2022 Circut Of The America’s Review
The NASCAR Cup series returned to Circuit of the Americas this past Sunday for their second ever race at the track, and what a race it was.
Sunday’s race drew a sharp contrast to last year's race as it was a dry race that didn’t see as frequent or severe accidents as last year’s race which was eventually shortened due to the rain.
Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suárez started in first and second respectively and led the field to green. Though Blaney started on pole, Suárez’s aggressive moves gave him the lead on the first lap.
Suárez would go on to dominate the stage which saw low drama except Kyle Busch getting turned, dropping him back to No. 30. Busch used this to his advantage, however, as he pitted before the end of Stage one which would position him near the front of the field for the start of the next stage.
Suárez, who took the lead on the first lap, went on to win the stage after leading all 15 laps in the stage.
As Stage two began, some new faces were seen at the front of the field as they pitted at the end of Stage one before the caution, effectively leapfrogging those who pitted during the caution. Although by doing this, they gave up the chance to get any stage points.
These drivers, Tyler Reddick, Ross Chastain and Austin Cindric, (all drivers who have been running towards the front of the field all year) led the field to green. Issues began right away as the Stage one winner, who had been dominating the race, spun in the first turn, which forced him to replace a tire.
Kyle Larson joined the club of those to spin on the day as he spun soon after Suárez on the restart, leading to him losing a few places. Cindric led over Chastain for most of the stage until the closing laps when both of them decided to pit to set themselves up for the final stage.
Denny Hamlin stayed out to collect stage points and won Stage two. However, he will have to start in the back of the field for Stage three since those who pitted will leapfrog him.
Joey Logano led the race back to green to start the final stage but was immediately passed by Chastain for the lead. The caution would come out soon later, though, after Cindric spun and put some debris on the track.
Lap 42 saw the second non-stage-related caution of the day as Erik Jones stalled on track due to a loss of power. The race ran uninterrupted until more debris was found on track in the form of a lost wheel from Bubba Wallace’s car at lap 45.
Two more cautions were seen when both Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Corey LaJoie both had mechanical issues causing Stenhouse to stall and Lajoie to put fluid on the track. The rest of the race was littered with spins and another car stalling which ultimately set the race up for an overtime finish.
In overtime, Chastain took the lead from Reddick, who was passed by A.J. Allmendinger before the white flag. Allmendinger was able to close a .75 second gap to pass Chastain on the last lap. However, he would wind up spinning when Chastain pushed him too hard into a corner.
This move allowed Chastain to go on to win the race, the first of his career. After the race, Allmendinger seemed to be miffed at how he was raced, setting up the debate, once again, for whether or not bumping and spinning others to win is a part of racing or should be banned.
Next week the Cup series travels to the short oval of Richmond Raceway for an action-packed short track battle.
Ethan Ellis is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email him at ece5133@psu.edu.
