FORT WORTH, Texas — After running among the leaders all afternoon, Tyler Reddick took the point himself with a dramatic pass from third place with 31 laps remaining and held off the field to take the checkered flag in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series SRS Distribution 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was Reddick’s 10th career Xfinity Series victory, coming in only his second start of 2022, and his first trophy since his 2019 Xfinity Series championship year.
It marked the first-ever win for the Big Machine Racing team’s No. 48 Chevrolet, with Reddick taking the checkered flag a distant 1.825 seconds ahead of fellow NASCAR Cup Series regular William Byron in an action-packed afternoon.
There were 11 caution periods, the second-most in the series’ history at the 1.5-mile Texas high banks, and tight racing on the ensuing restarts with the two-time Xfinity Series champion Reddick pulling off that impressive pass and ultimately earning his team’s debut victory.
“First off, just a huge opportunity and thank you to Big Machine Racing, [the car] was just so good,” the 26-year-old Californian said, noting he was motivated to take the drive this week to help the Richard Childress Racing-partnered team improve its Xfinity Series program overall.
“Chevrolet was just so good,” he added. “Nobody at RCR was really happy with where the cars were at, and I wanted to help and try to make these cars get better and to figure out what we needed to do to get these cars better.
“Well,” he smiled. “We figured it out pretty quick, I guess.”
Sean Gardner | Getty Images
Reddick’s victory snapped a three-race winning streak by the JR Motorsports Chevrolets, which combined to lead 118 of the 167 laps on Saturday.
Race runner-up William Byron, driving the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, was making his first Xfinity Series start since claiming the 2017 series championship and came within two seconds of earning JRM what would have been a historic fourth consecutive win by four different drivers.
The team had three cars finish in the top five and four finish inside the top-10, including Byron, Sam Mayer in third, Justin Allgaier in fourth and Josh Berry in seventh. Berry led a race-best 46 laps, Allgaier was out front for 33 and Byron paced the field for seven laps.
Gragson, who is ranked second in the series driver standings, ended up scored 36th in the 38-car field after first being collected in a chain-reaction accident at the start of the final stage, then secondly damaging the car beyond repair when a tire problem put the car in the wall only five laps afterward.
It was a rough ending to a great start on the weekend. The 23-year-old Las Vegas native earned his first career pole position, led 32 laps, and won Stage 1 – his series-best sixth stage victory of the season – twice that of any driver.
“I guess the only positive is we got a Playoff point for the stage win,” Gragson said, adding, “Definitely sucks. Good to see the other JRM cars running strong. … hopefully, we can get the company a good finish today.
“Just a bummer. We’ve been doing awesome, just disappointed. We were pretty quick and was just biding our time.”
Ryan Truex finished sixth in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, scoring his best finish in five Xfinity Series starts this season. Stewart-Haas Racing’s Riley Herbst was eighth – his sixth straight top-10 finish and ninth of the season. Kaulig Racing’s Landon Cassill was 10th; his seventh top-10 of 2022.
All three of the championship leaders faced adversity on Saturday. Current points leader AJ Allmendinger – the only driver to finish inside the top 10 in every race this season – looked like that streak may have been stopped when his No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet had a tire rub racing Allgaier in the closing laps. He was able to maintain his top-10 season run, however, salvaging a ninth-place finish.
Ty Gibbs, who is third in the driver standings, was involved in the initial multi-car accident with Gragson on Lap 89. He already had a challenging day, sent to start the race at the rear of the field for an inspection violation.
After the race – and despite the challenges they all three faced – Allmendinger will take a 44-point advantage over Gragson into next week’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Alsco Uniforms 300 (1 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). He holds a 52-point edge over Gibbs, who is the defending Charlotte race winner.
Note: Post-race inspection was completed in the Xfinity Series garage without major issue, affirming Reddick’s victory. The No. 16 Kaulig Racing entry for Allmendinger was found with one unsecured lug nut in a post-race check.
FORT WORTH, Texas – It was a hard-earned, deeply-appreciated victory for Stewart Friesen in Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 220 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway – the first win for the popular Canadian driver since November 2019.
His 60 laps out front in the No. 52 Halmar Friesen Racing Toyota were more than his year-long total laps led and enough to land his first win in the last 53 races and to secure his place in the 2022 playoffs.
Friesen, 38, lined up alongside Toyota driver Christian Eckes for a final overtime restart and after a close side-by-side battle through the opening two turns, Friesen pulled his Toyota Tundra ahead to clear Eckes exiting onto the backstretch. He was able to hold off Eckes to take a close 0.122-second win on the famed 1.5-mile Texas high banks.
“I made all the mistakes I needed to make in the first two segments,” said Friesen, who had only one other top-five finish this season, a third place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. “We had an awesome truck.
“You have no idea the work that has gone into this race team over the past three years to build this up. It’s an awesome group. And we’re in the playoffs. Whoa.”
As his result indicates, the runner-up Eckes had a strong night, leading a season-high 40 laps – second only to Friesen’s work.
“Just didn’t have lane position,” Eckes said. “It is what it is. It’s been a rough kind of stretch here for a little bit. I’m glad to show we can actually be here and win races. We’re more hungry than ever.”
Ryan Preece, who won both Stage 1 and Stage 2, finished third in the No. 17 Team DGR Ford – making quite a remarkable comeback considering his truck suffered damage earlier in the race and had to pit for repairs. The hard work gives Preece four top-10 finishes in as many Truck starts this year and the third-place work is his best of the season.
Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet, finished fourth with ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski rounding out the top five in a race that had 17 lead changes among seven drivers.
John Hunter Nemechek, who won the pole position but had to start at the rear after a penalty for an unapproved adjustment, finished sixth – twice having to drive up through the field. Although he didn’t match his qualifying work with a victory Friday night, his sixth-place showing was good enough to take the Camping World Truck Series driver standings lead for the first time this season. Nemechek is the fourth different Truck Series points leader this season.
Ben Rhodes, who had led the points for a four-race stretch, finished 27th after his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Toyota was involved in an accident bringing out the final caution period forcing the overtime.
Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton and former NASCAR Cup Series driver Matt DiBenedetto rounded out the top 10.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ next race, the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, is Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Nemechek is the defending race winner.
NOTE: NASCAR completed its Camping World Truck Series post-race inspection with no issues, confirming Stewart Friesen as the race winner. The No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota (driver Chandler Smith) was found with one lug nut missing.
The Next Gen car has produced everything NASCAR officials hoped and intended through the first 13 races of the season — 11 different winners, 10 races decided by less than one second and a 20 percent increase in number of leaders and number of lead changes from 2021.
As the NASCAR season heads into summer and the racing world at large readies for the 24 Hours of Le Mans next month, the innovation and pioneering spirit of Next Gen bodes well for NASCAR’s 2023 foray to France.
The sanctioning body, alongside IMSA and Hendrick Motorsports, continue preparations for the 2023 edition of the endurance race in France, one which will see a modified Next Gen stock car in the Garage 56 entry of the race’s centennial celebration.
It’s both the next step in the evolution of the seventh-generation stock car for NASCAR’s top division, and a harkening back to the burgeoning days of NASCAR under Bill France Sr., NASCAR’s founder and father of current NASCAR Chairman & CEO, Jim France.
“I go back to what my father was trying to accomplish 50 years ago,” Jim France said when announcing the venture. “It’s an opportunity for NASCAR, for a lot of European fans that are Le Mans fans, to experience what our NASCAR racing is like firsthand. From my perspective, we’ve got IMSA and sports cars, but we also have a very important process for NASCAR and growing its awareness and relevance internationally. We’re doing a lot of different things. This happens to be something that my father envisioned 50 years ago. It is still important today.”
NASCAR’s first foray into the 24 Hours of Le Mans was in 1976, when Bill France Sr. and event organizers agreed to create a new Grand International class — a play on the “Grand National” name of the Cup Series at the time. That move opened the door for two stock-car entries: a Dodge Charger owned and driven by NASCAR Hall of Fame electee Hershel McGriff with his son, Doug, as a co-driver; and a Junie Donlavey-prepared Ford Torino for drivers Richard Brooks, Dick Hutcherson and Marcel Mignon.
Le Mans’ Garage 56 entry was created in 2012 to provide a featured spot for inventive cars with cutting-edge technology — all outside of the race’s normal classifications and its 55-car field limit. Garage 56 entries are not eligible to compete for the overall win, but are scored and classified in the official results. They must also meet safety and performance standards to race alongside the event’s other entries.
The Next Gen model debuted this season after years of development. Its sports-car chops and its adaptability would be tested at Le Mans, where the car would bring an American flavor to the renowned Circuit de la Sarthe.
“I think the best way to describe this is I’m doing it probably as my father was and my brother (Bill France Jr.) — as a racer,” France said. “We like challenges. It’s a tremendous opportunity for the sport that my dad started to further its reach with other fans, new fans.
“There’s no way that I can honor my dad. He was so much farther ahead than what I am. But to try and carry on some of his legacy and continue what he and my mom started, it’s our family business, and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow it.”
The versatility that NASCAR Cup Series road ringer Joey Hand has long been known for throughout his storied career is being passed down to his 15-year-old son Chase.
Making his full-bodied stock car debut at All-American Speedway last Saturday, Chase quickly worked his way through a small-but-competitive field of cars to take home a checkered flag in front of his family during the 20-lap Jr. Late Model field.
Chase was originally supposed to just practice the Late Model owned by Mike Mitchell, but the pace he showed in the days leading up to Saturday’s on-track activity led to the opportunity that turned into the proudest moment of his brief auto racing career so far.
“I was hoping for a win, but I didn’t think I’d actually get it done,” Chase Hand said. “We weren’t expecting to race it after practicing on Thursday. We qualified on pole, but the invert put us in the back. We avoided a couple of wrecks, got it to the front and pulled away on the last restart for the win.”
Chase never once felt uncomfortable during his first venture into full-bodied stock car racing knowing he had Joey’s knowledge and experience to rely on.
Whenever Joey was not busy seeking out the best competition around the world, he maintained his own successful karting operation in the United States. The go-kart team served as Chase’s first direct exposure to auto racing. He even took his first laps when he was just 4 years old.
Chase did not immediately share the same passion for auto racing as Joey, but he gradually gained an appreciation for it by spending more time around go-karts. He eventually confided with his father about becoming a driver himself.
“When I was 10 years old, a switch just flipped,” Chase said. “I was playing baseball and basketball, but I decided that I wanted to go racing. Like my dad, I enjoy battling others, passing and especially winning. The best feeling in the world is winning.”
Once Chase told him about his desire to race, Joey took it upon himself to make sure his son accumulated as much track time as possible at a young age.
Most of Joey’s free time away from his normal commitments is spent mentoring Chase. The two are always regularly searching for events that will help Chase gain valuable experience, whether that involves competing at the GoPro Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina, or participating in major karting and Legends races around the country.
A big part of Joey’s philosophy as a driver is to always seek out opportunities to race different types of cars. Competing in NASCAR, IMSA, Supercars, DTM and other series have only broadened his knowledge on how to find success at any track.
Along with his dad having a prestigious road racing career, Chase Hand’s mother Natalie is a former go-kart champion herself. (Joey Hand Racing/Facebook)
By instilling that same mindset into Chase, Joey believes that he will be able to carve out a successful racing career regardless of the discipline.
“I’ve driven just about every type of car short of an F1 car,” Joey said. “The important thing is to be ready for anything. The more cars you can drive and adapt to quickly, the better you are, and that’s something I think Chase is very good at. All of this is going to come back and help [Chase] later.”
Even before his win at All-American, Joey had already started to observe several qualities in Chase that made him stand out from others on track.
Along with displaying raw speed on the track, Joey said Chase excels at avoiding trouble on the track and can adapt quickly to any situation. He also praised his son for being attentive when it comes to analyzing video and data away from the track.
With motorsports becoming increasingly reliant on technology, Joey said the copious amount of time away from the track is more important than ever, which is why he emphasizes to Chase the importance of using the simulator and film to improve himself before every race.
“Chase is smarter than me, so that’s a good start,” Joey said. “There’s a lot to racing these days, and it’s a different game once you get out of go-karts. People don’t always understand how little you get to drive in racing compared to football, basketball and baseball where you’re always practicing. That doesn’t happen in racing, so you need to understand data.”
While looking for ways to help Chase further develop his craft, a conversation with his long-time friend and Trackhouse Racing Team owner Justin Marks got Joey connected with Mitchell, who was Marks’ neighbor and wanted to become more involved with go-kart racing.
The partnership between Joey and Mitchell has excelled at providing more resources for Chase and Mitchell’s daughter Kenna as they continue to gain more experience in go-karts, which eventually led to Chase climbing into Mitchell’s Jr. Late Model at All-American.
Joey expected that Chase would be fast in Mitchell’s car since Kenna had just won the Jr. Late Model title at All-American the year before, but watching Chase cross the start-finish line first proved to be a surreal moment for both him and his wife Natalie; a former go-kart champion herself.
Joey admitted that he is still processing the idea of Chase winning in the same types of cars he and Natalie competed in back when they were kids, but he has been thrilled by his son’s early success and said everyone in Chase’s support system is determined to help him build upon that first win at All-American.
“I’ve been racing for 32 years, so this is kind of a full-circle moment,” Joey said. “I’m doing everything over again with my son, but this is what I love to do. This is a great family of racers, and we’re happy to win the first time out of the box, but we know this doesn’t come easy. We’re constantly driving and working to get better.”
Chase Hand has taken his father’s advice and plans to accumulate as much track time as possible this year (Don Thompson/NASCAR)
There is currently no concrete plan for Chase to progressively through the ranks, as Joey still wants Chase to explicitly focus on go-karting and Legends racing. He also hopes that Chase can make a few more Late Model appearances before the 2022 season concludes.
Joey’s main goal for Chase is to make him a racer and have him capitalize on every opportunity that comes his way, but he also wants his son to find enjoyment in whatever career route he chooses to take.
For Chase, he is enjoying traveling to a variety of different tracks across the country and is eager to keep gaining more knowledge that will help become a more composed and well-rounded competitor.
“The more I drive, the more everything will come to me,” Chase said.
Chase has plenty of time to develop further behind the wheel and intends to maintain his commitment toward improving so he can one day have a diverse and prestigious resume just like his father.
This weekend will be good training for Landon Pembelton’s future in racing.
The 17-year-old from Amelia, Virginia, will start Saturday racing at Dominion Raceway, a NASCAR-sanctioned track in Woodford, Virginia. Dominion will host twin late model races beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
After he gets out of the car there, Pembelton will race against time as he travels down south from Dominion to South Boston Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned track in South Boston, Virginia, about 2 1/2 hours away. South Boston will have twin-75 lap late model races beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
With two races at each track, Pembelton estimates it’ll be about 270 laps of racing in about 10 hours.
“I think we’ve got it planned out where we can try to run both races this weekend,” Pembelton said in a phone interview this week. “It’s going to be tough, but I feel confident going into these two.”
Landon Pembleton celebrates after winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 on Sept. 25, 2021, at Martinsville Speedway. (Veasey Conway/NASCAR)
Pembelton’s hope is the long day and many laps behind the wheel help prepare him for the rest of the summer.
“It’s definitely going to be tough and a learning curve, but I feel like it’s going to strengthen me as a driver and mentally and physically because of how hot it’s going to be this weekend,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to be a little tough because of the heat, but I’m really confident. I think we’ve got two good cars going into this weekend.”
Pembelton got the best training for long races last fall at Martinsville Speedway, where he won the track’s annual ValleyStar Credit Union 300, one of the biggest late model races in the country. In his first time racing at Martinsville, the teenager bested former Martinsville winners, late model legends, and his own teammate, Peyton Sellers, last year’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion, on the way to the win.
“It’s definitely a big deal for me,” Pembelton said of winning Martinsville. “I’ve gotten a lot of publicity from just that race in general. We had a great couple weeks leading up to Martinsville, and we were close to clicking off some wins at Dominion and South Boston, and it all clicked together at Martinsville. I really don’t know how we did it, but we came away with a win and got to bring the clock back home.”
The grandfather clock trophy Pembelton won in that race is now sitting in his family’s living room, giving him a reminder of his victory every time he walks in the house.
“These last couple months I’ve been very thankful,” he said. “Just from Martinsville itself, it’s opened up a lot of opportunities and it’s starting to make me realize how big of a deal Martinsville really is. I feel like I’m going to accept it a lot more in five or 10 years than I am right now.”
In addition to winning Martinsville, last season Pembelton was named the Virginia State Division I and the South East Division I Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series.
The successful 2021 season opened many doors for Pembelton. A few weeks after Martinsville, Pembelton’s dad got a text from Billy Venturini, co-owner of Venturini Motorsports, asking if he would interested in running some ARCA Menards Series races with his team and Toyota Racing. Pembelton will race four times with Venturini this summer at Elko Speedway, the Milwaukee Mile, Toledo Speedway and Phoenix Raceway.
“I’m blessed to have this opportunity. Martinsville really created a lot of these opportunities for me, and I’m just very thankful,” Pembelton said. “I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be a good time.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun. I just want to have as much fun as I possibly can but I want… to learn everything I can and hopefully we can race some more ARCA next year.”
The biggest thing Pembelton said he learned at Martinsville is how to focus during longer races. Up to that point, he was used to running twin 60 or 75 lap races at his weekly short tracks.
He’s hopeful that experience in longer races on bigger tracks will serve him well as he now enters the ARCA Menards Series.
“I don’t really get to run the longer races much,” he said. “I’m usually running twins… It’s whole lot different than the 150 lappers or 200 lappers. I just really think I learned a lot in the longer races, how to keep pace with the guys who have been racing for a number of years.”
In addition to his four ARCA races, Pembelton is also running another full season at South Boston, where he’s currently fifth in the track’s late model division points standings.
He also plans to run sparingly at Dominion and Hickory Motor Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned track in Hickory, North Carolina.
With 11 races under his belt so far this season, he’s currently fourth in the latest NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Division I points standings.
The late model competition at South Boston is stiff – all of the top four drivers in the national Division I points standings have raced there this season – making wins very hard to come by.
With more races under his belt, though, Pembelton’s expectations for himself have also increased. Even though he has five top fives and nine top 10s so far this season, he said he’s not where he’d like to be quite yet.
“We struggled a little bit this year, but competition is very, very stiff everywhere we go now,” he said. “Everyone is really, really good and we’ve just been struggling a little bit. When I say struggling we’ve been running third, fourth, fifth. We’re just trying to get the wins. I feel like we need to be competing for wins.”
No matter where he’s racing or who he’s racing against, the young Pembelton has proven you can never count him out.
“I just want to thank Toyota Racing, Sellers Racing, and (crew chief) H.C. (Sellers). He’s been a role model for me, been my mentor over the years,” Pembelton said. “And Billy Venturini, and all the guys at Venturini Motorsports, and all my family. I can’t thank them enough for supporting me and helping me out.”
Dominion Raceway will host Twin Late Models, Dominion Stocks, Mini Stocks, AnyCars, Legends and Bandoleros on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
South Boston Speedway’s Southern Virginia Higher Ed Center & God’s Pit Crew First Responders Night on Saturday will feature late models, Budweiser Limited Sportsmans, Southside Disposal Pure Stocks and hornets, all beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
NASCAR’s All-Star weekend basically splits the Cup Series’ 2022 regular-season schedule in half. Thirteen points-paying races have been completed, and another 13 remain. Before the title competition can continue, the field heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for its annual exhibition event.
The outcome of Sunday’s main show will not affect a driver’s standing.
“Well, no break really,” Austin Dillon told NASCAR.com. “Because we’ve been working all week on the setup for this car. We still are grinding away, trying to make the car drive better. And it’s kind of a weekend (with) no points, which is nice, but you still want to go out there and perform well and use it as a tool, as a practice session.”
Kansas Speedway on May 15, 2022 (Chris Graythen | Getty Images)
Texas is a 1.5-mile track, the third of its type so far this season. Dillon believes his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet has struggled most on that track length, but the results really aren’t all that bad. At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he finished 11th. At Atlanta Motor Speedway, he was 35th – granted, the superspeedway package was used there rather than intermediate; he also crashed out. And at Kansas Speedway just last weekend, he came in 13th.
The next points race is on another 1.5-miler: Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Coca-Cola 600, May 29.
Dillon’s best finishes came at Talladega Superspeedway (second; 2.66-miler), Auto Club Speedway (second; 2-miler) and Martinsville Speedway (third; 0.526-miler), so longer or shorter than what’s to come in the immediate future.
“We’ve struggled as of late, trying to get the balance right on our race car,” Dillon said. “But we’ve still been, you know, making some good finishes. We just got to keep working hard and take in what the races give us and staying confident and pumped about what we got going on here at RCR.”
Those three top fives already beat the one in 2021. His six top 10s are on pace to top last year’s eight, too.
A quick look at the standings shows Dillon in 13th. The projected playoff grid, though, puts him 17th – aka one spot outside the 16-driver postseason picture. That’s due to the 11 different drivers earning a provisional berth via victory. The ability to qualify on points alone is becoming more and more unrealistic as the Next Gen car levels out the competition.
Texas Motor Speedway on July 19, 2020 (Cooper Neill | Getty Images)
“With 13 (races) to go, I think there’s gonna be 16 winners,” Dillon said. “So the position we’re in, we got to go out there and try to get a win and lock ourselves in that way.”
Of the venues left in the regular season, Dillon has won at two – Charlotte (next up) and Daytona International Speedway (the finale; Aug. 27). His wins came in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Dillon actually last won at Texas, in 2020. He led 20 laps, including the final 10 to the checkered flag ahead of teammate Tyler Reddick. He’s aware a win Sunday won’t advance him in the season, but it would hand him $1 million.
It would also prove to the No. 3 crew it has figured out 1.5-milers, which can only be seen as a benefit as Dillon and Co. work toward a playoff return after last year’s miss.
“You gotta risk it for the biscuit sometimes,” Dillon said. “And we’ll definitely, when the opportunity arises and we have that chance, go after it.”
Championship points are off the menu this weekend as Cup Series stars prepare for the 2022 NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway.
This exhibition event has a coveted grand prize: a $1 million payout. Get set for Sunday’s All-Star Open (5:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) before the night’s main event (8 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) with all the info you need to know:
PLACES, EVERYBODY
Twenty drivers are locked into the All-Star Race, while the 16 drivers who haven’t earned their way in yet will compete in the All-Star Open.
The weekend starts with a 15-20 minute practice session for Open cars preceding the All-Stars’ equal session. Qualifying for the Open features a traditional single-car, single-lap run as cars go out in reverse order of the current owner points, running one round to set the lineup for their 50-lap race.
All-Star qualifying will be split into two rounds. The first round is traditional single-car, single-lap qualifying. The eight fastest drivers will then advance to the second round – where things get wild.
The eight drivers will be placed in an elimination bracket, which will feature two cars staged in adjacent pit stalls near the end of pit road. At the sound of an alert, each pit crew will perform a four-tire stop, and then at the drop of the jack, drivers will exit their pit stalls (with no speed limit) onto the track. The first car back to the start-finish line advances to the next round, and the final pairing competes for the pole.
The 16 teams competing in the All-Star Open are fighting for four spots that will advance them to the All-Star Race.
Their 50-lap race will be split into three stages of 20-20-10 laps. Each stage winner will advance to the All-Star Race in addition to the fan-vote winner. If the fan-vote winner advances through a stage win, the driver with the next highest vote count advances to the All-Star Race.
The main event is a 125-lap dash split into four stages of 25-25-25-50 laps. Break down the format here:
Stage 1 (25 laps): Stage 1 winner will start on the pole in the final stage as long as he finishes 15th or better in Stages 2 and 3.
Stage 2 (25 laps): Stage 2 winner starts second in the final stage as long as he finishes 15th or better in Stage 3.
Special Stage Break (Pit-Stop Competition): Each team must pit and perform a four-tire stop. The team with the shortest time on pit road (pit in/pit out) wins the pit-crew award and the driver will start fourth in the final stage as long as he finishes 15th or better in Stage 3.
Stage 3 (25 laps): Stage 3 winner starts third in the final stage.
Stage 4 (50 laps): Stage 1 winner starts first, Stage 2 winner second, Stage 3 winner third and pit-stop competition winner starts fourth. If a “natural” caution occurs between laps 15-25 of the final stage, standard race procedures will be in effect. If no “natural” caution occurs during that time, NASCAR will call an “All-Star” competition caution. Winner of Stage 4 wins the race and earns $1 million.
– Darrell Waltrip won the first All-Star Race in 1985, which was held at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
– This is the second consecutive year the All-Star Race has been held at Texas Motor Speedway. The only other tracks to host the event are Charlotte (1985, 1987-2019), Atlanta Motor Speedway (1986) and Bristol Motor Speedway (2020).
– The 2020 All-Star Race is the only time the event was not held at a 1.5-mile track.
– Four drivers have won the All-Star Race after transferring in from the Open: Michael Waltrip (1996, final transfer), Ryan Newman (2002, won Open), Kasey Kahne (2008, fan vote) and Kyle Larson (2019, won Open).
Source: Racing Insights
GOODYEAR TIRES
Goodyear heads to Texas using the same tire combination it used last week at Kansas Speedway.
The left-side tires are made of the same compound used three weeks ago at Dover Motor Speedway, while this right-side tire was also used at Darlington Raceway, Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. This tire combination will also be used at Nashville Superspeedway later this season.
ALL-STAR STORY LINES
– Hendrick Motorsports has won each of the last two All-Star Races (Chase Elliott, Bristol 2020; Kyle Larson, Texas 2021). No team has ever won three straight All-Star Races.
– Kyle Larson has won each of his last two All-Star Race starts, missing the 2020 event due to his 32-race suspension. No driver has ever won three straight All-Star Race starts.
– Brad Keselowski has finished runner-up three times in the All-Star Race, including last year’s event. He’s still searching for his first All-Star trophy.
– Four multi-car teams have every driver entered in the 2022 All-Star Race: Hendrick Motorsports (four), Joe Gibbs Racing (four), Team Penske (three) and 23XI Racing (two).
– Kevin Harvick is making his 22nd straight start in the All-Star race, while Kurt Busch is making his 21st. Mark Martin holds the record with 24 consecutive appearances in the All-Star Race.
Source: Racing Insights
ALL-IN ON ALL-STAR WEEKEND
The hands-down favorite this week is Kyle Larson, who BetMGM gives the best odds at 5-1 heading into Sunday night’s race.
In addition to winning each of his last two All-Star starts, Larson also went to victory lane at Texas in last October’s playoff race to lock his way into the Championship 4, where he clinched his first Cup title. Larson is the only repeat All-Star winner in the last nine years.
The 2017 All-Star winner, Kyle Busch, is another driver to keep an eye on this week. At 7-1 odds, Busch can become just the third active driver to win a second All-Star Race, joining Kevin Harvick (winner in 2007 and 2018; 33-1 odds) and Larson in that select club.
A good value pick this week might be Christopher Bell at 14-1 odds. Competing in his second All-Star Race, the 2021 Daytona Road Course winner looked mighty fast at Kansas one week ago. All six Toyotas finished inside the top 10 at Kansas, and Bell claimed the pole. In three career Texas points races, Bell has two third-place finishes. The No. 20 Toyota might be a sneaky contender Sunday night.
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The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns to competition after an off week with some interesting dynamics heading into Saturday’s SRS Distribution 250 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
There are no full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers with a series win at the 1.5-mile Texas high banks this weekend. Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is the defending race winner — collecting his 99th Xfinity Series victory last spring. John Hunter Nemechek, who is competing for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series title this season, won the 2021 Xfinity playoff race in Texas.
Current championship leader AJ Allmendinger started on pole position and finished in sixth place in both races in 2022 — an interesting nod to his No. 16 on the Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. He is the only driver with top-10 finishes in all 11 races this season and holds a 25-point advantage over JR Motorsports driver Noah Gragson coming to Fort Worth, Texas.
Gragson, who drives the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, has a pair of wins on the year and finished fourth or better in the last three races — including a victory at Talladega Superspeedway. He was runner-up to Ty Gibbs at the first 1.5-mile race this year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His best work at Texas is a runner-up in the 2020 playoff race.
Gibbs, the 19-year-old driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, will be making his Texas driving debut. He already has wins at both the 1.5-mile tracks the series has competed on this year, and his 349 laps led is top among all drivers. Gibbs last win came April 2 at Richmond Raceway.
Veteran Justin Allgaier is the most recent Xfinity Series winner taking the trophy at Darlington Raceway two weeks ago. He was runner-up at Dover Motor Speedway the race before that, giving him a momentum swing. He was runner-up to Busch at this Texas race last spring, and in 23 starts at Texas, Allgaier has 12 top-10 finishes. His 193 laps led at Texas are the most among the championship contenders.
The last three Xfinity Series races have been won by JR Motorsports drivers — Gragson (Talladega), Josh Berry (Dover) and Allgaier (Darlington). A fourth consecutive win by the team this week with its fourth full-time entry — Sam Mayer — would mark the first time in series history a team has won four consecutive races with four different drivers. A win by any JR Motorsports driver would make the team only the fourth in series history to win four consecutive races. Joe Gibbs Racing holds the record with six straight wins in the spring of 2008.
Reigning Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric may be poised to snap out of a rather lackluster title defense season at Texas. The 31-year-old Kaulig Racing driver is looking for his first win of the year and holds a slim 22-point edge on Anthony Alfredo in 12th place in the standings. He has been strong at Texas, however, with four top-10 finishes in six series starts there, including a career-best runner-up to Nemechek in this race last fall.
Not to be overlooked, series rookie Sheldon Creed and driver Jeb Burton both have NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories at Texas. And rookie Austin Hill — who already has a win this season — has three top-five Truck Series finishes at Texas, including a runner-up in 2020.
Special this weekend, NASCAR Cup Series driver William Byron will be making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start in the No. 88 JRM Chevrolet — his first series start since his 2017 Xfinity Series championship season.
