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In the final NASCAR Cup Series race of the 2022 regular season, Austin Dillon emerged victorious in the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday morning. It is Dillon's first win of the season, clinching one of the last two playoff spots.
The drivers who finished on Sunday overcame multiple crashes and a lengthy weather delay. Dillon was followed by his Chevrolet teammate Tyler Reddick, who finished second. Austin Cindric was right behind him in third place.
The last playoff spot was clinched by Ryan Blaney, who finished 15th on Sunday, respectively. Blaney and Martin Truex Jr. were the two drivers with the most points who hadn't won a race this season. An extra playoff spot opened when it was announced Thursday that Kurt Busch will miss the start of the postseason because of his ongoing concussion-like symptoms.
Here's a look at the top-10 finishers from Saturday's race, as well as a recap of the highlights.
Coke Zero Sugar 400 Results
1. Austin Dillon
2. Tyler Reddick
3. Austin Cindric
4. Landon Cassill
5. Noah Gragson
6. Cody Ware
7. BJ McLeod
8. Martin Truex Jr.
9. David Ragan
10. Kyle Busch
Full results available at NASCAR's official site
The race was originally scheduled to take place Saturday night, but it was postponed because of rain in the Central Florida area.
The action Sunday started early when Kyle Larson's day quickly came to an end because of engine issues. Larson had been hoping to earn more points heading into the playoffs, as the top 10 finishers in the regular season standings automatically receive playoff points.
Late in Stage 1, the first caution of the day came out when Denny Hamlin got loose and multiple cars wrecked behind him, including Ryan Blaney, who was fighting for one of the last two playoff spots as the driver with the most points who hasn't won a race this season.
After the one-lap restart, Joey Logano took the win in Stage 1 to bolster his playoff position.
Blaney's pit crew was able to take care of the damage before the six-minute time limit was up, allowing him to continue in the race. He later met the minimum speed requirement to continue and get another opportunity to pit for more repairs. The day ended for Christopher Bell and Brad Keselowski, the latter of whom needed a win to make the playoffs.
Stage 2 was fairly uneventful. Kyle Busch took the win after a late battle for the lead. Truex finished second to gain more points and close the gap with Blaney.
As Stage 3 was set to begin, more rain and lightning started approaching in the area, so pit crews informed their drivers to up the aggression in case the race is stopped.
The fireworks started early in the final stage, as Tyler Reddick bumped Michael McDowell, which led to a multiple-car wreck. Truex was involved and had damage to his right front fender, putting his playoff hopes in jeopardy.
Later in the race, Chase Briscoe made an aggressive move to briefly take the lead, but he lost control and another massive wreck occurred. Briscoe's car briefly went airborne. Multiple drivers had their playoff hopes come to an end with that crash.
Justin Haley emerged as the leader out of the restart, which didn't last long. Haley aggressively blocked Erik Jones, who then ran into Logano and brought out another caution.
Haley remained in the lead coming out of the next restart, but he faced a battle from Daniel Suarez and Aric Almirola and quickly fell behind both of them. Hamlin made a move to the front of the pack, passing Suarez.
Soon after the thrilling bit of racing, another huge wreck basically took out the entire field. It appears that rain had just got started and caused the drivers battling for the lead to lose control. Austin Dillon somehow managed to escape the crash by staying at the bottom of the track and sneaking out for the lead.
The rain caused the race to be red-flagged with 21 laps to go, creating a likely anticlimactic end to the battle for the last two playoff spots.
After a lengthy delay that lasted nearly three-and-a-half hours, the track was finally dried and the race restarted with 16 laps to go. Austin Cindric quickly moved into the lead over Dillon, which changed Truex's approach as a repeat winner would've pushed him into the playoffs. But Truex later fell back to ninth place with five laps to go, effectively ruining his postseason chances.
Cindric held the lead for a while, but Dillon made his move with three laps remaining and bumped him out of the way for the lead. Dillon had some help blocking from his Chevy teammate Reddick, and he was able to earn his first win of the year. Truex missed the playoffs by three points.
The Cup Series playoffs round of 16 will begin on Sunday, Sept. 4, with the Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina.
Hendrick Motorsports dominated the Daytona 500 qualifying session on Wednesday night.
Kyle Larson took the pole position for Sunday's race, and Alex Bowman ended up on the front row alongside the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion.
Larson and Bowman have nothing to race for in Thursday's Duels, which takes out half of the Hendrick cars for victory contention in the two qualifying races.
Most of the recent Duel winners have come from NASCAR's big teams. Team Penske has a Duel win in three of the last four seasons, and Stewart-Haas Racing picked up wins in 2019 and 2021.
Ryan Blaney is the top non-Hendrick driver scheduled to take part in Duel 1 on Thursday. Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch will attempt to get results for their new teams.
Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch headline the Duel 2 lineup. Hamlin is a three-time Daytona 500 champion.
Updated Daytona 500 Odds
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook
Denny Hamlin (+850; bet $100 to win $850)
Chase Elliott (+1000)
Kyle Larson (+1100)
Joey Logano (+1200)
Ryan Blaney (+1200)
William Byron (+1500)
Kyle Busch (+1500)
Brad Keselowski (+1600)
Kurt Busch (+1700)
Kevin Harvick (+1800)
Alex Bowman (+1800)
Austin Dillon (+1800)
Duels Predictions
Ryan Blaney Captures Duel 1
Ryan Blaney has the potential to grab a second-row starting spot on the Daytona 500 grid through a win in Duel 1.
Blaney put down the fastest time in the second practice session on Tuesday, and he is just a few years removed from winning a Duel race in 2018.
Blaney has one teammate to work with in Austin Cindric. The two Team Penske drivers should work together to reach the front.
The No. 12 car driver faces a major threat from the three Hendrick cars in Duel 1, but one of those drivers is not racing for anything. Larson likely will not be as competitive as he preserves his car for Sunday's race.
The two Penske drivers could control the race alongside Chase Elliott and William Byron since a bunch of drivers from smaller teams are entered into Duel 1.
Team Penske proved it has the horsepower on Tuesday, and its best opportunity to extend its Duel-winning run to four times in five years comes via Blaney in a weaker Duel 1 field.
Joe Gibbs Racing Cars Control Duel 2
One of the best things to have at Daytona International Speedway is a teammate or two to draft with throughout the race.
Joe Gibbs Racing has its full complement of cars in Duel 2. Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell all start between the second and fifth rows.
The four drivers can team up to remain near, or at, the front of the competition for the duration of the race.
Even though Hamlin is a three-time Daytona 500 champion, the Joe Gibbs cars have not won a Duel since 2017, when Hamlin captured the second qualifying race.
The quartet of drivers should try to stick together in an attempt to win Duel 2 and to be lined up behind each other for the Daytona 500.
The second Duel race will determine the even-numbered starting positions, which means all of the Gibbs cars will start on the same lane on Sunday.
Hamlin, Busch, Truex and Bell could use Thursday's race as practice for how they can control the main event on Sunday, and that should result in all of them running at the front.
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The NASCAR Cup Series season has come to an end, with Kyle Larson being named the champion at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona on Sunday afternoon.
Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. entered the race with a chance to be crowned 2021 champion. Larson's best finish at Phoenix before Sunday's race was second, while Truex, Elliott and Hamlin each had Cup Series wins at the track.
Cup Series Championship Results
1. Kyle Larson
2. Martin Truex Jr.
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Chase Elliott
6. Aric Almirola
7. Kyle Busch
8. Kevin Harvick
9. Christopher Bell
10. Brad Keselowski
Larson was dominant throughout the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series, with Sunday's win marking his 10th Cup Series win this season. He is the first Asian American to win the Cup Series title.
Larson's championship comes one year after he used a racial slur while participating in a virtual iRacing event amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He was dropped by Chip Ganassi Racing and suspended from NASCAR before being reinstated in October 2020.
The 29-year-old, who now races for Hendrick Motorsports, led over 2,500 laps in 2021, while no other driver led more than 1,600.
Highlights and Reaction
Truex won the first stage at Phoenix, with Kevin Harvick, Elliott, Hamlin and Larson finishing in the top five. However, the first 75 laps didn't lack drama as Bubba Wallace was knocked out of the race early after crashing into the wall on a hit from Corey LaJoie.
The caution flag came back out again just four laps after Wallace was ruled out of the race as LaJoie and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bumped into each other.
Things remained relatively calm until caution flags came out again for a crash involving Quin Houff, who hit the wall in front of Hamlin, on Lap 54 of Stage 2.
All the leaders took the caution to the pit. Shortly after the race restarted, drivers were placed under caution again as Stenhouse lost his front-left tire and hit the wall, which ended his afternoon.
Ten minutes after Stenhouse crashed, Chase Briscoe got a flat tire and hit the wall hard, ending his rookie season early.
The crashes benefitted Larson as he claimed Stage 2, with Elliott, Hamlin, Truex and Blaney rounding out the top five.
Larson led as the final stage got underway. However, Elliott made things interesting, passing him with just 76 laps to go in the race.
Shortly after Elliott took the lead, the caution flag came out again as Anthony Alfredo blew his right tire and hit the wall.
Truex and Hamlin led the pack coming out of the pit after Alfredo's crash as Larson put himself in a rough spot, more than four seconds behind Truex for first.
Luckily for Larson, a caution came out again late in the race and the Championship 4 drivers decided to pit, a pivotal moment for the No. 5 Chevrolet driver. The California native gained a whopping three spots on pit road to take the lead with 24 laps to go, and he never gave it up.
This championship is Larson's first at the national series level. However, he has a 2012 title from the K&N Pro Series East. He also has 12 wins in 108 career Xfinity Series starts.
Elliott, who finished fifth, missed out on being the first repeat champion since Jimmie Johnson.
It's all come down to this.
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. will hit the track at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday with one thing on their mind: winning the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship.
Hamlin, Elliott and Truex Jr. each advanced to the Championship 4 after their performances at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 31.
Alex Bowman won the Xfinity 500, but all eyes were on Elliott, who had clinched his spot in the final four before Bowman took the checkered flag. Hamlin and Truex also made their marks in Virginia, as they eliminated Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch in securing their chance to compete for the title.
Larson already has four wins this postseason, but Elliott has a chance to do what only 10 drivers have done: win back-to-back titles.
Series Finale 500 Information
Date: Sunday, November 7
Start Time: 3 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBCSports.com or NBC Sports app
Odds
Kyle Larson: +190 (bet $100 to win $190)
Chase Elliott: +350
Denny Hamlin: +400
Martin Truex Jr.: +450
William Byron: +1400
Kyle Busch: +1600
Brad Keselowski: +2000
Ryan Blaney: +2200
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Starting Lineup
Preview
As the Championship 4 heads into Phoenix, only two of them (Elliott and Truex) have NASCAR Cup Series championships on their resume.
Sunday isn't about winning the race outright; it's about being the highest finisher among the Championship 4.
Hamlin, who has 46 victories in his career but no Cup title, will be trying to cap off his 15th playoff appearance and fourth final race with enough points to finally take home the championship that has eluded him.
"It's so hard to predict," Hamlin told Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. "This championship is made in one race. It's so different than it used to be.
"Our goal going into the year is to make the final four because it's really, really hard to predict what can happen in one particular race. ... I like our chances on a Phoenix-type track. That's for sure."
Larson came in second behind Keselowski at the final NASCAR Cup Series practice at Phoenix Raceway, leading all Championship 4 drivers with a lap of 135.293 mph. It's a great sign for the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, who has had a racing season for the ages.
"It's hard for me to think if people will really remember if you don't win the championship," Larson told Jenna Fryer of Yahoo Sports. "You can read into that adding pressure that I want to win the championship even more to cap off what's been a great season. So that's my goal. And I hope we can finish it off and be mentioned as one of the top-five greatest seasons ever."
Truex won the Instacart 500 in Phoenix in March, but he's not favored to win the race this time around. But the 2017 Cup champion is still a big threat to win the Cup again.
"It's a big opportunity," Truex told Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. "To race for a championship is what we work all year for. ... Whoever has the best car, the best setup, the best day and puts it all together. "It's four great teams, four great drivers."
Elliott, 25, will be looking to become the youngest driver to win multiple championships and win the 14th NASCAR Cup Series championship for Hendrick Motorsports.
He would also be the first driver to win back-to-back titles since Jeff Gordon, who did it in 1997 and 1998. Speaking to Reid Spencer of Yahoo Sports ahead of the Season Finale 500, Elliott said:
"I think, having gone through the motions last year, we learned a lot about ourselves and about what's important. How to perform in a big moment is a nice thing you can carry with you forward. On the same token, we didn't have any of that experience last year, and it worked out OK.
"I feel like, for us, we just dive into what matters, and the guy who goes the fastest and runs the best race and executes a good day on Sunday will be rewarded, and that's where our focus is."
No matter who wins, this will be a race that fans will savor until next season.
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Alex Bowman is going to have mixed feelings about Sunday.
On one hand, he won the Xfinity 500 at the Martinsville Speedway, the final race to qualify for the Championship 4.
On the other hand, it wasn't enough to qualify him for the final round, as Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. will vie for the title.
Kyle Busch finished second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Truex and William Byron.
It was a bittersweet day for Hamlin as well, who took serious umbrage with Bowman spinning him out late in the race as the two battled for the lead. Sparks were flying afterward.
"He's just a hack. He's just an absolute hack," Hamlin said of Bowman after the race. "He gets his ass kicked by his teammates every week. He's just f--king terrible. He's just terrible. He sees one opportunity and he takes it. But obviously, he's got the fastest car every week and he runs 10th."
Bowman—who has four wins on the season to Hamlin's two—said after the race he wasn't trying to spin Hamlin out:
I just got loose in. I got in too deep, knocked him out of the way and literally let him have the lead back. So for anybody that wants to think that I was trying to crash him, it obviously wasn't the case, considering I literally gave up the lead at Martinsville to give it back to him. He's been on the other side of that, he's crashed guys here for wins. I hate doing it. Obviously I don't want to crash somebody. I just got in, got loose underneath him and spun him out.
Larson was the only driver to come into Sunday with a Championship 4 locked. Elliott clinched his berth after winning the second stage at Martinsville, while a fourth-place finish was enough for Truex, and Hamlin's 24th-place finish didn't cost him too dearly.
But the story on the day was the drama between Bowman and Hamlin. Never a dull moment in NASCAR.
The NASCAR Cup Series postseason field has been cut in half from its original number.
Eight drivers survived the first two stages of the playoffs to reach the final three-race stage of the postseason, which begins on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski advanced from the round of 12 to the round of eight.
The eight drivers will battle at Texas, Kansas and Martinsville over the next three weeks for four playoff spots.
The top four competitors after Martinsville will battle it out for the playoff crown at Phoenix on November 7.
Larson, Hamlin, Truex and Blaney start the round of eight in the four qualifying positions. Busch is one point back of Blaney, Elliott is two points behind the cut, Logano is 11 points adrift and Keselowski needs to make up a 16-point gap between himself and Blaney.
Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 Info
Date: Sunday, October 17
Start Time: 2 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Live Stream: NBCSports.com and NBC Sports app
Odds
Kyle Larson (+340; bet $100 to win $340)
Denny Hamlin (+600)
Kyle Busch (+700)
Chase Elliott (+750)
Martin Truex Jr. (+900)
Ryan Blaney (+900)
Joey Logano (+1200)
Kevin Harvick (+1400)
William Byron (+1600)
Brad Keselowski (+1800)
Alex Bowman (+2000)
Starting Lineup
Preview
The NASCAR Cup Series is making its second trip to Texas this season but its first for a points race.
The Cup Series visited Texas back in June for the All-Star Race, which was won by Larson.
Larson has to be viewed as the favorite to capture the postseason title. He has a win in each postseason round and has been the most consistent driver on the circuit all season long.
Larson comes into Texas off a victory on the Charlotte road course. He also won at Bristol in the final race of the round of 16.
Hamlin matched Larson's performance with a win to kick off the round of 16 and round of 12. He won at Darlington and Las Vegas to secure safe passage to the next rounds.
Hamlin landed in ninth place in the Cup Series' last points race at Texas in October 2020. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Busch and Truex went one-two at that event.
Larson and Hamlin are in the best positions possible to advance to the championship round on points. Larson owns a 35-point gap on Hamlin, who is seven points above the cut line.
If the two drivers continue at their current pace, they should make up half of the championship contenders in a few weeks.
All it takes is one win by a driver in the bottom four, or a poor day at the track, to rearrange the postseason picture.
Busch is the reigning champion at Texas. He has four career wins at the track. If he goes back-to-back, or benefits from his strong history at the track, he could leap into the top four.
Since 2017, Busch, Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon and Jimmie Johnson are the only drivers to win points races at Texas. There were multiple races at the track up until this season.
Dillon won the first trip to Texas last season. Busch took fourth in that race behind Dillon, Tyler Reddick and Logano last July.
Logano is the other driver in the bottom four to watch. He has nine top-10 finishes at Texas in his last 10 races at the track. At +1200, Logano carries some of the best value to win the race.
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