STEWART-HAAS RACING
NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale at Phoenix
Date: Nov. 6, 2022
Event: NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale (Round 36 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Cup Series
Location: Phoenix Raceway (1-mile oval)
Format: 312 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/125 laps/127 laps)
Champion: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Race Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 1 Winner: Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)
Stage 2 Winner: Ryan Blaney of Team Penske (Ford)
SHR Race Finish:
● Aric Almirola (Started 13th, Finished 20th / Running, completed 312 of 312 laps)
SHR Points Final:
● Aric Almirola (20th with 760 points)
Championship 4 Final:
1. Joey Logano (5,040 points)
2. Ross Chastain (5,034 points)
3. Christopher Bell (5,027 points)
4. Chase Elliott (5,009 points)
Almirola Notes:
● Almirola earned his 22nd top-20 of the season and his 20th top-20 in 24 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Phoenix.
● This was Almirola’s second straight top-20. He finished 15th last Sunday at Martinsville.
● Since joining SHR in 2018, Almirola has finished among the top-20 at Phoenix all but once – 22nd in November 2019.
Race Notes:
● Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup Series Season Finale to score his 31st career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fourth of the year and his third at Phoenix. His margin over second-place Ryan Blaney was .301 of a second.
● Logano earned the NASCAR Cup Series championship at Phoenix by virtue of his win. He is now a two-time champion, with his first title coming in 2018.
● Logano is the 17th different driver to win multiple championships and just the second active NASCAR Cup Series driver to win multiple championships, joining two-time Cup champion Kyle Busch (2015 and 2019).
● This was Ford’s 720th all-time NASCAR Cup Series victory and its ninth of the season.
● There were six caution periods for a total of 39 laps.
● Twenty-one of the 36 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.
Sound Bites:
“I just didn’t fire off near as good. I was kind of on top of the racetrack a little bit more than I really had been all day. Truthfully, the 22 (Logano) and the 12 (Blaney) were so good on the short run every time. I just had nothing for them. On the long run, I was typically a little bit better, I just would give up so much on the short run. I just didn’t fire off very good there at the end. I don’t really know why. I don’t know if the track just changed there as the sun was going down. It wasn’t as good. I felt that was the worst run, balance-wise, we had all day. It’s unfortunate that’s when it came, but, overall, it was a good day.
Next Up:
The 2023 season begins with the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before kicking off its 36-race slate of points-paying events with the 65th Daytona 500 on Feb. 19 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Both events will be broadcast live on FOX and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.