Practice #1 : Phoenix Raceway

• Phoenix Raceway
• 18th Annual Ruoff Mortgage 500
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Ryan Blaney
• Age: 28
• Team: No. 12 - Menards/Maytag Ford
• Owner: Team Penske
• Crew Chief: Jonathan Hassler
• Ryan Blaney won the Pole Award for the 18th Annual Ruoff Mortgage 500 with a lap of 27.127 seconds, 132.709 mph.
• This is his seventh pole in 238 NASCAR Cup Series races.
• This is his first pole and third top-10 start in 2022.
• This is his third pole in 13 races at Phoenix Raceway.
• Denny Hamlin (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2022 and his 21st in 34 races at Phoenix Raceway.
• William Byron (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Phoenix Raceway. It is his second in four races this season.
• Austin Cindric (eighth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

• Sunday, March 13th, 2022
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Chase Briscoe captures first-career Cup Series win at Phoenix

There was no shortage of motivation as three drivers all vying for their first-career victory in the marquee NASCAR Cup Series decided the dramatic outcome at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

Stewart-Haas Racing's Chase Briscoe had to hold off the field on not one, not two, but three late race restarts on the one-mile desert oval, including the final restart with three laps remaining to earn his first career NASCAR Cup Series win in the Ruoff Mortgage 500.

The 27-year-old Briscoe is the 200th different winner in NASCAR's premier series and last year's Rookie of the Year earned the victory- by .771-seconds over Ross Chastain – in only his 40th start.

"It's unbelievable," said Briscoe, who drives the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.

"I was crying the whole last lap. This is definitely a team win, but I've got to thank everybody that's got me to this point. Just seven years ago I was sleeping on couches, volunteering at race shops and was literally driving home to give up.

"Unbelievable," he continued, smiling. "So blessed to be here driving for this organization this team and this car that was my hero's (NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart) growing up.

"To everybody that's believed in me, it's unbelievable."

Fast pit stops for Briscoe's John Klausmeier-led crew helped all day. His 101 laps out front was second only to pole-winner Ryan Blaney's 144 laps led. But Briscoe certainly had to earn this win on track holding off the field on those late race re-starts with cars sometimes fanning out seven-wide in the frenetic shuffle to the front.

Chevrolet drivers Chastain and Tyler Reddick took Briscoe three-wide on the final restart – all fueled by the motivation of that first win, but Briscoe's Ford was able to drive away leaving them to settle runner-up between themselves.

Chastain's runner-up finish is his second consecutive top-three finish for the Trackhouse Racing organization. Richard Childress Racing's Reddick placed third followed by polesitter, Penske Racing's Ryan Blaney and 23XI Racing's Kurt Busch.

"That was so much fun to get to race like that at this level," Chastain said, adding of the last lap competition, "That's so cool to race with Tyler and Chase. That's everything I've ever wanted."

Briscoe's veteran teammate Kevin Harvick finished sixth and that top-10 was good enough to tie a huge mark of success shared only by two NASCAR Hall of Famers. Harvick's 18th consecutive top-10 at Phoenix matches an all-time NASCAR Cup Series record set by both Richard Petty and the late Dale Earnhardt at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway.

Another former series champion, Kyle Busch finished seventh leading the Joe Gibbs Racing charge. Penske Racing's Joey Logano, Trackhouse Racing's Daniel Suarez and Roush-Fenway-Keselowski driver Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 respectively.

Reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, who ran up front for much of the race, suffered a DNF – pitting with 74 laps remaining with what his crew diagnosed as a broken valve spring in his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Larson was officially scored 34th – the second sub-30th place finish of the season, including a crash at the Daytona 500 (32nd place finish).

Larson already scored a victory at Auto Club Speedway this season, however, and is still ranked fourth in the championship, 10 points behind new leader Logano. Kyle Busch is third, five points back.

Both Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron and Penske's Blaney earned their first Stage wins of the season. There were 15 lead changes among six drivers.

• Drivers Entered: 36
• Laps Scheduled: 312
• Margin of Victory: 0.771 Seconds
• Time of Race: 3 Hours 6 Minutes 34 Seconds
• Average Speed: 100.339
• Cautions: 8 for 52 laps
• Lead Changes: 14
• Green Flag Passes: 2,058 (7.9 passes per green flag lap)

• Phoenix Raceway
• 18th Annual Ruoff Mortgage 500
• Race Winner: Chase Briscoe
• Age: 27
• Team: No. 14 - Mahindra Tractors Ford
• Owner: Stewart-Haas Racing
• Crew Chief: John Klausmeier
• Chase Briscoe won the 18th Annual Ruoff Mortgage 500, his first victory in 40 Cup Series races.
• This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2022.
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in three races at Phoenix Raceway.
• Ross Chastain (second) posted his first top-10 finish in eight races at Phoenix Raceway. It is his second top-five finish in 2022.
• Tyler Reddick (third) posted his first top-10 finish in five races at Phoenix Raceway.
• Todd Gilliland (19th) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Chase Briscoe becomes the third Cup Series driver to earn their first-career win at Phoenix (Alan Kulwicki in 1988 and Bobby Hamilton in 1996).