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  • AJ Allmendinger clinches Championship 4 berth with resurgent Xfinity victory at Las Vegas

    AJ Allmendinger clinches Championship 4 berth with resurgent Xfinity victory at Las Vegas

    In a season mired with a multitude of on-track frustrations and a long winless drought, AJ Allmendinger cashed back in an emphatic style and became the first competitor to be guaranteed a championship berth in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series finale by winning the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 19.

    The 42-year-old Allmendinger from Los Gatos, California, led three times for a race-high 102 of 201 scheduled laps in an event where he started in sixth place and racked up 16 stage points with two top-five results recorded during the event’s two stage periods. Then after cycling his way into the lead for the first time at the start of the final stage period with 105 laps remaining, Allmendinger proceeded to dominate as he led the following 52 laps before navigating his way through a late cycle of green flag pit stops that enabled him to reassume the lead with 50 laps remaining.

    Amid two late-race caution periods and ensuing restarts, Allmendinger fended off late charges from Ryan Sieg, including the final one during a two-lap shootout to the finish, to score his first Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and race his way into the Championship 4 round, where he will be one of four Playoff contenders to contend for this year’s series championship.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 18, Brandon Jones notched his fourth Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 183.430 mph in 29.439 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Cole Custer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 183.187 mph in 29.478 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Sheldon Creed dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change made to his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota entry. Kyle Weatherman also dropped to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to his No. 91 DGM Racing Chevrolet entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Brandon Jones gained the early upper hand from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro away from Cole Custer with a push from Playoff contender Chandler Smith entering the first two turns. With Chandler Smith following suit in second ahead of Custer and Playoff contenders Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer for the following two turns, Jones proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Over the next three laps, Jones retained his advantage as high as three-tenths of a second while Custer reassumed second place from Chandler Smith. Sammy Smith and Mayer would continue to follow suit in the top five ahead of Riley Herbst while Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger retained seventh place ahead of Taylor Gray, Playoff contender Jesse Love, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Sieg.

    Then on the fourth lap, the event’s first caution flew due to an incident involving Leland Honeyman and JJ Yeley, when they collided with one another against the backstretch’s outside wall. During the event’s first caution period, select names including Daniel Dye and Joey Gase pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track

    When the race restarted under green on the eighth lap, Sammy Smith made a three-wide move beneath teammate Jones and Custer through the frontstretch and he would muscle ahead with the lead through the first two turns. As Smith led a side-by-side duel between Custer and Jones through the backstretch, the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes as Chandler Smith muscled his way up to fourth place. Through the frontstretch, Allgaier would make a bold four-wide move towards the frontstretch’s apron in his bid to move up the leaderboard.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps and amid a series of on-track battles, Sammy Smith retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Custer while Jones followed suit in third place by nine-tenths of a second. Behind, Allmendinger and Chandler Smith would battle for fourth place in front of Herbst and Allgaier as Sammy Smith retained a narrow advantage over Custer. Chandler Smith then nearly got loose in front of Allgaier through Turns 3 and 4 during the following lap, but he kept his car straight despite dropping to seventh place. With Allmendinger, Herbst and Allgaier all moving in front of Chandler Smith, Custer would then overtake Sammy Smith for the lead on Lap 13 and Custer would proceed to lead by nearly half a second by Lap 15.

    By Lap 20, Custer stretched his advantage to a second over Sammy Smith as third-place Jones also trailed by a second. Behind, Allgaier trailed by two seconds in fourth place along with fifth-place Allmendinger while Herbst, Chandler Smith, Aric Almirola, Ryan Sieg and Taylor Gray were in the top 10 ahead of Jesse Love, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman and Parker Retzlaff.

    Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Jones followed by Allgaier, who trailed in third place by a second, while Herbst and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five. As Shane van Gisbergen pitted under green due to an engine issue and eventually was taken to the garage, Custer retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Jones while Allgaier trailed by eight-tenths of a second over the next four laps.

    On Lap 34, however, the caution returned due to an incident involving Dylan Lupton towards the outside wall in Turn 2. During the caution period, some led by Custer and including Allgaier, Love, Hill and Mayer pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Anthony Alfredo was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 39 featured Herbst briefly muscling ahead of Jones with the lead from the inside lane ahead of Allmendinger and Chandler Smith before Allmendinger made his move beneath Herbst entering the first two turns. Allmendinger, however, almost slid up into Herbst through the turns, which also caused Chandler Smith to briefly step out of the gas to avoid hitting Allmendinger as he was pinned in a four-wide battle with Jones, Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray and a bevy of competitors through the backstretch. With Allmendinger battling Jones for the runner-up spot and Chandler Smith retaining fourth ahead of teammate Almirola and the rest of the field, Herbst proceeded to lead the following lap.

    In the midst of the battles within the field, Custer used the four fresh tires to charge his way from the top 14 to back into the top five and he would proceed to battle Allmendinger and Jones for the runner-up spot by Lap 42 as Herbst retained the lead. Custer would then reassume the lead by Lap 43 and Allgaier would follow suit on his four fresh tires while Herbst dropped to third place in front of Allmendinger.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Custer fended off a hard-charging Allgaier to claim his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allgaier settled in second ahead of Herbst, Allmendinger and Creed while Ryan Sieg, Love, Hill, Jones and Mayer were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders accumulating the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith were scored in 15th and 16th, respectively, while Almirola fell back to 12th place.

    Under the stage break, some led by Herbst and including Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Custer and Allgaier remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Almirola was penalized for a vehicle interference.

    The second stage period started on Lap 51 as Custer and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Custer and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first two turns as the field fanned out from the frontstretch through the backstretch. After dueling with Custer through the backstretch, Allgaier would proceed to muscle his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead through Turns 3 and 4, where he would lead the following lap. As Allgaier led Custer, Creed was trying to fend off Ryan Sieg for third place while Mayer, Love, Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Hill and Retzlaff followed suit in the top 10.

    Just past the Lap 55 mark, Allgaier stretched his advantage to more than a second over Custer while Creed, Ryan Sieg and Mayer followed suit in the top five. Behind, Allmendinger, who pitted during the first stage break period, was up to sixth place on four fresh tires as Herbst, Hill and Sammy Smith battled fiercely for 10th place. Amid the battles, Allgaier would add another second to his advantage as he led by more than two seconds by Lap 60.

    At the Lap 70 mark, Allgaier continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by more than three seconds over Custer while Allmendinger also trailed by more than three seconds in third place. As Ryan Sieg and Chandler Smith were racing in the top five, Jones would challenge Smith for fifth place as Love, Herbst, Creed and Sammy Smith all trailed in the top 10 by 10 seconds. Meanwhile, Mayer had fallen to 11th place while Hill was mired back in 17th place.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to three seconds over Allmendinger while Ryan Sieg trailed in third place by nearly five seconds. With Jones and Chandler Smith up into the top five, Custer dropped to sixth place ahead of Love while Almirola occupied eighth place ahead of Herbst and Sammy Smith.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier, who was mired behind lapped traffic, cruised to his 16th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger followed suit in second place by three-tenths of a second while Ryan Sieg, Jones, Chandler Smith, Custer, Almirola, Love, Herbst and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. With five of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Sammy Smith, Mayer and Hill were mired back in 12th, 13th and 15th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger exited pit road first ahead of Allgaier, Custer, Chandler Smith and Herbst while Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Love and Jones followed suit in the top 10.

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned due to Taylor Gray, who restarted in 11th place, getting hit by Sammy Smith and spinning his No. 19 Operation 300 Toyota Supra towards the middle of the frontstretch amid an accordion effect towards the front of the field. In the process of the spin, Gray’s sliding Toyota barely avoided the Chevrolet entries of Kligerman and Hill before it came to a rest backward across the outside wall as the rest of the field scattered to avoid hitting Gray.

    During the caution period, select names including Richard Childress Racing’s Love and Hill pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 99 laps remaining featured Allmendinger fending off Allgaier to lead the field through the first two turns as Chandler Smith challenged Allgaier for the runner-up spot. The latter would fend off the former for the runner-up spot as Allmendinger led the ensuing lap. With Allmendinger leading, Custer and Almirola battled for fourth place in front of Ryan Sieg, Jones and Herbst before Custer, Sieg and Jones all blew past Almirola for fourth through sixth, respectively, with 96 laps remaining.

    With 90 laps remaining, Allmendinger was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier while third-place Chandler Smith trailed by one-and-a-half seconds. Behind, Ryan Sieg and Custer trailed by two seconds in the top five while Jones, Almirola, Herbst, Creed and Kligerman were racing in the top 10 ahead of Mayer. In addition, Love was mired in 16th place and racing two spots ahead of teammate Hill while Sammy Smith was down in 22nd place.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier despite the latter attempting to have the former slow down and help remove debris from Allgaier’s front grille while Allmendinger declined the offer to help. Meanwhile, third-place Chandler Smith trailed in third place by nearly two seconds as Ryan Sieg and Almirola were in the top five.

    Soon after, Allgaier, who was trying to use lapped competitors to remove debris, radioed concerning an alternator issue with his car. Amid the issues, Allgaier used the lapped competitor of Akinori Ogata to remove the debris off his front grille. With the debris gone, Allgaier trailed the leader Allmendinger by more than a second with less than 75 laps remaining. In the process, Chandler Smith continued to trail the lead in his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra by two seconds in third place.

    With 60 laps remaining, Allmendinger stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Allgaier while Ryan Sieg was up to third place and trailing the lead by four seconds. As Chandler Smith dropped to fourth place in front of Kligerman, Almirola was in sixth place and racing ahead of Custer, Herbst, Jones and Love.

    A few laps later, green flag pit stops commenced as a bevy of names including Chandler Smith, Custer, Herbst and Corey Heim pitted. More names including Allgaier, Almirola, Mayer and Jeb Burton would also pit as the leader Allmendinger would then pit with 55 laps remaining. Gray, Jones, Hill and Anthony Alfredo would also pit as Kligerman, who inherited a brief lead, pitted under green with nearly 53 laps remaining. As more names including Ryan Sieg, Creed, Daniel Dye, Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto and Kyle Weatherman pitted, Gray was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track, Love, who inherited a brief lead, pitted under green with 51 laps remaining along with Josh Williams, whose fueler had a bevy of fuel spilling out of the fuel can and in the pit box while trying to fuel the car. This allowed Allmendinger to cycle back into the lead with 50 laps remaining as he was leading by more than two seconds over Allgaier. In the ensuing pit cycle, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Sieg cycled into the top five ahead of Custer.

    With less than 40 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly three seconds over Allgaier while Ryan Sieg, Chandler Smith and Herbst were scored in the top five ahead of Custer, Kligerman, Jones, Almirola and Love. With five of eight Playoff contenders racing in the top 10 on the track, Mayer and Hill were mired in 12th and 13th, respectively, while Sammy Smith, who pitted under green, was down in 27th place and scored multiple laps down.

    Then with 31 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Kyle Sieg spinning his No. 39 The Thomas Group Ford Mustang entering the frontstretch. At the moment of caution, Allmendinger was leading by four seconds over Ryan Sieg while 14 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Allmendinger pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Allmendinger retained the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Sieg, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Allgaier and Kligerman.

    At the start of the ensuing restart period with 25 laps remaining, Allmendinger muscled ahead with the lead from the inside lane as Chandler Smith followed suit. With Smith assuming the runner-up spot, Sieg dueled with Kligerman for third place as Herbst tried to throw a three-wide move beneath both for the spot. Amid the battles, Sieg muscled his No. 28 Sci Aps Ford Mustang ahead of both to retain the spot as Allmendinger led the following lap. During the next lap, Sieg tried to close in on Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot and Kligerman was challenged by Allgaier and Herbst for fourth place while Allmendinger retained the lead.

    With 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Ryan Sieg, who reassumed the runner-up spot by Chandler Smith a few laps earlier, as Allgaier moved up to fourth place in front of Kligerman and Herbst. Behind, Custer, Jones, Love and Creed were racing in the top 10 as Sieg trimmed Allmendinger’s advantage to four-tenths of a second over the next three laps. Sieg would then trail Allmendinger by two-tenths of a second with 15 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger led by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Ryan Sieg. Sieg then drew himself into a side-by-side battle with Allmendinger through the frontstretch for the following lap, which was led by Sieg by a hair. Sieg, however, got loose through the first two turns, which allowed Allmendinger to muscle back ahead with a reasonable gap. Amid his slip-up, Sieg retained the runner-up spot as he trailed Allmendinger by half a second over the next lap while Allgaier trailed in third place by a second.

    Then with seven laps remaining, the caution flew due to Sammy Smith stalling his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro due to a power issue in the backstretch. By then, Allmendinger was leading by three-tenths of a second over Ryan Sieg while Allgaier was trailing the lead by less than a second.

    The start of the next restart period with two laps remaining featured Allmendinger receiving a push from Allgaier from the inside lane as he muscled his No. 16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet Camaro ahead and retained the lead through the frontstretch. Allmendinger would proceed to lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and the rest of the field followed suit.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allmendinger remained in the lead by a tenth of a second over Ryan Sieg while Allgaier followed suit by three-tenths of a second. Sieg would slightly close in to Allmendinger’s rear bumper between the first two turns and the backstretch despite the latter retaining the top spot. Sieg then tried to reduce the gap even more for a final charge through Turns 3 and 4, but it would not be enough as Allmendinger cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed his first elusive checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity Series season by a tenth of a second over Sieg.

    With the victory, AJ Allmendinger, who is set to return to the NASCAR Cup Series division with Kaulig Racing in 2025, notched his 18th career win in the Xfinity Series, his second at Las Vegas and his first since winning at Nashville Superspeedway in June 2023. He also recorded the 17th Xfinity victory of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate, the fourth for Kaulig Racing and the first for the organization’s No. 16 entry led by crew chief Alex Yontz.

    Above all, Allmendinger became the first Playoff contender to secure one of four berths into this year’s Championship 4 round, where he will contend for his first Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway in three weeks.

    “I absolutely love these guys and girls at Kaulig Racing,” Allmendinger, who made the Championship 4 round for the second time in his career, said on the CW Network. “It’s been such an up and down [season], but what I love about them is we stick together. We keep fighting. First of all, happy birthday, [team owner] Matt Kaulig! The boss’ birthday! I told you I was getting you a trophy! Let’s go, man! I love you! [My family] see how much I care and I put it on myself. What a way to get to Phoenix after a year that we’ve had. Let’s go win a championship! Let’s go!”

    As Allmendinger celebrated both a victory and a championship berth in Victory Lane with his team, Ryan Sieg, who made his 364th career start in the Xfinity Series at Las Vegas, was left disappointed on pit road after settling in a career-best second place for the fifth time in his career and for a second week in a row.

    “[It] Just sucks to finish second again with a great car like we had earlier in Texas,” Sieg said. “One of these days, it’s gonna go our way. We brought a car as fast as Xfinity Internet, but we didn’t get in Victory Lane.”

    Justin Allgaier, who led 42 laps and won the second stage period, came home in third place ahead of Playoff contender Chandler Smith and Parker Kligerman. Playoff rookie Jesse Love finished in sixth place while Riley Herbst, Stage 1 winner Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill finished in the top 10.

    With six of eight Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10 on the track, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith settled in 14th and 32nd, respectively.

    There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 31 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 102 laps led

    2. Ryan Sieg, two laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, 42 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Chandler Smith

    5. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

    6. Jesse Love, three laps led

    7. Riley Herbst, four laps led

    8. Cole Custer, 31 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    9. Sheldon Creed

    10. Austin Hill

    11. Corey Heim

    12. Daniel Dye

    13. Aric Almirola

    14. Sam Mayer

    15. Josh Williams

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Brandon Jones, 11 laps led

    18. Jeremy Clements

    19. Anthony Alfredo

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Brennan Poole

    22. Parker Retzlaff

    23. Myatt Snider

    24. Jeb Burton

    25. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    26. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    27. Dylan Lupton, three laps down

    28. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

    29. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    30. Joey Gase, three laps down

    31. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    32. Sammy Smith, four laps down, five laps led

    33. Taylor Gray, four laps down

    34. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    35. Akinori Ogata, five laps down

    36. Dawson Cram, eight laps down

    37. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Electrical

    38. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Fuel Pump

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Justin Allgaier +32

    3. Cole Custer +16

    4. Chandler Smith +8

    5. Austin Hill -8

    6. Jesse Love -13

    7. Sam Mayer -23

    8. Sammy Smith -53

    The second Round of 8 event in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 26, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Las Vegas Fall Race

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Las Vegas Fall Race

    NASCAR travels to Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend as the Playoffs continue. The Cup Series will begin the Round of 8 at the 1.5-mile track as the following drivers continue their quest for the 2024 championship title.

    Kyle Larson +33
    Christopher Bell +13
    Tyler Reddick +10
    William Byron +4
    Ryan Blaney -4
    Denny Hamlin -8
    Chase Elliott -9
    Joey Logano -11

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will also begin the Round of 8 with Justin Allgaier leading the point standings.

    Justin Allgaier +18
    Cole Custer +11
    Austin Hill +9
    Chandler Smith +8
    Sam Mayer -8
    Jesse Love -12
    AJ Allmendinger -18
    Sammy Smith -19

    The CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is off and will return to competition on October 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the series’ second race in the Round of 8.

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series Preliminary Entry Lists

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Oct. 18
    6:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – USA
    7:05 9.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA

    Saturday, Oct. 19
    4:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    5:20 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    Post-Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass

    7:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Ambetter Health 302
    Distance: 301.5 miles (201 Laps)
    Stages end on Laps 45/90/201
    CW/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,409,745
    Post Xfinity Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass

    Sunday, Oct. 20
    2:30 p.m.: Cup Series South Point 400
    Distance: 400.5 miles (267 Laps)
    Stages end on Laps 80/165/267
    NBC/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $8,157,812
    Post Cup Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass

  • Taylor Gray inks full-time Xfinity deal with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025

    Taylor Gray inks full-time Xfinity deal with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025

    Taylor Gray will be ascending to the NASCAR Xfinity Series division on a full-time basis with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2025.

    The news comes as the 19-year-old Gray from Artesia, New Mexico, has spent this season competing on a full-time basis in the Craftsman Truck Series for TRICON Garage, where he is one of eight competitors still contending for the title in this year’s Playoffs, and on a part-time basis in the Xfinity Series for JGR.

    For the 2025 Xfinity season, Gray will be piloting the No. 54 Toyota entry that will be led by Tyler Allen, who is currently in his first full-time season as a NASCAR crew chief between JGR’s Nos. 19 and 20 teams. Through 29 of 33 scheduled events, Allen has led the No. 20 team to seven victories between four competitors as the team remains in contention for the 2024 Xfinity owner’s championship. Allen has also worked with Gray for four events this season, where their current best result is a fifth-place run at Pocono Raceway this past July.

    “I am very thankful for this opportunity,” Gray said in a released statement. “I feel like I have learned a lot in the races I have ran this year, and we can build on that next season. Being able to work with [crew chief] Tyler [Allen] and these guys for a few races has been a great head start on next season and getting that chemistry going, so I’m really excited about what we can do running together full-time.”

    Gray, a nine-time race winner across the ARCA Menards Series’ platforms, made his Xfinity Series debut at Richmond Raceway this past April, where he notched an impressive third-place result while driving JGR’s No. 19 Toyota entry. He would proceed to compete in 11 additional events, where he earned an additional top-five result, an eighth-place run at Michigan International Speedway in August and four additional results in the top 15 during the span. The New Mexico native is scheduled to make his 13th Xfinity start of the 2024 season this upcoming Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    In addition to his part-time Xfinity campaign, Gray has made a total of 53 starts in the Truck Series, to date. During the 53-race campaign, he has recorded 10 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 28 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1. This season, Gray made the 2024 Truck Series Playoffs on the strength of five top-five results and nine top-10 results throughout the series’ 16 regular-season events. After transferring from the Playoff’s Round of 10 to 8, he recently tied his career-best result in the series by finishing in second place at Talladega Superspeedway. With the result, Gray is ranked in sixth place in the Playoff standings and is 13 points below the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 round with two Round of 8 events remaining.

    “We’re looking forward to adding Taylor to our lineup full-time next year,” Steve de Souza, executive vice president of Xfinity Series and development for JGR, added. “Taylor’s strong season in the Truck Series, along with his performance with us on the Xfinity side, have been impressive. With Taylor in the Xfinity car every week in 2025, we expect that trend to continue, and we’re looking forward to him competing for wins and the championship.”

    Gray’s addition to JGR completes the organization’s second piece of its Xfinity Series lineup in 2025 as Brandon Jones was announced to be returning to JGR on a full-time in 2025 this past September.

    Additional partners for Gray’s entry along with the rest of JGR’s Xfinity Series lineup for the upcoming season remain to be determined.

    With his 2025 plans set, Taylor Gray’s next NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season is set to occur this upcoming Saturday, October 19, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 302 that will air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network. Gray’s 2024 Truck Series Playoff run is also set to continue on October 26 at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second Round of 8 event.

  • Sheldon Creed to make 100th Xfinity start at Las Vegas

    Sheldon Creed to make 100th Xfinity start at Las Vegas

    With four races remaining on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule, Sheldon Creed is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Xfinity Playoff event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Alpine, California, Creed made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in August 2017. By then, he had achieved back-to-back Stadium Super Truck championships (2016-17) and transitioned to stock car racing following his early success in SST and off-road competition. He had also made select starts within the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions for MDM Motorsports and Jefferson Pitts Racing. Driving the No. 01 Chevrolet for JD Motorsports, Creed started 32nd and finished 34th in his Xfinity debut. He would return two races later at Road America, where he ended up in 38th place following an early vibration issue.

    From 2019 to 2021, Creed, who won the 2018 ARCA Menards Series championship, competed on a full-time basis in the Craftsman Truck Series for GMS Racing, where he won the 2020 series’ championship, accumulated eight victories and made the Playoffs during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. During the three-year span, he made two starts in the Xfinity Series. The first occurred at Daytona International Speedway in July 2019, where he drove the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports and ended up in 34th place after being involved in two separate multi-car wrecks. He then competed for BJ McLeod Motorsports during the 2021 finale at Phoenix Raceway, where he collected his first top-10 career finish by finishing in 10th place.

    In 2022, Creed graduated to the Xfinity Series on a full-time basis, where he replaced Myatt Snider as the driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing (RCR). Finishing sixth in his first start with RCR at Daytona in February, the Californian recorded nine top-10 results through 24 regular-season events as he spent the majority of the stretch mired outside of the top-12 cutline to make the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs. At Darlington Raceway in September, Creed attempted to pull a “video game” move on the final lap by scraping his No. 2 Chevrolet against the outside wall at full speed, but his momentum got stalled entering the frontstretch, which allowed Noah Gragson to overtake him for the victory as Creed, who had been battling Gragson and Kyle Larson for the victory, settled in a career-best runner-up result. After finishing 11th and 37th during the final two regular-season events on the schedule, he was unable to mount his way into the Playoffs. Recording another runner-up result at Martinsville Speedway in October along with a total of three top-10 results throughout the seven-race Playoff stretch, Creed ended up in 14th place in the final standings. Overall, he recorded four top-five results, 13 top-10 results, 155 laps led and an average-finishing result of 17.5 throughout his first full-time Xfinity campaign.

    Returning for a second full-time Xfinity campaign with RCR in 2023, Creed finished 34th and 23rd in the season’s first two events before notching five top-10 results, including a runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway in April, during the next 10 events on the schedule. At Portland International Raceway in June, he notched his first career pole position and led a race-high 47 laps before ending in seventh place despite being spun by John Hunter Nemechek prior to the second stage’s conclusion and getting shuffled while battling for the lead amid a two-lap shootout. Despite finishing no higher than eighth during his next nine starts, Creed then recorded back-to-back runner-up results while contending for the victory. The first runner-up result occurred at Watkins Glen International in August after he assumed the lead during an overtime shootout before losing the lead to Sam Mayer after slipping out of the racing groove before the final lap. The second occurred at Daytona after he was edged by Justin Allgaier by 0.005 seconds. Concluding the regular-season stretch with an eighth- and third-place finish in two races, Creed earned a spot into the Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time in his career.

    After finishing no lower than 11th throughout the Round of 12, he was able to earn the eighth and final transfer spot into the Round of 8 by two points over Daniel Hemric and four over Parker Kligerman. Then coming off a 15th- and 26th-place finish during the first two Round of 8 events, Creed placed himself in another opportunity to claim his first series victory during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway. During an overtime shootout, however, Creed, who bumped and rubbed fenders with teammate Austin Hill on the final lap and entering the final two turns, managed to take the lead from Hill in Turn 3 before he locked up the tires and briefly fell off the pace, which resulted with Hill ramming into the rear of Creed’s No. 2 entry as Hill was involved in a last-lap multi-car wreck. Amid the carnage, Creed was then edged at the finish line by Allgaier by 0.032 seconds, which marked his sixth runner-up result in the Xfinity circuit, as both Creed and Hill were unable to transfer into the Championship 4 round. Despite receiving harsh comments and criticisms from Hill and the RCR organization, Creed proceeded to finish in the runner-up spot for a seventh time during the finale at Phoenix in November, which resulted in the Californian settling in seventh place in the final standings. By then, Creed had earned three additional top-five finishes and two additional top-10 results compared to the 2022 season. He had also led 35 extra laps from the previous season and improved his average finishing result from 17.5 to 13.5.

    After announcing his departure from Richard Childress Racing a month before the 2023 season’s conclusion, Creed was announced as the driver of the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2024 Xfinity season in December. He commenced his first season with team owner Joe Gibbs by finishing in second place behind former teammate Hill. Despite enduring a winless stretch throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, the Californian notched two poles, a total of six runner-up results, 13 top-five results and 17 top-10 results, which were enough for him to make the 2024 Playoffs. Despite finishing fifth and fourth, respectively, during the first two events of the Round of 12, Creed was involved in a multi-car wreck just shy of the Round of 12’s finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course. While trying to finish the event, Creed’s car stalled on the course and he retired in 35th place. As a result, he fell short of transferring into the Round of 8 by seven points.

    As Creed continues his pursuit for his first elusive victory in the Xfinity Series for the remaining four races on this year’s schedule, he is set to join Haas Factory Team, an organization rebranded from Stewart-Haas Racing, in 2025.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Creed has achieved three poles, 26 top-five results, 48 top-10 results, 453 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.1. To date, he holds the record for the most number of runner-up results without an Xfinity victory at 13. Currently, Creed’s 2024 stats in top fives (15), top 10s (19) and average-finishing result (12.3) are his best as he is also scored in 10th place in the standings.

    Sheldon Creed is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Charlotte Roval

    NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Charlotte Roval

    NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series events at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course that occurred between October 12-13, 2024.

    In the Cup Series, Joshua Thomas (front-tire changer) and Nick Covey (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Austin Dillon, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a left-front wheel that detached from Dillon’s car on Lap 80 of 109 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred after Dillon had made a green-flag pit stop and left his pit box despite the tire changer unable to tighten the left-front tire’s single lug nut before the car departed. Dillon would proceed to finish in 32nd place at Charlotte in an event that determined the Playoff’s Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Kyle Larson.

    With the suspensions, Thomas and Covey will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and at Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively.

    In the Xfinity Series, four crew chiefs were each fined $5,000 apiece due to their respective entries having a single lug nut unsecured during the post-race inspection process following Saturday’s event that also determined the series’ Round of 8 field and was won by Playoff contender Sam Mayer.

    The crew chiefs that were penalized include Philip Bell, crew chief for Sammy Smith and the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; Jeff Meendering, crew chief for Chandler Smith and the No. 81 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team; James Pohlman, crew chief for Justin Allgaier and the No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team; and Andy Street, crew chief for Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team.

    Ironically, each of the crew chiefs’ respective competitors represent half of the current eight Playoff contenders who remain in championship contention as the series transitions to the Round of 8 that begins this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas.

    Tuesday’s penalty report comes a day after Hendrick Motorsports opted to not appeal the disqualification of Alex Bowman from the Round of 8 due to Bowman’s No. 48 Chevrolet entry not meeting the minimum weight requirements following Sunday’s event, where Bowman had initially transferred after finishing in 18th place and winning the event’s second stage period.

    Bowman’s disqualification allowed Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, to claim the round’s final transfer berth.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action this upcoming weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the Playoff’s Round of 8 also commences for both series. The Xfinity’s Round of 8 event at Vegas will occur on Saturday, October 19, and air at 7 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup’s Round of 8 event will follow suit on Sunday, October 20, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte ROVAL

    NASCAR Top-10 Power Rankings: Charlotte ROVAL

    Note: The quotes in this article are fictional.

    1. Kyle Larson: Larson led a dominant 62 laps and handily won the Bank of America ROVAL 400.

    “I clearly outdrove Shane van Gisbergen,” Larson said. “So I’ve downgraded him from being in my league to being in Max Verstappen’s league. I feel like I’m in a league of my own; they’re in a league of their own, which is not in my league.”

    2. William Byron: Byron finished third at Charlotte.

    “I had already advanced to the Round Of 8,” Byron said, “so I really didn’t have to stress about a solid finish. So, since I was ‘locked in,’ I didn’t have to be ‘locked in.’”

    3. Christopher Bell: Bell challenged up front at Charlotte and finished second.

    “Hall Of Famers Ricky Rudd and Carl Edwards gave the ‘Start your engines’ command,” Bell said. “It was pretty cool, and maybe the first time the ‘start your engines’ command made someone flinch. Of course, only Matt Kenseth felt that way.”

    4. Alex Bowman: Bowman won Stage 2 and finished 18th but failed post-race inspection and was eliminated from the Playoffs.

    “It’s sad for the four drivers that were eliminated,” Bowman said. “That includes me. That’s too bad, and this is ‘two’ good: goodbye and good riddance.”

    5. Chase Elliott: Elliott finished fifth at Charlotte and advanced to the Round Of 8.

    “It was close,” Elliott said, “but I made it to the next round. I’m sure the fine people down at the Dawsonville Pool Room are celebrating responsibly by not driving, but only because they no longer have driver’s licenses.”

    6. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin started 18th at Charlotte and finished 14th.

    “I’m involved in an antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR,” Hamlin said. “Any Denny Hamlin fan would define ‘antitrust’ as the opposite of what they should feel about my ability to win a championship.”

    7. Ryan Blaney: Blaney finished a solid 10th and easily advanced to the Round Of 8.

    “Charlotte’s ROVAL was reconfigured with some modifications to a few corners,” Blaney said. “I’m just thankful NASCAR told us about them beforehand.”

    8. Tyler Reddick: Reddick rebounded from early trouble to force his way into the Round of 8 with an 11th-place finish.

    “I owe it all to my 23XI Racing team,” Reddick said, “and to team co-owner Michael Jordan. Michael has always had faith in me and has sometimes had money on me, and in stature has about 13 inches on me.”

    9. Joey Logano: Logano finished eighth at Charlotte and was initially eliminated from the Playoffs. But Alex Bowman’s disqualification meant Logano advanced.

    “There was a camera on the floorboard of my No. 22 Ford,” Logano said. “That was so viewers could see my feet work the pedals. It’s kind of like watching a race at Kansas Speedway—it’s cool for about 30 seconds, then it gets incredibly boring.”

    10. Kyle Busch: Busch finished 13th in the Bank Of America ROVAL 400.

    “Even though I wasn’t a playoff driver,” Busch said, “you could feel the tension in the air. You could also smell the tension. Maybe it wasn’t tension you could smell, but it smelled like cheap beer, unhealthy snacks, beer-infused jerky, smelly truck stops, dog food, or pretty much anything advertised on the cars.”

  • Bowman disqualified from 2024 Cup Playoffs amid post-race infraction at Charlotte Roval

    Bowman disqualified from 2024 Cup Playoffs amid post-race infraction at Charlotte Roval

    Alex Bowman has been disqualified from advancing into the Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs due to a post-race infraction that was discovered at the conclusion of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 13.

    During the post-race inspection process, Bowman’s No. 48 Ally/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry was found to be too light and not meeting the minimum weight specifications.

    As a result, Bowman, who finished 18th during the Round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Roval, was demoted to 38th place, dead last, in the final running order. By being demoted to the last car in the running order, Bowman, who initially transferred into the Round of 8 by nine points after he won the second stage period and accumulated 10 stage points, ended up 20 points below the top-eight cutline.

    Following the announcement, Brad Moran, managing director of the NASCAR Cup Series division, disclosed the ruling behind Bowman’s disqualification.

    “So unfortunately, when we were running the No. 48 [car] through, it didn’t pass the minimum weight specs. So we pulled the car off to the side and we allowed [the No. 48 team] to fuel it, which they already did. We let them fuel it again. We let them run the pumps to make sure all the pickup boxes were full. We give the teams every opportunity to try to meet a minimum weight…We rescaled [the car]. It still didn’t meet the weight. We backed it off and we run it across one more time to confirm the weights were accurate and unfortunately, they did not meet the minimum weight. They are allowed half a percent of a weight break, which is about 17 lbs, give or take. That is what they’re allowed and it was more than that.”

    With Bowman being disqualified from the Playoffs, he joins Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe as the bottom four competitors in the revised Playoff standings to not transfer into the Round of 8.

    As a result, Joey Logano, who initially missed the Round of 8 cutline by four points, was awarded the final transfer spot into the Round of 8 as he continues his pursuit of his third Cup Series championship. Logano also caps off the Round of 8 field that includes teammate Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Tyler Reddick, the latter of whom was battling Logano for a final transfer berth to the Round of 8.

    Amid Bowman’s disqualification from the Playoffs, Hendrick Motorsports has yet to determine if the organization will appeal the penalty. Should the penalty stand, the 2024 season would mark the fifth time that Bowman has been eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 12.

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 20, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Larson steers to dominant Cup victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    Larson steers to dominant Cup victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    With no points pressure mounted up his sleeves, Kyle Larson cruised to a dominant victory in the seventh annual running of the Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course on Sunday, October 13.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, led a race-high 62 of 109-scheduled laps in an event where he started in sixth place and ran a consistent event while executing his pit strategy to perfection that kept him racing towards the front and also keeping his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet intact through every turn, straightaway, chicane and curbs.

    After clinching his way into the Playoff’s Round of 8 by accumulating seven stage points between the event’s first two stage periods, Larson, who led twice earlier in the event, assumed the lead for the third and final time with 33 laps remaining during a late cycle of green flag pit stops. Then after muscling away from the field during a late-race restart with 26 laps remaining, the Californian maintained a reasonable advantage over the field and fellow Playoff rivals for the remainder of the event as he raced his way to his sixth Cup victory of the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, October 12, Shane van Gisbergen notched his first Cup Series career pole position with a pole-winning lap at 99.246 mph in 82.704 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Tyler Reddick, who posted his best qualifying lap at 99.177 mph in 82.761 seconds.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Shane van Gisbergen muscled his No. 13 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 ahead with the lead from the outside lane and he led the field through the infield turns, starting from Turn 1 to the newly configured Turns 5 and 6 zones that led to the new sharp left-hand turn to Turn 7 and back on Charlotte’s oval course. With the field navigating cleanly through the infield turns, van Gisbergen retained the lead through the oval turns and the chicane areas, from the backstretch to the frontstretch, as he led the first lap ahead of Playoff contenders Joey Logano and Kyle Larson while AJ Allmendinger and Playoff contender Tyler Reddick followed suit.

    During the second lap, Logano was overtaken by Larson, Reddick and Allmendinger on the track, which dropped Logano to fifth place on the course. Behind Logano, Playoff teammate Austin Cindric followed suit in sixth place as he was ahead of Brad Keselowski, Playoff contender Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace while William Byron, who is already guaranteed a spot in the Round of 8, was in 10th place ahead of Playoff rivals Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney. As Playoff contenders Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe were trying to navigate their way up the leaderboard while being mired outside the top-20 mark on the track, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to over one second on Larson by the fifth lap mark. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Alex Bowman, whose No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 briefly came off the ground after he ran over the frontstretch’s chicane curbs earlier, was mired in 19th place ahead of rookie Carson Hocevar.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, van Gisbergen stabilized his advantage to more than one second ahead of Larson while Reddick, Allmendinger and Logano followed suit in the top five. Behind, Cindric and Elliott battled fiercely for sixth place ahead of Keselowski, Wallace and Byron while Bell, Blaney, Suarez, Kyle Busch and Todd Gilliland trailed in the top 15 ahead of Ross Chastain, Michael McDowell, Ty Gibbs, Alex Bowman and Carson Hocevar. Meanwhile, Hamlin was mired in 24th place behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. while Briscoe was back in 26th place in between Martin Truex Jr. and Chris Buescher.

    Another lap later, Ryan Preece spun his No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang Dark Horse in the backstretch chicane while running in the top-30 mark, which dropped him below the leaderboard. Then during the following lap, Wallace was penalized for cutting the course while navigating his No. 23 Leidos Toyota Camry XSE through the frontstretch chicane. This resulted in Wallace serving a “stop-and-go” penalty through the backstretch chicane, which dropped Wallace from eighth to 12th on the course. Martin Truex Jr., who was running within the top-25 mark, would also be penalized for cutting the frontstretch chicane by Lap 13, which dropped him towards the top-30 mark. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to nearly two seconds over Larson while Reddick, Allmendinger and Logano continued to trail in the top five.

    On Lap 18, the event’s first cycle of green flag pit stops slowly started to commence as Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the top five. By then, Austin Dillon had pitted a lap earlier. Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Chris Buescher would all pit by the Lap 19 mark before Cindric, Keselowski, Byron, Bell, Wallace, Hamlin, Briscoe and Truex pitted during the following lap. Larson would then pit his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 from the runner-up spot on Lap 21 along with Todd Gilliland, Hocevar, Bowman, rookie Zane Smith, Stenhouse, Daniel Hemric, Noah Gragson, Harrison Burton before the leader van Gisbergen pitted during the next lap along with Daniel Suarez. With pit road closed on Lap 23 as the first stage period was coming to a conclusion, Reddick, who remained on the course, cycled his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE into the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Reddick, who came into the event 14 points above the top-eight cutline in his hopes to advance into the Playoff’s Round of 8, recorded his fourth Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Playoff contenders Logano, Elliott, Blaney and Larson followed suit in the top five while van Gisbergen, Ty Gibbs, Allmendinger, Keselowski and Playoff contender Cindric were scored in the top 10. With half of the 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Bell, Byron, Suarez, Bowman, Briscoe and Hamlin were scored in 11th, 13th, 19th, 22nd, 23rd and 27, respectively.

    Under the stage break, some led by Reddick and including Logano, Elliott and Blaney pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Larson and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start, Larson muscled ahead of Kaulig Racing’s van Gisbergen and Allmendinger through the frontstretch and he retained the lead through the infield turns while van Gisbergen fended off Allmendinger for the runner-up spot. As the field navigated through the infield road course turns and the sharp left-hand turn from Turn 7 back on the oval turns, Larson retained the lead for the remaining turns and led the following lap while Playoff contenders Briscoe, Hamlin, Reddick, Logano, Elliott and Blaney were mired within a series of on-track bumps and contacts while stuck in the middle of the field.

    Shortly after and during the Lap 30 mark, Reddick was collected in a jam-up and came to a full stop to avoid hitting Austin Dillon, who was sent for a spin in Turn 7 after he got bumped by Bowman. Despite sustaining little cosmetic damage to his car, Reddick, whose car briefly came off the ground after he hit both the Turn 7 curb and into team owner Denny Hamlin prior to avoiding Dillon, pitted under green to address a potential broken toe link to his No. 45 Monster Energy Toyota Camry XSE. With Hamlin remaining on the track despite getting hit in the left-side area and having a bent toe link to the rear end of his No. 11 Sport Clips Toyota Camry XSE, Larson retained the lead by nearly a second over van Gisbergen while Allmendinger, Bell and Keselowski were scored in the top five.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Larson stretched his advantage to more than a second over van Gisbergen as both were followed by Allmendinger, Bell and Keselowski. With Cindric, Byron, Chastain, Suarez and Wallace following suit in the top 10, Bowman, Hocevar, Buescher, Stenhouse and Kyle Busch were mired in the top 15 ahead of Logano, Zane Smith, Justin Haley, Ty Gibbs and Elliott while Hamlin, Blaney, Truex, Gilliland and Harrison Burton were scored in the top 25.

    Then while still on the Lap 35 mark, the caution returned due to Playoff contender Briscoe losing a right-rear tire as the tire came off of Briscoe’s No. 14 Ford Performance Racing School Mustang Dark Horse in Turn 14 just as Briscoe was pitting. During the caution period, Reddick and Gragson pitted, with the former having his bent right-rear toe link addressed. Soon after, more names led by Allmendinger and including Hamlin and Cindric pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 38 featured Larson and van Gisbergen dueling for the lead through the first four turns until Larson muscled ahead. With Bell overtaking van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot entering Turn 5, a traffic jam ensued as Keselowski was bumped and sent for a spin by Suarez in Turn 7 while the field fanned out. With the race remaining under green flag conditions, Larson retained the lead for the following lap ahead of Bell, van Gisbergen, Byron and Bowman as Austin Dillon, who was running in 28th place, was penalized for cutting the frontstretch chicane despite getting hit by Briscoe before driving off the course.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were racing inside the top 10 on the track as Larson retained the lead ahead of Bell while Byron, Bowman, Suarez, Logano and Elliott followed suit from fourth to eighth, respectively, as Blaney was in 10th place. Meanwhile, Cindric and Hamlin were back in 17th and 19th, respectively, while Briscoe and Reddick were mired in 36th and 37th, respectively, with the former pitting multiple times for repairs following an on-track contact. As Erik Jones bumped Kaz Grala off the course through the frontstretch chicane as payback from an earlier contact that occurred in the backstretch chicane, Chastain was sent for a spin in Turn 7 after he got hit by Truex. Through both incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions.

    By Lap 45, Larson retained the lead by more than a second over Bell as van Gisbergen, Byron, Bowman, Suarez, Logano, Allmendinger, Elliott and Blaney followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Wallace, McDowell, Cindric, Kyle Busch and Hamlin. With Reddick mired in 36th place, Briscoe’s Playoff run in 2024 came to an end as he took his car to the garage and retired in 37th place. Briscoe’s DNF also ended the final Cup Series Playoff run for Stewart-Haas Racing.

    “It’s tough,” Briscoe said after being released from the infield care center. “To have all that momentum that we had to come to an end and to have it come to an end like it did is definitely unfortunate. [I] Wish we could have kept going for [the title]. Just unfortunate. We still have a lot to race for. We still can go win four more races and that’s what we’re certainly trying to do.”

    Two laps later, Byron pitted from inside the top five under green along with Ty Gibbs, Hemric, Chastain, Austin Dillon, Keselowski and Justin Haley. By then, Zane Smith, Truex, Stenhouse, Harrison Burton and John Hunter Nemechek had pitted. The leader Larson along with Bell and van Gisbergen would pit during the following lap as Bowman cycled into the lead.

    Amid the pit stops, Suarez, who was engaged in a fierce battle that included bumps with Logano a few laps earlier, was forced off the course in the backstretch chicane after being bumped by Wallace, where Suarez came to a full stop before continuing. In addition, Zane Smith was spared from being penalized for cutting the frontstretch chicane earlier after he got bumped by Buescher.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Bowman, who came into the Roval 26 points above the top-eight cutline, notched his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger followed suit along with Logano, Elliott and Wallace while Blaney, Cindric, Michael McDowell, Kyle Busch and Larson, who clinched his way into the Round of 8 by points, were scored in the top 10. With half of the remaining 11 Playoff contenders on the track racking up the second round of stage points, the remaining contenders including Hamlin, Bell, Suarez, Byron and Reddick were mired in 11th, 12th, 14th, 16th and 36th, respectively.

    During the stage break, some led by Bowman and including teammate Elliott, Blaney and Suarez pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    With 55 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Allmendinger and Logano occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger muscled ahead with the lead from the outside lane and led the field through the infield turns while Wallace overtook Logano for the runner-up spot. Cindric would track teammate Logano for third place as the field fanned out while navigating through Turn 7.

    With the field navigating cleanly through the backstretch chicane, trouble occurred in the frontstretch chicane as Chastain, who was mired in the top 20, was hit by Keselowski as he spun his No. 1 Busch Light Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for a second time and collected Legacy Motor Club’s Nemechek and Erik Jones. Then as Ty Gibbs retired due to a transmission issue to his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry XSE, the caution returned during the following lap due to debris that came off of Nemechek’s damaged No. 42 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE in Turn 2.

    During the caution period, Suarez, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to keep his Playoff hopes alive, pitted and the hood of his No. 99 Choice Privileges Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was lifted as his crew went to work to diagnose a brake issue. By then, Bell was officially ruled to be clinched into the Round of 8 based on points.

    As the event restarted under green with 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger rocketed away from Wallace and Logano to retain the lead entering the first turn and through the infield turns. As Larson used the fresh tires to battle Cindric for fourth place, the field fanned out and was able to navigate through Turn 7 cleanly as Allmendinger maintained a reasonable gap between himself and Wallace through the oval turns and the backstretch chicane.

    Allmendinger would proceed to lead the following lap while Reddick and Elliott battled for 23rd place and a spot into the Round of 8. Meanwhile, Hamlin, who struggled earlier in the event, was up to seventh place behind Playoff contenders Larson, Logano, Bell and Cindric as Reddick, who was in 23rd place, was tracking Elliott by five points in the current Playoff standings. As both Buescher and van Gisbergen were sent spinning separately in Turn 7 during the next lap, Allmendinger stretched his advantage to more than a second over Wallace before Larson overtook the latter with 47 laps remaining.

    With 45 laps remaining, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to a second over Larson as Bell trailed in third place by two seconds. With Wallace leading Playoff contenders Logano, Cindric, Byron and Hamlin on the track, McDowell and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10 ahead of Hocevar, Truex, Keselowski, Gilliland and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Bowman, Blaney, Elliott, Reddick and Suarez were mired in 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st and 32nd, respectively, as Larson proceeded to cut Allmendinger’s advantage to four-tenths of a second during the next lap.

    Then with 43 laps remaining, Larson used a bold move beneath Allmendinger while nearly getting sideways to move into the lead in Turn 7. Larson would proceed to lead Allmendinger through the ensuing oval turns, the backstretch chicane and the frontstretch chicane while Bell started to close in on Allmendinger from third place. Meanwhile, Reddick, who had regained his racing rhythm and was trying to carve his way back up the leaderboard since having his car repaired in the pits following his second stage incident in Turn 7, continued to trail Elliott in the Playoff standings by five points as he was mired in 19th place in front of Bowman while Elliott was just ahead of Reddick in 18th place.

    With 38 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted from the runner-up spot under green as he was followed by Cindric, Logano, Kyle Busch and Buescher. By then, McDowell had pitted a lap earlier as Larson was leading by more than three seconds over Bell. Wallace and his 23XI Racing teammate Reddick would then pit during the following lap along with Gragson before Byron, Hocevar, Elliott and Bowman pitted with 36 laps remaining. Despite enduring a slow pit service, Elliott managed to blend back on the track in front of Reddick as Reddick was separated from Elliott by four competitors.

    As the field reached its final 34-lap mark, the leader Larson pitted under green along with Bell and Blaney. By then, Hamlin had pitted earlier as Larson exited pit road ahead of Bell, who endured a slow service. With nearly every competitor in the field having made a pit stop, Keselowski, who has yet to pit, was leading. Keselowski, however, would pit shortly after, which handed the lead back to Larson.

    With 30 laps remaining, Larson was leading by more than six seconds over Austin Dillon as Bell, van Gisbergen and Allmendinger trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Reddick, who was scored in 20th place, trailed the top-eight cutline by five points while Logano, who was in eighth place, occupied the final transfer spot. Meanwhile, Elliott was 12 points above the cutline as he was in 13th place while Hamlin, who was in 17th place, was ahead by nine points.

    The following lap, the caution flew due to the left front wheel rolling off of Austin Dillon’s No. 3 BetMGM Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 just past Turn 4 and right after Dillon had pitted under green, which resulted in Dillon being assessed a two-lap penalty. By then, Reddick trailed Logano in the standings by four points while Larson was leading by six seconds over Bell. During the caution period, some including Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Reddick, Haley and Buescher pitted while the rest led by Larson remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart period with 26 laps remaining featured Larson rocketing away from Bell, Byron and Cindric entering the first turn as Logano also tried to join the battle. As Larson led the field through the first four turns before navigating his way through the final three sets of infield turns, Larson slightly stretched his advantage over Bell through the oval’s backstretch and the backstretch chicane. As Playoff contenders Blaney and Hamlin were trying to navigate their way back into the top 10 on the track, Larson led the following lap while Reddick, who was mired in 24th place after he pitted, trailed the cutline by 12 points.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Larson continued to lead by more than a second over Bell as Playoff contenders Byron, Cindric, Elliott and Logano followed suit in the top six. With Logano losing fifth place on the track to Elliott not long ago, Reddick, who overtook Bowman for 19th place, trailed Logano in the standings by six points. Not long after, Reddick nearly got sideways as he bumped and sent Daniel Hemric for a spin in Turn 7. Amid the incident, Reddick continued in 18th place as he now trailed Logano by five points. Reddick would gain another point during the following lap as he overtook Stenhouse for 17th place and was trying to track McDowell for more.

    With 15 laps remaining, Larson added an extra second to his advantage as he was leading by two seconds over Bell. Meanwhile, Reddick carved his way up to 15th place on the track, which placed him only two points behind Logano, who was still running in sixth place on the track, in the standings as he was trying to battle Kyle Busch for 14th place. Another lap later, however, Reddick’s deficit was cut to a single point as he overtook Busch’s No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for 14th place while Logano was being pressured by Allmendinger for sixth place.

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, Logano and Reddick were tied for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8 as Allmendinger overtook Logano’s No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse for sixth place through the backstretch on the track. Meanwhile, Reddick was trying to track down team owner Hamlin, who is only seven points above the cutline, for 13th place on the track as Logano owned the tie-breaker over Reddick. Logano and Reddick would remain in seventh and 14th, respectively, on the track for the following lap as Larson stabilized his advantage to two seconds over Bell.

    Then with nine laps remaining, Reddick overtook Logano in the Playoff standings as he was in the final transfer into the Round of 8 by two points after he overtook Toyota teammates Truex and Hamlin from Turns 5 to 7. Meanwhile, Logano was still mired in seventh place and racing ahead of van Gisbergen, Wallace and Blaney while Reddick was trying to track down Hocevar for 11th place. Despite dropping to 13th place, Hamlin remained seven points above the cutline.

    With five laps remaining, Larson stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Bell as Byron, Cindric and Elliott followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Logano was scored outside the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings by four points as he was overtaken by van Gisbergen for seventh place on the track a few laps earlier while Reddick was up to 11th place. By then, Blaney and Elliott were also above the cutline by 18 and 14 points, respectively, while Bowman and Hamlin followed suit by eight and four points, respectively.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Larson remained as the leader by more than a second over Bell. As Larson proceeded to lap Suarez through the infield turns while Bell tried to close in, Larson was able to smoothly navigate his way out of the infield turns and through the final set of road course turns on the oval circuit as he then navigated through the frontstretch chicane and streaked across the finish line to claim the checkered flag by one-and-a-half seconds over Bell.

    With the victory, Larson, who continues his pursuit for his second Cup Series championship ahead of the Round of 8’s commencement, achieved his sixth NASCAR Cup Series victory of the 2024 season. He also achieved the 29th Cup victory of his career, his second at the Charlotte Roval after winning his first in 2021 and his first victory since winning the Bristol Night Race three weeks ago.

    The victory was also the 15th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the 11th of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, with the organization notching its 25th Cup victory overall at Charlotte, as Larson racked up his 23rd victory while driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for team owner Rick Hendrick.  

    “It’s the first time in my Playoff career [that] I’ve not been like close to the [Playoff] cutline,” Larson, who celebrated with his daughter Audrey on the frontstretch, said on NBC. “It was good to kind of have a little bit of a stress-free of a weekend. I think the first time I’ve been here without crashing, maybe besides the other time we won. Good weekend. Obviously, we’re here at [owner Rick] Hendrick’s home and got so many of the people here from there, so [it’s] gonna be fun to celebrate with them. It’s known that I don’t really use the [simulator] much and I was in the Sim this week. Huge thank you, you guys. It really helped me get into a rhythm, I think, early on and help us fine-tune our car, too. Hats off to everybody there.”

    As Larson continued his race-winning celebration in Victory Lane, Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Cup Series Regular Season Champion, was left relieved and smiling on pit road with his team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin as he survived his roller coaster event by claiming the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 by four points with an 11th-place result at Charlotte. The result enabled Reddick and the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota team to maintain their championship hopes for another three weeks.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I thought I was going to flip [in Stage 2],” Reddick said. “This [car] was absolutely destroyed. Real hats off to everybody on this Monster Energy Toyota Camry [team]. This thing couldn’t go within four seconds of what the pace was and we just kept working on it, and we made it a lot better for Stage 3. This is how this place can be sometimes, but it’s really nice to pull this off. You just got to stay calm, got to stay focused. In those moments, man, it’s so easy to lose track of what you control. Either way, I was going to drive the car as fast as I could. It just worked out for us. This thing was able to get up back up through the field and get us to the good side of the cutline.”

    Meanwhile, Logano, who recorded a race-high 17 stage points and came into Charlotte with a 13-point deficit to the cutline, was left disappointed as he fell four points shy of remaining in contention for a third Cup Series championship in 2024. This season marks the first time where Logano was eliminated from the Playoffs following the Round of 12 and it comes a year after he was eliminated following the Round of 16.

    “We fought hard, for sure,” Logano said. “I think [crew chief] Paul [Wolfe] and the [No. 22] guys did a good job of executing the strategy and what we needed to do today. Just didn’t quite get enough there at the end. I fell off a little bit too much [on] that last run. Honestly, the No. 45 [team], Tyler [Reddick] and those guys did a good job [of] driving up through the field and scored more points. It’s hard not to think about Richmond a little bit right now. Just wasn’t meant to be. You can start looking back at different points in the season to gather four points pretty easily, but Talladega, we just didn’t do a good enough job there scoring stage points. It’s probably where a lot of it lies.”

    Overall, Logano joins teammate Austin Cindric, Daniel Suarez and Chase Briscoe as the next wave of four Playoff contenders to officially be eliminated from the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs.

    “We had the speed and that’s the encouraging thing, that’s the exciting thing,” Cindric said. “Today, we needed it all. We had a great car. We had a great finish. All the things that are hard to do in a Cup race, we did all those things and capable of doing all those things in the two races prior [to Charlotte]. That’s what this [Playoff] format is. It’s difficult and for us having a better regular season, having bit better of a buffer can definitely help, but proud of everyone. Looking forward to trying to spoil some races and support our teammates to the rest.”

    “We worked very hard for the last two weeks to prepare for this race,” Suarez said. “Honestly, [it was] probably the hardest I ever worked for one specific race and unfortunately, we don’t have anything to show for. Just wasn’t our day, but I can tell you something. I’m very proud of this group because we put in the work. I guarantee you something, nobody works harder to prepare for this race. Unfortunately, we don’t have anything to show for, but we have four more races and we’re going to go out there and give our best.”

    On the contrary, Larson and Reddick join Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell, William Byron, Chase Elliott, Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman as the remaining eight Playoff contenders who will continue the Playoff battle in the Round of 8, beginning next weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    Bell, Byron, Cindric and Elliott finished in the top five behind Larson at the Charlotte Roval while AJ Allmendinger, pole-sitter Shane van Gisbergen, Logano, Bubba Wallace and Blaney completed the top 10 in the final running order. As Reddick finished 11th, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Hamlin, Bowman, Suarez and Briscoe ended up 14th, 18th, 31st and 37th, respectively.

    There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 13 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Kyle Larson, 62 laps led

    2. Christopher Bell, one lap led

    3. William Byron

    4. Austin Cindric

    5. Chase Elliott

    6. AJ Allmendinger, 14 laps led

    7. Shane van Gisbergen, 21 laps led

    8. Joey Logano

    9. Bubba Wallace

    10. Ryan Blaney

    11. Tyler Reddick, six laps led, Stage 1 winner

    12. Carson Hocevar

    13. Kyle Busch

    14. Denny Hamlin

    15. Michael McDowell

    16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

    17. Chris Buescher

    18. Alex Bowman, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

    19. Todd Gilliland

    20. Zane Smith

    21. Harrison Burton

    22. Martin Truex Jr.

    23. Josh Berry

    24. Brad Keselowski

    25. Daniel Hemric

    26. Ryan Preece

    27. Justin Haley

    28. Kaz Grala

    29. Ross Chastain

    30. Josh Bilicki

    31. Daniel Suarez, one lap down

    32. Noah Gragson, one lap down

    33. Austin Dillon, two laps down

    34. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

    35. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

    36. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Engine

    37. Chase Briscoe – OUT, Accident

    38. Corey LaJoie – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff contenders

    Playoff standings

    1. Kyle Larson – Advanced

    2. William Byron – Advanced

    3. Christopher Bell – Advanced

    4. Ryan Blaney – Advanced

    5. Chase Elliott – Advanced

    6. Alex Bowman – Advanced

    7. Denny Hamlin – Advanced

    8. Tyler Reddick – Advanced

    9. Joey Logano – Eliminated

    10. Austin Cindric – Eliminated

    11. Daniel Suarez – Eliminated

    12. Chase Briscoe – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs is set to occur next Sunday, October 20, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the South Point 400. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Sam Mayer capitalizes in overtime for wild Xfinity victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    Sam Mayer capitalizes in overtime for wild Xfinity victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    For a second consecutive season, Sam Mayer went from being scored below the cutline in the Playoff’s Round of 12 finale to leapfrogging his way into the Round of 8 by winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12, amid an overtime shootout.

    The 21-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 13 of 72 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen but was penalized for launching ahead of the latter prior to the start/finish line while not the control competitor. Despite serving a pass-through penalty through pit road during the second lap, Mayer blended back on the track inside the top-15 mark, carved his way back into the top 10 after pitting before the first stage’s conclusion, and settled in 11th place. Despite falling one spot short of accumulating crucial stage points following the first stage period, Mayer racked up eight points by settling in third place at the conclusion of the second stage period.

    After restarting on the front row for the start of the final stage period with 24 laps remaining, Mayer assumed the lead during the following lap. Despite pitting for fresh tires during a late caution period that started with 15 laps remaining, the Wisconsin native would use the tires to carve his way back up the leaderboard and up to second place as he tried to challenge Playoff contender Parker Kligerman for the victory in the closing laps.

    Initially poised to finish in second place behind Kligerman, which would have eliminated him from the Playoffs, Mayer was gifted an opportunity to reclaim the lead after Leland Honeyman wrecked in Turn 3. The caution occurred inches before Kligerman could start the final lap of the event and make the event official, and instead sent the field into overtime. During the overtime shootout, Mayer overtook Kligerman through the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 and muscled away from the field for two laps to win and maintain his 2024 championship hopes for another three weeks.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his third Xfinity Series pole position of the season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds. Playoff contender Sam Mayer joined him on the front row was Playoff contender Sam Mayer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Ed Jones and Thomas Annunziata dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Sam Mayer rocketed his No. 1 QPS Employment Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he proceeded to lead through the first turn before he navigated his way through the infield turns, starting in Turn 2. The field, led by Mayer, would then navigate through a pair of right-hand turns in Turns 3 and 4 before entering a brief straightaway to another right-hand turn in Turn 5. Mayer retained the lead through the Roval’s new design turns from Turns 6 and 7 before making a sharp left-hand turn to return back to the main Charlotte oval course.

    As the field continued to jostle for early spots, Mayer proceeded to lead through the backstretch’s chicane before he was penalized by NASCAR for jumping the start while not the leader of the race. Amid the penalty, Mayer navigated his way through the final pair of turns before he returned to the frontstretch, drove through the chicane and led the first lap while being black-flagged by NASCAR.

    During the second lap, Mayer served a drive-through penalty through pit road, which allowed van Gisbergen to assume the lead as he was followed by teammate AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki and Austin Hill. Despite being pressured by his Kaulig Racing teammate of Allmendinger, van Gisbergen would navigate his way through the 17-turn course and lead the following lap. By the fourth lap, however, Allmendinger navigated his way past van Gisbergen through the frontstretch’s chicane. With Allmendinger leading, van Gisbergen would fend off Creed for the runner-up spot as Bilicki and Hill followed suit.

    Through the first five-scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by over teammate van Gisbergen as Creed, Bilicki and Austin Hill continued to trail in the top five ahead of rookie Jesse Love, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Connor Mosack and Riley Herbst. Behind, Aric Almirola trailed in 11th place ahead of Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman and Anthony Alfredo while Sam Mayer was mired in 15th place ahead of teammate Sammy Smith.

    Two laps later, van Gisbergen missed the backstretch’s chicane, where he locked up the front tires and drove off the course while running in second place. The on-track misfortune dropped the New Zealander to sixth place, where he had to come to a full stop before proceeding back on the racing surface, as Bilicki, Creed, Hill and Jesse Love all moved up the leaderboard. By then, Allmendinger was leading by more than three seconds.

    At the Lap 10 mark, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were racing inside the top 10 as Allmendinger continued to lead by more than two seconds over Bilicki. Behind, Creed, Hill and Love followed suit ahead of van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Almirola while Mayer carved his way back into the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Kligerman, Herbst, Custer and Sammy Smith were racing inside the top 15 mark as Connor Mosack occupied 14th place.

    By Lap 15, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Bilicki while third-place van Gisbergen carved his way back up to third place in front of Creed, Hill and Love. Behind, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Mayer remained in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman and Herbst while Custer and Sammy Smith dropped to 16th and 17th, respectively.

    Not long after, Creed, who was racing in fourth place, spun in the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 after he got hit by Love, who was trying to make a move beneath teammate Hill for a top-five spot. The incident dropped Creed out of the top-10 mark on the track as the event remained under green flag conditions.

    By Lap 17, select names led by Bilicki and including Chandler Smith, Almirola, Mayer, Kligerman, Austin Green, Brandon Jones, Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Ed Jones, Alex Labbe and Ryan Sieg pitted under green. Parker Retzlaff had pitted a lap earlier as Allmendinger retained the lead by more than six seconds over teammate van Gisbergen.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allmendinger cruised to his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate van Gisbergen followed suit in second ahead of Allgaier, Hill and Love while Creed, Mosack, Herbst, Bilicki and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. With eight of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer, Kligerman, Custer and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th, 21st, 23rd and 26th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger and including Playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Creed, Herbst, Allgaier, Hill and Love pitted while the rest led by Bilicki and Chandler Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first, ahead of Allmendinger, Creed, Hill, Herbst, Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Jeb Burton, Mosack and Sage Karam.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as teammates Bilicki and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Bilicki and Chandler Smith both dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Bilicki muscled his No. 19 Insurance King Toyota Supra ahead through the infield turns. As the field behind jostled for spots, Bilicki retained the lead through the infield turns, including the tight, left-hand Turn 7, before returning to the main oval course. In the midst of the battles, van Gisbergen, who restarted outside the top 20, made contact with Creed in Turn 7 in his charge back to the front before Alex Labbe spun through the backstretch’s chicane amid contact with Ed Jones. Amid the on-track chaos, the race remained under green flag conditions as Bilicki led the following lap ahead of teammate Chandler Smith while Aric Almirola was up to third place.

    During an ensuing caution period that started on Lap 26 due to debris spotted in Turn 2, select names led by Creed and including Thomas Annunziata, Leland Honeyman and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest of the field led by Bilicki remained on the track. Creed’s pit service was due to the driver reporting a shifter issue to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra.

    With the field restarting under green on Lap 29, Bilicki fended off teammate Chandler Smith through the first two turns to retain the lead. Bilicki retained a steady advantage over Smith, Mayer, Almirola and Kligerman through the infield turns from Turns 3 to 7 as the field fanned out while navigating back onto Charlotte’s oval course. Then as the field navigated through the backstretch’s chicane before returning to the frontstretch, the caution returned due to Matt DiBenedetto crashing into the tire barriers just past Turn 6 and struggling to restart from his carnage scene.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 32 featured Bilicki and Mayer occupying the front row, where both dueled for the lead through the first three turns before Mayer muscled ahead entering Turn 4. As the field behind fanned out, Mayer fended off Bilicki through the following three sets of infield turns before he returned to the oval course and continued to lead through the backstretch chicane. With Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Allmendinger trailing in the top five, Mayer led the following lap.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Herbst, who was battling Alfredo amid close-quarters racing for 15th place, made contact with Alfredo through the frontstretch chicane that resulted in Herbst getting turned sideways off the front nose of Alfredo as both went straight into the outside wall and igniting a pileup that involved Josh Williams, Mosack, Ed Jones, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Dylan Lupton, Preston Pardus, Blaine Perkins, Brad Perez, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole and Creed. Despite sustaining damage to their respective cars, Herbst and Creed continued and remained on the lead lap.

    During the caution period and extensive cleanup period, a majority of the field led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Sage Karam led the field to the restart zone, where Allgaier rocketed away from Karam and the field to lead through the infield turns as Leland Honeyman overtook Karam for second place. With Allgaier retaining the lead, the field fanned out while navigating through the infield turns, the oval turns and the backstretch’s chicane. As Allgaier proceeded to lead the following lap, more trouble struck for Creed, who was off the pace and limping his damaged car below the Charlotte oval’s apron. Creed would lose a lap as the field lapped him entering the backstretch.

    As Herbst was also falling off the pace in his damaged No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang and with a broken trackbar, the caution would then fly on the final lap of the second stage period due to Creed coming to a halt in the backstretch. The caution would officially conclude the second stage period scheduled for Lap 40 as Allgaier claimed his 15th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Mosack and Mayer would follow suit in second and third, respectively, while Almirola, Honeyman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Karam and Bilicki were scored in the top 10. With five of 12 Playoff contenders racking up a second round of stage points and both Herbst and Creed out of contention, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Kligerman, Love, Hill, Sammy Smith and Custer were mired inside the top 20.

    During the stage break, select names including Allgaier, Karam, Clements, Retzlaff and Honeyman pitted while the rest led by Mosack remained on the track.

    With 24 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as teammates Mosack and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Mosack muscled ahead and cleared teammate Mayer through the first turn. As Mosack proceeded to lead in his No. 88 Apollo Pex Chevrolet Camaro through the ensuing infield turns, Mayer fended off Allmendinger to retain second while Almirola, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top six. With van Gisbergen diving his way up to fourth place through Turn 7, Mosack fended off teammate Mayer through both the backstretch and frontstretch chicanes to lead the following lap while teammates Hill and Love battled for ninth place.

    Then, as Almirola and Clements spun in Turn 7, Mayer overtook teammate Mosack through Turns 8 and 9 to assume the lead. Mayer would retain the lead for the following lap as teammate Mosack, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Mayer was leading by more than a second over teammate Mosack as Playoff contenders Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Hill followed suit in the top seven ahead of Bilicki, Austin Green and Love. Behind, Sammy Smith, Custer and Allgaier were scored in the top 15 along with Brandon Jones and DiBenedetto as 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Five laps later, Mayer continued to lead by more than a second over Allmendinger as van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Mosack followed suit in the top five. With Mayer, who came into the event scored below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, leading, van Gisbergen currently occupied the eighth and final transfer spot to the top-eight cutline by two points over Allgaier, who overtook Custer for 12th place.

    Shortly after, the caution flew due to Thomas Annunziata driving his No. 35 NFPA Toyota entry head-on into the barriers entering Turn 1 due to a brake failure. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Mayer and including Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Hill, Kligerman, Allgaier, Custer and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by van Gisbergen remained on the track. In addition to van Gisbergen, Austin Green, Love, Preston Pardus and Nathan Byrd remained on the track.

    The start of the ensuing restart period with 11 laps remaining featured van Gisbergen rocketing his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro away with the lead as the field fanned out entering the first turn. With van Gisbergen leading Love, Green, Mayer and Kligerman through the infield turns and back on the oval turns, the New Zealander retained the lead by a steady margin through the backstretch chicane as Kligerman battled and overtook Love for the runner-up spot.

    With 10 laps remaining, several competitors including Mosack and Alfredo spun through the frontstretch chicane while more including Sammy Smith served an on-track stop-and-go penalty in the frontstretch. At the front, van Gisbergen retained the lead over a hard-charging Kligerman while Mayer carved his way up to third place. Kligerman would cut van Gisbergen’s deficit through the infield turns before the former retained the advantage for the remaining turns.

    The following lap, Kligerman, who pitted for fresh tires during the previous caution period and is placed in a “must-win” situation to advance into the Playoff’s Round of 8, closed in to van Gisbergen’s rear bumper through the infield turns. Kligerman then made his move beneath van Gisbergen in Turn 7 to move his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro into the lead and he would retain the top spot through the oval turns and the following set of chicanes as Mayer overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. Van Gisbergen, whose tires were beginning to wear out, would then yield third place to teammate Allmendinger through the infield turns during the following lap as Kligerman retained the lead over Mayer.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Kligerman kept his lead to three-tenths of a second over Mayer, with the latter keeping pace and remaining within a striking zone of the former while Allmendinger tried to close in on the two leaders. Behind, van Gisbergen trailed by more than two seconds in fourth place ahead of Hill while Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Bilicki and Love were racing in the top 10.

    Then with four laps remaining, Mayer seized an opportunity and made his move beneath Kligerman entering the frontstretch chicane to assume the lead. With Mayer lightly bumping into Kligerman and retaining the lead through the chicane, Kligerman then executed a crossover move of his own as he made his move beneath Mayer and reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. With Kligerman fending off Mayer through the first three turns, Allmendinger joined the battle and van Gisbergen also tried to close in from fourth place. During the following lap, Mayer briefly lost his momentum through the oval’s backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger and van Gisbergen to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Mayer, however, defended his spot as Kligerman muscled away with the lead through every turn and straightaway.

    For the following lap, Kligerman’s steady advantage grew to nine-tenths of a second over Mayer as Allmendinger and van Gisbergen followed suit by less than two seconds. Despite Mayer trimming the gap to half a second towards the frontstretch, Kligerman remained in the lead.

    Then as Kligerman was inches away from crossing the start/finish line to take the white flag and start the final lap of the event, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Leland Honeyman wrecking and getting buried beneath the tire barriers in Turn 3. During the caution period, some including Love pitted while the rest led by Kligerman remained on the track

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Kligerman and Mayer dueling for the lead through the first four turns before the former rubbed and fended his way back to the front to retain the lead. Kligerman would retain the lead for the following infield turns before Mayer pulled a crossover move beneath Kligerman in Turn 7 and assumed the lead entering the oval turns. Mayer would proceed to lead through the backstretch chicane while Kligerman was trying to fend off Allmendinger and van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by a second over Allmendinger and van Gisbergen, who overtook Kligerman for second and third. By then, van Gisbergen was tied with Love for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8. As Love was trying to gain a spot within the middle of the pack, Mayer retained the lead from the infield turns to the backstretch. With both Allmendinger and van Gisbergen unable to close in from behind, Mayer would cycle back to the frontstretch and weave his way through the chicane before crossing the finish line in first place and notching his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Mayer, who came into the Charlotte Roval event 13 points below the cutline after being disqualified due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his third of the season and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway in June. The victory was also the 16th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate, with the manufacturer racking its sixth consecutive win at the Charlotte Roval, and the 88th overall for JR Motorsports.

    The second consecutive victory at the Charlotte Roval allowed Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team to automatically advance into the Round of 8, where the Wisconsin native continues his pursuit for his first Xfinity Series championship.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Man, it’s all thanks to the good Lord above,” Mayer said on the CW Network. “He’s blessed me with a lot of issues this year, learning moments. To come out here to the Charlotte Motor Speedway [Rova], go back to back [in wins] with a fast, fast car. To do it at home is something special. This No. 1 car was fast today. We certainly had to work for [the win] there. I knew that [passing in Turn 7] was my only shot if I got a good angle into that corner. [Kligerman] blocked the bottom [lane], which was good for me. It gave me a better angle up off the corner and this QPS Employment Chevrolet hooked up and we were gone from there. [It] Was something super special and now, I get to celebrate.”

    As Mayer celebrated the race victory that enabled him to advance into the Round of 8, Jesse Love was also left smiling after he finished in 19th place, which was enough for him to claim the eighth and final spot to advance into the next round of the Playoffs by two points over rookie rival van Gisbergen, who ended up in third place. The result marks the second time where a driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry claimed the final berth into the Round of 8 while van Gisbergen’s championship run in his first full-time NASCAR campaign came to a bittersweet end.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The ending was] Just stressful,” Love said. “[My team] were telling me I needed one more [spot] and then one more. I was like, ‘When is [the race] gonna end?’ At the end of the day, I got to be loyal to my guys and they busted their ass really hard, so I got to put a sack over my shoulder and man up and drive forward. Just proud of my whole Whelen No. 2 team. We’re good enough to go race for a championship and we just got to go show it in the next three weeks.”

    “It is what it is,” van Gisbergen said. “It probably comes down to last week [at Talladega] having the dramas we had and the DNF there, so that’s probably it. I’m proud of the Kaulig Racing guys. We’ve had an amazing year, my first year in NASCAR. I’ve loved it. I’m happy, but I’m also not. I’d love to keep going [in the Playoffs]. [I] Did what I could.”

    Compared to van Gisbergen, teammate AJ Allmendinger advanced into the Round of 8 by finishing in second place. Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Justin Allgaier all advanced by finishing fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, on the track as they joined Sammy Smith, who advanced by winning last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, for the Round of 8 battle.

    Meanwhile, Kligerman did not transfer despite capping off his strong run in sixth place. Kligerman’s sixth-place result left the Connecticut native with mixed emotions and fighting off tears as he was initially within inches of both achieving his first elusive Xfinity victory and advancing into the Round of 8 during the event’s regulation period. Nonetheless, Kligerman remained humble and remained optimistic in pursuing his victory before he retires from NASCAR competition at this season’s conclusion.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I might have teared up when I thought we got it there with the white flag and the caution comes out and then had to refocus,” Kligerman said. “I thought I’d cut off Turn 7 enough, but [Mayer] somehow got below me and then, it was on from there. I said I want to cry. I’m not gonna cry, but I really love this game. I just really, really wanted that. It would have meant the world, but you know what? It meant the world to be in that position. Thank you to [owner] Scott Borchetta and everyone at Spiked Coolers. Everyone who made this possible. Big Machine Racing. I don’t know how to process this. It’s going to take a while, but just really thankful to have the opportunity. God, I love this game. I want to get a trophy.”

    Ultimately, Kligerman and van Gisbergen join Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed as the bottom four competitors in the Playoff standings to not advance into the Round of 8.

    There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Sam Mayer, 13 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Shane van Gisbergen, seven laps led

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Chandler Smith, one lap led

    6. Parker Kligerman, 12 laps led

    7. Justin Allgaier, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps led

    9. Aric Almirola

    10. Sammy Smith

    11. Brandon Jones

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Cole Custer

    14. Alex Labbe

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Anthony Alfredo

    17. Ryan Sieg

    18. Connor Mosack, five laps led

    19. Jesse Love

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Preston Pardus

    22. Matt DiBenedetto

    23. Kyle Sieg

    24. Dawson Cram

    25. Nathan Byrd

    26. Brad Perez

    27. Dylan Lupton, one lap down

    28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    29. Sage Karam – OUT, Brakes

    30. Austin Green – OUT, Engine

    31. Ryan Ellis, 14 laps down

    32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Driveshaft

    33. Blaine Perkins, 16 laps down

    34. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Accident

    35. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    37. Ed Jones – OUT, Accident

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Sam Mayer – Advanced

    2. Sammy Smith – Advanced

    3. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    4. Austin Hill – Advanced

    5. Cole Custer – Advanced

    6. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    7. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    8. Jesse Love – Advanced

    9. Shane van Gisbergen – Eliminated

    10. Sheldon Creed – Eliminated

    11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated

    12. Parker Kligerman – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 19, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Shane van Gisbergen records first Cup career pole at Charlotte Roval

    Shane van Gisbergen records first Cup career pole at Charlotte Roval

    Shane van Gisbergen doubled down with his second NASCAR national touring series pole position of the day at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) by claiming the top-starting spot for this weekend’s Bank of America Roval 400 on Saturday, October 12.

    The three-time SuperCars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, was one of 10 from a list of 38-entered competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying, where the first phase of qualifying consisted of two 19-car groups (Group A and Group B) and the top-five fastest competitors from each group transferring into the final qualifying round.

    After being the fastest qualifier from the Group B qualifying round and the fastest in practice, van Gisbergen would proceed to claim the pole position with his best lap occurring at 99.246 mph in 82.704 seconds, which was enough to edge Tyler Reddick by 0.057 seconds.

    With his accomplishment, van Gisbergen, who was initially not registered to compete in this event but ended up being added in Kaulig Racing’s No. 13 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, notched his first career pole position in the NASCAR Cup Series division. He also became the 242nd competitor overall to win a pole in NASCAR’s premier series and he delivered the first Cup pole for Kaulig Racing as he will make his 10th Cup start of the 2024 season at the Charlotte Roval on Sunday. The New Zealander’s previous best starting spot in the Cup Series was third, which occurred at the Chicago Street Course in July 2023 and Watkins Glen International this past August.

    Van Gisbergen, who will also start on pole position for Saturday afternoon’s Xfinity Series Playoff event at the Roval in his quest to advance into the Round of 8, also joins Michael McDowell and Ross Chastain as non-Playoff contenders to record poles as he strives to become the sixth competitor to win a Cup event at the Roval.

    “Man, thank you to this Kaulig Racing team,” van Gisbergen said on USA Network. “[It was a] Last minute deal to come and race here. Thanks to [team owner] Matt [Kaulig] and the guys for letting me run their car. What an amazing day. I’m lost for words. I have to respect [that] there’s a lot of Playoff guys around me. I have to race respectfully. We’re here to win the race. Hopefully, we have a good day.”

    Reddick, who won the Charlotte Roval pole a year ago and who made a last-ditch effort to topple van Gisbergen off the top of the qualifying charts, will start in second place with his best lap occurring at 99.177 mph in 82.761 seconds. Ironically, Reddick, the highest-starting Playoff contender, also rallied from being involved in a spin during the event’s practice session.

    AJ Allmendinger, van Gisbergen’s teammate at Kaulig Racing and the reigning Bank of America Roval 400 winner, will start in third place with his best qualifying lap occurring at 98.874 mph in 83.015 seconds. Joey Logano and Austin Cindric, Playoff contenders and teammates at Team Penske, will line up in the top five.

    Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, Playoff contenders and teammates at Hendrick Motorsports, will follow suit in sixth and seventh, respectively, while Brad Keselowski, Bubba Wallace and Playoff contender William Byron complete the top-10 starting spots.

    With six of the 12 Playoff contenders starting in the top 10 for Sunday’s main event, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Christopher Bell, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Denny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe will start 12th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 18th and 25th, respectively.

    With Sunday’s main event at the Charlotte Roval serving as the final Round of 12 event of the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs, the following names that include Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez, Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe enter the Roval below the top-eight cutline while Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott occupy the final two transfer spots by 14 and 13 points, respectively. William Byron is the only Playoff contender who is currently locked into the Round of 8 based on points while Christopher Bell, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Alex Bowman and Ryan Blaney follow suit in the top six in the Playoff standings.

    *All 38 competitors entered for Sunday’s event at Charlotte earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 99.246 mph, 82.704 seconds
    2. Tyler Reddick, 99.177 mph, 82.761 seconds
    3. AJ Allmendinger, 98.874 mph, 83.015 seconds
    4. Joey Logano, 98.694 mph, 83.166 seconds
    5. Austin Cindric, 98.580 mph, 83.262 seconds
    6. Kyle Larson, 98.500 mph, 83.330 seconds
    7. Chase Elliott, 98.389 mph, 83.424 seconds
    8. Brad Keselowski, 98.341 mph, 83.465 seconds
    9. Bubba Wallace, 98.219 mph, 83.568 seconds
    10. William Byron, 98.165 mph, 83.614 seconds
    11. Kyle Busch, 98.637 mph, 83.214 seconds
    12. Christopher Bell, 98.605 mph, 83.241 seconds
    13. Daniel Suarez, 98.456 mph, 83.367 seconds
    14. Ryan Blaney, 98.464 mph, 83.360 seconds
    15. Todd Gilliland, 98.456 mph, 83.367 seconds
    16. Ross Chastain, 98.277 mph, 83.519 seconds
    17. Alex Bowman, 98.453 mph, 83.370 seconds
    18. Denny Hamlin, 98.174 mph, 83.607 seconds
    19. Ty Gibbs, 98.377 mph, 83.434 seconds
    20. Carson Hocevar, 98.039 mph, 83.722 seconds
    21. Michael McDowell, 98.305 mph, 83.495 seconds
    22. Austin Dillon, 98.009 mph, 83.747 seconds
    23. Zane Smith, 98.128 mph, 83.646 seconds
    24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 97.924 mph, 83.820 seconds
    25. Chase Briscoe, 97.987 mph, 83.766 seconds
    26. Harrison Burton, 97.834 mph, 83.897 seconds
    27. Daniel Hemric, 97.921 mph, 83.823 seconds
    28. Corey LaJoie, 97.756 mph, 83.964 seconds
    29. Chris Buescher, 97.760 mph, 83.961 seconds
    30. Martin Truex Jr., 97.647 mph, 84.058 seconds
    31. Kaz Grala, 97.752 mph, 83.968 seconds
    32. Noah Gragson, 97.560 mph, 84.133 seconds
    33. Justin Haley, 97.718 mph, 83.997 seconds
    34. Ryan Preece, 97..234 mph, 84.415 seconds
    35. John Hunter Nemechek, 97.664 mph, 84.043 seconds
    36. Josh Berry, 97.069 mph, 84.558 seconds
    37. Erik Jones, 97.515 mph, 84.172 seconds
    38. Josh Bilicki, 95.261 mph, 86.163 seconds

    The 2024 Bank of America Roval 400 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course is scheduled to occur on Sunday, October 13, and air at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.