2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 36 of 36 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7]
Year:	2022
Location:	Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona
Course Mi:	1
Course Km:	1.6
Distance Laps:	312
Distance Mi:	312
Distance Km:	499.2
Avg:	104.757mph
Pole Driver:	Joey Logano
Pole Team:	Team Penske
Pole Time:	26.788
Most Driver:	Joey Logano
Most Team:	Team Penske
Most Laps:	188
Car:	22
First Driver:	Joey Logano
First Team:	Team Penske
Network:	NBC
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2) and Mike Bagley (3 & 4)

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on November 6, 2022, at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps on the one mile (1.6 km) oval, it was the 36th and final race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Joey Logano won the race, claiming his second Cup Series championship.

Report

Background

Phoenix Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5miles road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51miles interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.

Phoenix Raceway is home to two annual NASCAR race weekends, one of 13 facilities on the NASCAR schedule to host more than one race weekend a year. The track is both the first and last stop in the western United States, as well as the fourth and the last track on the schedule.

On October 28, 2022, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Alex Bowman would return to the No. 48 car for this race, having sat out the rest of Round of 12 and Round of 8 races (eliminating himself from Round of 12) after he suffered a concussion at the Texas playoff race.^[8] Ty Gibbs was set to participate in the race, but withdrew and was replaced by Daniel Hemric after the sudden death of his father Coy Gibbs the previous night.^[9]

Championship drivers

Joey Logano was the first of four drivers to clinch a spot in the Championship 4, winning the first race of the Round of 8 at Las Vegas. Christopher Bell clinched the second spot in the Championship 4, winning the final race of the Round of 8 at Martinsville. Ross Chastain and Chase Elliott clinched the remaining two spots based on points.^[10]

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
(CC) denotes Championship Contender.
(OC) denotes Championship Contender for the Owner’s Playoffs.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	Ross Chastain (CC)	nowrap		Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric (R)		Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5	Kyle Larson (OC)		Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9	Chase Elliott (CC)		Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15	Garrett Smithley (i)		Ford
16	nowrap	A. J. Allmendinger (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20	Christopher Bell (CC)		Toyota
21	Harrison Burton (R)		Ford
22	Joey Logano (CC)		Ford
23	Daniel Hemric (i)		Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38	Todd Gilliland (R)		Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45			Toyota
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51			Ford
77	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford
99			Chevrolet
Official entry list

Practice

Ross Chastain was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 27.019 seconds and a speed of 133.24mph.^[11]

Practice results

Pos		Time
1	1	27.019	133.240
2	12	27.060	133.038
3	18	27.075	132.964
Official practice results

Qualifying

Joey Logano scored the pole for the race with a time of 26.788 and a speed of 134.389mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Manufacturer
1	22		Ford	26.648	26.788
2	12		Ford	26.828	26.791
3	14		Ford	26.617	26.825
4	5		Chevrolet	26.821	26.897
5	9		Chevrolet	26.808	26.979
6	21	Harrison Burton (R)	Ford	26.777	27.011
7	4		Ford	26.769	27.056
8	24		Chevrolet	26.793	27.090
9	41		Ford	26.786	27.125
10	23	Ty Gibbs (i)	Toyota	26.746	27.175
11	8		Chevrolet	26.831	—
12	19		Toyota	26.846	—
13	10		Ford	26.873	—
14	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Ford	26.874	—
15	3		Chevrolet	26.877	—
16	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Chevrolet	26.880	—
17	20		Toyota	26.881	—
18	6		Ford	26.903	—
19	17		Ford	26.932	—
20	34		Ford	26.943	—
21	11		Toyota	27.009	—
22	18		Toyota	27.015	—
23	45		Toyota	27.021	—
24	48		Chevrolet	27.025	—
25	1		Chevrolet	27.064	—
26	31		Chevrolet	27.071	—
27	7		Chevrolet	27.085	—
28	99		Chevrolet	27.114	—
29	47		Chevrolet	27.143	—
30	43		Chevrolet	27.226	—
31	38	Todd Gilliland (R)	Ford	27.256	—
32	42		Chevrolet	27.292	—
33	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Ford	27.561	—
34	51		Ford	27.718	—
35	15	Garrett Smithley (i)	Ford	27.787	—
36	77	Landon Cassill (i)	Chevrolet	28.414	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Note: Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Chase Elliott were not eligible for stage points because of their participation in the Championship 4.

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 60

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	0
2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	9
3	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	8
4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	7
5	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	6
6	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	0
7	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	3
9	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage one results

Stage TwoLaps: 125

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	10
2	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	0
3	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	7
5	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	0
7	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	4
8	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	3
9	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Team Penske	Ford	1
Official stage two results

Final Stage Results

Stage ThreeLaps: 127

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	1	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	312	40
2	2	12	Ryan Blaney	Team Penske	Ford	312	54
3	25	1	Ross Chastain	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	312	34
4	3	14	Chase Briscoe	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	312	48
5	7	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	312	41
6	8	24	William Byron	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	39
7	22	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	30
8	21	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	29
9	4	5	Kyle Larson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	38
10	17	20	Christopher Bell	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	27
11	14	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Team Penske	Ford	312	28
12	16	16	A. J. Allmendinger (i)	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	312	0
13	15	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	312	24
14	30	43	Erik Jones	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	23
15	12	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	312	36
16	9	41	Cole Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	312	21
17	10	23	Daniel Hemric (i)	23XI Racing	Toyota	312	0
18	27	7	Corey LaJoie	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	312	19
19	6	21	Harrison Burton (R)	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	312	18
20	13	10	Aric Almirola	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	312	17
21	19	17	Chris Buescher	RFK Racing	Ford	312	16
22	23	45	Bubba Wallace	23XI Racing	Toyota	311	15
23	11	8	Tyler Reddick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	311	18
24	28	99	Daniel Suárez	Trackhouse Racing Team	Chevrolet	311	13
25	20	34	Michael McDowell	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	311	12
26	32	42	Ty Dillon	Petty GMS Motorsports	Chevrolet	311	11
27	26	31	Justin Haley	Kaulig Racing	Chevrolet	311	10
28	5	9	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	310	9
29	31	38	Todd Gilliland (R)	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	309	8
30	34	51	Cody Ware	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	308	7
31	33	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Live Fast Motorsports	Ford	307	0
32	29	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	307	5
33	35	15	Garrett Smithley (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Ford	304	0
34	24	48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	304	3
35	18	6	Brad Keselowski	RFK Racing	Ford	270	2
36	36	77	Landon Cassill (i)	Spire Motorsports	Chevrolet	84	0
Official race results

Race statistics

Lead changes: 11 among 16 different drivers
Cautions/Laps: 6 for 39
Red flags: 0
Time of race: 2 hours, 58 minutes and 42 seconds
Average speed: 104.757mph

Media

Television

NBC Sports covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, two–time Phoenix winner Jeff Burton and three-time Phoenix winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Dave Burns, Parker Kligerman, Marty Snider and Dillon Welch were the pit reporters. Rutledge Wood, who reported select races for NASCAR on NBC from outside the track in the city/metropolitan area of the racetrack in 2022, was at this race in-person serving as a roving reporter.

Steve Letarte, normally in NBC's broadcast booth, had to miss the race due to having an emergency appendectomy.^[13]

Radio

MRN covered the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the action from the broadcast booth when the field races down the front straightaway. Dave Moody called the action from turns 1 & 2 and Mike Bagley called the action from turns 3 & 4. Kim Coon, Steve Post, Brienne Pedigo and Jason Toy covered the action for MRN from pit lane.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Joey Logano	5,040
1	2	Ross Chastain	5,034 (–6)
1	3	Christopher Bell	5,027 (–13)
	4	Chase Elliott	5,009 (–31)
	5	Denny Hamlin	2,379 (–2,661)
	6	William Byron	2,378 (–2,662)
	7	Kyle Larson	2,354 (–2,686)
	8	Ryan Blaney	2,354 (–2,686)
1	9	Chase Briscoe	2,292 (–2,748)
1	10	Daniel Suárez	2,272 (–2,768)
	11	Austin Dillon	2,228 (–2,812)
	12	Austin Cindric	2,226 (–2,814)
1	13	Kyle Busch	2,224 (–2,816)
1	14	Tyler Reddick	2,215 (–2,825)
1	15	Kevin Harvick	2,126 (–2,914)
1	16	Alex Bowman	2,107 (–2,933)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	1,324
2	Ford	1,250 (–74)
3	Toyota	1,188 (–136)

Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

Web site: 2022 schedule . Jayski.com. . September 26, 2022.
Web site: Phoenix Raceway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 26, 2022. January 3, 2013. March 10, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170310031052/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/phoenix-international-raceway.html. dead.
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 31, 2022. October 31, 2022.
Web site: Practice Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. November 4, 2022. November 4, 2022.
Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. November 5, 2022. November 5, 2022.
Web site: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. November 6, 2022. November 6, 2022.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 6, 2022. November 6, 2022.
Web site: Taranto . Steven . Alex Bowman medically cleared to return for NASCAR Cup Series season finale at Phoenix . CBS Sports . October 28, 2022 . October 31, 2022.
Web site: Ryan . Nate . Daniel Hemric replaces Ty Gibbs in No. 23 at Phoenix finale after death of Coy Gibbs . NBC Sports . November 7, 2022 . November 6, 2022.
Web site: 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 field set for Phoenix. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 30, 2022. October 30, 2022.
Web site: Utter. Jim. Title contender Ross Chastain tops Phoenix Cup practice. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 4, 2022. Avondale, Arizona. November 4, 2022.
Web site: Utter. Jim. Title threat Joey Logano takes Phoenix pole in all-Penske front row. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 5, 2022. Avondale, Arizona. November 5, 2022.
Web site: Steve Letarte to Miss Phoenix Broadcast Due to Surgery . . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC . November 6, 2022.