The 2022 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on September 25, 2022, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the 30th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season, fourth race of the Playoffs and first race of the Round of 12.
Report
Background
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 15 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Ty Gibbs (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 45 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 77 Landon Cassill (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team ChevroletOfficial entry list
Practice Austin Dillon was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 28.778 seconds and a speed of .
Practice results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.778 187.643 2 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.796 187.526 3 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.881 186.974Official practice results
Qualifying Brad Keselowski scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.573 and a speed of .
Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 1 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 28.698 28.573 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.674 28.601 3 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.588 28.601 4 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.593 28.664 5 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.723 28.719 6 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.719 28.731 7 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.716 28.793 8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.723 28.879 9 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.665 28.996 10 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 28.719 29.126 11 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 28.751 — 12 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 28.753 — 13 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 28.763 — 14 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 28.768 — 15 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.826 — 16 23 Ty Gibbs (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 28.836 — 17 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.837 — 18 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.840 — 19 45 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 28.851 — 20 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.851 — 21 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.944 — 22 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.963 — 23 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 28.994 — 24 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.051 — 25 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.084 — 26 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 29.103 — 27 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 29.137 — 28 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 29.170 — 29 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 29.170 — 30 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 29.181 — 31 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 29.261 — 32 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 29.305 — 33 15 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 29.501 — 34 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 29.744 — 35 77 Landon Cassill (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 30.380 — 36 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 0.000 — Official qualifying results
Race Throughout the race, several drivers suffered from tire failures; Corey LaJoie and Kevin Harvick's crew chief Rodney Childers suggested the issue was due to practice of teams running lower tire pressures than Goodyear suggested in pursuit of speed due to restrictions on suspension shock travel on the Next Gen car, with Childers suggesting that the track's configuration worsened the issue. One tire failure in particular, Alex Bowman's on lap 98, resulted in Bowman being diagnosed for concussion-like symptoms after a rear impact crash for which Bowman was forced to sit out the rest of Round of 12 and Round of 8 races.
On lap 168, Cody Ware suffered from a hard crash, colliding with the turn 4 wall before violently hitting the pit wall, sustaining an impaction fracture on his ankle from the crash. Despite the wreck, Ware was cleared to compete for the next race.
Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 105
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 102 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 93 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 84 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 75 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 66 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 57 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 39 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 210 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 1Official stage one results
Stage Two Laps: 105
Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 102 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 93 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 84 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 75 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 66 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 57 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 48 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 39 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 210 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 1Official stage two results
Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 124
Pos Grid Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 4 8 Tyler Reddick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 402 2 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 334 463 31 31 Justin Haley Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 334 344 14 12 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford 334 435 30 14 Chase Briscoe Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 334 326 27 43 Erik Jones Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 334 317 3 24 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 438 1 6 Brad Keselowski RFK Racing Ford 334 399 9 5 Kyle Larson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 3810 8 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 3611 5 34 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 334 2812 10 99 Daniel Suárez Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 334 3813 12 1 Ross Chastain Trackhouse Racing Team Chevrolet 334 3914 29 7 Corey LaJoie Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 334 2315 11 2 Austin Cindric (R) Team Penske Ford 334 2816 32 42 Ty Dillon Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet 334 2117 7 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 2518 20 21 Harrison Burton (R) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 334 1919 23 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 334 1820 16 23 Ty Gibbs (i) 23XI Racing Toyota 334 021 26 16 Noah Gragson (i) Kaulig Racing Chevrolet 334 022 35 77 Landon Cassill (i) Spire Motorsports Chevrolet 334 023 33 15 Garrett Smithley (i) Rick Ware Racing Ford 334 024 25 10 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 334 13 25 19 45 Bubba Wallace 23XI Racing Toyota 334 1226 34 78 B. J. McLeod (i) Live Fast Motorsports Ford 333 027 21 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 333 1428 28 38 Todd Gilliland (R) Front Row Motorsports Ford 333 929 17 48 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 329 830 13 17 Chris Buescher RFK Racing Ford 270 731 15 19 Martin Truex Jr. Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 267 832 6 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 184 533 36 51 Cody Ware Rick Ware Racing Ford 166 434 22 20 Christopher Bell Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 136 335 24 41 Cole Custer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 77 236 18 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 48 1Official race results
Race statistics Lead changes: 36 among 19 different drivers Cautions/Laps: 16 for 91 (track high) Red flags: 1 for 56 minutes Time of race: 4 hours, 21 minutes and 53 seconds Average speed:
Penalties William Byron was initially fined $50,000 and fined 25 driver and owner points for spinning Denny Hamlin during a late caution period. NASCAR initially did not notice the incident during the race, and the penalty was applied two days later. Ty Gibbs was also fined $75,000 and docked 25 owner points (as Gibbs competed for Xfinity Series points, he received no driver point penalties) for contact with Ty Dillon on the pit road. It was Gibbs' second penalty for dangerous driving on the pit road, as he had also been penalized for doing the same against Sam Mayer at the Call 811 Before You Dig 250 in the Xfinity Series that led to a fistfight after the aforementioned race.
On October 6, 2022, Byron's points penalty was overturned, but the fine was increased to $100,000. Subsequent to the appeal, NASCAR updated their rulebook so that further incidents like Byron's can result in both fines and point penalties, not just one of them.
Media
Television USA covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen, Two–time Texas winner Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte and 2000 Texas winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.
USABooth announcersPit reporters Lap-by-lap: Rick AllenColor-commentator: Jeff BurtonColor-commentator: Steve LetarteColor-commentator: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kim CoonParker KligermanMarty Snider
Radio PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice & Mark Garrow covered the action for PRN when the field raced down the front straightaway. Rob Albright covered the action for PRN from a platform outside of Turns 1 & 2, & Pat Patterson covered the action from a platform outside of Turns 3 & 4 for PRN. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini had the call from pit lane for PRN.
PRN Booth announcersTurn announcersPit reporters Lead announcer: Doug RiceAnnouncer: Mark Garrow Turns 1 & 2: Rob AlbrightTurns 3 & 4: Pat Patterson Brad GillieBrett McMillanWendy Venturini
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings