The 2022 Food City 300 was the 26th stock car race of the

2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series was the 41st season of the NASCAR Xfinity Series, a stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. The season started with the Daytona 300, Beef. It's What's for Dinner. 300 on February ...

, the final race of the regular season, and the 41st iteration of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

. The race was held on Friday, September 16, 2022, in

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary be ...

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

, a permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 300 laps to complete.

Noah Gragson Noah Quinn Gragson (born July 15, 1998) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports. R ...

, driving for

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kelley Earnhardt Miller, L. W. Miller, L.W. Miller, and Rick Hendrick. It c ...

, took advantage of the lead with 25 laps to go, and held off Brandon Jones for his eleventh career

NASCAR Xfinity Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

win, along with his sixth of the season, and his third win in a row. Gragson's teammate,

Justin Allgaier Justin Myrl Allgaier (born June 6, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet SS for JR Motorsports and part-time ...

, dominated most of the race, leading 148 laps and winning a stage. To fill out the podium,

Austin Hill Austin Edward Hill (born April 21, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet SS for Richard Childress Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series ...

, driving for

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard C ...

, would finish 3rd, respectively. 12 drivers would qualify for the playoffs:

Ty Gibbs Tyler Randal Gibbs (born October 4, 2002) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 54 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing and part-t ...

A. J. Allmendinger Anthony James Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981), nicknamed "the Dinger,” is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. Allmendinger ...

Josh Berry Joshua William Berry (born October 22, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 21 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Wood Brothers Raci ...

, Brandon Jones,

Jeremy Clements Jeremy Wayne Clements (born January 16, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the son of Tony Clements, owner of Clements Racing Engines. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 51 Chevrolet ...

Sam Mayer Samuel Adam Mayer (born June 26, 2003) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Haas Factory Team. His father is the founder of QPS Em ...

Daniel Hemric Daniel Brian Hemric (born January 27, 1991) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and part-time ...

Riley Herbst Riley Dederick Kern Herbst (born February 24, 1999) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 35 Toyota Camry (XV80), Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing and part-time in the ...

, and

Ryan Sieg Ryan Shane Sieg (born June 20, 1987) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 39 Ford Mustang (seventh generation), Ford Mustang Dark Horse for RSS Raci ...

. Allmendinger would also clinch the Regular Season Championship following the race. This was the official debut race for CARS Pro Late Model Tour driver,

Bobby McCarty Bobby McCarty (born September 28, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour and other late model events, driving the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro for McCarty Motorsports ...

. He was originally scheduled to make his debut at the New Hampshire race earlier in the year, but had failed to qualify.

Background

, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

short track venue located in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all-concrete surface, two pit roads, and

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks. The track is billed as the "World's Fastest Half-Mile", even though that designation technically belongs to the

Volusia Speedway Park Volusia Speedway Park (formerly known as Volusia County Speedway and Barberville Speedway) is an auto racing facility located near Barberville in Volusia County, Florida. It currently operates as a 1/2-mile dirt oval and a 1/5-mile dirt oval f ...

dirt track.

Entry list

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

Practice

For practice, drivers will be separated into two groups, Group A and B. Both sessions will be 15 minutes long, and was held on Friday, September 16, at 2:35 PM EST.

, driving for

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, ...

, was the fastest driver in total, with a lap of 16.045, and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, September 16, at 3:10 PM EST. Since

is a short track, the qualifying system used is a single-car, two-lap system with only one round. Whoever sets the fastest time in the round wins the pole.

, driving for

, scored the pole for the race, with a lap of 15.653, and an average speed of .

Race results

Stage 1 ''Laps: 85'' Stage 2 ''Laps: 85'' Stage 3 ''Laps: 130''

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

{{2022 NASCAR Xfinity 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway

Food City 300 Stock car racing events in the NASCAR Xfinity Series have been held at Bristol Motor Speedway, in Bristol, Tennessee during numerous seasons and times of year since the series’ inception in 1982. From 2021 to 2023, the series has had one date. ...

2022 in sports in Tennessee