By Aaron Bearden
After each NASCAR race weekend, Motorsports Beat will share a piece breaking down the stories and takeaways from the weekend. This is a report on NASCAR’s March trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Cup Series
Race: Pennzoil 400
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Who Won?
Alex Bowman, following a smart two-tire pit strategy before NASCAR overtime and a fierce late battle with his teammate Kyle Larson.
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Hendrick gamble pays off
Had only one Hendrick Motorsports team elected to take two tires at the end of Sunday’s race, the end result likely would have been a loss. William Byron was unable to hold on to his third-place spot over the final two laps.
But the trio of Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson and Byron all pitting gave them an edge. Bowman and Larson restarted alongside each other and stayed side-by-side for the entire two-lap dash, providing little opportunity for anyone else to pass them.
That set the duo up to battle for the win. But while Bowman ultimately prevailed, he was admittedly unsure of his chances for success heading into the final restart. Larson had the edge and was coming off of five wins in seven Cup races dating back to 2021.
But when Larson chose the top for the restart, Bowman knew he had a chance.
“I just felt like when he took the top, I was way more confident,” Bowman said. “The bottom was where I wanted to be. It was where my car worked the best. I thought that gave me my best shot.”
Bowman and the No. 48 team have made a habit out of finding victory lane in the past two years. The Arizonian’s five wins since the start of 2021 trail only Larson’s 11 during that same stretch.
He didn’t lead many laps in Sunday’s race, pacing just 16 laps along the way. But Bowman won both a stage and the overall race, bouncing back from a mid-race penalty for equipment interference on pit road to lock in his postseason place with a win.
The win was a moment of redemption for crew chief Greg Ives, who saw a potential win at the same track slip away after pitting late. It also continued a trend of late-race surges for Bowman – four of his five wins in the past calendar year have come from a pass for the lead in the final 10 laps.
Clean between teammates
The one that may have breathed the biggest sigh of relief was the checkered flag flew on Sunday was team owner Rick Hendrick.
One week removed from controversial contact between Larson and Chase Elliott, Larson and Bowman delivered a clean battle for the win that came down to the final seconds of the race.
“I thought they raced one another clean but very aggressive,” vice chairman Jeff Gordon said afterward. “I talked to Kyle Larson there at the end, he was trying really hard to stay on the outside of Alex and maybe even pushed it a little too hard and got the car tight. Alex, I was talking to him in Victory Lane, (and he said) ‘I drove in there as hard as I could. I didn’t know if it was going to stick and it did.'”
Larson was disappointed to come home second on the day, but was pleased with his team and the battle with Bowman overall after his narrow defeat on the day.
“I was happy we made that call,” Larson said of the two-tire decision. “It’s kind of what I wanted to do, and when I heard them say we were taking two tires, I was pleased by it.
“The grip was surprising. I had good grip there on two tires, I just got a little too focused on side-drafting him into (Turn) 3. Maybe if I could play it back again, I would try and just get a better arc and angle into 3 because when I got in there next to him, I just got really tight and had to lift out of the throttle.”
Busch knocks Bowman
The only one up front that showed obvious frustration was Kyle Busch, who could only watch as Bowman rolled to a win that he thought should have been his. “The same ****ing guy that backs into every ****ing win that he ever ****ing gets, backs into another ****ing win,” Busch exclaimed on the cooldown lap.
Busch later explained his side of the two-lap dash.
“The Hendrick cars all took two tires and that plugged up the front row for the green-white-checkered,” Busch said. “They had the right strategy. They did the right thing to block out the competition behind them.”
Prior to the late caution that forced overtime, Busch appeared poised to win and cap off an impressive comeback. The Nevadan had endured a difficult week, destroying his No. 18 Toyota in practice and then getting caught up in a spin early in Stage 1 with his backup car.
Yet as the race went on, Busch steadily rose into contention. He cracked the top-10 in Stage 1, rose to fifth in Stage 2 and finally positioned himself to chase the win after his team elected to undercut leaders Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. on round of green flag pit stops in the final stage
That put Busch in the lead and he held onto the spot with the laps winding down. Truex rose to challenge in the final 20 laps, but Busch withstood his charge. The two-time Cup champ was about a minute from victory when Erik Jones and Bubba Wallace crashed with just three laps remaining in regulation.
The caution opened the door for everyone else. Busch was called to pit road for four tires, three Hendrick drivers took two and Busch couldn’t make anything happen in the final run to the checkered flag. He ultimately settled for fourth, getting pipped at the line for third by Ross Chastain.
Busch credited Joe Gibbs Racing for working hard over the weekend to give him a chance to win.
“Just a great effort by everybody at Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing for all the hard work and my guys on the 18 team and also the 11, 19 and 20,” Busch said. “They just did a really good job of getting us here today.
“We had no choice, we had to be here, but they worked really hard all night long and put in a lot of hours, so that was good, and to have the opportunity to go out and race for a win that was really good too. We tried to make the most of it there, but luck just wasn’t on our side.”
Ross Chastain rises up
For the second straight week, Trackhouse Racing found themselves with a contender up front in the closing laps. This time around it was Ross Chastain, who put together one of his best drives to date.
Running in his third race for the organization, Chastain rose up to the lead in Stage 2 and won the stage. He went on to lead 83 laps, the most of anyone on the day, and held the top spot until Busch passed him during the final stage’s green flag put sequence.
Chastain never made it back to the front from there, but he stayed in contention. The Floridian was in third behind Busch and Truex as they battled late, ready to capitalize if they made a mistake.
That never happened, but Chastain made one final push forward in overtime to secure a strong third-place finish at day’s end.
“This is what all the work is for,” Chastain said afterward. “This is why we train and try to build our whole lives and careers once we realize we can race at this level, to have race cars like that. I couldn’t be more proud of Trackhouse and thankful for Justin Marks and Chevrolet.”
The result was a turn in the right direction for Chastain, lifting the former Chip Ganassi Racing competitor up in the standings after crashes hampered his weekends at Daytona International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway.
Chastain admitted to being cautious with his aggression late, saying “I knew it was going to be tough with only two laps, and I just never wanted to put my car in a position to wreck.
“Probably the closest we were was when Christopher [Bell] spun in front of me. Other than that, I don’t really feel like we made any mistakes. I’ll learn how to keep up with the track better, and we’ll learn.”
Notes
- Three races into the season there have been 25 different drivers with top-10s finishes. That’s the most for NASCAR’s top tour since 1973.
- Tire troubles were still prevalent in Las Vegas, but they didn’t appear to be as race-ruining as they’d been in the opening two weeks. Drivers were mostly able to limp their cars to pit road without losing multiple laps in the process. This remains a work in progress, though.
- Aric Almirola just keeps quietly chugging along. The Floridian has three top-10s to open 2022 and five straight top-10s dating back to the end of 2021.
- Kyle Busch’s choice words to say about Alex Bowman’s win during the cool down lap might just get made into a shirt.
- Denny Hamlin suffered broken gears and an early exit on Sunday after he had trouble following the final stage’s green flag pit stops. Hamlin has two DNFs in the opening three races, matching his DNF total from 2020 and ’21 combined.
- Christopher Bell’s day wound up being fairly quiet, but early on the pole sitter led 32 laps to tie his personal best mark for a single race. He also scored his first top-10 of the season.
Wise Power 400 Results
- Alex Bowman
- Kyle Larson
- Ross Chastain
- Kyle Busch
- William Byron
- Aric Almirola
- Tyler Reddick
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Chase Elliott
- Christopher Bell
- Austin Dillon
- Kevin Harvick
- Kurt Busch
- Joey Logano
- Corey LaJoie
- Harrison Burton
- Justin Haley
- Chris Buescher
- Austin Cindric
- Ty Dillon
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Daniel Hemric
- Todd Gilliland
- Brad Keselowski
- Bubba Wallace
- Cody Ware
- Michael McDowell
- BJ McLeod
- Josh Bilicki
- Garrett Smithley
- Erik Jones
- Denny Hamlin
- Cole Custer
- Greg Biffle
- Chase Briscoe
- Ryan Blaney
- Daniel Suarez
Stage 1
- Alex Bowman
- William Byron
- Ross Chastain
- Denny Hamlin
- Chase Elliott
- Kyle Larson
- Ryan Blaney
- Chase Briscoe
- Kyle Busch
- Christopher Bell
Stage 2
- Ross Chastain
- Chase Elliott
- Kyle Larson
- William Byron
- Kyle Busch
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Joey Logano
- Kevin Harvick
- Denny Hamlin
- Bubba Wallace
Next Up: A trip to the host of the championship race, Phoenix Raceway, for the Ruoff Mortgage 500 on March 13 at 3:30 p.m. ET.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Race: Alsco Uniforms 300
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Who Won?
Ty Gibbs. He wasn’t the dominant driver on the day, but Gibbs snagged the lead when it counted most to score an early season victory.
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Ty’s topsy-turvy day
Long before his eventual rise to victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Ty Gibbs found himself embroiled in an exchange with the veteran Ryan Sieg on pit road.
Gibbs and Sieg collided just three laps into Saturday’s race, when Gibbs closed in on the rear bumper of Sieg’s car in Turn 3 and got him loose, sending Sieg spinning and backing into the outside wall.
Sieg’s No. 39 RSS Racing Ford suffered significant right-rear damage in the shunt, effectively eliminating him from the race. When foul weather descended upon Las Vegas moments later, the Georgian walked over to Gibbs’ No. 18 Toyota to discuss the accident.
… and now, the discussion. 😳 pic.twitter.com/PODtcdIWKb
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 5, 2022
“I go into him and it was totally my fault,” Gibbs admitted afterward. “We were all packed up underneath each other there. Once he started to get a little bit aero-free, once it happens it’s so quick when they come to you. I just didn’t have enough to get out of it, and we’ve seen it before.”
A frustrated Sieg told FOX Sports that Gibbs wasn’t racing wisely for how early the incident was in the event.
“He knows what he’s doing,” Sieg said. “He’s got the best car in the garage and then he just races you… Not very smart early on Lap 10. He’s got the best car out here, way out from everybody. Just not smart on his part.
“We’re trying to survive and make it through these two, just. riding along and then you get packed with air and you’re already free. Sucks for our CMR guys. All of our guys work hard – Cowboy, everybody on the team puts in together. We’re trying to run three (races) right now with a very slim crew.
“It’s tough, but it is what it is.”
Sieg went on to say that Gibbs has “probably got to learn his lesson, if you know what I mean,” saying he didn’t think the altercation was over.
True to his word, Sieg returned to the track after the weather delay and made an attempt at payback. Driving a car that was failing to meet minimum speed, Sieg waited until Gibbs was nearby and then tried to squeeze him up the track. But Sieg lost control, spinning around and collecting Sheldon Creed and Brett Moffitt in a second crash.
Here's a look at what happened between @RyanSiegRacing and @TyGibbs_ shortly after the restart. pic.twitter.com/6k8yDvRi4A
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) March 5, 2022
“Wow, that was really smart there,” radioed Gibbs’ No. 54 team. “Maybe he can go punch a bag at home or something.”
Gibbs suffered minimal damage and rallied, rising to the front and restarting second late in the race. Justin Allgaier gave him a strong push into Turn 1 and Gibbs cleared former leader Noah Gragson, driving off to his first win of the 2022 season.
“I want to apologize to the 39 (Sieg) for the contact I made, it wasn’t my best decision and I’m sorry to the whole group, Ryan’s family they work so hard,” Gibbs said.
“I want to say thank you to Justin Allgaier for my push, too. I had a fun time racing with the JR (Motorsports) cars, too, so hopefully we can keep it going and win some more races.”
No win for Noah
With five laps to go in Saturday’s race, Noah Gragson seemed poised to pick up a victory at his home track. He led the way, sharing the front row with Gibbs after a quiet day for the 19-year-old prospect.
But it wasn’t meant to be. Gragson didn’t fire off well enough to clear Gibbs. A push from Gragson’s teammate, Allgaier, allowed Gibbs to carry momentum through the opening turns and he cleared the Nevadan off of Turn 2.
Gragson settled for second – a deflating end to an up-and-down day after he’d battled through a vibration in the final stage.
“I just came up a little short on that last restart,” Gragson admitted. “I guess that’s the box we are in … I got warned earlier in the race for doing something similar to that (the final restart) but I just need to be better. I’m thankful for this team led by Luke Lambert, and we’ll come back stronger next week.”
While the end result was disappointing, it continued a strong early season effort for Gragson. The Chevrolet prospect has three-straight top-fives to open the 2022 campaign, giving him an early 17-point edge on Gibbs for the championship lead.
Wins will ultimately be necessary for Gragson to mount a championship charge. But his early consistency has shown that Gragson may be a serious title threat as the year goes on.
Fear and snowing in Las Vegas
You truly never know what a NASCAR race weekend will bring. Sometimes its a hard cash or controversial battle, others elicit debates over rules and issues on pit road.
But Saturday’s Xfinity race threw something few could have predicted going into the year – wintry mix in the desert.
A red flag was thrown in the early stages of the race as rain fell on the 1.5-mile oval. It quickly turned to a mixture of sleet and snow, leaving drivers searching for warmth as they waited out the red.
Maybe Ryan Sieg and Ty Gibbs can resolve their #XfinitySeries incident with a friendly snowball fight? pic.twitter.com/PaFDvojG7H
— Xfinity Racing (@XfinityRacing) March 5, 2022
Mind you, it was sunny and roughly 70 degrees in Charlotte as teams waited out sleet in Las Vegas. Just another strange scenario in the midst of a NASCAR season.
Notes
- Saturday’s race was a caution-filled affair, with 11 cautions on the day. They combined with the weather delay to provide a program that rivaled most Vegas Cup races in time to completion.
- Noah Gragson’s three top-fives in as many races to open the 2022 Xfinity Series season are the most he’s managed consecutively since the final three races of the 2020 season. The consistency has Gragson in the points lead heading to Phoenix Raceway.
- Sam Mayer didn’t get the end result he wanted after a late crash, but the JR Motorsports prospect ran inside of the top-five for much of the race and was competitive with his teammates. “The finish is disappointing for sure but there’s so much good that we can take away from this one,” he said.
- Landon Cassill finally got through a race without a significant setback for Kaulig Racing, scoring a sixth-place finish that served as his best run with the series since 2011.
- Speaking of best runs, Ryan Ellis made the most of his run for Alpha Prime Racing. Driving a sharp Four Loko scheme, Ellis quietly rose to 13th to notch the best finish of his Xfinity Series career.
- Kyle Sieg also notched a career-best finish, ending the day in 16th.
Alsco Uniforms 300 Results
- Ty Gibbs
- Noah Gragson
- Daniel Hemric
- Josh Berry
- Justin Allgaier
- Landon Cassill
- Sheldon Creed
- Brett Moffitt
- AJ Allmendinger
- Brandon Jones
- Jeremy Clements
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Ryan Ellis
- Riley Herbst
- Alex Labbe
- Kyle Sieg
- Anthony Alfredo
- Barely Currey
- Jeb Burton
- JJ Yeley
- Myatt Snider
- Joey Gase
- Kaz Grala
- CJ McLaughlin
- Sam Mayer
- Kyle Weatherman
- Mason Massey
- Jade Buford
- Brandon Brown
- Ryan Truex
- Austin Hill
- Ryan Vargas
- Stefan Parsons
- Jesse Iwuji
- Matt Mills
- Ryan Sieg
- Brennan Poole
- Joe Graf Jr.
Stage 1
- Noah Gragson
- Sam Mayer
- Josh Berry
- Ty Gibbs
- Ryan Truex
- AJ Allmendinger
- Austin Hill
- Brandon Jones
- Daniel Hemric
- John Hunter Nemechek
Stage 2
- Noah Gragson
- Ty Gibbs
- Sam Mayer
- Austin Hill
- Daniel Hemric
- Brandon Jones
- Josh Berry
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Ryan Truex
- Justin Allgaier
Next Up: A quick jaunt over to Phoenix Raceway for the LS Tractor 200 on March 12.
NASCAR Truck Series
Race: Victoria’s Voice 200
Track: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Who Won?
Chandler Smith. He jumped to the lead on a late restart and drove off to his first win of 2022.
Top Stories
Beating the boss
It was on that restart the Smith paid Busch back, snaking to his outside heading into Turn 1 and also jumping past Zane Smith to take the lead as Busch faded.
Zane gave Chandler a fierce late challenge in the battle of the Smiths, clearing Chandler off of Turn 2 on the final lap. But Chandler crossed Zane over and cleared him heading into Turn 3 to score his first victory of 2022.
Are you kidding??
The drag race to the white flag! The crossover on the back stretch! @CSmithDrive was making MOVES! pic.twitter.com/yL5FJXKOA8
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 5, 2022
“Boss man did to me the restart before so I was like, ‘Alright Kyle, I see how it’s going to be, we’re not going to help each other,’” Chandler Smith said. “So I kept that in the back of my head. We were in contention there at the very end and I stuck it three-wide and was able to clear Kyle (Busch) and get around Zane (Smith). It was all being in the right places at the right times.”
Zane Smith initially followed Chandler in second, but was disqualified after a post-race inspection failure tied to the lug nuts on his machine. That elevated Busch to second, just behind the driver he gave props to afterward for learning and getting him back.
“The 18 was definitely the best truck tonight,” Busch said. “They did a great job being able to execute there. We split them on that second-to-last restart and then on that last restart, he split us. Kind of a little payback I guess.”
Eckes goes for a ride
Before Smith’s late surge to victory, it was a former Kyle Busch Motorsports prospect – ThorSport Racing’s Christian Eckes – that led Busch at the front of the field.
Returning to the site of his lone Truck Series win to date in 2021, Eckes took the inside lane on a restart with 11 to go and drove clear of Smith to take the lead, bringing Ryan Preece along with him in second.
Eckes held the lead for two laps, but Busch quickly rose to second and closed in on the New York native for the lead. Seeing Busch in his mirror, Eckes tried to block the Nevadan.
But he wasn’t clear. Eckes turned across the nose of Busch’s No. 51 Toyota, spun down to the infield and clobbered the backstretch wall.
TROUBLE AT THE FRONT! @christianeckes and @KyleBusch come together and the No. 98 truck comes out with major damage. pic.twitter.com/dNXhVxAyYO
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 5, 2022
The accident spelled the end of Eckes’ day. He finished 28th, while Busch went on to battle Smith for the eventual race win a few laps later.
Turmoil between ThorSport teammates
Everything was going right for Ben Rhodes on Friday night… Until it wasn’t.
Rhodes led nine laps on the night and made the most of each of them, snagging both of the opening stage wins to take a pair of playoff points out of the evening. But with 30 laps remaining in the race, Rhodes was caught out when teammate Ty Majeski sent him into a spin.
Majeski had been looking to Rhodes’ outside in an attempted three-wide move when his No. 66 got loose. The late models standout then overcorrected and slid down the track, catching Rhodes’ right-rear and turning his No. 99 Toyota up into the outside wall.
Teammates collide! @ThorSportRacing duo @benrhodes and @TyMajeski make contact and the No. 99 hits the outside wall. pic.twitter.com/UOxAl5M7ED
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 5, 2022
Rhodes’ day was over from there. He finished 32nd and shifted up one spot to 31st after Zane Smith’s disqualification. The result was Rhodes’ first DNF since the 2020 season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
“I can’t speak to what happened with my teammate there, I’m just going to try to stay positive,’’ Rhodes said. “Can’t imagine my teammate trying to wreck me. Just a bummer.”
Majeski continued on to finish 10th.
Todd Bodine’s sloppy night
Among the usual mix of young prospects and veteran contenders was the return of two-time Truck Series champion Todd Bodine on Friday night.
A sentimental favorite for many longtime Truck Series fans, Bodine made his first start since 2013 as part of a plan to reach 800 NASCAR national series starts this season. Bodine competed in the No. 62 Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing, making the first of six planned starts on the year.
The effort proved to be an eventful one for Bodine. The 58-year-old managed to qualify for the race in 23rd, but the race itself proved to be a challenge. Bodine suffered two crashes, a pair of pit road speeding penalties and was sent back again for his crew jumping over the wall too soon.
Yet Bodine and the No. 62 team soldiered on, catching a few breaks with cautions and rising back to the lead lap in the closing stages of the race. Bodine went on to net a 21st-place finish, completing every lap and gaining valuable track time in the first of his six races this year.
Bodine’s next scheduled race will come at Darlington Raceway on May 6.
Notes
- Making his third series start, Ryan Preece appeared to have snagged the lead from Busch after the latter driver’s involvement in Eckes’ crash. But Preece suffered brief engine woes and slowed under the caution. He was forced to relinquish the spots he lost as it happened and never quite got back to the front.
- Kyle Busch is consistently a frontrunner when he ventures to the Truck Series. The Nevadan has 13 wins and seven runner-up runs in his past 23 Truck starts.
- Two races into the 2022 season, Tanner Gray already has more top-fives (2) than he did in the entirety of 2021. The former NHRA standout appears to be making steps in the right direction.
- Carson Hocevar made a trip through the infield grass after he suffered a mid-race spin. He says he’ll send Las Vegas Motor Speedway the mowing bill.
- Friday’s race was another caution-heavy one, with 10 cautions accounting for 38.8% of the race’s total distance. The longest two green-flag runs came in the opening two stages, while only three runs stretched longer than eight laps.
- Spencer Boyd was sent to a local hospital with what was believed to be a dislocated shoulder after crashing on the final lap of the race. He was released and will be cleared by his normal physician before competing at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
- Tanner Gray
- After making six Xfinity Series starts in 2021, Matt Jaskol made his first trip down to the Truck level on Friday. Jaskol finished 23rd at race’s end.
- Matt DiBenedetto put together another quiet run to delivery the Rackley W.A.R. squad its best run to date – a seventh-place finish.
- Two spots behind him was Bret Holmes, who tallied his first top-10 in his ninth series start.
- Matt Mills couldn’t match the top-10, but he did score a personal best result in 16th. A small step in the right direction.
Production Alliance 300 Results
- Chandler Smith
- Kyle Busch
- Stewart Friesen
- Ryan Preece
- Tanner Gray
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Matt Crafton
- Bret Holmes
- Austin Wayne Self
- Ty Majeski
- Dean Thompson
- Tate Fogleman
- Carson Hocevar
- Chase Purdy
- Matt Mills
- Tyler Ankrum
- Kris Wright
- Timmy Hill
- Lawless Alan
- Loris Hezemans
- Todd Bodine
- Matt Jaskol
- Grant Enfinger
- Derek Kraus
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Jordan Anderson
- Spencer Boyd
- Christian Eckes
- Thad Moffitt
- Kaz Grala
- Ben Rhodes
- Jack Wood
- Hailie Deegan
- Colby Howard
- Blaine Perkins
- Zane Smith
Stage 1
- Ben Rhodes
- Chandler Smith
- Tanner Gray
- Jack Wood
- Carson Hocevar
- Matt Crafton
- Kyle Busch
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Ty Majeski
- Ryan Preece
Stage 2
- Ben Rhodes
- Kyle Busch
- Ty Majeski
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Tanner Gray
- Chandler Smith
- Matt Crafton
- Christian Eckes
- Stewart Friesen
- Derek Kraus
Next Up: A race at the new-look Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Fr8Auctions 200 is set for March 19 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
