2022 YellaWood 500 explained

Type:	CUST
Description:	Race 31 of 36 in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series
Race Name:	YellaWood 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6]
Year:	2022
Location:	Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Mi:	2.66
Course Km:	4.28
Distance Laps:	188
Distance Mi:	500.08
Distance Km:	804.8
Avg:	153.569mph
Pole Driver:	Christopher Bell
Pole Team:	Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:	53.026
Most Driver:	Aric Almirola Ross Chastain
Most Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing Trackhouse Racing Team
Most Laps:	36
Car:	9
First Driver:	Chase Elliott
First Team:	Hendrick Motorsports
Network:	NBC
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Radio:	MRN
Booth Ann:	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Ann:	Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Dan Hubbard (3 & 4)

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 2.66miles 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.

Report

Background

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 2.66adj=midNaNadj=mid tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5miles 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

(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2	Austin Cindric (R)		Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7			Chevrolet
8			Chevrolet
9			Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
12			Ford
14			Ford
15	J. J. Yeley (i)		Ford
16	Daniel Hemric (i)		Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19			Toyota
20			Toyota
21	Harrison Burton (R)		Ford
22			Ford
23	Ty Gibbs (i)		Toyota
24			Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
34			Ford
38	Todd Gilliland (R)		Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Chevrolet
45			Toyota
47	nowrap			Chevrolet
48	Noah Gragson (i)		Chevrolet
51			Ford
62	Justin Allgaier (i)		Chevrolet
77	Landon Cassill (i)		Chevrolet
78	B. J. McLeod (i)		Ford
99		nowrap		Chevrolet
Official entry list

Qualifying

Christopher Bell scored the pole for the race with a time of 53.026 and a speed of 180.591mph.^[8]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Manufacturer
1	20		Toyota	53.228	53.026
2	5		Chevrolet	53.232	53.048
3	11		Toyota	53.117	53.076
4	10		Ford	53.339	53.166
5	14		Ford	53.202	53.268
6	1		Chevrolet	53.282	53.320
7	48	Noah Gragson (i)	Chevrolet	53.415	53.356
8	8		Chevrolet	53.327	53.388
9	24		Chevrolet	53.410	53.434
10	23	Ty Gibbs (i)	Toyota	53.345	0.000
11	22		Ford	53.422	—
12	43		Chevrolet	53.427	—
13	16	Daniel Hemric (i)	Chevrolet	53.433	—
14	99		Chevrolet	53.453	—
15	21	Harrison Burton (R)	Ford	53.459	—
16	9		Chevrolet	53.461	—
17	2	Austin Cindric (R)	Ford	53.465	—
18	6		Ford	53.468	—
19	12		Ford	53.471	—
20	3		Chevrolet	53.493	—
21	31		Chevrolet	53.500	—
22	19		Toyota	53.504	—
23	17		Ford	53.551	—
24	4		Ford	53.570	—
25	47		Chevrolet	53.609	—
26	18		Toyota	53.668	—
27	45		Toyota	53.680	—
28	41		Ford	53.709	—
29	34		Ford	53.764	—
30	42		Chevrolet	53.781	—
31	62	Justin Allgaier (i)	Chevrolet	53.862	—
32	7		Chevrolet	54.053	—
33	77	Landon Cassill (i)	Chevrolet	54.086	—
34	38	Todd Gilliland (R)	Ford	54.098	—
35	78	B. J. McLeod (i)	Ford	54.740	—
36	15	J. J. Yeley (i)	Ford	54.936	—
37	51		Ford	54.940	—
Official qualifying results

Race

Stage Results

Stage OneLaps: 60

Pos		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 TwoLaps: 60

Pos		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

Stage ThreeLaps: 68

Pos	Grid		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

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: 153.569mph

Penalties

Kevin 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.

Media

Television

NBC 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.

Radio

MRN 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.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
6	1	Chase Elliott	3,103
3	2	Ryan Blaney	3,101 (–2)
1	3	Ross Chastain	3,097 (–6)
2	4	Denny Hamlin	3,090 (–13)
4	5	Joey Logano	3,087 (–16)
2	6	Kyle Larson	3,087 (–16)
4	7	William Byron	3,083 (–20)
	8	Daniel Suárez	3,081 (–22)
1	9	Austin Cindric	3,069 (–34)
1	10	Chase Briscoe	3,069 (–34)
	11	Christopher Bell	3,036 (–67)
	12	Alex Bowman	3,015 (–88)
	13	Tyler Reddick	2,116 (–987)
	14	Austin Dillon	2,107 (–996)
	15	Kyle Busch	2,089 (–1,014)
	16	Kevin Harvick	1,971 (–1,132)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

Pos	Manufacturer	Points
1	Chevrolet	1,147
2	Ford	1,069 (–78)
3	Toyota	1,013 (–134)

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

Notes and References

Web site: 2022 schedule . Jayski.com. . September 7, 2022.
Web site: Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 7, 2022. January 3, 2013. April 28, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170428035211/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/talladega-superspeedway.html. dead.
Web site: Entry List. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 26, 2022. September 26, 2022.
Web site: Qualifying Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 1, 2022. October 1, 2022.
Web site: YellaWood 500 Results. NASCAR.com. NASCAR. October 2, 2022. October 2, 2022.
Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. October 2, 2022. October 2, 2022.
News: Long . Dustin . Alex Bowman to miss Talladega due to concussion-like symptoms . 2022-09-30 . NBC Sports . 2022-09-29.
Web site: Utter. Jim. Bell wins Talladega Cup pole in eventful qualifying session. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. October 1, 2022. Lincoln, Alabama. October 1, 2022.