2022 year NASCAR Cup Series The Round of 12 playoffs concluded on Sunday Bank of America Roval 400 to Concord, North Carolina, where Christopher Bell got a crazy win in overtime and advanced to the round of 16.
It was the sixth race of a 10-week stretch of competition that concludes in Arizona in November, when only four drivers will compete in the highly anticipated NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Phoenix Raceway.
The eight pilots advancing to the Round of 16 are Bell, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney, Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, William Byron and Chase Briscoe. Four drivers were eliminated after the Sunday action Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Alex Bowman (was out on Sunday due to injury).
Bell became just the sixth driver in playoff history to win and advance to the next round — joining Elliott (Martinsville, 2020), Hamlin (Phoenix, 2019), Kevin Harvick (Dover, 2015 and Phoenix, 2014) and Brad Keselowski (Talladego, 2014) — and only the second pilot to do so in the Round of 16.
Here are the highlights from Charlotte Motor Speedway:
Preparing the scene
The main topic of discussion at Roval was safety. On Sunday, for the first time in more than 20 years, three full-time drivers — Bowman and Kurt Bush (concussion) and Cody Ware (foot) — dropped out due to injury.
On the subject: NASCAR meets with drivers to discuss safety concerns in 2023
Elimination day
Chastain, who decided to repair his car instead of going to a backup car after his own crash in Saturday’s qualifyingstarted at the back of the field in Sunday’s race due to unapproved adjustments made by his team after qualifying.
On Thursday, the National Motorsport Appeals Panel overturned a 25-point penalty handed down to Byron for spinning out at Hamlin with a caution Texas. Heading into Sunday’s race, Byron was 14 points above the cutoff, while Briscoe and Cindric were 12 points below the cutoff, and Bell found himself in a must-win situation.
On the subject: William Byron wins NASCAR appeal, reinstates playoff points
Off to the races!
UNC Men’s Basketball coach Hubert Davies ordered the drivers to start their engines.
Logano was the pole winner and early leader on Sunday. The situation quickly escalated as the drivers tried to find a rhythm on the convoluted track.
Game for points
In the first stage, Byron caught Logan with five laps to go, but the leader was able to secure the first stage win and earn a playoff point in the process.
Fight early
AJ Allmendinger and Reddick battled for the top spot in the second leg.
Allmendinger led off with an infield single and Justin Haley rushed to pressure Reddick in a second. Midway through Stage 2, Allmendinger was 1.1 seconds ahead of Reddick.
Elsewhere, Logano is back to 22nd and Daniel KvyatThe race ended early due to engine failure.
Car bumpers
Corey Lajoy and Noah Gregson ran into each other at the chicane after getting caught in it on the backstretch.
Star power
Allmendinger, who had held the lead since lap 31, continued his dominant performance in Stage 2 despite his car being stuck in second gear.
It was the first time he led more than 10 laps in a Cup Series race since he led 20 laps at Sonoma in 2016.
Chastain won Stage 2 after Allmendinger dropped out of the race lead.
Chaos!
As the third and final stage began, things got a lot chaotic. First, Briscoe caught some front contact on the rear stretch which knocked his toe out and affected the steering of his car….
… while Suarez’s engine was warmed up and he reported a power steering problem that caused him problems.
He was forced to dig a road where Suarez’s crew lifted the hood in an attempt to replace the missing hydraulic fluid.
Trouble
In the final stage, Bell was the first to enter pit road, but Elliott became the new leader of the race.
Elsewhere, Chastain was in big trouble after hitting the wall hard. His right rear wheel was shaking and he was forced to go behind the wall to try to fix things.
Meanwhile, the caution was thrown out when Cindric collided with the rear Joey Hand going into the backstretch chicane, sending his hand into the wall.
Main banner
Elliott led Reddick and Allmendinger by nearly five seconds with less than 20 laps remaining, but Allmendinger didn’t go down without a fight. He cut Elliott’s lead to 3.5 seconds with 10 laps to go.
Meanwhile, LaJoie went into a spin behind Suarez, who was still struggling with power steering and had poor control of his car. However, LaJoie got his revenge by putting Suarez into the fence entering the first turn.
Restart!
As things wound down, there was a large piece of debris – a piece of wall – that ended up on the track outside the race groove, causing a late caution.
Headed into overtime
Harvick grabbed the lead when Allmendinger spun off course and Elliott spun from second. Bell then made a sprint on fresh tires to take third from Allmendinger, while chaos ensued in the backstretch chicane.
Bell caught Reddick for second before another caution came out Ty Dylan spinning and debris lying in the spinning chicane. NASCAR red-flagged the race to repair some damaged curbs.
The winner!
Harvick was the leader on the restart, followed by Bell, Reddick, Allmendinger and Haley in the top five. There was a huge pileup in Turn 1 that allowed Bell to take the lead from Harvick.
Cindric then spun in the backstretch chicane, allowing Bell to claim the win.
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