2023 Round 14 Cup Results
Pearson wins Charlotte... and keeps it!
Outside of the Daytona 500 ANZCAR's longest race is the 300 mile, day into night, midseason race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a staple on the calendar for many years.
It would also mark the final Cup Series start of the season for Edward Foster, the two time champ taking on other pursuits for the remainder of the year. Foster had looked likely to at least point his way into the play-offs, and the fight for his spot will most certainly be on in earnest. Pearson would take pole from Stent, with Phelps and Jones sharing row two. Pearson would lead away but come under immediate attack from Stent, and the two would run side by side on multiple occasions across the opening few laps.
Hetterscheid would take third from Jones while the rest of the field would sort itself out. By lap twenty Pearson would have a healthy lead from the Natari trio of Stent, Hetterscheid and Foster, who had moved past Barry Neale.
By lap 32 Stent had caught Pearson and looked like making a move before the caution flew, Jones and Williams getting together but fortunately continuing without damage.
All would pit, and on the restart Stent and Pearson would go at it again, running side by side and banging doors. By lap sixty the top five would be Pearson, Foster, Stent, Hetterscheid and Jason Martin, the 2018 champ making a rare start in the Cup Series and having a solid run. Stant and Foster would make their way by Pearson as his long run pace began to fade, and Dyson would make his first appearance in the top five as the race neared the halfway mark.
Green flag stops did not do too much to the order at the front, and the race would just tick off laps until lap 162 when Tomlin would spin coming off pit road. All would pit with the exception of Phelps who would assume the lead. Stent would share the front row ahead of Foster and Jones. The green would only last a moment as Jones would collect Foster on the backstretch, bouncing the 53 off the inside wall and collecting Raymond, Malone and several others.
Phelps would lead away on the restart from Stent and Pearson, Martin pushing hard from fourth. The inside lane would launch perfectly and Pearson would duck to the lead in turn three. Phelps would fight back on the outside but eventually the 62 would make the move stick. Stent would be next to attack the 06, however would not have an easy time with Hetterscheid and Dyson pushing hard behind them. This would in fact put the race under caution with ten to go when Dyson and Hetterscheid made contact on the backstretch.
A quick restart, a quick caution and another green/white/chequer (how many is that now this season?) Pearson would sprint away and survive a big attack from Stent to take the win. Dyson would nick through to second to leave Stent third, with Urquijo and Phelps rounding out the top five.
Next week the Cup hits Gateway, don't miss it.
Incidents
Lap 32 – Ryan Jones
Lap 162 – Christopher Tomlin (3rd strike EOL next race)
Lap 167 – Ryan Jones
Lap 190 – Daniel Hetterscheid (3rd strike EOL next race)
Lap 195 – Brad Fenly
Restarts
Lap 167 – Adam Malone – Lane Change
Other
Post-race Tech
Nigel Paton – no submission DQ (3rd fail one race ban)
Outside of the Daytona 500 ANZCAR's longest race is the 300 mile, day into night, midseason race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a staple on the calendar for many years.
It would also mark the final Cup Series start of the season for Edward Foster, the two time champ taking on other pursuits for the remainder of the year. Foster had looked likely to at least point his way into the play-offs, and the fight for his spot will most certainly be on in earnest. Pearson would take pole from Stent, with Phelps and Jones sharing row two. Pearson would lead away but come under immediate attack from Stent, and the two would run side by side on multiple occasions across the opening few laps.
Hetterscheid would take third from Jones while the rest of the field would sort itself out. By lap twenty Pearson would have a healthy lead from the Natari trio of Stent, Hetterscheid and Foster, who had moved past Barry Neale.
By lap 32 Stent had caught Pearson and looked like making a move before the caution flew, Jones and Williams getting together but fortunately continuing without damage.
All would pit, and on the restart Stent and Pearson would go at it again, running side by side and banging doors. By lap sixty the top five would be Pearson, Foster, Stent, Hetterscheid and Jason Martin, the 2018 champ making a rare start in the Cup Series and having a solid run. Stant and Foster would make their way by Pearson as his long run pace began to fade, and Dyson would make his first appearance in the top five as the race neared the halfway mark.
Green flag stops did not do too much to the order at the front, and the race would just tick off laps until lap 162 when Tomlin would spin coming off pit road. All would pit with the exception of Phelps who would assume the lead. Stent would share the front row ahead of Foster and Jones. The green would only last a moment as Jones would collect Foster on the backstretch, bouncing the 53 off the inside wall and collecting Raymond, Malone and several others.
Phelps would lead away on the restart from Stent and Pearson, Martin pushing hard from fourth. The inside lane would launch perfectly and Pearson would duck to the lead in turn three. Phelps would fight back on the outside but eventually the 62 would make the move stick. Stent would be next to attack the 06, however would not have an easy time with Hetterscheid and Dyson pushing hard behind them. This would in fact put the race under caution with ten to go when Dyson and Hetterscheid made contact on the backstretch.
A quick restart, a quick caution and another green/white/chequer (how many is that now this season?) Pearson would sprint away and survive a big attack from Stent to take the win. Dyson would nick through to second to leave Stent third, with Urquijo and Phelps rounding out the top five.
Next week the Cup hits Gateway, don't miss it.
Incidents
Lap 32 – Ryan Jones
Lap 162 – Christopher Tomlin (3rd strike EOL next race)
Lap 167 – Ryan Jones
Lap 190 – Daniel Hetterscheid (3rd strike EOL next race)
Lap 195 – Brad Fenly
Restarts
Lap 167 – Adam Malone – Lane Change
Other
Post-race Tech
Nigel Paton – no submission DQ (3rd fail one race ban)
