Under the Fort Worth lights on Sunday night (May 22), Ryan Blaney crossed the finish line to win the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway and the all important oversized novelty check for $1 million.
And then he did it again.
When he approached the start/finish line on lap 125, he came within a hundred yards of an All-Star Race victory when the caution came out for last-place Ricky Stenhouse hitting the wall. The No. 12 team thought they’d won the race, and Blaney even put the window net down.
Under special All-Star Race rules, the field re-stacked for an attempt at overtime. Blaney put the window net up himself, and got back to work.
As Mike Joy once said, “This time, he [got] to keep it.”
Team Penske played the All-Star game perfectly, taking advantage of the format to start the final 50-lap stage with all three of its cars locked into the top 10 positions.
It was a bad race to be a pre-race favorite. After winning the pole in the All-Star Race’s unique knockout qualifying format, Kyle Busch didn’t put a wheel wrong in 25 circuits, leading every lap of the first stage.
He looked on his way to a sure stage two win as well, until he slowed on the frontstretch with a flat right-rear tire. Ross Chastain, then running a strong third place, had nowhere to go, slamming into Busch’s Toyota at over 180 miles per hour. Chastain’s No. 1 launched into the air, collecting 2020 All-Star winner Chase Elliott. All three were eliminated.
Ross Chastain slams into Kyle Busch at Texas and launches off the No. 18 car. Wow. He’s okay. pic.twitter.com/3QSt8GdPVj
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 23, 2022
Busch caught up with Frontstretch’s own Beth Lunkenheimer after being released from the infield care center:
After a lengthy red flag, rookie Austin Cindric got his elbows out, outdueling his Team Penske teammate Blaney for the stage two victory and the all-important…
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