Daniel Suarez’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff hopes took a blow Sunday at Pocono Raceway with an exit after the first stage. He was collected in a restart crash on lap 36 going into Turn 1. The Trackhouse Racing driver was running on the inside lane …
Daniel Suarez’s NASCAR Cup Series playoff hopes took a blow Sunday at Pocono Raceway with an exit after the first stage.
He was collected in a restart crash on lap 36 going into Turn 1. The Trackhouse Racing driver was running on the inside lane when he was tagged by Bubba Wallace, who was sandwiched between Suarez and Michael McDowell as the field took evasive action when Joey Logano was sent spinning.
Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet hit the outside wall with the nose. The team made initial repairs to the car, but it began leaking oil when Suarez returned to the track.
“I got turned around on the right rear on a very fast straightaway,” Suarez said. “Just lucky we didn’t get wrecked big time, but unfortunately, we couldn’t continue anymore. But at the end of the day, it’s our fault. We shouldn’t be back there with those guys.
“We fought the balance of the car in the first stage. We lost a bunch of track position. We kind of got it back a little bit. I felt like once we got the balance, we were going to be able to drive the front. But we didn’t get the opportunity to and got wrecked before that. It was a racing incident, but we shouldn’t be back there racing with those guys anyway.”
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Suarez started 17th and finished 12th in the first stage. He and Logano were among the teams who elected to pit at the stage break and were lined up mid-pack for the restart.
“(I’m) definitely frustrated because I feel like we’re better than this,” Suarez said. “I’m frustrated also because I feel like guys are wrecking each other, and I’m the one that ended up out of the race without being in their mess. But what are you going to do – sometimes you’re on the good end of it, and sometimes you’re on the bad end of it. Unfortunately, today, I was on the short end of it.”
The first driver out of the HighPoint.com 400, Suarez will finish 36th. He will fall further behind the cutline after entering the weekend one point out of a playoff spot.
“It’s not great; it’s not ideal,” Suarez said. “But I have to control what I can control, and I cannot control some of the other guys. Like I said, in my mind, we shouldn’t be racing back there. We had a car capable of running in the top 10, top 15 at least, and we were running in the 20s because we missed the balance of the car in the first stage.
Daniel Suarez will start from the pole in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway after winning the first heat race Saturday night. He led twice for 34 laps. The No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet started from the pole in the heat race …
Daniel Suarez will start from the pole in the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway after winning the first heat race Saturday night.
He led twice for 34 laps. The No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet started from the pole in the heat race but lost the lead on the start to Chase Elliott, fighting back to regain the top spot on lap 27 and led the rest of the way.
“It was fun to go through those transitions of the wet track and then halfway dry. It wasn’t 100 percent dry, but it was halfway there,” Suarez said. “We started the race, and obviously, nobody knew what to expect. The No. 9 (Elliott) did a better job than myself. I don’t know if he was more aggressive or his car happened to work out better in the wet conditions because in the first 10 laps, I didn’t have anything for him. I was just trying to break even. On lap 15, I knew it was coming (to me). On lap 20, I knew I was better.”
There was one caution during the first heat race, and it was a competition caution for tires. NASCAR officials started the race on wet weather tires with the track still damp. On lap 33, officials threw the caution flag because the rain had picked up and had teams come down pit road for a new set of wet weather tires.
It was a non-competition pit stop cycle, so the field did not change position.
Suarez led Joey Logano across the finish line, who was followed by Chase Briscoe and Christopher Bell. Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five.
Ryan Blaney finished sixth, and Elliott finished seventh. Elliott led 26 laps.
Kevin Harvick finished eighth, Austin Cindric ninth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 10th and Erik Jones brought up the rear of the 11-car field.
Daniel Suarez did not expect NASCAR officials to fine him $50,000 earlier this week but understood their reaction while he also focused more on the actions of his fellow drivers that led to his frustration. On the cooldown lap at Circuit of The …
Daniel Suarez did not expect NASCAR officials to fine him $50,000 earlier this week but understood their reaction while he also focused more on the actions of his fellow drivers that led to his frustration.
On the cooldown lap at Circuit of The Americas, Suarez went on the hunt for Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman. Suarez first knocked Chastain out of the way coming to pit road to get to Bowman and then repeatedly ran into the back of Bowman as a NASCAR official was directing the field.
Suarez was fined but not docked championship points.
“No, I was not expecting that just because we were running – based on SMT and stuff I saw – below 20 miles per hour,” Suarez said Saturday at Richmond Raceway. “It was very, very slow. And also, the No. 48 car (Bowman) was brake-checking me, so we were not going quick. There was one official there and that was wrong.
“I was not expecting anything, but it is what it is. NASCAR wants to send a message and it’s OK. I’m OK with that. It’s not right what I did, but I don’t think that anything else was going to happen. I wasn’t going to kill somebody like a lot of people thought. But it is what it is; I’ve already moved on from that.”
Suarez restarted fifth on the inside lane and was tagged from behind by Bowman, who Chastain had hit. The contact from Bowman sent Suarez into Martin Truex Jr., which spun Truex.
Compounding matters, Truex came to a stop after the spin right in front of Suarez. Doing so forced Suarez to stop and have to back up before rejoining the race.
“It is what it is,” Suarez said. “I’ve been trying to work on myself mostly during the week, try to clear my mind and reset about my team. I think the issue wasn’t really with one driver; I feel like it’s more as an industry, how we are allowing to have those bump and run restarts at the end of races and road course stuff. I don’t think that’s right.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been affected twice, both times running in the top five. That’s the frustrating part for me because we always run well in road course racing and then we get taken out by dumb driving from no one driver, but a lot of drivers. It’s something NASCAR is working hard to figure out, and hopefully, they can come to a solution.”
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Suarez didn’t have an answer as to what NASCAR could do to avoid the carnage seen on late-race restarts at road courses. Some drivers spoke about single-file restarts, warning that if nothing changes, the same incidents will continue to happen at Indianapolis (where Turn 1 was an issue last year) as well as the Chicago street course, which drivers expect could see the course blocked during an incident because of how narrow it is.
“All I know is that NASCAR is working toward trying to make a better solution for some of these restarts because it doesn’t look right,” Suarez said. “The sport looks embarrassing in my mind and in the mind of many people. That’s not real to just go into the corner and bump three cars to push people out of the way. That’s not real, and we know that.
“But they do it because they know that’s how some people got top fives and top 10s last week and some of the guys that were fast, like me, we finished 27th. So, if NASCAR does something about it that’s amazing, and if they don’t, I just join the party, and I drive dumb into some of those restarts as well because that’s the way that it pays off better.”
Although frustrated and having made contact with Bowman and Chastain, there was no physical confrontation last weekend. Suarez hashed things out with Bowman on pit road and has mended fences with his teammate.
Chastain said the two are “brothers” at Trackhouse Racing but every family fights. Both seemed to have moved on from the incident.
“We worked it out on our way; we know what we did,” Suarez said. “It’s not the first time we’ve been in this position, and probably won’t be the last one. That’s part of racing. Both cars, on a consistent basis, we’re running in the top five, and we’re going to have situations like this. Sometimes I’m going to be unhappy with him, and sometimes he’s going to be unhappy with me. I don’t see it as a big deal when it comes to Trackhouse. There is not a story there.
“I think the big picture is the problem. What are we doing as a 40-driver group that is not right? Hopefully we can fix that. And like I said, if we don’t fix it, then the group of drivers that are not doing this kind of thing are just going to join the party, and we are going to make this embarrassing circus even bigger.”
Daniel Suárez is down $50,000 now, but at least he’s a sense of humor about it.
Following Sunday’s road-course race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, NASCAR on Wednesday dropped a hefty behavioral penalty against the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet driver, fining Suárez $50,000 for violating the rule book. He did not, however, lose any points in the standings.
Specifically, NASCAR penalized Suárez for running into the backs of Ross Chastain’s and Alex Bowman’s respective cars on pit road after the cool-down lap following Tyler Reddick’s victory. As they entered pit road, Suárez bumped Trackhouse teammate Chastain out of the way before rear-ending Bowman multiple times.
It was a dangerous sequence of events, and thankfully, Suárez didn’t injure anyone.
NASCAR isn’t a huge fan of intentional contact. But it really isn’t going to tolerate intentional and repeated contact on pit road after the race has ended. So although Suárez was not happy, particularly with Bowman, NASCAR wasn’t pleased with the dangerous way he expressed his frustration.
And following the news of Suárez’s fine, the Trackhouse driver responded with a joke in a now-deleted tweet:
A perfect response to being docked $50,000 — even if he (or others) didn’t think so.
But hopefully this means he’ll be less inclined to make intentional contact on pit road after a race.
So what prompted this post-race move from Suárez? It goes back to a late restart during the COTA race when Chastain got into Bowman and then Bowman into Suárez.
Suárez’s frustration seemed to stem from a double-overtime restart that saw him go from inside the top five down to a 27th-place finish after contact in the braking zone entering Turn 1. Chastain bumped Bowman into Suárez, sending the seventh-year veteran into 2017 Cup champion Martin Truex Jr., spinning Truex and flattening Suárez’s right-front tire. Bowman and Chastain continued on to finish in third and fourth place, respectively.
Daniel Suarez has been fined $50,000 for running into Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman on pit road at Circuit of The Americas. Suarez was fined but not issued a point penalty. He was penalized …
Daniel Suarez has been fined $50,000 for running into Trackhouse Racing teammate Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman on pit road at Circuit of The Americas.
Suarez was fined but not issued a point penalty. He was penalized under the behavioral section of the NASCAR rule book.
After the checkered flag in Sunday’s race, Suarez caught Chastain and knocked him out of the way as they came to pit road. Suarez was looking for Bowman, who he also ran into the back of — doing so multiple times — as the field slowed to follow the direction of NASCAR officials of where to park.
Suarez was unhappy because of contact on the overtime restarts in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. Suarez was running inside the top five when Bowman ran into the back of him after Bowman was hit from behind. He finished 27th.
The action got predictably heated on COTA’s late restarts. Motorsport Images
There were no physical confrontations on pit road, although Suarez had a conversation with both Chastain and Bowman.
“There’s a lot of emotion on pit road after the race,” team owner Justin Marks said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio earlier this week. “Obviously, Daniel was just stewing in his emotions on that cooldown lap and it didn’t stop after he hit the 48. He got out of his car and saw Ross there and knew Ross was a part of that train that was coming in and wanted to express his emotions to Ross. It’s part of the competitiveness of the series.”
While three seasons with a race team might not seem like much, it’s been invaluable for Daniel Suarez and his development as a NASCAR Cup Series driver. “I feel like with Trackhouse, I have grown a lot as a race car driver, as a person, and they …
While three seasons with a race team might not seem like much, it’s been invaluable for Daniel Suarez and his development as a NASCAR Cup Series driver.
“I feel like with Trackhouse, I have grown a lot as a race car driver, as a person, and they have given me the opportunity to just continue to get better and to grow,” Suarez told RACER. “I’m very thankful for that. I think we have a great future ahead of us; I think we’re in a very good position, and I can’t wait to continue to grow my race team and get more wins together.”
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An Xfinity Series champion, Suarez was moved into the Cup Series earlier than anticipated. And perhaps before he was ready to be thrust into the big leagues. Suarez ran with Joe Gibbs Racing for two years before moving to Stewart-Haas Racing for a season. Then came a disastrous year with Gaunt Brothers Racing in 2020 where he missed the season-opening Daytona 500 as the underfunded team attempted its first full season in the Cup Series.
But when Justin Marks founded his team, Suarez became the flagship driver. Marks has been all in on Suarez since the beginning, believing the best hadn’t shown from the Monterrey, Mexico, native.
Having the belief of the team behind you has been a game-changer for Suarez.
“It’s huge to know the team has your back, and regardless of what happens in the weekend, you’re all going to continue to work to get better,” Suarez said. “It’s pretty special. I haven’t had that in the past, really.
“I have had it to an extent, but never like I have with Trackhouse, and I feel very fortunate to be in this position. I truly feel that we have something great going on here.”
Suarez’s team is led by crew chief Travis Mack, who became a full-time Cup Series crew chief when joining Trackhouse Racing. Mack, who also had something to prove, joined the organization from JR Motorsports. What Mack and the rest of the No. 99 team do Suarez that is different is simple.
“They listen to me,” Suarez said. “I think that’s huge. They really listen to me if I tell them that I need this or we have to make an adjustment or we’re struggling. It’s important.
“And if I tell them that, for instance, we are struggling on pit road, we’re going to put a lot of work to be better on pit road. I feel like, in the past, it wasn’t the same. I feel like they have allowed me to make my racing better and that’s very special.”
The confidence to speak up has also helped Suarez become a better leader. After getting their footing underneath them in 2021, Suarez and Trackhouse Racing took a step forward in 2022 as both drivers – Suarez and Ross Chastain – won races and made the playoffs. It was a career year for Suarez, who improved in nearly every statistical category (win, top fives, top 10s, laps led, championship finish).
“I’m an extrovert, so I’m always trying to make things better,” Suarez said. “Not just for me but for my entire team, and Trackhouse has allowed me to use that to our advantage instead of just wasting it.”
The sudden career turnaround at Trackhouse Racing has also brought a different mindset. Suarez shows up every weekend knowing he and his race team can win races.
“That’s a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun to be in that position and I feel very fortunate. I have worked for years to put myself in that position where you have one of the best pit crews, one of the best engineers and one of the best crew chiefs. You have some of the best mechanics. It’s not easy to build a group like this, and today, I can say that I have it almost every weekend, and that’s a lot of fun.”
For The Win polled NASCAR drivers to see what they think about their competitors on and off the track.
The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season ended Sunday with Joey Logano winning his second championship after taking the checkered flag at Phoenix Raceway. And the end of the season means it’s time for For The Win’s annual NASCAR Superlatives.
Throughout the last several weeks, we polled 13 drivers with the same 10 questions about their competitors’ skills behind the wheel, as well as their personalities away from the track.
Obviously, there have been numerous examples this year of drivers being furious and frustrated with each other, but some of them are friends who have been racing against each other for a while. Our annual investigation reveals what some of them really think about each other.
Here’s what some of NASCAR’s top drivers had to say about each other this year. And if you’re curious about previous editions…
These answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.
1. Which driver who is not a champion will be a champion at some point?
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Daniel Suárez: You’re talking to him.
Joey Logano: Probably Ryan Blaney. I see the improvement he’s made over the last few years, and he’s got a ton of speed. So I’d say he’s getting closer and closer. He’s consistently in the Round of 8 every year for the last few, so I’d say he’s on the brink of making it to the Championship 4.
Bubba Wallace: Ryan Blaney.
Chase Elliott: Ryan Blaney.
Ryan Blaney: I don’t want to say myself because that would be too obvious of like, boosting your own ego. But obviously you want see yourself win a championship. Other than me, [William] Byron has been strong. Obviously, Denny Hamlin has kind of been on the verge of one for a long time.
Austin Cindric: It’s hard to not say Denny Hamlin. He’s come very close, and I think he’s probably the most realistic answer.
Ross Chastain: Ross Chastain.
Kyle Larson: William Byron. I feel like he’s very driven, very focused, works really hard and has a lot of talent, mentally is pretty tough. He just seems like a NASCAR champion.
Martin Truex Jr.: Christopher Bell.
Alex Bowman: William Byron.
Brad Keselowski: I’m going to say William Byron. He’s growing, he’s maturing, he’s with a great team. I think it will click, it just hasn’t yet.
William Byron: I’d first like to say myself, selfishly. There’s a lot of options there. Denny Hamlin comes to mind. If he’s not a champion really soon, I think he’ll be a champion, just the way that he is able to run consistently well. And I think he’s an intelligent race car driver and knows how to put himself in position towards the end of the year to have a chance to win in this format.
Harrison Burton: I think there’s a lot of good young guys that haven’t won one yet. But I think a good one would probably be William Byron. He’s been fast a lot, won a lot of races, so he’ll probably end up being [a champion] one day.
2. Which driver who hasn’t won the Daytona 500 will win it at some point?
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Suárez: Same question, same answer, me.
Chastain: Ross Chastain.
Wallace: Us! It’s funny, [Ryan] Blaney’s also had two or three second-place finishes, so we’re kind of tied on that scenario. But I’m gonna go with myself.
Elliott: Same guy for me, [Blaney]. He’s finished second about 10 times.
Blaney: Either myself or I think Chase Elliott. He runs pretty good at superspeedways.
Truex: [Laughs] I want to say me.
Bowman: Probably also William Byron.
Larson: Ryan Blaney, for sure. I think he’s just a really good superspeedway racer and is in contention a lot of times. All drivers, they’ll probably mostly say Ryan Blaney.
Cindric: Ryan Blaney.
Logano: Pick one, anyone could win.
Byron: I’d say Ryan Blaney because I think he’s really good at the superspeedway races. He’s always, always at the front. He’s very aggressive, knows how to make the right decisions and stuff. He’s been close already.
Burton: That’s a hard, hard race to win. I think Ryan Blaney will probably get one soon.
Keselowski: Shoot, the last three years, I’ve been in the top-3 in the last few laps and gotten wrecked or something’s happened. Just gotta keep [getting into position] and eventually it’ll happen.
3. Which driver has the best social media personality?
Suárez: Oh my god, you want to have the same answer for every question?
Blaney: [Kevin] Harvick’s been cracking me up here the last couple months, which has been fun to watch. He’ll get all sassy with everybody, and I get a good chuckle out of that. He and Hamlin have a really funny Twitter. I love waking up and seeing [Harvick] go on rants the next morning. I love reading all through it.
Cody please take the time to read all of my tweets before typing. Thank you…. https://t.co/uT8hGM4D1G
Chastain: Not Ross Chastain. Pretty much anybody but [me]. I honestly don’t even have a good working knowledge of what people are posting.
Logano: Can I pick myself? I pick myself because I like cars.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfaMwfjpZ0y/
Wallace: Depends on what you’re going for. First ones that come to mind are Denny, Kyle [Busch], myself.
Byron: I don’t think any of us are that great at it, I’ll be honest. Bubba comes to mind. He’s probably the most comfortable with social media, I would say, so his personality comes across. I would look at it as who’s the most authentic? Whose personality is really showing? And I think he’s the most authentic on there, speaks his mind.
Larson: Probably Denny [Hamlin]. Over the last probably three or four or five years, he’s really stepped up, it seems, his social media stuff, and he’s pretty funny on there. He does do, I would say, a lot of it himself, but I know his social media guy, and he’s pretty witty with all that too.
Cindric: I don’t really like Twitter. I use it, but I don’t like it. I like Instagram a lot better. But I don’t know.
Burton: I don’t follow them all. So I don’t know. I would say my dad, Jeff Burton. He’s killing his Instagram game recently. For an old guy, he’s doing pretty good.
4. Which driver has the best sense of humor?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Truex: I got nothing.
Bowman: Definitely me. Dry as the desert.
Blaney: Bubba [Wallace] and Chase [Elliott]. I think you get different personalities out of people away from their job. It’s kind of hard to judge somebody from how they act at the race track or something because a lot of times, you’re you’re dead-set focused on the task at hand, and it’s hard to kind of really let loose or joke around too much. Everyone’s personality is very different away from the race track.
Wallace: Myself.
Chastain: Ryan Blaney. It’s dry, but I think I understand it though. Most people probably don’t.
Keselowski: Blaney. He’s just a fun guy to be around, and he’s chill.
Elliott: Skip.
Logano: This used to be the Clint Bowyer answer back in the day. Can I pick myself again? I can’t keep picking myself [laughs].
Cindric: Kevin Harvick has a pretty dry sense of humor, which I always enjoy. Sometimes it’s at the expense of something or someone else, but it’s Kevin Harvick.
Byron: Kyle Busch kind of has a pretty funny sense of humor. Like, when I drove for for [Kyle Busch Motorsports], I always thought he was kind of funny. He’s pretty brash, but it’s kind of funny sometimes because he’s so unfiltered.
Suárez: Probably Noah Gragson.
Burton: Todd Gilliland is the guy that probably makes me laugh the most in the garage. He’s a rookie, so I hang out with him quite a bit. And yeah, he’s funny as heck, that’s for sure.
Larson: The first name that came to my mind was Corey LaJoie. He’s really funny and quick.
5. Which driver is most likely to drop an f-bomb in a live TV interview?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Logano: Typically, I’d say Kyle Busch, but he seems like he’s cleaned it up a little lately. Kevin [Harvick] is not likely anymore either. Those are two likely candidates back in the day. Bubba [Wallace] maybe?
Suárez: Probably me! I did that a few times after I won.
Cindric: Kyle Busch.
Keselowski: Yeah, probably Kyle Busch.
Chastain: Darrell Wallace.
Elliott: [Kevin] Harvick.
Byron: Oh, for sure [Kyle Busch]. I think that’s already happened. He’s for sure halfway there, if not already there.
Burton: Kyle Busch, I’d say it’s a good guess.
Truex: Kyle Busch.
Larson: Probably Noah Gragson.
Wallace: Noah Gragson.
Bowman: Noah Gragson.
Blaney: Man, I think any of us are capable of it. It’s just a matter of how upset you are. But I feel like that’s a big one to drop. I could see dropping a number of other cuss words, so you really have to mean it to drop that one. I could see Kyle Busch dropping one, but he hasn’t yet, I don’t believe, in his whole career, so maybe he won’t.
6. Which driver has had the most surprising season?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Truex: I would say Ross Chastain because they just consistently perform well, and they’re still a fairly new team.
Keselowski: Ross Chastain. He’s still in the final four, and I guess I probably didn’t see that coming.
Blaney: Chastain’s had a really good first year at Trackhouse. Not surprising, he’s doing well, but I think he’s, you know, run better than people have thought in his first year over there. Another one who I’m surprised hasn’t run better or won like they’re used to doing is [Martin] Truex.
Cindric: Daniel Suárez. He’s been in the sport for a while and, quite honestly, in very capable cars. And whether he’s grown or he’s in a great situation or he wasn’t in good situations before, I feel like it’s kind of his third attempt at being in a top team, and he’s done very well with it.
Wallace: Probably Briscoe. Obviously got that win at Phoenix [in the spring], and the Stewart-Haas [Racing] cars haven’t been that great all year. But the last 10 races, he’s gotten hot at the right time.
Byron: Definitely Ross Chastain. I assumed he would be a playoff contender, for sure, based on how he ran the 42. But I felt like it would just be a steady progression from last year and the 42 car. Those guys, as soon as the season started, have been contenders and been difficult and hard to beat basically a lot of tracks.
Suárez: My team as a whole — not just myself but my teammate as well. Trackhouse as a whole, more [successful] than most people expected. We are having some good success and that has been very, very good.
Bowman: Ross Chastain. I just didn’t see that much success coming this year. They’ve been really strong, and I know Ross is really good. I just didn’t expect them to do what they’ve done.
Logano: This whole year’s been a surprise. Kurt Busch is one who comes to my mind, not for good reasons. Obviously, the win early in the year was great, but his whole year is just a surprise probably to all of us.
Burton: Chase Briscoe is having a really good year. Not that it’s surprising, I guess, because he’s won a lot of races in Xfinity, but he’s done a really good job from last year to this year, making it as far as he has in the playoffs and getting good finishes when he hasn’t run well. I feel like there are days where he’ll run towards the back and then find a way to finish up front, which is really hard to do in this series.
Larson: Surprisingly good — great! — Ross Chastain. I knew he was going to be good. I wasn’t surprised to see them strong early in the year, but I thought that that team might tail off as the season got on. But they haven’t. Surprisingly not good — not that he hasn’t been great because he’s been in contention a lot — but Martin Truex. I’m just surprised that they haven’t won.
Chastain: Ross Chastain. I’ve never won races. I’d only finished in the top-5 three times in my career before this year, and now we’ve done it [15] times. Brand-new team, new ownership and two drivers that had never competed at the front consistently, and we’ve done that this year. I’m a [watermelon] farmer, so it’s surprising that I can drive a race car.
7. You’re leading the race and there are two laps left; which driver would you want behind you?
(Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Blaney: None of them. I don’t think you want any of them within a car length or two of you.
Logano: All of them.
Elliott: No one. I hope they’re far enough away or nobody’s close to you.
Wallace: I’ll go with Blaney.
Bowman: I don’t care.
Truex: Probably Kyle Busch, just because I know he’d race with respect. We have a good relationship, and we always race well together. Very, very hard racing, but clean and fair.
Byron: A teammate would be better than than others probably. So I’d say maybe Chase [Elliott] or Alex [Bowman] or Kyle [Larson]. Any of those three would be a good one to have.
Larson: I guess it depends on the race track, but I don’t I don’t really care. I guess any of them.
Suárez: For a comfortable situation, I’d say my teammate, Ross [Chastain].
Keselowski: Probably Chris Buescher. He’s a good teammate.
Burton: Another rookie, probably Todd Gilliland or Austin Cindric, I’d say, because I feel like we’re all in the same boat. So we’ll be in good shape there.
Chastain: Line ’em up however they want, doesn’t matter.
8. You’re leading the race and there are two laps left; which driver do you absolutely not want behind you?
(John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)
Logano: I really don’t care. You’ve got to beat them all, so it doesn’t matter. Whoever, I don’t think it makes a difference, honestly. Everybody’s gonna be willing to do something to win a race, and what they’re willing to do is sometimes pretty fluid. I think you treat them all the same because you just don’t know.
Suárez: A driver that is in a must-win situation, that has a lot of pressure. Any of the drivers that are in the playoffs that are below the cutline, those guys, they have to do whatever they have to do. If I was in their position, I would do the same thing. Those guys, it’s not good to have them behind me because they will have to do dumb moves to do whatever they have to do to get the job done.
Keselowski: Probably Chase Briscoe. the last few times he’s been running second with like two or three laps to go, he’s wrecked the leader — in case you were wondering the rationale.
Byron: Man, I don’t want any of them behind me. But I don’t think really any of them intimidate me, per se. I think some are more strategic than others. It just depends on the situation. I can’t pick one there.
Blaney: It doesn’t really matter. To me, you kind of understand and you race around guys enough to where you know who will be more aggressive than others. But this year, everyone’s been really aggressive, so you never know.
Burton: I think I don’t want Ross Chastain behind me because I feel like he’s gonna probably put me in a spot where I’m gonna either have to crash us both, or crash him to try and win. So it’s gonna be crazy at the end if he’s right behind you.
Larson: Seems like Ross Chastain — and I’m not saying this on the on the part that he would crash you for the win — I just feel like he’s really good right now, and he’s really fast. He understands traffic really well. I feel like he does the best job of passing.
Cindric: Ross Chastain. Probably a popular answer.
Chastain: I don’t discriminate. Pick anybody you want, put them right behind me. That’s fine by me.
9. Which driver is most likely to believe in wild conspiracy theories?
(Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Blaney: Oh, gosh, Chase [Elliott]. This was when we were living in the same apartment complex together in North Carolina years ago, like 2015. He’d go down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories all the time. And I’d be over at his apartment sitting there, and he’d just go into a deep dive. I don’t know if he’s still that way or not. But back in 2015, ’16, Chase was a big conspiracy theorist on the aliens, government schemes, all this kind of stuff. And I wasn’t really interested in them. But yeah, he was pretty big into it a handful of years ago.
Wallace: Brad Keselowski.
Logano: Brad [Keselowski] will read the conspiracy theories, for sure, and get fairly deep into stuff before he realizes what the heck’s going on.
Byron: Oh man, I’d say Brad Keselowski. He comes across that way on social media, I think. He definitely reads into things for sure. So I would say him. I’ve seen him do some things with his methods, [like] when he goes out to qualify, he’ll do something different than everybody else.
Bowman: Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski: Me. I’m assuming everybody else has answered me.
Larson: Kyle Busch, for sure. Kyle or Kurt — either of the Buschs.
Burton: I don’t really know why, but the first guy that came to my mind is Denny Hamlin.
Elliott: Tyler Reddick. He just strikes me as a conspiracy theorist maybe, I don’t know.
Cindric: Oh, Michael McDowell. I’ve got a hunch, I’ll leave it at that.
Chastain: Michael McDowell. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. I know him well, and so I can say this: He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being a little different, little out there in some ways. I love him. I love everything about him and what he stands for and being his friend. But you give him a few crumbs of maybe truth, and he’s gonna run with it.
10. Which driver is having the largest impact on the sport this season?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Logano: Kurt Busch. Kurt, right now, has a very loud voice, and he has more time than anybody to focus on the health of our sport and health of our drivers and health and the safety of our cars. And he has taken the ball and run with it. And we all should be appreciative for what Kurt’s been doing for us lately. Kurt takes the cake by a mile.
Truex: Kevin Harvick has had a big impact, especially in talks with NASCAR about the Next Gen car and just bringing things out in the open. And I feel like things are starting to get changed and looked at a lot harder because of him being outspoken.
Completely unacceptable that those in charge have let things get to this point. I remember it like it was yesterday @dennyhamlin in the presentation of the new car to the drivers pleading that the car was to stiff. Data didn’t agree. TIME TO LISTEN TO THE DRIVERS CRASHING THEM! https://t.co/Q9urnlbaWa
Cindric: I’d say it’s a toss up between Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. I wouldn’t say it’s positive or negative, just impact on the larger scale. They’ve been very outspoken about the car and the series and some things are productive. Some things probably aren’t aimed at being productive. So, from that standpoint, they’ve definitely been been the leaders in that category.
Keselowski: Probably either Kevin Harvick or Denny Hamlin because they’re so outspoken across the board.
Larson: Probably if I had to pick one over everybody, Harvick just on the safety side. Him and Denny together, them two. They’re moving the needle.
(Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Wallace: Ross Chastain. He’s obviously made a lot of headlines this year for the way he races, and obviously, Martinsville was no shortage of that.
Blaney: Honestly, I think like last two years, we’ve seen Bubba [Wallace] have a huge impact on the sport, reaching new audiences, and that’s grown the sport tremendously. I think he’s had a great influence on it. He’s grown different fan bases and grown the sport in a good way. So he’s had a massive impact on it, and I think it’s really cool what he’s done.
Chastain: I’ll say Darrell [Wallace]. He won a race. The following he has and the reach that he has, [it’s] far beyond what I have, in good and bad. What he does travels farther, and what he says carries a heavier weight than something I say. So I think in his winning moments and his not great moments, his car makes it to front pages and headlines farther than mine. He has this opportunity to carry the sport through his career and through his accomplishments on track that I hope to get to. He’s got the potential to just really elevate this sport. I’m glad to be his friend and a competitor. I want to beat him, right? But yeah, I think he’s got the most potential.
Suárez: Honestly, I will say myself because of the win that we had in Sonoma and everything that came with that. I felt like we gained a lot of traction with the Hispanic community, and that was great and I feel like that was amazing, not just for myself but for the entire sport and the history of the sport. So I think that that was pretty remarkable, and it just happened that I was driving.
Byron: I’d say Denny Hamlin because of just the 23XI being a new team and the national presence that the Jordan brand has and stuff like that. So I would say they’ve had the biggest impact on on the way the seasons gone with how vocal they are.
Blaney: Hard to argue against Ross [Chastain] after [Martinsville].
Burton: I’d say probably Kevin Harvick. Actually, I take that back — I’d say Kurt Busch is. Even though he was out for the year, he has been a really good advocate for the drivers and comes to meetings with NASCAR and the drivers and is really involved still. So a guy like that who kind of has just recently announced his retirement, I think he’s been really influencing the sport a lot. So either those two guys have been really influential though.
Chase Elliott: Ross Chastain has certainly been a storyline a lot throughout the year, both good and bad. But he’s been talked about quite a bit, so seems like a pretty good story between him and and Trackhouse and the things they’ve had going on.
For The Win polled NASCAR drivers to see what they think about their competitors on and off the track.
The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season ended Sunday with Joey Logano winning his second championship after taking the checkered flag at Phoenix Raceway. And the end of the season means it’s time for For The Win’s annual NASCAR Superlatives.
Throughout the last several weeks, we polled 13 drivers with the same 10 questions about their competitors’ skills behind the wheel, as well as their personalities away from the track.
Obviously, there have been numerous examples this year of drivers being furious and frustrated with each other, but some of them are friends who have been racing against each other for a while. Our annual investigation reveals what some of them really think about each other.
Here’s what some of NASCAR’s top drivers had to say about each other this year. And if you’re curious about previous editions…
These answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.
1. Which driver who is not a champion will be a champion at some point?
(Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
Daniel Suárez: You’re talking to him.
Joey Logano: Probably Ryan Blaney. I see the improvement he’s made over the last few years, and he’s got a ton of speed. So I’d say he’s getting closer and closer. He’s consistently in the Round of 8 every year for the last few, so I’d say he’s on the brink of making it to the Championship 4.
Bubba Wallace: Ryan Blaney.
Chase Elliott: Ryan Blaney.
Ryan Blaney: I don’t want to say myself because that would be too obvious of like, boosting your own ego. But obviously you want see yourself win a championship. Other than me, [William] Byron has been strong. Obviously, Denny Hamlin has kind of been on the verge of one for a long time.
Austin Cindric: It’s hard to not say Denny Hamlin. He’s come very close, and I think he’s probably the most realistic answer.
Ross Chastain: Ross Chastain.
Kyle Larson: William Byron. I feel like he’s very driven, very focused, works really hard and has a lot of talent, mentally is pretty tough. He just seems like a NASCAR champion.
Martin Truex Jr.: Christopher Bell.
Alex Bowman: William Byron.
Brad Keselowski: I’m going to say William Byron. He’s growing, he’s maturing, he’s with a great team. I think it will click, it just hasn’t yet.
William Byron: I’d first like to say myself, selfishly. There’s a lot of options there. Denny Hamlin comes to mind. If he’s not a champion really soon, I think he’ll be a champion, just the way that he is able to run consistently well. And I think he’s an intelligent race car driver and knows how to put himself in position towards the end of the year to have a chance to win in this format.
Harrison Burton: I think there’s a lot of good young guys that haven’t won one yet. But I think a good one would probably be William Byron. He’s been fast a lot, won a lot of races, so he’ll probably end up being [a champion] one day.
2. Which driver who hasn’t won the Daytona 500 will win it at some point?
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Suárez: Same question, same answer, me.
Chastain: Ross Chastain.
Wallace: Us! It’s funny, [Ryan] Blaney’s also had two or three second-place finishes, so we’re kind of tied on that scenario. But I’m gonna go with myself.
Elliott: Same guy for me, [Blaney]. He’s finished second about 10 times.
Blaney: Either myself or I think Chase Elliott. He runs pretty good at superspeedways.
Truex: [Laughs] I want to say me.
Bowman: Probably also William Byron.
Larson: Ryan Blaney, for sure. I think he’s just a really good superspeedway racer and is in contention a lot of times. All drivers, they’ll probably mostly say Ryan Blaney.
Cindric: Ryan Blaney.
Logano: Pick one, anyone could win.
Byron: I’d say Ryan Blaney because I think he’s really good at the superspeedway races. He’s always, always at the front. He’s very aggressive, knows how to make the right decisions and stuff. He’s been close already.
Burton: That’s a hard, hard race to win. I think Ryan Blaney will probably get one soon.
Keselowski: Shoot, the last three years, I’ve been in the top-3 in the last few laps and gotten wrecked or something’s happened. Just gotta keep [getting into position] and eventually it’ll happen.
3. Which driver has the best social media personality?
Suárez: Oh my god, you want to have the same answer for every question?
Blaney: [Kevin] Harvick’s been cracking me up here the last couple months, which has been fun to watch. He’ll get all sassy with everybody, and I get a good chuckle out of that. He and Hamlin have a really funny Twitter. I love waking up and seeing [Harvick] go on rants the next morning. I love reading all through it.
Cody please take the time to read all of my tweets before typing. Thank you…. https://t.co/uT8hGM4D1G
Chastain: Not Ross Chastain. Pretty much anybody but [me]. I honestly don’t even have a good working knowledge of what people are posting.
Logano: Can I pick myself? I pick myself because I like cars.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CfaMwfjpZ0y/
Wallace: Depends on what you’re going for. First ones that come to mind are Denny, Kyle [Busch], myself.
Byron: I don’t think any of us are that great at it, I’ll be honest. Bubba comes to mind. He’s probably the most comfortable with social media, I would say, so his personality comes across. I would look at it as who’s the most authentic? Whose personality is really showing? And I think he’s the most authentic on there, speaks his mind.
Larson: Probably Denny [Hamlin]. Over the last probably three or four or five years, he’s really stepped up, it seems, his social media stuff, and he’s pretty funny on there. He does do, I would say, a lot of it himself, but I know his social media guy, and he’s pretty witty with all that too.
Cindric: I don’t really like Twitter. I use it, but I don’t like it. I like Instagram a lot better. But I don’t know.
Burton: I don’t follow them all. So I don’t know. I would say my dad, Jeff Burton. He’s killing his Instagram game recently. For an old guy, he’s doing pretty good.
4. Which driver has the best sense of humor?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Truex: I got nothing.
Bowman: Definitely me. Dry as the desert.
Blaney: Bubba [Wallace] and Chase [Elliott]. I think you get different personalities out of people away from their job. It’s kind of hard to judge somebody from how they act at the race track or something because a lot of times, you’re you’re dead-set focused on the task at hand, and it’s hard to kind of really let loose or joke around too much. Everyone’s personality is very different away from the race track.
Wallace: Myself.
Chastain: Ryan Blaney. It’s dry, but I think I understand it though. Most people probably don’t.
Keselowski: Blaney. He’s just a fun guy to be around, and he’s chill.
Elliott: Skip.
Logano: This used to be the Clint Bowyer answer back in the day. Can I pick myself again? I can’t keep picking myself [laughs].
Cindric: Kevin Harvick has a pretty dry sense of humor, which I always enjoy. Sometimes it’s at the expense of something or someone else, but it’s Kevin Harvick.
Byron: Kyle Busch kind of has a pretty funny sense of humor. Like, when I drove for for [Kyle Busch Motorsports], I always thought he was kind of funny. He’s pretty brash, but it’s kind of funny sometimes because he’s so unfiltered.
Suárez: Probably Noah Gragson.
Burton: Todd Gilliland is the guy that probably makes me laugh the most in the garage. He’s a rookie, so I hang out with him quite a bit. And yeah, he’s funny as heck, that’s for sure.
Larson: The first name that came to my mind was Corey LaJoie. He’s really funny and quick.
5. Which driver is most likely to drop an f-bomb in a live TV interview?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Logano: Typically, I’d say Kyle Busch, but he seems like he’s cleaned it up a little lately. Kevin [Harvick] is not likely anymore either. Those are two likely candidates back in the day. Bubba [Wallace] maybe?
Suárez: Probably me! I did that a few times after I won.
Cindric: Kyle Busch.
Keselowski: Yeah, probably Kyle Busch.
Chastain: Darrell Wallace.
Elliott: [Kevin] Harvick.
Byron: Oh, for sure [Kyle Busch]. I think that’s already happened. He’s for sure halfway there, if not already there.
Burton: Kyle Busch, I’d say it’s a good guess.
Truex: Kyle Busch.
Larson: Probably Noah Gragson.
Wallace: Noah Gragson.
Bowman: Noah Gragson.
Blaney: Man, I think any of us are capable of it. It’s just a matter of how upset you are. But I feel like that’s a big one to drop. I could see dropping a number of other cuss words, so you really have to mean it to drop that one. I could see Kyle Busch dropping one, but he hasn’t yet, I don’t believe, in his whole career, so maybe he won’t.
6. Which driver has had the most surprising season?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Truex: I would say Ross Chastain because they just consistently perform well, and they’re still a fairly new team.
Keselowski: Ross Chastain. He’s still in the final four, and I guess I probably didn’t see that coming.
Blaney: Chastain’s had a really good first year at Trackhouse. Not surprising, he’s doing well, but I think he’s, you know, run better than people have thought in his first year over there. Another one who I’m surprised hasn’t run better or won like they’re used to doing is [Martin] Truex.
Cindric: Daniel Suárez. He’s been in the sport for a while and, quite honestly, in very capable cars. And whether he’s grown or he’s in a great situation or he wasn’t in good situations before, I feel like it’s kind of his third attempt at being in a top team, and he’s done very well with it.
Wallace: Probably Briscoe. Obviously got that win at Phoenix [in the spring], and the Stewart-Haas [Racing] cars haven’t been that great all year. But the last 10 races, he’s gotten hot at the right time.
Byron: Definitely Ross Chastain. I assumed he would be a playoff contender, for sure, based on how he ran the 42. But I felt like it would just be a steady progression from last year and the 42 car. Those guys, as soon as the season started, have been contenders and been difficult and hard to beat basically a lot of tracks.
Suárez: My team as a whole — not just myself but my teammate as well. Trackhouse as a whole, more [successful] than most people expected. We are having some good success and that has been very, very good.
Bowman: Ross Chastain. I just didn’t see that much success coming this year. They’ve been really strong, and I know Ross is really good. I just didn’t expect them to do what they’ve done.
Logano: This whole year’s been a surprise. Kurt Busch is one who comes to my mind, not for good reasons. Obviously, the win early in the year was great, but his whole year is just a surprise probably to all of us.
Burton: Chase Briscoe is having a really good year. Not that it’s surprising, I guess, because he’s won a lot of races in Xfinity, but he’s done a really good job from last year to this year, making it as far as he has in the playoffs and getting good finishes when he hasn’t run well. I feel like there are days where he’ll run towards the back and then find a way to finish up front, which is really hard to do in this series.
Larson: Surprisingly good — great! — Ross Chastain. I knew he was going to be good. I wasn’t surprised to see them strong early in the year, but I thought that that team might tail off as the season got on. But they haven’t. Surprisingly not good — not that he hasn’t been great because he’s been in contention a lot — but Martin Truex. I’m just surprised that they haven’t won.
Chastain: Ross Chastain. I’ve never won races. I’d only finished in the top-5 three times in my career before this year, and now we’ve done it [15] times. Brand-new team, new ownership and two drivers that had never competed at the front consistently, and we’ve done that this year. I’m a [watermelon] farmer, so it’s surprising that I can drive a race car.
7. You’re leading the race and there are two laps left; which driver would you want behind you?
(Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Blaney: None of them. I don’t think you want any of them within a car length or two of you.
Logano: All of them.
Elliott: No one. I hope they’re far enough away or nobody’s close to you.
Wallace: I’ll go with Blaney.
Bowman: I don’t care.
Truex: Probably Kyle Busch, just because I know he’d race with respect. We have a good relationship, and we always race well together. Very, very hard racing, but clean and fair.
Byron: A teammate would be better than than others probably. So I’d say maybe Chase [Elliott] or Alex [Bowman] or Kyle [Larson]. Any of those three would be a good one to have.
Larson: I guess it depends on the race track, but I don’t I don’t really care. I guess any of them.
Suárez: For a comfortable situation, I’d say my teammate, Ross [Chastain].
Keselowski: Probably Chris Buescher. He’s a good teammate.
Burton: Another rookie, probably Todd Gilliland or Austin Cindric, I’d say, because I feel like we’re all in the same boat. So we’ll be in good shape there.
Chastain: Line ’em up however they want, doesn’t matter.
8. You’re leading the race and there are two laps left; which driver do you absolutely not want behind you?
(John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports)
Logano: I really don’t care. You’ve got to beat them all, so it doesn’t matter. Whoever, I don’t think it makes a difference, honestly. Everybody’s gonna be willing to do something to win a race, and what they’re willing to do is sometimes pretty fluid. I think you treat them all the same because you just don’t know.
Suárez: A driver that is in a must-win situation, that has a lot of pressure. Any of the drivers that are in the playoffs that are below the cutline, those guys, they have to do whatever they have to do. If I was in their position, I would do the same thing. Those guys, it’s not good to have them behind me because they will have to do dumb moves to do whatever they have to do to get the job done.
Keselowski: Probably Chase Briscoe. the last few times he’s been running second with like two or three laps to go, he’s wrecked the leader — in case you were wondering the rationale.
Byron: Man, I don’t want any of them behind me. But I don’t think really any of them intimidate me, per se. I think some are more strategic than others. It just depends on the situation. I can’t pick one there.
Blaney: It doesn’t really matter. To me, you kind of understand and you race around guys enough to where you know who will be more aggressive than others. But this year, everyone’s been really aggressive, so you never know.
Burton: I think I don’t want Ross Chastain behind me because I feel like he’s gonna probably put me in a spot where I’m gonna either have to crash us both, or crash him to try and win. So it’s gonna be crazy at the end if he’s right behind you.
Larson: Seems like Ross Chastain — and I’m not saying this on the on the part that he would crash you for the win — I just feel like he’s really good right now, and he’s really fast. He understands traffic really well. I feel like he does the best job of passing.
Cindric: Ross Chastain. Probably a popular answer.
Chastain: I don’t discriminate. Pick anybody you want, put them right behind me. That’s fine by me.
9. Which driver is most likely to believe in wild conspiracy theories?
(Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
Blaney: Oh, gosh, Chase [Elliott]. This was when we were living in the same apartment complex together in North Carolina years ago, like 2015. He’d go down rabbit holes of conspiracy theories all the time. And I’d be over at his apartment sitting there, and he’d just go into a deep dive. I don’t know if he’s still that way or not. But back in 2015, ’16, Chase was a big conspiracy theorist on the aliens, government schemes, all this kind of stuff. And I wasn’t really interested in them. But yeah, he was pretty big into it a handful of years ago.
Wallace: Brad Keselowski.
Logano: Brad [Keselowski] will read the conspiracy theories, for sure, and get fairly deep into stuff before he realizes what the heck’s going on.
Byron: Oh man, I’d say Brad Keselowski. He comes across that way on social media, I think. He definitely reads into things for sure. So I would say him. I’ve seen him do some things with his methods, [like] when he goes out to qualify, he’ll do something different than everybody else.
Bowman: Brad Keselowski.
Keselowski: Me. I’m assuming everybody else has answered me.
Larson: Kyle Busch, for sure. Kyle or Kurt — either of the Buschs.
Burton: I don’t really know why, but the first guy that came to my mind is Denny Hamlin.
Elliott: Tyler Reddick. He just strikes me as a conspiracy theorist maybe, I don’t know.
Cindric: Oh, Michael McDowell. I’ve got a hunch, I’ll leave it at that.
Chastain: Michael McDowell. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. I know him well, and so I can say this: He doesn’t get the credit he deserves for being a little different, little out there in some ways. I love him. I love everything about him and what he stands for and being his friend. But you give him a few crumbs of maybe truth, and he’s gonna run with it.
10. Which driver is having the largest impact on the sport this season?
(Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)
Logano: Kurt Busch. Kurt, right now, has a very loud voice, and he has more time than anybody to focus on the health of our sport and health of our drivers and health and the safety of our cars. And he has taken the ball and run with it. And we all should be appreciative for what Kurt’s been doing for us lately. Kurt takes the cake by a mile.
Truex: Kevin Harvick has had a big impact, especially in talks with NASCAR about the Next Gen car and just bringing things out in the open. And I feel like things are starting to get changed and looked at a lot harder because of him being outspoken.
Completely unacceptable that those in charge have let things get to this point. I remember it like it was yesterday @dennyhamlin in the presentation of the new car to the drivers pleading that the car was to stiff. Data didn’t agree. TIME TO LISTEN TO THE DRIVERS CRASHING THEM! https://t.co/Q9urnlbaWa
Cindric: I’d say it’s a toss up between Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin. I wouldn’t say it’s positive or negative, just impact on the larger scale. They’ve been very outspoken about the car and the series and some things are productive. Some things probably aren’t aimed at being productive. So, from that standpoint, they’ve definitely been been the leaders in that category.
Keselowski: Probably either Kevin Harvick or Denny Hamlin because they’re so outspoken across the board.
Larson: Probably if I had to pick one over everybody, Harvick just on the safety side. Him and Denny together, them two. They’re moving the needle.
(Logan Riely/Getty Images)
Wallace: Ross Chastain. He’s obviously made a lot of headlines this year for the way he races, and obviously, Martinsville was no shortage of that.
Blaney: Honestly, I think like last two years, we’ve seen Bubba [Wallace] have a huge impact on the sport, reaching new audiences, and that’s grown the sport tremendously. I think he’s had a great influence on it. He’s grown different fan bases and grown the sport in a good way. So he’s had a massive impact on it, and I think it’s really cool what he’s done.
Chastain: I’ll say Darrell [Wallace]. He won a race. The following he has and the reach that he has, [it’s] far beyond what I have, in good and bad. What he does travels farther, and what he says carries a heavier weight than something I say. So I think in his winning moments and his not great moments, his car makes it to front pages and headlines farther than mine. He has this opportunity to carry the sport through his career and through his accomplishments on track that I hope to get to. He’s got the potential to just really elevate this sport. I’m glad to be his friend and a competitor. I want to beat him, right? But yeah, I think he’s got the most potential.
Suárez: Honestly, I will say myself because of the win that we had in Sonoma and everything that came with that. I felt like we gained a lot of traction with the Hispanic community, and that was great and I feel like that was amazing, not just for myself but for the entire sport and the history of the sport. So I think that that was pretty remarkable, and it just happened that I was driving.
Byron: I’d say Denny Hamlin because of just the 23XI being a new team and the national presence that the Jordan brand has and stuff like that. So I would say they’ve had the biggest impact on on the way the seasons gone with how vocal they are.
Blaney: Hard to argue against Ross [Chastain] after [Martinsville].
Burton: I’d say probably Kevin Harvick. Actually, I take that back — I’d say Kurt Busch is. Even though he was out for the year, he has been a really good advocate for the drivers and comes to meetings with NASCAR and the drivers and is really involved still. So a guy like that who kind of has just recently announced his retirement, I think he’s been really influencing the sport a lot. So either those two guys have been really influential though.
Chase Elliott: Ross Chastain has certainly been a storyline a lot throughout the year, both good and bad. But he’s been talked about quite a bit, so seems like a pretty good story between him and and Trackhouse and the things they’ve had going on.
Analyzing Sunday’s 2022 Kwik Trip 250 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., with NASCAR odds, picks and predictions.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., Sunday for the 2022 Kwik Trip 250 presented by JOCKEY Made in America. The green flag is set to drop a little after 3 p.m. ET (USA). Below we analyze the 2022 Kwik Trip 250 odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and predictions.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 62 laps and 250 miles on the 4.048-mile road course at Road America which features elevation change and 14 turns. The Cup Series returned to the track in 2021 after a 65-year hiatus.
There aren’t a lot of recent results at this track, although it is a historic track dating back to the early days of NASCAR. There are also plenty of active drivers with experience on this Wisconsin road course from their days in the Xfinity Series.
2022 Kwik Trip 250: What you need to know
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott won the 2021 race, leading 24 laps after starting in the 34th position.
TrackHouse Racing’s Ross Chastain won the 1st road course stop of the season, edging out A.J. Allmendinger at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in late March.
At Sonoma in mid-June, Daniel Suarez came up with his 1st-ever NASCAR Cup Series victory on the road course in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
Penske Racing’s Austin Cindric managed a 38th-place finish last season in one of his few starts as a part-time driver for Penske. However, in 5 Xfinity races at Road America he has a win, 36 laps led and a 12.8 Average-Finish Position (AFP), so he has plenty of good experience here.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell also has an Xfinity Series win at this track in his 3 starts on the circuit, and he was a runner-up last season in the NASCAR Cup Series.
ELLIOTT (+350) is listed as the favorite, and the defending champ has been a tremendous road course driver throughout his career. This is the safest play on the board given his win last year, moving all the way up from a starting position of 34th.
CHASE BRISCOE (+750) was a respectable 6th last season. Like Elliott, the driver of the No. 14 car was forced to matriculate his way up through the field from an ugly starting spot of 35th.
In addition to a small-unit play on the outright win, take a look at BRISCOE TOP-10 FINISH (+100).
Kwik Trip 250 picks – Long shot
BELL (+2000) acquitted himself well here in the Cup Series last season with a runner-up finish. JGR’s Bell has been a little disappointment overall, but he can wash all of that bad taste away with a victory on this road course. As mentioned, this will be his 5th career start at the track, once on the Cup Series, and 3 times in the Xfinity Series with 1 win and 10 laps led.
Kwik Trip 250 prop picks
AUSTIN CINDRIC TOP-5 FINISH (+140)
The driver of the No. 2 Ford has an Xfinity win under his belt at this track. While last season’s finish was a disaster, he was able to lead 2 laps before a rear gear issue forced him out of the race.
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Analyzing Sunday’s 2022 Ally 400 odds at Nashville Superspeedway, with NASCAR odds, picks and predictions.
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn., Sunday for the 2022 Ally 400. The green flag is set to drop a little after 5 p.m. ET (NBC). Below we analyze the 2022 Ally 400 odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and predictions.
Sunday’s race is scheduled for 300 laps and 400 miles on the 1.3-mile oval at Nashville Superspeedway. The Cup Series made its debut at the track in 2021.
2022 Ally 400: What you need to know
Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson posted the victory in last season’s inaugural race, leading 264 of the 300 laps after starting from the 5th position. Larson goes off 3rd Sunday.
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin picked up the pole honors after Saturday’s rain-shortened, qualifying session. He finished 21st last season in Nashville after starting 13th.
Current TrackHouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, who drove for Chip Ganassi last season, was a runner-up to Larson at this track last year. He started 19th and led 4 laps before his 2nd-place finish. The Florida watermelon farmer will start from the 7th spot Sunday.
Hendrick’s Chase Elliott actually led the 2nd-most laps to his teammate Larson last season in Nashville, turning 13 laps in first. However, a disqualification after a post-race inspection due to loose lug nuts dropped him to 39th.
LARSON (+480) is listed as the favorite, and rightly so after he dominated this track last season en route to the Cup Series inaugural win. Nobody was better, or even close, to the No. 5 machine.
However, HAMLIN (+900) is worth a roll of the dice since he is going off from the pole position. He struggled at the track in 2021, dropping 8 spots from his original starting spot. But it’s always nice to be out front and see a bunch of clean air to start.
Ally 400 picks – Long shot
ARIC ALMIROLA (+4000) ended up in 4th place at last season’s inaugural Music City race. He has been a bit uneven this season in what will be his final time racing a full schedule.
The “Cuban Missile” is also a worth a look in the props section. Playing an ALMIROLA TOP-10 FINISH (+130) is still plus-money.
Ally 400 prop picks
AUSTIN DILLON TOP-10 FINISH (+220)
The driver of the No. 3 machine, who is also now a reality TV star, posted a respectable 12th-place showing last season after scooting up from a starting spot of 28th.
DANIEL SUAREZ TOP-10 FINISH (-125)
Suarez has had 2 weeks to celebrate, becoming just the 5th foreign-born driver to secure checkers in a Cup Series win with his successful Sonoma run. He will look to build upon the confidence of that victory, and should be able to run inside the top 10 on the 1.3-mile oval.
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Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).
