The 2022 YellaWood 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on October 2, 2022, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Contested for 188 laps on the 2.66 mi (4.28 km) asphalt superspeedway, it was the 31st race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, fifth race of the Playoffs and second race of the Round of 12. Chase Elliott won the race, his fifth of the season, and 18th of his career. This race would end up being Elliott’s final win until he won the 2024 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 in April 2024 at Texas Motor Speedway, 42 races later.
| Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 31 of 36 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | October 2, 2022 | ||
| Location | Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Average speed | 153.569 miles per hour (247.145 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 53.026 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver |
Aric Almirola Ross Chastain |
Stewart-Haas Racing Trackhouse Racing Team | |
| Laps | 36 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr. | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace | ||
| Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Dan Hubbard (3 & 4) | ||
Report
editBackground
edit
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4 km) tri-oval.
Noah Gragson replaced Alex Bowman in the No. 48 car after Bowman suffered from concussion-like symptoms sustained after a rear impact crash on the previous race. Gragson had originally been intended to drive the No. 62 car for this race; Justin Allgaier replaced Gragson in the No. 62 car.[7]
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
editChristopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 53.026 and a speed of 180.591 mph (290.633 km/h).[8]
Qualifying results
editRace
editStage Results
editStage One Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 10 |
| 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Austin Cindric (R) | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 48 | Noah Gragson (i) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 10 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 60
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 77 | Landon Cassill (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 8 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 16 | Daniel Hemric (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 0 |
| 10 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
editStage Three Laps: 68
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 58 |
| 2 | 19 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 188 | 45 |
| 3 | 29 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 188 | 34 |
| 4 | 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 188 | 38 |
| 5 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 188 | 41 |
| 6 | 12 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 38 |
| 7 | 34 | 38 | Todd Gilliland (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 188 | 30 |
| 8 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 188 | 36 |
| 9 | 17 | 2 | Austin Cindric (R) | Team Penske | Ford | 188 | 35 |
| 10 | 5 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 188 | 28 |
| 11 | 33 | 77 | Landon Cassill (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 |
| 12 | 9 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 25 |
| 13 | 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 188 | 24 |
| 14 | 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 188 | 23 |
| 15 | 21 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 188 | 31 |
| 16 | 27 | 45 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 188 | 21 |
| 17 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 188 | 20 |
| 18 | 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 30 |
| 19 | 7 | 48 | Noah Gragson (i) | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 |
| 20 | 26 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 188 | 21 |
| 21 | 28 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 188 | 16 |
| 22 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 188 | 20 |
| 23 | 30 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 188 | 14 |
| 24 | 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 188 | 13 |
| 25 | 23 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 188 | 15 |
| 26 | 22 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 188 | 11 |
| 27 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 188 | 16 |
| 28 | 8 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 187 | 9 |
| 29 | 24 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 187 | 8 |
| 30 | 31 | 62 | Justin Allgaier (i) | Beard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 186 | 0 |
| 31 | 36 | 15 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 184 | 0 |
| 32 | 37 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 184 | 5 |
| 33 | 35 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 182 | 0 |
| 34 | 13 | 16 | Daniel Hemric (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 179 | 0 |
| 35 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 44 | 2 |
| 36 | 15 | 21 | Harrison Burton (R) | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 23 | 1 |
| 37 | 10 | 23 | Ty Gibbs (i) | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 23 | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
edit- Lead changes: 57 among 17 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 6 for 25 laps
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 15 minutes and 23 seconds
- Average speed: 153.569 miles per hour (247.145 km/h)
Penalties
editKevin Harvick, finishing 29th and already eliminated from the playoffs, was docked 100 owner and driver points when the NASCAR R&D Center discovered illegal alterations to his car's body. His crew chief Rodney Childers was also suspended for four races and fined $100,000. The points penalty meant Harvick had less than 2,000 points (playoff drivers are reset to 2,000 points, plus any bonus points) in the standings as an eliminated playoff driver.[9]
Media
editTelevision
editNBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and six-time Talladega winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
| NBC | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Rick Allen Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte Color-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Dave Burns Kim Coon Parker Kligerman Marty Snider |
Radio
editMRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the race for MRN when the field races thru the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the action from turn 1, Mike Bagley called the action for MRN when the field races down the backstraightaway, and Dan Hubbard called the race from the Sunoco tower just outside of turn 4. Steve Post, Alex Weaver, Brienne Pedigo, and Jason Toy called the action for MRN from pit lane.
| MRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Alex Hayden Announcer: Jeff Striegle Announcer: Rusty Wallace |
Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Mike Bagley Turns 3 & 4: Dan Hubbard |
Steve Post Alex Weaver Brienne Pedigo Jason Toy |
Standings after the race
edit
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Notes
edit- ^ On October 6, NASCAR reinstated 25 points to Byron after the points penalty for spinning Denny Hamlin during a caution period in the previous race was overturned.[10]
- ^ Harvick was deducted 100 points after the NASCAR R&D Center discovered illegal modifications to a single source-supplied part on his car.[9]
References
edit- ^ "2022 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ "Talladega Superspeedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on April 28, 2017. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
- ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 1, 2022. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
- ^ "YellaWood 500 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 2, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 2, 2022. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
- ^ Long, Dustin (2022-09-29). "Alex Bowman to miss Talladega due to concussion-like symptoms". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2022-09-30.
- ^ Utter, Jim (October 1, 2022). "Bell wins Talladega Cup pole in eventful qualifying session". Motorsport.com. Lincoln, Alabama: Motorsport Network. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
- ^ a b Crandall, Kelly (October 6, 2022). "NASCAR hits Stewart-Haas with L2 penalty for modifications to Harvick's car". RACER.com.
- ^ Taranto, Steven (October 6, 2022). "William Byron wins appeal of points penalty for intentionally spinning Denny Hamlin at Texas Motor Speedway". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 7, 2022.