Las Vegas, Nev. – Team Penske’s Joey Logano became the first driver to secure a position in the Championship 4 with a shot at the NASCAR Cup Series 2022 Championship thanks to a valiant surge to victory in the final laps of Sunday’s South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Logano, on fresh Goodyear tires, rallied back through the field following a late race pit stop, passing Trackhouse Racing driver Ross Chastain for the lead with three laps remaining and driving off to his third win at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas high banks – a slight .817-second ahead of fellow Playoff driver Chastain, who led a race best 68 of the 267 laps on the afternoon.
“Let’s go get a championship, baby,’’ the 2018 series champion Logano screamed into his team radio after taking the checkered flag in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford.
That pit stop for Logano with 26 laps remaining, dropped him from a top-10 position on track, but the fresh tires were the difference in making up ground on the leaders who did not pit.
And Logano went forward quickly.
“What a great car, the Penske cars were all fast today,” said the 32-year old Logano, who now has three wins in 2022 and 30 in his 15-year career in NASCAR’s top series.
“Oh man, all you want to do is get to the Championship 4 before the season starts and race for the championship and we’ve got the team to do it. I don’t see why we can’t win it at this point. Things are looking really good for us.
“A lot of adversity we fought though in the last 50 laps of so. I thought we were going to win then kinda fell out, got some tires and racing Ross was fun. He did a good job air-blocking me and I was just trying to be patient but eventually I was like, ‘I’ve got to go here.’ “
It was a wild action-packed day at the Las Vegas oval with the eight Playoff drivers experiencing both sides of emotion. Five of them were among the 11 race leaders at various points on the afternoon. And four finished in the top five.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch, who had some pit road issues, finished third, followed by a pair of Playoff drivers: Stewart-Haas Racing’s Chase Briscoe and Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin, who rounded out the top five. It was an especially impressive performance for Hamlin, who started 31st.
Hendrick Motorsports Playoff teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott had frustrating and disappointing days, finishing 13th and 21st, respectively. Logano’s Penske teammate Ryan Blaney – who won Stage 2 and led 39 laps – finished 28th after hitting the wall late in the race. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was 34th after being innocently collected in an early-race accident.
“When you perform that poorly you get poor results, that’s how it works,’’ the regular season champion Elliott said of his day.
Elliott went into this three-race round leading the standings and after Vegas has dropped to third in the championship, 17 points above the cutoff line. Logano earned the automatic advancement Sunday and Chastain is now in second place, 18 points up.
Hamlin’s top five was good enough to move him into that important fourth place in the championship – six points up on Byron. The 4 “Bs” are now all in the bottom half of the Playoff points. Briscoe is nine points behind Hamlin, Blaney 11 back and Bell is 23 points off the pace.
One of the most talked about incidents in the race involved a pair of non-championship-eligible drivers. Shortly after the re-start following Stage 1, Hendrick Motorsports’ Kyle Larson and 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace – who won Stage 1 – were racing alongside one another toward the front of the field. On lap 94, Larson’s No. 5 Chevy got loose and moved up the track, forcing Wallace’s car into the outside wall.
Wallace’s No. 45 Toyota bounced down off the wall and then he drove into Larson’s car, spinning both – with Playoff driver Bell getting tagged by Larson’s spinning Chevy in the aftermath. After Wallace and Larson’s cars came to rest in the infield, Wallace took his helmet off and marched toward Larson, who was just getting out of his car.
The two exchanged words and Wallace pushed Larson multiple times before walking away.
“You get shoved into the fence deliberately like he [Larson] did trying to force me to lift, the steering was gone,’’ Wallace said, when asked if he intentionally spun Larson. “He just happened to be there.
“Hate it for our team. Super fast car. Larson wanted to make a three-wide dive bomb but never cleared me and I don’t lift. I know I’m kinda new running at the front, but I don’t lift, was never in a spot to lift and he never lifted either. Now we’re junk. Just piss poor move on his execution.
“He knows what he did was wrong. He never cleared me and just hate it for my team.’’
For his part, Larson said he realized he got into Wallace and wasn’t entirely surprised by Wallace’s aggression afterward. However, Larson said, he didn’t hit Wallace intentionally.
“I knew he was going to retaliate,’’ Larson said. “He had reason to be mad but his race wasn’t over until he retaliated. It is what it is. Just aggression turned into frustration and he retaliated.”
“I know he’s probably still upset but I’m sure with everything going on he’ll know he made a mistake in the retaliation part and I’m sure he’ll think twice about it next time,’’ Larson added.
“I saw him walking over [toward me] so I figured he’d do something. He had every right to be upset and I’d rather him do that [push me] than tear up our cars in a dangerous manner.’’
While the incident ended Wallace and Larson’s days, it also ruined the afternoon for Bell, who won an elimination race just last week to advance to the Round of 8. His Joe Gibbs Racing team was unable to repair his No. 20 Toyota and he pulled off track, finishing 34th in the 36-car field – worst among the eight Playoff drivers.
Playoff action resumes next weekend with Sunday’s Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). William Byron won the 2021 Homestead race, which was held in February last year.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – 5th Annual South Point 400
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday, October 16, 2022
1. (5) Joey Logano (P), Ford, 267.
2. (11) Ross Chastain (P), Chevrolet, 267.
3. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267.
4. (16) Chase Briscoe (P), Ford, 267.
5. (31) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.
6. (1) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 267.
7. (27) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 267.
8. (22) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, 267.
9. (21) AJ Allmendinger(i), Chevrolet, 267.
10. (10) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.
11. (17) Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, 267.
12. (13) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 267.
13. (3) William Byron (P), Chevrolet, 267.
14. (28) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 267.
15. (12) Chris Buescher, Ford, 267.
16. (6) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 267.
17. (25) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.
18. (23) Aric Almirola, Ford, 267.
19. (15) Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.
20. (24) Cole Custer, Ford, 267.
21. (20) Chase Elliott (P), Chevrolet, 267.
22. (19) Ty Gibbs(i), Toyota, 267.
23. (29) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 267.
24. (30) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 267.
25. (35) Todd Gilliland #, Ford, 267.
26. (8) Harrison Burton #, Ford, 266.
27. (34) Cody Ware, Ford, 264.
28. (4) Ryan Blaney (P), Ford, 260.
29. (2) Austin Cindric #, Ford, 259.
30. (36) BJ McLeod(i), Ford, 256.
31. (26) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 253.
32. (32) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 246.
33. (33) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, Suspension, 237.
34. (7) Christopher Bell (P), Toyota, DVP, 94.
35. (14) Kyle Larson (P), Chevrolet, Accident, 94.
36. (9) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 94.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.48 mph.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 4 Mins, 10 Secs. Margin of Victory: .817 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 42 laps.
Lead Changes: 18 among 11 drivers.
Lap Leaders: T. Reddick 1;A. Cindric # 2;T. Reddick 3-33;A. Cindric # 34-40;R. Stenhouse Jr. 41;D. Suarez 42-56;B. Wallace 57-85;D. Suarez 86-96;R. Chastain (P) 97;D. Hamlin (P) 98-102;D. Suarez 103-107;R. Chastain (P) 108-128;R. Blaney (P) 129-167;J. Logano (P) 168-196;R. Chastain (P) 197-229;J. Haley 230-245;C. Briscoe (P) 246-251;R. Chastain (P) 252-264;J. Logano (P) 265-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Ross Chastain (P) 4 times for 68 laps; Ryan Blaney (P) 1 time for 39 laps; Joey Logano (P) 2 times for 32 laps; Tyler Reddick 2 times for 32 laps; Daniel Suarez 3 times for 31 laps; Bubba Wallace 1 time for 29 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 16 laps; Austin Cindric # 2 times for 8 laps; Chase Briscoe (P) 1 time for 6 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 5 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 45,22,99,20,12,2,5,19,8,24
Stage #2 Top Ten: 12,22,99,1,11,24,4,19,2,18
YAWN. NASCAR is getting very predictable. Gamble and stay out or put on new tires and cross your fingers you are fast enough and have enough time to pass ’em all.
The only real excitement was provided by hot headed Bubba wrecking himself and a great driver. A person shows no class by acting like Bubba did. He should be suspended for the rest of the season. The funny and true thing he said was he is not used to running up front. Not likely to be for any length of time I suspect. Although the new kit cars and a little luck have made it possible for anyone to win for starters. Eventually the cream of the top teams will rise to the top buying enough parts to find the best ones within the “specs”.
What NASCAR needs to do is produce racing in all three classes that fans want to pay to see in the stands. Or find markets where the fans will come out for the trucks and Infinity series races. Pay per view is not the answer even for pro football. Pay per view will eventually overload the internet not to mention that many rural areas do not have fast enough internet.
NASCAR needs to address Bubba’s actions, 1) didn’t follow a safety workers instructions, 2) ran down to Kyle while the track was still hot, 3) could’ve really hurt himself or Larson.
That was awesome on Bubba’s part. I hope NASCAR awards him $250,000 and 125 points.
More likely a fine and lost drivers points. NASCAR has no balls. Sorry but true. He could have killed drivers. Maybe he should pay for the damage to the race cars out of his pockets . . . . . . .
After all the wreckage Kryle Busch has done, NASCAR doesn’t have to do a damn thing about what happened between Larson and Bubba. Since Kryle Busch was allowed to do what he did, for YEARS, EVERYONE can do it.
LOL. If NASCAR allows Bubba to be a thug it is because they feel the need for a minority presence thinking that will help their popularity. The are slowly cooking the golden goose themselves. Open Wheel Sprint Car racing is the best racing there is. NASCRAP is getting more boring by the rule change . . . . maybe rename it the car of the end?
Pete,
So when Carl Edwards was wrecking people on purpose and physically confronting other drivers and Tony Stewart was wrecking people on purpose and physically confronting them you were cool with that because they weren’t a “minority”? I’m in no way saying what Bubba Wallace did on Sunday was or should be acceptable, but this whining outcry like he’s the first guy in the history of NASCAR to wreck someone on purpose or the first guy in the history of NASCAR to physically confront another a driver is just outrageously wild. Are you mad because he wrecked someone on purpose or are you mad because he’s a minority in NASCAR who wrecked someone on purpose? Because if you’re just simply mad because he wrecked someone on purpose then you should have been just as mad when Dale Earnhardt Sr. did it or Darrell Waltrip did it or Rusty Wallace did it or Jeff Gordon did it or Kevin Harvick did it or Carl Edwards did it or Tony Stewart did it or Kyle Busch did it or Joey Logano did it or even this year when William Byron did it, or Noah Gragson did it or Carson Hocevar did it. Are all those guys “thugs” too?
Kyle Busch is a member of what minority group?
Pete, how stupid are you? Kyle Busch would talk on the radio about wrecking other cars, and then go out and do it, over and over and over.
NASCAR has been trying to clean up their house. Rubbing is racing to a point. Causing a wreck is crazy. Wrecking yourself and two others, one that was in the chase is (insert your own word). Bubba has some talent but he would not be in the top series if he was not a minority that brings sponsors and attention. By the way he has apologized.
Last time I knew the Whelen Mod Tour was sanctioned by NASCAR, Bubba did the same thing as Sap at Martinsville no suspension?
Pete, there’s far more white drivers with far less talent that are where they are because they bring in sponsorship. What’s your point?
Pete
You said: “Bubba has some talent but he would not be in the top series if he was not a minority.”
So you’re saying that he made it to the top level of NASCAR based on a unique quality he has which has nothing to do with his ability to drive a race car?
And you could basically say that about probably more than half the current full-time drivers in the Cup Series. Maybe it’s not that they’re a minority, but some unique quality they have beyond their driving talent is probably the overriding factor that has put them where they are today. For most its family ties within the sport. For some it’s a family connection to a company that can serve as a sponsor. It’s fair to say that very few guys in the Cup Series are there simply because they are purely great drivers.
If Chase Elliott is not the son of Bill Elliott does he make it to the Cup Series? Probably not. Same for Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillion, Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Austin Cindric, Cole Custer. Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland. Not knocking the driving talent of any of those guys, but family ties for all of them are probably the biggest reason they got to the stage they’re on. if Chase Elliott’s name was Chase Morris and he was just a guy trying to climb the ranks of stock car racing with no family ties or big bankrolls or connections to major sponsors the chances are probably slim and none he makes it. You could even say that maybe Kyle Busch never makes it to the top if his brother doesn’t first open the door to get him noticed.
So to say Bubba Wallace reached the Cup Series not because of driving talent but because he’s a minority is not really saying he’s much different than most of the other guys he’s racing against.
LOL Sponsors are needed and Bubba can attract them. Who owns the team he is on? DUH. A certain amount of skill is needed but not as much as you think. Many of the truck and Busch drivers are good or better than Bubba. And yes the last name does make a difference in NASCAR and the real world. Life is like that. There are many great drivers that are Sprint Car Drivers. Most of the NASCAR drivers that run Sprint Cars do not do all that well with one or two exceptions and they even struggle when all the good ones are at the race. Tony Steward has a series where he invites a bunch of talented drivers to race in very similar cars. It is very interesting racing. Tony is a very talented driver and has done well at all levels of racing. If Bubba was not a minority he would still be racing trucks or ARCA at best. Sorry to burst your bubble. I do not like Joey either. Deegan is going to bring sponsors pretty quickly so expect her to be moved up a little early too. Bubba is like Danica to NASCAR. Deegan is a talented driver. There is another woman from Wisconsin Decker. She may make the move up quickly too. Fine and suspend Bubba. End of problems for awhile.
So nascar announced a 1 race suspension today.
We have seen people be emotional before, fights before, retaliation before.
But what bothered me most about this was when bubba immediately got out of the car, walked down the track with cars circling, and pushing off the safety personnel.
Now i thought that after when Kevin Ward was killed, that Nascar forbade anyone to get out of the car unless car was burning. Further, I thought nascar forbade all drivers from walking the track particularly while cars were circling under yellow.
Did I get that wrong? No mention of any of that in the official press release. That policy suspended?
Can’t help but think when someone uses that thug reference it’s a bigoted dog whistle but lets back burner that notion for now. Going by the traditional definition Wallace could be labeled a thug for escalating the confrontation and pushing a smaller guy that was a lover apparently and not a fighter. Wait that seems all wrong for NASCAR doesn’t it with it’s fighting tradition? I’m thinking if Cale Yarborough turned around and walked away while Donny Allison was spoiling for a fight in 1979 on live TV if NASCAR would ever have surged in popularity the way it did. Now that was two thugs going toe to toe wasn’t it and we loved it. This one a skinny white boy not willing to stand his ground and push back. Why is Bubba the thug and Larson not the woose bunny? Reserve the size and color you can bet woose bunny would have ended up being the theme of the day instead of thug.
Help I’m drowning in an American circle track race fan stereotype, getting dumber by the minute and lord knows I can’t afford that.
Thank you Mr. Courchesne for going on the record to show that it’s not pervasive and Bobf for the life preserver of relevant, intelligent inquiry. Shouldn’t NASCAR have based the suspension on the stroll into harms way as well as the intentional hit?
This becomes THE precedent that gets applied to all the white guys. Let’s see how they like it.
Look up “thug” in a Webster dictionary. You do what that is?
Seems NASCAR agreed with me again. Suspended but only for one race. Welcome to the real world Bubba and supporters.
Remember what I said about the ladies. I’m rooting for both of them.
I’m done with this topic. Spent to much time already.
Comparing nascar back in the day of Donnie Allison and now … you can’t. Back in the day you could race and take care of your personal issues with drivers on and off the track without nascar ruining your life. Today you can’t even play a video game without nascar getting involved and possibly not racing anymore.
Steve,
I get that you’re referring to Kyle Larson and what happened to him in 2020 over a word spoken while playing a video game. Let’s remember, NASCAR didn’t take away Kyle Larson’s ride. He lost his sponsors and his car owner chose to release him.
NASCAR and many employers have stepped over the line I feel sometimes but people have no choice it seems. I tend to stay off of social media for just this reason. It sad that the overly sensitive folks have taken over the employer and HR world. I expect there will be plenty of lawsuits against employers and their HR departments after the pandemic and when people finally come to their senses hopefully. Once upon a time HR was actually there for the employees. Are you old enough to remember then?
The golden rule that he who has the gold makes the rules seems to fit overly sensitive sponsors.
Sorry for the deviation . . . . .
Pete,
I’m guessing your deviation is referring to my response to Steve about Kyle Larson losing his ride in 2020. I’d have to disagree if you’re trying to say “overly sensitive sponsors” are essentially defining the rules for NASCAR. Sponsors are the lifeblood of Cup Series racing. Withouth sponsors the series as we know it ceases to exist. Sponsors pay millions of dollars to have their product represented by a driver and a team. You make them look bad and there will very likely be consequences for doing that. Kyle Larson learned that in 2020. I have a hard time characterizing the actions of the sponsors in 2020 in regards to the Kyle Larson incident as being “overly sensitive”. Kyle publicly used a word that no sponsor wants to be associated with. Larson obviously paid a huge price for that, and continues to pay that price today. Sponsors are still hesitant to be associated with Larson. So basically you can have sponsors who have some expectation as to how their brand will be represented – I guess what you’d term as being overly sensitive – or you can watch the Cup Series disappear.
After nascar suspended him indefinitely- required him to take sensitivity classes and reviewed a year later before he was re-instated. That is taking someone’s right to work IMO
Steve,
You’re actually not accurate in describing what took place. NASCAR suspended Larson indefinitely in mid-April 2020 with the terms of that suspension being that he complete sensitivity training and some other requirements. Larson actually completed the sensitivity training not long after the suspension was handed down. Larson chose himself not to apply for reinstatement until about six months after the penalty was announced. His suspension was lifted by NASCAR in mid-October of 2020 after he applied for reinstatement. He was not suspended for a year and he could have very likely had the suspension lifted much sooner than the six months it was in effect if he had chosen to apply for reinstatement earlier than he did. As far as “right to work”, he had every right to work in the racing industry during that time, just not in NASCAR sanctioned events. And he did work, continuing to race very successfully outside of NASCAR.
Most common folks do not know who sponsors drivers specifically or care. I do not base anything on who sponsors a driver or a car and any other people in any walk of life with sponsors. Why sponsors follow a driver around or person seems strange. If a person I do not care for is sponsored by a company I could care less. I take what the individuals do as their right and freedom to say what they like in America. It does not matter their sex, race, height, weight, hair or eye color, etc. I have no biases. I never buy anything because a company sponsors anyone or thing. Television dollars are what floats NASCAR. Sponsors dollars and some TV money floats teams. Fans in the seats primarily floats the tracks. Some of this money overlaps all of them. If a person says something stupid or that I do not agree with it does not change what I buy at all.
I do not even pay much attention to the brand of kit car they drive. They all look the same and the parts all come from one supplier. Silly! I like certain drivers and dislike a couple drivers. Many of the back markers I wonder why they do it.
HR is there to make sure the company follows the rules of employment and doesn’t get sued. Your HR rep may have been nice to you but they in no way work for you. They never have. You might be shocked at who shows up to represent the company should you need to go to court with your employer.
Boy I remember Pete. We had a lively discussion that lasted from last December into February about the ways to consume racing events and which is best depending on our circumstance. Reading the perspective of a fan from Wisconsin with meager streaming alternatives was insightful.
Pete, buddy you sound tense. Forgetting Bubba for a second your serial condescension, facetiousness, sarcasm and insults toward NASCAR from the cars they race to how they race to rules enforcement is pretty epic. Could I suggest something I’ve found helpful. All the election related stuff going on from our local to national elections was causing me a great deal of low level, pervasive anxiety. Made the purposeful decision to turn it all off and now have the spring back in my step and song in my heart. Maybe if you like Sprints and NASCAR aggravates you do this. Watch Sprints, don’t watch NASCAR races.
It’s pretty clear nobody reads what I right or they would have corrected my mischievous description of Larson being a “skinny white boy”. Actually he’s a mixed race Asian/caucasian and minerrority like Wallace. Thus it’s clear he received special treatment by NASCAR having driven Wallace up the track. I mean after all isn’t he Mr. Super driver who can wheel anything to victory lane is he not? So how is it he can drive Wallace up the track to the wall and it’s Bubba who is expected to back out? The announcer sure made a point of it as it was happening but got forgotten after the hard left. This is all so confusing keeping track of the biases and favoritism each of these minerrorities are getting isn’t it? Or none are getting and it’s irrelevant.
Couldn’t disagree more with the idea of a penalty extending to next season. First within the context of the infraction there is no precedent for it I can think of. Inviting the perception you thought up something special for the black guy. Second a drivers momentary bad judgement should not affect so many others from ownership to sponsors to all the employees of the team for a succeeding season. It’s clear there’s only one rightful penalty. Bring back the pillory. Make Bubba spend the entire one race penalty pilloried in the infield That’ll teach him and any other driver contemplating ill advised retribution by gum.
Not sure what medication you are using. I have found that MAVTV and CBS Sports channel provide a fair amount of racing on Direct TV which I’ve had since 1996. Little need for streaming anything. I watch NASCAR because I like some of the drivers. I do it with no sound at 4 times speed on my DVR. I watch maybe 10 laps total. 2 before each “stage” and about the last 6 laps. Sometimes I watch and listen to the interviews. I call it NASCAR in 30 minutes. Same with the two lower series. I watched the Bubba wreck as the interviews caused me to notice.
Streaming is having trouble with Thursday Night football I’m hearing. System overload in some areas. As more streaming occurs more problems will occur. Maybe Biden can fix that? LOL,