Kyle Busch was not supposed to win this one. This was shaping up to be a battle between Tyler Reddick and Chase Briscoe, or one of several other drivers under the age of 30. If a veteran was going to win, it was going to be Joey Logano at the ripe old age of 31.
Ross Chastain continued an incredible 2022 as the third driver to become a first time winner this season. In a race that saw plenty of drama, Chastain steadily climbed through the field and wound up in an epic battle for the lead between himself and three other drivers during the final laps; Allmendinger, Bowman, and Reddick.
For the second time in his career, Joey Logano won the season opening Busch Clash. This was also the premier race for the new Next Gen car with a composite body and vendor-supplied parts.
Things weren’t looking all that rosy for the driver with the most wins this season. Even after winning Stage 2, Kyle Larson fell back a few seconds of the leaders. But two late race cautions turned things around. With Chase Elliott leading, a caution bunched up the field and put Larson back in contact with the leaders but he still didn’t have the speed and clean air Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex, Jr. enjoyed.
Kyle Larson won at Sonoma making it back to back victories while sweeping every Stage along the way. Larson made it look easy as he held off Chase Elliott and Martin Truex, Jr. Elliott was vying for his first won at Sonoma after being dominant at every other road course and Truex was going for his third Sonoma win.
After a less than stellar weekend of attempting to race on the new dirt track at Bristol, Monday saw clear skies that allowed to race to continue. The rains meant the track was basically a “mud pit” and any attempt at practice or qualifying coated the cars in mud in just a single lap. If you weren’t the lead car, you literally couldn’t see. It was a scene that was very reminiscent of the disastrous tire issues at Indianapolis in 2008.
At the end of the night, youngster William Byron took the checkered flag at Homestead besting a hard charging Tyler Reddick.
Byron joins McDowell and Bell as early winners this season who are payoff bound ahead of the expected veteran racers. Many analysts thought this would be the race for Joe Gibbs Racing with either Bell repeating or seeing one of his strong veteran teammates in victory lane. (more…)
For the second straight week we saw a first time winner at Daytona.
Christopher Bell joined the ranks of being a first time Cup winner with his hard fought win at the Daytona Road Course. Bell stayed in the hunt and chased down Joey Logano to secure his first Cup win after Michael McDowell got his first Cup win last week. (more…)
Michael McDowell was finally rewarded for years of toiling away in underfunded teams by being in the right place at the right time late Sunday night as he went to victory lane in the Daytona 500. McDowell has run well in this race before with his best finish being fourth in 2017, but he hasn’t always been rewarded with his patience at the Great American Race. (more…)
In a surprising finish, rookie Cole Custer stole the show from the veteran drivers on the final restart to win not only his first Cup race, but he became the first rookie to win at Kentucky. All past winners at Kentucky Speedway are Cup champions, which could speak to Custer’s future. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
