Entry List

The official 2022 YellaWood 500 NASCAR CUP Series entry list features top NASCAR drivers set to compete at Talladega Superspeedway, highlighting the full lineup of race participants and teams.

YellaWood 500

Sunday, October 2nd, 2022

Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL

  • 15 Ford
  • 6 Toyota
  • 16 Chevrolet

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • 54th Annual YellaWood 500
  • Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Christopher Bell
  • Age: 27
  • Team : No. 20 - Sirius XM Toyota
  • Owner: Joe Gibbs
  • Crew Chief: Adam Stevens
  • Christopher Bell won the Pole Award for the 54th Annual YellaWood 500 with a lap of 53.026 seconds, 180.591 mph.
  • This is his fourth pole in 103 NASCAR Cup Series races.
  • This is his fourth pole and 20th top-10 start in 2022.
  • This is his second pole in six races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Kyle Larson (second) posted his 24th top-10 start of 2022 and his fourth in 16 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Denny Hamlin (third) posted his 15th top-10 start at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 16th in 31 races this season.
  • Harrison Burton (15th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Sunday, October 2nd, 2022
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain
Chase Elliott Grabs Thrilling Talladega Victory, Advances in NASCAR Playoffs

Always the unquestionable fan favorite at NASCAR's famed Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Georgia-native Chase Elliott made a last-lap pass to claim the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 victory Sunday afternoon - having to better one of his best friends, Ryan Blaney, to earn the first automatic bid into the next round of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

With a lap to go, Elliott pulled his No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet from the bottom lane to the top lane and got a huge push from behind by Petty GMS Racing driver Erik Jones - the momentum enough to edge fellow Playoff competitor Blaney by a slight .046-second at the line and give him a chance to hoist his series-best fifth trophy of the season; 18th of his seven-year NASCAR Cup Series career.

"Moments like that, you have to really cherish and you guys are what makes this special to me," Elliott, 26, told the cheering fans. "So, thank you sincerely, I really appreciate it."

"It was a wild last couple laps. I wasn't super crazy about being on the bottom and fortunately I got just clear enough off of [Turn] 2 to slide up in front of Erik [Jones] and he gave me some great shoves, obviously a Team Chevy partner there. Just had a good enough run to get out front and then was able to stay far enough in front of Ryan [Blaney] at the line to get it done.

"These things are so so hard to win, you gotta enjoy them and just appreciate everyone's effort today."

Former Daytona 500 winner Michael McDowell was third, followed by two more Playoff drivers, Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin.

Chastain and Stewart-Haas Racing's Aric Almirola led the most laps on the day - each out front 36 laps - in an afternoon that featured the most lead changes of the season (57) set by 17 different drivers.

Although it was a typically dramatic superspeedway ending, the action was tame by Talladega standards. Only one of the six caution periods was for a multi-car accident. Two were scheduled "stage breaks" and the other two for single car incidents. The final caution -which set up the two-lap shootout ending - came for Daniel Hemric's stalled car on pit road.

That bunched up the field again and ultimately positioned Elliott (who restarted on the inside of the third row) to make his run forward. Blaney, who led 31 laps in the No. 12 Penske Racing Ford , had been trading the lead with Jones in the laps immediately before that final caution flag.

"I thought about it," Blaney said, of making a different move for the lead. "The second lane was kind of the strongest, definitely the second half of the race. And I thought about (throwing a block on Elliott) but when you go to the middle without a Ford or teammate behind you, the chances of getting split are so high.

"As much as I trust Chase, I don't trust him enough for him not to take me three-wide and leave me in the middle so I chose to stay down in front of (fellow Ford driver) Michael (McDowell). He was awesome at pushing me on the last restart and giving me great shots. Just a little bit too late.

"Maybe I could have faked the top and gone to the bottom there on the front stretch, but I don't know if I could have gotten there anyway, but overall, not a bad day. Just probably going to replay in my head five different things I could have done different."

It was a big boost for Elliott, who had a rough outing last week in the opening race of this Playoff round in Texas. Elliott crashed out and finished 32nd and came into Talladega ranked eighth - after earning the regular season championship and leading the standings for a season-best 23 weeks prior to Sunday.

The opening four 2022 Playoff races have been won by non-Playoff drivers - an unprecedented occurrence. So Elliott's advancement to the next round is the first "automatic" move by a Playoff-eligible driver.

Beyond Elliott, Blaney now leads the points standings - 32 points ahead of Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Austin Cindric in ninth place with the top eight drivers advancing to the Round of 8 next Playoff round.

Chastain is ranked third, followed by Hamlin and Penske Racing's Joey Logano, who finished 27th on Sunday. Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion, Hendrick Motorsports' driver Kyle Larson - who finished 18th at Talladega - is ranked sixth in the standings, followed by Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez and Stewart-Haas Racing's Chase Briscoe in that final eighth place position.

Cindric is tied with Briscoe in points. William Byron (-11), Christopher Bell (-33) and Alex Bowman (-54) complete the current Playoff 12.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver Bowman did not race this week as he is recovering from concussion-like symptoms after an accident in Texas last week. Team owner Rick Hendrick said Bowman would be re-examined by doctors this week in hopes of getting clearance to return to competition.

The next race, the Bank of America ROVAL 400, is Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL (2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) - the final road course event of the season. Larson is the defending race winner. Blaney won the inaugural race at the Charlotte ROVAL and Elliott is a two-time winner there as well (2019 and 2020).

  • Drivers Entered: 37
  • Laps Scheduled: 188
  • Margin of Victory: 0.046 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 3 Hours 15 Minutes 23 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 153.569
  • Cautions: 6 for 25 laps
  • Lead Changes: 57
  • Green Flag Passes: 10,035 (61.6 passes per green flag lap)

  • Talladega Superspeedway
  • 54th Annual YellaWood 500
  • Race Winner: Chase Elliott
  • Age: 26
  • Team : No. 9 - NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet
  • Owner: Rick Hendrick
  • Crew Chief: Alan Gustafson
  • Chase Elliott won the 54th Annual YellaWood 500, his 18th victory in 252 Cup Series races.
  • This is his fifth victory and 19th top-10 finish in 2022.
  • This is his second victory and seventh top-10 finish in 14 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Ryan Blaney (second) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 17 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It is his 15th top-10 finish in 2022.
  • Michael McDowell (third) posted his fourth top-10 finish in 24 races at Talladega Superspeedway.
  • Todd Gilliland (seventh) was the highest finishing rookie.
  • Chase Elliott leads the point standings by 2 points over Ryan Blaney.
Bubba Wallace celebrates in victory lane at Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega, Alabama - October 4, 2021 : Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald's Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Sean GardnerGetty Images
ENTRY
#
DRIVER
HOMETOWN
DOB
AGE
MAKE
SPONSOR
TEAM
CREW CHIEF

1
10
Tampa, FL
Mar 14, 1984
38
Ford
Smithfield
2
6
Auburn Hills, MI
Feb 12, 1984
38
Ford
Kohler Generators
3
11
Chesterfield, VA
Nov 18, 1980
41
Toyota
FedEx Express
4
15
Phoenix, AZ
Oct 05, 1976
45
Ford
Summit Racing Equipment
5
22
Middleton, CT
May 24, 1990
32
Ford
Shell Pennzoil
6
4
Bakersfield, CA
Dec 08, 1975
46
Ford
Busch Light
7
18
Las Vegas, NV
May 02, 1985
37
Toyota
M&M's
8
19
Mayetta, NJ
Jun 29, 1980
42
Toyota
Bass Pro Shops
9
34
Phoenix, AZ
Dec 21, 1984
37
Ford
Love's Travel Stops
10
77
Cedar Rapids, IA
Jul 07, 1989
33
Chevrolet
Voyager: Crypto for All
11
3
Lewisville, NC
Apr 27, 1990
32
Chevrolet
Bass Pro Shops /TRACKER Off Road
12
47
Olive Branch, MS
Oct 02, 1987
35
Chevrolet
Kroger/ SunnyD
13
62
Riverton, IL
Jun 06, 1986
36
Chevrolet
Beard Oil/South Point
14
5
Sacremento, CA
Jul 31, 1992
30
Chevrolet
HendrickCars.com
15
12
High Point, NC
Dec 31, 1993
28
Ford
Menards\Dutch Boy
16
7
Kannapolis, NC
Sep 25, 1991
31
Chevrolet
Schluter Systems
17
42
Lewisville, NC
Feb 27, 1992
30
Chevrolet
SunseekerResorts.com
18
9
Dawsonville, GA
Nov 28, 1995
26
Chevrolet
NAPA Auto Parts
19
17
Prosper, TX
Oct 29, 1992
29
Ford
Fastenal
20
43
Byron, MI
May 30, 1996
26
Chevrolet
FOCUSfactor
21
78
Wauchula, FL
Nov 17, 1983
38
Ford
NASCAR Rivals
22
99
Monterrey, Mexico
Jan 07, 1992
30
Chevrolet
Tootsies Orchid Lounge
23
51
Greensboro, NC
Nov 07, 1995
26
Ford
Nurtec ODT UBCF
24
1
Alva, FL
Dec 04, 1992
29
Chevrolet
Jockey
25
45
Mobile, AL
Oct 08, 1993
28
Toyota
Leidos
26
16
Kannapolis, NC
Jan 27, 1991
31
Chevrolet
Celsius
27
24
Charlotte, NC
Nov 29, 1997
24
Chevrolet
RaptorTough.com
28
41
Ladera Ranch, CA
Jan 23, 1998
24
Ford
HaasTooling.com
29
8
Corning, CA
Jan 11, 1996
26
Chevrolet
REALTREE
30
31
Winamac, IN
Apr 28, 1999
23
Chevrolet
LeafFilter Gutter Protection
31
20
Norman, OK
Dec 16, 1994
27
Toyota
Sirius XM
32
2
Columbus, OH
Sep 02, 1998
24
Ford
Discount Tire
33
14
Mitchell, IN
Dec 15, 1994
27
Ford
Magical Vacation Planner
34
21
Huntersville, NC
Oct 09, 2000
21
Ford
Dex Imaging
35
48
Las Vegas, NV
Jul 15, 1998
24
Chevrolet
Ally
36
23
Charlotte, NC
Oct 04, 2002
19
Toyota
Monster Energy
37
38
Sherrills Ford, NC
May 15, 2000
22
Ford
Georgia Peanuts