Fan favorite Chase Elliott, driver of the No. 9 Nascar Camaro ZL1, held off a charge from Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang heading to the checkered flag at Talladega Superspeedway on October 2nd, winning the race by just .046 seconds.
Elliott captured his fifth win of the 2022 season in the No. 9 Camaro with a last-lap pass, diving from the bottom lane to the top in order to keep the field at bay. With a huge push from Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 Camaro, Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro shot ahead just enough to put him ahead of Blaney’s No. 12 Mustang at the line.
“Moments like that, you have to really cherish and you guys are what makes this special to me,” Elliott said after the race, “So, thank you sincerely, I really appreciate it… “It was a wild last couple laps. I wasn’t super crazy about being on the bottom and fortunately I got just clear enough off of [Turn] 2 to slide up in front of Erik [Jones] and he gave me some great shoves, obviously a Team Chevy partner there. Just had a good enough run to get out front and then was able to stay far enough in front of Ryan [Blaney] at the line to get it done.”
Elliott’s win automatically bumps him and the No. 9 Chevy into the next round of the Playoffs with one race remaining in the Round of 12.
The Talladega race was rather tame for a superspeedway event – there was only one multicar wreck early in the event that involved the No. 48 Camaro of Noah Gragson, who subbed for the injured Alex Bowman. The Cup Series drivers stayed clear of major trouble after that, save for a few single-car incidents, including one for a stalled car on Pit Road that set the stage for a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag. Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Nascar Camaro, commanded the race for a race-best 36 laps but finished fourth, while Jones’ No. 43 Camaro led 23 laps and finished sixth.
Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 16 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 188 | 10 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
2 | 19 | 12 | Ryan Blaney (P) | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 188 | 31 | Ford Mustang |
3 | 29 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
4 | 6 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Jockey Chevrolet | 188 | 36 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
5 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin (P) | FedEx Express Toyota | 188 | 20 | Toyota TRD Camry |
6 | 12 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 188 | 23 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
7 | 34 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Georgia Peanuts Ford | 188 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
8 | 14 | 99 | Daniel Suarez (P) | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 188 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
9 | 17 | 2 | Austin Cindric # (P) | Discount Tire Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
10 | 5 | 14 | Chase Briscoe (P) | Magical Vacation Planner Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
11 | 33 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
12 | 9 | 24 | William Byron (P) | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
13 | 20 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
14 | 4 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 188 | 36 | Ford Mustang |
15 | 21 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
16 | 27 | 45 | Bubba Wallace (P) | Leidos Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
17 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | Sirius XM Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
18 | 2 | 5 | Kyle Larson (P) | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 188 | 8 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
19 | 7 | 48 | Noah Gragson(i) (P) | Ally Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
20 | 26 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Toyota | 188 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
21 | 28 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 188 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
22 | 25 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/SunnyD Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
23 | 30 | 42 | Ty Dillon | SunseekerResorts.com Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
24 | 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
25 | 23 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 188 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
26 | 22 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 188 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
27 | 11 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
28 | 8 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | REALTREE Chevrolet | 187 | 11 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
29 | 24 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 187 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
30 | 31 | 62 | Justin Allgaier(i) | Beard Oil/South Point Chevrolet | 186 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
31 | 36 | 15 | JJ Yeley(i) | Summit Racing Equipment Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
32 | 37 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT UBCF Ford | 184 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
33 | 35 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | NASCAR Rivals Ford | 182 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
34 | 13 | 16 | Daniel Hemric(i) | Celsius Chevrolet | 180 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
35 | 32 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 44 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
36 | 15 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Dex Imaging Ford | 23 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
37 | 10 | 23 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 23 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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Comment
Great finish.