It’s one more time around the track for the Cup Series drivers in the final race of the 2022 NASCAR season. In the youngest championship four in the history of NASCAR Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, and Ross Chastain will compete for the championship. Logano and Elliott are hoping to become multiple champions; while Bell and Chastain hope to be crowned champion for the first time.
Garrett Smithley is the first driver to make a qualifying run and posts a time of 27.787 seconds around the one mile track.
The drivers have been divided into two groups with two of the championship four in each group. The top five drivers from each group will go on to compete for the pole.
In Group A Ty Gibbs, Kevin Harvick, Harrison Burton, Chase Elliott, and Ryan Blaney will move on to round two of qualifying.
From Group B, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, William Byron, Joey Logano, and Kyle Larson will be moving on to round two of qualifying.
Joey Logano and Chase Elliott are the only drivers in the championship four that will start the race in the top 10.
Posting a time of 26.768 seconds, Joey Logano secures a front row spot, the pole, and pit stall number one. Ryan Blaney will start alongside Logano on the front row for a Team Penske front row..
The starting lineup for the Cup Series Championship Race:
Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Chae Elliott
Kyle Larson
Chase Briscoe
Harrison Burton
Kevin Harvick
William Byron
Cole Custer
Ty Gibbs
Tyler Reddick
Martin Truex Jr
Aric Almirola
Austin Cindric
Austin Dillon
AJ Allmendinger
Christopher Bell
Brad Keselowski
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch
Bubba Wallace
Alex Bowman
Ross Chastain
Justin Haley
Corey LaJoie
Daniel Suarez
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Erik Jones
Todd Gilliland
Ty Dillon
BJ McLeod
Cody Ware
Garrett Smithley
Landon Cassill
Marty Snider revealed that Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Ty Gibbs would not be driving in the number 23 car for today’s race due to a family emergency. It is not known at this moment who will be taking over the driving duties of the number 23 car.
Steve Letarte is missing from the broadcast crew today. After calling the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, Letarte was taken to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy.
23XI has announced that Daniel Hemric will be driving the number 23 car for today’s race.
Like music fans who buy out all the tickets for the annual Glastonbury Festival long before the lineup is listed, NASCAR fans have bought up all the sets and camping spots for the championship race at Phoenix Raceway six months before the race was set to be held.
Joe Gibbs Racing has just announced that Coy Gibbs – Ty’s father – died last night in his sleep. He was 49 years old The family is asking for privacy at this time. The NBC broadcast crew has taken on a very sombre note after the announcement. Denny Hamlin noted that the JGR drivers would go and do what they didn’t want to do for the names on their uniforms. Dale Earnhardt Jr noted that on the track they race each other hard and battle but off the track, they are family and will grieve and support with each other.
In the youngest final four in NASCAR history, Joey Logano at 32 is the oldest driver in the group.
Stage one is 60 laps in length, stage two is 125 laps long, and stage three is 127 laps long for a total of 312 laps around the one mile track. The drivers can run around 95 laps on a single load of fuel.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of the race on the inside and gets out in front for the lead as the drivers spread out across the track.
Lap two, Joey Logano leads the race with Ryan Blaney in second; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Lap four, Ross Chastain has gained five spots since the race start.
Lap five, Joey Logano leads the race with Chase Elliott in fifth, Christopher Bell is in 16th with Ross Chastain in 19th.
Lap seven, Joey Logano has a half second lead on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott rounds out the top five.
Lap 10, Joey Logano has increased his lead to over half a second on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott round out the top five. Christopher Bell is in 15th with Ross Chastain in 18th.
Lap 15, Joey Logano has led every lap so far and has a lead of over half a second on teammate Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott continue to be the top five.
Lap 21, Joey Logano has increased his lead to one second over Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five. Christopher Bell has moved up to 13th and Ross Chastain is in 15th.
After his “Hail the Melon” move last week, Ross Chastain reports that he has received over 1,000 texts. The video of the move has been viewed over 100 million times.
Ryan Blaney gets into the wall but the track stays green and he continues to hold second place over two seconds behind leader Joey Logano.
Lap 29, there are 34 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 30, halfway through stage one, Joey Logano has a lead of nearly two seconds on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott round out the top five; Christopher Bell is in 13th and Ross Chastain is in 14th.
Lap 34, Ryan Blaney has cut Joey Logano’s lead to just over a second; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott round out the top five.
Lap 43, Joey Logano’s lead is now less than half a second in front of Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five with Christopher Bell in eleventh, andRoss Chastain in 14th. There are 31 cars on the lead lap.
Lap 49, Joey Logano has a near half second lead on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe is in third a second and a half back with Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr in fifth. There are 29 cars on the lead lap.
Just five laps remain in stage one with Joey Logano continuing to lead the race by nearly a second on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Kyle Larson, and Martin Truex Jr rounding out the top five.
After leading every lap in the stage, Joey Logano wins stage one.
The top 10 at the end of stage one:
Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Chase Briscoe
Kyle Larson
Martin Truex Jr
Chase Elliott
William Byron
Kevin Harvick
Tyler Reddick
Austin Cindric
Christopher Bell finished just outside the top 10 in eleventh with Ross Chastain in 13th.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Joey Logano winning the race off of pit road with Kyle Larson coming out second.
Joey Logano brings the field down for the green flag start of stage two from the inside lane on lap 69 and gets out in front to hold on to the lead as the drivers spread out five wide across the track. Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe battle for second.
Lap 70 Joey Logano leads the race with Kyle Larson in second; Chase Briscoe, Martin Truex Jr, and William Byron round out the top five. Christopher Bell is in sixth, Chase Elliott is in eighth, and Ross Chastain is in ninth.
The air hose got stuck under the splitter on Ryan Blaney’s car during the pit stop and resulted in him losing five spots.
Lap 73, Joey Logano has pulled out to a lead of over a second on Kyle Larson; Martin Truex Jr, Chase Briscoe, and William Byron round out the top five.
Much of stage one William Byron had no radio with his crew.
Lap 77, Joey Logano has increased his lead to over a second and a half on Kyle Larson; Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and chase Briscoe round out the top five with 29 cars on the lead lap.
All four of the playoff drivers are in the top 10.
Lap 80, Joey Logano has pulled out to a two second lead on Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, William Byron, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five. Christopher Bell is in seventh, Chase Elliott is in eighth, and Ross Chastain is in tenth.
Lap 83, Joey Logano is now two and a half seconds in front of Kyle Larson.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr and Landon Cassill bring out the first caution flag of the race after Cassill gets into the wall and makes contact with Stenhouse on lap 86. The crews have 10 minutes to make repairs and get back out on the track and make minimum speed.
The teams all have eight sets of tires for today’s race.
Even though the drivers cannot make it to the end of the stage on a load of fuel, they come down pit road for fresh tires, fuel, and adjustments. After taking only two tires, Erik Jones wins the race off of pit road.
Cole Custer stayed out on the track and brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 90 and the drivers immediately spread out across the track with Joey Logano coming down on the inside to take the lead; Erik Jones, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, and Martin Truex Jr round out the top five. Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Chase Elliott are all in a battle for eight, nine, and 10.
Christopher Bell gets very loose and nearly looses the car but manages to save the car. He drops to 13th place.
Lap 96, Joey Logano has pulled out to a lead of a second and a half on Kyle Larson,; Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 98, just outside the top five, Ross Chastain is in sixth place after starting the race in 25th place.
Landon Cassill is out of the race.
Lap 101, Joey Logano continues to blow out the field and is now over two and a half second in front of the field; Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Kyle Larson reports that his car is pretty good but the Penske guys are a lot better.
Lap 105, Joey Logano has led 101 laps so far.
Lap 111, Joey Logano’s lead is now just under two seconds with Ryan Blaney in second; Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Crew chief Greg Ives is working his last race on the pit box. He is moving on to another position at Hendrick Motorsports so that he can spend more time with his family. He was there when his daughter was born but has missed all of her birthdays since – she just turned 10 years old.
Lap 117, Joey Logano has a one second lead on Ryan Blaney; Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five. Ross Chastain is in sixth, Chase Elliott is in eighth, and Christopher Bell is in 12th.
Lap 119, Joey Logano communicates with his crew over how to save some fuel so that he can make it to the end of the stage.
Ross Chastain’s crew also tells him to start saving fuel; telling him to stop shifting.
Lap 123, Joey Logano’s lead is now under a second; Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Ross Chastain gets really loose but saves the car and the track stays green.
Lap 131, Joey Logano has a half second lead on Ryan Blaney as he continues to dominate the race; Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five with 29 cars on the lead lap.
Ross Chastain reports that he is struggling with rear grip.
Lap 135, teammate Ryan Blaney has caught up to leader Joey Logano and is looking to battle for the lead. In the playoffs until the final four, Blaney has not won a race this season. Leaders encounter slower traffic.
Lap 141, Joey Logano has a lead of nearly a second on Ryan Blaney; Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five. Ross Chastain in fuel conservation mode is just outside the top five in sixth; Chase Elliott is in eighth, and still recovering from his near wreck Christopher Bell just entered the top 10 after passing Erik Jones.
Lap 150, Joey Logano has led nearly the entire race and is now just a third of a second in front of Ryan Blaney; Kyle Larson, Martin Truex Jr, and Chase Briscoe round out the top five.
Lap 152, there are 23 cars on the lead lap.
Ross Chastain’s crew is falling back in the field as he continues to stay in fuel conservation mode.
Lap 154, Chase Elliott comes down pit road for fuel because he could not make it to the end of the stage.
Lap 156, Ryan Blaney is just a quarter of a second behind leader Joey Logano.
Alex Bowman makes a green flag pit stop.
Lap 158 Ryan Blaney battles with Joey Logano for the lead and takes the lead. There are just 19 cars on the lead lap as more drivers come down pit road for fuel and fresh tires.
After making his pit stop, Chase Elliott is running a second a lap faster than the leader and is working to unlap himself.
Christopher Bell’s crew told him that he is ok on fuel but with 15 to go, they may start saving a bit.
Joey Logano’s crew reports that he should be good on fuel.
Lap 164, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over a second on Joey Logano.
Lap 168, Chase Elliott has just unlapped himself and is back on the lead lap.
Lap 171, Ryan Blaney has a lead of nearly two seconds on Joey Logano; Martin Truex Jr, Chase Briscoe, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five.
Lap 175, Ryan Blaney leads the race with Joey Logano in second; Martin Truex Jr, Chase Briscoe, and Kevin Harvick round out the top five. None of the top five drivers have made a pit stop since the caution flagnearly 100 laps ago.
With six laps remaining in stage two, Chase Elliott has moved up to 15th place since unlapping himself.
Three laps remain in stage two, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over two seconds on Joey Logano.
Pit road closes two laps before the end of the stage and the drivers must wait until pit road opens after the end of the stage.
Ryan Blaney barely misses the wall.
Ryan Blaney wins stage two for a Team Penske sweep.
The top 10 at the end of stage two:
Ryan Blaney
Joey Logano
Martin Truex Jr
Chase Briscoe
Kevin Harvick
Christopher Bell
William Byron
Kyle Larson
Tyler Reddick
Austin Cindric
Drivers come down pit road for service. Pit stops will be longer for most of the drivers as they work to pack the fuel cell. Ryan Blaney wins the race off of pit road.
Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag start of stage three on lap 193 with Chase Briscoe alongside. Drivers quickly spread out across the track with Ryan Blaney getting out in front for the lead.
The top five are Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, William Byron, Kevin Harvick, and Chase Elliott.
Lap 194, the caution flag comes out after Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell get into a wreck. Spinning out, Reddick reports that something broke.
Chase Elliott leads the playoff drivers in fifth with Joey Logano in sixth, Ross Chastain is in eighth, and Christopher Bell is in 12th.
Once pit road opens, only Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell make a pit stop.
Chase Elliott reports that his brake feels “odd”.
Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 200 and the caution flag comes out as Chase Elliott heads for the wall on the restart. When the crew chief asked if there was damage, Elliott said yes. Elliott came across the nose of Ross Chastain’s car and Chastain did not slow up. Elliott is now on the “crash clock” and the crew has 10 minutes to make repairs to get the car repaired and back on the track to make minimum speed. Elliott is back on the track just one lap down after the crew went “old school” with their equipment repairs.
Ryan Blaney brings the field down for the green flag restart on lap 205 and holds on to the lead.
The top five are Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ross Chastain. Christopher Bell is in sixth and Chase Elliott is one lap down in 30th.
No parts were replaced on Elliott’s car, the crew just bent the parts back in place.
Lap 209, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over half a second on Chase Briscoe.
Christopher Bell reports that he is “blowing up”. Crew chief reports that he doesn’t see anything and the engine sounds okay.
With 100 laps to go Ryan Blaney leads the race with Chase Briscoe in second; Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ross Chastain round out the top five.
Kevin Harvick passes Ross Chastain for fifth.
The playoff drivers positions – Joey Logano is in third, Ross Chastain is in sixth, Christopher Bell is in eighth, and Chase Elliott is in 30th.
After dominating the race most of the day, Joey Logano is now in traffic and reports that his car is tight.
Lap 226, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over a second on Chase Briscoe; Joey Logano, William Byron, and Kevin Harvick.
Joey Logano is in third place, Ross Chastain is in sixth place, Christopher Bell is in seventh, and Chase Elliott is in 30th.
Lap 231, leader Ryan Blaney puts Chase Elliott two laps down.
Lap 233, Kevin Harvick passes William Byron for fourth.
Lap 234, Ryan Blaney has a two second lead on Chase Briscoe; Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and William Byron round out the top five. Ross Chastain is in sixth with Christopher Bell in seventh, and Chase Elliott is in 30th.
There are 68 laps remaining in the race; green flag pits stops will be beginning soon. There are 22 cars on the lead lap. Landon Cassill remains the only car out of the race.
Lap 247, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over a second and a half on Chase Briscoe; Joey Logano is in third three seconds back with Kevin Harvick and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Lap 250, Christopher Bell is the first driver to come down pit road for his green flag pit stop.
Lap 251, Ross Chastain and William Byron come down pit road and begin the big cycle as more drivers come down pit road.
Lap 253, Ryan Blaney makes his pit stop and gives the lead over the AJ Allmendinger.
Once green flag pit stops have cycled through, Ryan Blaney has a lead of over half a second on Chase Briscoe, Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell round out the top five. Ross Chastain is in eighth place.
Ross Chastain had a slow pit stop after trouble with the right rear tire.
Christopher Bell is making a run and is right on Joey Logano’s bumper.
There are 22 cars on the lead lap.
As the battle heats up, Joey Logano is in fourth, Christopher Bell is in fifth, Ross Chastain is in ninth, and Chase Elliott is in 29th.
Lap 264, Chase Elliott brings his car down pit road for service. He is now three laps down.
Lap 267, Ryan Blaney has a lead of nearly two and a half seconds on Chase Briscoe; Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell round out the top five.
Alex Bowman hits the wall hard and brings out the caution flag on lap 268 after some contact from Michael McDowell. He hits the inside wall with the right front.
Drivers come down pit road for service with Chase Briscoe winning the race off of pit road and Ryan Blaney coming out second.
The last pit stop, Ross Chastain’s crew had a bad stop; this time it was Christopher Bell’s crew who had the bad stop when a crew member drops a lug nut.
Brad Keselowski’s car catches on fire with rubber build up and has to get out of the car. He becomes the second driver out of the race.
With 18 cars on the lead lap, several drivers take the wave around to get back on the lead lap.
Martin Truex Jr was caught speeding on pit road.
Chase Briscoe brings the field down for the green flag restart with 33 laps remaining in the race. The sun is a big issue for the drivers as it sets early. Drivers dive down and spread out across the track with Chase Briscoe taking the lead. Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney battle for second.
There are 32 laps to go, Chase Briscoe leads the race with Joey Logano in second; Ryan Blaney, Cross Chastain and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Ross Chastain is going high searching for position.
Thirty to go, Joey Logano battles with Chase Briscoe for the lead. Logano takes the lead.
The top five are Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, and William Byron.
Just 25 laps to go, Joey Logano has a lead of over a second on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, and William Byron round out the top five.
Twenty to go, Joey logano has a lead of under a second on Ryan Blaney; Chase Briscoe and Ross Chastain battle for third with William Byron rounding out the top five.
Ross Chastain passes Chase Briscoe with 29 laps to go. He is over two and a half seconds behind the leaders.
There are 22 cars on the lead lap.
Fifteen to go, Ryan Blaney is less than half a second behind leader Joey Logano.
There are 13 laps remaining in the race, Ross Chastain ran the fastest lap on the track. Ryan Blaney is just a quarter of a second behind Joey Logano.
Ten to go, Ross Chastain is now under two second behind lead Joey Logano.
Eight to go, Joey Logano leads the race with Ryan Blaney less than half a second behind; Ross Chastain is in third place 1.7 seconds back with Chase Briscoe and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five.
Five to go, Joey Logano has a half second lead on Ryan Blaney; Ross Chastain is over a second and a half back in third.
Three to go, the gap between leader Joey Logano and Ross Chastain is a second and a half.
Two to go, the gap between leader Joey Logano and Ross Chastain is down to under a second and a half.
Joey Logano takes the white flag.
After dominating the race Joey Logano wins the race and the championship to become the 2022 champion. He is now a two time champion and the first one to drive a Ford in over 30 years. This marks the first time that car owner Roger Penske has won the IndyCar and NASCAR championship in the same season.
When Chase Elliott won the championship in 2020, Logano said that he felt that he should have won and this was his “revenge” year. Logano told his children that he was going to win before he left home.
The unofficial results of the Cup Series Championship Race:
Joey Logano
Ryan Blaney
Ross Chastain
Chase Briscoe
Kevin Harvick
William Byron
Kyle Busch
Denny Hamline
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Austin Cindric
AJ Allmendinger
Austin Dillon
Erik Jones
Martin Truex Jr
Cole Custer
Daniel Hemric
Corey LaJoie
Harrison Burton
Aric Almirola
Chris Buescher
Bubba Wallace
Tyler Reddick
Daniel Suarez
Michael McDowell
Ty Dillon
Justin Haley
Chase Elliott
Todd Gilliland
Cody Ware
BJ McLeod
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Garrett Smithley
Alex Bowman
Brad Keselowski
Landon Cassill