2022 Texas Grand Prix

The 2022 EchoPark Texas Grand Prix was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on March 27, 2022, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Contested on the 3.426-mile (5.514 km) road course over 69 laps, extended from 68 laps due to an overtime finish, it was the sixth race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Ross Chastain, of Trackhouse Racing, won the race to secure his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory.

Background
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a grade 1 FIA-specification motorsports facility located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas. It features a 3.426 mi road racing circuit. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Prix, and the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, a round of the FIM Road Racing World Championship. It previously hosted the Supercars Championship, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA SportsCar Championship, and IndyCar Series.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice
Kyle Busch was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 2:12.455 seconds and a speed of 92.681 mph.

Qualifying
Under a 2021 rule change, the timing line in road course qualifying is not the start-finish line. Instead, the timing line for qualifying will be set at the exit of Istanbul 8. Ryan Blaney scored the pole for the race with a time of 2:12:343 and a speed of 92.759 mph.

Race
Ryan Blaney won the pole even after a crash in Practice at NASCAR's first Road course race of the season. Daniel Suárez started in P2 after being fastest in Group B.

Suárez won Stage 1, his second career stage victory as Kyle Busch faced mechanical issues. On the Stage 2 restart Suárez was spun at the first corner and cut his tyre, which lost him postitions. His teammate Ross Chastain battled for the lead with Austin Cindric, the pair locked into a wheel to wheel battle. They both pitted on Lap 28, and Denny Hamlin won his first stage in 2022. At the restart Joey Logano was the lead car but went deep into Turn 1, immediately losing the lead. Later, his teammate Cindric spun through the fast downhill left-hander, Turn 10 where his teammate Blaney spun during practice. Chastain battled with Chase Briscoe and other drivers for the lead. Bubba Wallace's lugnut came loose and he had to retire. Briscoe later dropped back with mechanical issues. Loris Hezemans stopped on track and retired, meaning the field restarted with 3 laps to go. Logano, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson made contact at the first corner on the restart. The race was restarted again in Overtime, and Chastain, Alex Bowman, Tyler Reddick and A. J. Allmendinger battled for the lead. On the final lap at Turn 15 Allmendinger pushed Chastain, briefly putting Bowman in the lead. Coming through Hayden Hill, Chastain pushed Allmendinger into Bowman. Allmendinger spun and finished 33rd. Chastain won the race from Bowman in second, giving Team Trackhouse their first NASCAR Win. Chase Elliott finished fourth and kept the Championship lead.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 15

Stage Two Laps: 17

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 38

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 13 among 9 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 9 for 13
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 20 minutes and 57 seconds
 * Average speed: 70.253 mph

Television
Fox Sports covered the race on the television side. Mike Joy, Clint Bowyer, and three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing Tony Stewart called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side, and Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio
PRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.