Post-Race Report | Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600
Noah Gragson, No. 16 Charlotte Knights Camaro ZL1
Start: 27th
Stage 1 Finish: 24th
Stage 2 Finish: 16th
Stage 3 Finish: 25th
Finish: 24th
“We had a really good day overall and had some fun driving in the top 10 with our No. 16 Charlotte Knights Camaro ZL1. I got into the wall and had to pit for tires, which put us down a couple laps. We thought we could get back on the lead lap, but we had a parts failure that ultimately ended our day. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t quite make it to the end, but we had a fast car and I think we made some gains.” – Noah Gragson
“Our No. 31 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Camaro ZL1 was difficult to manage all day. We fought the car being extremely tight and having little front direction. Unfortunately, our day ended early due to engine troubles. We will move on to St. Louis!” – Justin Haley
Alsco Uniforms 300
Daniel Hemric, No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet
Start: 10th
Stage 1 Finish: 5th
Stage 2 Finish: 9th
Finish: 6th
“It was a decent day for us. We have been pretty vocal about needing speed within Kaulig Racing. I appreciate the effort within our shops and our partners at ECR Engines. We are all doing what we need to do to try to move the needle on it. I truly feel like we maximized on the day today.” – Daniel Hemric
AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet
Start: 8th
Stage 1 Finish: 4th
Stage 2 Finish: 6th
Finish: 19th
“Super tough day in Charlotte. We were competitive and a little bit better than we’ve been in the past few weeks. Our No. 16 Action Industries Chevy built tight as the race went on. I got into the wall a little and ended up having a tire go down late in the race, which ultimately sealed our fate. We will move on and go try to win in Portland.” – AJ Allmendinger
Landon Cassill, No. 10 Voyager Chevrolet
Start: 12th
Stage 1 Finish: 33rd
Stage 2 Finish: 35th
Finish: 29th
“It was a frustrating day for this No. 10 Voyager team. We lost fuel pressure early on and took it to the garage to fix the fuel pump cable. We were eventually able to fix it, and the guys worked so hard to get us back on track. I’m thankful for the fight our guys put in to get us to the finish” – Landon Cassill
About Kaulig Racing™
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started and made the Championship 4 round in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. They will continue fielding three, full-time NXS entries; the No. 10 Chevrolet driven by Landon Cassill, the No. 11 Chevrolet driven by Daniel Hemric, and the No. 16 Chevrolet driven by AJ Allmendinger. With multiple wins, Kaulig Racing has come to be one of the top competitors on track each weekend. The team made multiple starts in the NCS in 2021 and won in its seventh-ever start with AJ Allmendinger’s victory at “The Brickyard” for the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The young team has acquired two charters for the 2022 NCS season, with Justin Haley competing as its first, full-time driver in the series. The team’s second entry will be shared by part-time teammates AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
Ford Performance Notes and Quotes NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 | Sunday, May 29, 2022
Ford Finishing Results 3rd – Kevin Harvick 4th – Chase Briscoe 8th – Michael McDowell 11th – Harrison Burton 16th – Todd Gilliland 17th – Aric Almirola 18th – Cody Ware 19th – BJ McLeod 20th – Joey Logano 21st – Cole Custer 26th – Chris Buescher 29th – Ryan Blaney 30th – Brad Keselowski 34th – Austin Cindric 37th – Ryan Preece
KEVIN HARVICK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang – HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE A NIGHT LIKE THIS? “We went to the back five times for bad pit stops too, but everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang team did a good job. We just kept battling. We had a decent car after I hit the wall I got a lot tighter and then every time we’d make it up, we’d just fall on our face on pit road and go to the back again. We just kept battling. That’s just kind of the name of the game in this particular race because it’s just so long. I knew the attrition was gonna be high.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE. “Our race was atrocious. We went to the back eight times, but everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford just kept plugging away and we wound up in a good position there at the end and wound up with a good finish, but it was ugly. Everybody’s night was ugly for the most part.”
HOW DID IT FEEL AT THE END WITH ALL THE RESTARTS? “I’ve been to this race a lot and I knew that the way the mile and a half races had gone this particular year that it was gonna be a war. There weren’t as many tire issues as I thought there were going to be, but it wound up just being spin outs because the cars would just become an incredibly big handful as you’d get towards the end of the run. You just had to hang on to it, and it was definitely interesting to say the least.”
HOW WAS THE NEXT GEN CAR IN SUCH A LONG RACE? “I think for me it was just every lap was kind of the same. You just kind of kept grinding away.”
CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang – HOW DID YOU FINISH FOURTH AFTER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED? “We just had a really really good Mahindra Tractors Ford and just super proud of everybody at SHR. We’ve obviously struggled really bad the last month and a half and to have a good car like that today and had a car capable of winning and I threw it away, plain and simple. I’m glad we were able to at least get back to fourth. It’s unfortunate. There are 100 different things I would have done differently if I could re-do it again, but obviously you’re racing in the moment and made a mistake and went too far. We’ll come back next week and see if we can cap it off.”
TALK ABOUT YOUR RACE. “In the daytime we kind of struggled and I think a lot of that was just the sun. I was kind of timid around the fence. We kept getting track position. On restarts we were really really good, but I could never get clean air. I felt like if I could have got ahead of the 1, I was a little bit better on the long run. I could have maybe held him up on the short run. I had a shot at him. We threw a couple sliders and then the 5 was able to get out front and kind of the same thing, our car was really good on the long run. It seemed like if the guy could take the wall away from you, it was just really hard to do anything, but my car was really good almost one lane off and I just kept working Kyle really hard and waiting for him to make a mistake, but he’s the greatest of all-time, in my opinion. He just doesn’t make very many mistakes. I was able to drive it in so much deeper into one than him kind of all race long and felt like that was my opportunity if I could just get to his left-rear quarter panel on exit I would typically make people tighter. I drove in just as deep as I had been the whole race and I don’t know if he came off the wall because he’d been running so close on entry and as soon as I drove in there it just spun me out right away. I’m glad we were able to get back to fourth, but we definitely had a lot better race car than fourth.”
DID IT FEEL LIKE BRISTOL DIRT ALL OVER AGAIN? “I’m sure it looked the same. The move was totally different. With Reddick, I was going in there to try to get there and I didn’t have an opportunity to get there, where with Kyle I knew there was no way I was gonna drive in there and clear him. I was just trying to get in there to where I could get to his left-rear on the exit because you can’t follow the guy into the corner. You just get so tight. Like I said, he was lifting so much earlier to run the fence that I could just drive it in there so much deeper typically. There were a couple times I was literally inches away from getting there and I couldn’t get there, and then that last time I think it was two to go I was like, ‘Well, this is my last chance to try to get to his left-rear’ and I drove in there and, like I said, just kind of spun out as soon as I went into the corner. I wish I could do it all over again. There are 100 different things I’d do different those last 30-40 laps and I just was running 110 percent. I probably should have been running 95.”
HOW DOES THIS RACE COMPARE TO PAST 600s? “I’ve only ran one race here in the past in the Cup car, but, to me, that was the most fun Charlotte race I’ve ever ran. The racetrack was awesome. You could run the fence. You could run the middle. You could run the bottom. You could throw sliders. This car, it seems like, the long run and short run cars we have a little bit more of that where in the past it seemed like we kind of got single-filed out. It was a lot of fun. I’d do another 600 miles for sure.”
MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 34 FR8Auctions.com Ford Mustang – “We had a really fast FR8 Auction Ford Mustang. Unfortunately, we got too much damage in that wreck, that big pile up when the 6 spun with somebody. That kind of took a little speed out of our race car, but we did a good job working really hard trying to get the balance back. Then a lot of attrition there at the end. It was a wild race and we got ourselves in position there. I’m proud of everybody. It’s another top 10. We keep clicking them off. We had good speed. We qualified in the top 10 and finished in the top 10 today, so it’s good. It’s good to be disappointed with that. I thought we had a top five coming to the checkered there and got all stacked up there four-wide and got in the fence a little bit, but we’ll take a top 10 and move on to Gateway.”
COLE CUSTER, No. 41 Chicken Cock Whiskey Ford Mustang – “The team did a great job working on the car all night and keeping up with the track. I was really happy with what we had and it felt like we had made big gains and turned things around. I felt like we had a good shot at the end, but it just ended up that we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I really can’t wait to get to the track next weekend. We’re moving in the right direction and I’ve always loved racing at Gateway.”
CHRIS BUESCHER, No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang – “We just got caught up in it with our Fifth Third Bank Mustang. Our team did a really nice job and made some huge gains through the weekend. I’m really proud of them. We had a good race car. We drove all the way into the top 10 and just got back a little bit there and got around cars that really hadn’t been and got caught up in a wreck. It’s unfortunate.”
TAKE US THROUGH YOUR FLIP. “It’s not ideal by any means. I’m gonna be a bit sore tomorrow. I haven’t been upside-down in a really long time. The team did a really nice job. We had great speed and had a chance at this thing, it just didn’t work out.”
ON THE SAFETY CREW’S JOB. “I do appreciate them for helping me and setting it back over again, so thank you to everybody working for not slamming it back. It was nice to be able to get out. The blood is rushing to your head a little bit. I guess I could have pulled the belts and fallen right to the ground, but figured I’d just wait on them.”
BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang – “Something happened where Blaney got turned and I saw it and checked up and got wiped out from behind. I hate it for everybody at RFK. We unloaded and weren’t very good and we finally got the car good the run before this. We were driving forward and making passes and were almost into the top 10 and then get wrecked. We just can’t seem to catch a break.”
RYAN BLANEY, No. 12 BODYARMOR Ford Mustang – “I was tucked up tight behind the 8 and he was kind of lower than I thought on the frontstretch and kind of ran through the turf, and then got to one and jerked right and I think he was up behind the 99 and thinking he was gonna hit tha apron and I didn’t have time to kind of get right and I just kind of hit the apron and got me loose. I hate that other cars got tore up. I just didn’t really know where I was at being close to him and you kind of see that sometimes. I just hate that it tore us up”
AUSTIN CINDRIC, No. 2 Menards/Cardell Ford Mustang – Involved in accident on lap 146. “We cut a left-rear tire down right on corner entry. There was absolutely no warning and unfortunately that was the lap I decided to run the bottom, so a long distance to the wall and a pretty hard hit. We had a really really fast Menards/Cardell Ford Mustang. I was having fun. We had a fast car and fast cars usually climb up through the field running the top and running the bottom. It’s just unfortunate.”
In the 21st century, you can run your own business from home most of the time. There are many services that help people sell their products and services. An example of such a platform is Instagram.
Previously, it was just a social network for communicating with close people, but now, entrepreneurs who want to develop their brand online come here.
Today, we will talk about how to promote your account without the need to constantly buy Instagram followers.
An online store can be promoted just like any other company. The social network provides wide functionality for promoting the account and brand.
Hashtags
They are actively used by 99% of users. With their help, people find the necessary publications and accounts. Therefore, hashtags can be effectively used to promote a store on social networks.
They can reflect the name of the company or popular brands (if you are selling someone else’s products). It is also desirable to indicate in the hashtags the city or region to which the goods are delivered. Thanks to this, you do not have to buy real Instagram followers because people who are close to you will come to you.
Store name and description
It is for this information that Internet users will look for your account. The maximum length of a profile name is 30 characters. However, it is desirable to choose a name as short as possible to make it easy to remember. Most importantly, it should reflect the store’s direction or the brand’s name.
Account description must not exceed 150 characters. It is necessary to inform potential customers about the brand’s products and services. It is also important to include in the description a link to the company’s official website. This will help increase your audience.
Logo
A brand name should be attractive and informative. You can make a logo using one of the online services. It should convey key information about the online store. It is also important to consider the size of the profile logo. The image becomes small when uploaded to the site, so you should not put small details on the emblem.
Writing texts
The post can be called a product card because it contains all the important information buyers need about a particular product. It is important to write an attention-grabbing headline and a competent, structured text. You should also stop at a short post length to avoid overwhelming readers.
Emoticons and other graphic signs can be used to set accents. The syllable should be simple, without complex words and long sentences. It is desirable to mix up the content: alternate informative posts with entertaining ones, and include promotions and company news. You can also post customer reviews.
Form style
If you stick to a single color in your account, then it will be easier for users to identify the company. The main components of corporate identity are the logo, corporate colors, and trademark. It is also desirable to use them in the design of packaging, parcels and brand documentation.
An outsider might wonder why a racing car driver needs to be strong, fit, and have very high stamina. After all, they spend the whole race sitting down. But if you look at the top drivers from any kind of race car driving, they are all incredibly fit, healthy, and strong. They are in great shape, and it certainly helps them to stay at the very top of their sport.
Being in good shape is essential for car drivers. It doesn’t just help them to be competitive, it also helps them to prevent injuries, strains, and any lapses in concentration. But how should you get in shape for car racing? Here are some fantastic tips to help you.
Get Fit Before the Season Starts
Whatever category you race in, the season itself is hectic. There are packed race weekends, and travel but there’s also testing, and you might have other responsibilities. If you go into the season without being at peak fitness, you’ll struggle to get there. Focus on really getting into shape pre-season, so you only need to worry about maintaining from then.
Find a Routine That Works for You
Sticking to a fitness routine is important if you want to make big improvements. But racing can be hectic at times, and you might not be able to hit the gym every day. So, try to find a routine that works for you. This could be every other day workouts, three days on, two days off, or even shorter workouts more often.
Fuel Your Body
Getting fit isn’t easy, especially if you are doing it while trying to build a racing career. To keep your energy levels high, you need to look at your diet, and how you are fueling your body. Try to eat a well-balanced diet with lots of energy-boosting meals and then choose the best keto snacks. You’ll also need to get used to drinking plenty of water so that you don’t dehydrate on race days.
Target Your Weaknesses
We’re all guilty of doing things that we enjoy and avoiding the things that we aren’t so keen on. But when it comes to exercise this shows in our bodies. If you love strength training, but don’t enjoy cardio, your body might be strong, but you could have issues with stamina, cardiovascular health, and even mental fatigue. If you know that you have weaknesses, or there are things that you avoid, make an effort to fit them into your training plans. This tip was provided by the guys at MXP fitness.
And, if you are still unsure how to create a well-rounded exercise plan, you can consult a personal trainer at your gym. They can help you to design a program that addresses your weaknesses. However, if you’re working out on your own and don’t have access to a gym, you can still seek guidance from personal trainers online. Platforms similar to the real world andrew tate can offer you expert advice to help you navigate your fitness journey and achieve a balanced routine.
Build Neck Strength
When you are in the car, your body is held in place by the seatbelt and other safety features. Your neck isn’t. This means that it’s put under a lot of pressure as you drive at high speeds. Build neck strength with targeted strength training, so that it can cope.
Work on Your Balance
Balance is important for a driver, and one of the best ways to improve it will also help to protect your body. Work on core and back strength training to build these muscles. Simple ball games can also improve coordination and balance.
Try Endurance Exercises to Build Mental Strength
Even drivers with incredibly strong bodies that don’t tire easily can struggle with mental fatigue during a race. This can slow reaction times and lead to poor finishes, or even accidents. Endurance training, like going for long runs or swims, where it’s not about speed or strength, but about going further, can help to prepare your mind.
F1 is considered to be one of the most physically demanding sports in the world, and other forms of car driving won’t go easy on your body. If you are looking to get into car racing or become a better race car driver, getting in shape is absolutely crucial.
In one of stock car’s longest events on Memorial Day weekend spanning more than five hours and mired with a bevy of cautions and on-track carnages, Denny Hamlin survived two overtime attempts to storm to the lead and fend off teammate Kyle Busch to win the Coca-Cola 600 victory of this season at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29.
The 41-year-old Hamlin from Chesterfield, Virginia, led four times for 15 of 413 over-scheduled laps and was able to assume the lead during the first of two overtime attempts just as a multi-car wreck ensued behind him on the frontstretch. Then during the second overtime attempt, he came out on top over a late battle with teammate Kyle Busch, including overtaking and clearing his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate on the final lap, before having enough horsepower to cross the finish line in first place and claim his first 600 triumph.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Denny Hamlin notched his first pole position of the season after clocking in a pole-winning lap at 183.680 mph in 29.399 seconds. Joining him on the front was Kurt Busch, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 183.661 mph in 29.402 seconds.
Prior to the event, Kyle Larson, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kaz Grala dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective cars. In addition, Corey LaJoie started at the rear of the field in a backup car.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Hamlin launched ahead with the lead on the outside lane through Turn 1 before Kurt Busch drew himself in a side-by-side battle against his owner. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Hamlin managed to lead the first lap by a hair before Kurt Busch issued another early challenge for the lead.
During the following lap, Kurt Busch managed to edge Hamlin to lead the following lap before Hamlin returned the favor during the following lap. Then by the fourth lap, Hamlin managed to pull his No. 11 FedEx Toyota TRD Camry ahead of Busch’s No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota TRD Camry to clear the field for the lead while Kyle Busch was in third. Behind, Bubba Wallace muscled his way into third place ahead of William Byron, Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick.
Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Kyle Busch, who overtook teammate Hamlin for the lead during the previous lap, was leading followed by Bubba Wallace, Reddick and Byron while Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, Bell, Martin Truex Jr. and Alex Bowman. Rookie Austin Cindric was back in 11th ahead of Chase Elliott, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Michael McDowell, Austin Dillon, Ross Chastain, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Erik Jones while Kyle Larson was up in 21st ahead of Justin Haley, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Preece, Chris Buescher and rookie Harrison Burton.
Seven laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Ryan Preece spun entering Turn 4 on the outside lane. Just behind, Buescher and Noah Gragson spun separately to avoid Preece with Buescher making contact with Preece. By then, Kyle Busch was leading by more than a second over Bubbaa Wallace followed by Reddick and Byron while Hamlin and Kurt Busch slipped back to fifth and eighth, respectively. In addition, Kyle Larson was up to 18th.
Under caution, the leaders led by Kyle Busch pitted for the first time Kyle Busch, Byron, Reddick, Hamlin, Suarez and Wallace. Following the pit stops, Martin Truex Jr. was penalized for speeding on pit road. In addition, rookie Todd Gilliland was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 22, Kyle Busch rocketed his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota TRD Camry away with the lead while Reddick and Byron battled for the runner-up spot. Not long after, Wallace made his way into third place over Reddick and Hamlin while Larson was trying to work his way into the top 15.
By Lap 30, Kyle Busch was leading by half a second over Wallace followed by Byron, Reddick and Hamlin while Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Bell, Kurt Busch and Bowman were in the top 10.
Two laps later, the caution returned when Josh Bilicki spun in Turn 3. Under caution, some led by Byron pitted while the rest led by Kyle Busch remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Larson was penalized for removing equipment out of his pit box.
When the race proceeded under green on Lap 38, Kyle Busch and Wallace battled for the lead as the field fanned out through the backstretch with fourth-place Briscoe briefly losing momentum in the top five.
Two laps later, Wallace led a lap for himself before Kyle Busch cleared Wallace’s No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota TRD Camry to assume full control of the field.
Another three laps later, Suarez, who overtook Wallace a few laps ago for the runner-up spot and was gaining ground on Kyle Busch, made a move beneath Busch as he issued his challenge for the lead from the fronstretch to Turn 1. Then as Suarez just emerged ahead while pinning Kyle Busch towards the Turn 1 outside wall, Busch slipped sideways and spun through Turn 2 without sustaining any damage as the caution flew.
Under caution, some who did not pit under the previous caution like Wallace and Kyle Busch pitted while the rest led by Suarez remained on the track.
As the race proceeded under green on Lap 50, Suarez launched ahead on the outside lane to retain the lead while Hamlin battled Bowman for the runner-up spot in front of Byron, Elliott and Reddick.
By Lap 60, Suarez was leading by more than two seconds over Bowman followed by Elliott, Byron and Hamlin while Cindric, Reddick, Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Truex were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Larson was in 12th behind Joey Logano while Ross Chastain, Bell and Buescher were in the top 15.
A lap later, the caution returned when Corey LaJoie got loose, spun and backed his car against the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, a wreck that was reminiscent of Saturday’s practice session and was enough to eliminate him from the event. During the caution period, the leaders led by Suarez pitted and Elliott exited with the top spot followed by Byron, Bowman, Suarez and Reddick. Following the pit stops, Larson, who got into the wall during the previous restart, was penalized for a second time due to an equipment interference along with Justin Haley. In addition, Cindric made another pit stop to ensure that the wheels on his car were tightened.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 67, teammates Elliott and Byron dueled for the lead for half a lap until Elliott managed to pull his No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead of Byron’s No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 while Suarez was in third place in his No. 99 CommScope Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Behind, Bowman was in fourth while Reddick overtook Hamlin for a spot in the top five.
Through the first 75 scheduled laps, Elliott was leading by a tenth of a second over Byron followed by Reddick, Bowman and Suarez while Chastain, Bell, Hamlin, Blaney and Wallace were in the top 10. Kurt Busch was mired in 11th ahead of Logano, Stenhouse, Austin Dillon, Truex, Aric Almirola, Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Chase Briscoe and Gilliland while Larson, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were mired outside of the top 25.
Fifteen laps later, Elliott continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over Reddick while Byron, Bell and Chastain were in the top five as Bowman fell back to sixth. Behind, Wallace worked his way back to seventh followed by Blaney, Truex and Stenhouse.
On Lap 93, Byron got loose entering the backstretch and fell off the pace due to a flat tire, but he continued to run on the track as the race remained under green.
When the first stage concluded on Lap 100, Elliott captured his third stage victory of the season over Reddick, who settled in second followed by Bell, Chastain, Wallace, Blaney, Stenhouse, Truex, Bowman and Hamlin. By then, Byron was in 11th and Kyle Busch was in 17th while Larson and Suarez were mired back in 28th and 29th.
Under the stage break, the leaders led by Elliott pitted and Elliott retained the lead after exiting with the lead followed by Bell, Wallace, Chastain, Truex and Blaney. Following the pit stops, Kevin Harvick pitted again to address a steering issue.
The second stage started on Lap 107 as Elliott and Bell occupied the front row. At the start, Elliott received a draft from Chastain to retain the lead while Chastain and Bell duked for the runner-up spot. With Chastain making his way into the runner-up spot over Bell, Wallace and Blaney battled in the top five while Truex was in sixth.
On Lap 110, Chastain muscled his No. 1 Advent Health Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 into the lead following a brief battle with Elliott while Bell, Wallace and Blaney remained in the top five. Behind, Hamlin was in seventh followed by Byron and Stenhouse, Kyle Busch was in 11th ahead of Reddick, Logano was in 17th behind teammate Cindric and Larson was back in 20th in between Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola and Briscoe.
By Lap 125, Chastain was leading by half a second over Elliott followed by Bell, Wallace and Blaney while Truex, Byron, Hamlin, Reddick and Stenhouse were in the top 10.
Just then, the caution flew when Wallace spun through the Turn 4 infield and he was quick to nurse his car to his pit stall with the right-front tire flat. During the caution period, the leaders returned to pit road as Elliott retained the top spot after exiting in first.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 131, Elliott and Chastain dueled for the lead until Elliott retained the lead as the field behind scrambled for positions.
On Lap 145, the caution returned when Cindric blew a left-rear tire and backed his No. 2 Menards Ford Mustang hard into the Turn 3 outside wall. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Elliott returned to pit road and Elliott exited with the top spot followed by Chastain, Kurt Busch, Truex, Reddick and Erik Jones while Blaney and Larson remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Bell was penalized due to a crew member jumping over the wall too soon while Stenhouse and Gilliland were penalized for speeding on pit road.
On Lap 151, the race proceeded under green as Blaney and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Blaney held a brief advantage through the first two turns until Elliott muscled his way back into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. With Elliott checking out, Chastain moved back into the runner-up spot followed by Blaney, Kurt Busch and Reddick while Larson fell back to sixth.
By Lap 160, Elliott was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Chastain while Kurt Busch, Blaney, Reddick, Briscoe, Logano, Suarez, Hamlin and Larson were in the top 10. By then, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Byron, Erik Jones and Michael McDowell were in the top 15 while Bowman was in 16th. By then, Brad Keselowski was in the top 20 while Wallace was in 22nd behind Austin Dillon.
Then on Lap 165, the caution flew when Larson got loose and spun his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the Turn 4 infield as he was dodged by Harvick. Under caution, some led by Blaney pitted while the rest led by Elliott remained on the track.
When the race proceeded under green on Lap 170, Chastain used the inside lane to his advantage as he cleared Elliott to lead while Kurt Busch, Reddick, Briscoe and Suarez battled towards the front. Soon after, Trackhouse Racing’s Chastain and Suarez battled for the lead with the former retaining the top spot.
At the Lap 175 mark, Chastain was leading by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Suarez while Elliott, Briscoe and Kurt Busch were in the top five. Reddick was in sixth ahead of Logano, Byron and Hamlin while Buescher and Truex challenged spots in the top 10.
Eleven laps later, the caution flew when Elliott got loose and briefly touched the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2 before he spun through the Turn 4 infield. Under caution, some led by Kurt Busch while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.
With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted under green and Chastain took off with the lead ahead of Suarez and Briscoe. Shortly after, however, the caution returned when Blaney hit the apron, got loose and spun as he ignited a multi-car wreck that collected Kurt Busch, Keselowski, McDowell, Byron, Harvick, Hamlin, Gragson, Truex, Harrison Burton, Gilliland and Wallace.
Following an extensive cleanup, the race restarted under green with four laps remaining in the second stage. At the front, teammates Chastain and Suarez battled for the lead until Suarez managed to pull ahead through Turns 3 and 4. Behind, Erik Jones was in third place followed by Briscoe and Stenhouse.
When the second stage concluded on Lap 200, Suarez managed to fend off teammate Chastain and Erik Jones to captured his second stage victory of the season. Chastain held off Erik Jones to settle in second followed by Briscoe, Stenhouse, Logano, Harvick, Reddick, Truex and Bell.
During the stage break, the race was placed on a brief hiatus and the NASCAR community paused for a moment of silence to pay tribute in remembrance of the fallen servicemen and women on Memorial Day weekend. When the field returned to pit road for service, Suarez retained the lead after exiting with the top spot followed by Chastain, Briscoe, Erik Jones, Reddick and Harvick. Back on the track, however, names like Logano, Kyle Busch, Truex, Hamlin and Bell chose to restart at the front without pitting.
The third stage started on Lap 208 as Logano and Truex, both of whom did not pit, occupied the front row. At the start, Logano rocketed his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang clear of the field with the lead while teammates Kyle Busch and Truex battled for the runner-up spot ahead of Hamlin and Chastain while Bell slipped to sixth.
Six laps later, Suarez reassumed the lead over Logano as he brought teammate Chastain with him. Behind, Briscoe overtook Truex for fifth while Kyle Busch was in fourth.
Then on Lap 220, the caution flew when Harvick, who was just overtaken by Stenhouse for 11th place, got loose and scraped the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, an incident that prompted Harvick to express his displeasure to Stenhouse under caution. Soon after, some led by Suarez returned to pit road for service while the rest led by Chastain remained on the track.
Another four laps later, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Chastain retained the lead ahead of Logano while Briscoe, Kyle Busch and Bell occupied the top five.
By Lap 235, Chastain extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Logano while Briscoe, Suarez and Kyle Busch were in the top five. Bell was in sixth ahead of Stenhouse, Hamlin, Reddick and Noah Gragson while Larson was in 11th ahead of Harvick, Truex, Buescher, McDowell and Erik Jones.
At the Lap 250 mark, Chastain continued to lead by more than half a second over teammate Suarez while Briscoe, Logano, Bell, Kyle Busch Stenhouse, Hamlin, Reddick and Harvick were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Larson and Truex remained in the top 15 while Erik Jones, Austin Dillon and Almirola were running in the top 20.
Two laps later, Suarez overtook teammate Chastain to return to the lead. Not long after, however, the caution flew when Gragson spun his No. 16 Charlotte Knights Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 through the Turn 4 infield. Under caution, the leaders led by Suarez pitted and Chastain reassumed the lead upon exiting pit road ahead of Briscoe, Reddick, Buescher, Hamlin, Stenhouse and the field. Following the pit stops, Kyle Busch was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.
When the race resumed under green on Lap 258, Chastain cleared the field entering the first turn to lead ahead of Briscoe and Reddick. Two laps later, however, Briscoe hustled his No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang to the lead from Turns 3 and 4, but Chastain returned the favor and cleared Briscoe for the lead during the following lap. While Chastain, Briscoe and Reddick battled for the lead, Larson rallied his way up to fifth behind Buescher.
By Lap 275, Chastain continued to lead by more than a second over Briscoe and Larson while Reddick and Hamlin were in the top five. Suarez was in sixth followed by Buescher, Logano, Cole Custer and Stenhouse. Prior to this, Bell made a pit stop under green after suffering a flat tire and falling off the pace.
With 10 laps remaining in the third stage, Chastain remained as the leader by a healthy margin over Briscoe while Kyle Busch pitted under green due to an issue to the right rear of Busch’s car.
When the third stage concluded on Lap 300, Chastain captured his fourth stage victory of the season. Briscoe settled in second, trailing by more than two seconds, while Larson, Reddick, Suarez, Logano, Custer, Buescher, Austin Dillon and Hamlin were scored in the top 10.
Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Reddick exited with the top spot followed by Chastain, Larson, Briscoe, Custer and Buescher.
With 93 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Reddick took off with the lead on the inside lane in front of Chastain while Custer and Larson battled for third place.
With 77 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited as Chastain dueled and overtook Reddick for the lead through the fronstretch.
Nearing the final 60 laps of the event, the caution flew due to debris in Turn 1 when Reddick cut a left-tire tire as he limped his No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road. At the moment of caution, Chastain was leading by more than two seconds over Larson while Suarez, Briscoe and Custer were in the top five.
Under caution, the leaders led by Chastain pitted as Chastain retained the lead followed by Larson, Briscoe, Custer, Austin Dillon and Bell.
Down to the final 55 laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Chastain and Larson occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain managed to pull away from Larson and the field to retain the lead.
Then as the field made its way to the frontstretch, the caution flew for a major wreck when Suarez, who made the slightest of contact in front of Briscoe, got loose and slipped sideways in front of the field. As the field scattered, he was hit by Todd Gilliland and Buescher, who looped around the frontstretch grass before his No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford Mustang went airborne and barrel rolled multiple times before coming to rest on his roof. Despite the incident, all competitors, including Buescher, emerged uninjured.
Following a red flag period of 11 minutes, the race restarted under green with 48 laps remaining. At the start, Chastain took the lead before Larson muscled his way to the front two laps later. Another lap later, Briscoe made his way into the runner-up spot as he went to work to pursue Larson for the lead.
With 40 laps remaining, Larson was leading by nearly eight-tenths of a second over Briscoe while Chastain, Logano and Hamlin occupied the top five.
Ten laps later, Larson extended his advantage to more than a second over Briscoe while Chastain, Hamlin and Custer were in the top five. Behind, Logano fell back to sixth ahead of Kyle Busch, Bell, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead while runner-up Briscoe only trailed by six-tenths of a second. Chastain, Hamlin and Custer remained in the top five ahead of Logano, Bell, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Austin Dillon while Truex, Harvick, Almirola, Stenhouse, McDowell, Ty Dillon and Harrison Burton were scored on the lead lap.
Five laps later, Briscoe cut the deficit down to two-tenths of a second over Larson with the latter still leading while the former kept the leader within his sight.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Larson retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Briscoe while third-place Chastain trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Hamlin and Custer remained in the top five.
With five laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited as Briscoe closed in and challenged Larson for the top spot. As both went dead even when the field returned to the frontstretch, Briscoe tried to squeeze himself ahead, but Larson retained the lead on the outside lane.
Then with two laps remaining, the caution flew when Briscoe, who made another move beneath Larson in another bid for the lead, got loose and spun from the outside wall to below the apron in Turn 1 as he punctured his tires. Briscoe’s incident was enough for the event to be sent into overtime as Chastain, Hamlin, Custer and Logano moved into the top five.
Under caution, the leaders led by Larson pitted as Larson, Chastain, Logano and Stenhouse opted for a two-tire pit stop while the rest took four tires.
At the start of the first overtime attempt, Larson and Chastain dueled dead even for the lead entering the first turn until Larson cleared the field entering the backstretch. As the field fanned out and scrambled for positions, Austin Dillon suddenly bolted his way towards the front and was able to draw himself even with Larson in a bid for the lead through Turn 3.
Then entering the frontstretch, Chastain and Hamlin drew Larson and Austin Dillon into a four-wide battle for the lead until Dillon made contact with Larson and spun in the middle of the field as he made contact with the wall. In the process, Larson, Logano and Chastain clipped one another and were sent spinning and sliding sideways along with Custer, Truex and Stenhouse while Hamlin escaped with the lead followed by Chastain, Kyle Busch, Harvick, Stenhouse and McDowell. With the wreck occurring just before the final lap could initiate, the field was sent into another overtime attempt.
At the start of the second overtime attempt, Hamlin rocketed with the lead on the inside lane and was quickly pressured by teammate Kyle Busch for the lead while Chastain was losing ground and speed due to suffering front-nose damage from the previous incident.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, teammates Kyle Busch and Hamlin dueled for the lead dead even until Hamlin managed to pull ahead through Turns 1 and 2. Though Kyle Busch kept Hamlin close to his front bumper, he could not execute a final lap pass for the win as Hamlin claimed the checkered flag by 0.119 seconds to win for the first time at Charlotte and in the Coca-Cola 600 in his illustrious Cup career.
In addition, Hamlin notched his second victory of the season since winning at Richmond Raceway in early April, thus becoming the third multi-winner of this year’s Cup season, and his 48th career win in the NASCAR Cup Series, which placed him in a tie with the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Herb Thomas for 16th place on the all-time wins list in the sport’s premier series. Since winning at Richmond in April, Hamlin had finished no higher than fourth during the following seven events prior to the 600. Mired during the seven-race span were four results outside of the top 20.
Photo by Ted Seminara for SpeedwayMedia.com.
“It’s so special,” Hamlin, who became the newest winner of the 600 since Kyle Larson won it a year ago, said on FOX. “It’s the last big one that’s not on my resume. It meant so much. Man, [I] Can’t thank this whole FedEx team enough. I’ve been a Coke Family driver for 18 years and never have won the Coke 600 before, so this means a lot. Man, we weren’t very good all day and just got ourselves in the right place at the right time. What a battle there.”
Teammate Kyle Busch rallied from his early spin and late pit road penalty to finish in the runner-up spot while Harvick, who endured steering issues and a handful of on-track incidents, came home in third place.
“We didn’t have a good enough day to even be in that position,” Busch said. “Just a strong fight all night long by this M&M’s team and give honor to those that we remember here on Memorial Day weekend. Appreciate the opportunity of being able to do that. We had [U.S. Army] St. [William R.] Theim on [the car] this weekend. [I] Tried to come out with Victory Lane and honor them, but unfortunately, one spot short.”
“That was not pretty,” Harvick said. “I think we went to the back eight times tonight, so everybody on our Mobil 1 Ford Mustang did a good job battling. We didn’t necessarily do a good job with everything else, but in the end, came home with a third-place finish. I knew this race was just gonna be a battle of attrition and forever. Almost six hours. ”
Following his late spin, Briscoe made a late charge to finish fourth, five spots ahead of Larson as Larson rallied from his wreck during the first overtime attempt for a top-10 result while Bell rallied from a late unscheduled pit stop to finish fifth.
“I was driving 110 percent,” Briscoe said. “I should’ve been only running 90 to 100. I just overstepped. It’s a crown jewel race and it was dangling right there in front of me. I tried too hard. Plain and simple. I was able to drive it in so much farther than Kyle [Larson] almost every time into [Turn] 1. I felt like I went to the same mark I had been. As soon as I went in there, I just got super loose…I saw a Coke 600 win right there in front of me, went for it and obviously, overstepped. To have speed like that’s really good. Wished we could’ve gotten the Mahindra Tractors Ford in Victory Lane, but we were fast and I guess that’s all that matters.”
“Long race, thankfully,” Larson said. “The first half was a struggle for all of us, but I was especially frustrated with myself. To rebound from that and have a shot to win there late was something to be proud of. Our team fought really hard, so happy with that. Briscoe’s really good that long run there. [I] Wished we would’ve been just a little bit better so he never would’ve gotten to me to work really hard and ultimately, spin. You’re kind of gambling on tire stuff there. We took two [tires] to try and get ourselves the front row, which we did. I think the four tires were just a little bit better than me and [Austin Dillon] got to my inside there through [Turns] 3 and 4. It was just really tight racing off of [Turn] 4…Again, proud of my Hendrick team. The day would’ve been a lot easier if I just didn’t hit the wall yesterday [during practice].”
“The only reason we got up there is ‘cause everyone crashed at the end of the race and gave us an opportunity,” Bell said. “This Yahoo Camry, just every bit is capable of the guys that beat us. Disappointing day, for sure, because I feel like we had something to contend for the win, but a top five’s nothing to hang our head about.”
Reddick, Stenhouse, McDowell, Larson and Bowman finished in the top 10. Harrison Burton was the highest-finishing rookie candidate in 11th place, thus notching his second top-15 result in the Cup circuit, while Chastain, who restarted on the front row during the second overtime attempt, fell back to 15th with a damaged front nose from his car.
There were 31 lead changes for 13 different leaders. The race featured 18 cautions for 90 laps. This marked the longest-held event in NASCAR history at 413 laps (619.5 miles), which occurred in five hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds.
With 12 races remaining in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season stretch, Chase Elliott continues to lead the regular-season standings by 34 over Ross Chastain, 37 over Kyle Busch, 53 over Ryan Blaney and 59 over Martin Truex Jr.
Denny Hamlin, Ross Chastain, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, rookie Austin Cindric and Kurt Busch are currently guaranteed spots for the 2022 Cup Series Playoffs based on winning once throughout the regular-season stretch. Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick and Tyler Reddick occupy the remaining spots in the Playoffs as winless competitors while Aric Almirola trails the top-16 cutline by eight points, Austin Dillon trails by 23, Erik Jones trails by 29, Daniel Suarez trails by 49, Chris Buescher trails by 75, Michael McDowell trails by 76, Bubba Wallace trails by 78, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. trails by 83 and Justin Haley trails by 95.
Results.
1. Denny Hamlin, 15 laps led
2. Kyle Busch, 36 laps led
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Chase Briscoe, two laps led
5. Christopher Bell
6. Tyler Reddick, 19 laps led
7. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
8. Michael McDowell
9. Kyle Larson, 51 laps led
10. Alex Bowman
11. Harrison Burton
12. Martin Truex Jr.
13. Ty Dillon
14. Erik Jones
15. Ross Chastain, 153 laps led, Stage 3 winner
16. Todd Gilliland
17. Aric Almirola, one lap down
18. Cody Ware, one lap down
19. BJ McLeod, six laps down
20. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident, nine laps led
21. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident
22. Austin Dillon – OUT, Accident
23. Kaz Grala, 13 laps down
24. Noah Gragson – OUT, Throttle
25. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident, 36 laps led, Stage 2 winner
Next on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ inaugural event at the World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Madison, Illinois. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 5, at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
On a bright, sunny afternoon at Indianapolis, Indiana, that was dominated by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, teammate Marcus Ericsson capitalized late under the final 15 laps to storm to the lead and fend off the field during a two-lap shootout to win the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29.
The 31-year-old Ericsson from Kumla, Sweden, led three times for a total of 13 of the 200-scheduled laps, including the final 11, and had appeared to have the victory sealed with six laps remaining when the caution flew following a single-car wreck involving Ericsson’s teammate Jimmie Johnson. With the event briefly placed in a hiatus before being placed in a two-lap dash to the finish, Ericsson fended off a late challenge from Pato O’Ward to claim his first Indy 500 triumph under caution.
With the starting lineup determined through two on-track qualifying sessions between May 21-22, Scott Dixon started on pole position after recording the fastest four-lap average qualifying speed at 234.046 mph, which was more than enough for him to notch his fifth Indy 500 pole. Teammate Alex Palou achieved the second-fastest four-lap average speed at 233.499 mph followed by Rinus VeeKay, who turned in the third-fastest four-lap average speed at 233.385 mph.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Dixon jumped ahead with the lead as the field scrambled behind. Then through the backstretch, Palou made a move on his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate to take the lead. As the field returned to the start/finish line, Palou led the first lap while Dixon and VeeKay battled for the runner-up spot.
Through the first five scheduled laps, Palou was leading by more than a tenth of a second over teammate Dixon followed by VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson and Ed Carpenter while Tony Kanaan, Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power, and Romain Grosjean were in the top 10.
Three laps later, Dixon made a move on teammate Palou through the first turn to take the lead for the first time while VeeKay remained in third ahead of Ericsson and Carpenter. By the Lap 10 mark, however, Palou made a move to the outside of teammate Dixon through the frontstretch to reassume the lead.
By Lap 20, Palou, who had swapped the lead a handful of times with teammate Dixon, was leading ahead of teammate Dixon while VeeKay continued to run in third place. Ericsson also remained in fourth ahead of Ed Carpenter, Kanaan, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci and Romain Grosjean while Will Power, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, David Malukas, Alexander Rossi, Jimmie Johnson, Simon Pagenaud, Conor Daly, JR Hildebrand and Scott McLaughlin were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Marco Andretti was in 22nd, Helio Castroneves was in 25th behind Sage Karam, Colton Herta was mired in 27th behind Callum Ilott and Juan Pablo Montoya was in 29th behind Jack Harvey.
Ten laps later and with Dixon out in front ahead of teammate Palou, the first round of green flag pit stops commenced as Dixon surrendered the lead to pit along with Conor Daly and Dalton Kellett. Soon after, Palou pitted along with Santino Ferrucci, Jimmie Johnson, rookie Kyle Kirkwood, VeeKay, Grosjean, Devlin DeFrancesco, Stefan Wilson, Ericsson, Carpenter, Kanaan, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Sato, Newgarden, Malukas, Rossi, Andretti, Power, Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey and others.
When the green flag pit stops sequence concluded on Lap 37 as Castroneves and Montoya pitted, Palou cycled his way back to the lead followed by VeeKay, Dixon, Ericsson and Carpenter while O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci, Kanaan and Sato were in the top 10.
Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when VeeKay, who was pursuing Palou in the runner-up spot, got loose entering Turn 2 and collided against the outside wall, thus ending his event with a wrecked No. 21 Bitcoin Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, some like Power pitted while the rest led by Palou remained on the track.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 46, Palou led teammates Dixon and Ericsson through the first two turns while the field behind jostled for positions. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Dixon reassumed the lead over Palou while O’Ward was up in third place ahead of Ericsson, Carpenter and Kanaan.
As the field reached the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, Palou swapped spots with teammate Dixon to reassume the lead while O’Ward, Ericsson, Carpenter, Kanaan, Sato, Rosenqvist, Ferrucci and Malukas occupied the top 10.
Nearing the Lap 70 mark, the second round of green flag pit stops commenced as Dixon, who was running in the runner-up spot behind teammate Palou, pitted his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda along with Daly and Herta.
Shortly after and just as Palou was making a pit stop, the second caution of the event flew when Callum Ilott got loose, spun and pounded the outside wall in Turn 2 before he slid down the track and pounded the inside wall as his Indy 500 debut came to an end with a wrecked No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet. During the caution period, the majority of the competitors who had yet to pit pitted as O’Ward exited first ahead of Ericsson, Kanaan, Ferrucci, Carpenter and Rosenqvist. During the pit stops, Palou, who was penalized for pitting at the time where pit road was closed, made another pit stop for fuel as he was shuffled towards the rear of the field.
When the race restarted under green on Lap 77, Dixon, who cycled to the lead amid the reshuffling under caution, took off with the lead followed by Daly and O’Ward as the field fanned out through the backstretch.
Three laps later, Hoosier native Conor Daly overtook Dixon on the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time in his No. 20 BitNile Dallara-Chevrolet as the crowd erupted in a chorus with cheers. During the following lap, however, Dixon reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. Daly, though, was quick to launch himself back to the lead another three laps later.
At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Dixon was out in front by nearly four-tenths of a second over Daly while O’Ward, Ericsson, Kanaan, Ferrucci, Carpenter, Newgarden, Rosenqvist and Sato were in the top 10. Simon Pagenaud was in 11th ahead of McLaughlin, David Malukas, Helio Castroneves and Alexander Rossi while Sage Karam, Marco Andretti, Grosjean, Rahal and Montoya were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Will Power was in 24th, Palou was mired in 26th ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Jimmie Johnson and Herta was back in 30th.
Five laps later, another round of green flag pit stops ensued as Daly pitted. Not long after, however, the caution flew when Romain Grosjean snapped sideways and collided against the Turn 2 outside wall, which left Grosjean with a wrecked No. 28 DHL Dallara-Honda and out in his Indy 500 debut. By then, this marked the third incident of the day, all of which occurred in Turn 2.
Under caution, the leaders led by Dixon, who was running low on fuel, pitted and Dixon retained the lead by exiting his pit stall with the top spot ahead of O’Ward, Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, Carpenter and Kanaan.
With 89 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Daly, who cycled his way to the lead while also fending off Dixon for the lead, was quickly overtaken by O’Ward as O’Ward, fresh off a new contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP, made a bold move on the outside lane to rocket to the lead. Not long after, however, Dixon returned the favor by returning to the lead while O’Ward was left to battle against Daly and Ferrucci while Rosenqvist was in fifth.
With 75 laps remaining, Dixon was leading by nearly seven-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Daly, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci were in the top five. Kanaan stabilized himself in sixth place ahead of Ericsson, Takuma Sato, Carptenter and Pagenaud while Castroneves was in 11th.
Fifteen laps later, Dixon continued to lead by more than seven-tenths of a second over O’Ward while Daly, Rosenqvist and Ferrucci completed the top 10. Earlier, Colton Herta took his No. 26 Gainbridge Dallara-Honda to the garage due to a mechanical issue.
Just then, another round of green flag pit stops occurred as Dixon surrendered the lead to pit. Shortly after, Daly pitted along with Dalton Kellett, Rosenqvist, Sage Karam, Devlin DeFrancesco, Power, Jack Harvey, O’Ward, Ferrucci, Montoya, Rahal, Kanaan, Sato, Malukas, Pagenaud, Scott McLaughlin, Christian Lundgaard, Newgarden, Andretti, Ericsson, Castroneves, Rossi, Jimmie Johnson and others.
Down to the final 50 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops sequence complete, O’Ward, who cycled his way back to the lead three laps earlier after Alex Palou pitted, was leading by more than a second over Dixon while Rosenqvist was up in third place. Daly and Ferrucci occupied the top five ahead of Ericsson, Kanaan, Pagenaud, Castroneves and Rossi.
A few laps later, the caution flew when Scott McLaughlin got loose briefly entering Turn 3 before shooting his No. 3 Pennzoil Dallara-Chevrolet dead straight into the outside wall as his event came to an end following the hard wreck.
With 43 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Dixon overtook O’Ward to reassume the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes through the backstretch. O’Ward, however, was able to reassume the top spot with 39 laps remaining.
Nearing the final 35 laps of the event, Dixon made another move on O’Ward exiting the frontstretch to reassume the lead.
Three laps later, Ed Carpenter made a pit stop under green as Dixon was leading by two-tenths of a second over O’Ward and seven-tenths of a second over Felix Rosenqvist.
Then with nearly 25 laps remaining, another round of pit stops under green commenced as Rosenqvist pitted his No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet followed by Rossi while Dixon continued to lead ahead of O’Ward. Not long after, Dixon surrendered the lead to pit followed by Daly, Ferrucci and Christian Lundgaard. Then, disaster struck for Dixon, whose opportunity to win a second Indy 500 title was spoiled after he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty for speeding while entering pit road. With Dixon out of contention, Rosenqvist emerged as the first competitor who had pitted just as O’Ward pitted.
Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Tony Kanaan, who was one of several competitors who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Pagenaud, Palou, Castroneves and Newgarden while Power, Andretti, Johnson, Sato and Harvey were in the top 10.
With 15 laps remaining, Marco Andretti and Jimmie Johnson, both of whom had yet to pit, were leading followed by Ericsson, who overtook Rosenqvist earlier on the track and emerged as the highest-running competitor with fresh tires and enough fuel to the finish. Sato was in fourth followed by O’Ward and Kanaan while Harvey, Rosenqvist, Rossi and Daly were in the top 10.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the green flag pit stops complete as Andretti and Johnson pitted, Marcus Ericsson cycled his No. 8 Huski Chocolate Dallara-Honda to the lead followed by O’Ward, who trailed by more than three seconds, and Tony Kanaan, who was charging hard in his No. 1 American Legion Dallara-Honda while trailing by more than four seconds, while Rosenqvist and Sato were in the top five.
Then with six laps remaining, the caution flew when Jimmie Johnson got loose after hitting the apron in Turn 2, spun and pounded his No. 48 Carvana Dallara-Honda head-on into the Turn 2 outside wall. The incident, which evaporated Ericsson’s steady advantage over O’Ward and Kanaan, was enough for IndyCar to direct the field to pit road and draw the event into a red flag situation.
When the red flag was lifted, the field made their way back on the racing surface under a cautious pace. As the race restarted under green with two laps remaining under green, Ericsson retained the lead with a decent start while O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Kanaan battled behind. It did not take, however, for O’Ward to pull away as he issue a challenge on Ericsson for the lead with both seeking their first Indy 500 victory.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Ericsson remained as the leader ahead of O’Ward, who gained a big run through the frontstretch as he tried to pounce alongside Ericsson for the lead and win, but Ericsson managed to pull ahead of O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Dallara-Chevrolet through Turn 1 to retain the lead while Kanaan and Rosenqvist trailed behind.
Then as Ericsson made his way to Turn 3, the caution flew and the race was official when Sage Karam wrecked in Turn 2. With the race official and concluding under caution, Ericsson made his way back to the finish line to claim the biggest victory of his career.
With the victory, Ericsson became the newest winner of the Indianapolis 500 since Simon Pagenaud won in 2019 and the 74th overall as he notched his third NTT IndyCar Series career victory in his 52nd series start. The 2022 Indy 500 victory was also the first for Chip Ganassi Racing since 2012 made by Dario Franchitti and the fifth overall as Ericsson joined Kenny Bräck as the only Swedish competitors to win the Indy 500.
“I couldn’t believe it [when the caution flew],” Ericsson said on NBC. “I felt you can never take anything for granted and obviously, there was still laps to go and I was praying so hard. It was not gonna be another yellow, but I knew there was probably gonna be one. It was hard to sort of refocus, but I knew the car was amazing. The No. 8 crew and Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda has done such an amazing job so I knew the Huski Chocolate car was fast enough, but it was still hard. I had to do everything there and then to keep them behind. I can’t believe it. I’m so happy.”
“My family’s here,” Ericsson added. “My mom and dad, my brother, my girlfriend, my manager…they’re all here today. I won. I can’t believe it. I love [oval tracks].”
Behind, Pato O’Ward, who was aiming to become the first Mexican-born competitor to win the Indy 500, settled in a disappointing second place while Tony Kanaan, who was making his lone IndyCar start of the season, came home in third place.
“[Ericsson] was gonna put me in the wall if I would’ve gone for it,” O’Ward said. “We were alongside each other. Man, I’m so proud of the team and proud of myself. We did everything to get it done and even getting a massive run on him. We had no wicker, less downforce and still, not enough speed to get by him, even with a massive run. It’s frustrating, it’s bittersweet. I’m so proud, but it definitely stings because I feel like the team and I did everything perfectly to get it done and something that’s out of our control was why we’ve struggled in the end…Next year, we’ll come back with a faster and better race car and go at it again.”
Rosenqvist and Rossi finished in the top five while Conor Daly, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Palou and Santino Ferrucci completed the top 10 on the track.
Notably, Montoya finished 11th, Newgarden ended up 13th, Will Power settled in 15th, Ed Carpenter came home in 18th and Scott Dixon, who led a race-high 95 laps, fell back to 21st.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” Dixon said. “I don’t know. It must’ve been very close. I kind of came into the pit and I locked the rears [tires], kind of locked all four [tires] and I knew it was gonna be close. I think it was like a mile hour over or something. Just frustrating. The car was really good all day. We had really good speed. I think the team did an amazing job on strategy. I just messed up.”
Marco Andretti ended up in 22nd, three spots ahead of Takuma Sato, while Jimmie Johnson ended up in 28th place following his late accident.
There were 38 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 31 laps.
With his first Indianapolis 500 victory, Marcus Ericsson leapt from eighth to first in the championship standings by 13 points over Pato O’Ward, 14 over Alex Palou, 24 over Will Power, 52 over Josef Newgarden and 60 over Scott Dixon.
Results.
1. Marcus Ericsson. 13 laps led
2. Pato O’Ward, 26 laps led
3. Tony Kanaan, six laps led
4. Felix Rosenqvist
5. Alexander Rossi
6. Conor Daly, seven laps led
7. Helio Castroneves
8. Simon Pagenaud
9. Alex Palou, 47 laps led
10. Santino Ferrucci
11. Juan Pablo Montoya
12. JR Hildebrand
13. Josef Newgarden
14. Graham Rahal
15. Will Power
16. David Malukas
17. Kyle Kirkwood
18. Ed Carpenter
19. Devlin DeFrancesco
20. Christian Lundgaard
21. Scott Dixon, 95 laps led
22. Marco Andretti, three laps led
23. Sage Karam, one lap down
24. Jack Harvey, one lap down
25. Takuma Sato, one lap down
26. Dalton Kellett, two laps down
27. Stefan Wilson, seven laps down
28. Jimmie Johnson – OUT, Contact, two laps led
29. Scott McLaughlin – OUT, Contact
30. Colton Herta – OUT, Mechanical
31. Romain Grosjean – OUT, Contact
32. Callum Ilott – OUT, Contact
33. Rinus VeeKay – OUT, Contact, one lap led
Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the series’ final event at Belle Isle Street Circuit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in Detroit, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 5, at 3 p.m. ET on the USA Network.
Indianapolis, Ind. (29 May 2022) – The 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500 did not disappoint as nearly 300,000 fans came back home again to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Memorial Day weekend classic. Following Meyer Shank Racing’s (MSR) breakthrough and hugely popular victory in the 2021 edition of the Indianapolis 500, MSR once again delivered another strong outing with both team entries.
Meyer Shank Racing drivers Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud emerged from a two lap shootout following a late race red flag to finish seventh and eighth respectively.
The double top-ten team result followed strong drives through the field for both entries, with the AutoNation / SiriusXM duo converting strong pit stops, team strategy, and race day pace into positive progression in the 200 lap event.
Between MSR’s two car lineup, the team improved 28 positions through the nearly three-hour event, with Castroneves claiming the biggest mover of the race following a 20 position improvement from his 27th place qualifying effort onboard the No. 06 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda.
It was a smooth, steady climb for the MSR teammates in the 200 lap race which saw six caution periods. Using superior fuel mileage, both drivers raced into the top 10 ahead of their first pit stop on laps 34 and 35. Pagenaud was 11th and Castroneves 14th at the midway point and the two were comfortably within the top ten with just 50 laps to go.
It was looking to be a flat out race to the finish, but with six laps to go one final yellow flag waved. To ensure a green flag finish, the race was red flagged to the enthusiastic approval of the huge race day crowd as Pagenaud ran sixth and Castroneves ninth. A green, white, checkered finish ultimately saw Castroneves move ahead to seventh and Pagenaud eighth.
The team will continue to build on the result in short order as both sides of the Ohio-based organization prepare for the double INDYCAR / IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event next weekend for the Detroit Grand Prix.
In a season filled with trials, challenges and late misfortunes, Sergio “Checo” Perez capitalized through two rain delays and a well-executed pit strategy to earn his redemption after winning the rain-shortened Monaco Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco on Sunday, May 29.
The 32-year-old Perez from Guadalajara, Mexico, rolled off the grid in third place and with an intact Red Bull RB18 despite wrecking his car during Saturday’s qualifying session with Carlos Sainz. With the event red-flagged due to steady precipitation, the event commenced under a cautious pace before rolling under way on the third lap. In the early stages of the event, Perez raced in the top five while Leclerc dominated at his home track.
Then on Lap 18, Leclerc pitted before Perez pitted on Lap 23. This allowed Perez to cycle his way into the lead ahead of Sainz and Verstappen, who pitted during the same lap as Perez, while Leclerc was mired back in fourth place. Once the event was thrown under caution due to Mick Schumacher wrecking on Lap 27 in the Swimming Pool corner, which ripped the rear end of Schumacher’s Haas VF-22, the field was then brought back to pit road on Lap 30 to give the safety workers time to repair the barriers.
Once the event restarted on Lap 33 following another delay, Perez retained the lead ahead of teammate Verstappen and the two Ferraris, including Sainz. By then, the event was placed under a two-hour clock schedule for completion. Despite being challenged by Sainz in the final minutes of the scheduled clock, Perez was able to maintain the advantage and claim the checkered flag on Lap 64, 13 laps shy of the scheduled distance, for the win.
With the victory, Perez notched his third career win in Formula One, thus becoming the most successful Mexican competitor in F1 competition. He also notched his first victory at Monaco and his first Grand Prix victory since winning at Azerbaijan’s Baku City Circuit in June 2021.
“It’s a dream come true, as a driver you dream of winning here,” Perez said. “After your home race, there is no more special weekend. With the graining, to not make any mistakes, to keep Carlos behind was not easy. It’s a massive day for myself and my country.”
“When we saw the rain coming, we knew that it was all important to make sure we delivered the race with no mistake and that was critical today for us as a team, as a group, to deliver the results that we did,” Perez added. “It was just extremely special.”
Sainz, who made a bold save on Lap 24 and was challenging Perez for his first win in F1 while having issues finding a way to overtake Perez’s Red Bull RB18, finished in second place for the second time of this year, the second time in a row at Monaco and the fourth time of his career.
“It was, it was, we did everything we had to, my out-lap stuck behind a lapped car cost me the race win,” Sainz added. “You can understand my frustration, it’s how sport is sometimes. Checo was unlucky in Jeddah, today he drove a great race…I think we did all the right choices.”
Verstappen backed up his recent victories at Iola, Miami and Spain by finishing in third place for his fifth podium result of the season a year after winning the Monaco Grand Prix, thus placing both Red Bull Racing competitors on the podium.
“I think today as a team, we did a really good job in terms of executing that strategy,” Verstappen said. “That basically guided Checo [Perez] to the win and got myself on the podium. I’m pleased with that. If you would’ve told me yesterday that I would finish in front of Charles [Leclerc], I would’ve told you you’re crazy. That was an incredible team effort.”
Leclerc, who led the first 17 laps and was bitter with the pit call, settled in a disappointing fourth place at his home track followed by Mercedes’ George Russell. Lando Norris, who set the fastest lap of the event, came home in sixth place followed by Fernando Alonso, Sir Lewis Hamilton, Vallteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel.
The first competitor to finish outside of the top-10 points-paying results was Pierre Gasly followed by Esteban Ocon, who crossed the finish line in ninth place but was given a five-second time penalty due to an on-track collision earlier in the event with Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo settled in 13th followed by Lance Stroll, Nicholas Latifi and Guanyu Zhou while Yuki Tsunoda fell back to 17th after he went off the track twice in the closing minutes of the event. Alexander Albon retired in 18th place due to a mechanical issue.
Following his vicious wreck on Lap 27, Mick Schumacher ended up in 19th place while teammate Kevin Magnussen retired due to a reliability issue.
Results:
1. Sergio Perez, 25 points
2. Carlos Sainz, 18 points
3. Max Verstappen, 15 points
4. Charles Leclerc, 12 points
5. George Russell, 10 points
6. Lando Norris, nine points
7. Fernando Alonso, six points
8. Lewis Hamilton, four points
9. Valtteri Bottas, two points
10. Sebastian Vettel, one point
11. Pierre Gasly
12. Esteban Ocon
13. Daniel Ricciardo
14. Lance Stroll
15. Nicholas Latifi, +1 lap
16. Guanyu Zhou, +1 lap
17. Yuki Tsunoda, +1 lap
18. Alexander Albon – OUT, Retired
19. Mick Schumacher – OUT, Retired
20. Kevin Magnussen – OUT, Retired
With his third-place result, Max Verstappen continues to lead the driver’s standings by nine points over Charles Leclerc, 15 over teammate Sergio Perez, 41 over George Russell, 42 over Carlos Sainz, 75 over Sir Lewis Hamilton and 77 over Lando Norris.
In addition, Red Bull Racing RBPT continues to lead the constructors’ standings by 36 points over Ferrari, 101 over Mercedes, 176 over McLaren Mercedes, 194 over Alfa Romeo Ferrari and 195 over Alpine Renault.
Next on the 2022 Formula One schedule is Baku City Circuit for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which will occur on June 12.
Lakeville, CONNECTICUT – May 29, 2022 – Cameron Lawrence reminded everyone why he’s a threat on the Trans Am circuit with a steady drive from P11 on the grid to a podium third place finish. It was a thrilling race made all the more exciting by a sudden downpour partially through the race distance. Cameron was one of the most sure footed drivers on the track and guided the No. 6 Franklin Road Apparel Showtime Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to the third step of the podium.
He was understandably delighted, especially as the 25 points he picked up for his second podium of the season put him provisionally with 115 in the Driver’s Championship; a gain of one place as he leapfrogs Mike Skeen who finished P14. He also gained valuable ground on Championship leader Rafa Matos as the battle for the title tightens up.
Cameron qualified for Round 6 of the 2022 Trans Am presented by Pirelli Championship season in P11 with a time of 52.417 and then made relentless progress once the lights went green. He used all his experience to pick his way through the crowded field to claim third spot, only to see young rookie Evan Slater slide by as Cameron gave way to lapped traffic. There was another twist in the tale though as Tyler Kicera, who was running second, slipped back allowing Cameron to claim the prestigious third step on the podium.
“The weather made for an exciting race, strategy also came into play, and it played right into our hands! It was mandatory to start on wets, the track was damp and drying quickly,” said Franklin Road Apparel supremo Ken Thwaits after the race. “Rain, however, was coming and we decided to not give up track position and stay out on our wet tires. To make matters worse we lost a cylinder in the engine. Fortunately, Cameron did a great job today and we did our best to keep him informed and motivated! I believe this was a fantastic achievement for him and for the whole team in our first season together. I can’t wait for Mid Ohio now!”
In a change to previous schedules, highlights of the racing from the weekend can be seen at 12:00 AM ET (midnight) on Friday, June 3, where it’s billed as the 2022 Trans Am TA2 presented by Big Machine Spiked Coolers: Lime Rock CT. A repeat showing at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Visit the team’s website for Showtime Motorsports showtimemotorsports.net. Learn more about the Showtime Motorsports team partner, Road Apparel, at franklinroad.com and keep up to date with the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli at gotransam.com. #GoTransAm
Check out and Like Showtime Motorsports’ Facebook page: facebook.com/showtimemotorsp/ and @ShowtimeMotorsp on Instagram.
About Showtime Motorsports: The Showtime Motorsports brand includes Ken Thwaits’ racing team and racecars, and an outstanding classic Camaro collection. Showtime Motorsports brings together a dynamic staff who employ diverse talents and share a passion for cars, racing and caring for clients like they are our own family members.
NASCAR CUP SERIES CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY COCA-COLA 600 TEAM CHEVY PRESS CONF. TRANSCRIPT MAY 28, 2022
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM Camaro ZL1, met with the media in advance of this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Press Conference Transcript:
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT KIND OF WHAT THAT RACE MEANS AND JUST THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE HOME THAT TROPHY AFTER WHAT IS TRADITIONALLY A VERY LONG NIGHT?
“Yeah, it’s definitely one of the most prestigious races on our calendar, so it’s one that you circle as a driver every year that you want to win. I was fortunate enough to have a great car last year and win all of the stages and the race too. An awesome trophy, an awesome vintage Coke machine that you get, the ring, all of that kind of adds into the prestige of the event and makes you want to win it even more. Hopefully we can do it again this year. Another thing too, visiting the Arlington National Cemetery was a neat honor that I got to do a few weeks ago. They’ve done a really great job with this event and building it over such a long time now into one of the biggest races on the schedule. So, glad to be here and glad to have another opportunity to chase a win.”
AMONG YOUR 10 WINS LAST YEAR, WHERE DID THE 600 RANK WITH IT BREAKING THE ALL TIME WINS RECORD FOR HENDRICK AND IT BEING YOU’RE FIRST CROWN JEWEL?
“It was definitely up there. I think as you mentioned there was a lot of reasons why this event was up there on my list of wins. I think the main reason why I think it was so big was getting win 269 for Rick (Hendrick). I knew it was really special to him and I think all of us drivers were putting pressure on ourselves to win it for him. That made it special. I wouldn’t say it’s my first Crown Jewel, because I’ve won the All-Star Race in 2019 I think here, and I’d say that was probably my first real big win. It was awesome getting to celebrate here with the team and all that. It was definitely one of the probably top three or four wins we had last year.”
FOUR OF THE LAST EIGHT RACES, FOUR OF THE WINNERS HAVE COME FROM THE POLE. WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT HERE TO WIN THE POLE THAT YOU GUYS ARE COMPETING FOR TODAY?
“Yeah, I don’t know. I think just shows you have to have a fast car, I guess. Yeah, the teams at least I guess that sticks out to me would be myself winning last year and then Truex dominated one year in probably even more dominating fashion. I think it’s just your team’s got to be on it all race long. You have to have a fast car to go along with it. That’s kind of unique that you come from the pole because you would think that a super long race like this it wouldn’t matter as much as another. Typically, this place you can kind of pass on, but maybe it’s gotten a little bit harder to pass I feel like the last few years. When they put the PJ1 down and stuff like that it kind of made it really fast paced and hard to pass. This weekend so far it seems like they didn’t put as much resin down, so it seems like the groove is widened out again, which is great. Hopefully that means we will be able to race like the Xfinity cars just did earlier today.”
HOW ARE YOU FEELING AFTER THE FLIP ON WEDNESDAY?
“I’m fine.”
GOOD, GOOD. ON A HAPPIER NOTE, WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER THE MOST OUT OF YOUR WIN AT SONOMA AND BEING ABLE TO GET A WIN IN FRONT OF YOUR HOMETOWN CROWD?
“That was great. Always love going out to Sonoma, maybe because it’s home or really close to home. Even if it wasn’t, you know Sonoma’s such a beautiful, Napa Valley is such a beautiful place. We usually go out early and spend it as vacation and do some wine tours. Since I am from out there you get to see some friends and make new friends. Then you get to race in front of all those people. Last year, getting the win was special. Getting to celebrate in victory lane with a lot of our friends, getting to see some old, not old, drivers that I used to race sprint cars with that I don’t get to see often anymore. Our friends camp there, so we’ll go eat food with them before the races and stuff. It’s just a fun kind of relaxing weekend for me. Good to be at home.”
DO YOU THINK THE RACING THERE WILL BE MORE AGGRESSIVE LIKE IT WAS IN COTA WITH THIS NEW CAR?
“I’m not sure. I think it will be a typical kind of Sonoma race. It just lacks a lot of grip, so I feel like it’s hard to be extremely aggressive there. COTA’s got more grip. More grip and higher speeds, so you can be more aggressive with bigger braking zones. I think you could watch any Sonoma race and it would probably be a lot like that one.”
AS THE CHAMPION YOU SORT OF HAVE A BIGGER VOICE IN TERMS OF NASCAR AND THE CARS. WHAT IS YOUR EVALUATION OF THE NEXT GEN CAR AND FOR YOU AS A DRIVER, WHAT ARE SOME THINGS THAT YOU MAY NEED TO GET A LITTLE BETTER WITH? OVERALL, HOW HAS THE CAR PERFORMED IN YOUR OPINION?
“I don’t know. I felt like I really enjoyed the cars early in the year and I think you know the intermediate style tracks stuff was really exciting early on in the year. I don’t know if that’s because people’s set ups were different and stuff like that. Maybe now maybe everybody’s narrowed down what’s good. It seems like the racing’s been really hard to pass lately. Hard to pass, hard to make runs. There’s been exciting finishes and stuff, but I haven’t really been that excited about the racing the last couple of months. I still think every week your teams are trying to develop their stuff and get better and better and maybe the races will get more competitive again. It’s a stock car, so they’re heavy and lazy. The dirty air’s been the biggest issue I feel like to me anyways. I don’t know if the other manufacturers struggle with it but feel like we’ve struggled in dirty air worse than it seems like most have. We’re working hard and we’ll keep fighting to get better.”
WHEN YOU’VE WORKED WITH YOUR SON OWEN ON HIS RACING, IS THERE ANYTHING FROM THAT THAT YOU PULL THAT YOU CAN TAKE AWAY AND SAY THAT CAN ACTUALLY HELP ME?
“I don’t think so. No, we flew with Kyle Busch a couple of weeks ago and we were joking with him, and I guess he tells Brexton (Busch) to do as I say and not as I do. I could do as Kyle Busch says and not as he does(laughing). That could go further for me, I guess.”
I WAS TALKING TO KYLE ABOUT THIS THOUGH AND HE SAID HE WAS TALKING TO BREXTON ABOUT RESTARTS. HE WAS KIND OF EXPLAINING HOW TO DO SOMETHING AND THEN BREXTON LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID YOU DON’T DO THAT ON A RESTART SO WHY SHOULD I. I’M JUST CURIOUS IF THERE’S ANY MOMENTS LIKE THAT EXCHANGE?
“Not that I can think of yet. That’s a good question, but yeah, I don’t know. I feel like Brexton’s at a different level than my son is right now. I’m sure as Owen gets more experience, yeah I think he could teach me some things. After my races I’ll ask him what should I have done different, even if I’ve won a race or crashed like I did the other night. I just like to hear his opinion. Mainly to see if he’s really paying attention while I’m out there on the track. He does. He offers his opinions and sometimes I agree with him and sometimes I tell him that he’s wrong. It’s fun having you’re kids get older and pay attention to your racing and offer some advice.”
YOURSELF, KYLE BUSCH, HARVICK, BOWYER, THERE’S A GROUP OF YOU GUYS WHO’S SONS ARE NOW IN RACING. IS IT INTERESTING KIND OF WATCHING THIS NEXT GENERATION OF YOUNG KIDS KIND OF WORK TOGETHER AS THEIR DADS COMPETE ON THE RACETRACK?
“Yeah, a little bit. I don’t know, I mean I think it’s definitely cool. It’s a good thing that Millbridge has going. Obviously, it’s in the perfect region for that. There are so many more other people than us, you know Kyle Busch, myself and Clint Bowyer. There’s mechanics, crew chiefs, engineers, all that other drivers or past drivers that have their sons or daughters into racing. It’s a great little thing they have over there and it’s cool to see. For me just makes me kind of reminisce on the memories I had at Cycleland Speedway growing up. Just playing with my buddies, that kind of stuff. Building memories is the cool thing that I take away from us going to Millbridge. Whether they all grow up to be racecar drivers or not, they’re all just making memories right now which is great at their age.”
IN THIS PRACTICE SESSION THAT YOU GUYS ARE ABOUT TO HAVE, ARE YOU GOING TO WASTE ANY TIME TRYING TO SEE WHAT THE BOTTOM LINE IS LIKE? OR ARE YOU JUST GOING TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE TOP SINCE THE TRUCK RACE AND THE XFINITY RACE THAT SEEMS TO BE THAT FASTEST WAY?
“I don’t know. We’ll see. I think typically the first lap you kind of drive under the limit, so naturally that kind of takes you to the bottom of the track. I mean, yeah, I plan on probably running the bottom for you know a lap or two. Really, you can kind of get a sense of how your car is handling right in those first couple of laps and probably chase it up the track. It’s been good to see the other cars up to the wall, because it gives us more racing groove. I’m sure we’ll try to move around a lot.”
YOU CAN WIN A DIRT 30-LAP DIRT RACE AND YOU CAN WIN A 600-MILE STOCK CAR RACE. WE CAN SEE THE DIFFERENCES IN THOSE TWO THINGS. WHAT IS SIMILAR ABOUT THOSE TWO THINGS FOR YOU AS A DRIVER?
“I think it’s all similar to me. I feel like the 600 last year I ran as hard as I could every lap. I felt like even though I won all the stages and won the race, it wasn’t we didn’t cruise for 600-miles and win the race. I was fighting off William (Byron) for a lot of it, fighting off Chase (Elliott) for a lot of it. Lost the lead to them both a couple of different times. We’d get it back through green flag cycles. From what I remember, last year’s race I ran like it was a 30-lap race the whole time. I’m sure all of us in the field are like that. With the stages, I feel like that’s really kind of been the way ever since we’ve had stages. You have a bunch of little races within the race. It’s hard to pass too, so you’re running really hard, trying to either pass the guy in front of you or hold off the guy behind you. I mean there’s moments where you give and take, which there would be also in a 30-lap race. Maybe it’s just a corner, but it all feels the same to me. I feel like I run hard all the time. I feel like everybody in this Cup Series runs really hard all the time.”
Team Chevy high-resolution racing photos are available for editorial use.
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