NASCAR Pole Position - 2022 Preview

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THINGS TO WATCH IN 2022 HAIL, HAIL

NEXT GEN IS HERE! NEW FACES,

2021 REWIND

10 THINGS WE LEARNED NASCAR AWARDS BANQUET

FRESH PLACES

RUN IT

BACK

Drivers’ Better Halves

Inside the 2021 Champion’s Week Banquet from Nashville P. 54

POSTERIZED!

KYLE LARSON DANIEL HEMRIC BEN RHODES Q&A with Ty Gibbs

This 19-year-old is ready for Xfinity Series title chase P. 44

THE NEXT GEN IS HERE P.24 04 07 08 26 28

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NASCAR TRACKS & LAYOUTS P.32

2022 NASCAR Schedule Next Gen Vendor Spotlight

Ohlins No Stranger to NASCAR

LET’S CALL IT A THROWBACK P.46

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Green Flag

36

New Faces In New Places

38 40

CONTE 20 NT PR2E2V IEW

THINGS TO WATCH IN 2022

NASCAR AWARDS GALA P.52 42

World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway

Portland International Raceway Drivers to Watch

Driver Spotlight: Jeb Burton

44 54 56

Stewart Friesen Q&A Ty Gibbs Q&A

NASCAR Wives & Girlfriends

10 Things We Learned in 2021

NASCAR POLE POSITION AN OFFICIALLY LICENSED PUBLICATION OF NASCAR // ADDRESS: 23110 STATE ROAD 54, SUITE 293, LUTZ, FL 33549 • EMAIL: INFO@AE-ENGINE.COM • WEB: POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM, AE-ENGINE. COM // PUBLISHER: CRAIG BARONCELLI // SALES VICE PRESIDENT: DAVID WATSON • DIRECTORS: JUSTIN HAND, MARK MORALES // PRODUCTION: CREATIVE DIRECTOR: JOE RABUCK • DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR: NICOLE COOPER • DIGITAL CONTENT DIRECTOR: JOSH MULL • EXECUTIVE EDITOR: ERIC ESTEPP • COPY EDITOR: KEITH WALTZ • CONTRIBUTORS: JARED TURNER, KEITH WALTZ, BEN WHITE, JOSEPH WOLKIN, JERRY BONKOWSKI • SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATORS: AIDAN ANDERSEN, ETHAN ANDERSEN, SHOGUN • SPECIAL THANKS TO: GREG CARTY, ANDREW ENGEL (NASCAR) // A.E. ENGINE SPECIFIES THAT POST-PRESS CHANGES MAY OCCUR TO ANY INFORMATION PRESENTED IN THIS PUBLICATION AND TAKES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR GOODS OR SERVICES ADVERTISED. NASCAR® IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR STOCK CAR AUTO RACING, INC. MAIL ORDER: TO RECEIVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO NASCAR POLE POSITION MAGAZINE, SEND A CHECK OR MONEY ORDER FOR $29.95 TO: A.E. ENGINE, 23110 STATE ROAD 54, SUITE 293, LUTZ, FL 33549. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR RETURN MAILING ADDRESS AND AN EMAIL ADDRESS AND MAKE THE CHECK PAYABLE TO A.E. ENGINE. ONLINE ORDER: SUBSCRIPTIONS AND INDIVIDUAL COPIES CAN BE ORDERED ONLINE AT POLEPOSITIONMAG.COM. DISTRIBUTION: IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS OR AN ORGANIZATION INTERESTED IN DISTRIBUTING COPIES OF NASCAR POLE POSITION MAGAZINE, PLEASE CONTACT CRAIG BARONCELLI AT CB@AE-ENGINE.COM. SALES INQUIRIES: IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING OR WOULD LIKE TO BECOME A FIELD REPRESENTATIVE, PLEASE CONTACT DAVID WATSON AT DKW@AE-ENGINE.COM. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. (OH YEAH!)

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POLE POSITION 2022

RACE THROUGH * HEARTBURN Starts neutralizing acid in seconds

Available at Use as directed. *with headache or body aches and pains

©2020 Bayer

PRESENTED BY

GREEN FLAG

Almirola To Retire at End of 2022 Season

DRUM ROLL PLEASE.

The

list of best-selling die-cast for 2021. They are:

2022

season

will

be

37-year-old Aric Almirola’s 15th and final year as a NASCAR Cup Series driver.

Longtime sponsor Smithfield Foods will continue as an anchor partner of Almirola and the No. 10 team of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Almirola’s best seasons have come with SHR. He finished a career-high fifth in points in 2018 and scored a career-best 18 top-10 finishes in 2020.

“I truly enjoy driving race cars and I’m excited to race my heart out in 2022 for Smithfield and Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. “But to be the best in this business, you’ve got to be selfish, and for the last 37 years my life has always revolved around me and what I needed to do.

CHROME NUMBERS RETURN

HELPING CHILDREN IN NEED

HOPE FOR NORTH WILKESBORO

NASCAR IS ONCE AGAIN

BOARD MEMBERS AND

THE RECENTLY PASSED

allowing teams to use chrome

staff of Speedway Children’s

North Carolina budget includes

numbers. The sanctioning body

Charities’ Charlotte chapter

$18 million for infrastructure

had previously banned chrome

visited area nonprofits during

improvements at North

numbers because of concerns

the holidays, delivering cheer and

Wilkesboro Speedway. That

about visibility and how well

grant funding to organizations

money, Speedway Motorsports

they contrast with the rest of

making a direct impact on the

CEO Marcus Smith says, will go

the car.

lives of children in need.

a long way toward modernizing

Chrome numbers add a

04

“I want to be present. I want to be the best husband and father, and that to me means more than being a race car driver. So, it’s one more year where I’m all in on racing, where we’ll do whatever it takes to compete at the highest level. But when the season is over, I’ll be ready to wave goodbye. I’ve loved every minute of it, but it’s time for the next chapter of my life.”

In total, SCC Charlotte

the historic track.

unique element to a paint

distributed $406,000 in grants

scheme, and they are an easy

during 2021 to 38 deserving

to revive this fantastic venue

way to generate excitement

charities located throughout

to be, not just a race track, but

about a particular car. The

the region. The recipient

a place that can host lots of

buzz over some of the cars

organizations serve more than

events, a place that people will

with chrome numbers during

28,000 area children facing

come to from far away and

testing convinced officials

challenges ranging from learning

enjoy the community, enjoy

that it was time for their

disabilities and broken homes to

the region and enjoy special

return.

childhood cancer.

events,” Smith said.

POLE POSITION 2022

“There is a great opportunity

LIONEL RACING RELEASED ITS ANNUAL

1.

KEVIN HARVICK No. 4 Grave Digger Ford from Nashville

2.

KYLE LARSON No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet champion edition

3.

CHASE ELLIOTT No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet

4.

KYLE LARSON No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet championship Phoenix win

5.

DALE EARNHARDT JR. No. 8 United for America Chevrolet Richmond Xfinity Series Race

6.

CHASE ELLIOTT No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet “night owl”

7.

CHASE ELLIOTT No. 9 Llumar Chevrolet COTA win

8.

KYLE LARSON No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Las Vegas Motor Speedway win

9.

CHASE ELLIOTT No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet throwback from Darlington

10.

BUBBA WALLACE No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota Talladega win

There are a lot of new variables, a lot of new challenges that every team is gonna have to learn. But I think that’s gonna bring a level of excitement we haven’t seen.

–TONY STEWART ON TH E N E X T G E N C AR

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

GREEN FLAG

PRESENTED BY

RPM REBRANDED TO PETTY GMS MOTORSPORTS

RCR and PBR Join Forces

PROFESSIONAL BULL RIDERS OFFICIALS

announced that the Carolina Chaos will represent Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the PBR Team Series, an elite new league featuring the world’s top bull riders competing in games beginning in June.

The team will be run by Richard Childress Racing with 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon serving as general manager. Dillon, who drives the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet, embarks on his ninth year of competition in the NASCAR Cup Series this season. A former champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (2013) and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (2011), Dillon is a 19-time winner in NASCAR’s topthree touring series.

Maury Gallagher, owner of GMS Racing and majority owner of Richard Petty Motorsports, along with motorsports icon Richard Petty announced the creation of Petty GMS Motorsports.

The organization will field two full-time NASCAR Cup Series entries this season with drivers Ty Dillon and Erik Jones, and will be housed at GMS Racing’s multi-building complex in Statesville, North Carolina.

Petty, a member of the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2010, will serve as chairman of the newly formed organization and remain a face of the team at the race

”I’ve always had an interest in the business

track. Affectionally known as “The King,” Petty has accumulated 200 NASCAR Cup Series wins, 123 poles, the most wins in a single season (27), the most Daytona 500 victories (seven), most consecutive wins (10) and was the first of three drivers to win seven championships in the NASCAR Cup Series.

To further the Petty tradition, Dillon will now drive the No. 42 – the original number Lee Petty sported from 1949-1961. The eldest Petty earned three championships and 54 wins in the No. 42 car. In addition, Kyle Petty raced the number from 1979-1982 and 1989-1996.

side of sports, so I’m thrilled to get a chance at being the general manager of a PBR team alongside my grandfather,” said Dillon. “I grew up watching bull riders with my grandfather, so it’s special to be able to share this interest with him in our home state of North Carolina.”

The PBR Team Series’ inaugural 10-event regular season will culminate in a team playoff at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Nov. 4-6.

The league will launch with eight founding teams, each scheduled to host in their respective city an annual bull riding event and western lifestyle festival, building excitement and rooting interests in the sport.

TRACK OWNER FRANCOIS EARNS COMCAST AWARD World Wide Technology Raceway owner Curtis Francois has been selected as the seventh recipient of the Comcast Community Champion of the Year.

Francois received the award for his work with The Raceway Gives Foundation, which lifts up individuals and military families in the St. Louis area who are seeking to fulfill their potential, no matter their situation.

Comcast will award $60,000 to The Raceway Gives Foundation in recognition of Francois’ contributions to the community.

“This is a tremendous honor for The Raceway Gives Foundation,” said Francois.

“The foundation has lofty goals and high hopes for what we can accomplish within our community by providing career opportunities, community engagement and

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POLE POSITION 2022

educational experiences for area youth and military families. With this prestigious award and Comcast’s generosity, our foundation will foster transformational change for many people.”

The Raceway Gives Foundation was created by World Wide Technology Raceway to serve as a community asset that focuses on STEM education and diversity. It seeks to create a larger STEM footprint by bringing an expanded and unique curriculum to area youth. Of note is the foundation’s relationship with the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center via the “Racing in the Classroom” program that introduces motorsports education and career opportunities to an underserved community for local youth ages 8-18.

THE FULL PBR TEAM SERIES LEAGUE ROSTER IS: Ariat Texas Rattlers

Kansas City Outlaws

Arizona Ridge Riders

Missouri Thunder

Austin Gamblers

Nashville Stampede

Carolina Chaos

Oklahoma Freedom

•• Austin Dillon (middle) attends PBR Unleash The Beast on Jan. 7 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NASCAR SCHEDULES

2022 SCHEDULES NASCAR Cup Series Sun., Feb. 6 Wed., Feb. 16 Thu., Feb. 17 Sun., Feb. 20 Sun., Feb. 27 Sun., March 6 Sun., March 13 Sun., March 20 Sun., March 27 Sun., April 3 Sat., April 9 Sun., April 17 Sun., April 24 Sun., May 1 Sun., May 8 Sun., May 15 Sun., May 22 Sun., May 22 Sun., May 29 Sun., June 5 Sun., June 12 Sun., June 26 Sun., July 3 Sun., July 10 Sun., July 17 Sun., July 24 Sun., July 31 Sun., Aug. 7 Sun., Aug. 14 Sun., Aug. 21 Sat., Aug. 27

Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Coliseum Daytona 500 Qualifying at Daytona International Speedway Daytona 500 Duels at Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway Auto Club Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Phoenix Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway Circuit of The Americas Richmond Raceway Martinsville Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (dirt) Talladega Superspeedway Dover Motor Speedway Darlington Raceway Kansas Speedway NASCAR All-Star Open at Texas Motor Speedway NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway World Wide Technology Raceway Sonoma Raceway Nashville Superspeedway Road America Atlanta Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Pocono Raceway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Michigan International Speedway Richmond Raceway Watkins Glen International Daytona International Speedway

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 16 Sun., Sept. 4 Sun., Sept. 11 Sat., Sept. 17

Darlington Raceway Kansas Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 12 Sun., Sept. 25 Sun., Oct. 2 Sun., Oct. 9

Texas Motor Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 8 Sun., Oct. 16 Sun., Oct. 23 Sun., Oct. 30

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Homestead-Miami Speedway Martinsville Speedway

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE Sun., Nov. 6

Phoenix Raceway

XFINITY Series Sat., Feb.19 Sat., Feb. 26 Sat., March 5 Sat., March 12 Sat., March 19 Sat., March 26 Sat., April 2 Fri., April 8 Sat., April 23 Sat., April 30 Sat., May 7 Sat., May 21 Sat., May 28 Sat., June 4 Sat., June 25 Sat., July 2 Sat., July 9 Sat., July 16 Sat., July 23 Sat., July 30 Sat., Aug. 6 Sat., Aug. 20 Fri., Aug. 26 Sat., Sept. 3 Sat., Sept. 10 Fri., Sept. 16

Daytona International Speedway Auto Club Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Phoenix Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway Circuit of The Americas Richmond Raceway Martinsville Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Dover Motor Speedway Darlington Raceway Texas Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway Portland International Raceway Nashville Superspeedway Road America Atlanta Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway Pocono Raceway Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Michigan International Speedway Watkins Glen International Daytona International Speedway Darlington Raceway Kansas Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 12 Sat., Sept. 24 Sat., Oct. 1 Sat., Oct. 8

Texas Motor Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 8 Sat., Oct. 15 Sat., Oct. 22 Sat., Oct. 29

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Homestead-Miami Speedway Martinsville Speedway

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE Sat., Nov. 5

Phoenix Raceway

Camping World Truck Series Fri., Feb. 18 Fri., March 4 Sat., March 19 Sat., March 26 Thu., April 7 Sat., April 16 Fri., May 6 Sat., May 14 Fri., May 20 Fri., May 27 Sat., June 4 Sat., June 11 Sat., June 18 Fri., June 24 Sat., July 9 Sat., July 23

Daytona International Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway Circuit of The Americas Martinsville Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (dirt) Darlington Raceway Kansas Speedway Texas Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway World Wide Technology Raceway Sonoma Raceway Knoxville Raceway Nashville Superspeedway Mid-Ohio Pocono Raceway

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 10 Fri., July 29 Sat., Aug, 13 Fri., Sept. 9

Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Richmond Raceway Kansas Speedway

PLAYOFFS ROUND OF 8 Thu., Sept. 15 Sat., Oct. 1 Sat., Oct. 22

Bristol Motor Speedway Talladega Superspeedway Homestead-Miami Speedway

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE Fri., Nov. 4

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

Phoenix Raceway

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

07

2022 DRIVER UPDATE

MOVIN’ ON UP 5 YOUNG DRIVERS CLIMB THE LADDER

–JARED TURNER

O

ver four full seasons in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Austin Cindric won a

championship, finished runner-up in points, earned four top-10 points finishes, led more than 2,400 laps and went to Victory Lane 13 times.

That’s a pretty stellar record – even stellar enough to convince legendary team owner Roger Penske that Cindric is the driver to pilot Team Penske’s iconic No. 2 car driven the past 11 seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series by Brad Keselowski, who left the organization for an ownership opportunity.

When the time came for Roger Penske to pick a driver for his flagship car, he didn’t have to look far. Along with competing for Penske the last three-and-ahalf years in the Xfinity Series, Cindric is the son of Team Penske president Tim Cindric. Rest assured, though, Roger Penske chose the younger Cindric based on his own merits, which are pretty obvious.

“I couldn’t be prouder to say that he’s gonna be the driver of the No. 2 car, and I think he’s earned the respect,” Penske said. “You come in as the son of the guy who is the president of Team Penske, you’d probably come in with a little bit of weight on your shoulders, but I can tell you one thing: As far as I’m concerned, all that’s off.

“He’s proven to be the driver he is, the individual he is today.”

Cindric, 23, understands the heritage of the No. 2 car better than almost anyone because of his father’s longtime role with the company.

“In my bedroom at my parents’ house, I still have a picture … signed by Brad Keselowski sitting on my bed,” Cindric said. “As a kid, you just grow up rooting on those guys, and you don’t really picture yourself being one of them. There’s plenty I need to learn. I’m excited for that challenge.”

4 More Graduates

While Austin Cindric’s move to the NASCAR Cup Series from the Xfinity Series is huge, he’s not the only driver getting a big promotion.

Here are four others who are moving up.

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POLE POSITION 2022

HARRISON BURTON: After a

TODD GILLILAND: The son

SHELDON CREED: The

JUSTIN HALEY: It’s been

full season in trucks followed

of former Cup Series driver

2020 NASCAR Camping

a roller-coaster ride to

by two full seasons in the

David Gilliland is jumping to

World Truck Series champ

the Cup Series for Haley,

Xfinity Series, the 21-year-

the Cup Series with the same

is taking the next logical

who is going full-time

old son of former Cup Series

Front Row Motorsports

step in his career by joining

Cup Series racing after

driver Jeff Burton is set to

organization he’s raced

Richard Childress Racing’s

running a limited series

embark on a career in the

for the last two seasons in

Xfinity Series program

schedule the past three

sport’s premier division.

trucks. Gilliland, who has

after scoring eight wins

years and even being

Burton, whose family’s roots

two victories in 93 truck

over three seasons at

credited with a Cup Series

are in his father’s hometown

career starts, competed in

the truck level. Creed,

victory at Daytona in July

of South Boston, Virginia, will

NASCAR’s No. 3 division for

who followed up his

2019 thanks to a perfectly

compete for Stuart, Virginia-

Kyle Busch Motorsports

championship-winning

timed rain storm. Haley is

birthed Wood Brothers

before joining Front Row

season with a fifth-place

moving to Cup with Kaulig

Racing – the longest

Motorsports. The 21-year-

points finish for the same

Racing – his team for each

continuously operating team

old has never entered a Cup

GMS Racing team, will drive

of the last three Xfinity

in NASCAR history.

or Xfinity Series race.

a No. 2 Chevy for RCR.

Series seasons.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NEW FACES IN NEW PLACES Following are seven notable drivers who have remained in the same series but switched rides for the upcoming NASCAR season.

-JARED TURNER

BRAD KESELOWSKI

KURT BUSCH No active Cup Se-

It’s hard to believe Keselowski will no longer be aboard Team Penske’s “Blue Deuce.”

But after 11 years in the iconic ride – and even longer with the company – the 2012 Cup Series champion decided to join Roush Fenway Racing, where an ownership stake proved too alluring to pass up. Keselowski will drive the No. 6 Ford for the newly rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

ries driver has competed for more teams in his career than Busch.

Next up for the 2004 champion: 23XI Racing’s new No. 45 Toyota. Busch – who has driven for the likes of Team Penske, Roush Fenway Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing over his two-decades-old Cup Series career – will carry primary sponsorship from longtime supporter Monster Energy.

TYLER ANKRUM THE CALIFORNIAN JOINS HATTORI RACING ENTERPRISES following a two-year NASCAR Camping World Truck Series stint at GMS Racing where he went winless in 45 starts.

ROSS CHASTAIN

DANIEL HEMRIC

JEB BURTON

GRANT ENFINGER

WHEN TRACKHOUSE

IT’S FAIRLY

DESPITE SCORING

A FIVE-TIME

Racing announced

uncommon for

his first career Xfinity

winner over a

plans to buy Chip

a driver to leave

Series win and

five-year run with

Ganassi Racing at

a team after

enjoying by far his

ThorSport Racing

the end of 2021,

just winning a

best season to date,

that included full-

Chastain went into

championship, but

the second-generation

time and part-time

limbo not knowing if

that’s what Hemric

driver learned that

duties, Enfinger has

he would be retained

did after capturing

Kaulig didn’t need

landed a full-time

by the new ownership.

the 2021 Xfinity

his services beyond

gig with an equally

Fortunately for the

Series title for Joe

2021. He’s joined

competitive Truck

eighth-generation

Gibbs Racing. If

Our Motorsports

Series organization –

watermelon farmer,

Hemric repeats as

and will continue his

GMS Racing, where he

he was part of

champ, it’ll be with

relationship with

earned career win No.

the plan.

Kaulig Racing.

Chevrolet.

1 in 2016.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

20

THINGS TO WATCH IN 2022

Drivers, start your engines – and fans, prepare for excitement.

The NASCAR season is just around the corner, and with so many changes on the horizon – including a new NASCAR Cup Series race car, a noticeably different Cup Series schedule, and old faces in new places – things are likely to turn intense in a hurry. So buckle your seat belt, because it’s about to get real – and we’re here to get you ready for it with 20 things to watch in 2022.

BY JARED TURNER

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POLE POSITION 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

MATT CRAFTON’S QUEST FOR HISTORY After winning a third NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship in 2019, Matt Crafton came up short in his bid to capture a record-tying fourth truck championship in 2020 and 2021. Will his third try for No. 4 be a charm?

If Crafton comes out on top, he’ll join only NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. as a four-time truck champ.

The key to a Crafton championship run will likely be how well the veteran driver meshes with a new chief, as Junior Joiner – Crafton’s crew chief the past 10 seasons at ThorSport Racing – has moved on. All three of Crafton’s championships and all but two of his 15 career truck wins have come with Joiner atop his No. 88 pit box.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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A WIDE OPEN TITLE BATTLE IN XFINITY SERIES Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Daniel Hemric left his championship-winning team at Joe Gibbs Racing after last season for Kaulig Racing, where he will fill the seat previously occupied by 2022 NASCAR Cup Series driver Justin Haley.

Last year’s Xfinity Series championship runner-up and 2020 champion Austin Cindric decided to move up to the Cup Series instead of competing for another Xfinity Series title.

Sheldon Creed – the 2020 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and a winner of eight truck races over the past two seasons – joined the Xfinity Series for this season and will compete full time for Richard Childress Racing.

What does all this mean for the Xfinity Series in 2022? In short: a lot. But more than anything, it means the race for the Xfinity Series championship is wide open.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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20 THINGS TO WATCH

18 NEW PRIMARY SPONSORS Every NASCAR Cup Series season ushers new primary sponsors into the fold, and 2022 is no exception. Among this year’s new primary backers are GearWrench (Kevin Harvick), FOCUSfactor (Erik Jones) and Mahindra Ag North America (Chase Briscoe).

GearWrench has previously served as a primary sponsor of Kurt Busch at Chip Ganassi Racing, but this will be the hand tool brand’s first partnership with Harvick and Stewart-Haas Racing. FOCUSfactor and Mahindra are newcomers to the sport, with the latter company’s Mahindra Tractors brand adorning Briscoe’s No. 14 SHR Ford as the primary sponsor for the majority of the season. FOCUSfactor, a brain health supplement leader for nearly 20 years, will be the main sponsor of Jones’ No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet for 26 races.

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POLE POSITION 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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Shop the SABRE Safe Escape 3-in-1 Automotive Tool containing SABRE pepper gel, a belt cutter and a window breaker for vehicle emergencies, as well as other great personal safety products at Walmart and SabreRed.com.

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20 THINGS TO WATCH

NEW DRIVER-CREW CHIEF PAIRINGS Several NASCAR Cup Series drivers have new chiefs. Among them are Brad

17

Keselowski (Matt McCall), Kurt Busch (Billy Scott), Ryan Blaney (Jonathan Hassler), Erik Jones (Dave Elenz) and Chris Buescher (Scott Graves).

Keselowski and Busch are paired with new crew chiefs as a result of being with different teams. Hassler – who spent last season as crew chief at Wood Brothers Racing – takes over on Blaney’s No. 12 Team Penske team for veteran crew chief Todd Gordon, who retired at the end of last season.

Of the crew chiefs joining up with returning drivers, only Elenz has no prior experience at the Cup Series level. He has spent the past five seasons as a full-time crew chief in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JR Motorsports, where his drivers have won two championships.

16

ORGANIZATIONS IN EXPANSION MODE Three organizations that fielded just one NASCAR Cup Series team in 2021

will campaign two full-time teams this year.

The newly expanded organizations are 23XI Racing, Trackhouse Racing and Petty GMS Motorsports. Joining last year’s lone 23XI driver Bubba Wallace as a teammate this year is veteran Kurt Busch, who will compete with primary sponsorship from Monster Energy.

Petty GMS Motorsports – formed through a new partnership between Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Racing – will field a second car with Ty Dillon as its driver. Competing as Richard Petty Motorsports in 2021, the organization fielded a lone entry for Erik Jones.

Trackhouse, which acquired the assets of Chip Ganassi Racing late last year, has added former CGR driver Ross Chastain to its stable after campaigning a single car for Daniel Suarez last year.

NEW OR REBRANDED TEAMS Three organizations set to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series this year are at least somewhat new to the Cup Series scene.

Kaulig Racing, which will run a full-time entry for former Xfinity Series driver Justin Haley and a second entry shared by three drivers, has entered a total of 10 Cup Series races over the past two seasons, but this will be the organization’s first full-time foray in NASCAR’s premier division.

Meanwhile, the organization formerly known as Roush Fenway Racing will compete under the banner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing to reflect Cup Series veteran Brad Keselowski’s new role as a co-owner.

Similarly, the newly branded Petty GMS Motorsports represents an offseason merger of Richard Petty Motorsports and GMS Racing and has Allegiant Air CEO Maury Gallagher Jr. as its majority owner.

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POLE POSITION 2022

15

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

14 FIRST-TIME WINNERS The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season yielded three first-time winners, the first of them going to Victory Lane in the season’s first race when series veteran Michael McDowell shocked the world at the Daytona 500.

The following weekend’s race on the Daytona road course produced yet another first-timer when second-year Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell scored the win. Then, much later in the season, 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace prevailed in a rain-shortened event at Talladega where he became the first African American driver to notch a victory in NASCAR’s premier series since Wendell Scott in 1963.

Who will be this year’s first-time winners? Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe are just a few of the drivers who could pop the Cup Series winner’s champagne for the first time.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

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20 THINGS TO WATCH

13

DRIVERS LOOKING TO END LENGTHY DROUGHTS Along with drivers in pursuit of their first ca-

reer NASCAR Cup Series victory in the 2022 season are several drivers who’ve been to Victory Lane but are looking to end lengthy droughts.

Headlining this category is 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick, who – much to the surprise of everyone in the sport – endured a winless 2021 after triumphing a series-high nine times just a season earlier. Prior to 2021, Harvick had picked up at least one victory in 11 consecutive seasons.

Joining Harvick in the ready-to-win-again club are 2018 Daytona 500 winner Austin Dillon, who last prevailed in July 2020 at Texas Motor Speedway. Also itching to get back to the Winner’s Circle following a prolonged absence are Erik Jones, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Chris Buescher.

A NEWLY CONFIGURED ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

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When the NASCAR Cup Series competes at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 20 and July 10, they’ll see a track that looks and races dramatically different.

That’s because AMS officials recently wrapped up a major reconfiguration project of the 1.54-mile quad-oval, which now features 28 degrees of banking in the turns – up from 24 degrees and higher than any other intermediate track on the Cup Series schedule. Straightaway banking remains at five degrees but in addition to the steeper banks, the racing surface is narrower, with an overall decrease in width from 55 feet to 40 feet. The new widths are 52 feet on the frontstretch, 42 feet on the backstretch, and 40 feet in the turns.

Many observers expect Atlanta to now race more like a superspeedway than an intermediate track, although its length remains the same.

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THE RETURN OF PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING After two seasons of mostly one-day race weekends bereft of practice and qualifying, these popular preliminary events return as part of the regular weekend schedule for NASCAR’s top three divisions in 2022 – a welcome change for many drivers, who generally prefer having the grid set based on qualifying speeds instead of a convoluted formula like the one used in recent times.

Qualifying will most often occur in knockout-style, as opposed to the more traditional single-car runs from yesteryear.

Most drivers and crew chiefs also like having the opportunity to practice and fine-tune their cars ahead of the race, but the primary beneficiary of this procedural change might be the fans, who can once again see their heroes on track multiple times throughout a race weekend.

A NARROWING OF THE GAP AT THE TOP? By any objective measure, Hendrick Motorsports

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spanked the competition in 2021. So will other traditional powerhouse organizations such as Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske be able to narrow the performance gap and maybe even leapfrog Hendrick this year?

With former champion Brad Keselowski no longer part of Team Penske, it’s possible the organization could take a step back. JGR’s fourdriver roster has remained intact, but that’s no guarantee that Hendrick will be any less dominant. Hendrick has all four of its drivers back as well – plus four-time Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon as the organization’s new vice chairman. Hendrick drivers won 17 of 36 races last season, so maintaining that level of mastery will be difficult.

But until JGR, Team Penske or another organization offers a reason to believe otherwise, Hendrick will be considered the team to beat.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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20 THINGS TO WATCH

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A SUPER-TALENTED ROOKIE CLASS You have to go back a long time to find a NASCAR Cup Series rookie class as strong as the class of 2022.

Leading the charge is 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion and 2021 Xfinity Series runner-up Austin Cindric, who takes over the iconic No. 2 Team Penske car previously driven by Brad Keselowski.

The next rookie headliner is second-generation driver Harrison Burton, who is the son of 21-time Cup Series winner turned NASCAR on NBC announcer Jeff Burton. Harrison, who owns four wins in 75 Xfinity Series starts over the last three seasons, will campaign the No. 21 Ford for Wood Brothers Racing.

Rounding out the impressive rookie roster is secondgeneration driver Todd Gilliland, who jumps from the Camping World Truck Series to the Cup Series with Front Row Motorsports, and Justin Haley, who moves from Xfinity to Cup with Kaulig Racing.

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TWO FORMER CHAMPS IN NEW DIGS Two former NASCAR Cup Series champi-

ons have new homes.

For Brad Keselowski, that new home is the newly rebranded Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, where Keselowski will be both a driver and co-owner.

Keselowski joins the organization after spending his entire career as a full-time Cup driver at Team Penske, where he won 34 races and the 2012 championship.

The other former Cup Series champ with new digs is Kurt Busch, who joins 23XI Racing to become the driver for the organization’s new second team. The 2004 champion, Busch has spent the last three seasons at Chip Ganassi Racing, but Trackhouse Racing purchased the assets of CGR at the end of 2021.

When the cars hit the track for the new season, look for Keselowski in a No. 6 Ford and Busch in a No. 45 Toyota.

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20 THINGS TO WATCH

7 THE NEXT STEP IN WALLACE’S PROGRESSION Last season, Bubba Wallace posted a historic win in the fall at Talladega Superspeedway where he became the first African American driver since Wendell Scott in 1963 to capture a victory in NASCAR’s premier series.

Competing for the newly formed 23XI Racing organization co-owned by Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan, Wallace showed the world – including his many critics – that he’s capable of achieving great things at the sport’s highest level.

This season, Wallace will look to establish himself as a more consistent frontrunner after finishing no better than 21st in the standings in his first four seasons as a full-time Cup Series driver. His 21st-place points finish from a season ago marked just a one-position improvement from 2020, his final season at Richard Petty Motorsports.

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STEWART-HAAS RACING ON THE COMEBACK TRAIL

6

No matter how you slice it, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season was a major bust for Stewart-Haas Racing – a winner of two Cup Series championships and a staple of the Championship 4 since its formation in 2009.

Not only did the organization co-owned by Tony Stewart and businessman Gene Haas go to Victory Lane just once, but none of its four drivers advanced beyond the Round of 12. Many observers expect a major rebound from SHR in 2022 when the organization will once again field the Fords of Kevin Harvick, Aric Almirola, Cole Custer and Chase Briscoe.

Harvick, in particular, is aiming to be much improved after going winless a season ago and barely making the playoffs, which he did on the basis of points.

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SIGNIFICANT SCHEDULE CHANGES New to the NASCAR Cup Series schedule this year is World Wide Technology Raceway, a 1.25mile oval in Madison, Illinois, near St. Louis.

The track has hosted numerous NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races but never an event for NASCAR’s premier division. The Cup Series will compete at WWTR on June 5.

Other notable changes to the Cup Series schedule include the removal of the Daytona road course and the return of Auto Club Speedway, which took a one-year hiatus from the Cup Series schedule. Pocono Raceway, which has hosted a doubleheader weekend each of the past two seasons, will be the site of just one Cup Series race in 2022.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is back in the playoffs after one year of hosting a regular-season race, while the playoff race at Richmond returns to the regular season.

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20 THINGS TO WATCH

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A NEW, HISTORIC VENUE FOR THE BUSCH CLASH If you’ve seen the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series

schedule, you’ll likely notice an unfamiliar venue at the top. That venue is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which has been around for nearly a century and played host to two Olympic Games among other major sporting events.

L.A. Memorial Coliseum isn’t part of the traditional 36-race schedule but will instead be the site of the preseason, non-points-paying Busch Clash that has been run at Daytona International Speedway since its 1979 inception.

Moving the Clash to the Coliseum is an outside-thebox experiment and a big deal on many levels, as the event – which drivers will contest on a temporary quarter-mile asphalt oval – marks the unofficial debut of the Cup Series’ Next Gen car and will likely introduce thousands of new fans to the sport.

A CONTINUATION OF SOME HEATED RIVALRIES

3

After a fairly tame first two-thirds of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season, the proverbial gloves came off down the stretch as some of the Cup Series’ most prominent stars tangled on and off the race track and made no bones about their disdain for each other.

Most notably, Kevin Harvick and Chase Elliott had a difference of opinion in the fall night race at Bristol that later spilled over to pit road and became the talk of the NASCAR world in the weeks to follow. By season’s end, the two still hadn’t buried the hatchet, and it seems highly probable their feud will resume in 2022.

Ditto for Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman, who clashed while battling for the win at Martinsville in the season’s penultimate race.

Who still has a score to settle in 2022? Stay tuned.

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THE VERDICT ON THE NEXT GEN CAR No NASCAR Cup Series storyline will be bigger this season than the performance of the Next Gen race car, set to make its official debut at the Daytona 500. Delayed a year by logistical challenges that COVID-19 presented, the Next Gen car replaces the familiar Gen-6 model that all Cup Series teams have campaigned exclusively the past nine seasons.

Reviews of the Next Gen car have been mixed after numerous rounds of testing, with some drivers saying they believe the model will create more competitive racing but others expressing concern about reduced speeds.

In 2022, drivers will run the Next Gen car at all 36 points races and two exhibition races, but the car won’t feature the same rules configuration everywhere. So the Next Gen could perform extremely well at some tracks but have a less-thandesired effect at others. Only time will render the overall verdict.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

KYLE LARSON’S BID TO JOIN AN ELUSIVE CLUB In his first year with Hendrick Motorsports, Kyle Larson posted his most successful season to date at NASCAR’s top level by winning 10 races, including the season finale at Phoenix Raceway where he captured his first Cup Series championship in convincing fashion.

Larson returns this season with his No. 5 team basically intact and will once again work with crew chief Cliff Daniels, whose first season with Larson proved far more successful than anyone imagined. While another 10-win season might be a reach for Larson – who became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to reach that lofty mark – a second championship seems achievable.

If Larson can return to NASCAR’s Promised Land, he’ll be the first repeat champion of the sport’s premier series since Johnson earned the last of his record-setting five consecutive championships in 2010.

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NEXT GEN

THE NEXT GENERATION IS HERE

MUCH-ANTICIPATED NEW CAR READY TO RACE

BY JARED TURNER Say hello to the Next Generation – the Next Generation NASCAR Cup Series car, that is.

When the green flag waves on the 2022 Cup Series season, the cars on the race track will look and drive differently than the ones fans are accustomed to seeing. And that’s not a bad thing.

For years, followers of the sport have clamored to see race cars that more closely resemble the ones they might buy at a dealership or find sitting in traffic. Numerous drivers have meanwhile expressed a desire to exert greater influence over how their car handles, with aerodynamics becoming less of a factor.

The Next Generation car – otherwise known as the Next Gen – checks both of these boxes and a whole lot more.

“It looks like you can drive it down the road,” 2018 Cup Series champ Joey Logano said. “The cops might pull you over, but the car has the same look.”

Along with a Ford looking more like a showroom Ford, and a Toyota looking more like a showroom Toyota, etc., the Next Gen car is significantly harder to drive than its predecessor. That’s because the body is fully symmetrical, which reduces aerodynamic forces and puts a premium on car setup and driver control.

Odd as it might sound, most competitors want to drive a car that slips and slides a bit through the turns, because it gives them a better opportunity to showcase their skills.

“It’s definitely fun for the drivers,” Hendrick Motorsports wheelman William Byron said after turning laps in the Next Gen car during a December test at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “There’s a lot more going on, you’re sweating a little bit more, or at least I was working harder. You’ve got more brake usage, more throttle usage, more of a difference I feel like I’m making.”

Originally set to debut in 2021, the Next Generation car had its release date pushed back a year because of scheduling challenges related to COVID-19. By the time the 2022 season starts, drivers will have tested the car at more than a half dozen tracks – including Daytona International Speedway, where the Next Gen will turn it first official laps during Speedweeks.

But even with all the testing and positive feedback about the new model, it’s hard to predict how things will play out when 40 cars are on the track at the same time. Test sessions with the Next Gen car have featured minimal pack racing, with drivers running mostly single file.

“Yeah, I mean, who knows?” Joe Gibbs Racing driver and 23XI Racing co-owner Denny Hamlin said. “I do not know exactly what to expect until I get out on a race track and feel this car out.

I love change. Throw something different. Cocky drivers believe we’re better than everyone else, and we’re going to adapt quicker than everyone else, and that’s what I believe.”

6 KEY FEATURES OF THE NEXT GEN CAR GRIP

APPEARANCE

SHIFTING

THE NEXT GEN TENDS TO AIR ON THE LOOSE

“THE CARS LOOK PHENOMENAL,”

A NEW TRANSAXLE COMBINES THE

side. Just ask Tyler Reddick, one of multiple drivers who

NASCAR President Steve Phelps said. “If

transmission and rear gears into one package,

had an incident during testing. “The cars are on edge,

you think about this car and its styling, it is a

with an eye on the future – the ability to

which is a good thing,” Reddick said. “There’s more

souped-up Camaro, it’s a souped-up Mustang,

incorporate electrification. “The shifting is

mechanical grip in the car, less aerodynamic grip, so

and it’s a souped-up Camry. That’s what they

different,” said Denny Hamlin, comparing the Next

you gotta keep it straight, and you gotta keep the tires

are. It looks like you’ve gone to some type of

Gen car to its Gen-6 predecessor that drivers have

happy. You can’t get completely sideways or as sideways

outfit that’s taken a regular car and just made

raced the last nine years. “I’m going to need to

as we used to in years past with the other cars.”

it look incredibly sporty.”

adapt on road courses to that side of things.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

It’s kind of like jumping into the unknown. There’s so many things you don’t know what it’s going to be like. It’s pretty much rethinking the whole way we race.

– S T E W A R T- H A A S R A C I N G D R I V E R COLE CUSTER ON NASCAR’S NEXT GEN CAR

Because each track has different characteristics, the car could be a home run at some tracks but more difficult to manage at others – at least at first.

“I think you’re going to see just kind of this back and forth where there might be a team that hits on a setup that might work at mile-and-a-half tracks, then another team finds it on short tracks,” Logano said. “It’s just going to keep changing.”

Even with the inevitable uncertainties that come with a new car, there’s reason for optimism that drivers, fans, sponsors and NASCAR’s various other key stakeholders will come to love the on-track product made possible by the Next Gen car.

“It’s going to take time to learn about it,” said Eric Warren, the director of NASCAR programs for General Motors. “The first time we run together, there’s going to be a steep learning curve for everybody. The first couple years are going to be exciting to see who rises to the top. Ultimately, the good teams and drivers will always come out on top.”

WHEELS AND TIRES

CHASSIS

UNDERNEATH

NEW 18-INCH FORGED ALUMINUM WHEELS

A REDESIGNED CHASSIS FEATURES NEW

THE BOTTOM OF THE CAR IS SEALED WITH

and wider Goodyear tires better replicate what is

front and rear bumpers for increased safety.

an underwing and rear diffuser designed to help

found on passenger cars and will allow for softer tire

Both the front and rear clips bolt onto the center

the Next Gen model handle better in traffic than

compounds. Gone are the traditional five lug nuts,

section for easier serviceability and damage

the Gen-6 and reduce “dirty air,” which often

replaced by one lug nut in the center of the wheel. “The

repair. This was evident during a December test at

made the Gen-6 want to turn right rather than

choreography of the pit stop is going to look exactly the

Charlotte when Austin Dillon crashed hard but his

left when running closely behind another car. As

same,” Phelps said. “Pulling the one lug until it’s tight

team managed to repair the car and get it back on

a result, passing often proved difficult with the

and locks is going to be the only difference.”

track after replacing badly damaged parts.

old car – particularly on the intermediate tracks.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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NEXT GEN

NEXT GEN VENDORS Here is the list of vendors and suppliers producing parts and components for the Next Gen race car that will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series this season: AERO TEC LABORATORIES, INC. ■■ Fuel cell bladder AP RACING LIMITED ■■ Brake systems BALD SPOT SPORTS ■■ Energy management solutions (bumper and foam door) BBS OF AMERICA, INC. ■■ Wheels DALLARA ■■ Radiator ducts FIBREWORKS COMPOSITES, LLC ■■ Deck lid, hood, rockerbox cooling ducts, underwing FIVE STAR RACE CAR BODIES ■■ Doors, fenders, front/rear bumper covers, fuel adapter, quarter panels, rear door crush panel, rear wheel tubs, windows ■■ Tires ■■ Springs

GOODYEAR HYPERCO

KIRKEY RACING FABRICATION ■■ Bumpers LENTUS COMPOSITES LIMITED ■■ Propshaft MCLAREN ■■ Digital dash, ECU OHLINS USA, INC. ■■ Dampers

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PRO-FABRICATION, INC. ■■ Tailpipes PWR NORTH AMERICA ■■ Oil cooler, radiator RCR MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS, LLC ■■ Wheel nut ROUSH ADVANCED COMPOSITES ■■ Greenhouse, brake ducts (upright/rotor), front door crush panels, front wheel exhaust cover, package tray, roof hatch, roof flaps, spoiler base SCHULTZ ENGINEERED PRODUCTS ■■ Fuel adapter/coupler ■■ Fuel

SUNOCO

TECHNIQUE CHASSIS, LLC ■■ Chassis: front/center/rear, body mounts THERMAL CONTROL PRODUCTS ■■ Fixed window net/driver window net assemblies TILTON ENGINEERING, INC. ■■ Bell housing VISSER PRECISION, LLC ■■ Control arms (front/rear) WOODWARD MACHINE CORPORATION ■■ Steering rack, steering shaft XTRAC INC ■■ Clutch shaft, driveshafts, transaxle

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NEXT GEN

Ohlins No Stranger to NASCAR

BY JARED TURNER

The Next Generation NASCAR Cup Series race car being used this season looks and drives notably different than its Generation 6 predecessor. The manufacturer of at least one key component under the bodywork of the Next Gen model is no stranger to NASCAR’s premier series, however.

That manufacturer is Ӧhlins Racing, which has supplied shock absorbers for more than two decades for the cars that have competed in NASCAR’s premier division. But the shock absorbers – otherwise known as dampers – on the Next Gen car are a refined version of the product drivers have raced with over the past nine seasons on the Gen-6 car.

“It’s dramatically different – very, very different,” said Scott MacDonald, Managing Director of Öhlins USA Inc. in Hendersonville, North Carolina. “The damper that was used previously, while it’s a very high-quality, high-performing piece, it is very limited in its adjustability.

“So what that resulted in in the past is that the teams would have hundreds and hundreds of shock absorbers in their inventory, each one with its own unique characteristic to hit just the right setup on the car. With the new damper, it’s a five-way adjustable damper, and with just the one damper, they pretty much can achieve almost any specification.” Öhlins’ Next Gen damper may become most beloved for its simplicity and ease of use.

“Just through the turning of the knob – of which there are five, like I said – you can achieve any specification for the damper,” MacDonald explained.

“So in terms of the design and the function of how it works internally, it’s apples and oranges to what they raced with last year.”

Although Ӧhlins has been manufacturing shock absorbers for the cars in NASCAR’s top series for a long time, the company had no guarantee of retaining its role once the Next Generation car arrived.

“We are thrilled and very proud to be selected as the supplier,” MacDonald said. “NASCAR was pretty specific in providing a detailed problem, basically,

that they had with the Next Gen and looking to a supplier that could provide a solution that would be very, very durable but also highly adjustable and provide some unique technical requirements.

“We saw it as a real challenge and wanted to make sure that we were able to provide the right solution for NASCAR.” Make no mistake: This solution didn’t come about overnight.

“We had proposed to NASCAR – quite a few years ago – a variant of what we were providing with the Generation 6 car, just to try to help the teams and the series a little bit with some newer technology,” MacDonald said. “The timing wasn’t right at that point, but it was a good exercise for both of us at that time because it allowed us to be pretty well-prepared and positioned for the Next Gen car when it came along.”

But what makes Ӧhlins uniquely qualified for its selection by NASCAR to be part of the Next Generation car?

“There’s probably no other company in the world that has the breadth in a motorsports space that we do,” MacDonald said. “This technology that we are providing to NASCAR is one that is well-proven. This isn’t exclusively used in NASCAR. It’s also currently in practice in GT cars and prototype cars and Formula E and Formula 1. It’s a well-proven technology.

“It’s one that’s been in practice for nearly two decades, so we know exactly what the requirements are and how to make it work incredibly well, but also all the kinks have been worked out with it. It’s very, very high-performing. We were able to provide a piece that the teams don’t have to worry about and NASCAR doesn’t have to worry about.”

4 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT OHLINS

1

The business first ventured into the

2

Ӧhlins isn’t exclusively a racing company. It also

3

Ӧhlins is as much a two-wheel company as a four-wheel company,

4

Ӧhlins has dealers and service centers on six of

NASCAR Cup Series in 1994

builds shock absorbers for street

with its earliest roots being in motocross.

the seven continents around

as the damper supplier for

cars, motorcycles and even

Cars with Ӧhlins dampers own some 400

the globe. The company’s

driver Ricky Rudd.

snowmobiles and mountain bikes.

titles across various motorsports genres.

headquarters are in Sweden.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: ӦHLINS

NEXT GEN

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NASCAR TRACKS & LAYOUTS

VARIETY OF TRACKS ADDS SPICE B

eing a successful NASCAR Cup Se-

ries driver not only requires talent, it also demands adaptability behind the wheel across all lengths and layouts ROAD COURSE of race tracks.

Circuit of The Americas A driver may be great when it comes to turning left on an oval, but if he or she can’t also turn right with equal aplomb on a road course, or doesn’t know how to master the draft on a superspeedway, that driver may be destined for a career of mediocrity.

Virtually every Cup Series racer has struggled on certain layouts during his/ her career. Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick both labored on short tracks early on.

Martin Truex Jr. won only three races in his first 10 full-time Cup Series seasons, before exploding for 28 more wins and a championship in the subsequent eight seasons.

They didn’t suddenly become greater drivers overnight. Rather, as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect – or in this case, ultimately made drivers better on tracks the more frequently they raced on them.

Kyle Busch, now the winningest active Cup Series driver (59 wins) since seventime Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson retired following the 2020 season with 83 wins, agrees.

“The biggest key is studying all the race tracks, learning as much as you can about each one,” Busch once said. short track that will only be a quarter-mile long.

That’s why he competed in so many Xfinity and Truck Series Let’s break them down: events earlier in his career, many in preparation for a Cup Series Short track (under 1 mile in length): Martinsville (.526 miles), race that same weekend, to try and get an edge on his competiBristol (.533 miles concrete surface), Bristol (.533 miles tempotors. The results speak for themselves: Busch also has 102 Xfinity rary dirt surface), Richmond (.750 miles) and the preseason Series wins and 61 Truck Series victories. exhibition race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (.250 miles Yet, even some of the greatest still never quite got the handle on temporary oval). certain tracks.

Intermediate track (1 to 2 miles in length): Phoenix (1 mile), DoJohnson, who thrived on intermediate tracks between 1 to 2 ver (1 mile), New Hampshire (1.058 miles), Gateway (1.250 miles), miles – earning 49 of his 83 Cup Series wins, including 26 on 1.5Nashville (1.333 miles), Darlington (1.366 miles), Charlotte (1.50 mile tracks alone – had one Achilles’ heel throughout his career. miles), Homestead-Miami (1.50 miles), Kansas (1.50 miles), Las In 40 career starts on road courses, he managed just one win Vegas (1.50 miles), Texas (1.50 miles), Atlanta (1.54 miles) and twin (Sonoma, 2010). two-mile tracks at Michigan and Fontana.

NASCAR Cup Series racing today has evolved significantly from Superspeedway (ovals or tri-ovals more than 2 miles in length): even just 10 years ago, with the greatest variety of race tracks the Pocono (2.5 miles), Daytona (2.5 miles) and Talladega (2.66 miles). sport has ever seen. This season, Cup Series cars will race on 29 Road courses (varied lengths): Charlotte ROVAL (2.320 miles), different tracks or track layouts, including a points-paying event Indianapolis (2.439 miles), Sonoma (2.520 miles), Austin (3.427 on a temporary dirt track, plus an exhibition race on a temporary miles), Road America (4.048 miles) and Watkins Glen (2.450 miles).

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TO CUP SERIES

BY JERRY BONKOWSKI

Let’s breakdown the type of tracks found on the circuit: SHORT TRACKS

SHORT-TRACK RACING HAS BEEN NASCAR’S

SHORT TRACK

Bristol Motor Speedway

heart and soul since its formation more than 70 years ago. The King, Richard Petty, earned 138 of his record 200 NASCAR wins on short tracks (including dirt tracks). While their own careers began on short tracks, NASCAR’s three-most active short-track winners pale in comparison to Petty: Kyle Busch has just 16 wins, while Denny Hamlin and Kurt Busch each have 10 wins. Joey Logano is the only driver to win on all four of the current short tracks: Martinsville, Bristol (concrete), Bristol (dirt) and Richmond.

INTERMEDIATE TRACKS

WHEN JIMMIE JOHNSON RETIRED AFTER THE 2020 season, he took not only his seven NASCAR Cup championships with him, he also took a grand total SUPERSPEEDWAY

Daytona International Speedway

INTERMEDIATE TRACK

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

of 61 victories on intermediate tracks. Even former teammate Jeff Gordon had fewer wins on 1- to 2-mile tracks at just 49. And hard as it may seem to believe, Richard Petty only had 42 wins on intermediate tracks. Johnson’s successor as winningest active driver on intermediate tracks is Kevin Harvick with 45 triumphs. Surprisingly, it’s not Kyle Busch, who only has 33.

SUPERSPEEDWAYS

THE MAN KNOWN AS “THE INTIMIDATOR,” DALE Earnhardt, may have won the Daytona 500 only once, but he’s still NASCAR’s all-time winningest overall driver on superspeedways with 15 total wins: 10 at Talladega, three at Daytona and two at Pocono.

The shift to a more varied style of race track came after years of fan complaints about too many races on 1.5-mile “cookie cutter” tracks, particularly during the playoffs, when half of the 10 races were on so-called “mile-and-a-halves.”

NASCAR began a significant shakeup of the type of tracks on its 36race schedule in 2018, switching the annual fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway from the 1.5-mile oval to its 2.320-mile infield road course. But that was just the beginning.

Then came last season, when road-course racing exploded with seven events – nearly one-fifth of the schedule – including in the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (which also marked the first time NASCAR shared a race weekend with IndyCar).

NASCAR also converted Bristol Motor Speedway from concrete to a temporary dirt track – requiring nearly 3,000 dump trucks of clay.

What’s next? With the 2022 switch to the sports car-style Next Gen car, don’t be surprised if NASCAR holds a Cup Series race on a temporary street course – much like IndyCar’s Long Beach Grand Prix – in the near future.

Drivers: start practicing up now.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

Richard Petty is next with 14 (10 at Daytona and two each at Talladega and Pocono). The winningest active driver on superspeedways is Brad Keselowski with just eight victories: six at Talladega (including his lone Cup Series win in 2021), and one each at Pocono and Daytona.

ROAD COURSES

JEFF GORDON (9) AND TONY STEWART (8) ARE the NASCAR Cup Series’ all-time winningest drivers on road courses. But those marks will likely fall soon, perhaps as early as this season. The winningest active road-course driver is Chase Elliott, already with seven wins (out of 13 total Cup Series wins), all in the last four seasons. The next two closest are Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr., both with four wins apiece. Don’t feel bad, guys: Richard Petty won only three road-course races in his illustrious career.

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NASCAR TRACKS & LAYOUTS

WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY AT GATEWAY After being a regular venue for other racing series for nearly 25 years, World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is finally going to host the NASCAR Cup Series.

T

he 1.25-mile oval that sits in the

shadow of St. Louis’ famed Gateway Arch has already played host to the Xfinity Series, Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, CART and IndyCar. On June 5, an elusive Cup Series race will finally happen. With more than half the available tickets already sold for the inaugural event, Gateway appears as if it will host Cup Series races for years to come.

Gateway’s oval opened to a CART race won

by Paul Tracy on May 24, 1997. Elliott Sadler won the first NASCAR race at the facility, an Xfinity Series event later that July.

The track was operated by Dover Motorsports for several years, but in late 2010, the group announced the track was closing and ceasing all racing operations. Former Indy Lights driver turned St. Louis real estate developer Curtis Francois purchased it with the vision of transforming the track into a world-class motorsports facility.

Gateway’s resurgence has not gone unnoticed. The Truck Series returned in 2014 and IndyCar followed suit in 2016. The latter event quickly became the series’ most popular race outside of the Indy 500.

Now, with more than $40 million in

improvements to the facility, June’s Cup Series race will very likely be the largest event in Gateway’s history. Improvements include upgrades to camping areas, a large interactive fan area near the track’s garages and a renovation of the track’s hospitality suite tower.

Gateway’s egg-shaped oval looks similar in shape and size to Darlington raceway. However, Gateway is not as steeply banked as Darlington. Turns 1 and 2 have 11 degrees of banking and have similar characteristics to New Hampshire. Turns 3 and 4 feature 9 degrees of banking and are similar to Phoenix.

With such a unique layout, Gateway remains a favorite track for both fans and drivers. June’s Cup Series race is an event all race fans should circle on their calendars.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY

1

Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex

LOCATION:

Jr., Kyle Busch and Brad

Madison, Illinois

Keselowski have all won at

TRACK LENGTH:

Gateway in the Xfinity Series.

1.25-mile

Harvick, Bubba Wallace, Cole

paved oval

Custer, Christopher Bell, Justin

TURNS: 4

Haley and Ross Chastain have

TRACK RECORD:

won there in the Truck Series.

23.7206 seconds,

2

The track’s facilities also

189.709 mph (Will

include a quarter-mile

Power, Team Penske,

drag strip, a 2-mile road

2017, IndyCar)

course and a state-of-the-art karting track.

3 4

Metallica held a concert at the track in 2000 during their “Summer

Sanitarium Tour”.

Gateway is currently the only motorsports venue in America to

host NASCAR, IndyCar and NHRA racing.

5

To celebrate Rusty Wallace’s retirement in 2005, the Xfinity Series

race was named the Wallace Family Tribute 250. Rusty, Kenny and Mike all ran the race.

34

POLE POSITION 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NEW TRACK ... NEW CAR

AT

BUY TICKETS NOW - Cuptimestl.COM

NASCAR TRACKS & LAYOUTS

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY For the first time since 2000, NASCAR will host a national series race in the Pacific Northwest. Portland International Raceway, a 1.964-mile, 12-turn road course in the track’s namesake city, hosts the Xfinity Series on Saturday, June 4.

I

ndyCar fans should be very familiar

with the Oregon track, which plays host to the Grand Prix of Portland each Labor Day weekend.

But despite being primarily known as an open-wheel venue, NASCAR surprisingly does have a history at PIR. The first major stock car event at PIR was an ARCA West race in 1986, which was won

by Oregon native Herschel McGriff. The now-defunct NASCAR Northwest Series then visited the track in 1995, with Mark

Martin (yes, that Mark Martin) taking the checkered flag.

PIR got its first taste of NASCAR’s larger series when the Camping World Truck Series visited for the first time in 1999. Local favorite Greg Biffle won the maiden event.

The trucks made one more visit to PIR in 2000 – the last national series race at the track.

While many of the other road courses feature elevation changes, the Portland track is very flat. It has multiple turns that promote

passing, including the sharp corner in Turn 7 and the final three corners (Turns 10-12) leading back onto the frontstretch.

Of course, the most famous corner at Portland is the Turn 1 chicane. The 90-degree turn sits at the end of the long frontstretch.

This corner is the most popular seating location for fans due to cars often making contact when attempting to pass.

The first lap will practically guarantee a multi-car collision in the chicane. Every driver in the field will come flying down the frontstretch for the race start and then need to immediately slam on the brakes to navigate the narrow chicane.

While the chicane is Portland’s most popular corner, there truly is no bad seat in the house. Walking paths circle the entire track, an alternative to reserved seats is purchasing general admission tickets and viewing the race from multiple vantage points.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PIR

1

While 2022 marks the first

LOCATION:

Xfinity Series event at PIR,

Portland, Oregon

June’s race will still feature

TRACK LENGTH: 1.967

a former Portland winner. A.J.

mi (3.166 km) asphalt

Allmendinger won a Champ Car

road course

event at the track in 2006.

TURNS: 12

2

The track was

TRACK RECORD:

constructed on the site of

0:58.7403 (Carlos Muñoz,

Vanport, a public housing

Schmidt Peterson

project built for workers in

Motorsports Dallara

nearby shipyards during WWII.

DW12, 2018, IndyCar)

Vanport was destroyed during a flood in 1948.

3

Portland’s MAX light rail system has a station directly across the street

from the track’s entrance, offering an alternative for fans looking to beat traffic.

4

The 1997 IndyCar race at PIR holds the series record for closest

finish on a road course (0.027 seconds).

5

Portland’s frontstretch also hosts drag racing and the facility has an

infield motocross track.

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POLE POSITION 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

Two NEW NASCAR events in 2022…

Two legendary tracks June 3-4, 2022

July 8-9, 2022

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

MID-OHIO SPORTS CAR COURSE

TICKETS AT PORTLANDGP.COM

TICKETS AT MIDOHIO.COM

DRIVERS TO WATCH JUSTIN ALLGAIER

5 DRIVERS TO WATCH IN THE XFINITY SERIES

VOTED THE NASCAR XFINITY Series Most Popular Driver for the third consecutive year,

With several drivers changing teams, including defending champion Daniel Hemric, the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity season may be even more exciting than how 2021 played out.

- JERRY BONKOWSKI

Justin Allgaier had another solid season in 2021 with two wins, but missed the championship round, finishing fifth in the standings. Each season he does well, finishing between second and fifth in nine of his 11 full-time Xfinity seasons,

DANIEL HEMRIC

but still has yet to win the championship.

Daniel Hemric couldn’t have written a better script, earning both his first career Xfinity Series win and Xfinity Series championship in the 2021 season finale at Phoenix. But 2022 will be a whole new ballgame as Hemric leaves Joe Gibbs Racing to drive the No. 11 for Kaulig Racing (which had been announced in September, long before he won the title). He’ll also compete part time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Kaulig, as well, his first appearance in the series since 2019, his only full-time Cup campaign (for Richard Childress Racing).

A.J. ALLMENDINGER A.J. ALLMENDINGER WOWED IN his first full Xfinity Series season, earning five wins, reaching the championship round and finishing fourth in the final standings, the best overall season performance in his NASCAR career. The Kaulig Racing driver is among the early favorites to win the Xfinity Series championship in 2022, and will also run a part-time Cup Series schedule for Kaulig as well.

NOAH GRAGSON

38

POLE POSITION 2022

TY GIBBS

Noah Gragson enters his fourth season

WITH 2021 NASCAR XFINITY

in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JR Motorsports in 2022. He’s shown steady progress and improvement in each of those previous campaigns, finishing eighth in 2019, fifth in 2020 and third in 2021, his best Xfinity season yet, with a career-high three wins. Based on that upward climb, could 2022 finally be his year to win the championship? He’ll have a tough battle with Hemric, A.J. Allmendinger and Justin Allgaier, but won’t have to worry about Austin Cindric, who has moved up to Cup.

Series champion Daniel Hemric moving on to Kaulig Racing for the upcoming season, 19-year-old Ty Gibbs becomes Hemric’s heir apparent at his grandfather’s team, Joe Gibbs Racing. The younger Gibbs won four of the 18 Xfinity Series races he competed in last season and his talent and promise make him one of the top drivers to watch in 2022.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

5 DRIVERS TO WATCH IN THE CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

MATT CRAFTON MATT CRAFTON ENTERS HIS 22nd full-time season in the

Can defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Ben Rhodes repeat, or will two-time runner-up Zane Smith finally capture that elusive title?

- JERRY BONKOWSKI

Truck Series, all but one with ThorSport Racing.

He turns 46 in June and it’s rumored he’ll retire after 2022. But he still has goals: a fourth championship, makes his 500th start early in the season, and to add to his

BEN RHODES

15 career wins (but just two in the last five seasons).

It’s hard to believe Ben Rhodes, who turns 25 on Feb. 21, will be entering his seventh full-time season – all with ThorSport Racing – in the NASCAR Truck Series. But everything finally came together for the Louisville, Kentucky, native last season as he earned his first championship and enjoyed his most successful season to date with two wins, eight top-five results and 16 top10 finishes. One of Rhodes’ top traits is loyalty. While reports had him moving to the Xfinity Series, he is back with ThorSport Racing once again – and potentially for another championship.

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK returns for a second consecutive season with Kyle Busch Motorsports, and for good reason. He earned a careerand series-high five wins and 12 top-five finishes in 2021. He also finished third in the standings and tied with Ben Rhodes and Todd Gilliland for most top10 finishes (16 each), capping his most successful NASCAR season on any level.

ZANE SMITH If you can’t change the outcome, change teams. That’s the case with Zane Smith, who after finishing second in each of the last two seasons for GMS Racing, moves to Front Row Motorsports – and for what he hopes will finally be his first career Truck Series championship. “I’ve been watching Zane the past few seasons,” Front Row owner Bob Jenkins said. “We want to get him that championship in 2022, but also, we want to have Zane with us for a long time. We see a bright future for him.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

HAILIE DEEGAN AFTER SUCCESS IN THE ARCA West Series and the ARCA Menards Series between 2018 and 2020, Hailie Deegan had a humbling first season in the Truck Series in 2021, finishing 17th and earning only one top-10 finish.

Had it not been for three consecutive late season crashes (Bristol, Las Vegas and Talladega), she may have finished higher. Look for a stronger sophomore season this year.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

39

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT

PRESENTED BY

Jeb Burton: ‘We’re Building Something’

BY JARED TURNER

O

n the heels of his best and first full-time season as a NASCAR Xfinity

Series driver, Jeb Burton harbors high hopes for 2022 in NASCAR’s No. 2 division.

Burton has tempered his expectations just a bit, however, for the simple fact that he’s with a relatively new team – Our Motorsports – in only its third year of Xfinity Series competition. Nevertheless, the son of 2002 Daytona 500 winner and former NASCAR Cup Series veteran Ward Burton is optimistic about what he can accomplish in Year One with team owner Chris Our’s organization.

“We’re building something,” said Burton, who will campaign the No. 27 Chevrolet for the three-car organization alongside teammates Brett Moffitt and Anthony Alfredo. “We’re going to have our ups and downs, for sure, but Mr. Our is doing a lot of things to make sure we can be competitive. We’ve got ECR engines, we just moved into the old Richard Petty Motorsports shop in Welcome, North Carolina, right beside Richard Childress Racing, so that’s exciting, and they’re doing the right things. It’s going to be a building process, but we’re looking forward to it, and I think it can be something special.”

Burton became a free agent after Kaulig Racing announced late in the 2021 season that the organization wouldn’t retain the Virginia native’s services despite him earning a playoff-clinching first career Xfinity Series win with the organization earlier in the year at Talladega Superspeedway. Burton went on to collect 16 top-10 finishes – including seven top-five results – on the way to a 10th-place points finish.

“Last year was an up and down year,” Burton said. “We had some highs, but we had a lot of lows. We didn’t get accomplished what I was trying to get accomplished last year with the equipment and everything we had. I was kind of disappointed, to be honest. I wanted to make the Championship 4 and win more races, but I think this year, it’s a different kind of goal.

40

POLE POSITION 2022

“We’ve got a newer team. I want to make the playoffs and win a race. That’s kind of my goal this year. I think if we can do that, that would be pretty impressive.”

Unlike at Kaulig Racing where he had just a one-year contract, Burton has a twoyear deal with Our Motorsports.

“I think it helps with getting partners,” he said. “I think it helps me and my family, too, just knowing I have a job for two years.

So I think it’s good. I think we can build something around me and get the cars like I want them. It’s a really good situation.”

Joining Burton as a four-race primary sponsor and associate sponsor for the entire 2022 season is State Water Heaters. The Ashland City, Tennessee-based company and leading manufacturer of commercial and residential water heaters has sponsored Burton in the Xfinity Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and followed him to multiple teams over the last several years.

“They have been a great partner of mine and stuck with me,” Burton said. “They’ve just been a heck of a partner, and we do a lot of cool things off the track together as well with their customers and stuff like that, so it’s just been a really good partnership.”

State Water Heaters first teamed up with the Burton family as a primary sponsor of Ward Burton in his final Cup Series season of 2007. What does it say about the company that its relationship with the Burton family stretches back more than a decade-and-a-half?

“I think it shows a couple of things,” Jeb Burton said. “I think it shows that racing programs can work. I think it shows that State believes in what dad and I are doing off the track and on, and they’re just a loyal partner. They’re good people, and they believe in me…without them, I wouldn’t be where I’m at, 100 percent.”

Burton is similarly persuaded he might not be in a full-time ride for the 2022 season without his first ever trip to an Xfinity Series Victory Lane in 2021.

“Winning changes a lot of things,” he said. “It helps with sponsors. I think it helps with your name recognition. I think it helps with everything. Winning helps. I think if I hadn’t won that race, I might not have this opportunity. Winning changes everything.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

PERFORMANCE ON THE TRACK, AND IN YOUR HOME

State Water Heaters is excited to partner with Jeb Burton on the race track and the whole Burton family on their outdoor TV show Crossroads with the Burtons. Just like Jeb Burton knows the value of high performing equipment on the track, we know the importance of high performing equipment in your home. Our ProLine® water heaters are designed to provide tough, commercial-grade performance that your family can rely on.

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT

Q&A WITH STEWART FRIESEN CANADIAN RACER HAS HIGH EXPECTATIONS

BY JOSEPH WOLKIN

42

POLE POSITION 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Stewart Friesen knows a thing or two about winning. The 38-year-old Canadian has won hundreds of dirttrack races, but he’s never been crowned a NASCAR champion. Friesen is ready to change that.

After narrowly missing the Championship 4 last season, Friesen believes his Halmar Friesen Racing team now has what it takes to race at the front of the pack and contend for the series title.

WHAT WAS THE 2021 SEASON LIKE FOR YOU AND THE NO. 52 TEAM? It was a good building year. I feel like we started hitting our stride halfway through the year. When we got started in 2020, through COVID and building a new team with the switch to Toyota, it was challenging. We moved Jonathan Leonard to a crew chief role and Trip Bruce to the general manager role, and that’s when things started getting good.

WHAT DID YOU DO WELL CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUNDING THE CRAZY YEAR? We were focused on building the team and having the right people in the right places. We’ve made a number of changes since the end of the year, which I think is a positive for the team. I’m looking forward to picking up where we left off.

YOU ALSO MADE YOUR CUP SERIES DEBUT. HOW DID THAT COME TOGETHER? It was a really cool experience. It all started with the dirt at Eldora with Halmar and Chris Larsen. We teamed up with Spire and it was something I never thought I’d get the opportunity to do. It was a really special day, and it’s something I’ll always remember.

WHAT DID IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE NASCAR ASK YOU TO TEST THE NEXT GEN CAR ON DIRT? I did the best I could and gave the most amount of feedback I could, both good and bad. When the day was over, PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

I made a list of all the stuff I went through and presented that to the guys at NASCAR. Hopefully, the race (at Bristol) is better because of that. The tire is 100 percent better than it was last year. The fact the race is at night will help, too, because it’ll keep the dust down. I’m proud to be part of all of that.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH THIS SEASON? We have to keep rolling. The way we finished 2021 was a good shot in the arm for all of us because it let us know that we can do this and be competitive on our own. We’re building a couple of new trucks over the offseason and refining the trucks we do have. We have a couple of new faces who will be on the road with us this year. Hopefully, we have some more partners and teammates join us to help us grow.

SPEAKING OF TEAMMATES, YOU’LL HAVE TODD BODINE AS A TEAMMATE FOR A FEW RACES. HOW EXCITED ARE YOU TO WORK WITH HIM? We’ve been talking to Todd since the beginning of October. I talked to Todd on the phone on my way to Super DIRT Week, and that got the ball rolling.

Trip Bruce has done a great job to put the deal together. It’s going to be good and exciting. I think he’s going to run well. We’re on the hunt for some owner points to make sure he’s in the show if there’s a rainout for qualifying. He’s going to be strong and I’m looking forward to working with him.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

43

DRIVER SPOTLIGHT

Q&A WITH TY GIBBS

19-YEAR-OLD RACER READY FOR TITLE CHASE

BY JOSEPH WOLKIN

44

POLE POSITION 2022

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

Ty Gibbs came to the NASCAR Xfinity Series with zero expectations. Neither he nor anyone at Joe Gibbs Racing expected the teenager to win in his first series start. Since then, the grandson of legendary team owner Joe Gibbs and son of Coy Gibbs has been on a tear. He won four Xfinity Series races in JGR’s all-star car last season, and that’s in only 18 starts. Now, the young Gibbs, an ARCA Menards Series champion, is ready for the challenge ahead as he looks to compete for a bigger title. As Gibbs prepares to take the green flag in 2022, the pressure is on.

WHAT WAS THE 2021 SEASON LIKE FOR YOU? There was a lot of stuff going on, and I didn’t expect most of it to happen. I had a fun time doing it, but it was crazy.

In ARCA, it was a really cool season. I look back and I never thought I’d get 16 wins total in one whole year of racing.

It was super cool, but we were making sure we were moving on to the next level.

WHY DO YOU FEEL YOU DID SO WELL IN THE NASCAR XFINITY SERIES WITH THE NO. 54 TEAM LED BY CHRIS GAYLE? The guys that built the race cars were super big on that deal. They helped me out a lot. Preparation and working hard is the biggest key that helped me. I was trying to speed the learning process up because I have no experience in the Xfinity car. I was preparing to be ready when I got to the track so I could win. I like the Xfinity car and how it drives with the package.

I really like how the car handles when it has less grip. It takes more of a driver to drive a car like that.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU TO HAVE SUCH IMPORTANT BACKERS LIKE MONSTER ENERGY AND TOYOTA? To be a Toyota driver is awesome. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Toyota.

They give you all of the tools you need to use. Monster Energy has been PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

awesome. They’re great people to work with. I grew up in the motorsports and motocross world, and Monster is the biggest sponsor. I dreamed of it. For them to be my first sponsor means so much to me. They’re still with me to this day, and it’s just awesome. I was 16 or 17 when they started working with me. With Monster, they’ve always told me to be myself.

WHAT HAS YOUR GRANDFATHER TAUGHT YOU BOTH ON AND OFF THE TRACK? He’s taught me that the biggest key is working hard. He’s been in the same boat, winning three Super Bowls. He knows how it is. I’ve taken a lot of tips from him. There’s a lot of different stuff I’d like to talk about, but that’s between me and my grandfather.

YOU ARE A HUGE FAN OF THE LATE AYRTON SENNA. WHAT ABOUT THIS LEGENDARY RACER’S CAREER RELATES TO YOU? I feel like growing up the way I did, there are a lot of people I could’ve looked up to. But they were so close to me. I feel like with role models and heroes, you keep them at a distance and that’s what makes them special. I wasn’t able to meet him, but I feel like I have this connection with him with all of the little details about how he drove. I have a relationship with him that way.

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

45

THROWBACK

let’s call it a 46

POLE POSITION 2022

RED BYRON – NO. 22 ON THE BEACH AND ROAD

1949 COURSE AT DAYTONA

IN 1949, ROBERT “RED” BYRON BEGAN RACING IN NASCAR’S NEW Strictly Stock series, which eventually became the NASCAR Cup Series.

Driving for team owner Raymond Parks, Byron won the inaugural eight-race Strictly Stock championship. Byron drove in several races on the 4.3-mile Beach and Road Course in Daytona Beach, Florida, and won there in July of that year. In this photo, Byron is wheeling a 1939 Ford owned by Parks.

PHOTOGRAPHY: NASCAR HALL OF FAME CAPTIONS: BEN WHITE

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1970

1984

48

POLE POSITION 2022

1981

1988

JAMES HYLTON (48), BOBBY ALLISON (22),

1970 BOBBY ISAAC (71)

DURING THE 1970 NASCAR CUP SERIES SEASON, BOBBY ISAAC, DRIVING the No. 71 Nord Krauskopf Dodge, collected 11 victories, 32 top-five results, 38 top10 finishes and 13 pole positions en route to his sole premier series championship.

The Catawba, North Carolina, native often mixed it up with top competitors, as he did here at North Carolina Motor Speedway alongside James Hamilton (48) and Bobby Allison (22) on March 8, 1970. Isaac finished seventh in the race.

1984 CALE YARBOROUGH (NO. 28) LEADS AT TALLADEGA ON MAY 6, 1984, CALE YARBOROUGH, DRIVING THE NO. 28 CHEVROLET owned by Harry Ranier, started from the pole at Talladega Superspeedway. The driver from Timmonsville, South Carolina, led 19 of the race’s 188 laps en route to the 80th of his 83-career victories. Yarborough held off Harry Gant by two car lengths, followed by Buddy Baker, Bobby Allison and Benny Parsons in a race that featured 75 lead changes.

1992

1981 DALE EARNHARDT WRANGLER CHEVROLET DALE EARNHARDT REPLACED RICHARD CHILDRESS AS THE DRIVER OF THE No. 3 Chevrolet with 10 races remaining in the 1981 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Childress ended his driving career, stepped away from his car and offered Earnhardt the ride. Earnhardt left RCR in 1982 and 1983 but returned in 1984 and won six Cup Series championships before his death in 2001. Here, Earnhardt is shown wheeling the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet at North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1981.

BOBBY ALLISON (MILLER BUICK) & DALE

1988 EARNHARDT (GOODWRENCH)

IN THIS SHOT TAKEN ON APRIL 10, 1988, AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, Bobby Allison keeps his No. 12 Stavola Brothers Racing Buick in front of the No.3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt. Allison had on the Daytona 500 just two months earlier but only competed in 13 races that season.

On June 19, 1988, the 1983 Cup Series champion was involved in a near-fatal crash at Pocono Raceway that ended his driving career.

1979

1992 ALAN KULWICKI (HOOTERS) AND RICKY RUDD (TIDE) DURING THE FINAL RACE OF THE 1992 CUP SERIES SEASON AT ATLANTA Motor Speedway, Alan Kulwicki, owner and driver of the No. 7 Hooters Ford, won the series championship by a mere 10 points, the result of leading a lap and leading the most laps over race winner Bill Elliott. In this photo, Kulwicki leads Ricky Rudd, driving of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, while attempting to gain track position and as many points as possible.

BAKER, ALLISON, PETTY, ALLISON, EARNHARDT,

1979 WALTRIP AT MICHIGAN

DRIVING THE NO. 28 CHEVROLET OWNED BY HARRY RANIER, BUDDY Baker leads Donnie Allison (1), Richard Petty (43), Bobby Allison (15), Dale Earnhardt (2) and Darrell Waltrip (88) across the start-finish line at Michigan International Speedway on June 17, 1979. Baker went on to record the victory over Donnie Allison when the race finished under caution after an intense afternoon of 47 lead changes. Cale Yarborough finished third with Neil Bonnett fourth and Petty fifth.

PHOTOGRAPHY: NASCAR HALL OF FAME CAPTIONS: BEN WHITE

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1963 FOYT, ROBERTS, BAILEY, PETTY, WHITE,

1963 LORENZEN AT DAYTONA

ON FEB. 24, 1963, A.J. FOYT (02), FIREBALL ROBERTS (22), H.B. Bailey (04), Richard Petty (43), Rex White (4) and Fred Lorenzen (28) were the early leaders during the fifth running of the Daytona 500.

Among them, Lorenzen fared best by starting second and finishing second behind eventual race winner Tiny Lund. Petty finished sixth, followed by White in 14th, Bailey in 19th, Roberts in 21st with a blown engine and Foyt in 27th after a spin.

DARRELL WALTRIP AND DALE

1991 EARNHARDT AT POCONO

DARRELL WALTRIP, DRIVING OF HIS OWN DARRELL WALTRIP Motorsports No. 17 Chevrolet, is set for a final restart at Pocono Raceway on June 16, 1991. Waltrip went on to win that day, his second victory of the season along with a win coming earlier on April 21 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Dale Earnhardt, positioned directly behind Waltrip, finished second that day at Pocono. Waltrip led 34 of the race’s 200 laps, including the final 18.

DALE EARNHARDT, DALE EARNHARDT JR.

2000 AT TALLADEGA

DURING THE CLOSING LAPS OF THE WINSTON 500 AT Talladega Superspeedway on Oct. 15, 2000, Dale Earnhardt, driving the No. 3 RCR Chevrolet, masterfully worked the draft and moved from 18th to first in the final six laps. Earnhardt got a push from Kenny Wallace and the two moved high and low to secure Earnhardt’s 76th and final victory of his career. Earnhardt raced alongside Dale Earnhardt Jr. before moving ahead to secure the memorable win.

1991

50

POLE POSITION 2022

2000

PHOTOGRAPHY: NASCAR HALL OF FAME CAPTIONS: BEN WHITE

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NASCAR AWARDS

NASCAR Celebrates the Stars of 2021 in Nashville

A

BY HOLLY CAIN, NASCAR WIRE SERVICE

A

n abundant and enthusiastic welcome was punc-

tuated by a packed ballroom and a litany of genuine feel-good moments as NASCAR celebrated and culminated its 2021 season with the Champion’s Week Banquet in Nashville during December.

NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson and his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports team were properly feted during the annual Awards Banquet at the Music City Center, with a racing A-list attending to celebrate the highlights of the 2021 NASCAR season – and three firsttime national series champions.

“This was his first [championship], but I’m sure it won’t be his last,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said as he introduced Larson.

After taking the stage, Larson promised not to get too emotional but the gratefulness was evident in his voice and on his face.

“I’m humbled to be standing up here in front of many of my heroes, friends and family tonight. As many of you know, my journey over the last year and a half to get to this stage hasn’t been easy,” Larson said, before thanking his “best friend and wife Katelyn.”

Before Larson’s championship conclusion, the NASCAR industry celebrated each of the other national series champions – Ben Rhodes in the Camping World Truck Series and Daniel Hemric in the Xfinity Series.

Larson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott received his fourth consecutive Most Popular Driver Award.

Another annual award recognized during the main banquet was the prestigious Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. It went to Jeff Harmon, of Louisville, Kentucky – a longtime volunteer with Down Syndrome Louisville.

Among the other big awards noted, the late broadcaster Bob Jenkins won the National Motorsports Press Association Myers Brothers Award. And longtime Goodyear executive Stu Grant was given the Buddy Shuman Award.

A. Ben Rhodes is all smiles.

B. Chase Elliott crushes the red carpet.

C. Denny Hamlin poses in Air Jordans on the red carpet.

D. Kyle Larson and his crew chief Cliff Daniels view the Goodyear Gold Car during a reception at The Joseph prior to the NASCAR Champion’s Banquet.

E. 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion driver Kyle Larson, wife Katelyn, son Owen and daughter Audrey pose for photos with the Bill France NASCAR Cup Series Championship trophy.

F. Kyle Larson speaks during the NASCAR Champion’s Banquet at the Music City Center.

G. 2021 NASCAR ARCA Menards Series champion driver Ty Gibbs poses for photos on Broadway in Nashville.

H. NASCAR Awards host Kelli Stavast speaks to a packed house at the Music City Center.

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POLE POSITION 2022

B

C

F

D

G

E

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

H

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53

NASCAR Wives &

54

•• Tyler Reddick and guest Alexa De Leon

•• William Byron and guest Erin Blaney

•• Ryan Blaney and guest Gianna Tulio

•• Zane Smith and girlfriend McCall Gaulding

POLE POSITION 2022

Girlfriends

•• Aric and Janice Almirola

•• Chase and Marissa Briscoe

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10 THINGS WE LEARNED IN 2021 The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season was full of compelling storylines and sprinkled with controversy – particularly as the campaign neared its conclusion and the battle for the championship reached a fever pitch.

Here are the 10 most interesting things we learned in 2021.

BY JARED TURNER

10

Kyle Larson Is a Bona Fide Superstar KYLE LARSON DIDN’T JUST WIN THE 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship. He also solidified his place as a bona-fide superstar of the sport.

On the way to his championship, the first-year Hendrick Motorsports driver set a record for most laps led in a 36-race season. His 10 race wins were more than twice as many as any other driver, and his 18 stage wins far surpassed everyone else as well. The Elk Grove, California, native became the first driver since Jimmie Johnson in 2007 to earn 10 victories in a single season, and Larson won more races in 2021 than he did in his previous years in the Cup Series combined, when he competed for team owner Chip Ganassi.

“I’m just very fortunate to have all the opportunities I’ve ever been given, and it’s hard to think about what else I would like to accomplish, but I love winning races, and I love driving all sorts of vehicles,” said Larson, who in addition to his duties as a full-time Cup Series driver competes regularly in sprint car and midget races across the country. “I don’t think that I’ll ever be able to top this year, but I hope I can someday.”

Among those most impressed by Larson in 2021 was his first-year boss, NASCAR Hall of Fame team owner Rick Hendrick.

“I had heard stories that he couldn’t close, that he was fast and he would run near the wall and he’d wreck,” Hendrick said. “When we got him in the car, it was pretty obvious that he was pretty quick, that he could run the whole race, and he was fast, and he took care of the car. I knew his talent from watching him when he was driving for Chip and could see some of the things he could do with the car. So he’s impressed me. I think his ability to know how to race has impressed me a lot this year because he’s fast, but he knows how to race, and he knows when to race, and when he needs to just take care of it.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

9

An Underdog Can Soar on NASCAR’s Biggest Stage

RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU PREDICTED MICHAEL MCDOWELL

would win the 2021 Daytona 500? Yeah, we didn’t either. Yet, that’s exactly what happened in February’s 63rd running of The Great

American Race.

Driving for an underfunded team in Front Row Motorsports and making his 358th start in NASCAR’s premier division, McDowell bagged his first Cup Series win on the grandest stage of all. And McDowell did so in electrifying fashion by passing Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski for the lead when the two Team Penske teammates collided and wrecked in accordion-style fashion in Turn 3 on the final lap at worldfamous Daytona International Speedway.

“So many years just grinding it out and hoping for an opportunity like this,” said McDowell, a 36-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, native who made his first Cup Series start in 2008. “We had our Ford partners (Keselowski and Logano) at the end, and they all crashed, but luckily, I was able to make it through. I’m just so thankful.”

For McDowell, going to Victory Lane in the prestigious season opener at The World Center of Racing was sweet redemption after years of trying but failing to scratch at NASCAR’s highest level. It also proved that an underdog driver can soar on the sport’s grandest stage when facing the longest of odds.

Although McDowell didn’t do anything of note the rest of the season, his victory at Daytona gave him national exposure unlike anything he had ever enjoyed and guaranteed him entry into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs for the first time.

8

Some Drivers Really Don’t Like Each Other THE MAJORITY OF THE 2021 NASCAR CUP SERIES SEASON was free of major controversy, with drivers more or less staying out of each other’s way and not making enemies. But

everything changed once the playoffs began.

Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick tangled on track during the night race at Bristol Motor Speedway and then got up in each other’s faces on pit road after the checkered flag waved. The two former champions collided again a few weeks later on the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with Harvick’s No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford sending Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet for a spin.

Harvick later admitted to wrecking Elliott intentionally as payback for what Elliott had done to him at Bristol, and it was only after NASCAR threatened both drivers with major consequences if they continued to feud that Elliott and Harvick essentially called a truce in the final month of the season.

However, just as things began to settle down between Elliott and Harvick, business picked up between Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman in the season’s penultimate race at Martinsville Speedway. Battling for the lead in the final laps at the Virginia short track, Bowman – a non-playoff driver – washed up into championship-contending Hamlin, sending Hamlin’s race-leading No. 11 Toyota spinning and ruining the veteran driver’s shot at a victory.

Hamlin, who qualified for the Championship 4 in spite of the accident, later called Bowman “a hack” and expressed his anger by interrupting the Hendrick Motorsports driver’s post-race celebration. As this was happening, Kyle Busch took verbal shots at Brad Keselowski during an interview on pit road after those two drivers banged together racing for second on the final lap.

Clearly, some drivers didn’t send each other Christmas cards this year.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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10 THINGS WE LEARNED

7

Hendrick Motorsports Is King of the Hill

KYLE LARSON’S IMPRESSIVE MARCH TO THE NASCAR CUP SERIES

championship was by no means the only notable accomplishment for Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. Joining Larson in Victory Lane over the course of the season were the other three Hendrick drivers – Alex Bowman, Chase

Elliott and William Byron – who combined for seven wins of their own, giving Hendrick Motorsports a total of 17 victories in 36 races. All four Hendrick drivers made it to the playoffs, while two of the four – Larson and Elliott – reached the Championship 4. It was an all-around dominant season for the organization, whose four drivers are all under the age of 30 and represent one of Hendrick’s youngest driver lineups in the company’s 35-year-plus history.

“I really like our lineup right now,” team owner Rick Hendrick said after the season’s final race at Phoenix Raceway where Larson delivered the organization’s second consecutive championship and 14th overall at NASCAR’s highest level. “I like the chemistry between the four drivers. That’s important that they get along. Of course they want to beat each other, but I’ve got a lot invested in William. I’ve got a lot invested in Chase, Alex and Kyle. I hope we can keep the band together because we’ve got such a good core working together.

“I can’t emphasize enough: You don’t hear any friction between our guys and our crew chiefs. They really work well together. To me, that’s what makes an organization work is all the people really pulling together.”

6

Stewart-Haas Racing Has Some Catching Up to Do

BY ALL ACCOUNTS, IT WAS A DIFFICULT SEASON FOR Stewart-Haas Racing as the organization co-owned by Tony Stewart and Gene Haas went to Victory Lane only once in 36

races and saw its flagship driver –​​Kevin Harvick – go winless for the first time since he joined the organization in 2014.

Meanwhile, SHR’s two youngest drivers – Cole Custer and rookie Chase Briscoe – failed to make the playoffs and finished outside the top 20 in points while being unable to find Victory Lane. SHR’s lone win came from Aric Almirola, who outside of triumphing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway endured one of the most difficult and frustrating seasons of his Cup Series career.

Undoubtedly, the organization has some work to do if it wants to close the gap on Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske in 2022. This was the first time since SHR opened its doors in 2009 that all three of its main rivals outperformed the organization in such overwhelming fashion.

“I definitely had higher expectations coming into the year,” said Briscoe, who posted just three top-10 finishes in his first Cup Series season with the organization after winning nine races as a full-time Xfinity Series driver for SHR in 2020. “It was a weird year. As a company, we struggled way more than we thought we would. You base your expectations off of last year, and we just weren’t quite there from a performance standpoint.”

Harvick, who won a series-high nine races in 2020, tried to keep the disappointments of 2021 in perspective.

“I’ve personally been through some pretty tough years, and this one was just a struggle because you had to work so hard to get everything you have,” he said. “I think from a team standpoint, we’ve also learned a lot about the other side of the fence as far as having to dig your heels in and do things that you haven’t had to do. … But when you look at the overall picture and the grind that we’ve been through this year, I think everybody’s done a good job.”

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

5

Bubba Wallace Can Win in NASCAR’s Top Series ALWAYS UNDER SOMEWHAT OF A MICROSCOPE AS THE ONLY AFRICAN AMERICAN DRIVER TO RACE FULL TIME IN THE NASCAR Cup Series, Bubba Wallace sent a loud message to his doubters by winning the fall Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway in his home state of Alabama.

Of course, some fans – particularly on Twitter – wanted to discredit Wallace’s win since it came in a race cut short by rain, but

Wallace is hardly the first driver to win in this fashion. In fact, it happens almost every season and sometimes multiple times in a season.

In scoring the victory, Wallace made history as the first African American driver to earn a win in NASCAR’s premier series since the late NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott did so at Speedway Park in Jacksonville, Florida, on Dec. 1, 1963.

Wallace finished the season with a career-high three top-five finishes in his 23XI Racing Toyota co-owned by three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and NBA legend Michael Jordan.

However, Wallace’s final ranking in the standings – 21st – was just one position better than where he finished in 2020, his final season with Richard Petty Motorsports. Wallace did not make the playoffs by virtue of his win, because it didn’t come during the 26-race regular season but after the playoffs had already started. Nevertheless, the Mobile, Alabama, native has reason to feel optimistic about 2022 and the rest of his future in the sport knowing that he’s checked the race winner’s box.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

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10 THINGS WE LEARNED

4

Kurt Busch Is Not Ready to Retire WHEN THE 2021 SEASON BEGAN, MANY IN THE NASCAR WORLD wondered if it would be Kurt Busch’s last season in the Cup Series. Forty-two years old (now 43) and one of the oldest drivers in the sport, Busch hadn’t ruled out retiring at some point in the near future.

The 2004 Cup Series champion put this speculation to rest, however, when 23XI Racing

announced in late August that Busch would become the driver for the organization’s new second team beginning in 2022. Busch, who is bringing longtime sponsor Monster Energy with him, will compete as a teammate to Bubba Wallace who was the organization’s lone driver in its 2021 debut season. Busch signed a multi-year deal, signaling a commitment that goes beyond the 2022 campaign and that he’s nowhere near retirement.

After spending the last three seasons in a Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Busch looks forward to seeing what he can do in a Toyota fielded by his new team owners, Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan.

“I cannot begin to express my gratitude for this opportunity,” said Busch, who has been a fulltime Cup Series driver since 2001 and earned 33 wins in the sport’s premier division. “Racing to win is what I live for. Helping to continue developing a new team, alongside Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin and Toyota is exactly what I want to be part of. Winning is important to 23XI, it’s important to Monster Energy and it’s important to me. That is our goal.”

Busch will campaign the No. 45, a new number for him and one that has been out of the sport for many years.

“When we started this team, our vision was to grow to a multi-car organization. To be able to expand in just our second year is a huge step for us,” Hamlin said. “Kurt brings a wealth of knowledge and a championship mindset to our team, and will be able to help us grow stronger and more competitive each and every week.”

3

NASCAR Tracks Are Once Again Open for Business AFTER A 2020 SEASON IN WHICH THE COVID-19 pandemic forced all but four NASCAR Cup Series races to be held at reduced fan capacity, tracks reopened for

business in a big way in 2021.

Aside from the early months of the season, tracks operated at maximum capacity, which was a welcome sight for anyone who loves the sport.

Unfortunately, as COVID-19 cases rose during the summer months, many tracks began limiting fan access to the infield and to the drivers in general.

However, the show went on as scheduled and the pandemic had very little impact on the competition side of things. Many fans who hadn’t been to a race track since 2019 returned to the grandstands, and drivers – on many occasions – thanked the fans for coming out and talked about how much they enjoyed seeing fans back at the track.

The final race of the 2021 Cup season, run at Phoenix Raceway in Arizona, was a sellout. So from a fan participation and engagement standpoint, the season couldn’t have ended on a stronger note.

With COVID-19 cases now on the decline again throughout much of the United States, expect all tracks to operate at full capacity for the duration of the 2022 season, beginning with February’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, which was only able to host a limited number of spectators for the 2021 Daytona 500. Seeing a full house at Daytona for the sport’s biggest race will be a positive way to kick off 2022 and build momentum for the season.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

2

More Road Courses Created More Drama AN EXPANDED SLATE OF ROAD COURSES ON THE 2021 NASCAR Cup Series schedule only added to the drama, just as NASCAR hoped it would.

Few will forget the last lap of the first Cup Series race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course when part-time Cup Series driver A.J. Allmendinger emerged as an unlikely winner after rookie Chase Briscoe and veteran Denny Hamlin tangled on the final lap, with Hamlin spinning and NASCAR penalizing Briscoe for cutting through the grass moments earlier.

The two drivers later had a fairly intense post-race discussion on pit road while surrounded by cameras and hordes of onlookers.

But this was just one example of the excitement that road-course racing generated in 2021, when the series competed on road circuits eight times if you include the non-points-paying pre-season exhibition race on the Daytona International Speedway road course.

Along with Indy, Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, joined the tour as new road course venues. While drivers at least publicly seemed OK with having more road courses on the schedule than are customary, several competitors didn’t support NASCAR’s decision to move a Cup Series race from the fabled 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval to the IMS road course.

Although the race ended up being one of the most action-filled of the season, many of the sport’s top drivers expressed their desire for the Cup Series to return to the IMS oval in the relatively near future. It won’t happen in 2022, however, as the series is set to race on the road course for the second consecutive year.

1

Joe Gibbs Racing and Team Penske Aren’t Too Far Off WHILE HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS RULED THE 2021 SEASON with 17 wins in 36 races culminating in a championship by Hendrick driver Kyle Larson, rival organizations Joe Gibbs Racing and Team

Penske weren’t too far behind in terms of performance.

With drivers Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski, Team Penske

captured a handful of victories and placed all three of its drivers in the playoffs.

JGR, meanwhile, recorded at least one win with all four of its drivers and placed two of them – Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin – in the Championship 4.

Altogether, JGR drivers accounted for nine wins – second only to Hendrick in that category. Perennial Championship 4 contender Kyle Busch had an off year by his lofty standards, notching just two wins in his familiar No. 18 Toyota, while second-year teammate Christopher Bell went to Victory Lane once – in the second race of the season, held on the Daytona International Speedway road course.

Hamlin led the standings for most of the regular season but ultimately missed out on the regular season championship by a narrow margin when Kyle Larson came on strong in the regular season’s final weeks.

Hamlin finished third in the standings – one spot behind championship runner-up Truex, whose four victories were second only to Larson’s 10.

With just a little more speed or better track position in the season’s final race at Phoenix, JGR could have been celebrating a championship in spite of Hendrick being the overall more dominant team.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES

POLE POSITION MAG.COM

61

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