The Cup Series race at Watkins Glen on August 21st, 2022 came down to a restart with five laps to go, and contact between two Nascar Chevy teammates ultimately decided the victor.
Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Nascar Chevy Camaro ZL1, elected to take the green flag on the outside of Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro with five laps left in the race. Larson’s No. 5 Camaro managed to out-brake Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro heading into the first turn, and the two made light contact, forcing Elliott to swing wide and allowing Larson to slip by, with the No. 16 Camaro of AJ Allmendinger in tow.
Ultimately, Larson’s No. 5 Camaro held off the No. 16 Camaro of Allmendinger on the way to the checkered flag, his second win of the 2022 season. Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro was scored fourth at the line after leading an impressive 30 laps and starting on the pole, as the No. 22 Ford Mustang of Logano got around him heading to the finish.
“That was really my only opportunity. I’m not proud of it,” Larson said of the contact with Elliott, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate. “Being in the inside lane, the right lane, being the leader, choosing the left lane, it definitely wins out. But when it gets late in the race, it’s definitely risky.”
When asked if there were any words he had for Larson, Elliott simply said, “Congratulations to Kyle and everybody on the 5 team and at Hendrick Motorsports for getting the win.”
Meanwhile, Finnish F1 champion Kimi Räikkönen had a decent race in the No. 91 Camaro until he was nudged off-track and crashed into a tire barrier, forcing him to retire early. Despite wrecking out, Räikkönen was pleased with his performance in his first stint behind the wheel of a Nascar Chevy. He was credited with a 37th-place finish.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 90 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 6 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 20 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 90 | 15 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 1 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet | 90 | 29 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 9 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Princess Cruises Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 3 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 90 | 14 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 5 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | KCMG Chevrolet | 90 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 38 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 90 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 9 | 7 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 31 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 29 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 90 | 7 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 24 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 8 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Menards/Richmond Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 11 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 21 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Sugarlands/Ball Park Buns Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 28 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Allegiant Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 12 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet | 90 | 6 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 18 | 13 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 15 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Violet Defense Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 22 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 90 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 18 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Worldwide Express Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 4 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 25 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Reser's Fine Foods Toyota | 90 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 24 | 26 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Wurth Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 14 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Ford Performance Racing School Ford | 90 | 7 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 16 | 45 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Toyota SmartPath Toyota | 90 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 27 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Raze Energy Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 30 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | DEX Imaging Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 35 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Go Bowling Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 33 | 77 | Mike Rockenfeller | Nations Guard Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 17 | 15 | Joey Hand | FordPro.com Ford | 90 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Snickers Toyota | 89 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 33 | 34 | 27 | * Loris Hezemans(i) | Hezeberg Systems Ford | 89 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 39 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 88 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 23 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | SiriusXM Radio Toyota | 83 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 36 | 26 | * Daniil Kvyat | Hezeberg Systems Toyota | 58 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 37 | 27 | 91 | * Kimi Raikkonen | Recogni Chevrolet | 44 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 38 | 19 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | MDStrucking.com Ford | 28 | 5 | Ford Mustang |
| 39 | 37 | 78 | Kyle Tilley | Brush Creek Valley Farms Ford | 15 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Alls Good with another great CHEVY win. I must have missed did Ford or Toyotas even show up… 😂😂🤣🤣🏁🏁🏆🏆
Like both Chase and Kyle. Head scratcher as why Chase elected outside for restart? Kyle went way deep on restart and got out of control. Crazy stuff happens in late re-starts.
Watkins Glen always makes for a great race, and that’s with NASCAR not using the full length of the circuit.
Tactical error by Chase. It almost happened on the previous restart. He should have learned.