Noah Gragson dominates in win at Phoenix

AVONDALE, Ariz. — Overtaking the lead from Brandon Jones with 14 laps to go, Noah Gragson earned the victory Saturday in the United Rentals 200 at Phoenix Raceway.

Leading 114 of 200 laps, Gragson picked up his first win of 2022 and the sixth of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.

“A lot of fun to be driving this Bass Pro Shops Camaro,” Gragson said. “Yeah, it feels good!”

Gragson has opened the 2022 season with four straight Top-5 finishes.

Jones ultimately finished second, his highest finish of the season. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is riding a 47-race winless streak dating back to September 2020 at Darlington Raceway.

“That was some good two stages and second place there at the end,” Jones said. “We’ve had speed.”

JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry finished third, his third consecutive Top-5 finish.

“These guys have been doing a great job, coming from the back to finish third, we just lacked a little bit of track position,” Berry said.

Pole sitter Trevor Bayne led three times for 39 laps, but a speeding penalty during the caution period under Stage 2 set Bayne back. He rebounded to a fourth-place finish. 

“I’m sick to my stomach I didn’t win with that racecar,” Bayne said. “That long, green-flag run, we were mowing them down.”

John Hunter Nemechek, driving for Sam Hunt Racing, finished fifth.

Rounding out the Top-10 finishers were Ty Gibbs, A.J. Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric, Landon Cassill and Justin Allgaier.

OUTLOOK
The next race for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is scheduled for Saturday, March 19 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Noah Gragson is the series’ points leader with 203 points, followed by Ty Gibbs (164), Justin Allgaier (161), A.J. Allmendinger (160) and Josh Berry (150).

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info