While Chris Buescher’s No. 17 Next Gen Nascar Mustang led the field to the green flag at Dover Motor Speedway, the Ford Racing teams once again struggled throughout the race while Chevy and Toyota dominated.
Buescher’s No. 17 Mustang grappled with dirty air in the early laps of the race, forcing him to lift and lose position to Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry and Kyle Larson in the No. 5 Chevy Camaro. However, just 68 laps into the 400-lap race, it began to rain heavily, prompting Nascar to postpone the remainder of the race to Monday, May 2nd.
The next day, Larson’s No. 5 Camaro and the No. 9 Camaro of Chase Elliott did battle up front while the Ford teams vied for position further back in the field. On Lap 87, Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric in the No. 2 Mustang got into the wall, forcing a caution flag.
Then, on Lap 196, the No. 43 Camaro of Erik Jones contacted the No. 22 Nascar Mustang of Joey Logano, ending the race for the pony. By this point, Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota had control of the race, while Buescher’s No. 17 Mustang fought to stay in the top 10. Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Mustang, took advantage of pit strategy to win Stage 2, but became mired deep in the pack after his own pit stop.
At the end of the day, Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Camaro took the win after leading the last 53 laps over the No. 47 Camaro of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Buescher’s No. 17 Mustang was the best-finishing Ford, taking home eighth place, followed by Kevin Harvick in the No. 4 Mustang in ninth. They were the only two Fords to finish in the top 10.
Not to beat The Blue Oval as it’s down, but we must note that Ford has not won a Cup Series race since Chase Briscoe’s No. 14 Mustang found victory at Phoenix Raceway in March.
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 9 | Chase Elliott | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 400 | 73 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 15 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Kroger/The Frozen Farmer Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 3 | 7 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Pitbull Tour 2022 Chevrolet | 400 | 86 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 4 | 17 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Toyota | 400 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 5 | 6 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 400 | 2 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 6 | 3 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 400 | 19 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 7 | 10 | 18 | Kyle Busch | M&M's Crunchy Cookie Toyota | 400 | 103 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 8 | 1 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 400 | 18 | Ford Mustang |
| 9 | 11 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 25 | 43 | Erik Jones | FOCUSfactor Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 11 | 14 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 400 | 19 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 12 | 18 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops Toyota | 400 | 5 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 13 | 23 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mahindra Tractors Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 8 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | CommScope Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 30 | 41 | Cole Custer | Autodesk/HaasTooling.com Ford | 400 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 9 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | leidos Toyota | 399 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 17 | 29 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Navage Nasal Care Ford | 399 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 21 | 7 | Corey LaJoie | DuraMAX/Drydene Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 27 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield/Weis Ford | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 20 | 20 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Kohler Generators Ford | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 21 | 2 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office Toyota | 399 | 67 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 22 | 33 | 24 | William Byron | RaptorTough.com Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 24 | 3 | Austin Dillon | BREZTRI Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 24 | 35 | 21 | Harrison Burton # | DEX Imaging Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 13 | 15 | Ryan Preece(i) | United Rentals Ford | 398 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 26 | 5 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Jack Links Ford | 397 | 8 | Ford Mustang |
| 27 | 31 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Chevyliners.com Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 34 | 38 | Todd Gilliland # | The Pete Store Ford | 396 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 22 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 396 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 26 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Guaranteed Rate Chevrolet | 390 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 31 | 16 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy Toyota | 388 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 32 | 36 | 77 | Josh Bilicki(i) | Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet | 381 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 19 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger(i) | Action Industries Chevrolet | 321 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 28 | 51 | Cody Ware | Nurtec ODT Ford | 238 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 32 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Superior Logistics Services Ford | 167 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 36 | 12 | 2 | Austin Cindric # | Freightliner Ford | 91 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Toyota is funding the series and Chevrolet has all the advantages. When the Mustang was introduced the first nascar did was to take away an aero advantage they had . Typical they have hated Ford ever since they pulled out in 1971. That grudge never went away. Ford should leave Nascar it does not have the impact on car sales like it used to,it is more like a write off. you should see the cars the ausies have developed they look like street cars and sound great.
Nascar is a dead series,this new car gimmick will only go so far.
I do not even watch anymore. I agree the new car will be a bust in the long term.
What is going to happen to Nascar when Ford and GM cancel the Mustang and Camaro ICE vehicles in a year or 2? Become an only Toyota series?