NASCAR went up to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin to spend its 4th of July weekend at the prestigious road course, Road America, for both NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series. For the Xfinity Series Henry 180, Kyle Larson started from the pole and was looking like the car to beat, that was until the final lap on an overtime restart when Ty Gibbs made a move to get around Larson and take home his fourth win of the 2022 season. The wreck that led to an overtime restart came from Cole Custer having an issue with his brakes, causing his No. 07 Ford to slam into the wall hard and ending his race. Custer was running third at the time.
“This is just awesome,” Gibbs said in his post-race interview. “I can’t believe it. This is just wonderful. I think we were a little bit faster in the first half of the track… Hopefully, a lot of people were watching. It’s cool to be here, a cool race against some Cup Series guys. Hopefully, that says something.”
Meanwhile, Kyle Larson led 31 of the 48 laps and won both stages, but felt like he lost momentum in turn 14, the final corner, that set up Gibbs to make a last-lap pass on the defending NASCAR Cup Series Champion.
“He was able to pass me without laying a bumper on me at all,” Larson said in his post-race interview. “When he passed me clean, I felt like I should not use him up like we’ve seen others do when they get passed for the lead late. He ran me clean, and I was going to run him clean. It just didn’t work out for me.”
Another moment that took place during the race was when Noah Gragson made contact with Sage Karam that triggering a 13-car pileup on lap 25. Brandon Brown was one of the bigger victims in the incident, as he climbed out of his car and was in a bit of discomfort afterward. Thankfully, when he was out of the infield care center after an evaluation, he was in much better spirits.
“I caught the dust pile,” Brown said. “It looks like the 45 (Karam) went around. A lot of cars went around. I couldn’t really see anything until I saw the 48 (Tyler Reddick) and plowed him.
Karam was not too pleased with Noah Gragson after the wreck.
“That was ridiculous,” Karam said. “I’ve never been turned into on a straight line like that… You can’t get that heated when you’re driving a race car. Unfortunately, he let his emotions get the best of him today.”
The owner of Karam’s No 45 team, Tommy Joe Martins, was very vocal on Twitter after the wreck.
“Absolutely on purpose,” Martins tweeted, then tagging Kelley Earnhardt Miller and Dale Jr, “I’m sure you’re embarrassed to even be associated with that. Hard racing and bumping a guy back I get but that kind of stuff can hurt someone. It’s too much.”
Kelley Earnhardt Miller did respond to Martins’ tweet saying, “I’m not embarrassed. I understand you are upset and rightfully so. Our team will sort out what we need to with Noah and move on. The highs and lows are all part of what we do.”
Josh Berry, who was involved in that pileup, ended up finishing third, with Austin Hill and Brandon Jones finishing out the top five. AJ Allmendinger finished sixth after starting from the rear and serving a pit road penalty. Riley Herbst, Noah Gragson, Jeremy Clements, and Ryan Seig rounded out the top 10.
Moving on to the NASCAR Cup Series race, the second trip for the premier circuit of NASCAR at Road America, Chase Elliott started the race on the pole and was looking like the dominant driver, much like the race in 2021. However, in the final 20 laps of the race, it came down to a two-car battle that blew out the rest of the field. Chase Elliott and Tyler Reddick.
In the end, Tyler Reddick was able to make the move on Elliott in the closing laps to score his first career Cup Series victory and give himself a spot for the NASCAR playoffs. Reddick also becomes the 13th different winner and the fifth driver to earn his first career win this season. As a matter of fact, the Cup Series had five first-time winners through 18 races for the first time since 1950, the second-ever season of NASCAR.
“Everyone on this team at Richard Childress Racing has believed in me,” Reddick said. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes along the way, but, man, this year has been one step, one mistake away from greatness all year long, and we finally did it today. It feels good.”
Despite Elliott’s dominance, Chase Briscoe won the first stage, with Ryan Blaney winning stage two. Reddick’s win also puts Kevin Harvick in 17th in the standings and right outside the cutline for the playoffs. For Chase Elliott, he explained what happened in the closing laps.
“I just did a poor job,” Elliott said after the race. “When [Reddick] passed me, that was pretty much it. I did a poor job on my part. Congrats to him. I know they’ve been searching for that first win for some time, and that’s a special thing, too. I’m happy for him, he deserves it. He’s been really close. Happy for those guys.”
Elliott’s teammate, Kyle Larson finished third, while the Trackhouse cars of Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez finished fourth and fifth in that order. Chris Buescher finished sixth, then Austin Cindric, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.
The Xfinity Series and Cup Series head next to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for their second trip on the new reconfiguration since it was repaved. The Xfinity Series will race on Saturday, July 9th for a 5:00 PM EST green flag on the USA Network, as well as the truck series racing at Mid-Ohio earlier in the day at 1:00 PM EST on FS1. Then the Cup Series will race on Sunday at 3:00 PM EST for the Quaker State 400 on the USA Network.
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