Two drivers from the Nascar Chevy stable took to Phoenix Raceway on November 6th, 2022 with sights set on the Cup Series championship. However, neither Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Camaro ZL1 or Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Camaro could seal the deal.
In fact, on a restart on Lap 205, the two Bow Tie racers made contact, ending Elliott’s bid for the championship early. Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro restarted just ahead of Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro, but as both drivers checked down at the same time, Elliott’s No. 9 Camaro spun off the nose of Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro and slammed the inside wall. Elliott went on to lose a lap while his crew attended to the damaged No. 9 Camaro, and then another as he was passed by competitors. He ultimately finished 28th.
“Yeah, just disappointed, obviously, ended our day and ended our chance at a win or a championship,” Elliott said after the race. “Just disappointing.”
Chastain explained his perspective of the incident after the race. “William [Byron, No. 24 Camaro] didn’t get going quite as well as he wanted to, and I got to the left of him,” Chastain said. “And I saw an erratic move he [Elliott] made to cover it, and I was already there. Yeah, it’s not how I want to race him or those guys.”
Chastain’s No. 1 Camaro, meanwhile, came to life as the laps ticked down as he attempted to track down eventual winner Joey Logano in the No. 22 Ford Mustang. Chastain’s No. 1 Nascar Chevy was consistently faster than Logano’s No. 22 Mustang, but just didn’t have enough time to close on him.
“I had a car fast enough to chase him down at the end,” Chastain said. “I think we did everything we could. That was a heck of a drive for us.” He ultimately finished third in the race and second in the Cup Series championship, rallying from a 25th-place starting position.
Christopher Bell’s No. 20 Toyota TRD Camry challenged the No. 22 Mustang of Logano for the lead and the championship for a few laps, but he was felled by a bad pit stop. Logano’s No. 22 Mustang held off the No. 12 Mustang of Ryan Blaney to take the victory at Phoenix and ultimately the Cup Series championship. Logano also won the championship in 2018.
| Pos | Car Number | Driver | Team | Time | Speed | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Joey Logano (P) | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 26.788 | 134.389 | Ford Mustang |
| 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Dutch Boy Ford | 26.791 | 134.373 | Ford Mustang |
| 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 26.825 | 134.203 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 26.897 | 133.844 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 9 | Chase Elliott (P) | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 26.979 | 133.437 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 27.011 | 133.279 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 27.056 | 133.057 | Ford Mustang |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet | 27.09 | 132.89 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 41 | Cole Custer | HaasTooling.com Ford | 27.125 | 132.719 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 23 | Ty Gibbs(i) | Monster Energy Toyota | 27.175 | 132.475 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 11 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen Chevrolet | 26.831 | 134.173 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 26.846 | 134.098 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 26.873 | 133.963 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Discount Tire Ford | 26.874 | 133.958 | Ford Mustang |
| 15 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 26.877 | 133.944 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hooters Chevrolet | 32.941 | 136.608 | C |
| 16 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Celsius Chevrolet | 26.88 | 133.929 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 20 | Christopher Bell (P) | DeWalt Toyota | 26.881 | 133.924 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 26.903 | 133.814 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | #BuschLightPolite Ford | 33.019 | 136.285 | C |
| 19 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 26.932 | 133.67 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | First Phase Ford | 33.055 | 136.137 | C |
| 20 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 26.943 | 133.615 | Ford Mustang |
| 21 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 27.009 | 133.289 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 22 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Thank You Fans! Toyota | 27.015 | 133.259 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 45 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 27.021 | 133.23 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 24 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 27.025 | 133.21 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 25 | 1 | Ross Chastain (P) | Worldwide Express/Advent Health Chevrolet | 27.064 | 133.018 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 27.071 | 132.984 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 27.085 | 132.915 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance/CommScope Chevrolet | 27.114 | 132.773 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 29 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Fry's/Nature Valley Chevrolet | 27.143 | 132.631 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 30 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 27.226 | 132.227 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | Boot Barn Ford | 27.256 | 132.081 | Ford Mustang |
| 32 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet | 27.292 | 131.907 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 78 | BJ McLeod(i) | Pala Casino Ford | 27.561 | 130.619 | Ford Mustang |
| 34 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT (Rimegepant) Ford | 27.718 | 129.88 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 15 | Garrett Smithley(i) | Jacob Companies Ford | 27.787 | 129.557 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Mutoh/General Formulations Chevrolet | 28.414 | 126.698 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
P – Playoffs eligible
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Comments
Was a boring race. No passing. Chevys lost on Saturday, too.
Chastain is a little piece of crap that that can only wreck cars.
Maybe this crazy points system is causing all this ‘I don’t lift’ mentality? Old Days guys didn’t want to crash cause most of them had to fix what they wrecked.