Posted on by Adam Fenwick

It’s about a month later than originally planned, but Hickory Motor Speedway will wrap up the 2022 racing season with the 25th annual running of the Fall Brawl this Saturday, Nov. 12.

Since opening in 1951 as a half-mile dirt track, Hickory Motor Speedway has served as a hub of short track racing in North Carolina. Some of racing’s greatest stars have competed at the track, which is now a 0.363-mile asphalt oval. They include legendary names like Junior Johnson, Jack Ingram, Harry Gant, Tommy Houston and Ralph Earnhardt, all of whom have won track championships at Hickory.

RELATED: Watch the Fall Brawl on FloRacing

While times have changed, the popularity and short track culture at Hickory Motor Speedway have not. Now run by promoter Kevin Piercy, the track known as “the Birthplace of NASCAR Stars” continues to host NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series events from March through October.

The Fall Brawl is typically held in October and serves as the non-point season finale for the headlining Late Model Stock Car division. The 2022 edition, which will be the 25th running of the race, was postponed to Nov. 12 to guarantee tire availability.

Below is everything you need to know about the 2022 Fall Brawl at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Scenes from the Jack Ingram Memorial at North Carolina's Hickory Motor Speedway on June 11, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Scenes from the Jack Ingram Memorial at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway on June 11, 2022. (Photo: Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

What TV channel is the Fall Brawl at Hickory Motor Speedway on?

All of the on-track action for the Fall Brawl at Hickory Motor Speedway can be viewed live on FloRacing, the official streaming home for all NASCAR Roots properties.

The racing action will not be shown on a television network.

Below is the complete schedule for FloRacing’s coverage of the Fall Brawl.

Date Start time How to watch
Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022 4 p.m. ET FloRacing

Complete schedule for the Fall Brawl

This year’s Fall Brawl is scheduled to take place Saturday, Nov. 12.

Four divisions of race cars will take part in Saturday’s event at Hickory, including the Late Model Stock Car, Pro Late Model, Limited Late Model and Street Stock divisions. The event will be headlined by the 200-lap Late Model Stock Car main event.

Below is the complete race-day schedule at Hickory Motor Speedway.

Time  Event
8 a.m. Pit Gate Sign-In Opens
8:30 a.m. Pit Gate Opens
12:30 p.m. Drivers Meeting (Frontstretch Wall)
1 – 1:10 p.m. Street Stock Practice
1:10 – 1:25 p.m. Limited Late Model Practice
1:25 – 1:45 p.m. Late Model Stock Car Practice
1:45 – 2 p.m. Pro Late Model Practice
2 p.m. Grandstands Open
2:30 p.m. Qualifying (All Divisions)
After Qualifying Autograph Session (Time Permitting)
3:45 p.m. Chapel Service
4 p.m. Pre-Race Ceremonies
4:15 p.m. Street Stock Feature (30 laps)
Followed by… Limited Late Model Feature (100 laps)
Followed by… Late Model Stock Car Feature (200 laps)
Followed by… Pro Late Model Feature (100 laps)

Fall Brawl 2022 entry list

A full field of 31 cars are entered for the 25th running of the Fall Brawl, with two previous event winners among those entered.

They include defending race winner Mason Diaz, who is returning to defend his Fall Brawl crown. Also entered is Coleman Pressley, the spotter for 2022 NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, who won the Fall Brawl in 2009 and hasn’t raced a Late Model Stock Car in several years.

Other notable entries include Annabeth Barnes Crum, Katie Hettinger and Isabella Robusto, a trio of female competitors that all visited Victory Lane at Hickory this year in Late Model Stock Car competition.

Ryan Millington, a two-time track champion at Hickory, is entered in pursuit of his first Fall Brawl triumph. Gracie Trotter and Gus Dean, winners on the ARCA platform, are also entered for Saturday’s event.

Additional entries come from Florence Motor Speedway champion Kade Brown and 2022 Hickory race winners Connor Zilisch, Connor Hall, Mitch Walker, Matthew Gould and Charlie Watson.

Car No. Driver
1 Trey Mills
2 Gracie Trotter
4 Dylon Wilson
5 Jaiden Reyna
6 Charlie Watson
6 Clark Houston
07 Chase Dixon
09 Derrick Coomer
12 Annabeth Barnes Crum
14 Mike Darne
15 Mitch Walker
15 Ryan Millington
16 Kade Brown
21 J.P. Dyar
24 Mason Diaz
27 Matthew Gould
40 C.E. Falk III
40 Taylor Satterfield
41 Joey Braun
54 Gus Dean
55 Isabella Robusto
57 Connor Zilisch
59 Coleman Pressley
71 Katie Hettinger
77 Connor Hall
77 Tyler Gregory
81 Zack Clifton
88 Doug Barnes Jr.
88 Trent Barnes
97 Hunter Deshautelle
99 Colby Higgins

Official format for the Fall Brawl

Saturday’s 200-lap Fall Brawl Late Model Stock Car main event will be divided into two 100-lap stages.

There will be a 10 minute break between the two 100-lap stages. Competitors will be allowed to change two tires from the impound area during the break. Caution laps will be counted, but the last 20 laps must be run under the green flag.

The lucky dog rule will be in effect for this event. Any car involved in a caution will not be eligible for the lucky dog award.

Street Stocks flash by the grandstands during the Jack Ingram Memorial at North Carolina's Hickory Motor Speedway on June 11, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Street Stocks flash by the grandstands during the Jack Ingram Memorial at North Carolina’s Hickory Motor Speedway on June 11, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)

Fall Brawl history, winners

Hickory Motor Speedway has hosted an annual major event every fall for decades, but the event known as the Fall Brawl wasn’t created until 1998.

The inaugural event was won by a man best known as a NASCAR Cup Series championship winning crew chief, Rodney Childers. However, long before he was a successful crew chief for Stewart-Haas Racing and Kevin Harvick, Childers was a skilled Late Model competitor in the Southeast.

Childers was first of many recognizable names to win the Fall Brawl. Josh Berry, the 2020 NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series National champion and five-time NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner, is the only multi-time Fall Brawl winner. He’s won the event a whopping four times.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin made a name for himself by winning the Fall Brawl in 2003, three years before his first full NASCAR Cup Series season. Ben Rhodes, the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, conquered the Fall Brawl in 2013.

Other recognizable names to win the Fall Brawl include Anthony Alfredo, Dennis Setzer, Tyler Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Matt McCall, Pietro Fittipaldi and Coleman Pressley. Mason Diaz is the defending Fall Brawl race winner in the Late Model Stock Car class.

Below is the complete list of winners of the Fall Brawl.

Year Winner
1998 Rodney Childers
1999 Greg Marlowe
2000 Mark Setzer
2001 Keith Bumgarner
2002 Dennis Setzer
2003 Denny Hamlin
2004 Matt McCall
2005 Jamie Yelton
2006 B.J. Mackey
2007 Andy Loden
2008 Kyle Grissom
2009 Coleman Pressley
2010 Andy Mercer
2011 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
2012 Pietro Fittipaldi
2013 Ben Rhodes
2014 Josh Berry
2015 Tyler Ankrum
2016 Josh Berry
2017 Anthony Alfredo
2018 Josh Berry
2019 Taylor Gray
2020 Josh Berry
2021 Mason Diaz
Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Something was different about Joey Logano leading into the Championship 4 weekend.

Well, that’s both true and false. It’s the same Logano we’ve always seen on the track: aggressive, confident, decisive, determined. But that differs from the Logano we usually see outside of the cockpit.

The typical Logano is laughing, jovial and lighthearted away from the race car. The chuckles remained throughout championship week at Phoenix Raceway, but his vibe was palpably different this time, charged with a swagger and shear confidence perennially reserved for when he straps his helmet on.

The result: a second NASCAR Cup Series championship, with which Logano becomes only the second active driver to claim multiple titles at the sport’s highest level.

MORE: Phoenix recap | Logano through the years

“I told the guys after we put it on the (pole) the other day: We got them down; now we put our foot on them,” Logano said Sunday. “That’s the attitude you’ve got to have. It’s just what it is when it comes to this level. Your feelings are checked at the door, and it’s all about winning and nothing less than that.”

Logano and Co. had the benefit of locking into the Championship 4 way back on Oct. 16, courtesy of a strong showing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that ended in Victory Lane. That gave the team two full weeks to throw every ounce of manpower into its Phoenix preparation.

To capitalize was one thing. To dominate – win the Busch Light Pole award, light up practice charts, lead 187 of 312 laps, win Stage 1 and the race – was a season-defining performance for the Next Gen era’s first winner and champion.

“When we won in Vegas, we sat down Monday and started coming up with a meeting agenda, a bunch of meeting agendas that we can go over and reviewing film together as a team,” Logano said. “Going through pit stops, reviewing, rolling times on pit road, all these little subcategories that happened and making sure the details are all in the right place.

“That was the difference maker. We knew we would have a fast race car, and we knew we’d make those decisions and we’d be close because we had plenty of time to really go through all that, and we weren’t bad here in the spring.”

The key to efficient preparation, he said, was crew chief Paul Wolfe. Wolfe won the 2012 championship with Brad Keselowski, now a former teammate of Team Penske. Having so much time to prepare for one race can be a blessing or a curse, given the plethora of data teams have to sift through. Wolfe made sure to reap the benefits.

“When you saw how confident I was and my team was, it’s because we were truly ready,” Logano said. “You can’t fake confidence. You can maybe show it a little bit, but truly deep down inside, you have to believe that if you’re going to be ready for this battle ahead of you.

Logano wins 2022 Cup Championship at Phoenix
Tyler Strong | NASCAR Studios

“I never felt more ready, and a lot of credit goes to Paul for taking the time and the effort and forcing us to do it together as a team.”

It’s important to note Logano’s experience in the Championship 4 as well. This year marked his fifth visit to the final round, qualifying for title contention in the season finale in five of the last nine years. Having baseline expectations for what a pressure-packed weekend asks of its championship drivers was a critical piece of Logano’s advantage.

“I truly believe that attitudes are contagious, good or bad,” he said. “And when you’re able to bring that attitude to your race team in a moment like this, as a driver there, that just carries through it. I believe confident people win. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else is ever going to believe in you? How are you ever going to win?

“But I also think you can’t fake that. I think of my first Championship 4 appearance, was I confident? No, I was a nervous wreck. Are the nerves still there? Yeah, the nerves are still there. You don’t want to screw it up because you got this far. But I truly felt ready as a driver, and I felt like, as a race team, we went through everything we can possibly go through.

“At that point, the confidence is real. We’ve been here before. We knew how to do things. We knew how to prepare. We went out and just did our job. We put it on the pin, and then we won the race. Like that was the job at hand, and we nailed it.”

That swagger is bound to stick for some time. What may take Logano some getting used to is being referred to as a multi-time champion in the NASCAR Cup Series. But don’t be mistaken – at 32 years old, Logano wants much more than his current stock.

“I guess the greed in me feels like I should have four or five at the moment, so I guess the feeling is it’s about time,” Logano said. “But that’s just how I am and how I work, I guess.”

If 2022 was any inkling, Logano’s competitors should be on watch for years to come.

Posted on by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Christopher Bell’s first Championship 4 appearance hinged on a pair of late-race pit stops, one that put him within reach of eventual champion Joey Logano and another soon after that hampered his championship ambitions. But Bell’s first title shot came with a deep sense of perspective after the death of team co-owner Coy Gibbs overnight before Sunday’s season finale.

Bell finished 10th in the last race of the NASCAR Cup Series season, placing third among the title contenders – behind eventual champion and race winner Joey Logano, third-place Ross Chastain, but ahead of Chase Elliott (28th) – at Phoenix Raceway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Phoenix

“Good work, everybody. It wasn’t meant to be,” crew chief Adam Stevens said over the No. 20 radio on the cool-down lap. “We fought our guts out, as expected.”

But the race aside, Bell had much more weighing on him.

“About the same as what it was through the whole playoff, the last handful of weeks. You wake up first thing this morning and super excited and thrilled with life and where you’re at and the opportunity given to you. To receive news like that a couple hours before you get in the car is extremely tough,” Bell said. “Just really kind of puts it in perspective that what we’re doing here is not the big picture for sure. Yeah, just thinking of Joe. I just can’t imagine what Joe is going through and the entire Gibbs family. That’s the important piece.”

Bell started 17th – also third among the final four – and made gradual progress early on. He recovered from a Stage 2 bobble off Turn 4, a jammed-up restart, and then kept forging ahead in the top 10 during the final stage after what he perceived as a loss of power – what he called a “weird sensation” that soon righted itself.

Christopher Bell's No. 20 Toyota leaves pit road at Phoenix Raceway
Meg Oliphant | Getty Images

Stevens called Bell in for a green-flag pit stop on Lap 249 of 312, two laps earlier than Logano. The ground he made up on fresher tires put him in close range of Logano’s No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

But a stop just during the final caution period – for Alex Bowman’s Lap 267 crash with Michael McDowell — proved pivotal. Jack man Caleb Dirks caught his finger between the wheel nut and the spindle during the four-tire change, costing the No. 20 over-the-wall crew precious time and lining Bell up 15th for the final restart. He made up five positions in the 33-lap dash to the checkered flag.

“It just wasn’t our day, you know. Honestly, it really wasn’t our weekend,” Stevens told NASCAR.com. “We didn’t unload that great, and that’s on me, on us and struggled to make it much better. Through practice, I think we made a dent in it for qualifying and the race, we just kind of overdid it for qualifying and tried to come back a little bit, and we seem to have decent long-run speed, and short-run speed suffered a little, but long runs seemed like we were as good as anyone. …

“Battled back and then only to have that pit stop get away from us there when we finally caught up to the 22. I think our strength was the long run if that could stay green, but that pit stop just got away from us there.”

MORE: Community mourns Coy Gibbs | Race Rewind

The outcome marked a bittersweet end to Bell’s highest points finish yet in the Cup Series, capping a deep playoff run marked by clutch moments when he and the team staved off elimination twice.

A bid for another encore came up just short at Phoenix.

“Yeah, I think the season was successful. To get to the final four is what every driver in NASCAR’s goals are. I’m very proud of that effort,” Bell said. “With 40 or 50 to go, the last green-flag pit stop, we put ourselves in position to race for it. You can’t ask for much more than that. Looking towards next year, I think we have potential to be stronger yet, and certainly, we have room to improve at Phoenix. Yeah, I’m very content with where we ended the season and proud of the effort on this 20 car. I’m excited about the future with Joe Gibbs Racing.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Ross Chastain was sure that coming close but falling short in pursuit of his first NASCAR Cup Series championship would sting.

Sunday afternoon saw part of that come to fruition: A third-place effort around Phoenix Raceway just 1.268 seconds off the back bumper of race and title winner Joey Logano left Chastain a runner-up in the championship race. Yet there was little bitterness — if any at all — as he took to the media center podium shortly after nearly conquering one of his life goals.

RELATED: Elliott crashes out of contention | At-track photos

“The emotions are surprisingly good,” Chastain said. “Like, I’m not sad. I’m not upset. I honestly thought when we started the playoffs that if we made it, as I go through different scenarios — I do think about what I’m going to think about ahead of time and think about what my thoughts are going to be and what I want them to be, and then I try to evaluate as I go.

“I thought if I — like this scenario, if I lost by a little bit, that I would be really upset, and I’m not. Like I’m so proud and so happy to give our first shot at these playoffs and at racing in the Cup Series with Trackhouse, and we just ran second.”

A dream season ended two spots short on the 1-mile desert oval. But the reflection of his journey — an eighth-generation watermelon farmer who rose to the NASCAR national series level 11 years ago and clawed through numerous underfunded rides all the way to a title-contending effort at the sport’s pinnacle — didn’t leave Chastain wallowing.

“I feel like I’m on a never-ending hamster wheel to be the best version of myself, and that’s not going to stop,” Chastain said. “I hope that I never lose that drive because I wake up and I think about how can I drive a race car fast. That is my main priority every day of my life now, and it has been for the past probably seven or eight years.

“It wasn’t at the beginning of my career. Before that it was how can I raise the funds to race, and before that was what do we need to do at the farm to grow a crop.

“You look at the progression of my mindset that comes natural when I wake up, and I feel like I’m on a never-ending evolution to be better, and I can’t wait to get to work this offseason.”

His efforts from 2021 to 2022 were extremely fruitful, producing his first two Cup Series victories at Circuit of The Americas and Talladega Superspeedway. The last year and a half has been a roller coaster of the aforementioned journey.

In June 2021, Chastain was at Dover Motor Speedway when he was texted the news that Justin Marks was purchasing Chip Ganassi Racing, where Chastain was employed as the driver of its No. 42 Chevrolet. With him was Darian Grubb, the Director of Performance for CGR then and now the same for Trackhouse.

Their hearts sank, burdened with the uncertainty, but that moment proved pivotal for two future Trackhouse employees.

“I’d say that was a big moment for himself and me personally,” Grubb told NASCAR.com, “because we were able to bond by sharing that news with each other at a test and trying to figure out what we’re going to do and just have each other’s back and know when we’re gonna go forward with it. Neither one of us knew at that point, whether we’re gonna make it and we both did. Now we’re here.”

So, too, is Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen. The duo finished 20th in points a season ago, netting the first three top-five finishes of Chastain’s career in addition to eight top 10s. This year, those numbers exploded — two wins punctuating series-bests in top fives (15) and top 10s (21).

“We had the opportunity to build the team from the ground up,” Surgen told NASCAR.com. “Me and Ross had worked together before. We absorbed a lot of the Ganassi employees, which I had a ton of confidence in and it’s been great. It’s been a great journey, just kind of growing and building together.”

The weight of the questions ahead lingered heavily on Chastain’s mind after the 2021 finale — a feeling he recalled clearly Sunday afternoon.

“I look at when we pulled down the backstretch 20th in the points last year with the 42, had a cooler full of beverages and, you know, walked away not knowing what the future was,” Chastain said. “We knew that tomorrow morning, Monday morning, we were walking in with new ownership and Chip (Ganassi) and Doug Duchardt and so many people that we had bet on being there for a long time in that 42 car, it was their time to step away. And there was a lot of unknowns.

“And you know, to look back and think we ran (14th) in this race, I believe, and 20th in driver points, to come back and run third today and second in the spring and fight for a championship, we’re only going to get better.”

Chastain was quick to credit the Next Gen car for Trackhouse’s immediate competitive nature, particularly in adding a second team to what was a single-car operation out of the Richard Childress Racing camp for Daniel Suárez in 2021.

“They took a big leap of faith with this car, the France family and NASCAR did,” Chastain said. “Obviously I’m really thankful for that because it put Trackhouse into existence, and it gave us kind of the reason that we’ve been able to be successful.”

The enthusiasm surrounding the No. 1 team’s success in its inaugural year already appears to be permeating the 2023 preparation.

“To ultimately get the results and be here to fight and finish second in the championship’s just really reassuring, confidence-building for next year. And, you know, largely our team is going to be the same and I can’t wait for next season.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Kyle Busch emerged from the No. 18 Toyota for the last time in his 15-year tenure and made a point to hug each crew member of his Joe Gibbs Racing team. There were smiles, memories, but also a quiver in his voice after what was already scheduled to be a bittersweet day for the departing veteran at Phoenix Raceway had become that much more emotional.

Busch talked fondly about the end of his accomplished career with JGR after placing seventh in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series season finale. That result made him the top-finishing driver for the organization, but the heartfelt feelings ran far deeper after the news that Coy Gibbs – a foundational member of the family team – had died overnight at age 49.

RELATED: Coy Gibbs, 1972-2022 | Photos: Phoenix

Busch navigated the flood of emotions by letting the rush of race day take over.

“Probably just the adrenaline, the focus and all of that stuff,” Busch said. “Once you put a helmet on, you know, you’ve got enough stuff going on that you’re worried about everything else. So you know, no different than anything. Of all the trials I’ve been through this year, today was obviously the worst of it all, and the hardest of it all. Just gave it everything I had, and that’s all we had. So, wish it could have been better, wish it could have been a top five, you know, top three, run a little bit better, but I’ll take the satisfaction in the top Gibbs car.”

Busch will open the next chapter in his racing career next season with Richard Childress Racing, a destination that the 37-year-old driver reached after a prolonged and public contract negotiation period with the Gibbs team. The loss of longtime sponsor M&Ms and Mars at the end of the year also prompted the shift.

But Busch was thorough in expressing his gratitude to both partners, and his No. 18 provided a colorful mosaic tribute in its paint scheme. Seeing it on the grid for Sunday’s season-ender brought home the finality of it.

“I couldn’t even look at my car to begin with,” Busch said, “because it was the last time I’m gonna see it.”

Busch got the more difficult news after making the last of his hospitality rounds Sunday morning as he worked his way back to the motorcoach lot, where teammate Denny Hamlin and representatives with Toyota had just gotten word of Coy Gibbs’ passing.

Kyle Busch and candy magnate Victoria B. Mars at Phoenix Raceway
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

“He was a lot like me,” Busch said. “He didn’t take any bull—- and told everybody the way it was and straight to their face, you know. So, loved Coy for that, and for his tenacity. He took on a huge role in filling the shoes of his brother, and maybe a little bit more on the competition side than the business side in that respect. But he’s done nothing but try to push us all to go forward and to win races and be competitive and to be strong and all that. And so, honestly, that’s what I’ll remember most about him.”

Busch shared an embrace with JGR team president Dave Alpern, senior VP Jimmy Makar, and Victoria B. Mars, the former chairwoman of the candy company, on pit road after the race. Makar – one of the organization’s first hires — was among the first well-wishers outside of his pit crew to thank Busch, not just for his two Cup Series championships and the multitude of wins, but for rejuvenating a No. 18 team that had gone winless for four consecutive seasons before Busch’s arrival.

“I mean, he meant a lot,” Makar told NASCAR.com. “You know, through all his controversy and all the things that we all have gone through with Kyle, he’s still a huge part of this race team. What he’s brought to the team, what he’s done to revitalize the 18 car way back in ’08, it meant a lot to me, and that’s why I had to let him know that it did. I appreciate all that he has done to help the 18 car, coming in there as a driver to get back on the winning track. So just wish him the best where he’s going and his future.”

MORE: Race results | Community mourns Coy Gibbs

Busch also thanked longtime crew chief Adam Stevens, who was atop the pit box for his two Cup Series titles in 2015 and 2019. Stevens shifted to working with driver Christopher Bell ahead of the 2021 season and helped guide him to the Championship 4 round this year, where he wound up third of the quartet behind second-time title winner Joey Logano.

Busch warmly recalled their partnership by saying, “we were Jimmie and Chad” – a nod to the legendary Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus pairing that produced a record-tying seven championships. For Stevens, his memories centered on his appreciation for helping him seize an opportunity at the Cup Series level.

“I mean, I can’t say a lot but thanks to KB, you know,” Stevens told NASCAR.com. “He meant a tremendous amount to Joe Gibbs Racing and a tremendous amount to me professionally. He took me in as an Xfinity guy and stepped out on the limb there to vouch for me coming up and we had a good run. We had a lot of success and a lot of good times, and unfortunately, his time has come to an end at Joe Gibbs Racing, but there’s going to be a lot more you’ll see out of him in the future, I’m sure. But it’s just a crazy, crazy day here.”

Busch finished his rounds and media interviews and headed back to the No. 18 hauler for one last time. After changing out of his bright yellow fire suit, he hugged more members of his team before hopping onto a waiting golf cart with older brother, Kurt, to leave the track.

Kyle Busch had already described the emotions as “gut-wrenching” in a social-media post in a tribute to Coy Gibbs and an acknowledgement of his departure. As the engines had started to cool on the Phoenix pit road, Busch’s growing sense of closure had caused his voice to crack as he reflected on the JGR era.

“It’s hard, man. It’s … it’s not easy,” Busch said. “Just wish it wasn’t what it was or what it is. But gonna miss a lot of fun folks that we got to spend a lot of time with over the years, and just look forward to new adventures.”

The mosaic design of the No. 18 Toyota at Phoenix Raceway
Chris Graythen | Getty Images
Posted on by Staff Report

Three NASCAR rookies — one each in the NASCAR Cup Series, Camping World Truck Series and Xfinity Series — brought home awards for their respective teams after a thrilling weekend of championship races at Phoenix Raceway.

Team Penske’s Austin Cindric started the 2022 year with a victory in the season-opening Daytona 500, and he took the season’s final checkered flag on Sunday, having earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Year.

Cindric, 24, has the Daytona 500 victory alongside five top-five and nine top-10 finishes this season and advanced to the second round of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

He said securing that all-important early season victory allowed him to essentially learn the ropes of NASCAR’s major league as a rookie with the security of knowing he’d already earned a playoff position.

“It does change the regular season in the fact I’m able to go through the regular season without the pressure of having to win a race as well as figure everything out,” Cindric said. “And that was probably more of an advantage than I gave it credit for, not having to put pressure on yourself, your team or have to be desperate.

“From that standpoint, I think it was something that made me be able to be patient or aggressive in areas I needed to be.”

Following Cindric in the rookie standings are fellow Ford drivers – Wood Brothers’ Harrison Burton and Front Row Motorsports’ Todd Gilliland. Burton’s best finish was third place at the Indianapolis Road Course this summer. Gilliland’s top effort was fourth place at the Indy Road Course.

RELATED: Cup Series standings | Full list of ROTY winners

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Austin Hill wins Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors

Austin Hill has won the NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year title – earning a pair of victories in his first season driving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

Hill, 28, of Winston, Ga., had an especially strong first full season in the series, winning the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway and then again at his home track in Atlanta this summer – the only rookie to win a race in 2022.

He scored a ninth-place finish in the Phoenix finale and wraps up the rookie title with 11 top-five and 21 top-10 finishes. Hill’s RCR teammate Sheldon Creed finished second in the rookie points, followed by Kyle Sieg and Jesse Iwuji.

RELATED: Xfinity Series standings

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Corey Heim wins Camping World Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors

Kyle Busch Motorsport’s driver Corey Heim’s seventh-place finish Friday night at Phoenix capped an impressive Sunoco Rookie of the Year run in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The 20-year-old Georgia driver finished 211 points ahead of Lawless Alan for the rookie title.

Just for good measure, the part-time driver of the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota finished the season with a seventh-place finish, leading five laps on the night.

It was the exclamation point on a highly-impressive debut in the series that included a pair of victories – at Atlanta Motor Speedway and then from the pole position at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. In only 16 starts this season, he posted 10 top-10 and six top-five finishes.

Next season, Heim will move to the TRICON Garage team – formerly known as Team DGR – driving the No. 11 Toyota Tundra full-time as a championship entry.

RELATED: Truck Series standings

Posted on by Staff Report

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Sunday afternoon that team co-owner Coy Gibbs, father to Ty and son to Joe, had passed away overnight at the age of 49.

Gibbs was the vice chairman and chief operating officer for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was in attendance Saturday at Phoenix Raceway as Ty Gibbs claimed the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship.

MORE: Coy Gibbs, co-owner of Joe Gibbs Racing, dies at 49

Many members of the NASCAR and larger sports community posted their condolences on social media.

Posted on by Staff Report

Every 2022 race, except the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, is comprised of three stages — Stage 1, Stage 2 and the Final Stage. The Coca-Cola 600 added a fourth stage. Drivers who finish in the top 10 in Stage 1 and Stage 2 earn additional race points, with the winner of each stage earning 10 points, second place earning nine points, third place earning eight points, etc., down to one point for 10th place. Stage 3 of the Coca-Cola 600 awards points in the same manner as Stages 1 and 2 in the other races.

The Final Stage produces the race results and awards points across the field.

Below is a cumulative running tally of how many stage points drivers have earned this year, as well as their stage wins — a stage win will provide an additional bonus point per win in the postseason.

RELATED: Stage lengths for the 2022 season

Through Phoenix Raceway, Race 36 of 36
Note: Does not include points earned for Bluegreen Vacations Duel races at Daytona International Speedway

Rank Driver Stage wins Stage points
1 Denny Hamlin 8 310
2 William Byron 9 294
3 Kyle Larson 8 277
4 Tyler Reddick 6 259
5 Martin Truex Jr. 6 250
6 Christopher Bell 4 240
7 Ryan Blaney 6 219
8 Brad Keselowski 6 214
9 Ross Chastain 5 204
10 Kevin Harvick 1 157
11 Joey Logano 3 146
12 Kyle Busch 2 135
13 Bubba Wallace 0 134
14 Chase Elliott 2 116
15 Chris Buescher 2 110
16 Daniel Suárez 0 108
17 Alex Bowman 0 105
18 Ty Gibbs 0 101
19 Michael McDowell 2 98
20 Austin Cindric 1 63
21 AJ Allmendinger 0 61
22 Austin Dillon 0 55
T-23 Chase Briscoe 0 54
T-23 Ryan Preece 1 54
25 Erik Jones 0 40
26 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 0 38
27 Aric Almirola 1 37
T-28 Shane Van Gisbergen 0 15
T-28 Justin Haley 0 15
T-30 Ty Dillon 0 14
T-30 Noah Gragson 0 14
32 Corey LaJoie 0 13
33 Todd Gilliland 0 8
34 Harrison Burton 0 6
35 Jimmie Johnson 0 4
36 Jordan Taylor 0 3
37 Jenson Button 0 1

Posted on by Reid Spencer

AVONDALE, Ariz. – It was the perfect ending to a season Joey Logano started with a win.

Dominating the action in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, Logano started on the pole, won the first stage, led a race-high 187 laps, won the race and claimed his second series championship (2018, 2022).

Logano joins two-time champion Kyle Busch as only the second active driver in the series to hold more than one title. The victory was his fourth of the season, his third at Phoenix and the 31st of his career in his 507th Cup start.

Back in February, Logano won the competitive debut of NASCAR’s Next Gen car in the exhibition Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in Los Angeles. On Sunday, in a sprawling desert city some 370 miles to the east of LA, he put the finishing touch on a dream season.

RELATED: Race results | More on Logano’s second title win

Logano finished 0.301 seconds ahead of Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney. Championship 4 contender Ross Chastain was closing fast in the final laps and came home third, 1.268 seconds behind Logano on the track and one spot behind the driver of the No. 22 Ford in the final standings.

“We did it,” exulted Logano, the first Ford active driver to hold two championships since David Pearson in 1968-1969. “We’re champions again—yes. Oh, my God, I’m so excited. Thank you to everybody, my team. You guys are amazing. Gave me a good race car, good pit stop there at the end, got us up in front. Boy, that was just intense there at the end.

“It’s all about championships. That’s what it’s all about, and we worked so hard the last couple weeks trying to put ourselves in position.”

Logano restarted third on Lap 280 after hard contact between the cars of Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell caused the sixth and final caution of the day. Three laps later, he passed Chase Briscoe for the lead and opened a lead of nearly three seconds over Chastain, who pursued him from third place.

Chastain had the faster car in the final 20 laps but ran out of time.

“I had a car fast enough to chase him down at the end,” Chastain said. “I think we did everything we could. That was a heck of a drive for us.”

A disastrous 19.8-second pit stop under caution on lap 271 cost Championship 4 driver Christopher Bell an opportunity to contend for the win. Bell restarted 16th with 33 laps remaining and worked his way up to 10th at the finish.

“We fought hard, and at the end of the race… (until) the last pit stop, or what we thought was going to be the last pit stop, we were right there battling for it,” Bell said. “I’m just proud to be in this position, proud to be at Joe Gibbs Racing and race this No. 20 car. We were there, and hopefully, we can come back here next year.

“The 22 (Logano) was lights-out all weekend. The best car definitely won the championship.”

Chase Elliott, the 2020 series champion, wasn’t in position to race for the title after Lap 205. In a wild restart, Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet spun off the nose of Chastain’s No. 1 Chevrolet and slammed sideways into the interior SAFER barrier in the dogleg of the one-mile speedway.

MORE: Elliott, Chastain make contact

Elliott lost a lap in the pits under repairs and lost another on the track on Lap 230. He finished 28th, two laps down, but he scrupulously avoided laying blame for the incident after the race.

“Yeah, just disappointed, obviously, ended our day and ended our chance at a win or a championship,” Elliott said. “Just disappointing.”

On the other hand, Chastain provided his in-depth analysis of the wreck.

“William (Byron) didn’t get going quite as well as he wanted to, and I got to the left of him,” Chastain said. “And I saw an erratic move he (Elliott) made to cover it, and I was already there. Yeah, it’s not how I want to race him or those guys.”

Ford drivers Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick finished fourth and fifth, respectively, followed by William Byron, Kyle Busch (in his final trip for Joe Gibbs Racing), Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Bell.

Before the race, Bell received the news that Coy Gibbs, vice chairman of Joe Gibbs Racing, son of team owner Joe Gibbs and father of NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Ty Gibbs, had died in his sleep hours after seeing his son wrap up the title.

“All of a sudden, you wake up this morning, and you are racing for a championship, and you are happy, you are elated, and then your world comes crashing down,” Bell said. “Whenever you get news like that, it puts it in perspective that there is more to this than racing. The whole Gibbs family is in all of our prayers. I’m thinking of them.”

NOTE: Inspection is clear in the Cup Series garage with no issues, confirming Logano as the race winner and 2022 Cup Series champion.

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

Joey Logano is a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion.

The driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford earned his second career title with the win on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway, collecting the third title for team owner Roger Penske. Logano outlasted the other Championship 4 contenders of Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott.

“We did it!,” Logano screamed after exiting his car. “We’re champions again, yes! Oh, my God, I’m so excited.”

In the end, perhaps there was no more fitting driver than Logano to claim the first championship behind the wheel of the Next Gen vehicle. Logano stormed to victory in the car’s first competition in the exhibition Clash at the LA Coliseum in February. Nine months later, Logano is triumphant again in the Western sun.

RELATED: Race results | Joey Logano driver page

Logano quietly enjoyed one of the best seasons on the circuit, rolling to victory three times ahead of the championship race and entering Phoenix with the third-best average finish in the series (13.8). Those efforts were rewarded in the form of the Bill France Cup.

Logano enters rarified air with his second Cup title, joining former teammate Kyle Busch as the only active multi-time champions on the circuit. The 32-year-old Connecticut native celebrates his second title in the past five seasons and places this year’s trophy alongside his 2018 title.

“I guess the greed in me feels like I should have four or five at the moment, so I guess the feeling is it’s about time,” Logano said post-race. “But that’s just how I am and how I work, I guess. This one is special for a lot of reasons, and one thing that I think probably stands out most to me is just the way (crew chief) Paul (Wolfe) did it and we all did it together all the way through.”

Joey Logano celebrates in Victory Lane.
Getty Images

This year was met with more change for Logano than just a new vehicle. He and his wife Brittany welcomed their third child, Emilia, to the world less than 48 hours after Logano won the Clash in Los Angeles, all while Logano moved into a more veteran role at the team he’s called home for the past 10 seasons.

Brad Keselowski, the 2012 champion, departed Team Penske for a different challenge at RFK Racing for the 2022 season. Long viewed as the new kid on the block, Logano shifted into the leadership role alongside teammates Ryan Blaney and rookie Austin Cindric. That experience paid dividends as all three drivers made the playoffs, and Logano clinched another title.

RELATED: More on title race

Logano locked his way into the postseason in May, collecting his first points-paying win of the year at Darlington Raceway. The victory didn’t come without ruffled feathers after he roughed up William Byron with a lap and a half remaining. Their contact drew the ire of Byron and Hendrick Motorsports, but Logano continued his championship run with another victory just three weeks later in the inaugural Cup race at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway in St. Louis.

The road to another title was anything but smooth for the No. 22 team. Its summer featured a four-race stretch with consecutive finishes of 20th or worse. That rockiness wasn’t left in the regular season, either. Kansas and Bristol saw Logano finish outside the top 15 in consecutive races during the opening round of the playoffs, along with a 27th-place finish at Talladega in the Round of 12.

But his win in mid-October at Las Vegas was enough to clinch his way to the Championship 4 for the fifth time in nine years, rendering his results at Homestead-Miami (18th) and Martinsville (sixth) irrelevant as the first driver to lock up his spot in the title round. That led to a swell of confidence evident at Phoenix.

Joey Logano wears goggles and sprays champagne in Victory Lane
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images

“It wasn’t meant to be mind games,” Logano said. “You just asked me how I felt and I was honest, and I really felt like we were in a spot to win this thing. I truly believe that attitudes are contagious, good or bad. And when you’re able to bring that attitude to your race team in a moment like this, as a driver there, that just carries through it.

“I believe confident people win. If you don’t believe in yourself, who else is ever going to believe in you? How are you ever going to win? But I also think you can’t fake that. I think of my first Championship 4 appearance, was I confident? No, I was a nervous wreck. Are the nerves still there? Yeah, the nerves are still there. You don’t want to screw it up because you got this far. But I truly felt ready as a driver, and I felt like as a race team we went through everything we can possibly go through.”

Logano becomes just the third driver to score multiple championships in the last 10 seasons, joining Jimmie Johnson (2013, 2016) and Kyle Busch (2015, 2019). His journey to the sport’s peak featured plenty of challenges and infamous run-ins on the track since making his first Cup start in 2008, but his talent has been unquestioned, particularly since joining Team Penske in 2013.

Before that he was with Joe Gibbs Racing, competing full-time in Cup from 2009-12. He scored his first career win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — his home track — in his rookie year in a rain-shortened race. An impressive duel with mentor Mark Martin in June 2012 at Pocono found Logano back in Victory Lane and propelled him to the No. 22 car the following season.

Once he and Team Penske joined forces, the climb to the top was underway.