The 2022 Ambetter 301 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 17, 2022, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps, on the 1.058-mile (1.703 km) speedway. It was the 20th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
This race was the last start for 2004 champion Kurt Busch, as Busch suffered a concussion during the second qualifying round for the next race, and the injuries from that crash ended up being career-ending; he announced on August 26, 2023 that he was officially retiring.
Report
Background
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) road course, which includes much of the oval.
The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
- (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Practice
William Byron was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.877 seconds and a speed of 127.483 mph (205.164 km/h).[8]
Practice results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.877 | 127.483 |
| 2 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 29.903 | 127.372 |
| 3 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 29.938 | 127.223 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.964 and a speed of 127.113 mph (204.569 km/h).[9]
Qualifying results
Race
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 70
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 9 |
| 3 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 7 |
| 5 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 6 |
| 6 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 45 | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 4 |
| 8 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 3 |
| 9 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 2 |
| 10 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage one results | |||||
Stage Two Laps: 115
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 10 |
| 2 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 9 |
| 3 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 8 |
| 4 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 7 |
| 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 6 |
| 6 | 45 | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 5 |
| 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 4 |
| 8 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 3 |
| 9 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 2 |
| 10 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 1 |
| Official stage two results | |||||
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 116
| Pos | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 47 |
| 2 | 2 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 50 |
| 3 | 4 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 301 | 44 |
| 4 | 1 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 53 |
| 5 | 10 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 301 | 47 |
| 6 | 14 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 32 |
| 7 | 9 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | RFK Racing | Ford | 301 | 30 |
| 8 | 18 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 301 | 33 |
| 9 | 19 | 99 | Daniel Suárez | Trackhouse Racing Team | Chevrolet | 301 | 28 |
| 10 | 3 | 45 | Kurt Busch | 23XI Racing | Toyota | 301 | 36 |
| 11 | 6 | 24 | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 31 |
| 12 | 17 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 301 | 25 |
| 13 | 28 | 2 | Austin Cindric (R) | Team Penske | Ford | 301 | 24 |
| 14 | 8 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 301 | 37 |
| 15 | 29 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 300 | 22 |
| 16 | 20 | 16 | A. J. Allmendinger (i) | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 0 |
| 17 | 16 | 17 | Chris Buescher | RFK Racing | Ford | 300 | 20 |
| 18 | 11 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Team Penske | Ford | 300 | 19 |
| 19 | 23 | 43 | Erik Jones | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 300 | 18 |
| 20 | 25 | 31 | Justin Haley | Kaulig Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 17 |
| 21 | 13 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 16 |
| 22 | 24 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 15 |
| 23 | 30 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 300 | 14 |
| 24 | 12 | 22 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford | 300 | 20 |
| 25 | 31 | 21 | Harrison Burton (R) | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 300 | 12 |
| 26 | 26 | 38 | Todd Gilliland (R) | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 300 | 11 |
| 27 | 23 | 41 | Cole Custer | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 300 | 10 |
| 28 | 15 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 299 | 9 |
| 29 | 33 | 15 | J. J. Yeley (i) | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 299 | 0 |
| 30 | 36 | 51 | Cody Ware | Rick Ware Racing | Ford | 297 | 7 |
| 31 | 7 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Stewart-Haas Racing | Ford | 282 | 9 |
| 32 | 21 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 88 | 5 |
| 33 | 34 | 77 | Josh Bilicki (i) | Spire Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 | 0 |
| 34 | 35 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Petty GMS Motorsports | Chevrolet | 5 | 3 |
| 35 | 27 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 4 | 2 |
| 36 | 32 | 78 | B. J. McLeod (i) | Live Fast Motorsports | Ford | 4 | 0 |
| Official race results | |||||||
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 8 among 7 different drivers
- Cautions/Laps: 9 for 52
- Red flags: 0
- Time of race: 3 hours, 14 minutes and 45 seconds
- Average speed: 98.113 miles per hour (157.898 km/h)
Media
Television
USA covered the race on the television side. Dale Earnhardt Jr., four-time and all-time Loudon winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
| USA | |
|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lap-by-lap: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Color-commentator: Jeff Burton Color-commentator: Steve Letarte |
Kim Coon Parker Kligerman Marty Snider |
Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field races down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from turns 1 & 2 and Doug Turnbull called the race from turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini handled the duties on pit lane.
| PRN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Turn announcers | Pit reporters |
| Lead announcer: Doug Rice Announcer: Mark Garrow |
Turns 1 & 2: Rob Albright Turns 3 & 4: Doug Turnbull |
Brad Gillie Brett McMillan Wendy Venturini |
Standings after the race
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References
- ^ "2022 schedule". Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
- ^ "New Hampshire Motor Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Archived from the original on May 2, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
- ^ "Entry List" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 11, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
- ^ "Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. June 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
- ^ "Qualifying Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. July 16, 2022. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
- ^ "Ambetter 301 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR. July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ^ "Points standings" (PDF). Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
- ^ Utter, Jim (July 16, 2022). "William Byron tops Saturday Cup practice at New Hampshire". Motorsport.com. Loudon, New Hampshire: Motorsport Network. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
- ^ Utter, Jim (July 16, 2022). "Truex beats Elliott for New Hampshire pole". Motorsport.com. Loudon, New Hampshire: Motorsport Network. Retrieved July 16, 2022.