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 1.058 mi 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.

Background
New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a 1.058 mi 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 1.6 mi 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

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.
 * (i) 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 127.483 mph.

Qualifying
Martin Truex Jr. scored the pole for the race with a time of 29.964 and a speed of 127.113 mph.

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: 98.113 mph

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


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