Tyler Reddick (8) spins in front of Christopher Bell (20) and Kurt Busch (45) as Kevin Harvick (4) is able to avoid the incident during the NASCAR Cup Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 20, 2022. Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Defending Richmond Raceway NASCAR Cup Series winner Alex Bowman addressed the media Saturday morning and acknowledged that the style of competition in all three national series has become increasingly aggressive. And he expects it to be no different in the first short track test of the Next Gen car this weekend.
Bowman, who was involved in a pair of accidents in the frantic last laps of racing in both the Camping World Truck Series and NACAR Cup Series events at Circuit of the Americas last week, said he agreed with series veteran Denny Hamlin who questioned the level of early-season intensity on social media this week.
“I think the Playoff format has a lot to do with that, but I think we’ve seen that over the course of the years,” said Bowman, who finished runner-up at COTA in the NASCAR Cup Series race after a last lap tussle with race winner Ross Chastain.
“You’ve seen people spin people out at the end of the races and get pretty physical at the end of the races for a long time. I think there’s some new guys in the series that are extremely aggressive. Everyone knows how aggressive Ross (Chastain) is at all times. A.J. (Allmendinger) is an aggressive driver too.
“I don’t necessarily think it has changed as much as Denny (Hamlin) thinks, maybe,” he continued. “But I think there’s a reason and if you have to put your finger on it, it would be the Playoff format, how much winning matters and sometimes you can overcome those guys hating you for that trophy.”
Busy Week For Chastain
As you might expect following a career first victory in NASCAR’s premier NASCAR Cup Series, Ross Chastain conceded he had a busy last week. The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Chevy earned the win last week at Circuit of the Americas in a dramatic action-packed final lap – edging Bowman and colliding with A.J. Allmendinger on the last corner before racing off to his first trophy.
The 29-year old Floridian said he did not get much sleep in the immediate hours after his career-changing win at Austin road course. He did extra media interviews, worked with sponsors and just spent time celebrating with friends and his new team. Trackhouse Racing only expanded to two cars – and added Chastain – this season.
“The highlights have been talking to people back home,” Chastain said. “In Charlotte and Mooresville, there are a lot of people that have helped get me here that have been a part of this journey.
“But when you look at the people back home, they weren’t paid to do it. They had no real reason other than they liked racing or they were my family. Talking to them, hearing the stories of where they were at towards the end of the race, seeing a couple of videos of them reacting to the race – that’s when it really sank in. That’s when it felt real.”
NASCAR Cup Series
Richmond Raceway – Richmond, VA
Toyota Owners 400 – April 3, 2022
Sunday’s Starting Line Up
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
1. 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford 22.541 119.782
2. 24 William Byron Liberty University Chevrolet 22.578 119.585
3. 18 Kyle Busch Mars Crunchy Cookie Toyota 22.634 119.290
4. 14 Chase Briscoe Mahindra Tractors Ford 22.658 119.163
5. 43 Erik Jones FOCUSfactor Chevrolet 22.747 118.697
6. 19 Martin Truex, Jr. Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota 22.761 118.624
7. 4 Kevin Harvick Mobil 1 Triple Action Formula Ford 22.761 118.624
8. 1 Ross Chastain ONX Homes/iFly Chevrolet 22.767 118.593
9. 20 Christopher Bell SiriusXM Toyota 22.804 118.400
10. 10 Aric Almirola Smithfield Ford 22.819 118.322
11. 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 22.516 119.915
12. 41 Cole Custer HaasTooling.com Ford 22.520 119.893
13. 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 22.523 119.877
14. 99 Daniel Suarez CommScope Chevrolet 22.544 119.766
15. 9 Chase Elliott A SHOC Chevrolet 22.552 119.723
16. 8 Tyler Reddick Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet 22.586 119.543
17. 21 Harrison Burton # Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford 22.593 119.506
18. 17 Chris Buescher Violet Defense Ford 22.600 119.469
19. 6 Brad Keselowski Violet Defense Ford 22.606 119.437
20. 2 Austin Cindric # Discount Tire Ford 22.644 119.237
21. 5 Kyle Larson HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 22.653 119.190
22. 38 Todd Gilliland # Black’s Tire Ford 22.670 119.100
23. 77 Landon Cassill(i) Voyager: Crypto for All Chevrolet 22.725 118.812
24. 34 Michael McDowell Navage Nasal Care Ford 22.739 118.739
25. 3 Austin Dillon BREZTRI Chevrolet 22.761 118.624
26. 16 A.J. Allmendinger(i) Action Industries Chevrolet 22.766 118.598
27. 45 Kurt Busch Embrace Home Loans Toyota 22.807 118.385
28. 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 22.818 118.328
29. 23 Bubba Wallace Dr Pepper Toyota 22.828 118.276
30. 42 Ty Dillon Chevyliners.com Chevrolet 22.847 118.177
31. 7 Corey LaJoie Nations Guard Chevrolet 22.971 117.540
32. 47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. SunnyD Chevrolet 22.982 117.483
33. 51 Cody Ware Nurtec ODT Ford 23.164 116.560
34. 78 B.J. McLeod Surface Sunscreen/MaintenanceSupplies.com 23.189 116.435
35. 15 J.J. Yeley(i) Nabor Force Ford 23.229 116.234
36. 31 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
37. 44 Greg Biffle Norfolk State University Chevrolet 0.000 0.000
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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