Practice

Ally 400

Sunday, June 26th, 2022

Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, TN

  • 15 Chevrolet
  • 15 Ford
  • 6 Toyota

  • Nashville Superspeedway
  • 2nd Annual Ally 400
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
  • Age: 41
  • Team : No. 11 - FedEx Office Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs Racing
  • Crew Chief: Samuel McAulay
  • Denny Hamlin won the Pole Award for the 2nd Annual Ally 400 with a lap of 29.848 seconds, 160.416 mph.
  • This is his 35th pole in 595 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his second pole and 10th top-10 start in 2022.
  • This is his first pole in two races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Joey Logano (second) posted his 10th top-10 start of 2022 and his second in two races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Kyle Larson (third) posted his second top-10 start at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his 11th in 17 races this season.
  • Austin Cindric (24th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, June 26th, 2022
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Chase Elliott charges to NASCAR Cup victory at Nashville Superspeedway

In a race twice delayed by lightning, Chase Elliott stole the thunder from a contingent of Toyota drivers who showed early dominance.

After a late caution slowed the action in Sunday’s Ally 400, Elliott remained on the track and led the field to a restart with four laps left at Nashville Superspeedway.

Elliott pulled away from runner-up Kurt Busch and powered his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet across the finish line with a margin of .551 seconds.

In fashioning his second NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, his first at Nashville and the 15th of his career, Elliott overcame a long pit stop on Lap 120 that dropped him to 25th in the running order.

“I’m so proud of our team,” Elliott said. “We had a setback about halfway, but we were able to get the NAPA Chevy dialed back in and get back in the mix. It was a long day, a fun day… I’m so proud of our team. We’ve had a pretty rough month, month-and-a-half. It’s just nice to get back going in the right direction.

“Getting a win is always huge. To do it in a really cool city like Nashville is even better. I’m looking forward to that guitar (trophy).”

Elliott beat three Toyota drivers—pole winner Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Busch—who collectively led 250 of the 300 laps at the 1.33-mile concrete track.

It might be more accurate to say that the Toyota drivers beat themselves by pitting during the 10th and final caution on Lap 291, the result of a blown engine in Josh Bilicki’s Chevrolet.

While Elliott and Kurt Busch stayed out under caution, along with eight other drivers, Kyle Busch, Truex and Hamlin all came to pit road for tires. Of the three, only Hamlin advanced over the final four laps, finishing sixth behind Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson and Ross Chastain.

Kyle Busch and Truex ran afoul of heavy traffic on the final lap and came home 21st and 22nd, respectively.

Hamlin, who led a race-high 114 laps, was out front for the first 41 circuits before lightning halted the action for one hour 27 seconds. After the resumption and two more cautions, Truex passed Hamlin for the lead on lap 66 and help through the end of Stage 1.

Truex, who led six times for 82 laps, also won the second stage, but Elliott’s car came to life in the final third of the race. Elliott had a one-second lead over Kyle Busch, with Hamlin and Truex trailing in third and fourth place, when Bilicki’s engine failure caused the final caution with nine laps remaining.

Kurt Busch’s only regret about his runner-up finish was not being more aggressive on the final restart.

“I wanted to throw some fenders, but I didn’t get the job done,” said the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota. “Everybody will be smiling, but I let them down. I should have come up with a better plan.

“We were going to stay out no matter what, and I needed to start throwing fenders to move people around. I didn’t get after it, and I made too many mistakes and didn’t stick with our strength. I’m not going to say what our strength was, but we did a lot of things good.

“We didn’t have one exceptional item. We’re second with our Toyota Camry. I want to do it over, but you don’t get those at this elite level and Chase got the job done.”

The second lightning delay, which also brought rain and necessitated track drying, lasted two hours, eight minutes. It occurred on Lap 139, just 11 laps short of halfway.

Austin Cindric, Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick ran sixth through 10th, respectively. Elliott leads the series standings by 30 points over Chastain.

  • Drivers Entered: 36
  • Laps Scheduled: 300
  • Margin of Victory: 0.551 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 35 Minutes 15 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 111.220
  • Cautions: 10 for 57 laps
  • Lead Changes: 18
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,470 (10.2 passes per green flag lap)

  • Nashville Superspeedway
  • 2nd Annual Ally 400
  • Race Winner: Chase Elliott
  • Age: 26
  • Team : No. 9 - NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
  • Owner: Hendrick Motorsports
  • Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
  • Chase Elliott won the 2nd Annual Ally 400, his 15th victory in 238 Cup Series races.
  • This is his second victory and 11th top-10 finish in 2022.
  • This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in two races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Kurt Busch (second) posted his second top-10 finish in two races at Nashville Superspeedway. It is his seventh top-10 finish in 2022.
  • Ryan Blaney (third) posted his first top-10 finish in two races at Nashville Superspeedway.
  • Austin Cindric (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Chase Elliott leads the point standings by 30 points over Ross Chastain.
Kyle Busch spins during qualifying
Lebanon, Tennessee - June 25, 2022 : Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Pedigree Toyota, spins after an on-track incident during qualifying for the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Logan RielyGetty Images
Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway Practice results
# DRIVER MAKE RNK SPD TME BHND LAP LAPS 5- 10- 15- 20- 25- 30- 10-LAP FRM TO
16 AJ Allmendinger Chevrolet 20 158.948 30.123 0.514 16 29 30.323 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
10 Aric Almirola Ford 17 159.462 30.026 0.417 28 43 30.081 30.254 30.406 0 0 0 158.267 27 36
6 Brad Keselowski Ford 33 156.042 30.684 1.075 8 33 30.810 30.830 31.198 0 0 0 155.308 5 14
11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 9 159.941 29.936 0.327 31 44 29.986 30.092 30.210 0 0 0 159.119 30 39
15 JJ Yeley Ford 35 155.409 30.809 1.200 20 23 31.123 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
22 Joey Logano Ford 21 158.932 30.126 0.517 19 40 30.160 30.243 30.388 0 0 0 158.320 26 35
4 Kevin Harvick Ford 29 158.187 30.268 0.659 25 36 30.390 30.646 0 0 0 0 156.267 24 33
45 Kurt Busch Toyota 6 160.107 29.905 0.296 43 44 30.273 30.340 30.398 30.473 0 0 157.817 22 31
18 Kyle Busch Toyota 2 160.936 29.751 0.142 29 49 29.860 30.064 30.108 30.185 0 0 159.272 27 36
19 Martin Truex Jr Toyota 10 159.792 29.964 0.355 38 38 30.096 30.148 30.199 0 0 0 158.820 22 31
34 Michael McDowell Ford 24 158.617 30.186 0.577 25 36 30.306 30.339 0 0 0 0 157.819 23 32
3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 12 159.728 29.976 0.367 35 47 30.276 30.407 0 0 0 0 157.472 34 43
47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr Chevrolet 22 158.759 30.159 0.550 23 31 30.268 30.539 0 0 0 0 156.791 1 10
5 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 4 160.418 29.847 0.238 30 46 29.945 30.051 30.131 0 0 0 159.333 28 37
48 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 15 159.600 30.000 0.391 30 40 30.181 30.271 30.330 0 0 0 158.174 14 23
12 Ryan Blaney Ford 8 160.043 29.917 0.308 40 55 30.035 30.179 30.261 30.358 0 0 158.659 39 48
7 Corey Lajoie Chevrolet 19 159.191 30.077 0.468 16 36 30.142 30.289 30.421 0 0 0 158.083 16 25
42 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 28 158.297 30.247 0.638 35 36 30.322 30.410 0 0 0 0 157.449 23 32
9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 18 159.260 30.064 0.455 45 45 30.129 30.243 30.276 30.280 0 0 158.322 23 32
17 Chris Buescher Ford 25 158.575 30.194 0.585 20 33 30.413 30.570 0 0 0 0 156.631 2 11
43 Erik Jones Chevrolet 13 159.632 29.994 0.385 27 33 30.248 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
78 BJ McLeod Ford 36 0.000 0.000 29.609 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
99 Daniel Suarez Chevrolet 14 159.621 29.996 0.387 36 36 30.123 30.399 30.491 30.551 0 0 157.511 4 13
51 Cody Ware Ford 32 156.563 30.582 0.973 24 25 31.258 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0 0
1 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 7 160.064 29.913 0.304 18 39 30.022 30.075 30.110 30.156 0 0 159.204 17 26
23 Bubba Wallace Toyota 1 161.708 29.609 0.000 23 45 29.910 29.985 30.096 30.213 0 0 159.681 26 35
24 William Byron Chevrolet 5 160.391 29.852 0.243 25 39 29.985 30.128 30.239 0 0 0 158.929 24 33
41 Cole Custer Ford 27 158.422 30.223 0.614 37 40 30.314 30.371 30.432 0 0 0 157.650 20 29
77 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 34 155.525 30.786 1.177 25 39 30.872 30.988 31.236 0 0 0 154.516 23 32
8 Tyler Reddick Chevrolet 3 160.456 29.840 0.231 22 44 29.951 30.152 0 0 0 0 158.806 22 31
31 Justin Haley Chevrolet 23 158.716 30.167 0.558 28 38 30.227 30.270 0 0 0 0 158.175 23 32
20 Christopher Bell Toyota 11 159.760 29.970 0.361 22 33 30.068 30.213 0 0 0 0 158.479 20 29
2 Austin Cindric Ford 26 158.491 30.210 0.601 20 35 30.345 30.434 30.515 0 0 0 157.328 19 28
14 Chase Briscoe Ford 16 159.488 30.021 0.412 26 35 30.085 30.312 0 0 0 0 157.961 1 10
21 Harrison Burton Ford 30 157.989 30.306 0.697 14 39 30.459 30.577 30.710 0 0 0 156.593 13 22
38 Todd Gilliland Ford 31 157.562 30.388 0.779 19 30 30.514 30.607 0 0 0 0 156.439 17 26