What happened?
Bubba Wallace held onto the lead for a long final green flag run at Kansas Speedway to take his second career NASCAR Cup Series victory and first of 2022 on Sunday, Sept. 11. Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman and Martin Truex Jr rounded out the top five.
The win marks the first time a non-playoff driver has won the first two races of the postseason since the inception of the modern era championship format in 2004. Wallace is also the 18th different winner of 2022.
How did it happen?
Bowman led 105 laps, earned the stage two victory and appeared to be on his way to playing the upset by winning his second race of 2022. The victory would have solidified the Arizonian into the Round of 12 of this year’s playoffs.
Had it not been for Wallace.
In the final stage, the 28-year-old found himself in the top five. With laps winding down, the No. 45 team gained position after position as the 23XI Racing Toyota found speed late in the race.
With 67 laps to go, Wallace made his way around the Hendrick Motorsports driver to take the lead, and suddenly, the idea of him earning his second-career victory became very real.
We have a new leader at @kansasspeedway and his name is @BubbaWallace! #NASCARPlayoffs // @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/PCtBveLMin
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 11, 2022
Of course, a lot can happen in 67 laps. After all, there had been nine cautions leading up to that point of the race with six of them being unscheduled. In other words, there were plenty of opportunities for a yellow flag to bunch the field back together again.
Except, the yellow banner never flew again on Sunday afternoon.
After a well-handled pit stop by his crew, all the driver of the No. 45 had to do was hold off any challengers for the lead for the remainder of the race. Two of those potential challengers were Wallace’s pseudo-teammates Bell and Hamlin.
‘@dennyhamlin moves into second place as he tries to chase down leader Bubba Wallace. #NASCARPlayoffs // @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/vcihnL5txy
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) September 11, 2022
Despite a late-race charge from the fellow Toyotas, time ran out for the Joe Gibbs Racing duo and Wallace maintained his composure long enough to win his first Cup race under green flag conditions.
Who stood out?
Before the Wallace charge, Bowman was having an uncharacteristically dominant day. But it didn’t come without some misfortune first.
The HMS driver began the day in third and…
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