2022 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200

2022 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200

Race details
Race 24 of 33 of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series
Date	September 3, 2022
Official name	30th Annual Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	147 laps, 200.8 mi (323.156 km)
Scheduled Distance	147 laps, 200.8 mi (323.156 km)
Average speed	97.979 mph (157.682 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Brandon Jones	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	29.722
Most laps led
Driver	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports
Laps	82
Winner
No. 9	Noah Gragson	JR Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	USA Network
Announcers	Dave Burns, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte,
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 2022 Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 was the 24th stock car race of the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series, and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 3, 2022, in Darlington, South Carolina at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 147 laps to complete. In an exciting battle for the finish, Noah Gragson, driving for JR Motorsports, took advantage of the lead on the last lap, and earned his ninth career NASCAR Xfinity Series win, along with his fourth of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Sheldon Creed, driving for Richard Childress Racing, and A. J. Allmendinger, driving for Kaulig Racing, finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

On the final lap of the race, Sheldon Creed and Kyle Larson were side by side, battling for the win. Creed and Larson made big contact coming through turns one and two. Noah Gragson went to the inside lane through the straightaway, causing it to be three wide. Creed would eventually get loose, causing him to hit the outside wall. He continued to ride the wall through turns three and four, trying to stay in front of the leader, Gragson. It would be unsuccessful, and Gragson was able to steal the win. Creed ultimately finished 2nd, and Larson fell back to finish 5th. Gragson dominated the race in general, leading 82 laps.^[1][2]

Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located in Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

Entry list

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

Practice

The only 30-minute practice session was held on Saturday, September 3, at 10:00 AM EST.^[3] Justin Allgaier, driving for JR Motorsports, was the fastest in the session, with a lap of 29.632, and an average speed of 165.956 mph (267.080 km/h).

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Saturday, September 3, at 10:30 AM EST.^[3] Since Darlington Raceway is a tri-oval track, the qualifying system used is a single-car, single-lap system with only one round. Whoever sets the fastest time in the round wins the pole.^[4] Brandon Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, scored the pole for the race, with a lap of 29.722, and an average speed of 165.453 mph (266.271 km/h).^[5]

Race results

Stage 1 Laps: 45

Stage 2 Laps: 45

Stage 3 Laps: 57

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 A. J. Allmendinger 964 2 Ty Gibbs 913 (-51) 3 Justin Allgaier 898 (-66) 4 Noah Gragson 872 (-92) 5 Josh Berry 830 (-134) 6 Austin Hill 740 (-224) 7 Brandon Jones 708 (-256) 8 Riley Herbst 651 (-313) 9 Sam Mayer 648 (-316) 10 Daniel Hemric 593 (-371) 11 Landon Cassill 573 (-391) 12 Ryan Sieg 555 (-409) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References