Chase Briscoe Captures First Career Cup Win at Phoenix

All of the Cup races of the 2022 season thus far have proven that the NEXTGen car is delivering on most of its bold promises. So far, each of the four races has featured excellent on-track battles, numerous lead changes, and four different victors, including two first-time winners in the series. This past Sunday, NASCAR concluded its west-coast swing with a trip to Phoenix Raceway and while the race wasn’t as exciting as the three prior, it still produced a lot of surprises.

LAP 1: Ryan Blaney led the field to the green flag from the pole position, and the #11 of Denny Hamlin started 2nd beside him on the front row. When the green flag dropped, Blaney began to pull away to a 1.2-second lead.

CAUTION – LAP 25: The yellow flag waved for the competition caution so teams could check tire wear and make adjustments. Blaney exited pit road in first place but was caught speeding and had to restart at the rear of the field, along with Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Michael McDowell, who also sped on pit road. Chase Briscoe in the #14 inherited the lead on the restart.

CAUTION – LAP 45: Corey Lajoie in the #7 brought out the yellow when he lost the right-front tire. Cody Ware in the #51 then ran over Lajoie’s tire. William Byron in the #24 took over following the restart.

STAGE 1 END – LAP 60: William Byron won the stage and collected the playoff point. Behind him, Chase Briscoe, Chase Elliott, Tyler Reddick, and Alex Bowman rounded out the Top 5 respectively. Ryan Blaney and Kyle Busch decided to stay out of the pits during the break and led the field back to green to start the second stage, with Blaney pulling away.

CAUTION – LAP 118: The #20 of Christopher Bell spun on the backstretch, which brought out the fourth yellow flag of the day.

STAGE 2 END – LAP 185: Ryan Blaney won the stage and collected the playoff point after battling back from the earlier speeding penalty. Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, William Byron, and Kyle Larson rounded out the Top 5 respectively and collected points. Chase Elliott won the race off pit road with Blaney close behind. The two swapped the lead position several times throughout most of the final stage.

CAUTION – LAP 220: Martin Truex Jr in the #19 Toyota experienced a blown right-front tire which caused him to lose control and slam the wall in Turn 2. The #19 sustained significant damage that ended Truex’s day.

LAP 239: Kyle Larson, who started the race from the rear due to unapproved steering adjustments, experienced issues with his engine. Larson surrendered his 5th place spot to head to the garage, where his day ended.

CAUTION – LAP 285: The #43 of Erik Jones spun by himself on the backstretch. Several cars opted to pit, which shook up the front-runners and put Chase Briscoe in the top spot.

CAUTION – LAP 305: The final yellow flag of the race came out for the #9 of Chase Elliott who spun on the backstretch. This caution triggers a restart with just three laps to go.

CHECKERED FLAG – LAP 312: Chase Briscoe managed to hold off a charging Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick to win the first race of his Cup Series career.

RESULTS: 

1. Chase Briscoe
2. Ross Chastain
3. Tyler Reddick
4. Ryan Blaney
5. Kurt Busch
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Kyle Busch
8. Joey Logano
9. Daniel Suarez
10. Chris Buescher
11. Chase Elliott
12. Aric Almirola
13. Denny Hamlin
14. Alex Bowman
15. Ty Dillon
16. Cole CUster
17. Justin Haley
18. William Byron
19. Todd Gilliland
20. AJ Allmendinger
21. Austin Dillon
22. Bubba Wallace
23. Brad Keselowski
24. Austin Cindric
25. Erik Jones
26. Christopher Bell
27. Michael McDowell
28. Ricky Stenhouse Jr
29. Harrison Burton
30. Landon Cassill
31. Cody Ware
32.  Garrett Smithley
33. BJ McLeod
34. Kyle Larson
35. Martin Truex Jr
36. Corey Lajoie