The 2022 M&M's Fan Appreciation 400 was a NASCAR Cup Seriesrace that was held on July 24, 2022, at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) speedway, it was the 21st race of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season. Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports would win the race after Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, who originally finished first and second respectively, were both disqualified for failing post-race technical inspection. Elliott became the first NASCAR driver to win a race after both the original first and second-place finishers were disqualified since 1955. Hamlin was also the first NASCAR Cup Series race winner to be disqualified since 1960, ending a 62-year streak.[8] It was also the first disqualification of the Next Gen car since its debut earlier that year.
It was the final appearance of 2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch, who withdrew from the race after crashing in qualifying, eventually leading to his retirement the following year.
Pocono Raceway is a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) oval speedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1970s. Nicknamed "The Tricky Triangle", the speedway has three distinct corners and is known for high speeds along its lengthy straightaways.
From 1982 to 2019, the circuit had two race weekends. In 2020, the circuit was reduced to one race meeting of two races. The first race was moved to World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis starting in 2022.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
Denny Hamlin scored the pole for the race with a time of 52.944 and a speed of 169.991 mph (273.574 km/h).[10]
During the second round of qualifying, Kurt Busch spun and the car made tail to wall contact to the Turn 3 wall. After further checkups on Sunday morning, he was medically disqualified and thereby suspended under a medical suspension that resulted in what became a career-ending injury, announcing his formal retirement on August 26, 2023. Ty Gibbs took over the 45 car for the remainder of the regular season.
Radio coverage of the race was broadcast by Motor Racing Network (MRN) and was also simulcast on Sirius XMNASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle, and Todd Gordon called the race in the booth when the field raced through the tri-oval. Dave Moody called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field raced down the backstretch. Kyle Rickey called the race from the Sunoco spotters stand outside turn 3. Steve Post and Chris Wilner worked pit road for MRN.
^Kurt Busch was medically disqualified following a crash in Turn 3 on his warmup lap in the second round following a NASCAR evaluation the next day. Ty Gibbs took over the 45 car following the disqualification.
^McDowell was docked 100 points after NASCAR discovered illegal modifications to his car during the R&D Center inspection.[11]
^ abErik Jones and Ty Dillon were docked 35 points after their rocker box vent holes failed pre-race inspection.[12]
^Following Kurt Busch's medical disqualification (concussion) during the second round of qualifying, Ty Gibbs drove the No. 45 23XI Toyota in his place.[13]
^ abHamlin and Kyle Busch originally finished first and second respectively, but were disqualified after failing post-race inspection for an infringement on both cars' front fascia.[8]
