Entry List

Dixie Vodka 400

Sunday, October 23rd, 2022

Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, FL

  • 15 Chevrolet
  • 15 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Homestead-Miami Speedway
  • 24th Annual Dixie Vodka 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: William Byron
  • Age: 24
  • Team : No. 24 - Liberty University Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Rudy Fugle
  • William Byron won the Pole Award for the 24th Annual Dixie Vodka 400 with a lap of 32.454 seconds, 166.389 mph.
  • This is his eighth pole in 178 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his first pole and 17th top-10 start in 2022.
  • This is his first pole in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Christopher Bell (second) posted his 23rd top-10 start of 2022 and his second in three races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Chase Elliott (third) posted his third top-10 start at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is his 18th in 34 races this season.
  • Harrison Burton (21st) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, October 23rd, 2022
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Kyle Larson plays Playoff spoiler, wins at Homestead

Kyle Larson has led a lot of laps and come awfully close to hoisting a trophy at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday he finally did both, winning the Dixie Vodka 400 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race in dominant form.

Larson swept both Stage wins and led 199 of the race's 267 laps in the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pull away to a 1.261-second victory over Florida native Ross Chastain in the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy.

Kaulig Racing's A.J. Allmendinger was third with Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillon and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski Racing's Brad Keselowski rounding out the top five. It is the 2012 series champion Keselowski's first Top-five finish since becoming co-owner of the organization this season.

The win was 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Larson's third of the year and 19th of his career - but the first at the 1.5-mile Homestead oval after a pair of previous near-misses. He led a race best 132 laps in 2016, but finished runner-up. He led 145 laps in 2017 and finished third.

"No matter what team I've been with, things haven't worked out on my end to get a win, so glad to get one today," Larson said.

"Definitely the best run we've had all year long," he added. "We've been capable of it I feel like many weekends, we just hadn't quite put it all together. [Crew chief] Cliff [Daniels] gave a great speech this morning and got us all ready to go and focused.

"Amazing race car," he noted with a smile.

The 30-year-old Californian was eliminated from the Playoffs in the last round, so Chastain was the top-finishing championship contender with only one race - next week at Martinsville, Va. - to set the four driver Championship field for the Nov. 6 season finale at Phoenix.

Only two Playoff drivers finished in the Top-10 Sunday at Homestead: Chastain and Denny Hamlin, who was seventh in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Playoff drivers Christopher Bell (finished 11th), Sunday's polesitter William Byron (12th), Chase Elliott (14th), Ryan Blaney (17th) and Joey Logano (18th) were still running on the lead lap at the checkered flag. The eighth Playoff-eligible driver, Chase Briscoe, finished last (36th) after making contact with the wall on lap 160.

Hamlin (four laps), Bell (four laps) and Byron (33 laps) all spent time leading the field before various setbacks.

Team Penske's Logano is the only Playoff driver who has already earned his position in the Championship race thanks to a victory at Las Vegas a week ago. Chastain, Elliott and Byron now complete the Top-four driver ranking.

Hamlin sits in fifth place, five points below Byron. Blaney is 18 points below the cutline, Bell, 33 back and Briscoe now essentially in a must-win situation, trailing by 44 points.

With his victory, Larson's No. 5 Hendrick Chevrolet is eligible for the owner's title.

While Larson dominated the laps-led category and even paced the field by more than 9-seconds at one point late in the race, he had to earn this trophy after a late-race caution flag.

Martin Truex Jr. had taken the lead after a caution period with 46 laps remaining and pulled away to a nearly 2-second lead when the final yellow flag flew again with 23 laps remaining.

As the field pitted, Larson's Chevy was right behind Truex's Toyota and it appeared Truex was going to miss his pit box when Larson's car bumped Truex's car from behind. The contact spun Truex, whose team was still able to service the car, but he fell outside the Top-10 initially before racing back up to a sixth-place finish.

"I was just going behind him and he had a hard left and was hard on the brakes at the same time and I got into the back of him, ‘' Larson explained of the incident. "My team said he was late getting into his stall. I don't know. If it was my fault I'm sorry, but I don't think it was. It's hard to see on this pit road. .. hate that happened. He was definitely the one I was going to have to beat.”

Truex, who is still racing for his first victory of 2022, was obviously disappointed in the outcome, but could only shake his head at the circumstances.

"It's really hard to see through these windshields with the sun like that and all the stuff covering it," Truex said. "I did see my box late for sure, so I slowed down before I turned out of the way of the 5 (Larson) there.

"Partly on me, I didn't expect to get turned around and glad nobody got hurt there. Overall, just tough, just disappointing to have a good day going like that and have a shot at winning and couldn't close the deal. I hate it for my team.

"It's been one of those years.”

The final race to set the Championship 4 is next Sunday at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, the Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman is the defending race winner, but won't be competing while recovering from concussion-like symptoms. His teammate Byron won at Martinsville earlier this season.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 267
  • Margin of Victory: 01.261 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 5 Minutes 24 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 129.612
  • Cautions: 5 for 30 laps
  • Lead Changes: 11
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,903 (12.2 passes per green flag lap)

  • Homestead-Miami Speedway
  • 24th Annual Dixie Vodka 400
  • Race Winner: Kyle Larson
  • Age: 30
  • Team : No. 5 - Valvoline Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Cliff Daniels
  • Kyle Larson won the 24th Annual Dixie Vodka 400, his 19th victory in 293 Cup Series races.
  • This is his third victory and 17th top-10 finish in 2022.
  • This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in nine races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Ross Chastain (second) posted his first top-10 finish in four races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is his 19th top-10 finish in 2022.
  • AJ Allmendinger (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 11 races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
  • Austin Cindric (19th) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Joey Logano leads the point standings by 5 points over Ross Chastain.
William Byron celebrates with a burnout
Homestead, Florida - February 28, 2021 : William Byron, driver of the #24 Axalta Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Michael ReavesGetty Images
Dixie Vodka 400 at Homestead Miami Speedway Entry List
ENTRY # DRIVER HOMETOWN DOB AGE MAKE SPONSOR TEAM CREW CHIEF
1 16 AJ Allmendinger Los Gatos, CA Dec 16, 1981 42 Chevrolet Ed Morse Automotive Group Kaulig Racing Matt Swiderski
2 10 Aric Almirola Tampa, FL Mar 14, 1984 40 Ford Smithfield Premium Bacon Stewart-Haas Racing Drew Blickensderfer
3 6 Brad Keselowski Auburn Hills, MI Feb 12, 1984 40 Ford Violet Defense RFK Racing Matt McCall
4 11 Denny Hamlin Chesterfield, VA Nov 18, 1980 43 Toyota FedEx Ground Joe Gibbs Racing Chris Gabehart
5 15 JJ Yeley Phoenix, AZ Oct 5, 1976 48 Ford Jacob Companies Rick Ware Racing Kevyn Rebolledo
6 22 Joey Logano Middleton, CT May 24, 1990 34 Ford Shell Pennzoil Team Penske Paul Wolfe
7 4 Kevin Harvick Bakersfield, CA Dec 8, 1975 48 Ford Busch Light Stewart-Haas Racing Stephen Doran
8 18 Kyle Busch Las Vegas, NV May 2, 1985 39 Toyota Skittles Lime is Back Joe Gibbs Racing Ben Beshore
9 19 Martin Truex Jr Mayetta, NJ Jun 29, 1980 44 Toyota Bass Pro Shops Joe Gibbs Racing James Small
10 34 Michael McDowell Phoenix, AZ Dec 21, 1984 39 Ford Love's Travel Stops Front Row Motorsports Blake Harris
11 77 Landon Cassill Cedar Rapids, IA Jul 7, 1989 35 Chevrolet Zeigler Auto / LoJack Spire Motorsports Kevin Bellicourt
12 3 Austin Dillon Lewisville, NC Apr 27, 1990 34 Chevrolet Huk Richard Childress Racing Justin Alexander
13 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Olive Branch, MS Oct 2, 1987 37 Chevrolet Kroger/ Slim Jim JTG Daugherty Racing Brian Pattie
14 5 Kyle Larson Sacremento, CA Jul 31, 1992 32 Chevrolet Valvoline Hendrick Motorsports Cliff Daniels
15 12 Ryan Blaney High Point, NC Dec 31, 1993 30 Ford Menards\Pennzoil Team Penske Miles Stanley
16 7 Corey Lajoie Kannapolis, NC Sep 25, 1991 33 Chevrolet Built.com Spire Motorsports Ryan Sparks
17 42 Ty Dillon Lewisville, NC Feb 27, 1992 32 Chevrolet SunseekerResorts.com Petty GMS Motorsports Chad Norris
18 9 Chase Elliott Dawsonville, GA Nov 28, 1995 28 Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts Hendrick Motorsports Alan Gustafson
19 17 Chris Buescher Prosper, TX Oct 29, 1992 31 Ford Fastenal RFK Racing Scott Graves
20 43 Erik Jones Byron, MI May 30, 1996 28 Chevrolet The Morgan Law Group Petty GMS Motorsports Dave Elenz
21 78 BJ McLeod Wauchula, FL Nov 17, 1983 40 Ford Frankie Zombie Z222 Motorsport Games Live Fast Motorsports Lee Leslie
22 99 Daniel Suarez Monterrey, Mexico Jan 7, 1992 32 Chevrolet CommScope TrackHouse Racing Travis Mack
23 51 Cody Ware Greensboro, NC Nov 7, 1995 28 Ford Nurtec ODT UBCF Rick Ware Racing Billy Plourde
24 1 Ross Chastain Alva, FL Dec 4, 1992 31 Chevrolet Kubota TrackHouse Racing Phil Surgen
25 24 William Byron Charlotte, NC Nov 29, 1997 26 Chevrolet Liberty University Hendrick Motorsports Rudy Fugle
26 41 Cole Custer Ladera Ranch, CA Jan 23, 1998 26 Ford Dixie Vodka Stewart-Haas Racing Anthony Cardamone
27 8 Tyler Reddick Corning, CA Jan 11, 1996 28 Chevrolet 3CHI Richard Childress Racing Randall Burnett
28 31 Justin Haley Winamac, IN Apr 28, 1999 25 Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection Kaulig Racing Trent Owens
29 45 John Hunter Nemechek Mooresville, NC Jun 11, 1997 27 Toyota Columbia Sportswear Company 23XI Racing Bootie Barker
30 20 Christopher Bell Norman, OK Dec 16, 1994 29 Toyota Rheem - WATTS Joe Gibbs Racing Adam Stevens
31 2 Austin Cindric Columbus, OH Sep 2, 1998 26 Ford Freightliner Team Penske Jeremy Bullins
32 14 Chase Briscoe Mitchell, IN Dec 15, 1994 29 Ford Magical Vacation Planner Stewart-Haas Racing Johnny Klausmeier
33 21 Harrison Burton Huntersville, NC Oct 9, 2000 23 Ford Dex Imaging Wood Brothers Racing Brian Wilson
34 48 Noah Gragson Las Vegas, NV Jul 15, 1998 26 Chevrolet Ally Hendrick Motorsports Greg Ives
35 23 Ty Gibbs Charlotte, NC Oct 4, 2002 22 Toyota Monster Energy 23XI Racing Billy Scott
36 38 Todd Gilliland Sherrills Ford, NC May 15, 2000 24 Ford EO South Florida Front Row Motorsports Seth Barbour