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2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage

When the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season started all the way back in February at the Daytona circuit, everyone was thinking about the same thing, get to Phoenix in November with a shot at winning the championship.
2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage 7 photos
Photo: NASCAR
2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Live Coverage
For this year, we have Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain, Joey Logano, and Christopher Bell as the drivers with a shot at the title. Whichever one of the Championship 4 drivers has the best finish will win the championship. It is as simple as that.

As a fun fact, every champion since 2014 has won the last race of the playoffs. Joey Logano and Chase Elliott have already won a title in NASCAR, while Chastain and Bell are looking for their first championship.

The NASCAR Cup Series championship race starts at 3 p.m. ET with coverage here on autoevolution.
Live updates (ended):

23:45 UTC  What a season we had in NASCAR in 2022. Joey Logano won his fourth race when he needed the most.

23:42 UTC  Joey Logano has put together a perfect race exactly when he needed to.

23:41 UTC  The top ten after the race:

  • 1 - #22 - Joey Logano
  • 2 - #12 - Ryan Blaney
  • 3 - #1 - Ross Chastain
  • 4 - #14 - Chase Briscoe
  • 5 - #4 - Kevin Harvick
  • 6 - #24 - William Byron
  • 7 - #18 - Kyle Busch
  • 8 - #11 - Denny Hamlin
  • 9 - #5 - Kyle Larson
  • 10 - #20 - Christopher Bell

23:41 UTC 

23:41 UTC 

23:40 UTC  Joey Logano wins the race and his second NASCAR Cup Series title.

23:40 UTC  Two laps to go for Joey Logano. White flag this time by.

23:39 UTC  Joey Logano has begun to drive away from Ryan Blaney. His lead is over half a second coming to three laps to go.

23:38 UTC  Five laps to go and Chastain continues to close the gap.

23:37 UTC  Chastain has the gap down to 1.8 seconds coming to seven to go. Blaney has yet to make his way around Logano.

23:37 UTC 

23:36 UTC  Ross Chastain ran a 28 flat that last lap. Fastest car on the racetrack, but it's not enough yet. Coming to 12 laps to go now.

23:36 UTC  Ross Chastain is in third and only Blaney is between him and Logano.

23:33 UTC  Ross Chastain cannot make any ground at all. He's on defense trying to keep William Byron behind him just as much as he's trying to find a way around Chase Briscoe. Less than 20 laps to go.

23:32 UTC  Joey Logano has already created a gap of two seconds.

23:28 UTC 

23:28 UTC  Chastain to fourth and now looking for Blaney on third. Meanwhile, Joey Logano overtakes Chase Briscoe for the lead of the race. Less than 30 to go.

23:27 UTC  Ross Chastain is up in fifth place.

23:26 UTC  Chase Briscoe was able to run Blaney up the track in Turn 2.

23:26 UTC  Joey Logano is in P3, Chastain in P7 and Bell is in P15.

23:25 UTC  Green flag with 33 laps to go.

23:25 UTC 

23:24 UTC  The fire on Keselowski's car has led to NASCAR adding another lap to this caution. The green flag should be back out at Lap 280.

23:22 UTC  The No. 20 team says Christopher Bell's slow pit stop was because the tire changer got his finger caught between the nut and the spindle.

23:21 UTC 

23:21 UTC 

23:20 UTC  Brad Keselowski's right front rocker box ignited, causing Keselowski to have to stop his car and get out of it under caution.

23:16 UTC  Joey Logano came off pit road in third place.

23:16 UTC  Something got hung up on the right side, and that's going to result in a 19.8 second stop!

23:15 UTC  Christopher Bell had a horrible stop!

23:14 UTC 

23:14 UTC  With 45 laps to go caution is out.

23:13 UTC  Alex Bowman has spun and hit the inside wall!

23:11 UTC  Christopher Bell has lost time to Joey Logano, but he's being reminded that his car is strongest on the long run. The difference between them is one second.

23:11 UTC  Both drivers are dealing with heavy traffic.

23:08 UTC 

23:07 UTC  Thanks to coming to pit road first, Christopher Bell has been able to close in enormously on Joey Logano. Christopher Bell is now seriously threatening Joey Logano for fourth spot. He's looked outside and now looks inside!

23:05 UTC  Joey Logano comes to pit road with less than 60 to go.

23:04 UTC  Ross Chastain crew couldn't quite get the right rear tire off immediately. This is going to cost him precious time!

23:03 UTC  Briscoe, Busch, Larson and Almirola were among those who came to pit road with Bell.

23:02 UTC  With 62 laps to go Christopher Bell is the first driver who comes to the pit road.

23:01 UTC 

22:57 UTC  Chastain continues to run sixth and was told he's running faster lap times than Joey Logano.

22:57 UTC  Joey Logano continues to run third. Meanwhile, Kevin Harvick overtakes Byron for P4.

22:54 UTC  Blaney now passes Elliott, putting him two laps down.

22:54 UTC  Chase Elliott is in danger of going a second lap down to Ryan Blaney.

22:48 UTC 

22:48 UTC  Logano continues to control the championship fight.

22:48 UTC  Ryan Blaney has driven away from Chase Briscoe in second.

22:46 UTC  Chase Elliott is 30th and is not in a position to get the free pass if a caution comes out.

22:45 UTC  Ryan Blaney continues to lead over Chase Briscoe. Joey Logano is now in P3.

22:42 UTC  Green flag out again with 108 laps to go.

22:42 UTC  Chase Elliott has made it back out on track. The good news is that his team has managed to get the steering back, but the problem is he's lost a lap.

22:40 UTC  Elliott's car didn't sustain a lot of damage, but the suspension looks broken.

22:39 UTC 

22:39 UTC  Chase Elliott gets turned going down into the dogleg and he makes contact with the inside wall. He has some very serious suspension issues. Toe link is broken.

22:35 UTC  Green flag is back out at Lap 200

22:31 UTC 

22:31 UTC  Tyler Reddick and Michael McDowell both go around off Turn 4, and that occurred just as Chase Elliott and Joey Logano were side-by-side for the top Championship 4 spot.

22:31 UTC  Caution is out!

22:30 UTC  Green flag is out for the stretch run at Lap 193. 120 laps to go.

22:30 UTC 

22:23 UTC 

22:22 UTC 

The top ten after Stage 2:
  • 1 - #12 - Ryan Blaney
  • 2 - #22 - Joey Logano
  • 3 - #19 - Martin Truex Jr.
  • 4 - #14 - Chase Briscoe
  • 5 - #4 - Kevin Harvick
  • 6 - #20 - Christopher Bell
  • 7 - #24 - William Byron
  • 8 - #5 - Kyle Larson
  • 9 - #8 - Tyler Reddick
  • 10 - #2 - Austin Cindric (R)

22:21 UTC  Ryan Blaney's car stumbles on the final lap of the stage, but he's able to hang on and win Stage 2.

22:18 UTC  Five to go in Stage 2. Martin Truex Jr. has closed in on Logano for second, and Logano's team is continuing to tell him to save fuel and not worry about the No. 19.

22:18 UTC  Christopher Bell runs 7th, Ross Chastain 10th and Chase Elliott 16th.

22:18 UTC  With less than ten laps to go in Stage 2, Joey Logano is in second place.

22:14 UTC  Chase Elliott has driven past race leader Ryan Blaney and is now back on the lead lap.

22:11 UTC 

22:10 UTC  Ryan Blaney has opened up a 1.3 second lead as Joey Logano's team continues to try and manage their fuel mileage.

22:08 UTC 

22:07 UTC  Side-by-side for the lead. Give it to Blaney -- First on-track lead change today.

22:06 UTC  Chase Elliott is the first of the Championship 4 to come to pit road under green. Alternate strategy by Elliott's team to give him fresh tires for the rest of this run.

22:03 UTC 

22:02 UTC  William Byron came to pit road under green.

21:59 UTC  Ross Chastain has stalled out in 6th. He's 5.7 seconds back of the lead.

21:59 UTC  No driver from the Championship 4 is able to match Logano's pace.

21:57 UTC  Ryan Blaney has caught up with Joey Logano and he is ready to challenge him for the race lead.

21:50 UTC  Chastain has been told to give his team several laps without shifting in order to reduce RPMs.

21:50 UTC  Joey Logano and Ross Chastain are both now having to mind their fuel consumption in order to make it to the end of the stage.

21:47 UTC  Ryan Blaney is the only one that can match Joey Logano's pace.

21:44 UTC 

21:43 UTC 

21:40 UTC  Chastain is now up to sixth, 4.3 seconds behind Logano. He's now closing in for fifth on Chase Briscoe.

21:39 UTC  Joey Logano is incredible today. He has almost two seconds over Kyle Larson.

21:38 UTC 

21:36 UTC  Some contact between those two as three of the Championship 4 were thrree-wide for eighth.

21:36 UTC  Chase Elliott makes contact with Christopher Bell.

21:34 UTC  Green flag is out again at Lap 91. Custer's old tires and Jones' two tires are no match for Joey Logano, who quickly takes the lead back.

21:34 UTC  After staying out under caution, Cole Custer is the new leader of this race.

21:33 UTC 

21:32 UTC  Another quick stop for Joey Logano's team, but he's going to lose the lead for the first time today. Erik Jones takes the lead off pit road after taking just two tires.

21:29 UTC  Looks like something either broke on Cassill's car or he just lost it on the exit of Turn 2.

21:28 UTC  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has crashed and Landon Cassill got a big piece of it as well.

21:28 UTC  Caution is out!

21:26 UTC  Chase Elliott is having a horrible race, making no progress at all. He is in P9 and under attack from Kevin Harvick.

21:24 UTC  Joey Logano has driven away from Kyle Larson by more than a second.

21:22 UTC  Christopher Bell has now driven to the outside of Chase Elliott for sixth.

21:20 UTC  Green flag is back out at Lap 69.

21:18 UTC  Meanwhile, Kyle Larson is now in second place. Ryan Blaney had a horrible stop and lost five places.

21:17 UTC  Christopher Bell and Ross Chastain both gain spots on pit road to move up into the Top 10.

21:17 UTC  Joey Logano uses the No. 1 pit stall to his advantage to keep the lead off pit road.

21:12 UTC  Joey Logano wins Stage 1 and he is off to a perfect start.

21:12 UTC 

21:09 UTC  Less than five to go in Stage 1.

21:08 UTC  Joey Logano is pulling away from Ryan Blaney after Blaney made contact with the lapped car of Corey LaJoie.

21:08 UTC  With less than ten to go in Stage 1, Christopher Bell is right in the back of Austin Cindric for P10.

21:08 UTC  Ryan Blaney has closed the gap on Joey Logano for the race lead.

21:00 UTC  The current positions for the Championship 4 drivers: Logano leads, Elliott fifth, Bell 13th, and Chastain 15th.

20:54 UTC  Ryan Blaney is now 2.5 seconds back of Logano. He apparently tagged the wall.

20:54 UTC 

20:53 UTC  More than 25 laps are complete and Joey Logano has now more than a second over the second place.

20:50 UTC 

20:47 UTC  Ross Chastain who had a poor qualifying performance is now in 19th. He is making overtakes left and right.

20:46 UTC  Chase Elliott is still in fifth place.

20:46 UTC  After seven laps Joey Logano has opened up a lead of more than half a second over Ryan Blaney.

20:43 UTC 

20:43 UTC  Green flag is out at Phoenix. 312 laps until a new NASCAR Cup Series champion is crowned.

20:34 UTC 

20:33 UTC  Engines fired for the season finale

20:33 UTC  The top ten before the start of the race:

  • 1 - #22 - Joey Logano
  • 2 - #12 - Ryan Blaney
  • 3 - #14 - Chase Briscoe
  • 4 - #5 - Kyle Larson
  • 5 - #9 - Chase Elliott
  • 6 - #21 - Harrison Burton (R)
  • 7 - #4 - Kevin Harvick
  • 8 - #24 - William Byron
  • 9 - #41 - Cole Custer
  • 10 - #23 - Daniel Hemric

20:21 UTC  Pre-race invocation begins with a moment of silence for Coy Gibbs.

20:21 UTC  Pre-race ceremonies have begun at Phoenix Raceway.

20:20 UTC 

20:13 UTC 

20:04 UTC  Joe Gibbs Racing has confirmed that Coy Gibbs, former NASCAR Busch Series driver and the COO of Joe Gibbs Racing, died in his sleep last night.

20:03 UTC 

20:03 UTC  Today's honorary pace car driver is legendary Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

19:50 UTC  Due to a family emergency, Ty Gibbs will not be racing in the No. 23 Monster Energy Toyota Camry TRD today. In his place, Daniel Hemric will participate.

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About the author: Silvian Irimia
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Silvian may be the youngest member of our team, being born in the 2000s, but you won't find someone more passionate than him when it comes to motorsport. An automotive engineer by trade, Silvian considers the Ferrari F50 his favorite car, with the original Lamborghini Countach a close second.
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