2022 Ag-Pro 300
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 33 in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series | |||
 | |||
| Date | April 23, 2022 | ||
| Official name | 31st Annual Ag-Pro 300 | ||
| Location | Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (0.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 124 laps, 329.84 mi (530.82 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.74 km) | ||
| Average speed | 123.024 mph (197.988 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||
| Time | 52.454 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Austin Hill | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 67 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Adam Alexander, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 2022 Ag-Pro 300 was the ninth stock car race of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series, the 31st iteration of the event, and the third race of the Dash 4 Cash. The race was held on Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 mile (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The Dash 4 Cash in this race is consisted of Brandon Jones, Landon Cassill, A. J. Allmendinger, and Austin Hill, since they were the highest finishing Xfinity regulars after Martinsville Speedway. The race was extended from 113 laps to 124 laps, due to three NASCAR overtime attempts. At race's end, Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports would grab the win, after being able to take the lead on the final restart.[1] This was Gragson's seventh career Xfinity Series win, and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, Jeffrey Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing and A. J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Allmendinger would win the Dash 4 Cash, after finishing ahead of Cassill, Jones, and Hill.[1]
This was the debut race for Chandler Smith.[2]
Background
[edit]Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family. As of 2021, the track hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, with a length of 2.66 miles (4.281 km), compared to the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The total peak capacity of Talladega is around 175,000 spectators,[3][4][5] with the main grandstand capacity being about 80,000.[6]
Entry list
[edit]- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Qualifying
[edit]Qualifying was held on Friday, April 22, at 4:30 PM CST.[7] Since Talladega Superspeedway is a superspeedway, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with two rounds. In the first round, drivers have one lap to set a time. The fastest ten drivers from the first round move on to the second round. Whoever sets the fastest time in Round 2 wins the pole.[8]
Jeffrey Earnhardt, driving the iconic No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing, scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.454 seconds and a speed of 182.560 mph (293.802 km/h). It was Earnhardt's first career pole in NASCAR, along with his first at Talladega. It was also the first pole for Larry McReynolds as a crew chief since 2000.[9]
Full qualifying results
[edit]Race results
[edit]Stage 1 Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 21 | Austin Hill (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 |
| 7 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 2 Laps: 25
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 9 |
| 3 | 21 | Austin Hill (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 7 |
| 5 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 6 |
| 6 | 18 | Drew Dollar | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 3 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 |
Stage 3 Laps: 74
| Fin. | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | 9 | Noah Gragson | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 7 | Running | 44 |
| 2 | 1 | 3 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 124 | 10 | Running | 38 |
| 3 | 13 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 124 | 6 | Running | 42 |
| 4 | 10 | 38 | Ryan Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 124 | 0 | Running | 33 |
| 5 | 6 | 10 | Landon Cassill | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 39 |
| 6 | 12 | 23 | Anthony Alfredo | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 3 | Running | 34 |
| 7 | 20 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 124 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 8 | 24 | 07 | Joe Graf Jr. | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 124 | 0 | Running | 29 |
| 9 | 31 | 31 | Myatt Snider | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 30 |
| 10 | 18 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 28 |
| 11 | 16 | 8 | Josh Berry | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 5 | Running | 36 |
| 12 | 21 | 36 | Alex Labbé | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 25 |
| 13 | 9 | 18 | Drew Dollar | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 124 | 1 | Running | 29 |
| 14 | 32 | 53 | Shane Lee | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Ford | 124 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 15 | 22 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Our Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 23 |
| 16 | 36 | 35 | Joey Gase | Emerling-Gase Motorsports | Ford | 124 | 0 | Running | 21 |
| 17 | 29 | 4 | Bayley Currey | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 20 |
| 18 | 37 | 39 | Kyle Sieg | RSS Racing | Ford | 124 | 0 | Running | 19 |
| 19 | 26 | 78 | Josh Williams | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 18 |
| 20 | 7 | 6 | Ryan Vargas | JD Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | Running | 17 |
| 21 | 33 | 47 | Gray Gaulding | Mike Harmon Racing | Chevrolet | 123 | 0 | Running | 16 |
| 22 | 11 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 122 | 13 | Fuel Pressure | 30 |
| 23 | 34 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Jeremy Clements Racing | Chevrolet | 122 | 0 | Running | 14 |
| 24 | 4 | 2 | Sheldon Creed (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 1 | Accident | 13 |
| 25 | 23 | 45 | Caesar Bacarella | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 113 | 0 | Accident | 12 |
| 26 | 15 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 110 | 0 | DVP | 18 |
| 27 | 2 | 21 | Austin Hill (R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 110 | 67 | Accident | 24 |
| 28 | 14 | 1 | Sam Mayer | JR Motorsports | Chevrolet | 109 | 2 | Accident | 20 |
| 29 | 8 | 48 | Kaz Grala (i) | Big Machine Racing | Chevrolet | 103 | 0 | Accident | 0 |
| 30 | 17 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Chevrolet | 103 | 1 | Accident | 11 |
| 31 | 27 | 5 | Matt Mills | B. J. McLeod Motorsports | Chevrolet | 96 | 0 | Accident | 6 |
| 32 | 38 | 44 | Ryan Ellis | Alpha Prime Racing | Chevrolet | 84 | 0 | DVP | 5 |
| 33 | 35 | 08 | David Starr | SS-Green Light Racing | Ford | 83 | 1 | DVP | 4 |
| 34 | 5 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | DVP | 3 |
| 35 | 3 | 54 | Ty Gibbs | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 76 | 5 | Accident | 17 |
| 36 | 28 | 66 | J. J. Yeley | MBM Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51 | 2 | DVP | 1 |
| 37 | 25 | 91 | Mason Massey | DGM Racing | Chevrolet | 47 | 0 | Accident | 1 |
| 38 | 30 | 26 | Chandler Smith (i) | Sam Hunt Racing | Toyota | 47 | 0 | Accident | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
[edit]- ^ a b Spencer, Reid (April 23, 2022). "Noah Gragson holds off Earnhardt, wins in Talladega overtime; Dash 4 Cash to Allmendinger". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (April 23, 2022). "Chandler Smith Joins Sam Hunt Racing for Three Races, Xfinity Debut Set for Talladega". TobyChristie.com.
- ^ "Talladega is known for speed, but slow down and take in what the Alabama city offers". April 19, 2019.
- ^ "Talladega Superspeedway". December 31, 2017. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
- ^ "Track Facts". Talladega Superspeedway. Archived from the original on April 16, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2010.
- ^ Utter, Jim (November 27, 2013). "Talladega Superspeedway to reduce seating to 80,000". The Charlotte Observer. The McClatchy Company. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
- ^ "2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Talladega Spring Race Page". Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site. Retrieved April 17, 2022.
- ^ "NASCAR announces practice, qualifying return in 2022". Official Site Of NASCAR. 2021-11-19. Retrieved 2022-02-21.
- ^ Srigley, Joseph (April 22, 2022). "Jeffrey Earnhardt, Larry McReynolds Put Richard Childress Racing No. 3 on Pole at Talladega". TobyChristie.com.