Kyle Busch claims pole position for the 2022 NASCAR All-Star Race

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May 21, 2022

NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race - Qualifying — FORT WORTH, TEXAS - MAY 21: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M's Crunchy Cookie Toyota, and crew celebrate winning the pole award during the elimination bracket qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on May 21, 2022 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images).

With his pit crew executing three flawless services and the driver prevailing through three head-to-head drag races from pit road to the finish line, Kyle Busch earned the pole position for the 2022 NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 21.

The two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, was one of eight competitors along with William Byron, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson to transfer from the single-car qualifying session as part of the sport’s new qualifying format for those already guaranteed a spot for the annual All-Star event. He then went head-to-head and prevailed against teammate Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson through two rounds of the new elimination bracket qualifying session that placed heavy emphasis towards the pit crew performing a four-tire pit stop in a side-by-side duel with two competitors before the competitors exited pit road with no speed limit and raced one another back to the start/finish line to transfer to the following round.

After transferring all the way to the third and final elimination bracket qualifying session, Busch received another strong pit stop from his pit crew before he outlasted a single-lap duel from the pit road exit against Ryan Blaney to beat Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske Ford Mustang back to the start/finish line and claim the top-starting spot for the sport’s annual All-Star event scheduled for Sunday, May 22, with a million dollars on the line.

Busch’s pole for the 2022 All-Star event marks his third time starting on pole for the event and his first since 2012. He will attempt to win his second All-Star event since winning his first at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2017.

“Anytime you’re able to showcase the pit crew’s ability and have them and their athleticism in this competition, in this qualifying format, I enjoy that,” Busch, whose best qualifying lap occurred at 189.115 mph in 28.554 seconds, said. “I think that’s my most favorite part of the year is coming to the All-Star Race, and whether it’s been Charlotte and coming down pit road and sliding into the box and whatnot. But having those guys go over the wall certainly means a lot, especially the No. 18 bunch that I’ve had a lot of success with over the years. It’s obviously changed up a few times, most recently, but you know, we’ve always been a threat to be reckoned with when it comes to getting on the pole for the All-Star Race. So it feels good to have that today.”

“This is a cool event,” Ben Beshore, crew chief for Kyle Busch, added. “It’s something new. A good way to showcase our pit crew. They did a great job. They put in a lot of hard work this offseason and throughout the beginning of the year. and they clicked off three really good stops there and got it. So that’s exciting.”

Blaney, who lost to Kyle Busch in the final elimination bracket session, will start on the front row in second place as he pursues his first All-Star victory.

Teammates William Byron and Kyle Larson, both of whom were eliminated following the second elimination bracket round, will start third and fourth, respectively.

Kurt Busch, Ross Chastain, Martin Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola, all of whom were eliminated following the first elimination bracket round, will start fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Joey Logano, the first competitor who did not transfer to the elimination round bracket, will start the All-Star event in ninth place as he will share the fifth row with AJ Allmendinger. They will start in front of Chase Briscoe, rookie Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell and Alex Bowman, respectively.

Results:

1. Kyle Busch, 189.115 mph, 28.554 seconds

2. Ryan Blaney, 189.043 mph, 28.565 seconds

3. William Byron, 189.288 mph, 28.528 seconds

4. Kyle Larson, 188.600 mph, 28.632 seconds

5. Kurt Busch, 188.679 mph, 28.620 seconds

6. Ross Chastain, 188.003 mph, 28.723 seconds

7. Martin Truex Jr., 187.679 mph, 28.620 seconds

8. Aric Almirola, 187.715 mph, 28.767 seconds

9. Joey Logano, 187.650 mph, 28.777 seconds

10. AJ Allmendinger, 187.454 mph, 28.807 seconds

11. Chase Briscoe, 187.357 mph, 28.822 seconds

12. Austin Cindric, 187.305 mph, 28.830 seconds

13. Chase Elliott, 187.298 mph, 28.831 seconds

14. Christopher Bell, 187.279 mph, 28.834 seconds

15. Kevin Harvick, 187.084 mph, 28.864 seconds

16. Denny Hamlin, 186.909 mph, 28.891 seconds

17. Bubba Wallace, 186.825 mph, 28.891 seconds

18. Brad Keselowski, 186.800 mph, 28.908 seconds

19. Michael McDowell, 186.625 mph, 28.935 seconds

20. Alex Bowman, 186.136 mph, 29.011 seconds

*Bold indicates finalists of elimination bracket qualifying session.

Earlier in the day, Tyler Reddick, who is one of 16 competitors that are currently not eligible for the main event, claimed the pole position for the 2022 NASCAR All-Star Open after posting a pole-winning, single qualifying lap at 186.981 mph at 28.880 seconds. Joining him on the front row will be Daniel Suarez, who posted a fast qualifying lap at 186.903 mph in 28.892 seconds.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Erik Jones, Chris Buescher, Justin Haley, Austin Dillon, Corey LaJoie, rookie Harrison Burton and Cole Custer will start the Open in the top 10, respectively.

The All-Star Open, which will occur prior to the All-Star Race, will consist of three stages: 20 laps, 20 laps and 10 laps, respectively. The winner of each stage along with the Fan Vote winner will transfer their way into the All-Star Race, with the main event featuring a total of 24 competitors.

Results:

1. Tyler Reddick, 186.981 mph, 28.880 seconds

2. Daniel Suarez, 186.903 mph, 28.892 seconds

3. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 186.490 mph, 28.956 seconds

4. Erik Jones, 186.323 mph, 28.982 seconds

5. Chris Buescher, 186.188 mph, 29.003 seconds

6. Justin Haley, 186.027 mph, 29.028 seconds

7. Austin Dillon, 185.503 mph, 29.110 seconds

8. Corey LaJoie, 184.963 mph, 29.195 seconds

9. Harrison Burton, 184.780 mph, 29.224 seconds

10. Cole Custer, 184.767 mph, 29.226 seconds

11. Landon Cassill, 184.382 mph, 29.287 seconds

12. Ty Dillon, 183.698 mph, 29.396 seconds

13. Cody Ware, 183.014 mph, 29.506 seconds

14. Todd Gilliland, 181.519 mph, 29.749 seconds

15. Garrett Smithley, 180.632 mph, 29.895 seconds

16. BJ McLeod, 180.439 mph, 29.927 seconds

The All-Star Open is scheduled to occur at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1 while the All-Star Race will follow suit at 8 p.m. ET on FS1 on Sunday, May 22.

VeeKay Fastest at 233.655 mph; Chevy, Ganassi Flex on Day 1 of Indy Qualifying

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Official Release

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May 21, 2022

INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, May 21, 2022) – It was a very good time either to be powered by a Chevrolet engine or drive for Chip Ganassi Racing on the first day of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying for the 106th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Chevrolets propelled the three fastest qualifiers, led by Rinus VeeKay’s four-lap average speed of 233.655 mph in the No. 21 Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile Chevrolet, while all five of Ganassi’s Honda-powered drivers ended up in the top 12 and will advance to the final two rounds of qualifying Sunday, including the Firestone Fast Six that determines the winner of the NTT P1 Award for pole.

“It’s a good start,” VeeKay said. “It shows we have a good car and confidence for tomorrow. We can definitely challenge for pole. I think Ganassi is definitely our biggest rival out there for challenging for pole.”

Positions 13 through 33 in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” were set during today’s qualifying, which was interrupted twice by rain and lightning for a total of two hours, 14 minutes and cut short by 60 minutes.

The second round of qualifying, for the 12 fastest drivers today, starts at 4 p.m. (ET) Sunday. The six fastest drivers from that round will advance to the Firestone Fast Six, which starts at 5:10 p.m., and turn another four-lap qualifying run for the NTT P1 Award and its $100,000 prize.

Live coverage of the last two rounds of qualifying starts at 4 p.m. (ET) on NBC, with the INDYCAR Radio Network also providing coverage.

Just under VeeKay on the Scoring Pylon were Arrow McLaren SP teammates Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. O’Ward was second at 233.037 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, followed by Rosenqvist at 232.775 in the No. 7 Vuse Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.

Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou led a trio of Honda-powered Ganassi drivers in the next three spots. Palou ended up fourth at 232.774 in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, with 2013 “500” winner Tony Kanaan fifth at 232.625 in the No. 1 The American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and Indy 500 rookie Jimmie Johnson was sixth at 232.398 in the No. 48 Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“It’s pretty awesome, and I’m just so thankful to be part of the group,” Johnson said about the Ganassi team performance. “Watching them prepare literally since they left here last year and continually thinking of this race, and it being a motto to win here before the championship. To be a part of it, to live it, to now be here experiencing it is really cool.”

Three-time Indy 500 pole sitter Ed Carpenter was seventh with a four-lap average at 232.397 in the No. 33 Alzamend Neuro Chevrolet after topping the morning practice with a single lap of 234.410, the fastest trip around the 2.5-mile IMS oval since 1996. Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing was eighth at 232.275 in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, with “500” rookie Romain Grosjean leading Andretti Autosport in ninth at 232.201 in the No. 28 DHL Honda.

A trio of Indianapolis 500 winners rounded out the drivers to advance to the Round of 12 qualifying.

Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and 2008 “500” winner Scott Dixon was 10th at 232.151 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, followed by 2018 “500” winner and current NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Will Power in 11th at 231.842 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato ended up 12th at 231.708 in the No. 51 Nurtec ODT Honda. Sato was forced to make a second attempt after his first run of 232.196 was disallowed after INDYCAR officials penalized Sato for qualifying interference and failure to follow instructions, affecting another competitor. While slowing on his cooldown lap after his first attempt, Sato was judged to have impeded the qualifying attempt of the next driver, Marco Andretti.

Rookie David Malukas just missed the cut to advance to Sunday, ending up 13th and just behind Dale Coyne Racing teammate Sato at 231.607 in the No. 18 HMD Honda.

While Chevy powered the first three drivers on the speed chart after qualifying, Honda struck back with a 7-5 edge among the top 12.

There was a common thread between VeeKay, O’Ward and Rosenqvist besides Bowtie engines. All three drew low numbers in the qualifying order Friday night and made their attempts in the first 15 minutes of qualifying, when the track temperature was just 85 degrees.

The air and track temperature continued to climb until the first rain arrived, dropping grip and speeds. By 12:30 p.m., 90 minutes into qualifying, the oval’s asphalt was 107 degrees.

A practice for the 12 remaining qualifiers will take place from 12:30-2 p.m. Sunday, with live coverage on Peacock Premium.

Toyota NCS Texas Quotes — Kyle Busch 5.21.22

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Official Release

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May 21, 2022

Toyota Racing – Kyle Busch
NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

FORT WORTH (May 21, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch was made available to media prior to the Texas Motor Speedway race this Saturday:

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

How important is it for you to win the All-Star race from a financial standpoint? With all of Brexton’s racing, we’re worried about your finances.

“Are you insinuating I’m broke? You should be considering the best thing I got going right now for next year is a test driver. Sim driver. I did hear though that that pays over 100 grand so I’m excited about that. Truth be told, yeah, coming in Texas, All-Star race, I mean, you it’s kind of that old adage of bring home the steering wheel or bring home the checkered flag right, so hoping we can bring home the checkered flag that would certainly be nice. I’ve only done that once in the All-Star race but you know, looking forward to this year’s format and the different things that it has going for us this weekend and obviously bringing back some pit crew element into that excited about showcasing my guys and how fast they’ve been this year. So they deserve to get some love.”

How is your momentum going into the 600 with the good runs on mile-and-a-half tracks?

“I mean, the mile and a half stuff has kind of been our bread and butter a little bit this year, I guess you’d say. You know, California we were okay. I thought we were quick, but we got behind early, but then Vegas and Kansas was really good. We were fast there. So being another mile and a half here, hopefully that means well.”

How has it been being a ‘girl dad’ for a week or so now?

“It’s good. Last night was a little rough, didn’t get much sleep last night, but she’s been great otherwise. So it’s been a lot of fun. Brexton has been pitching in and helping out and stuff like that. So it’s been nice to just be home the last couple of weeks. Haven’t had a whole lot to do, which it was planned that way. But Charlotte week next week is going to be a disaster. So lots of help needed next week.”

Is running in the Indy 500 still on your radar?

“Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s certainly on my radar. The year that I had it sold and committed and sponsorship was there and everything like that, I got told no. And then I haven’t necessarily tried to sell sponsorship since, but there was an easy verbal yes, commitment. And things have changed obviously, so don’t have that these days, but overall, excited to be able to watch and cheering for old pal, Jimmie Johnson to go out there and run well and do good. He’s always been fast in stock cars and everything else so it’s no surprise to see him being up on the charts this time around. And looking forward to seeing him go next Sunday.”

What are you expecting at Texas with this new race car?

“I don’t know, there was a test here earlier this year, a tire test and such. I think (Ryan) Blaney was here and he was really fast. Unfortunately, our Toyota bunch, we crashed out early so we didn’t get a whole lot of data. So we may be a little behind the eight ball, but the past mile and a half this year would argue otherwise. So we’d like to think we come out here and we’re fast and we have good strong race cars to go out here and try to win a million bucks.”

Did your Truck Series drivers tell you anything about the resin on the race track?

“I mean, to me, just watching the truck race, it looked to be about normal. You know, you can get in it, dabble in it a little longer the outside way around, but it does seem to have grip and you can make some runs off the top the corners and try to make some moves down the straightaway in such. Same old Texas it looked to me so not much different.”

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REDDICK EARNS FIRST NXS WIN FOR BIG MACHINE RACING IN SRS DISTRIBUTION 250

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Official Release

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May 21, 2022

FORT WORTH, Texas (May 21, 2022) – Tyler Reddick surged late in the third and final stage of Saturday’s SRS Distribution 250 at Texas Motor Speedway to give Big Machine Racing its inaugural NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Reddick, a Cup regular with Richard Childress Racing, didn’t lead a lap or finish higher than fourth in the first two stages that covered 80 laps, but turned it on late in the final 87-lap segment. He led the final 31 laps of the 167-lap race in the No. 48 Chevrolet en route to a 1.825-second margin of victory over fellow Cup full-time driver William Byron, who was driving for JR Motorsports.

The win comes in Reddick’s second Xfinity Series start of the season and is the 10th of his career. For upstart Big Machine Racing, the victory comes in the organization’s 45th career start.

“It’s a huge deal for me knowing how hard everyone at Big Machine Racing has worked to get us to where we got today,” said Reddick, who finished 26th at Darlington the previous race for Big Machine Racing. “This is a huge and exciting accomplishment for me.

“The team was putting in the work to be competitive and had me come in and see what we needed to do to get the car in Victory Lane.”

Polesitter Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports came out strong as he led 31 of the 40 laps in Stage 1 and claimed the stage win as well. JR Motorsports teammate Justin Allgaier, who led the other nine laps, was second and AJ Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing was third.

Reddick started second but slid back to 14th in the opening laps due running in the resin on the 1.5-mile layout. Reddick was unable to get back into the top 10 in the stage and it appeared this race could be a showdown between JR Motorsports teammates.

Gragson faded to fifth in Stage 2, but his JR Motorsports teammate Josh Berry gave the organization its eighth consecutive stage win. He led all but one of the 40 stage laps. JR Motorsports also swept the top three for the stage with Allgaier finishing second again and Byron taking third. Reddick used the stage to move into contention by finishing fourth.

The start of Stage 3 hampered the winning chances of some key contenders when Berry spun after taking the green and initiating a five-car incident that also collected Gragson and Ty Gibbs of Joe Gibbs Racing. Gragson was finished for the day and Gibbs fell deep back in the field and eventually finished 17th. Berry managed to recover and get back in the top 10, but never threatened.

Allgaier was the next JR Motorsports contender to incur misfortune as a flat tire dropped him from the lead to 31st. It would bring out the eighth of 11 cautions that covered 62 laps on the day, but the ensuing yellows also helped Allgaier situate himself among the top five with 10 to go.

Reddick maintained a comfortable lead of 1.4 seconds or more during those final 10 laps with Byron never having an opportunity to threaten. Reddick and Byron were followed the JR Motorsports duo of Sam Mayer and Allgaier, respectively. Rookie Austin Hill of Richard Childress Racing rounded out the top five that consisted of all Chevrolet-powered drivers.

Saturday’s NASCAR All-Star Race Weekend Notebook: Carrolton native Jesse Iwuji finished 34th when he was collected in a multi-car accident after completing 137 laps in the SRS Distribution 250. Iwuji co-owns Jesse Iwuji Motorsports with Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith, who was on hand for the race. … More action follows the SRS Distribution 250 with Open and NASCAR All-Star Race practice beginning at 6 p.m. CT and then qualifying for both at 6:35 p.m. … NASCAR Cup Series driver Christopher Bell announced in partnership with Texas Motor Speedway a new Micro Sprint event that will debut Sept. 21-24 at Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway. The event will be called “C. Bell’s MICRO MANIA” and run in conjunction with the NASCAR Playoffs doubleheader weekend at TMS set for Sept. 23-25. … Sunday’s on-track schedule begins with The Open race for non-all-star qualifiers at 4:30 p.m. Following the Blake Shelton concert that begins at 5:30 p.m., the NASCAR All-Star Race will begin at 7 p.m. (TV: FS1, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM Radio).