Nashville Race Review and Analysis
Racing in music city! The Nascar Cup Series visited Nashville Superspeedway for a Sunday showdown! After a long fought race, Chase Elliott takes home the checkered flag! This is Elliott’s 2nd win of the 2022 season and the 15th of his career. Chase Elliott joins Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron, and Ross Chastain as the only drivers with two wins in the season.
(Chase Elliott with the Checkered Flag)
The weather was a huge issue in today’s race. This weekend was hot in Nashville, majority of the weekend the temperature stayed around 90 to 100 degrees. The race cars were even hotter, as AJ Allmedinger's #16 machine read 111 degrees inside the car. 94 degrees was the temperature at Nashville Superspeedway when the race started at 5:00pm ET. A lightning delay came when a lighting strike hit within an 8-mile radius of the track. The Delay was about an hour after drivers climbed back into their racecars. Martin Truex Jr. won both the first and second stages. Truex Jr. now has 5 stage wins on the season. The longest delay of the night came when a pop-up shower hit the Nashville concrete surface, pushing the second half of the race back. We saw the final segment of tonight’s race in Nashville at around 10:00pm ET. Tonight’s race finished at 12:00am ET, after a long, and grueling Sunday in Tennessee.
Let’s rewind to the beginning of today’s race with Josh Bilicki’s power steering issue in the opening laps. This was the first caution as the #77 had a day to forget about in Nashville. Following this was the first delay of lightning near the race track. When the race went back green, Alex Bowman and William Byron both saw issues. For Bowman, he brought out the first caution for a spin as he got loose in the middle of turn 2. William Byron who finished 35th is Hendrick Motorsports teammates with Alex Bowman who finished 36th. Byron saw trouble with his steering rack breaking in his #24 machine. This ended both Hendrick Motorsports cars to the garage early on in today’s race. Bubba Wallace, who was set up to have a stellar day, was taken out of contention once again by his pit crew. Wallace had a loose wheel which forced him to give up track position and positive momentum. Wallace was fast in practice, as he was 1st on Friday. In qualifying, the #23 team struggled with a starting position of 30th. Wallace drove his #23 machine up to 7th before his pit road mishap. After an up and down, dreadful race, Wallace wheels his way to a 12th-place finish. After the long rain delay, Chris Buescher brought out the caution with 45 laps to go. Buescher was having a decent race until his issue, he finishes 30th. With a tire falling off of his #17 machine, his crew chief and a few crew members will be suspended for the next four races. A fine to the crew chief will also be added as an addition. Josh Bilicki once again brought out the caution with 9 laps to go. Bilicki diced things up once again as this put the field back together for a final sprint to the finish. Josh Bilicki, after a rough night, finishes 33rd. The final caution in tonight’s race came with Brad Keselowski and Cole Custer. Keselowski and Custer tangled, which led to almost a crucial overtime leading caution. Both drivers were able to continue as this didn’t affect Chase Elliott, Custer went on the finish 26th, and Keselowski finished 29th.
(Chase Eilliott in Victory Lane)
Drivers who had stellar performances this afternoon were Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Ross Chastain. Kurt Busch who was a consistent driver throughout tonight ran a stellar race. Busch stayed out of trouble which paid off as he crosses the line 2nd. Ryan Blaney for Team Penske still hasn’t recorded a points-paying race win, his only win came at the All-Star race in Texas. Blaney ran well throughout the evening, even with the delays he finishes 3rd. Kyle Larson, who dominated the 2021 Nashville race, showed speed in his #5 car. Larson was a contender all afternoon as he floated around the top ten, he crosses the line 4th. To round out the top five in Nashville was Ross Chastain. Chastain for Trackhouse Racing ran well, and so did his fellow teammate Daniel Suarez. Chastain ran a clean race, which paid off for a 5th place finish. Honorable mentions go to Denny Hamlin, Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, and Bubba Wallace. Denny Hamlin led 114 laps, he was dominant but crossed the line 6th. Austin Cindric drove his way up through the field multiple times today. Cindric crosses the line 7th, Road America is up next which is a great track for Cindric. Christopher Bell, for the #20 team of Joe Gibbs Racing ran well. Bell showed flashes which helped as he finished 8th. Bubba Wallace deserves an honorable mention. Even though he finished 12th, and was previously mentioned earlier in the article, what he did was impressive. Wallace’s team has let him down numerous times throughout this season. If Wallace’s pit crew is mistake-free this season, Wallace could be locked into the playoffs with a win. Wallace voiced his frustration over the radio after his team's struggles by saying, “It’s not even fun anymore, it breaks my heart to say that”. Wallace’s team will need to improve if they want a chance in the 2022 playoffs this season. Favorable tracks like Atlanta, Michigan, and the regular-season finale Daytona races are coming up this summer. Wallace is more than capable of winning at these venues. Joey Logano finished in 9th, followed by Kevin Harvick in 10th to round out the top ten.
Teams who did not have the best evenings were Joe Gibbs Racing, and Hendrick Motorsports. The #18 and #19 for Joe Gibbs Racing looked promising during today’s race. On a late-race pit stop cycle, both cars couldn’t recover to contest for today’s win. Both drivers combined for 136 laps led, Martin Truex Jr. with 82, and Kyle Busch with 54. Hendrick Motorsports saw issues with two of their cars seeing issues early on in today’s race. Both Bowman and Byron were projected to be contenders for today’s race win. A 35th, and 36th race result came from Byron and Bowman as a result. RFK Racing didn’t have the best of days either. Like both Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, a strong start led to a lackluster finish. Both RFK Racing cars wreck in the closing laps, Buescher comes home 30th, as Keselowski is just ahead in 29th. Chase Briscoe and Cole Custer were for Stewart Haas Racing, both had issues. Custer’s vigorous 2022 season continues as he comes home 26th, and Briscoe finishes 34th.
In my opinion, today was good. The racing product, NBC’s TV coverage, and the packed house in Nashville were all great. We saw tight and actioned packed racing, which is continuing the streak of stellar intermediate races. Even with the delays, the action didn’t stop, which was great to see. Onto Road America for the fourth of July weekend! I’d rate today’s action a 9 out of 10. The only knockdown on the total score is from the delay’s besides that today was great for Nascar.
A road course weekend around Nascar!
The Nascar Cup Series will head to Road America,
located in Elk Heart Lake, Wisconsin, for the Kwik Trip
250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America. Both
the Xfinity and Cup Series will make the trip to Road
America. Practice will be Friday at 5:30pm ET, with
qualifying at 6:00pm ET for the Xfinity Series.
The Xfinity Series race will be at 2:30pm ET on
Saturday. The Cup Series will have practice at
11:30pm ET, followed by qualifying at 12:20pm ET
on Saturday. The Camping World Truck Series has
the weekend off, they will return at Mid-Ohio on
July 9th. The Nascar Cup Series at Road America
will be Sunday, July 3rd, at 3:00pm only on
USA Network.
( All images credited to https://www.foxsports.com/nascar/cup-series.)
For next week's race information please view the link down below:
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