This article is part of our NASCAR Barometer series.
The NASCAR Cup Series went road racing for the first time this season at Circuit of the Americas. NASCAR developed its new car with road racing in mind, and it did not disappoint. The weekend saw a shake up of what fantasy players have come to expect in the order at these tracks, and Ryan Blaney struck first by grabbing pole position with Daniel Suarez starting alongside. Suarez jumped to the lead at the start and led all the way to the end of the first stage. Differing pit strategies enabled Denny Hamlin to take the second segment, which set up the battle for the race win. Throughout the final segment Ross Chastain asserted himself at the front, taking on any challenger and somehow winding up back out front each time. Three caution periods in the final 10 laps reset pulses each time, setting up an overtime race to the finish where AJ Allmendinger and Chastain were joined by Alex Bowman as the trio muscled one another to the line. In the end it was Chastain who survived the blows and scored the first Cup Series win of his career.
With the first road course visit in the rearview mirror, teams head to Martinsville Speedway. The coming week's race will be the first of a three-race stretch on short tracks culminating with Easter weekend's visit to Bristol's dirt track. Martin Truex Jr. and Bowman split the Martinsville wins last season. With five different winners from the first five races, three
The NASCAR Cup Series went road racing for the first time this season at Circuit of the Americas. NASCAR developed its new car with road racing in mind, and it did not disappoint. The weekend saw a shake up of what fantasy players have come to expect in the order at these tracks, and Ryan Blaney struck first by grabbing pole position with Daniel Suarez starting alongside. Suarez jumped to the lead at the start and led all the way to the end of the first stage. Differing pit strategies enabled Denny Hamlin to take the second segment, which set up the battle for the race win. Throughout the final segment Ross Chastain asserted himself at the front, taking on any challenger and somehow winding up back out front each time. Three caution periods in the final 10 laps reset pulses each time, setting up an overtime race to the finish where AJ Allmendinger and Chastain were joined by Alex Bowman as the trio muscled one another to the line. In the end it was Chastain who survived the blows and scored the first Cup Series win of his career.
With the first road course visit in the rearview mirror, teams head to Martinsville Speedway. The coming week's race will be the first of a three-race stretch on short tracks culminating with Easter weekend's visit to Bristol's dirt track. Martin Truex Jr. and Bowman split the Martinsville wins last season. With five different winners from the first five races, three of them being first timers, the 2022 season is already shaping up to be one for the ages.
UPGRADE
Ross Chastain – Chastain is the hottest driver on the circuit right now. He entered last weekend's race on the heels of three consecutive finishes of third or better, then went on to lead 31 of 69 laps Sunday to win his very first race in the series. The victory was a statement of force as he held off the best road course racers in the series through multiple restarts to celebrate in Victory Lane. His win was also the first victory for Trackhouse Racing, which is in its second season. Chastain has demonstrated the ability to consistently fight for wins this year, and with Sunday's triumph he and the team can now turn their attention to building an effort that is ready to advance through the playoffs, preparing to potentially race for a championship in the final race of the year.
Denny Hamlin – Hamlin picked up his first stage victory of the season in the second segment of Sunday's race. The team opted to stay out and collect the stage win over track position to start the final stage. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was one of the many to struggle through the final restarts, and he finished the afternoon in a disappointing 18th position. A trip to Martinsville may be exactly what this driver needs. Hamlin has five prior Martinsville victories, but enters this weekend's race outside of the playoff positions and 22nd in the standings. He and the team desperately need a good weekend, and Martinsville is a place he could get it. He led more than 500 laps at the track in the last three visits.
Daniel Suarez – Suarez qualified on the front row for Sunday's race and then proceeded to lead every lap of the opening stage to win the second stage of his career. His only other stage victory also coming on a road course at Watkins Glen. Contact, a spin, and a flat rear tire then put him at the back on the ensuing restart, though. The team didn't give up, and by the time the race ended, Suarez had moved back to the top 15 only to slip backward again in the final restarts. Suarez and his No. 99 Trackhouse Racing team have been consistently quick this season and should be expected to be so again this coming week at Martinsville with Suarez having two top-10s there from 10 series starts.
Tyler Reddick – Sunday's fifth-place finish was Reddick's second top-five of the season and his third top-10 in the last four races. The Richard Childress Racing driver has consistently been a contender for victory each week, and he continued that prowess on the road course, too. Reddick was quick as soon as he hit the track at Austin, qualified inside the top five and then went on to match that pace throughout the race, putting himself in position to battle for victory in the final laps. He may not have ended up in Victory Lane, but it appears that his chance to do so is near. Fantasy players should reasonably expect Reddick to be competitive again this week at Martinsville, especially after he lead 51 laps in the Clash at Los Angeles in February. He finished eighth in the spring race at the track last season.
Austin Cindric – In his days in the Xfinity Series Cindric was one of the best on road courses. He also showed well, leading laps, in a few Cup Series road course starts in 2021 as he prepared to join the series full time in 2022. He won the Daytona 500 to start his rookie season in perfect fashion but had to be eyeing stops like COTA as places he could really impress. Cindric made the top 10 in qualifying but made a mistake as he went for pole. In the race, he picked up points in both stages and then rebounded from trouble with a no-tire strategy call that gave him back the track position he lost. He went on to claim an eighth-place finish, his first top-10 since Daytona. It was a good day, which he needed as he continues to get up to speed in his first Cup year.
DOWNGRADE
Brad Keselowski – Keselowski's week got off to a horrible start before he even hit the track at Circuit of the Americas. His team was penalized and had championship points deducted as a result of a body panel modification after NASCAR selected his car to be reviewed following last week's race. Keselowski then lacked speed on track and only managed to qualify 26th. He worked his way forward to 14th for the finish but now faces a mountain to climb to get back into the playoff hunt. One bright spot for him may be this week's visit to Martinsville, though. He is a consistent top-10 finisher at the track, has two prior wins there, but it remains to be seen how he and the team will recover from last week's heavy penalty.
Kyle Busch – Busch had a busy weekend as he competed in both the Trucks and Cup Series at COTA. He was among the contenders in both races, but missed victory in both. In the Trucks it was contact with Bowman that left him without the trophy, and then Sunday he was tapped from behind by Chase Elliott in the final laps of the first stage. He recovered, but that incident was just the start of an up and down day for the former champion. Unfortunately for him the day ended in one of the downward swings. Busch's 28th-place finish was not representative of what he was capable of, and he will leave Austin ruing the fact that he isn't carrying at least one trophy home with him. The coming trip to Martinsville could be a boost for him, however. He finished second in the fall race there last season and is a two-time prior winner at the track.
Kyle Larson – With two wins in the last four road course races many expected Larson to be in the mix at the front of the field Sunday at Austin. Instead, like teammate Elliott, Larson was largely outside of the front runners. He qualified just 13th and picked up stage points in the first segment but suffered contact late in the race which left him with damage and a complete loss of track position for the final restart. He made up just a few spots in the final laps for a finish of 29th, which was his third finish outside of the top 25 in the last three races. Larson heads to Martinsville this weekend looking for a turnaround performance. He has never won on the Virginia oval but led 77 laps from pole in this race last year.
Cole Custer – Custer was one of a handful of drivers who raced in multiple series over the COTA weekend. He first took part in the Xfinity Series race, finishing third. That effort gave him valuable experience for the Cup Series activity. He leveraged that knowledge to put his car third on the grid for Sunday's race. That pace carried into the race where a top-10 effort was then looking likely. Instead, Custer fell afoul of a spin late in the race, leaving him with little chance of recovery with no caution period to assist. His day ultimately ended with a 23rd-place finish, his third finish worse than 20th from the last three races. Custer left Austin 28th in points for Martinsville, a track where his best finish was 13th in the fall of 2020.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Chase Elliott – Elliott's fourth-place finish on a road course last week might be a major disappointment any other time, but Sunday's gritty race might signal the No. 9 team rounding a corner for the better in 2022. Elliott's fourth-place finish was his first top-five of the season and came on a weekend when he admitted he could not find what he needed in the car, a big surprise on a road course. The former champion typically is a dominant force on those tracks but struggled through the weekend and qualified outside of the top 10. He slipped backward at the start, but worked on the car through the race distance to move forward. In the end, he finished the day with his best finish of the season so far and three top-10s from the last four races, which could be a turnaround for the team.
