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@nascarcasm: Favorite photo from every 2022 Cup race
By @nascarcasm | Published: 16 Nov, 2022 37
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The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season was one of a kind — so @nascarcasm picked his favorite photo from each race.
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
DAYTONA 500: It was a heck of a Cup Series rookie season for Austin Cindric, who became the first full-time rookie to win the Daytona 500. This image captures the essence of Austin Cindric – overjoyed, thrilled, and about two feet taller than anyone else on the team.
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
AUTO CLUB SPEEDWAY: California is where the stars come out, and boy did they. Actor Danny Trejo had the honor of waving the green flag to start the race, and as you can tell by this photo, he enjoyed every second of it. He may still be up there – I mean do you want to be the guy to tell Danny Trejo he has to leave? I wouldn’t.
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
SPRING LAS VEGAS: We just like pictures of happy Alex Bowman. He’s the personification of persistence and the poster child of perseverance. Seeing him win early in the season was tremendous, especially because it would be the final Cup Series win for longtime crew chief Greg Ives. Plus, we like pictures that are photobombed by individuals with large, red, square heads.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
SPRING PHOENIX: Chase Briscoe kicked off our season-long cavalcade of first-time Cup Series winners at Phoenix Raceway in the spring. This is our favorite photo from the race, because it shows the raw emotion one feels when they win for the first time, and also how Chase Briscoe can levitate like David Blaine.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
SPRING ATLANTA: William Byron won the race. However, with the proper framing and positioning one subject in front of another that happens to be carrying his daughter, you can make it look like Keelan Harvick has a SWEET mullet. Framing is an art.
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Logan Riely | Getty Images
CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS: 2022 was the year of Trackhouse, and it officially kicked off at Circuit of The Americas. It was a great day to be Ross Chastain, Justin Marks, and a member of Trackhouse Racing. It was a bad day to be a watermelon. Personally, I think he should have dropped it off the top of the big viewing tower at the track, but that’s just me.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
SPRING RICHMOND: This was a classic strategy race. Denny Hamlin, with fresher tires, was able to chase down leader William Byron in the closing laps and earn his first win of the year. Denny showed a level of happiness similar to when he learns Taylor Swift is releasing a new album, which she did.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
SPRING MARTINSVILLE: The beauty of winning at Martinsville Speedway, as William Byron did in the spring, is that you receive a trophy that lets you know how insanely late it is.
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Logan Riely | Getty Images
BRISTOL DIRT RACE: Months later, we now see a lot of “lasts” in this photo. Kyle Busch’s final win with Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch’s final Cup Series win of 2022. Kyle Busch’s last win with M&Ms on the car. This will take some getting used to.
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James Gilbert | Getty Images
SPRING TALLADEGA: We appreciate this photo of victorious Ross Chastain because after the final lap, what we really needed was even more smashed stuff scattered all over the front stretch.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
DOVER: Michael Waltrip’s attempt to give Denny Hamlin a birthday cake before the race ended in disaster. As we learned years ago with a taco, Michael Waltrip + food + Denny Hamlin’s car = disaster.
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Emilee Chinn | Getty Images
SPRING DARLINGTON: Joey Logano raises his arms in triumph after winning the Throwback-Weekend race at Darlington Raceway. There are many William Byron fans applauding and thrilled with the outcome, just out of frame.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
SPRING KANSAS: Kurt Busch winning at Kansas with the VERY choice Air Jordans paint scheme was a sight to behold. Although the burnout made us nervous – anything that might scuff a fresh pair of Jordans gives us bad heartburn.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
COCA COLA 600: There’s nothing quite like winning the Coca-Cola 600. You just outran and outlasted all your competitors in NASCAR’s biggest test of physical and mechanical endurance. Look how happy Denny Hamlin is. It’s like 11:55 p.m. and the only place that’s open to celebrate is Waffle House but that doesn’t matter.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
WWT RACEWAY: This image really illustrates a big storyline of the 2022 season. Ross Chastain’s aggressive driving early in the year led to ruffled feathers, bent fenders, and long, stoic walks with security guards behind him. I mean there’s no way this guy goes all year without getting paid back.
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
SONOMA RACEWAY: Daniel Suárez’s first Cup Series win was a party. Elated fans in the stands waving the flag of his native home, Mexico. Daniel smashing a taco-shaped piñata on the front stretch. Daniel attempting wine-tasting for the first time. He did OK we think.
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY: Winning at Nashville comes with its perks, including this sweet, sweet guitar. Chase looks like a natural with the axe. PLAY “FREEBIRD”! Or maybe I could come up with a different song that wasn’t released like three decades before you were born.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
ROAD AMERICA: “WE FINALLY WON OUR FIRST CUP SERIES RACE, I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!” – Tyler Reddick and girlfriend Alexa DeLeon. “Explain to me again why you woke me up from a nap to hold up the finger I use to pick my nose.” – Beau Reddick.
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James Gilbert | Getty Images
SUMMER ATLANTA: Chase Elliott finally won at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway. But that was secondary to the unveiling of his alter ego – “Star Of 1984 TV Show About Highway Cops.”
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Tim Nwachukwu | Getty Images
NEW HAMPSHIRE: Christopher Bell and wife Morgan admire the spoils of victory in Victory Lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. All of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates stopped by to congratulate him, with the exception of Denny Hamlin, who waved from a safe distance because lobster.
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Tim Nwachukwu | Getty Images
POCONO RACEWAY: Please enjoy this picture of Denny Hamlin in Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway before we Photoshop a giant asterisk over it.
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James Gilbert | Getty Images
INDIANAPOLIS ROAD COURSE: “Wow. You sure do seem suddenly curious about driving Chevrolets, Kyle.”
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
MICHIGAN INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY: The wait was longer than he’d like, but Kevin Harvick earned his first win of 2022 at Michigan. He shared this awesome moment with his daughter, Piper – the most adorable little redhead we’ve seen in Victory Lane since Tyler Reddick at Indianapolis the week before.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
SUMMER RICHMOND: Know what we love? The fans. The awesome, loyal fans. The ones that will jump from their seat to cheer their favorite driver as they surge to the lead. And the ones sitting behind that fan wondering when he’ll sit down so they can see. We love them all.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
WATKINS GLEN: F1 champion Kimi Raikkonen was the first driver to participate in Trackhouse Racing’s ambitious Project 91 program, which puts noteworthy drivers from different racing disciplines into the No. 91 car. He loved every second. “Why isn’t he smiling then?” you’re wondering. For Kimi, this is a smile, we promise.
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
SUMMER DAYTONA: If you could somehow lasso pure insanity and place it inside a bottle, that would be the regular-season finale at Daytona. After a rain delay, chaos, more chaos, more rain, more chaos, more rain and more chaos, Austin Dillon prevailed with the help of teammate Tyler Reddick. Well, teammate for a few more races. This photo is the embodiment of “It’s complicated.”
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
PLAYOFFS DARLINGTON: The playoffs kicked off with a stunner of sorts, with Erik Jones winning the Southern 500. Petty GMS had been running strong all season, so seeing an elated Jones in Victory Lane warmed the heart. But like, no way any more non-playoff drivers would win races. No way. That’d be crazy.
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
PLAYOFF KANSAS: Here’s Bubba Wallace, the winner at Kansas, responding to the caption on the previous photo.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
PLAYOFF BRISTOL: Chris Buescher (Or Christopher, or whatever Dale Earnhardt Jr. is calling him this week) emerged victorious at the illustrious Bristol Night Race. That’s the crowdsurfing one does when one earns his first non-fog-assisted victory in the Cup Series.
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Chris Graythen | Getty Images
PLAYOFF TEXAS: Here’s the thing about feuds – they fizzle out. Kyle Busch vs. Harvick? They’re cool now. Kyle Busch vs Richard Childress? Driver-owner now. Now look at Kyle Busch and Joey Logano chit-chatting before the playoff race at Texas. Factoring in how Kyle’s previous feuds have ended, look for Kyle and Joey to be running a bed & breakfast together within a year.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
PLAYOFF TALLADEGA: We love victory-by-less-than-a-car-length photos. We love them. I would gladly replace every piece of “Live, Laugh, Love” wall art in my home with framed victory-by-less-than-a-car-length photos.
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Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images
PLAYOFF ROVAL: Does the No. 20 team go to Bayside High, because it looks like their playoff hopes were saved by the Bell at the Charlotte Road Course! Oh man I’m submitting that one for a Pulitzer.
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Sean Gardner | Getty Images
PLAYOFF LAS VEGAS: The best way to de-stress your Round of 8 is to win the opening race and punch your ticket to the Championship 4 as early as possible. That’s what Joey Logano did. This photo makes me wonder how much confetti a NASCAR driver accidentally inhales during an average Victory Lane.
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Jared East | Getty Images
PLAYOFF HOMESTEAD-MIAMI: Am I picking this photo to illustrate how close Kyle Larson ran to the wall on his way to a dominant victory? No. I’m picking this photo because this is actually the farthest he ran from the wall all day.
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Stacy Revere | Getty Images
PLAYOFF MARTINSVILLE: This was the image of the race, the week, the month, the year, and the decade. We’ll all remember where we were when Ross Chastain hit the Super-Mario power-up and wall-rode his way into the Championship 4. The faces on the crowd I assure you vary from stunned to gobsmacked to “Everything I though I knew about the laws of physics is a lie.”
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Meg Oliphant | Getty Images
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: Joey Logano (“Sliced Bread”) just won his second championship, but his son Hudson (“The Crouton”) is gonna dominate show and tell at school on Monday.