Posted on January 13, 2022January 13, 2022 by Official NASCAR Release

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — New tracks are set to debut in the 13th season of the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series with drivers competing on virtual circuits that more closely mirror the NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Six tracks make a first-time appearance on the 19-race calendar, including the much-anticipated Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which opens the season with an exhibition race Feb. 1.

“We’re raising the bar with the most competitive virtual racing in the world and leaning into iRacing’s technology to blur the lines between virtual and reality,” said Nick Rend, NASCAR’s managing director of gaming and esports. “The eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series has grown monumentally over the past two seasons with new investments made by teams, drivers and world-class partners. This season will be no different as we anticipate more intense competition among drivers testing their clout on new and historic tracks alike.”

The LA Coliseum virtual exhibition race will run in conjunction with the NASCAR Cup Series’ preseason debut at the same real-life venue on Feb. 6. iRacing played a vital role in the track’s design with NASCAR Cup Series drivers and eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series competitors simulating test runs on different setups to develop its configuration for NASCAR.

In addition to the LA Coliseum, virtual events will also debut at the newly reconfigured Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Dirt Race, Dover International Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway. For the first time in its history, the series will conclude at Phoenix Raceway on Oct. 25.

“The 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series season is shaping up to be one of our most exciting yet,” iRacing president Tony Gardner said. “With a refreshed schedule, led by our opening exhibition at the LA Coliseum, a track developed in iRacing, the pursuit of this year’s championship will take some exciting new turns this year. We’re excited to kick off the chase for one of the largest purses in sim racing, with well over $300,000 on the line, and look forward to crowning a champion in Phoenix!”

Competition will again be tight with 20 teams and 40 drivers contending for the championship. The 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion, Keegan Leahy, returns to defend his title. Team owners including Denny Hamlin-Michael Jordan, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kansas City Chiefs player Kyle Long are securing drivers for the upcoming season. And professional esports organization Charlotte Phoenix will join the competition. Teams have begun to announce their 2022 driver lineups this week on Twitter.

The full 2022 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series schedule is as follows*:

Feb. 1: LA Coliseum Exhibition
Feb. 15: Daytona International Speedway
March 1: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 15: Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 29: Richmond Raceway
April 12: Bristol Dirt Race
April 26: Dover International Speedway
May 10: Kansas Speedway
May 24: Charlotte Motor Speedway
May 31: World Wide Technology Raceway
June 21: Nashville Superspeedway
July 5: Road America
July 19: Pocono Raceway
Aug. 16: Watkins Glen International
Aug. 30: Darlington Raceway
Sept. 13: Bristol Motor Speedway^
Sept. 27: Talladega Superspeedway^
Oct. 11: Homestead-Miami Speedway^
Oct. 25: Phoenix Raceway^

^Denotes Playoffs Event

*Subject to change

All races will be broadcast live on eNASCAR.com and iRacing.com/live, as well as the NASCAR and iRacing Facebook and YouTube channels. Race streams will kick off at 9 p.m. ET.

For more information on the eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, visit www.eNASCAR.com. For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit www.iracing.com.

Posted on January 13, 2022 by Staff Report

Todd Gordon, the former veteran crew chief and 2018 NASCAR Cup Series champion, is joining the roster of hosts on SiriusXM’s exclusive 24/7 SiriusXM NASCAR Radio channel and will co-host “Late Shift” every Monday night with Brad Gillie (7–10 p.m. ET) beginning Jan. 17.

“Since 2016 I have been a regular contributor on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio to talk about racing and share my perspective with fans across the country,” Gordon said. “I have really enjoyed the interactions with our fan base and look forward to connecting with even more listeners and bringing my insights to fans of racing each and every Monday night alongside Brad Gillie.”

Gordon retired at the end of the 2021 season after 10 seasons as a crew chief with Team Penske. Gordon spent the 2020-21 seasons as the crew chief for Ryan Blaney after previously serving in the same role in the Cup Series for Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Sam Hornish Jr. and AJ Allmendinger. During his two-decade-long career as a crew chief, Gordon helped produce 25 Cup Series wins, including a Daytona 500 victory in 2015, as well as a Cup Series championship in 2018 with Logano.

The SiriusXM NACAR Radio channel is available to subscribers nationwide in their cars (Channel 90) and on their connected devices via the SXM App. For more visit www.SiriusXM.com/NASCAR.

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by Holly Cain

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The second day of testing the Next Gen car on the Daytona International Speedway high banks went as smoothly as teams could expect – with many cars swapping out drivers for the day and a fresh leaderboard of fast times.

NASCAR Cup Series rookie Harrison Burton was fastest on the day with a lap of 195.304 mph, followed closely by Ford teammate and fellow series rookie Austin Cindric (195.152 mph) – their speeds reflective of the two-car drafting they did for much of the day. Cindric’s Team Penske teammate, Ryan Blaney, was third (191.898 mph) in a closed session that ended about an hour early of the originally scheduled 5 p.m. ET checkered flag.

Blaney, Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Landon Cassill, Todd Gilliland, Chris Buescher, David Ragan and Tyler Reddick were among the 17 drivers turning laps Wednesday – swapping seats with teammates in the team cars.

NASCAR’s senior vice president for innovation and racing development, John Probst, spoke after the final day of on-track activity and was encouraged about the state of Daytona racing heading into the Feb. 20 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“It’s been a long two days and I would say that we were really happy with where we netted out here,” Probst said. “I feel like this was a pretty good extension of the test that we did in Atlanta about a week ago. We were able to dial in the package a little bit more than when we were here in late 2021.

“Pretty happy with where the speeds netted out. I think if anybody was watching online, they saw that the group run we did yesterday was pretty darn good racing, and some of the drivers got out and said we’re racing hard already. You know, there’s no money or points or trophies on the line, so I think that when we come back here in February, we’re ready to put on a really good show.”

The Next Gen cars will move to the Phoenix Raceway mile for one final test before the Feb. 6 Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (6 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) exhibition.

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Jacques Villeneuve said Wednesday he plans a Daytona 500 effort with Team Hezeberg, a first for the start-up organization and an attempt for his first start in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2013.

The 50-year-old Canadian veteran participated in preseason testing Tuesday and Wednesday with the No. 27 Ford, which is slated for a part-time schedule this season. Villeneuve won the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and was Formula One world champ two years later.

“It would be amazing,” Villeneuve said. “The last time I was in NASCAR in North America was quite a few years, I think it was Sonoma (Raceway) the last time so it was a lot of years ago. It will be extremely special because it is also a standout race. It is a very special race to participate in, and it’s hard to get into show when you have to qualify on time or in the duels. So it makes it a bit more stressful, and making the show would already be something special.”

Villeneuve has been competing the last two seasons in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, alongside former series champ Loris Hezemans — who was announced as Team Hezeberg’s primary driver at its launch last October. The organization is new for 2022, a collaborative effort among former sports-car driver Toine Hezemans, Dutch businessman Ernst Berg and Reaume Brothers Racing.

Team Hezeberg plans to focus on road course events as it enters a partial schedule this year. Villeneuve said the 24-year-old Hezemans has not yet been approved for Cup Series competition, which NASCAR officials confirmed Wednesday. That status cleared the waters for Villeneuve to test at Daytona, and may lead to more as the schedule unfolds.

“That’s how we ended up getting together and bringing experience to the team, but right now it’s a new team,” Villeneuve said. “It’s a small team and there’s there’s still a long way to go. Right now we’re focusing on Daytona and hopefully we’ll do more races.”

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by Zack Albert

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he was eager to jump in for NASCAR Cup Series testing this week at Daytona International Speedway, so much that he pinged a handful of teams – Richard Childress Racing and Spire Motorsports among others – hoping for seat time. He said a half-dozen texts went to Chad Knaus, Hendrick Motorsports’ VP of Competition, who finally bit, clearing the way for him to drive the No. 5 Chevrolet during the preseason sessions.

Earnhardt reflected Wednesday on his time back behind the wheel of the Cup Series’ new Next Gen car that will debut this season, gaining valuable knowledge that should help him become a more informed broadcaster for NBC Sports’ NASCAR coverage. The 47-year-old retired from full-time Cup Series competition after the 2017 season and has kept his recreational racing to one Xfinity Series event each year since.

Earnhardt scuttled any speculation that this week’s return to the Cup Series garage might lead to more, say perhaps a Daytona 500 one-off.

“No impact,” said Earnhardt, asked whether the test sessions rekindled a competitive Cup Series fire. “You know, I think that it’s a long story, but I’m old, 47 years old, and take a guy like William Byron and he’s young, he’s a risk taker, and I’m done taking risks. You know, I’ve got two little girls that I love being around and I put my wife through a lot to race, you know, half of my career that she was with me. She put everything in her role on pause for eight or 10 years while we did all that, and I just don’t know that at 47 years old I would be willing to take the necessary risks out on the race track that a young guy like William Byron would be willing to do.”

Zack Albert | NASCAR Digital Media

Byron is 24 years old and his teammate for the week, his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy parked alongside his No. 5 in the outer reaches of the Cup Series garage. His other teammates – Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott – are all spending time driving midget cars at the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa this week, another factor that opened the door for Earnhardt’s appearance.

Admittedly, Earnhardt had reservations about the sometimes humdrum pace of testing at points in his career. The opportunity, though, to drive the Cup Series’ new vehicle was too enticing, providing him with first-hand experience about the car’s characteristics that he can convey to a TV audience.

“They’ve got William to really lean on, but I was happy to have the two days,” Earnhardt said. “Chad didn’t think I wanted to do the two days because he remembers me as somebody that didn’t really like testing. But having not done in a long time, I was happy to help them out. It’s really helped me out. I’m taking a ton of notes and learning so much about the car that I think it’s really good. When I talk to the drivers now, I think I can understand what they’re talking about, right? When I can ask them about what’s challenging about this car and this track, even if we’re talking about another race track, I think I can understand when he says this is what I feel, I can really kind of tap into this experience and really know what he’s talking about. I think that’ll be helpful.”

MORE: Dale Jr. logs laps at Daytona test | Next Gen timeline

Earnhardt was originally scheduled only for single-car runs during the Daytona test, but with crew chief Alan Gustafson’s prodding, he found himself in the midst of multi-car packs both days. He previously drove the car at Bowman Gray Stadium’s quarter-mile last fall, a far different experience than the 2.5-mile Daytona oval, but he found some of the same truths in the car’s stronger brakes, the steering precision and overall feel.

Earnhardt has already made plans for his lone Xfinity Series race of 2022, which will come at Martinsville Speedway on April 8. In terms of the Cup Series, he says that he’d welcome another chance to tag along for testing, either at a short track or an intermediate-sized venue to add to his Next Gen notes.

“But that’s about all the interest I have in driving these cars. I do love racing in the Xfinity Series and that’s a little … it’s a completely different vibe there,” Earnhardt says. “The whole culture and everything’s way different, but so I don’t feel that same concern about that sort of instinctual risk-taking stuff.

“This is, the Cup Series is elite. You don’t just show up and think you’re just going to go out there and compete. It’d be like, you know, an old retired football player just showing up for an NFL game and thinking he’s gonna go out there and compete with those guys. You’d get destroyed. I remember when (Jamie) McMurray came back and ran a couple years ago for Spire, he got out and he told me, he said, ‘man, I don’t remember it being that hard.’ It’s tough. Not an easy thing.”

Posted on January 12, 2022January 12, 2022 by Staff Report

Reserved tickets for the 64th annual Daytona 500, the tradition-rich, prestigious season-opening event for the NASCAR Cup Series, are sold out, Daytona International Speedway announced Wednesday. The race had five consecutive sellouts before last year’s reduced-capacity crowd due to the pandemic and will continue its strong attendance run next month.

This year’s running of The Great American Race marks the points-race debut of the new, hotly anticipated Next Gen car.

“The fans have definitely spoken,” Daytona track president Frank Kelleher said. “We’re going to have a packed house for the 64th annual Daytona 500, but we are happy to showcase a multitude of other opportunities for fans to be a part of The Great American Race, in addition to all of the other racing action that makes up Speedweeks presented by AdventHealth.”

While reserved frontstretch seating and RV camping have sold out, there are still plenty of ways to experience the pageantry of NASCAR’s annual season opener in addition to all other events throughout Speedweeks.

A new Daytona 500 ticket package is being offered for $145 per person that gives fans admission to the UNOH Fanzone plus pre-race access to the Luke Combs concert and driver introductions. In the UNOH Fanzone, families can peer into the garage of their favorite driver plus witness special driver and VIP appearances.

Fans can also take their Daytona experience to the next level with many fan hospitality options. There are still a variety of hospitality packages left in the Rolex 24 Lounge Suites and the all-new Harley J’s Experience (High Banks Suite with a view atop the frontstretch seating).

For more info, visit Daytona500.com.

MORE: Tentative schedule for 2022 Daytona 500

Posted on January 11, 2022January 12, 2022 by Staff Report

Unofficial test speeds from organizational Next Gen testing for the NASCAR Cup Series on Jan. 11-12 at Daytona International Speedway. Note that times are unofficial, with no technical inspection conducted before each session.

Day 1 – Practice

Pos.	No.	Driver(s)	Best time	Diff.	Best speed	Make	Team
1	21	Harrison Burton	48.843		184.264	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing
2	2	Austin Cindric	48.844	0.001	184.260	Ford	Team Penske
3	22	Joey Logano	48.849	0.006	184.241	Ford	Team Penske
4	7	Corey LaJoie	49.944	1.101	180.202	Chevrolet	Spire Motorsports
5	24	William Byron	49.954	1.111	180.166	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6	11	Denny Hamlin	49.969	1.126	180.112	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
7	45	Kurt Busch	50.055	1.212	179.802	Toyota	23XI Racing
8	15	Cody Ware	50.274	1.431	179.019	Ford	Rick Ware Racing
9	43	Erik Jones	50.473	1.630	178.313	Chevrolet	Petty GMS Motorsports
10	1	Daniel Suarez	50.529	1.686	178.116	Chevrolet	Trackhouse Racing
11	6	Brad Keselowski	50.568	1.725	177.978	Ford	RFK Racing
12	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	50.839	1.996	177.029	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
13	38	Michael McDowell	50.914	2.071	176.769	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
14	27	Jacques Villeneuve	50.930	2.087	176.713	Ford	Team Hezeberg
15	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	50.949	2.106	176.647	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing
16	3	Austin Dillon	50.960	2.117	176.609	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
17	31	Justin Haley	51.033	2.190	176.356	Chevrolet	Kaulig Racing
18	66	Timmy Hill	51.144	2.640	174.815	Ford	MBM Motorsports

Day 1 – Practice 2

Pos.	No.	Driver(s)	Best time	Diff.	Best speed	Make	Team
1	2	Austin Cindric	47.214	—	190.621	Ford	Team Penske
2	22	Joey Logano	47.215	0.001	190.617	Ford	Team Penske
3	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	48.004	0.790	187.484	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
4	31	Justin Haley	48.042	0.828	187.336	Chevrolet	Kaulig Racing
5	45	Kurt Busch	48.210	0.996	186.683	Toyota	23XI Racing
6	24	William Byron	48.334	1.120	186.204	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
7	1	Daniel Suarez	48.380	1.166	186.027	Chevrolet	Trackhouse Racing
8	6	Brad Keselowski	48.392	1.178	185.981	Ford	RFK Racing
9	38	Michael McDowell	48.401	1.187	185.947	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
10	21	Harrison Burton	48.441	1.227	185.793	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing
11	11	Denny Hamlin	48.454	1.240	185.743	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing
12	27	Jacques Villeneuve	48.638	1.424	185.041	Ford	Team Hezeberg
13	15	Cody Ware	49.138	1.924	183.158	Ford	Rick Ware Racing
14	7	Corey LaJoie	49.891	2.677	180.393	Chevrolet	Spire Motorsports
15	3	Austin Dillon	50.447	3.233	178.405	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
16	43	Erik Jones	50.481	3.267	178.285	Chevrolet	Petty GMS Motorsports
17	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	50.673	3.459	177.609	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing
18	66	Timmy Hill	51.144	3.930	175.974	Ford	MBM Motorsports

Day 2 – Practice

Pos.	No.	Driver(s)	Best time	Diff.	Best speed	Make	Team
1	21	Harrison Burton	46.082	—	195.304	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing
2	2	Austin Cindric	46.118	0.036	195.152	Ford	Team Penske
3	12	Ryan Blaney	46.900	0.818	191.898	Ford	Team Penske
4	43	Ty Dillon	47.360	1.278	190.034	Chevrolet	Petty GMS Motorsports
5	5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	47.365	1.283	190.014	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6	24	William Byron	47.379	1.297	189.958	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
7	1	Daniel Suarez	47.390	1.308	189.913	Chevrolet	Trackhouse Racing
8	31	Daniel Hemric	47.411	1.329	189.829	Chevrolet	Kaulig Racing
9	7	Landon Cassill	47.482	1.400	189.546	Chevrolet	Spire Motorsports
10	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	47.547	1.465	189.286	Chevrolet	JTG Daugherty Racing
11	38	Todd Gilliland	47.952	1.870	187.688	Ford	Front Row Motorsports
12	66	Timmy Hill	47.965	1.883	187.637	Ford	MBM Motorsports
13	6	Chris Buescher	48.037	1.955	187.356	Ford	RFK Racing
14	15	Cody Ware/David Ragan	48.130	2.048	186.994	Ford	Rick Ware Racing
15	45	Kurt Busch	49.692	3.610	181.116	Toyota	23XI Racing
16	3	Tyler Reddick	50.218	4.136	179.219	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
17	27	Jacques Villeneuve	50.669	4.587	177.623	Ford	Team Hezeberg

Posted on January 11, 2022January 11, 2022 by Team Release

CONCORD, N.C. – Spire Motorsports announced Tuesday that Built will return to the team’s family of partners in 2022 and serve as the primary sponsor aboard Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

In addition to The Great American Race, Built will also be showcased as LaJoie’s primary partner in nine other races throughout the 2022 season, including:

March 13: Phoenix Raceway
April 9: Martinsville Speedway
May 22: Texas Motor Speedway (NASCAR All-Star Race)
June 5: World Wide Technology Raceway
July 3: Road America
Aug. 14: Richmond Raceway
Aug. 27: Daytona International Speedway
Sept. 4: Darlington Raceway
Oct. 23: Homestead-Miami Speedway

Built was named the Official Protein Bar of NASCAR when the two organizations announced a multi-year partnership in October 2021.

“Built is more excited than ever to continue our partnership and friendship with Corey LaJoie and Spire Motorsports,” Built CEO Nick Greer said. “There is something incredibly special about Corey and his ability to ‘stack pennies’ like no one else on or off the track. We are thrilled to stack those pennies together with Corey and we will find ourselves in Victory Lane soon. Built.com and its entire Built family feel so fortunate to be part of this great NASCAR community. It’s go time. What a great year this will be.”

The phrase “stacking pennies” has become a life and career philosophy for LaJoie. Despite being the son of two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Randy LaJoie, the third-generation racer has charted his own trajectory in the sport and champions small accomplishments that add up to the sum of a larger victory.

RELATED: ‘Stacking Pennies’ podcast

“I’m honored to welcome back my friends with Built.com for their third year in the sport,” LaJoie said. “It’s been a blast being a part of their creative marketing strategies to grow the program. The Built leadership team brings a ton of energy to Spire Motorsports as well as to NASCAR. 2022 is going to be an amazing season with them on and off the track.”

LaJoie finished ninth in last year’s Great American Race and earned a career-best sixth-place finish at The World Center of Racing in the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400. The Concord, North Carolina, native has logged 12 total starts at Daytona on NASCAR’s senior circuit, including 10 on the traditional 2.5-mile superspeedway and two on the daunting 3.61-mile road course. Over those 10 superspeedway starts, LaJoie has led two laps, notching three top-10 and six top-20 finishes.

“Everyone at Spire Motorsports is eager to get the season underway,” Spire Motorsports co-owner T.J. Puchyr said. “Corey and the entire No. 7 team did an outstanding job last season. We’re exceptionally proud that Built recognized that success by adding more races to its 2022 plans. Corey is a smart, patient racer on superspeedways and knows how to follow a plan. That’s why he runs up front when it’s time to race for the win. He knows the craft well, so we know when we go to the Daytona 500, Corey gives us a chance to win on NASCAR’s biggest stage.”

The 64th running of the Daytona 500 will be televised live on FOX, Feb. 20 beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. The first of 36 races on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series schedule will be broadcast live on the MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Posted on January 11, 2022January 11, 2022 by Zack Albert

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The first-day-of-school feel to preseason NASCAR Cup Series testing at Daytona International Speedway had some element of a class reunion. There was plenty of new – new car, new superspeedway rules package, new faces in new places — intertwined with a handful of throwbacks.

There was Dale Earnhardt Jr. back in a fire suit, sharing an extended chat with NASCAR President Steve Phelps before clambering into the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Just a few stalls over in the garage was 50-year-old Jacques Villeneuve, the former Formula One world champion whose last Cup Series start came in 2013.

The spectator gates were open on a sunny but brisk Tuesday for fans to take it all in, watching as Next Gen cars for 2022 made another tune-up before returning for the official season opener, the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM). NASCAR competition officials established the superspeedway package for the new model, satisfied with the speeds shown early on during the first of two days of testing at the 2.5-mile track.

Cup Series officials organized a 10-lap group run two hours into the opening-day session to get a better feel for the aerodynamic draft, this one 16 cars strong – twice the number of teams that formed a Daytona pack here last September, and Next Gen’s largest representation yet in superspeedway-style racing.

“It was great. It was intense, that’s probably the right word for it,” said Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who noted close-quarters competition with Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr., among others. “The cars, we don’t have them quite handling the way we want yet. They’re pretty new still to us, if you didn’t know. The bumping and shoving gets the cars moving around a lot. Kurt, myself and Denny and Ricky, we were out there shoving each other pretty hard.

“We were racing like we were coming to the end of the Daytona 500. I don’t know why we do that, but it’s a race. It’s race cars and it’s on a race track, it turns into a race and we race each other.”

The speeds and the car’s performance in the multi-car group led NASCAR officials to confirm the superspeedway configuration for 2022 – an engine-output target of 510 horsepower combined with a 7-inch rear spoiler to keep speeds in check.

That rules setup will be used at Daytona and sister track Talladega Superspeedway (2.66 miles) as has been the tradition for NASCAR’s largest and fastest ovals. But competition officials also formalized the newly redesigned Atlanta Motor Speedway will be on that short list this season when it returns to the schedule with fresh pavement and steeper 28-degree banking, up from the previous 24-degree tilt. Three teams used the same 510-horsepower, 7-inch spoiler configuration during a Goodyear tire test at Atlanta last week, and the setup will get its first points-paying test in the annual Great American Race.

“Now granted, there’s no trophy. There’s no points. There’s no money on the line. So I think the level of intensity when they come back will be ratcheted up significantly,” said John Probst, NASCAR’s Senior Vice President of Racing Innovation, “but I think that if you look at what the cars were able to do as far as spreading out, grouping back up, moving around, definitely three-wide a couple times, I feel like we’re in a really good spot, put on a pretty good show February here in the 500.”

Probst said that officials set a target lap time of between 48 seconds flat (187.5 mph) and 48.50 seconds (185.567 mph), with the anticipation that speeds would pick up for race week. He said that once the rules configuration was confirmed with a group run in the first half of Tuesday’s test, NASCAR officials took more of a hands-off approach, leaving teams to dictate the rest of the organizational test. Another significant pack formed at 6 p.m. ET, with 11 drivers gaining more experience in the Next Gen draft.

Tuesday marked the first major January test for Cup Series teams at Daytona since the days of NASCAR Preseason Thunder ended back in 2014. Harrison Burton was 13 years old at the time, but the rookie was among the first to mix it up in the draft during Tuesday’s Thunder reboot, putting his Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford in formation with its Team Penske affiliates, driven by fellow first-year driver Austin Cindric and former 500 winner Logano.

Logano was scheduled to participate only in Tuesday’s test, with Penske teammate Ryan Blaney tagging in for Wednesday’s driving duties.

Old hands Hamlin and Busch, now teamed in Toyotas for the first time, gave the two-car tandem a full-fledged trial later in the afternoon. Busch starts his first season driving for Hamlin’s 23XI Racing team this year, and the two veterans took turns delivering aero pushes and side-drafts around the Florida high banks.

“We were just trying to go through checklist items,” Busch said. “Denny was up front, and our car wouldn’t quite break that threshold and then it was just a matter of drivers connecting their cars and you do that through rhythm, balance and time together. So yeah, we were pushing each other around there tandem, just seeing how it would play out. Lap time picked up a ton. It’s just real sketchy when you’re doing it. It’s not as stable as the old car just yet, but these cars, they go through a lot more attitude changes, whether you’re up front, in the back, side-drafting. The car just moves around, and that’s what it’s supposed to do. It makes it tougher on the drivers to try to digest everything that’s going on.”

MORE: Kurt Busch on drafting with his boss

Hamlin was in the thick of the dinnertime draft along with Busch when his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota showed signs of smoke before dropping off the pace. Crew chief Chris Gabehart indicated in a statement from JGR that the engine failure will end Hamlin’s test early.

“We blew up. It started getting a little weak toward the end, but overall I was pretty happy how we drafted today and how the handling of the car was, so overall, pretty good test,” Hamlin said. The three-time Daytona 500 winner enters the season opener as the favorite, and he gave the car a spirited shakedown before his engine’s expiration.

“I stayed pretty aggressive,” Hamlin said. “This is pretty much going to be my only practice for the 500, one where it’s kind of freebie. It was 50-50 whether we thought we were going to bring this car back in one piece or not, so we just can’t get that aggressive on race week with our practices.”

Tuesday’s test was scheduled from noon to 8 p.m. ET. Wednesday’s on-track schedule is set to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET, with live streaming to continue on NASCAR’s YouTube channel. Tune-in details for watching live-stream feeds from both days can be found here.

The last preseason test for the Next Gen car is scheduled Jan. 25-26 at Phoenix Raceway.

Posted on January 11, 2022January 16, 2022 by Tadd Haislop

Over the span of six days and nights at Tulsa’s Expo Square in Oklahoma, the 36th Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire will crown a new champion of what’s known as the Super Bowl of midget car racing.

The question is whether that champion will be a NASCAR national series regular, as has been the case over the last five years.

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell have combined to win the last five Chili Bowl A-Main features, with the 2021 Cup champion taking the last two and Bell winning three in a row from 2017-19.

Both are entered in the Chili Bowl again in 2022, as are several more drivers from NASCAR’s national series.

Below are the NASCAR drivers competing in the 2022 Chili Bowl and their scheduled qualifying nights.

Alex Bowman (Monday, Jan. 10)
Chase Briscoe (Monday, Jan. 10)
Chase Elliott (Monday, Jan. 10)
Kyle Larson (Tuesday, Jan. 11)
Jesse Little (Tuesday, Jan. 11)
Tanner Berryhill (Wednesday, Jan. 12)
Carson Hocevar (Wednesday, Jan. 12)
Christopher Bell (Thursday, Jan. 13)
Ryan Newman (Friday, Jan. 14)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (Friday, Jan. 14)
Ryan Ellis (Friday, Jan. 14)

Below are the night-by-night results for all of the NASCAR drivers competing in the 2022 Chili Bowl. Qualifying nights are scheduled for Jan. 10-14, with the championship events scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 15.

Monday, Jan. 10

Alex Bowman

Bowman began Monday night with a fourth-place finish in his eight-lap heat race, finishing behind Trey Marcham, Alex Sewell and Cole Bodine. He then won his 10-lap qualifying race, Qualifier 4, a triumph that placed him in the evening’s A-Feature.

Bowman finished ninth in the A-Feature to close the night. On Saturday, he will race in a C-Main in an attempt to reach the main event.

Chase Briscoe

Briscoe’s night got off to a good start, as he finished second to Tyler Courtney in his eight-lap heat race before winning Qualifier 1. He found some trouble in the night’s A-Feature, though, and slipped to an 11th-place finish.

That result places Briscoe in a C-Main on Saturday night. From there, he will try to place his way into the B-Main and A-Main.

Chase Elliott

Elliott began the evening with a bang, as he won his eight-lap heat race from the pole. He then placed fifth in Qualifier 3, and he came home eighth in the first of two B-Features. He also finished ninth in the Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions, an impressive run for a driver with such little experience on dirt.

Elliott will race again Saturday in an F Main.

Kyle Larson

Larson did not compete in a qualifying race Monday night, but he did run in the Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions. Larson qualified second for the race but started seventh after the top eight qualifiers were inverted. He roared all the way back to second, but Justin Grant held him off for the win. Larson’s Chili Bowl qualifying night is scheduled for Tuesday.

WATCH: Larson, Grant battle in VIROC thriller

Christopher Bell

Bell also competed in Monday night’s Vacuworx Invitational Race of Champions. He finished third behind Larson after starting 11th. Bell’s qualifying race for the Chili Bowl is scheduled for Thursday.

Tuesday, Jan. 11

Kyle Larson

As expected, the defending Chili Bowl champ was strong on his qualifying night Tuesday. Larson finished second to Chris Windom in his eight-lap heat race after starting sixth. He then won Qualifier 4, again after starting sixth.

Larson started on the pole for the evening’s preliminary A Feature, and he led much of the race until Michael Kofoid stole the victory. Larson will race again in Saturday’s A-Main.

Absolutely insane… 💣@MichaelKofoid holds off @KyleLarsonRacin to WIN Tuesday’s Prelim Feature!@cbnationals | #ChiliBowl2022 pic.twitter.com/YJ00hu3WhH

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 12, 2022

Jesse Little

Making his Chili Bowl debut, Little finished eighth in his heat race. He then finished 10th in the evening’s C Feature.

Wednesday, Jan. 12

Tanner Berryhill

Berryhill finished sixth in his eight-lap heat race Wednesday night. He then finished fourth behind Jason McDougal, Colby Copeland and Villy VanInwegen in Qualifier 1, enough to get him in the evening’s A-Feature.

Berryhill finished 19th in the A-Feature on Wednesday.

Carson Hocevar

Hocevar’s Chili Bowl debut came with a strong start, as he finished second to RJ Johnson in his eight-lap heat race. Hocevar then finished eighth in Qualifier 4, enough to get him into the night’s B-Feature.

Hocevar did not start the B-Feature and was credited with a 16th-place finish.

Thursday, Jan. 13

Christopher Bell

Bell’s qualifying night began with a relatively easy victory in his eight-lap heat race. He started sixth in his qualifier, which would not have been a problem had he not been held up by slower cars on his way to the front. Bell was frustrated to finish second in that qualifier, but it allowed him to start fourth in the Preliminary A feature.

To nobody’s surprise, Bell won the evening’s feature, though he had to fight for it. The victory marked his eighth preliminary night feature win at the Chili Bowl, tied for the most in the event’s history. He will race again in Saturday’s main event, looking for his fourth victory in six years.

CBell does it!

Nothing but respect from @CBellRacing to @TThorsonRacing after the checkered flag. 🙌@cbnationals | #ChiliBowl2022 pic.twitter.com/qWNoCb7AU3

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 14, 2022

Friday, Jan. 14

Ryan Newman

Newman’s third Chili Bowl got off to a strong start in his heat race. He finished third after starting ninth and picked up some key passing points in the process. That set him up to finish fifth in his qualifier.

Newman both started and finished 13th in the night’s A Feature, an improvement from his previous high in a preliminary feature (21st in 2020). He is slotted in the C-Main on Saturday.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

No stranger to the Chili Bowl, Stenhouse was among the drivers to beat Friday night. He won his heat race in a photo finish over former NASCAR Cup Series driver Kasey Kahne, and he finished fourth in his qualifier.

That put Stenhouse on the pole for the evening’s A Feature, and he battled for the lead with Justin Grant and Sam Johnson for the majority of the race before Grant ultimately took the checkered flag. Still, Stenhouse’s second-place run locked him in to Saturday’s A-Main.

Two @NASCAR stars separated by 0.003! @StenhouseJr goes 8th-to-1st in his @NosEnergyDrink 47s.@cbnationals | #ChiliBowl2022 pic.twitter.com/GH6GwWiXoz

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) January 15, 2022

Ryan Ellis

Ellis finished sixth in his eight-lap heat race. That placed him in one of the evening’s C Features, and he finished ninth again to end the night.

Saturday, Jan. 15

Christopher Bell

He came so close to his fourth Golden Driller trophy. Bell started on the pole for the main event Saturday night and led most of the race before Tanner Thorson got around him with a slide job on Lap 36.

That would prove to be the winning pass, as Thorson held off Bell through a handful of late restarts to win his first Chili Bowl. Bell finished second for the second time in three years.

Kyle Larson

Larson struggled all week to find the speed he carried to his pair of Chili Bowl wins, and Saturday was no different. He started seventh in the main event, but he was only able to gain one position throughout the 55-lap feature. He finished sixth.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Stenhouse for the second straight year finished the Chili Bowl with a top-10 run in the main event. He started 10th in the A-Main and finished ninth, just shy of his career high (seventh last year).

Chase Elliott

Elliott’s eighth-place run in his preliminary feature race slotted him into the F-Feature in Saturday’s championship day, where he would climb from his car after a frightening flip uninjured, but with a 19th-place finish.

Alex Bowman

Bowman fell a few spots short of qualifying for the A-Main on Saturday. He finished second in his C-Feature race Saturday, which put his No. 55X car into the B-Features with a shot at making the championship race in sight. Bowman would finish 11th in his B-Feature after starting 17th, a strong run-up but not enough to earn one of the seven transfer spots.

Ryan Newman

Newman’s third Chili Bowl produced a strong run in his Friday heat race and some additional clarity about his future. Boasting a smile this weekend in the pits, Newman told NASCAR.com his main goal in racing more grassroots series this year is to have fun — with winning a close second. And although he didn’t advance out of the C-Feature on Saturday night, he surely ended the night with another smile.

Chase Briscoe

Briscoe has had his share of heartache at the Chili Bowl, and Saturday he fell one spot short of advancing to the B-Feature. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver started seventh and had worked his way up to fifth — the final transfer position — before losing the spot to Spencer Bayston with two laps to go. Briscoe would go on to finish sixth, with the top five drivers advancing up to the B-Feature races. All that after being involved in a first-lap wreck, which the driver says damaged the front axle and right front shock of his No. 5 machine.

Dillon Welch

A NASCAR reporter for MRN and NBC and lifetime racer who excels every time he gets in the seat, Welch qualified for the A-Feature for the second time in his racing career. Welch hadn’t raced a Midget event since last year’s Chili Bowl, but he still advanced out of the B-Feature — driving from 11th to sixth late to claim a spot in the A-Main, where he finished 22nd.

Jesse Love

The two-time ARCA Menards West Series champion capped his week by finishing 19th in his Saturday D-Feature race.

J.J. Yeley

The veteran Yeley, who has had a number of memorable Chili Bowl moments over the years, finished 11th in the first of two E-Feature races to end his Chili Bowl run. Yeley had finished second in the F-Feature to advance up to the E.

Carson Hocevar

Hocevar, 18, finished second place in his J-Feature race Saturday, advancing upward. In the I-Feature he would finish 12th out of 15 drivers and failed to advance. The Niece Motorsports driver is coming off a 10th-place finish in the Camping World Truck Series in 2021. This was his Chili Bowl debut.

Ryan Ellis

Ellis finished 11th the first L-Feature race Saturday. Earlier in the week, Ellis finished sixth in his eight-lap heat race on Friday. That placed him in one of the evening’s C Features, and he finished ninth again to end the night.

Jesse Little

Little started his day in the M-Feature, where he finished ninth and did not advance. Making his Chili Bowl debut, Little finished eighth in his heat race during Tuesday’s racing. He then finished 10th later that evening in the C-Feature.