TOP TEAM CHEVY UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS:
POS. DRIVER
2nd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
5th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1
8th William Byron, No. 24 Liberty University Camaro ZL1
11th Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
13th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
19th Erik Jones, No. 43 U.S. Air Force Camaro ZL1
TOP FIVE UNOFFICIAL RACE RESULTS
POS. DRIVER
1st Christopher Bell (Toyota)
2nd Kyle Larson (Chevrolet)
3rd Ryan Blaney (Ford)
4th Brad Keselowski (Ford)
5th Ross Chastain (Chevrolet)
The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Racew will get underway next Sunday, November 6, at Phoenix Raceway at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage can be found on NBC, the NBCSports Gold App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
TEAM CHEVY POST-RACE NOTES AND QUOTES:
ROSS CHASTAIN, NO. 1 MOOSE FRATERNITY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 5th
What were your thoughts on those final laps?
“For me, I back up to the last pit stop and just having a chance. My pit crew gained us a few of spots and gave us a chance. We got in front of the No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) there and he missed turn three a bit. He fired the first shot and then I returned it. He returned it, I returned and I was finally like ‘you know what, I’m going to wreck’ so I’m just going to let him go and I’ll run right with him. He gained a few spots; he was just better.
I did everything I could. I couldn’t keep pace and I couldn’t pass. I really struggled to pass all race long. I double-checked off turn two that we had to have two spots. We were out and I couldn’t see who the leader was. I grabbed fifth gear, got up against the wall and came to the finish.”
Would you call that a hail mary?
“I don’t know what you want to call it. I’m proud that we had a chance. That’s all that we ask for. Like I said, it was the combination of the last few weeks and the previous 34 races to get us here. That’s all we ask for.
Yeah, I took a crazy move that nobody would have ever thought. When I committed, I had no idea if it would work. With the access gate off turn four, I didn’t know if it would catch me and stop me. But I knew that I would try and it wasn’t going to hurt us.”
Are you exhilarated right now or are you exhausted?
“I’m over the moon excited. This is a life accomplishment, a career accomplishment, for everybody at Trackhouse Racing, Justin Marks and Pitbull and the vision of this team. For our partners that came on board – Worldwide Express, Moose Fraternity, Jockey, AdventHealth and Kubota.
All we asked for was a chance.”
You were second at Phoenix Raceway earlier this year. A career accomplishment, but now you have another big career accomplishment ahead of you.
“Yeah, we do. I don’t know what to think about it yet. I have to digest this first.
Our No. 1 Moose Fraternity Chevy wasn’t good enough for what we needed to go race for a win, but we’re racing for a championship.”
KYLE LARSON, NO. 5 HENDRICKCARS.COM CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 2nd
Larson on the ability to pass in this race versus the spring race:
“It must have been a little bit easier. The No. 11 (Denny Hamlin) was able to drive to the lead there. The leaders lapped a lot of cars today. To me, it seemed to be very close to normal Martinsville, but maybe still a little bit harder to pass when you got within a car length.”
You’re in a unique position going into Phoenix. You’re not in the championship on the driver’s side, but you are on the owner’s side. Do you assess it like last year, just go into the championship all-out?
“There is a lot on the line for us and our team. Two opportunities to bring Mr. H (Rick Hendrick) a championship and we would love to do that.
We were decent at Phoenix (Raceway) earlier this year, but I’m sure we’ll be a lot better than we were the last time.”
Larson on Christopher Bell’s win:
“It’s pretty cool to see Christopher (Bell) earn those two wins to advance; into the Round of 8 and now into the Championship 4. That’s a pretty spectacular job with what he did there today to get to the lead earlier around the midway point, and there again late. It was fun to be a part of the battle. I was hoping I could edge him out, but it’s really cool to see the job that him and his team did the last month or so.”
CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 11th
You ran second or third most of the day up until the very end.
“We just need to finish it off better. We have a shot at the championship next week and that’s a big deal. We’ll be ready.”
Are you happy with what you did today? You got the stage points you needed and put yourself in position.
“Making it to the Championship 4 is obviously a big deal. I wish we could have finished better there at the end. We ran first, second or third there all day and just kind of slipped there at the end. It’s frustrating, but like I said, it’s nice to make it through.”
At Phoenix earlier this year, you ran well until a stint there with about 10 laps to go. How do you feel about going in there?
“We’re ready to go.”
WILLIAM BYRON, NO. 24 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY CAMARO ZL1
Finished: 8th
“Unfortunately, we weren’t really in the game. I knew that early on in the race, we were making some progress, but we just struggled all day. The first three-quarters of the race were pretty miserable. Nothing like what we had in the spring. We were just tight with not a lot of pace. The No. 24 Liberty University Chevy team kept their heads down and got a decent finish out of it, so that was a good lesson for the day.”
TEAM CHEVY RACE QUICK NOTES
Stage One:
· Kyle Larson scored his fourth NASCAR Cup Series pole win of 2022 at Martinsville Speedway, leading the field to the green in the Round of 8 elimination race. Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Chase Elliott, was second-fastest in qualifying to give Chevrolet a sweep of the front row starting spots.
· Stage One went caution-free, with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson (68 laps led) and Chase Elliott (52 laps led) leading a combined 120 of the 130 laps in the stage.
· Chevrolet playoff contender, Chase Elliott, led Team Chevy to the end of the stage in the second-position.
· Stage One Team Chevy Top-10:
2nd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
4th Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
9th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1
10th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
Stage Two:
· In similar fashion, Chase Elliott and the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1 team scored valuable stage points, recording a second-place finish in Stage Two.
· Elliott led Chevrolet to four top-10 finishes in the stage for the second time of the race.
· Stage Two Team Chevy Top-10:
2nd Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Camaro ZL1
3rd Kyle Larson, No. 5 HendrickCars.com Camaro ZL1
9th Ross Chastain, No. 1 Moose Fraternity Camaro ZL1
10th Daniel Suarez, No. 99 Worldwide Express Camaro ZL1
Final Stage / Post-Race Notes:
· Two Chevrolet drivers will make up the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, with Hendrick Motorsports’, Chase Elliott, and Trackhouse Racing’s, Ross Chastain, set to compete for the NCS driver’s championship title next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.
· This marks Elliott’s third consecutive appearance in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4, with his first in 2020 delivering the Georgia native his first career championship title in the series.
· Chastain’s berth into the NASCAR Cup Series Championship 4 comes in his first career appearance in the series’ playoffs. This is also Trackhouse Racing’s first Championship 4 appearance in the organization’s second season in NASCAR’s premier series.
· Chevrolet – who already clinched its series-leading 41st NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturer’s Championship – will head to Phoenix Raceway looking for its 34th NASCAR Cup Series Driver’s Championship.
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