Posted on by Zack Albert

The optimism around Trackhouse Racing’s rise into a contender for NASCAR Cup Series wins is spreading. Last weekend, it was Daniel Suarez who was bullish on the second-year team’s performance. Sunday, Ross Chastain carried the banner on a career day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Chastain led 83 of the 274 laps in the Pennzoil 400, more than doubling the amount he’d led in his previous 117 Cup starts. He ended with a third-place result in just his third start in Trackhouse’s No. 1 Chevrolet.

“It’s a dream come true,” Chastain told FOX Sports after the race. “This is what all the work is for. This is why we train and try to build our whole lives and careers, to have race cars like that. … I couldn’t be more proud of Trackhouse.”

RELATED: Official results | At-track photos

Suarez matched Trackhouse’s best-ever finish with a fourth-place run at Auto Club Speedway a week ago. Sunday, a crash knocked his No. 99 Chevy out early, leaving Chastain to take the baton.

Chastain has a history with the 1.5-mile Las Vegas track – the first of his two Xfinity Series victories came there with then-team owner Chip Ganassi in 2018. Sunday’s strides put Chastain in a similar spot, but at the Cup Series level.

The Florida native first took the lead on Lap 113, later scoring Trackhouse’s first stage win by being out front heading into the Stage 2 break. Chastain continued to set the pace in the final stage before Kyle Busch gained the upper hand in the segment’s second half.

A late-race caution period forced overtime, and a divide in strategies on the final pit stop shuffled Chastain from third to fifth for the last restart. He lined up on the inside of Row 3, and though he wasn’t able to catch race winner Alex Bowman, Chastain did edge out Busch for third place by just 0.007 seconds.

“Good job, guys. That’s so cool,” Chastain said on the No. 1 radio after the checkered flag. “Thank you.”

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — Alex Bowman won in a dramatic overtime ending Sunday in the Pennzoil 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – gambling on a two-tire final pit stop for his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and holding off the field in a two-lap sprint to decide the NASCAR Cup Series race.

Bowman and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson made up the front row on the restart – the pair along with teammate William Byron took two tires on the final pit stop while Kyle Busch, who had led 40 of the previous 45 laps, opted to get four tires and start just behind on the second row.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

The two-tire stop, however, proved to be enough with Busch unable to even make a pass attempt as the Hendrick cars decided the trophy. The Tucson, Arizona, native Bowman, 28, crossed the line 0.178 seconds ahead of the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson to earn his first trophy of 2022 and seventh of his career.  It was Bowman’s first top-20 finish after a frustrating start to the three-race old season.

“This thing was so fast all day,’’ said Bowman, who led 16 of the 274 laps. “Just never really had the track position to show it. But man, what a call by (crew chief) Greg Ives and the guys to take two (tires) there and obviously it paid off.

“Racing Kyle (Larson) is always fun and I’ve got to race him for a couple wins and we always race each other super clean and super respectively. Just can’t say enough about these guys.

“It’s been a pretty awful start to the year so to come out here and get a win on a last restart, I feel like that’s pretty special.’’

The runner-up finish for Larson, who led three times for 27 laps on the day, was good enough to propel him into the championship lead for the first time this season. He holds a six-point advantage over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Martin Truex Jr., who finished eighth on Sunday.

Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who led a race-best 83 laps and scored the two-year-old team’s first stage victory, finished third. The Las Vegas native Busch was fourth and a third Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, rounded out the top five.

Stewart-Haas Racing’s Aric Almirola earned his third consecutive top 10 with a sixth-place finish. Tyler Reddick, Truex, Hendrick’s Chase Elliott and polesitter Christopher Bell completed the top 10.

For most of the race’s final laps, it looked like Busch would claim his first NASCAR Cup Series trophy at his “home track” since 2009. It has been 46 series wins since that triumph.

And Busch’s work in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on Sunday was especially impressive considering he crashed in opening practice on Saturday and was forced to use a backup car originally sent to the track for spare parts. The car wasn’t prepared in time for qualifying so Busch started last in the race.

His rally for a near-win was enthusiastically appreciated by the home crowd even if the ultimate Top five was still a bit disappointing for the former two-time series champion considering his time out front (49 laps) in the closing laps.

“Everybody really had a hand in making us go today, really appreciate that,’’ Busch said, acknowledging crew members from all four JGR cars frantically worked to get his car race ready. “It was good, fast at the end and tried to do what I could there to hold the lead with Truex. Felt like I inched away finally and we were coming to the white (flag) but it wasn’t meant to be. Not our day. See you next week.’’

The race featuring the 1.5-mile debut of the Next Gen cars produced 23 lead changes among 15 different drivers with Bowman (Stage 1) and Chastain (Stage 2) winning the stages.

“We were like 30th in first practice, right off the truck, and we slowly built up to it,” Chastain said, “and if we can keep doing that and have cars like this, obviously we can compete.’’

The NASCAR Cup Series’ next stop is Phoenix Raceway for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) next Sunday afternoon. Truex is the defending race winner.

Note: Inspection is complete in the Cup Series garage with no issues, confirming Alex Bowman as the race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

The cars of Tyler Reddick, Daniel Hemric and Cole Custer will drop to the rear of the field for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race for unapproved adjustments before the Pennzoil 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM).

RELATED:  At-track photos

Dylan Buell | Getty Images
Dylan Buell | Getty Images

Reddick was the highest-ranking driver in Saturday’s Busch Light Pole Qualifying, earning the seventh starting position in the 37-car field. His No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet will be among those dropping to the rear of the field before the green flag.

Hemric had secured the 16th starting spot in the No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet, and Custer had taken the 24th position in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

Also, the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Kyle Busch was listed as one of the cars to drop to the rear after the team prepped a reserve car for Sunday’s 400-miler. Busch crashed early in Saturday’s practice session and did not register a qualifying lap.

Officials also announced a competition caution is scheduled for Lap 30 of the 267 scheduled.

Posted on by Tadd Haislop

NEWTON, N.C. — Connor Hall’s dominance Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway was extreme enough for one to assume he was a regular at the .363-mile paved oval. He broke the track record (14.390 seconds) in qualifying and won both 40-lap Late Model races.

Yet this was Hall’s first run at the famed NASCAR Home Track.

Wheeling a new car for 2022, the Hampton, Virginia, native dominated the first of the twin 40-lappers on Hickory’s opening night for this year’s NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. He had to fight his way to the front in the second race after an inversion of the top eight to start the event, but that wasn’t an issue.

RELATED: Watch Weekly Series action all season on FloRacing

“We definitely had a very blessed night,” Hall said. “It takes so much to make this happen, whether it’s the dollars or the effort, the hours, the people. Most important, more than anything, I have the people.”

Hall plans to run in the CARS Tour this season, which will bring him back to Hickory on March 26.

Beyond the Late Models, two other NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series points-paying divisions were in action Saturday night at Hickory: the Heritage Finance Street Stocks and the Renegades.

Gary Ledbetter took the checkered flag in the Street Stocks race with a dominating performance.

Charlie Neill won the Renegades event.

One of the most storied tracks in stock car racing, Hickory in 2022 will continue to host weekly racing through October as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. The track’s “Big 10” events, the first of which took place Saturday night, conclude with the Weekly Series championship night — with double points for all divisions — in September.

Fans can watch the Weekly Series action at Hickory all season live on FloRacing.

Posted on by Staff Report

NASCAR officials disqualified the No. 07 SS Green Light Racing Ford for a lug-nut infraction found after Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Official results | Ty Gibbs rises to Vegas victory

Joe Graf Jr. had driven the car to a 29th-place finish, six laps off the pace at the end of the Alsco Uniforms 300. But the No. 07 entry was found with just 17 of the 20 lug nuts safely secured in a post-race check, a violation of Section 10.5.2.5.D in the NASCAR Rule Book. The minimum penalty option for such an infraction is disqualification.

Graf was dropped to last place in the 38-car field. The No. 07 SS Green Light entry notched its first-ever win last weekend, with Cole Custer behind the wheel at Auto Club Speedway.

There were no other issues in post-race inspection, confirming the official results and Ty Gibbs’ first victory of the Xfinity Series season.

Posted on by Staff Report

See where your favorite driver will pit for the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Posted on by Holly Cain

LAS VEGAS — Ty Gibbs pulled away from the field on a restart with six laps remaining and held off hometown favorite Noah Gragson to claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It was the first win of the year for Gibbs, 19, the grandson of NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner and three-time Super Bowl champion head coach Joe Gibbs. He had an eventful day from the drop of the green flag. His No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota got just the nudge he needed from JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier on that final restart then pulled away from Allgaier’s teammate Gragson to take the lead for the first time on the day and ultimately score his fifth career series victory.

RELATED: Official results  | Vegas weekend schedule

This race had a little bit of everything – from snowflakes in the air to dust-ups on the track. There were 17 lead changes, 11 caution flags and a 42-minute red flag for light snow and rain.

For the first half of the race, there was never more than a 15-lap period of green-flag laps run between caution flags. There were seven yellow flags by Stage 2, which ended at Lap 90.

Gibbs’ day started with a run-in with veteran Ryan Sieg on Lap 4 of the 200-lap race. The two made enough contact while racing hard to send Sieg’s No. 39 RSS Racing Ford hard into the outside wall. The team was still making repairs when the red flag came out for rain and reports of light snow.

With drivers standing outside their cars, Sieg made his way down pit road to have what appeared to be an animated discussion with Gibbs about the incident. And Sieg was visibly still frustrated after the talk.

“It’s tough, but it is what it is,’’ Sieg told reporters while still waiting by his car. “He’s definitely going to have to learn his lesson, you know what I mean.’’

Gibbs remained adamant that he didn’t do anything on purpose.

“I told him if my goal was to wreck you and end your day, you wouldn’t have made it around another lap,’’ a defiant Gibbs said.

MORE: Early friction for Gibbs, Sieg

A few minutes later, he softened his tone and apologized for ruining Sieg’s day and the impact it had on the Sieg’s small, family-owned team. The race re-started, and only a handful of laps later, Sieg pulled alongside Gibbs and looked as if he was trying to wreck Gibbs, but he missed and spun out himself. Sieg’s ensuing spin collected the cars of Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt. Sieg drove back to the garage and retired after completing just 25 laps, finishing 36th in the 38-car field.

Again, after the race, Gibbs apologized to Sieg on live television for starting the whole episode.

“I want to apologize to the 39 (Sieg) for the contact I made, it wasn’t my best decision and I’m sorry to the whole group, Ryan’s family they work so hard.

“I want to say thank you to Justin Allgaier for my push, too,’’ Gibbs added. “I had a fun time racing with the JR (Motorsports) cars, too, so hopefully we can keep it going and win some more races.

“Let’s go!’’ he added with a scream.

Certainly it was a bitter pill for Gragson to swallow. He won both Stage 1 and Stage 2 of the race and was leading when the final caution came out for a multi-car wreck in Turn 4. He lined up with Kaulig Racing’s Daniel Hemric behind him. His teammate Allgaier was behind Gibbs, and Gibbs was able to pull away just enough to stake a nearly half-second lead before a wreck — after the white flag — froze the field.

Gragson finished runner-up, followed by Hemric and JR Motorsports drivers Josh Berry and Allgaier.  Landon Cassill, rookie Sheldon Creed, Brett Moffitt, polesitter A.J. Allmendinger and Brandon Jones completed the top 10.

“I just kind of got beat at our own game there. Restarts just came up short,’’ Gragson said, adding, “Just needed to be better. Congrats to them and we’ll keep working hard. Thankful to this team led by Luke Lambert and we’ll come back stronger next week.”

“Obviously, I wanted to be in Victory Lane, but it could be a hell of a lot worse, ‘’ he said.

Though Gragson was disappointed to miss out on the win, this marks his second runner-up finish in 2022. He has a third place and two second-place showings and holds the Xfinity Series championship lead by 17 points over Gibbs.

The Xfinity Series’ next race is the United Rentals 200, scheduled next Saturday (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN, SiriusXM) at Phoenix Raceway.

Notes: Sam Mayer led four times for 25 laps in a bid for his first top-five finish of the year. A crash with 19 laps left knocked him from contention, and he finished 25th, two laps down. … Chevrolet drivers finished second through ninth behind Gibbs’ winning Toyota. … Joe Graf Jr., who unofficially finished 29th, was disqualified in post-race inspection for having just 17 of 20 lug nuts secured, violating section 10.5.2.5.D of the NASCAR rule book. Graf is credited with a last-place finish.

MORE: No. 07 disqualified after inspection

Contributing: Staff reports

Posted on by Pat DeCola

Race No. 3 of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is here, and it’s time to set those Fantasy Live lineups for Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). What six drivers should comprise your lineup? Does Kyle Busch’s practice wreck change things if you were thinking about using the hometown hero? Let’s answer that and offer up my race-day lineup and bonus picks below.

RELATED: Las Vegas lineup | Fantasy preview coming into Las Vegas | How to play Fantasy Live

Pat DeCola’s race-day lineup for Las Vegas:
1 — Kyle Larson
2 — William Byron
3 — Christopher Bell
4 — Tyler Reddick
5 – Ryan Blaney
Garage: Joey Logano

Next in line: Chase Briscoe, Alex Bowman, Austin Cindric and Daniel Hemric.

MORE: Full Vegas guide | Latest odds

Analysis: Saturday’s on-track action for the Cup Series was fast and furious, slotting back-to-back practice and qualifying on the schedule with just a handful of minutes between the sessions.

The most notable development came in the form of Busch’s aforementioned spin, early on in practice. Given the extent of the damage his No. 18 Toyota incurred, Joe Gibbs Racing elected to bring out an unmarked, non-team-specific backup for the two-time champ to race in for Sunday’s event. Busch’s crew went to work quickly to transform it into a No. 18 machine, catered to Busch’s preferences, but it’s a tall order. Busch is arguably the most talented driver in NASCAR, so if anybody can take a previously untrimmed backup with no practice time from the back of the pack — he skipped qualifying to the team could wrench away — to Victory Lane, it’s him. But he’s an easy avoid for fantasy purposes this week, despite racing in his native Vegas.

Now that we’ve ruled out Rowdy, who should be in your lineup? 

Heading into the weekend, in-house fantasy expert RJ Kraft had a tentative lineup of Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr. and William Byron, with Brad Keselowski in his garage.

I’m largely going to stick with that based on what we saw in practice, but we did see a bit of a surprise with Sunday’s pole winner — Christopher Bell, currently 36th in points with just … 10 of them.

Bell, understandably, had a “stay away from” designation in RJ’s Fantasy Faslane analysis, but he merits consideration now. In three of his previous four Vegas starts Bell finished 24th or worse, but that was pre-Next Gen.

His car this weekend, however, looks like a bullet after he posted the second-fastest speed in practice before setting the qualifying pace, as well as turning in top-five speed on the lap averages chart.

You’ll notice those Hendrick Chevrolets continue to show elite-level speed, and there’s next to no reason to not toss Larson — the defending race winner as well as last week’s victor — out there. Look for William Byron to make his first imprint on the 2022 season this weekend as well, with a stout ride under him.

Beyond that, Vegas marks a good spot for Reddick to potentially cross over into Cup Series winner’s territory. In addition, all three Team Penske boys deserve a look. You honestly can’t go wrong with any of them, but Logano and Blaney have proven to be exceptionally strong at Vegas over the years. Cindric, however, is the current points leader and should be a contender most weekends — including this one.

Featured Matchup bonus picks
Chase Elliott vs. Kyle Larson: All eyes will be on these two teammates as they overcome last week’s run-in. Wouldn’t be surprised to see them finish 1-2. My pick: Larson

Kyle Busch vs. Joey Logano: Easy one here, unless Logano runs into trouble. Busch needs a huge race to overcome Logano in this matchup. My pick: Logano

William Byron vs. Tyler Reddick: Hardest matchup, by far. Both are near-locks for the top 10, but I think Byron breaks out big this week. Reddick could win, though. My pick: Byron

Kurt Busch vs. Austin Dillon: The Toyotas, on the whole, seem to be playing a bit of catchup early on. RCR, however, is punching above its recent-years weight class. Go with the hot hand. My pick: Dillon

Posted on by Staff Report

Ty Gibbs’ march to victory Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway had quite the early detour.

Gibbs had an exchange of words with new rival Ryan Sieg that boiled over into retaliation after an early run-in during Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race. Sieg got the worst end of it, retiring after completing just 25 laps, while Gibbs drove away to his first win of the 2022 season.

Sieg’s No. 39 RSS Racing Ford sustained significant right-rear damage after close racing with Gibbs’ No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the third of 200 laps in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 300. Sieg’s car clapped the outside wall in Turn 4, and he limped back to pit road for repairs.

RELATED: Unofficial results | Weekend schedule

Both drivers continued, but the race was stopped with just 19 laps complete by rain and a wintry mix at the 1.5-mile track. During the delay, Sieg discussed the incident with Gibbs on pit road, and both drivers later shared their sides of the story with FOX Sports.

“So he’s got the best car out here, way out from everybody. Just not smart on his part,” said Sieg, who eventually wound up 36th in the 38-car field. “I mean, we’re trying to just survive and make it through these two (races), and just riding along and then all of a sudden get packed with air and you’re already free. But just sucks for our CMR guys. I mean, all of our guys work hard.”

Reminded of Gibbs’ limited experience at age 19 and in his first full Xfinity Series season, Sieg said, “No, he’s definitely, probably gonna learn his lesson, if you know what I mean,” adding that he did not consider the matter to be settled.

Gibbs offered his account: “I mean, I got into him and it was totally, it was my fault, but we were all packed up underneath each other there and once he started to get a little bit aero-free, once it happens, it’s so quick when they come to you. And I just didn’t have enough time to get out of it, and we’ve seen it before. So I made my mistake on that part. And I told him, like I said, if my goal is to wreck you or to ruin your day, you wouldn’t have made it around another lap, and it was my fault.”

Once the race resumed after a nearly 42-minute delay, Sieg delivered on his lightly veiled “learn his lesson” threat, squeezing Gibbs high in the groove on the 29th lap to express his frustration. Sieg then lost control, his spinning No. 39 collecting the cars of Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt exiting Turn 4 in his wake.

“Wow, that was really smart there,” reported the No. 54 radio. “Maybe he can go punch a bag at home or something.”

Gibbs rallied late, getting by Noah Gragson in the final restart to lead the last six laps.

Posted on by Bozi Tatarevic

Editor’s note: Bozi Tatarevic is a professional racing mechanic and pit crew member. He will provide technical analysis for NASCAR.com throughout the 2022 season.

Saturday marked the debut of a new practice format as teams shifted to a longer, 35-minute practice session to allow more time to make adjustments, and it was definitely beneficial.

Teams were given the option to purchase an additional set of tires for a total of two sets for this practice session. Many took advantage of having an extra set to attempt various types of runs and adjustments and used the second set to attempt a qualifying simulation lap toward the end of the session.

RELATED: Bell tops qualifying | Practice results

While teams had an opportunity to make some longer runs, it’s probably wise to focus on short-run speed based on how much tougher these cars are to drive and how much fall-off this tire is showing. As we noted last week, the aerodynamic and suspension configuration of the Next Gen car makes it prone to lift-off oversteer, which makes these cars a handful to drive and can result in them snapping loose quickly once they reach that edge of the handling. So the optimal strategy play is to look at short-run speed because we’re likely to see breaks in the race from the occasional spin as drivers try to control these cars with worn tires.

Car control will continue to be a big theme and those that can find that cliff of where this shorter sidewall tire hits peak handling without going over the edge will continue to find success. Dirt-racing and sports-car racing experience are beneficial with the Next Gen car and that is exemplified by the front row, which is occupied by dirt aces Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson.

MORE: Vegas weekend schedule

The only car that did not get a chance to join that qualifying session was the No. 18 of Kyle Busch as it sustained damage after a spin in practice caused by a left-rear flat. It is unclear what caused the flat tire but the car spun as soon as that tire went down, and the car ended up spinning and hitting the wall with its left-rear corner. The resulting damage to components such as the underwing and rear chassis pieces necessitated going to a backup car, which the No. 18 crew will likely be working during all of their allotted time Saturday as that backup car was prepared more as a parts car than a backup car. The team will have to transfer a variety of components from one to the other.

All of these events are likely to combine for an action-packed race with Bell and Larson battling it out in the front and Kyle Busch trying to make it through the field with one of the fastest pit crews behind him.