2022 Ag-Pro 300

2022 Ag-Pro 300

Race details
Race 9 of 33 in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date	April 23, 2022
Official name	31st Annual Ag-Pro 300
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (0.847 km)
Distance	124 laps, 329.84 mi (530.82 km)
Scheduled Distance	113 laps, 300.58 mi (483.74 km)
Average speed	123.024 mph (197.988 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Time	52.454
Most laps led
Driver	Austin Hill	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	67
Winner
No. 9	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Adam Alexander, Kurt Busch, Austin Dillon
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 2022 Ag-Pro 300 was the ninth stock car race of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series, the 31st iteration of the event, and the third race of the Dash 4 Cash. The race was held on Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 mile (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The Dash 4 Cash in this race is consisted of Brandon Jones, Landon Cassill, A. J. Allmendinger, and Austin Hill, since they were the highest finishing Xfinity regulars after Martinsville Speedway. The race was extended from 113 laps to 124 laps, due to three NASCAR overtime attempts. At race's end, Noah Gragson of JR Motorsports would grab the win, after being able to take the lead on the final restart.^[1] This was Gragson's seventh career Xfinity Series win, and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, Jeffrey Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing and A. J. Allmendinger of Kaulig Racing would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Allmendinger would win the Dash 4 Cash, after finishing ahead of Cassill, Jones, and Hill.^[1]

This was the debut race for Chandler Smith.^[2]

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. A tri-oval, the track was constructed in 1969 by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family. As of 2021, the track hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and ARCA Menards Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, with a length of 2.66 miles (4.281 km), compared to the Daytona International Speedway, which is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The total peak capacity of Talladega is around 175,000 spectators,^[3][4][5] with the main grandstand capacity being about 80,000.^[6]

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, April 22, at 4:30 PM CST.^[7] Since Talladega Superspeedway is a superspeedway, the qualifying system used is a single-car, one-lap system with two rounds. In the first round, drivers have one lap to set a time. The fastest ten drivers from the first round move on to the second round. Whoever sets the fastest time in Round 2 wins the pole.^[8]

Jeffrey Earnhardt, driving the iconic No. 3 for Richard Childress Racing, scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.454 seconds and a speed of 182.560 mph (293.802 km/h). It was Earnhardt's first career pole in NASCAR, along with his first at Talladega. It was also the first pole for Larry McReynolds as a crew chief since 2000.^[9]

Full qualifying results

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 25

Stage 2 Laps: 25

Stage 3 Laps: 74

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 A. J. Allmendinger 384 2 Noah Gragson 344 (-40) 3 Ty Gibbs 339 (-45) 4 Josh Berry 284 (-100) 5 Brandon Jones 271 (-113) 6 Justin Allgaier 263 (-121) 7 Ryan Sieg 260 (-124) 8 Sam Mayer 255 (-129) 9 Austin Hill 250 (-134) 10 Riley Herbst 242 (-142) 11 Landon Cassill 240 (-144) 12 Daniel Hemric 230 (-154) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References