Talladega Superspeedway was not kind to the Nascar Ford racing teams on Sunday. The Blue Oval’s troubles started early at the 2.66-mile superspeedway during the first round of pit stops.
Brad Keselowski, driver of the No. 6 Nascar Ford Mustang, locked up his tires getting onto Pit Road and suffered a speeding penalty as a result, while the No. 51 Mustang of Cody Ware spun at the entrance of Pit Road behind him. Then, near the end of Stage 1, Chase Briscoe in the No. 14 Mustang was swept up in a brutal wreck involving the No. 17 Mustang of Chris Buescher and the No. 16 Chevy Camaro of Daniel Hemric.
B.J. McCleod in the No. 78 Nascar Ford then lost a wheel, forcing a caution flag. When the race went green again, Bubba Wallace in the No. 23 Toyota TRD Camry rammed into the back of Joey Logano’s No. 22 Mustang, sending Logano into the wall and triggering a wreck that took out more than five cars.
Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Ford, assumed the lead when the green flag fell on Stage 3. He went on to lead 23 laps, but was shuffled back late in the race, after which he couldn’t find his way back to the front of the field.
The Nascar Ford teams were nowhere to be found in the race during the last lap, which culminated in a dramatic crash. The No. 43 Camaro driven by Erik Jones held off a charge from the No. 5 Camaro of Kyle Larson, but ultimately lost the race when Larson triggered a multicar incident going to the checkered flag. Ross Chastain, driver of the No. 1 Camaro, dipped by on the lowest lane to snag his second victory of the 2022 Cup Series season after winning at COTA earlier this year.
The best-finishing Next Gen Mustang, the No. 34 of Michael McDowell, crossed the finish line in eighth place.
In total, 16 different drivers vied for the lead during the event, with 41 lead changes.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Moose Fraternity Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 14 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Off Road Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 12 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 188 | 3 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 4 | 5 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 188 | 32 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 2 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 188 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 16 | 43 | Erik Jones | U.S. Air Force Chevrolet | 188 | 25 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 28 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 21 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Love's Travel Stops Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 27 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 10 | 24 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | GEARWRENCH Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 22 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Wurth Ford | 188 | 23 | Ford Mustang |
| 12 | 11 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 13 | 23 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield/IHOP Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 33 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | Raze Energy Chevrolet | 188 | 1 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 8 | 24 | William Byron | Liberty University Chevrolet | 188 | 38 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 16 | 6 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy Toyota | 188 | 1 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | McDonald's Toyota | 188 | 15 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 18 | 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx All in for Small Business Toyota | 188 | 9 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 19 | 39 | 77 | Landon Cassill(i) | Fox Nation Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 31 | 62 | * Noah Gragson(i) | Wendy’s $5 Biggie Bag/Beard Oil Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 18 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Menards/Sylvania Ford | 188 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 22 | 1 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 187 | 7 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 23 | 15 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Castrol Carbon Neutral Ford | 187 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 36 | 15 | David Ragan | Envision Ford | 186 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 38 | 55 | * JJ Yeley(i) | Hex.com Ford | 185 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 37 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Motorsport Games Ford | 172 | 2 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 32 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | First Phase Credit Card Ford | 121 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 34 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 105 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 29 | 41 | Cole Custer | Feeding America/Wow Wow Ford | 98 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 26 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/SunnyD Chevrolet | 95 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 4 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Tootsies Orchid Lounge Chevrolet | 92 | 28 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 13 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil/Autotrader Ford | 89 | 1 | Ford Mustang |
| 33 | 20 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevrolet | 89 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 25 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 89 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 35 | 44 | * Greg Biffle | Morehouse College Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 3 | 16 | Daniel Hemric(i) | Majestic Steel Chevrolet | 56 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 37 | 17 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 56 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 38 | 30 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 56 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 39 | 10 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | BetMGM Chevrolet | 31 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comment
The Ford effort was embarrassing. Even before the crashes, qualifying was awful and the Fords just could not keep up. Weak effort all year. Sad.