Posted on by Dustin Albino

From the ripe young age of 8, Luke Lambert knew what his future held: Racing.

This weekend, his destiny could be fulfilled, serving as crew chief for Noah Gragson and the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet as the duo battles for the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway Saturday ( 6 p.m. ET, USA Network, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM).

RELATED: Full Phoenix schedule | Xfinity standings

Between 8-year-old Luke and this weekend in Phoenix, it’s been quite the journey:

Lambert, who raced when he was younger, graduated from North Carolina State University in 2005 with a mechanical engineering background, and he competed on the school’s Formula SAE team.

Lambert landed a job as an engineer out of college at Richard Childress Racing. After six years of working with RCR, he replaced Todd Berrier as Jeff Burton’s crew chief midway through the 2011 season.

The following year, he became the full-time crew chief for Elliott Sadler in his final year at RCR in the Xfinity Series. Lambert returned to crew chief Burton in 2013 in his final Cup campaign at RCR. Once Ryan Newman came over in 2014, Lambert led the way for the No. 31 team for the next five years — picking up his lone Cup win in 2017 at Phoenix  — and stayed with Daniel Hemric in 2019.

“The Cup Series is tough,” Lambert said. “It’s a challenging series. You have all the best guys in it and it’s a grind.”

For the last two years, Lambert moved over to Roush Fenway Racing to work with Chris Buescher. But when the team rebranded to RFK Racing, Lambert had some soul searching to do. He wanted to compete for championships.

Last December, he met Noah Gragson for the first time for lunch at Field of Greens in Mooresville, North Carolina. Instantly, there was chemistry, though Gragson said he had no say in who would be his next crew chief at JRM, with Dave Elenz leaving for Petty GMS Motorsports in the Cup Series.

Gragson was nervous about a future without Elenz.

“I just saw a lot of the things that Noah, JRM and Dave had done together and saw a continuous progression of improvement and potential every week,” Lambert said. “I felt like the work wasn’t done with where he was heading and he’s continuing to put that work in.”

The duo had success right out of the gates in 2022, though Gragson didn’t find Victory Lane until the fourth race of the season at Phoenix. Those first four races all resulted in podium finishes.

“Have you ever met someone and be like, ‘Damn, how did we not know each other?’” Gragson said of their early success. “Like in ‘Step Brothers,’ doing the same thing, building bunk beds and stuff, that’s how I see Luke and I. ‘Did we just become best friends?’ It happened so quick and easy. We tried to spend time with each other, but it wasn’t forced.”

Away from the track, the pairing is arguably closer than they are at the track. When the Lamberts want a night to themselves, sometimes they’ll call on Gragson to watch their kids: Waylon, 10; Cade, 9; RubyLynn, 6.

Gragson enjoys hanging out with the children, acting as an older brother.

“They’re just cool kids,” he said. “They seem like they’re family to me.”

Gragson has taken the Lambert children to dinner and North Wilkesboro to watch a race, while also riding dirt bikes with them.

“He’s a part of our family,” Lambert said of Gragson. “It’s good for all of us and makes the working relationship that much more successful at times. We get along and have a lot of the same interests and try to enjoy whatever we end up doing.”

At the track, the No. 9 team has found camaraderie. Gragson has won a series-high eight races (he’d won five races in his first three seasons combined) and picked up 20 top-five finishes with an average finish of 8.3.

Some of the success can certainly be put on the shoulders of the addition of Lambert. Gragson has also matured throughout the season and become the championship favorite entering this weekend.

Gragson and Lambert are having such success that Lambert will make the move back to the Cup Series in 2023 to crew chief Gragson at Petty GMS. Lambert is ready to tackle the Cup Series once again.

“[Petty GMS] asked who I wanted to be the crew chief and they could give us the option,” Gragson stated. “I was like, ‘I’d like to keep this together if I can.’

“I was nervous because I didn’t want to move up to the new car with a new guy and trying to learn a new guy and new car together.”

Lambert is excited to learn a new craft in the Next Gen car. He was waiting for an opportunity similar to this, though appreciative of his one season at JRM.

“What’s important to me in my job in racing is to be with a team that is successful and to work in a situation where we have an opportunity to compete and contend for wins and championships,” he said. “The relationship that we’ve forged during this time racing together makes it more clear to me that’s where I want to continue and work towards.”

Before departing JRM, Gragson and Lambert have one mission left, winning the Xfinity Series championship. It would be the ultimate payoff for the team that’s been most dominant in the series in 2022.

“It’s certainly a lifelong goal of mine,” Lambert said. “I’ve been able to finish second in the Xfinity Series championship and I’ve been able to finish second as a crew chief in the Cup Series championship. The opportunity to close it out is something that is really important to me.”

Posted on by George Winkler

Former NFL safety and NASCAR enthusiast Bernard Pollard (@Crushboy31) got to experience the playoffs from all angles during his nine-year professional football career — from a wide-eyed rookie with the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl championship with the Baltimore Ravens. So, as NASCAR gets ready to crown champions in all three of its national series this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, we sat down with Pollard to talk about what goes through an athlete’s mind when playoff pressure reaches its peak.

The first time Pollard felt playoff pressure the year was 2006 and he was a rookie safety who played special teams. The Chiefs needed a win in the last game of the regular season against the Jacksonville Jaguars (along with some help) to get into the playoffs. Pollard’s blocked punt and touchdown helped spark Kansas City to a 35-30 win. When the celebrations stopped and the realization that his first playoffs were upon him, Pollard said things felt different:

“The regular season is the regular season. When you get to that postseason, the practices are different, the meetings are different and obviously the atmosphere at the games is different because you understand if you lose it’s over. For us, it was just so crazy. I was a rookie. I didn’t understand.”

Unfortunately for Pollard and the Chiefs their stay in the playoffs was brief as they lost in their first game, 23-8 to Peyton Manning and the eventual Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts.

“I thought throughout the week we had good practices, but we just didn’t match the intensity of the Indianapolis Colts. For me as a rookie, I saw the difference and what that looked like. The way that we were playing, the way that they were playing. It was just two totally different teams, two totally different energies. They went on and did some special things throughout the playoffs, and we obviously played that one game and went home. It was a true learning experience for me and definitely helped me later on in my career.”

Pollard spent two more years with the Chiefs and didn’t make the playoffs in either of those seasons, and then he went to the Houston Texans for two seasons where he put up some of his best stats, including a career-high four interceptions in 2009, but again missed out on the playoffs. That hunger to return to the playoffs was strong, and when he became an unrestricted free agent, Pollard jumped at the chance to sign with the Baltimore Ravens, a team that was loaded on defense with All-Pro players such as linebacker Ray Lewis and nose tackle Haloti Ngata.

Joining the Ravens immediately put Pollard right in the middle of some high-pressure situations, including in the biggest games of the playoffs.

“I’m sure you’ve heard it said, pressure bursts pipes. Throughout the football season, there is tremendous pressure on athletes, coaches, the training staff. When you reach the playoffs, it’s that much more intensified. It ramps up. So, for the playoffs, it’s you understanding there are still 15-minute quarters, it’s still a 60-minute game. The errors I can’t make that I made in the regular season. It’s those errors. That’s the biggest thing. You want to play perfect football, but there’s no such thing as perfect football. But you also got to remember the same pressures that are on you are on them. So, it’s about who can make less mistakes. Can’t be self-inflicted. Wanted to have as few of those as possible because the game means that much more.”

But despite their best efforts, the 2011 Ravens fell just short in Pollard’s first season with them, losing a heartbreaker to the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game, 23-20. Going home short of the goal, what was that like?

“It’s heavy because you put so much work during the offseason into your craft and so much time with teammates and in the meeting room. When you’re dealing with athletes, especially when fans are encountering athletes and when they can watch their sport together, for us athletes we see it differently. For me as a football player, I see film differently than a fan. Fans watch it from fan goggles. I’m watching it because I was paid to dissect an offense, paid to dissect a player, understand down-and-distance and situational football.

“Same thing with racing, racers they see things differently. The feel of that car. Their mindset to understand when they’re in a three-wide, when they’re between that wall and an opponent. So, for me, it weighs on me because you put that time and that effort in.

“Understanding the way we lost in the playoffs, a dropped pass, and a missed field goal. A lot of guys let their frustrations out. For Billy Cundiff, our kicker who missed, it was just one of those things. We said we’d be back there, and we weren’t going to lose like that again.”

In 2012, the Ravens didn’t have as good of a record as the 2011 squad and didn’t earn a first-round bye, but they fought their way through the playoffs from the wild-card round and were faced with a familiar foe, the Patriots, in the AFC championship game. This time the Ravens won 28-13 and Pollard’s hit on running back Stevan Ridley caused a fourth-quarter fumble that all but sealed the trip to the Super Bowl.

Now that his first Super Bowl was upon him, what was the pressure like knowing this was the biggest game he might ever play?

“When you’re playing for a championship, it is out of this world. It’s still something you’ve been doing for 17 weeks, 18 weeks with a bye. Even for race car drivers you’ve been doing it all year long, just keep doing the same thing but understanding that your mistake means that much more in this circumstance. So, getting tight makes no sense because it’s something you’ve been doing all along.”

The Ravens met their goal this time, defeating the San Francisco 49ers 34-31 to win the Super Bowl. Having been at the pinnacle of the sport, is there any advice for the drivers heading into their championship races this weekend?

“It’s crazy for me with racing, it’s not just only the drivers, they have their skillset and understanding of how to drive the vehicle, but they’re relying on the pit crew to get them in and out of pit road. They’re relying also on the (crew chief) and (spotter) from their headset to know where they’re at and their surroundings on the track. It’s kind of the same with football, but at the same time, I control my movement and my area. Racers, it’s so different, you move somewhere else, someone could be there, you go to move back down, and somebody could be there. I couldn’t imagine myself being in their shoes.

“But for these drivers that are competing and driving for that championship, I say stay true to who you are. We all understand as I talked about, the error, it’s bigger in these situations. We get that. I want the drivers to understand, don’t change. Go drive and drive your butt off. You got a skillset that nobody else has. Yes, the other drivers on the track got the same skillset but understand this means something to you. And just embrace the moment. Embrace it. Don’t panic. Don’t flinch. You keep pounding away. Because we don’t know what can happen. Nobody knows what can happen, nobody knows who’s going to win. But just go drive. And drive fast and skilled.”

MORE: Full schedule for championship weekend


Posted on by Pat DeCola

Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of four stories examining why each Championship 4 driver could win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship. For more on Bell and the Championship 4, tune in to “Race for the Championship” docuseries at 10 p.m. ET Thursday on USA Network or set your DVRs.

Tuesday: Joey Logano
Wednesday: Christopher Bell
Thursday: Ross Chastain
Friday: Chase Elliott

• • •

Christopher Bell will win the 2022 championship because …

… he’s becoming the new “Closer” right before our eyes.

Sure, Kevin Harvick is still racing and should make a competitive run again next season in what could potentially be his final year, but he might as well hand the nickname — he’s got more than plenty to share, anyway — over to Bell before he eventually hangs up the fire suit.

What the No. 20 driver accomplished just in order to reach the Championship 4 was enough to hang a season on in itself, winning with his back against the wall and facing elimination twice on two different tracks that could not be more different. There’s no way this team feels like it’s playing with house money, however, and with Phoenix being essentially the same do-or-die scenario who’s to say they can’t make it three-for-three? One could even argue that his task at Phoenix, while obviously massive, is simpler because the goal is clear: finish ahead of three particular cars, not the entire field. Twice.

RELATED: Odds to win 2022 championship

Time will tell if the “clutch” gene runs deep in Bell’s DNA, but for now it sure appears it does. The Oklahoma native and sprint racing star has won all different types of races on all different types of stages, many of which were the top of the top in those respective disciplines. While it’s his first Championship 4, the spotlight doesn’t seem to faze him one way or the other — and let’s not forget he has four other title race appearances in the other two national series, taking home the Truck Series championship in 2017.

Bell’s 2022 season has been at times head-scratching, coming out of the gate with six finishes of 20th or worse through the first 10 races, with a postseason appearance anything but a guarantee as late as July. Things turned a corner with his key Loudon victory over the summer, though, and since then he’s turned in another seven top fives and two playoff victories.

The 27-year-old was adamant all season that his early hiccups were essentially all circumstantial and that his No. 20 Toyota Camry was fast enough to win races. Well, he obviously proved that to be true, but to further the point — Bell tied his fellow dirt maven Kyle Larson for the series lead in poles (four) this year, after never having won one previously. He’s also led the most laps of any Championship 4 driver in the playoffs with 311. No other contender has more than 140, and he’s the only one with two postseason wins and five top fives through the first nine races.

And we haven’t even talked about the guy on top of the box yet.

Bell’s crew chief Adam Stevens felt like a fixture in the Championship 4 during his years guiding Kyle Busch to a pair of titles, racing for the championship together five straight seasons from 2015-19 before parting ways after 2020. This could be the start of a new dynasty if this lethal pairing continues to be as formidable as it appears, and Bell might be championed as the face of Toyota from here if he wins it all.

Looking to become the first No. 20 driver to win a title for JGR since Tony Stewart’s 2005 triumph, Bell would also be the youngest — and only one under 30 — to do it for the championship organization as well. Given he’s won two of the past four races and has all the momentum in the world, the pieces are there.

Just has to close the deal.

MORE: All of Joe Gibbs Racing’s wins by driver


Posted on by John Crane

While Joe Gibbs might be preparing for a pair of championship runs this weekend, the owner will be hashing out a driver incident, too. More specifically, a driver incident that involved his grandson Ty Gibbs.

Ty, who will compete for an Xfinity Series Championship this Saturday at Phoenix Raceway (6 p.m. ET, USA, NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM), came under scrutiny following a last-lap bump at Martinsville Speedway this past Saturday that sent Brandon Jones — a Joe Gibbs Racing teammate also vying for a championship berth — spinning on the final lap. Gibbs went on to win the race and claim his sixth Xfinity victory of the year. Jones, meanwhile, finished 23rd and was eliminated from playoff contention.

MORE: Jones eliminated from postseason | Phoenix schedule

During a Zoom teleconference Tuesday afternoon, Joe discussed how he and the team are working through the incident.

“Yeah, I think what’s happened there is we’re working through all of that,” Joe said. “There’s a lot to it. We’re trying to — as a family and as a race team family, we’re trying to work through every single part of that. We’re still going through it because it isn’t easy, everything that happened.

“We want to go about this the right way, and we are walking — I am, and our family is — with Ty as he walks through all of this.”

To Joe, the incident emphasized how every situation can be different, and as such, every incident must be looked at carefully. In the heat of the moment, Joe understood the reasoning behind everything happening at once. Even still, Joe believes the situation could have been handled better.

“I think that’s it,” he said. “All of us certainly wish that it had never happened. We think the world of Brandon and his dad, J.R., so we’re just kind of committed to, at this point, go through all of this and try and do it in the right way. That’s what I think we’re all focused on.”

While Joe might have navigated through difficulties before, none revolved around a difficulty involving his grandson, whom he has watched for 20 years.

Even as his grandson battles for a championship title, Joe and the team will work toward solving the problem as an organization and family.

“I think it’s probably hard for me to even say,” Joe said. “I think it is definitely different, and I think everybody out there that’s got kids and grandkids know the feelings, so that’s all part of it.

“Sometimes that’s not easy to kind of walk through all that, but I think it’s just something that we have to — as a family and as a race team family, we have to just walk through this and try and go about it in the right way.”

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials penalized the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing team Tuesday for an unsecured lug nut after last weekend’s events at Martinsville Speedway.

Ty Gibbs drove the No. 54 Toyota to his sixth victory of the NASCAR Xfinity Series season in Saturday’s Dead On Tools 250. His car was found with a single unsecured lug nut in a post-race check by officials, a violation detailed in Section 8.8.10.4a in the NASCAR Rule Book.

RELATED: Xfinity Series standings  | Full Phoenix schedule

As a result, crew chief Chris Gayle was fined $5,000.

Posted on by Brandon White

CONCORD, N.C. — A longstanding partnership between the Earnhardt family and Bass Pro Shops is set to continue starting with the South Carolina 400 at Florence Motor Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. will drive a Late Model Stock Car sponsored by Bass Pro Shops during the prestigious event on November 19. The scheme being used for the South Carolina 400 will pay tribute to the car his father, Dale Earnhardt, drove in The Winston at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1998.

RELATED: Get Junior merch

Having known Bass Pro Shops CEO Johnny Morris for many years, Earnhardt is honored to have his company on one of his Late Model Stock Cars and is looking forward to representing the brand at the short track level.

“I’ve been looking for some opportunities to get behind the wheel of this car,” Earnhardt said. “I’m thrilled to be able to carry the Bass Pro Shops brand [for the South Carolina 400]. Johnny [Morris] has meant so much to the Earnhardt family and he had a great relationship with my father. This paint scheme means as much to Johnny as it does to us.”

In addition to sponsoring Dale Earnhardt Jr. at the South Carolina 400, Bass Pro Shops will also sponsor JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

The renewed relationship between Earnhardt and Bass Pro Shops will continue long after the checkered flag waves at Florence in a few weeks.

Bass Pro Shops is sponsoring JR Motorsports development driver Carson Kvapil for 20 races during the upcoming 2023 Late Model Stock season. The company will also sponsor NASCAR Xfinity Series championship contender Josh Berry for 11 races and Earnhardt himself for one of his two planned Xfinity Series starts next year.

Earnhardt stressed the importance of Bass Pro Shops having a presence in short track racing and is optimistic that their partnership with JR Motorsports will start out on a high note with a strong performance in the South Carolina 400.

“This’ll be great for Johnny, Bass Pro Shops and all of those managers and employees to get to know Carson this year and what he’s about,” Earnhardt said. “They’re going to be thrilled about that, but I just hope I can do a good job behind the wheel at Florence. I’m looking for more opportunities to drive this car throughout 2023 as well.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Phoenix native Latasha Causey has been named the new track president at Phoenix Raceway ahead of this weekend’s championship events in the desert.

The longtime community development executive will become the first female Black track president in NASCAR history and the second woman to hold the position at Phoenix Raceway. She replaces the popular Julie Giese, who will finish her term as Phoenix track president over the coming month before fully beginning her new position as track president of the new Chicago Street Course.

“I have been fortunate to call The Valley ‘home’ my entire life, and I could not be more grateful to become the next leader of Phoenix Raceway,” Causey said in a track release. “NASCAR is a sport that brings people together, and as a result, Phoenix Raceway plays a key role in showcasing our great community to visitors across the country every year. I cannot wait to help build upon the great work that’s already been done in making this facility one of the true gems in sports and entertainment.”

RELATED: More on Phoenix Raceway

Causey, who grew up in the West Valley, has been widely recognized for her substantial work in the Phoenix community and is also a founding member of the NASCAR Accelerators host committee. Established in 2020, the committee is comprised of recognized community and business leaders who serve as Arizona’s ambassadors for NASCAR.

In addition to NASCAR Accelerators, in 2021 Causey was named one of the Most Influential Women in Arizona by AZ Big Media, and in 2018 the Phoenix Business Journal honored her as part of its Outstanding Women in Business Awards. She was also featured in Frontdoors Magazine for her philanthropic accomplishments in 2017.

“Latasha’s track record speaks for itself as a highly experienced executive that prioritizes relationships and giving back to the community – also core values of ours at NASCAR,” said Chip Wile, NASCAR senior vice president and chief track properties officer. “NASCAR and Phoenix Raceway take pride in making a positive impact on the community through creating a best-in-class experience for fans when they visit the track, as well as through actively giving back and playing a significant role as a community partner. Because of these ideals, Latasha is the perfect fit to lead Phoenix Raceway into 2023 and beyond.”

Causey officially will assume her new role on Monday, Nov. 28. But she’s already at Phoenix Raceway this weekend preparing for her new role — and good thing, since Phoenix Raceway has already been announced as the championship venue again in 2023.

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of four stories examining why each Championship 4 driver could win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series championship. For more on Logano and the Championship 4, tune in to “Race for the Championship” docuseries at 10 p.m. ET Thursday on USA Network or set your DVRs.

Tuesday: Joey Logano
Wednesday: Christopher Bell
Thursday: Ross Chastain
Friday: Chase Elliott

• • •

Joey Logano will win the 2022 championship because …

It’s an even year, and the Team Penske driver is exceptionally well-positioned to make it No. 2 for the No. 22 in ’22.

Logano has made the Championship 4 in literally every even year dating back to this playoff format’s inception in 2014, winning it all in 2018. We’re (mostly) joking by noting what’s likely just a coincidence, but the fact is that Logano finds himself a championship contender every other year, and this season stands as one of his best opportunities yet to get his hands on the Bill France Trophy.

With the hoopla of Martinsville taking Logano out of the spotlight a bit, it’s easy to forget that for the past few weeks, the longtime Team Penske driver has been the only one able to sleep soundly knowing his championship berth was safe. Every driver would pay to be in that position, and you have to think cerebral crew chief Paul Wolfe has been cranking on his Phoenix machine for hours upon hours the past few weeks while other drivers still clamored to clinch their spots at Homestead-Miami and Martinsville.

RELATED: Odds to win 2022 championship

Logano has won the fall race at Phoenix before (2016), though that was before the reconfiguration of the track, in a different generation of car, in a race that wasn’t for the title. So, probably not a whole lot to cull from that one in, but Logano did win the spring 2020 race at the track as well, so he’s proven capable of doing it on this layout.

As for how he’s fared this season, he’s turned in three wins for the fourth time in the past seven years, picked up his most poles (three) since 2016 and, at times, has looked every bit the part of a championship winner. There’s a bit of concern with figures such as his average finish (13.8, his worst since missing the playoffs in 2017) and amount of top 10s (16, which is currently one fewer than he had in 2017 as well), but neither really matter when it all comes down to one final race — and essentially every elite driver from past seasons saw their numbers take a dip this year as parity increased with the debut of the Next Gen.

Let’s not forget Logano is one of, if not the least fun driver on the track to try to pass; the friendliest guy outside the car who turns into a stubborn-headed, ultra-aggressive driver behind the wheel. If somebody wants to take the title from his grasp … they quite literally might have to take it from him.

Logano has proven time and again that he’s a big-moment driver who delivers when the stakes are highest, and he can choose his own destiny. The No. 22 group led by the Connecticut native is the most well-rested, well-prepared and most experienced of the four. A second title is within reach.

MORE: Joey Logano through the years

Posted on by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Denny Hamlin had controlled much of Sunday’s Xfinity 500, and with it a good chunk of his fate in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. A final troublesome trio of pit stops and a Ross Chastain impression of a china-shop bull proved to be his undoing.

Hamlin’s hopes for a fourth consecutive Championship 4 appearance and a shot at a still-elusive Cup Series title ended dramatically Sunday at Martinsville Speedway, long a favorite haunt of the Virginia native. Hamlin led a race-best 203 laps but went from above the elimination line to below it on the final trip around the historic track as Chastain rode the wall in desperation and nosed him out at the checkered flag, nabbing fifth place and dropping Hamlin to sixth – four points shy of advancing.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

The two drivers developed a history this year with on-track run-ins, but this was one for the books.

“It was well-executed, but certainly … I don’t know,” Hamlin said when asked if Chastain’s move was somehow out of bounds. “I didn’t think of it that way, but this is the rules we play, you know. You’ve gotta race inside these walls, and he found a way to do it better than us on the last lap.”

Hamlin had a quantifiable chance to give his star-crossed season a crowning moment in next Sunday’s finale at Phoenix Raceway, based on the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota’s early strength. He took the lead for the first time on the 120th of 500 laps, and held it to earn max points with wins at the end of the first two stages.

Denny Hamlin exits his No. 11 Toyota after elimination at Martinsville Speedway
Zack Albert | NASCAR Studios

When eventual winner Christopher Bell and fellow playoff driver Chase Briscoe took turns leading late in their must-win bids for an automatic title-race berth, it appeared that Hamlin’s 20-point tally from the stages would be buffer enough to help him advance. But Hamlin lost ground on his final three pit-road visits, including a 14.5-second final stop that cost him five spots in the exchange and offset the earlier gains.

“I absolutely hate the result, but I loved our performance,” Hamlin said. “We performed at a top-notch championship level, except when we went on pit road and lost control of the lead and then lost a few more spots – I think 10 spots in last three stops. You just, you can’t do that in this sport certainly. I mean, you got to have all facets buttoned up and ready to go, and we just …  the team gave me a great car. I just could not thank them enough for giving me a race-winning car, but you know, you’ve got to have all the pieces of the puzzle together, and the one thing that really hurt us this year and kept us from having five, six wins in the regular season is the same thing that bit us today. That’s our fault.”

MORE: Championship 4 field set

Joe Gibbs Racing had swapped pit crews within its four-team organization after the postseason’s opening round. Once Kyle Busch was eliminated from playoff contention in the Round of 16 finale at Bristol, JGR officials switched the No. 18 team’s over-the-wall personnel to Hamlin’s No. 11.

Chris Gabehart, the No. 11 Camry’s crew chief, was wistful as he echoed Hamlin’s remarks, lamenting the pit-stop sluggishness that hampered the overall performance.

“Life has a way of being ironically appropriate a lot of times, and the bottom line is, the car was certainly fast enough to dominate the race,” Gabehart told NASCAR.com. “We lost a lot of spots on pit road again that cost us another race, and it proved to be too much for us to overcome on points this year. We should have many, many more wins than we do. There’s a theme as to why we don’t — very clear — and it was summed up last three stops on pit road today.”

Even with the dejection still relatively fresh, Gabehart was magnanimous in applauding Chastain’s last-lap wizardry, toasting a fellow competitor who has been a thorn with his on-track engagement racing against Hamlin at multiple points of the season.

“Then, the move. I mean, look how bad he wants it,” Gabehart said. “I mean, my God, you can’t question how bad that guy wants to be the best. I don’t agree with his tactics. It’s cost us a lot this year, but man, I congratulate him on how bad he wants something. Good for him.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Ross Chastain picked Lap 500 to turn the NASCAR Cup Series’ fastest lap in the history of Martinsville Speedway. And true to the form of Trackhouse Racing’s reputation as disruptors in its brief existence, this latest master stroke from the journeyman driver came through unconventional means with some of the highest stakes possible riding on it.

It was straight video-game stuff that decided the final spot in the Championship 4 field for Chastain, who leaped from 10th to fifth place in a wall-riding dash through Turns 3 and 4 at the end of Sunday’s Xfinity 500. The holiest of Hail Marys pushed Chastain from a one-point deficit to a four-point edge over Denny Hamlin for the last title-eligible berth in next Sunday’s season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

The move had his fellow competitors shaking their heads — some in wonderment and others in disagreement — and a packed house at the historic track rising with a disbelieving cheer of approval. For Chastain, he was still trying to wrap his own head around how a maneuver his brother, Chad, had used on him in a NASCAR game from 2005 for the Nintendo GameCube had somehow worked in real life.

“I never thought about it. Our prep this week, it never crosses my mind,” said Chastain, who ended up fifth after clocking a 100.483-mph lap with his full-send move. “I’ve done a lot of sim work this week, a lot of iRacing, a lot of stuff, laps here virtually. Never once did it cross my mind or ever try it. I want to make that clear. The last time would have been a long time ago before I was even thinking about being a NASCAR driver …”

“I thought, why not? That’s a motto that some buddies and I have back home. We live by ‘why not?’ To apply that to the Cup Series in this scenario, there are rules. There are a lot of rules out here.

I didn’t know how it would all work out. I didn’t know if the physics would work to make it around the corner, but it did. I’m sure glad it did.”

Chastain will now race for his first championship next Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, MRN, SiriusXM), facing off against Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Martinsville race winner Christopher Bell. The whirlwind turn of events comes in just his first year with the Trackhouse Racing bunch, which debuted just last season as a one-car effort.

Justin Marks, who signed on Pitbull as a co-owner when the team launched, said he was going to break down barriers in the stock-car world. Perhaps this was an interpretation of what he meant. Fortunately, the outside retaining wall and Turn 4 crossover gate held.

“I’m shaking right now. I think it just goes to show you that Ross is special, he’s different, and sometimes there are unwritten rules that he finds ways to write them,” Marks said after a frantic post-race celebration. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. It’s unbelievable. I’m so proud of him. So proud of this Trackhouse team. The 1 car, the 99, I’m in shock, and it’s good shock.”

Count team president Ty Norris among those stunned.

“Best move I’ve ever seen in my entire life, and not just because it was us,” said Norris, a longtime industry vet. “You see all these fans, they were ripping the bleachers out. That was unbelievable. I’m glad that the gate was nice and secured over there in Turn 4 because he didn’t need to hook anything right there because he was not coming off the gas. That was pretty unbelievable.”

Chastain did not lift, and the force of his No. 1 Chevy scraping against the wall almost looked like a fast-forward playback at 1.5x speed. But the momentum carried him one by one past Chase Briscoe, Bubba Wallace, Logano, William Byron and finally just a nose ahead of Hamlin – his rival at various points this season and the driver who had the upper hand in the playoff battle for much of the day. Chastain limped the scuffed and battered car – a control arm broken and brakes gone – back to pit road and pumped his fist as the crowd cheered.

A handful of Chastain’s peers questioned the integrity of the move. Others just tipped their cap to a move that only seemed possible or a digital race track or through the magic of cinematography.

“We all did it as kids. We all did it in the video game. That’s how you made speed in the video game, that’s what you did,” said Logano, who clinched his title shot by winning the Round of 8 opener at Las Vegas. “Something we all thought about at one point. At least I thought about it a lot, but never really had the need to do it. Also kind of thought of how many races I could have won here by doing that.

“As spectacular as it was, as much as it worked, the problem is now the box is open, right? Now every Xfinity race, every Truck race, every Cup race, no matter the track, this wall riding is going to be a play. That’s not good. That’s not good. I mean, it was awesome, it was cool. It happened for the first time. There’s no rule against it. There needs to be a rule against this one because I don’t know if you want the whole field riding the wall coming to the checkered flag.”

Whether it becomes a last-lap version of a 60-plus-yard field goal or a desperation half-court shot or a soon-to-be-regulated one-off, Chastain can lay claim to being the first – etching in a signature moment to Martinsville’s 75th-anniversary season and earning kudos from other crews who marveled at the achievement.

“Whether they were congratulating me for the wildness of it or they were genuinely happy, I’m not sure,” Chastain said. “I’m going to take it that I had more people make it a point to walk out of their pit boxes to physically acknowledge me. That means as much to me as anything.

“This garage, you know what, the word was used earlier, ‘circus.’ We are a traveling circus. I’m proud to be in this circus. I’m proud of my brothers and sisters that I go to battle with. They might get mad at me. Some of the stuff I talked about earlier in the year, it’s been wild to race against my heroes. They’re left, right, forward, back. The craziest thing is when they’ve been mad at me. I’ve had crew members be mad at me this year. That’s the most humbling experience that I’ve ever experienced.

“So having more acknowledgment or more smiles my way, whether it was because it was crazy or not, I don’t really care. I’m going to take it. I don’t get many from the garage. Just them acknowledging that, whether it was good or bad on their end, they acknowledged, they smiled, gave me a thumbs-up and I’ll take it.”