The three top-level NASCAR series were active at Indianapolis race tracks this past weekend. Tyler Reddick won the Verizon 200 on Sunday.
NASCAR Cup Series (NCS)
Sun, Jul 31, Verizon 200 at The Brickyard - Indianapolis Road Course (IRC) - 82 laps
- Tyler Reddick (#8 Chevrolet Camaro) won the Pole Award for Sunday’s race with a lap of 99.378 mph. This is his second pole in 96 NCS races. Both career poles have come at a road course (COTA 2021). This is Reddick’s first pole and 13th top-10 start in 2022. It is his first pole in two races at IRC. Austin Cindric (second), the fastest qualifying Sunoco Rookie of the Year (ROTY) contender, posted his 11th top-10 start of 2022. It is his first in two races at IRC. Chase Briscoe (third) earned his second top-10 start at IRC and his ninth in 22 races this season. Did Not Qualify: No one. Only 38 teams entered for the NCS 40-car lineup.
- Tyler Reddick led a race-high 38 laps and scored his second victory in 96 NCS races. This is his second win and ninth top-10 finish in 2022. His first win this season came at the Road America road course. This is Reddick’s first top-10 finish in two races at IRC. Austin Cindric (second) posted his first top-5 finish in 2022. Harrison Burton (third) also earned his first top-5 finish this season. The results for Cindric and Burton, along with Todd Gilliland (finished fourth), were Cup career bests. It marked the first time since 1994 at Pocono Raceway that three ROTY candidates have finished in the top-5 in a Cup race. The three at Pocono were Joe Nemechek, Jeff Burton (Harrison’s father) and Ward Burton (Harrison’s uncle). Chase Elliott leads the Cup Standings by 125 points over Ryan Blaney heading into the August 7 FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Top-16 NCS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. Chase Elliott
2. Ryan Blaney +1
3. Ross Chastain -1
4. Martin Truex Jr. +1
5. Kyle Larson -1
6. Christopher Bell
7. Joey Logano
8. Kyle Busch
9. William Byron
10. Kevin Harvick
11. Tyler Reddick +3
12. Alex Bowman -1
13. Daniel Suarez -1
14. Austin Cindric +1
15. Chase Briscoe +1
16. Aric Almirola -3
NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS)
Sat, Jul 30, Pennzoil 150 at The Brickyard - Indianapolis Road Course (IRC) - 62 laps
- AJ Allmendinger (#16 Chevrolet Camaro) won the Pole Award for Friday night’s race with a lap of 97.834 mph. This is his sixth pole in 80 NXS races. This is his third pole and 14th top-10 start in 2022 and his second pole in three races at IRC. Ty Gibbs (second) posted his 15th top-10 start of 2022 and his second in two races at IRC. Riley Herbst (third) posted his second top-10 start at IRC and his ninth in 20 races this season. Austin Hill (ninth) was the fastest qualifying ROTY. 42 cars entered for the NXS 38-car lineup. Did Not Qualify: #66 JJ Yeley, #78 Josh Williams, #13 Brad Perez and #90 Mason Filippi.
- AJ Allmendinger led a race-high 42 laps and scored his 13th victory in 80 NXS races. This is his third win and 17th top-10 finish in 2022. All three of his wins this year have come on road courses. Allmendinger has won four of the last five road course races. This is his first victory and third top-five finish in three races at IRC. Cup Series regular Alex Bowman (second) posted his first top-10 finish in his first IRC start. It is his first top-10 Xfinity Series finish in 2022. Justin Allgaier (third) posted his 14th top-10 finish this season. Austin Hill (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie. AJ Allmendinger leads the NXS Standings by 17 points over Justin Allgaier heading into the August 6 New Holland 250 at Michigan International Speedway.
Top-12 NXS Playoff Contenders (G/L):
1. AJ Allmendinger
2. Justin Allgaier
3. Ty Gibbs
4. Josh Berry
5. Noah Gragson
6. Austin Hill
7. Brandon Jones
8. Sam Mayer
9. Riley Herbst
10. Daniel Hemric
11. Landon Cassill +1
12. Ryan Sieg -1
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NTS)
Fri, Jul 29, TSport 200, Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) - 200 laps
- John Hunter Nemechek (#4 Toyota Tundra) won the Pole Award for Friday night’s first series race at IRP since 2011 with a lap of 111.188 mph. This is his seventh pole in 141 NTS races. It is his fifth pole and 11th top-10 start in 2022. Chandler Smith (second) posted his 13th top-10 start of 2022. Christian Eckes (third) posted his eighth top-10 start in 17 races this season. Corey Heim (fourth) was the fastest qualifying ROTY. Did Not Qualify: No one. 36 teams entered for the NTS 36-truck lineup.
- Grant Enfinger (#23 Chevrolet Silverado) led 13 laps and scored his seventh victory in 144 NTS races. This is his first win and eighth top-10 finish in 2022. Ben Rhodes (second) posted his 10th top-10 finish in 2022. Zane Smith (third) earned his 14th top-10 finish in 17 2022 series starts. Corey Heim (fifth) was the highest finishing ROTY. Polesitter John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 75 laps and finished in 10th place. Zane Smith leads the Playoffs Standings by 14 points over Ben Rhodes, the 2021 NTS Champion, heading into the August 13 Worldwide Express 250 at Richmond Raceway.
NTS Playoffs - Round of 10 - (G/L):
1. Zane Smith
2. Ben Rhodes +1
3. Grant Enfinger +6
4. Stewart Friesen +1
5. John Hunter Nemechek -2
6. Chandler Smith -3
7. Ty Majeski
8. Carson Hocevar
9. Matt Crafton +1
10. Christian Eckes -3
After 20+ years, this is my last NASCAR Wrap-up column (and other columns as well). I will continue updating NASCAR driver “blurbs” (NASCAR Player News, Player Headlines) on this website for one more week. Hope this has been helpful to some of you who have followed my writing. - Anthony
Goodbye, all !!
