2022 Ambetter 301


The 2022 Ambetter 301 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on July 17, 2022, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Contested over 301 laps, on the speedway. It was the 20th race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
This race was the last start for 2004 champion Kurt Busch, as Busch suffered a concussion during the second qualifying round for the next race, and the injuries from that crash ended up being career-ending; he announced on August 26, 2023 that he was officially retiring.

Report

Background

New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a road course, which includes much of the oval.
The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
  • ' denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.

Practice

William Byron was the fastest in the practice session with a time of 29.877 seconds and a speed of.

Qualifying

Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.964 and a speed of.

Race

Stage Results

Stage One
Laps: 70
Stage Two
Laps: 115

Final Stage Results

Stage Three
Laps: 116

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 8 among 7 different drivers
  • Cautions/Laps: 9 for 52
  • Red flags: 0
  • Time of race: 3 hours, 14 minutes and 45 seconds
  • Average speed:

Media

Television

USA covered the race on the television side. Dale Earnhardt Jr., four-time and all-time Loudon winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte called the race from the broadcast booth. Kim Coon, Parker Kligerman and Marty Snider handled the pit road duties from pit lane.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was also simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Doug Rice and Mark Garrow called the race from the booth when the field races down the frontstretch. Rob Albright called the race from turns 1 & 2 and Doug Turnbull called the race from turns 3 & 4. Brad Gillie, Brett McMillan and Wendy Venturini handled the duties on pit lane.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
PosManufacturerPoints
1Chevrolet737
2Ford672
3Toyota665

  • Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.
  • . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.