top 10 were Hill, Sam Mayer, Allgaier, Hemric and Cassill while Herbst fell back to 11th.

Then with six laps remaining and with the leaders making their way through lapped traffic, Gragson and Gibbs dueled for the lead through the frontstretch, but Gragson managed to retain the top spot. Both competitors went at it for the lead during the following lap, but Gibbs could not seal the deal as Gragson remained as the leader. 

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson remained as the leader by a tenth of a second ahead of Gibbs, who was setting up for a final lap challenge for the victory. Entering the Long Pond straightaway, Gibbs then gained a huge run and managed to pull himself alongside Gragson’s No. 9 entry as both went side-by-side and made little contact. Through the Tunnel Curve, hover, Gragson managed to pull ahead on the outside lane while Gibbs nearly got loose on the inside lane. With Gibbs unable to launch another attack for the win, Gragson cycled his way back to the frontstretch and cross the finish line to win by nearly three-tenths of a second over Gibbs.

With the victory, Gragson earned his eighth NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory, his third of the season and his first since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in April. He also recorded the eighth Xfinity victory of the season for JR Motorsports and he became the third Xfinity regular to achieve three-plus victories throughout the season.

“That was probably the best I’ve ever driven there,” Gragson said on USA Network. “Man, I’m worn out. It really wasn’t that long of a race. Just working my ass off there to keep [Gibbs] back. He’s pretty fast. [Crew chief] Luke Lambert and the rest of this 50th anniversary Bass Pro Shops, Black Rifle Coffee, True Timber team did an unbelievable job with coming down pit road there, putting four tires on. Man, I had to work for it. It was tough. Just getting tight, tight, tight. I didn’t think with 15 [laps] to go, I didn’t think I could hold him off. We just keep digging. This team is unbelievable. I’m fired up. Our third win of the year. It’s a dream come true and it doesn’t get any better than in front of you badass race fans out here. I wanna thank you, guys, for coming out, baby!”

Ty Gibbs settled in the runner-up spot for the second time of this season and for a second consecutive season at Pocono while Berry, Allmendinger and Creed finished in the top five.

“It definitely hurt us being on a tire advantage, but also so surprised to be able to hang with [Gragson] when he was on rights,” Gibbs said. “Great car, just didn’t put it together. I wanna say that was, I feel like, on my part. I just made some mistakes, but we’ll come back at it next weekend. I just put myself in a bad position there, but I always love racing out here. Congratulations to [Gragson]. We both went in [the Tunnel Curve] side-by-side. I just lost my side force and got loose under him, but that’s racing. I put myself in that position, but I feel like I definitely have to look back and see what other options I had. Thank you to everybody that’s a part of this deal. I had a great time”

There were nine lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 18 laps.

With seven races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch, AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by 16 points over Justin Allgaier, 22 over Ty Gibbs, 87 over Josh Berry and 90 over Noah Gragson.

Ty Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Josh Berry, rookie Austin Hill and Brandon Jones are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular season stretch while Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg and Landon Cassill occupy the remaining vacant spots to the Playoffs based on points. Sheldon Creed trails the top-12 cutline to make the Playoffs by 47 points, Brandon Brown trails by 66, Anthony Alfredo trails by 77, Brett Moffitt trails by 89, Jeb Burton trails by 123, Myatt Snider trails by 144, Jeremy Clements trails by 146, Myatt Snider and Alex Labbe trails by 171.

Results.

1. Noah Gragson, 43 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Ty Gibbs, three laps led

3. Josh Berry, nine laps led

4. AJ Allmendinger

5. Sheldon Creed

6. Sam Mayer

7. Justin Allgaier, 22 laps led, Stage 1 winner

8. Austin Hill, four laps led

9. Daniel Hemric

10. Cole Custer

11. Landon Cassill

12. Riley Herbst, four laps led

13. Brandon Brown

14. Myatt Snider

15. Ryan Sieg

16. Anthony Alfredo, three laps led

17. Brandon Jones

18. Brett Moffitt, two laps led

19. Kyle Weatherman

20. Sage Karam

21. Josh Williams

22. Kyle Sieg

23. Stefan Parsons

24. Mason Massey

25. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

26. Bayley Currey, one lap down

27. David Starr, one lap down

28. JJ Yeley, one lap down

29. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

30. Timmy Hill, one lap down

31. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

32. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

33. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – OUT, Accident

35. Santino Ferrucci – OUT, Accident

36. Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT

37. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

38. Rajah Caruth – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course as part of a NASCAR and IndyCar doubleheader feature. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, July 30, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

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