chase elliott Tag

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service AVONDALE, Ariz. – After a season of career-firsts – a maiden victory and a dramatic lap to qualify for the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race – Ross Chastain insisted he felt more hopeful than disappointed after coming up short of hoisting his first major racing trophy on Sunday. Chastain’s No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet finished third in the Phoenix Raceway season finale – 1.2-seconds behind the winner, and newly-crowed 2022 series champion Joey Logano. After moving forward from a 25th-place starting spot on theRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer AVONDALE, Ariz. – Lap 200 was when the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race saw its chaotic shakeup and it involved Chase Elliott. Following a multi-car crash in Turn 4, the field went to war once again with Elliott slowly getting better as the race went on. Compared to his Championship 4 competitors, Elliott’s pit crew were getting the job done and helped him gain valuable track position. Elliott restarted fifth and went on the attack towards the Dogleg, to the point he clipped part of theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. — 35 races down, one to go. Sunday afternoon, the NASCAR Cup Series will hit the track at Phoenix Raceway for the 2022 season finale, bringing this season to a close and crowning a champion. Heading into this year’s championship race, it will be a battle between two former champions and two drivers making their first appearance in the Championship 4 to see who will be hoisting the Bill France Cup when the checkered flag falls. Whittled down from the 16 original title contendersRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – As the grizzled veteran of the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, Joey Logano showed his fellow title contenders how it was done Saturday at Phoenix, scoring the pole for Sunday’s championship deciding race. The 2018 series champion posted a lap of 26.788 seconds, 134.389 mph to jump to the top of the board ahead of his Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney to put himself in the best position possible when the green flag drops. “It keeps the pressure on them,” Logano said. “That’sRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AVONDALE, Ariz. – The momentum is firmly on Ross Chastain’s side on NASCAR Cup Series championship weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Coming off his headline grabbing move at Martinsville to punch his ticket into the season finale with a shot at the title, Chastain topped the board in the lone Cup Series practice of the weekend, besting the field and the other title contenders with a lap of 27.019 seconds, 133.240 mph. “Obviously being fastest is encouraging,” Chastain’s crew chief Phil Surgen said. “Certainly, some opportunity toRead More

By Holly Cain and Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Chastain still can’t believe he pulled-off the move at Martinsville PHOENIX, Ariz. – Ross Chastain has spent much of his young career overcoming obstacles and exceeding expectations. However, the 29-year-old Floridian’s singular clutch move to qualify for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Phoenix Raceway wasn’t even an expectation, it was a once-an-era moment that will undoubtedly go down in NASCAR lore. And Chastain himself, still can’t help but smileRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service Kyle Larson speeds to pole position for Martinsville elimination race MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Kyle Larson backed up last Sunday’s victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a pole-winning run at Martinsville Speedway. Though Larson has been eliminated from the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, he’ll lead the field to green in the race to decide which three drivers will join Joey Logano in the November 6 Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway—Sunday’s Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). After locking upRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Seven drivers. Three transfer spots into the Championship 4. One race. The Round of 8 in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs all comes down to Sunday’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, a half-mile bullring in southern Virginia where bent sheet metal and hurt feelings are all but inevitable. A mainstay on the schedule since 1949, the historic track, which is also the smallest on the circuit, will test both man and machine over 500 grueling laps. The track has basically one groove, meaning the only wayRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor It all comes down to Martinsville. Leaving Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead, three spots remain to be claimed in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 among the seven drivers still eligible for the title. Only Joey Logano has punched his ticket to the season finale at Phoenix, with the remaining title contenders will have varying plans of attack heading into the final elimination race of the Playoffs. Here’s how they all stack up with one race to go. Ross Chastain – No. 1 Trackhouse RacingRead More

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service HOMESTEAD, Fla. _ Hendrick Motorsports driver William Byron won the pole position for Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Homestead-Miami Speedway with a lap of 166.389 mph in the No. 24 Chevrolet – his first pole position of the 2022 season and eighth of his career. “It’s not like a guaranteed point gain,’’ Byron said, “The pit stall is good, I’m happy with that part of it. And just the momentum for the team. We’ve tried toRead More