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Category: XFINITY Series

NASCAR XFINITY Series news and information

  • Parker Retzlaff scores second Xfinity pole position at Martinsville

    Parker Retzlaff scores second Xfinity pole position at Martinsville

    Parker Retzlaff scored his second NASCAR Xfinity Series pole position of the 2024 season and of his career for the National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Friday, November 1.

    The 21-year-old Retzlaff from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, posted his best qualifying lap at 95.151 mph in 19.901 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot over Anthony Alfredo, who clocked in his best lap at 95.094 mph in 19.913 seconds.

    With his accomplishment, Retzlaff, who is set to make his 74th career start in the Xfinity Series on Saturday at Martinsville, notched his first Xfinity pole since he claimed his first at Richmond Raceway in April and he delivered the second NASCAR career pole for Jordan Anderson Racing. Retzlaff, who is ranked in 18th place in this year’s Xfinity standings, also joins JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones as non-Playoff contenders to start on the pole throughout the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs as he continues his pursuit for his first victory in the series.

    Joining Retzlaff on the front row will be Anthony Alfredo, who posted his best starting spot of the 2024 season in second place. Alfredo’s previous best starting spot of the season was third at Bristol Motor Speedway in September.

    With the front row swept by non-Playoff contenders, Chandler Smith, who is 28 points below the top-four cutline to this year’s Championship 4 round, is the highest-starting Playoff contender in third place after he posted his best qualifying lap at 95.075 mph in 19.917 seconds. He will share the second row alongside Playoff rookie Jesse Love while Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill will follow suit in the third row.

    Rounding out the top-10 starting spots are Playoff contender Sammy Smith, Sheldon Creed, Aric Almirola and Playoff contender Cole Custer.

    With six of eight Playoff contenders starting in the top 10 for the main event, the remaining Playoff contenders that include AJ Allmendinger and Sam Mayer will start 11th and 12th, respectively.

    Currently, Allmendinger and Austin Hill are the only two Playoff contenders to be guaranteed berths to the Championship 4 field after winning the Round of 8 events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, respectively. Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer occupy the remaining two vacant spots above the cutline while Chandler Smith, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer and Sammy Smith trail.

    All 38 competitors entered for Saturday’s event at Martinsville earned a starting spot.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time:

    1. Parker Retzlaff, 95.151 mph, 19.901 seconds
    2. Anthony Alfredo, 95.094 mph, 19.913 seconds
    3. Chandler Smith, 95.075 mph, 19.917 seconds
    4. Jesse Love, 95.051 mph, 19.922 seconds
    5. Justin Allgaier, 94.993 mph, 19.934 seconds
    6. Austin Hill, 94.965 mph, 19.940 seconds
    7. Sammy Smith, 94.855 mph, 19.963 seconds
    8. Sheldon Creed, 94.851 mph, 19.964 seconds
    9. Aric Almirola, 94.770 mph, 19.981 seconds
    10. Cole Custer, 94.590 mph, 20.019 seconds
    11. AJ Allmendinger, 94.557 mph, 20.026 seconds
    12. Sam Mayer, 94.496 mph, 20.039 seconds
    13. Riley Herbst, 94.176 mph, 20.107 seconds
    14. Brandon Jones, 94.003 mph, 20.144 seconds
    15. William Sawalich, 93.966 mph, 20.152 seconds
    16. Matt DiBenedetto, 93.780 mph, 20.192 seconds
    17. Bubba Pollard, 93.724 mph, 20.204 seconds
    18. Parker Kligerman, 93.696 mph, 20.210 seconds
    19. Brennan Poole, 93.682 mph, 20.213 seconds
    20. Shane van Gisbergen, 93.557 mph, 20.240 seconds
    21. Jeb Burton, 93.235 mph, 20.310 seconds
    22. Myatt Snider, 93.198 mph, 20.318 seconds
    23. Josh Williams, 93.189 mph, 20.320 seconds
    24. Blaine Perkins, 93.180 mph, 20.322 seconds
    25. Leland Honeyman, 93.074 mph, 20.345 seconds
    26. Ryan Ellis, 93.052 mph, 20.350 seconds
    27. Kyle Sieg, 92.569 mph, 20.456 seconds
    28. Dawson Cram, 92.362 mph, 20.502 seconds
    29. Jeremy Clements, 92.348 mph, 20.505 seconds
    30. Garrett Smithley, 91.864 mph, 20.613 seconds
    31. Dylan Lupton, 91.664 mph, 20.658 seconds
    32. Preston Pardus, 91.522 mph, 20.690 seconds
    33. Carson Ware, 90.521 mph, 20.919 seconds
    34. Logan Bearden, Owner Points
    35. Patrick Emerling, Owner Points
    36. Mason Maggio, Owner Points
    37. Greg van Alst, Owner Points
    38. Ryan Sieg, Owner Points

    The 2024 National Debt Relief 250 at Martinsville Speedway is set to occur on Saturday, November 2, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • NASCAR reveals Homestead penalty report

    NASCAR reveals Homestead penalty report

    Conner Jones issued a one-race Truck Series Suspension

    Conner Jones was issued a one-race suspension for his on-track actions following this past weekend’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 26 as part of a triple-header weekend in South Florida.

    Jones’s actions occurred on Lap 75 of 134, where he deliberately hit the rear end of Matt Mills’ No. 42 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado RST entry following an earlier altercation between both competitors. The contact from Jones got Mills loose before he veered to the right across the racetrack and hit the Turn 4 outside wall on the right side hard as Mills’ damaged truck then erupted in flames.

    Mills escaped the wreckage with the aid of medical personnel and was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. Two days later on October 28, he was released and took to social media to express his gratitude for the support he received during his recovery. He has also been medically cleared to race for this upcoming weekend’s event at Martinsville Speedway.

    Jones received a two-lap penalty for the incident and finished in 25th place of the 34-truck field. Following the event, he declined to speak to the media but later apologized for his actions through a statement.

    Jones, previously set to mark the 13th of 14 planned events on the Truck Series schedule during the upcoming weekend at Martinsville, will miss the race due to the suspension. However, he will return to action for next weekend’s season-finale event at Phoenix Raceway. As a result, former Truck Series champion Johnny Sauter, initially set to compete with Hattori Racing Enterprises, is will pilot Jones’ No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford F-150 entry at Martinsville, per the qualifying order sheet.

    Layne Riggs Truck Series Team Issued L1 Penalty

    NASCAR also issued an L1-level penalty to the Craftsman Truck Series No. 38 Front Row Motorsports (FRM) Ford F-150 entry piloted by rookie Layne Riggs due to an improperly mounted ballast that resulted in Riggs starting at the rear of the field for the main event. Riggs would proceed to finish in 22nd place, the final truck scored a lap down, after he ran out of fuel while running in second place on the penultimate lap.

    Riggs’ No. 38 FRM Ford team was also docked 10 driver/owner points as a result of the ballast penalty, and crew chief Dylan Cappello was issued a one-race suspension. Amid the points penalty, Riggs remains in 11th place in the driver’s standings.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs fined $5,000 each

    Three Xfinity Series crew chiefs were issued fines due to a single lug nut that was not secured on each of their respective entries The crew chiefs penalized include Mardy Lindley, crew chief for Playoff contender Sam Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team, Andy Street, crew chief for Playoff contender and race winner Austin Hill and the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing (RCR) Chevrolet Camaro team and Joe Williams, crew chief for Kyle Sieg and the No. 39 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team.

    The lug nut penalty issued to RCR’s No. 21 team and the fine to Street do not affect Hill’s victory as he is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 round and compete for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway next Saturday.

    NASCAR Cup Series

    There were no penalties levied on any Cup Series teams following this past Sunday’s Playoff event at Homestead which was won by Playoff contender Tyler Reddick.

    The NASCAR Craftsman Truck, Xfinity and Cup Series divisions return to action this upcoming weekend at Martinsville Speedway for the final Round of 8 events for all three series. The Truck division will commence the weekend on Friday, November 1, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will occur the following day, November 2, at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network. The Cup division will conclude the weekend on Sunday, November 3, at 2 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Austin Hill clinches first Championship 4 berth with dominant victory at Homestead

    Austin Hill clinches first Championship 4 berth with dominant victory at Homestead

    Austin Hill spent the previous four of five seasons falling one Playoff round short of reaching the Championship 4 round between two of NASCAR’s top three national touring series. But he is now bound for the Xfinity Series championship battle in 2024 after capping off a dominant run with a victory in the Credit One NASCAR AMEX Credit 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 26.

    The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 82 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 16th but quickly carved his way through the field. After assuming the lead for the first time on Lap 41, Hill captured the first stage victory on Lap 45. He retained the lead for the entire second stage period and racked up an additional 10 crucial stage points towards his quest to remain above the top-four cutline in the Playoff standings by claiming another stage victory of the day.

    Then after flirting between challenging Playoff contender Cole Custer for the lead to trying to remain within sight of the lead for the majority of the final stage period, Hill executed his race-winning pass on Custer with 12 laps remaining following a late cycle of green flag pit stops that started with 43 laps remaining. With the clean air to his advantage, Hill proceeded to muscle away from Custer and lead the rest of the way before he emerged triumphant for his fourth Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season to earn a one-way ticket to his first opportunity to contend for his first Xfinity title in this year’s finale.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 25, Playoff contender Chandler Smith notched his third Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 163.305 mph in 33.067 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Sheldon Creed, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 162.822 mph in 33.165 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that include Anthony Alfredo, Jeremy Clements, Matt DiBenedetto and rookie Shane van Gisbergen dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. In addition, DiBenedetto was assessed a pass-through penalty through pit road on the first lap due to his RSS Racing encountering multiple inspection failures.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, the field slowly fanned out through the frontstretch as teammates Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. With the outside lane to his advantage, Smith would muscle his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra ahead with the lead entering Turn 3 and he would proceed to lead the first lap while Playoff contender Cole Custer and Aric Almirola challenged Creed for the runner-up spot.

    Over the next four laps and amid a series of early on-track battles, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to one second over teammate Almirola, who prevailed in his early three-car battle for the runner-up spot, while Custer prevailed in his early battle with Creed to move his No. 00 NXT Ford Mustang into third place. Behind, Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger was in fifth place ahead of Riley Herbst while Playoff contenders Sam Mayer, rookie Jesse Love and Justin Allgaier followed suit in the top nine. Behind, Parker Kligerman occupied 10th place as he was ahead of Playoff contenders Austin Hill and Sammy Smith while newcomer, William Sawalich, Ryan Sieg and Connor Zilisch were in the top 15.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith retained his early advantage to more than a second over Custer and Almirola as Allmendinger and Herbst were in the top five. Behind, Mayer, Love, Hill and Allgaier followed suit while Creed had dropped to 10th place and was prepared to lose the spot to Kligerman for the following lap. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith was the lowest-running Playoff contender in 13th place.

    Ten laps later, Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage to a second over Custer while Allmendinger, who carved his way up to third place, trailed by two seconds. Behind, Almirola settled in fourth place ahead of Mayer, Herbst and Hill while Love, Allgaier and Creed followed suit in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Sawalich, Zilisch and Sammy Smith.

    Another 10 laps later, Chandler Smith’s advantage decreased to a tenth of a second over Custer, with the latter intimidating the former through every turn and straightaway. This left Smith to navigate through various lanes around Homestead to try to defend the top spot and as he was navigating through lapped traffic.

    A lap later, however, Custer used the outside lane to duel with Smith as he led a lap for himself by 0.001 seconds. He then muscled ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch from the outside lane to clear Smith and pull away from the latter, where he would proceed to lead the next lap. As Allmendinger started to close in on Smith for the runner-up spot, Custer retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second at the Lap 35 mark. Custer’s advantage then slightly decreased to two-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Allmendinger as both were navigating through lapped traffic. Behind, Almirola would make his way into third place while Chandler Smith dropped to fourth place.

    Shortly after, Playoff contender Sammy Smith pitted his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro after he made contact with the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2, where he then sustained a flat tire. Back on the track and as the leaders were mired in heavy lapped traffic, Almirola charged his No. 20 Samaritan’s Purse Toyota Supra into the lead on Lap 41. A three-wide battle for the lead then ensued between Custer, Almirola and Hill through the frontstretch for the following lap until Almirola briefly muscled back ahead through the first two turns. Hill then overtook and slid his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro in front of Almirola’s Toyota entering the frontstretch to assume the lead on Lap 43 while Custer tried to challenge Almirola for the runner-up spot.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Hill, who came into Homestead eight points below the top-four cutline to make the Championship 4 field, captured his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Almirola settled in second ahead of Creed, Allgaier and Custer while Mayer, Allmendinger, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points by finishing in the top 10, the remaining Playoff contenders that include Love and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th and 36th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hill pitted for a first round of pit service. Following the pit stops, Hill retained the lead as he exited pit road first ahead of Almirola, Custer, Creed and Herbst while Allmendinger, Mayer, Allgaier, Love, Ryan Sieg and Chandler Smith followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Parker Retzlaff was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Hill and Almirola occupied the front row. At the start, the field fanned out through the frontstretch as Almirola and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch in front of Custer. Hill would then use the inside lane to muscle ahead of Almirola through Turns 3 and 4, where he would lead the following lap. Hill would maintain a reasonable lead over Almirola just past the Lap 55 mark while Custer, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg followed suit in the top five.

    At the Lap 60 mark, Hill was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer while Almirola, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg continued to race in the top five. Behind, Love was in sixth place ahead of Chandler Smith, Creed, Allgaier and Kligerman as Herbst, Zilisch, Mayer, Brandon Jones and Sawalich were in the top 15. As Josh Williams, Ryan Truex, Kyle Weatherman, Jeb Burton and Kyle Sieg were mired in the top 20, Sammy Smith was scored in 27th place and on the lead lap.

    Six laps later, Herbst pitted his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang from 10th place after he scrubbed the outside wall and sustained right-side damage to his car. By then, Hill had fended off Custer to retain the lead. Hill’s advantage over Custer would stand to be at seven-tenths of a second at the Lap 70 mark while third-place Allmendinger trailed by a second. Meanwhile, as Almirola and Ryan Sieg were in the top five, teammates Chandler Smith and Creed battled for sixth place while Allgaier, who scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4, was being pressured by Love for eighth place.

    By Lap 80, Hill extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Custer while third-place Allmendinger trailed by two seconds and by three-tenths of a second to Custer. As Ryan Sieg and Almirola were in the top five, Creed retained sixth ahead of Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love and Sawalich.

    Six laps later, the caution flew as Nick Leitz, who was racing within the top-25 mark, spun his No. 92 DGM Racing Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2. The incident occurred not long after Leland Honeyman pitted due to hitting the wall. Leitz’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 90 to officially conclude under caution as Hill captured his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Allmendinger muscled his way into second place ahead of Custer, Ryan Sieg and Almirola while Creed, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Love and Sawalich were scored in the top 10. With six of eight Playoff contenders racking up the event’s second round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Mayer and Sammy Smith were mired in 14th and 26th, respectively.

    During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hill returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill retained the lead after he exited pit road first as he was followed by Custer, Almirola, Allmendinger, Love, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Chandler Smith, Sawalich and Allgaier. Amid the pit stops, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for speeding on pit road while Dylan Lupton was also penalized for pitting outside of his pit box.

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as Hill and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Custer dueled for the lead in front of Almirola and Allmendinger as Hill assumed a brief lead entering the first turn. Custer then used the outside lane to regain the ground and draw even with Hill through the backstretch and the frontstretch, with Hill leading the next lap. Custer then tried to muscle ahead through the first two turns and the backstretch, but Hill pulled ahead of Custer. Custer then pulled a crossover move on Hill during the next lap and he moved his No. 00 NXT Ford into the lead while Hill was being challenged by Almirola for the runner-up spot. With Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Love and Chandler Smtih all closing ground towards the battle for the lead, Custer retained the lead with 102 laps remaining. Custer would proceed to lead the halfway mark with 100 laps remaining as Almirola, Hill, Sieg and Allmendinger followed suit.

    With 90 laps remaining, the battle for the lead between Custer and Hill that occurred a few laps earlier continued as the former maintained the preferred outside lane towards the outside wall to retain the top spot over the latter, who was trying to use the inside lane to gain a run through all corners. As Custer maintained a reasonable lead of two-tenths of a second over Hill, Almirola trailed in third place while Allmendinger was battling Love for fourth place. As Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Mayer and Kligerman followed suit in the top 10, Sammy Smith was mired in 28th place and scored a lap down.

    Two laps later, Hill used the inside lane to execute another move beneath Custer and he managed to muscle ahead and reassume the lead. Hill proceeded to pull away with the lead by more than two seconds over Custer with 80 laps remaining while Almirola, Allmendinger and Love were scored in the top five.

    Then with 79 laps remaining, the caution flew when Josh Williams, who was racing in the top 15, blew a right-front tire entering Turn 1 and ran dead straight into Ryan Truex as Truex spun the No. 26 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra below the track. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Hill returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill retained the lead after he exited pit road first and was followed by teammate Love, who gained three spots following a quick pit service from the No. 2 team. Custer, Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Mayer and Sawalich followed suit in the top 10. In the midst of the caution period, Sammy Smith received the free pass due to being the first competitor scored a lap down.

    The start of the next restart period with 73 laps remaining featured Hill muscling away from the field to retain the lead while Custer challenged Love for the runner-up spot through the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes, Custer then proceeded to make a move beneath Hill through Turns 3 and 4 as he returned atop the leaderboard for the following lap. As the event reached its final 70-lap stretch, Custer retained the lead by four-tenths of a second over Hill before teammate Love overtook him for the spot a lap later. Ryan Sieg would overtake Hill for third place during the next lap as Love started to slowly close in on Custer for the lead.

    With 55 laps remaining, Custer stretched his advantage to two-and-a-half seconds over Love while third-place Ryan Sieg trailed by three-and-a-half seconds. Meanwhile, Hill retained fourth place ahead of Almirola and Allmendinger while Creed, Chandler Smith, Allgaier and Mayer were in the top 10 ahead of Herbst, Kligerman, Brandon Jones, Sawalich, Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen. In the process, Sammy Smith was mired in 23rd place. A few laps later, Sawalich pitted under green with a flat tire after he slapped the outside wall.

    Ten laps later, Custer added another second to his lead as he was leading by three seconds over Love and he would grow his lead to four seconds for the following lap. Meanwhile, Hill trailed by more than four seconds in third place as Creed and Almirola were in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Mayer and Herbst.

    With 43 laps remaining, a cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as Almirola pitted from the top five. The leader Custer along with Hill, Love, Ryan Sieg, Zilisch, Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton pitted during the following lap before Sammy Smith pitted with 40 laps remaining. Shortly after and with more names pitting, Chandler Smith endured a slow pit service due to a jack issue during his green flag pit stop as teammate Creed, who was among several who had yet to pit, was leading.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Creed continued to lead by two seconds over Allmendinger as Mayer, Kligerman, Jones and van Gisbergen, all of whom had yet to pit, were racing in the top six. Meanwhile, Custer, the first competitor who pitted, trailed the lead by 17 seconds in seventh place as Hill, Almirola and Love were in the top 10. Creed and Mayer, the latter of whom scraped the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2, then pitted during the following lap as Allmendinger cycled into the lead. With Kligerman then pitting not long after, Custer cycled his way up to third place as Allmendinger retained the lead.

    Five laps later, Custer overtook Jones for the runner-up spot as he trailed Allmendinger for the lead by nine seconds. Soon after, Hill would make his way up to third place as he trailed Custer for two seconds on the track while Allmendinger remained in the lead by seven seconds.

    Then with 21 laps remaining, Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Modern Day Garage Chevrolet Camaro from the lead. This allowed Custer to cycle back into the lead, where he was ahead of Hill by more than a second while Almirola, Love and Jones were in the top five. Over the next six laps, Hill would steadily decrease Custer’s advantage as he was trailing Custer by seven-tenths of a second with 15 laps remaining.

    With 12 laps remaining and the leaders mired in lapped traffic, Hill, who gained a big run on Custer through the frontstretch and had been gaining ground using the inside lane, went to the outside lane entering Turns 1 and 2 as he battled dead even with Custer through the backstretch. Hill then used the outside lane to shoot his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet into the lead through Turns 3 and 4, where he led the following lap. Hill would proceed to extend his advantage to a second over Custer with 10 laps remaining while third-place Almirola trailed by four seconds.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Hill continued to extend his late advantage as he was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Custer. Meanwhile, third-place Almirola trailed by four seconds while Love and Herbst were mired in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Creed, Allgaier, Mayer and Zilisch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader by more than three seconds over Custer. Navigating his way through a pair of lapped competitors, Hill was able to smoothly navigate his No. 21 Chevrolet around the Homestead circuit for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch victorious and for his fourth Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Hill, who is in his third consecutive season as a full-time competitor of the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro entry for Richard Childress Racing, achieved his 10th career win in his 112th career start in the Xfinity Series, his first in the series at Homestead-Miami Speedway and his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in early September. Hill also recorded his first NASCAR national touring series victory at Homestead since winning the Craftsman Truck Series finale in 2019 as he delivered the 18th Xfinity victory of the 2024 season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the fifth for Richard Childress Racing.

    Above all, Hill, who spent four of the last five seasons having his Playoff berth end following the Round of 8 between the Truck and Xfinity divisions, clinched a berth into the Championship 4 round for the first time in his career. As a result, he joins AJ Allmendinger as the second competitor who will officially contend for the 2024 Xfinity Series championship at Phoenix Raceway two weeks from now.

    “I worked so hard at this,” Hill, who was emotional, said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “A lot of people doubted me, but I wake up every day to prove everyone wrong, that I deserve to be here. I deserve to race for a championship. This No. 21 team deserves it just as much as I do. They work their asses off each and every day just like I do. I got to give up to those guys. They just gave me a hell of a car. I didn’t have to go run the wall. I could run, really, wherever I wanted to. I can honestly say I’ve never cried coming to the start/finish line. I couldn’t even get my emotions together going into Turn 1 after the checkered.”

    “I just had to be on it,” Hill added. “I made some mistakes today, but we rebounded. Pit crew was badass like they always are. I knew once we got off pit road and we were in touch with [Custer], I just had to go to work and not burn my right front or right rear [tires] up and just save it for the long run. As soon as I saw him start backing up to me, it was game on. This is amazing. To be able to go to the Final Four, I’ve worked so hard for this. My dreams came true.”

    Cole Custer, who led 67 laps, settled in second place as he ended up one spot short of clinching his early spot into the Championship 4 round. Nonetheless, Custer, who earned a total of 14 stage points at Homestead, currently occupies the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 by 28 points over Chandler Smith entering next weekend’s Round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway as he continues his pursuit to defend his series title.

    “Man, I thought that second-to-last run, we had it,” Custer said. “That last run, for whatever reason, we got pretty free and [Hill] seemed like they got way better than what they were the second-to-last run. Sold points day. We’ll move into Martinsville. We’ve had good runs there before. Just got to bring everything we got there because you never know who’s going to win.”

    Aric Almirola settled in third place while rookie Jesse Love and Sheldon Creed finished in the top five. Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger completed the top-10 final running order.

    With six of eight Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10, the remaining two Playoff contenders that include pole-sitter Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith ended up 13th and 22nd, respectively. As a result, Allgaier is above the top-four cutline by 35 points while Chandler Smith, Love, Mayer and Sammy Smith are below the cutline.

    There were 10 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured three cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 82 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 67 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola, one lap led

    4. Jesse Love

    5. Sheldon Creed, 12 laps led

    6. Riley Herbst

    7. Ryan Sieg

    8. Justin Allgaier

    9. Sam Mayer

    10. AJ Allmendinger, nine laps led

    11. Parker Kligerman

    12. Connor Zilisch

    13. Chandler Smith, 29 laps led

    14. Kyle Weatherman

    15. Anthony Alfredo

    16. Jeremy Clements

    17. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    18. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    19. Brandon Jones, one lap down

    20. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    21. Ryan Truex, one lap down

    22. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    23. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    24. William Sawalich, one lap down

    25. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    26. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    27. Josh Williams, three laps down

    28. Brad Perez, three laps down

    29. Austin Green, three laps down

    30. Leland Honeyman, three laps down

    31. Mason Maggio, three laps down

    32. Dylan Lupton, four laps down

    33. Dawson Cram, four laps down

    34. Blaine Perkins, five laps down

    35. Armani Williams, seven laps down

    36. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Ignition

    37. Nick Leitz – OUT, Suspension

    38. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Overheating

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Austin Hill – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier +35

    4. Cole Custer +28

    5. Chandler Smith -28

    6. Jesse Love -35

    7. Sam Mayer -47

    8. Sammy Smith -95

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude at Martinsville Speedway for the National Debt Relief 250, which will determine this year’s Championship 4 field. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, November 2, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Weekend Schedule for Playoff Races at Homestead

    Weekend Schedule for Playoff Races at Homestead

    The NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and Truck Series all travel to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend for the second race in the Playoffs Championship Round of 8. The intensity is rising with only two races remaining before the champions are crowned at Phoenix Raceway next month.

    Team Penske’s Joey Logano is locked into the Cup Series Championship 4 Playoffs after winning last week at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kaulig Racing’s AJ Allmendinger leads the Xfinity Series standings and CR7 Motorsports driver Grant Enfinger tops the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series standings after his win at Talladega Superspeedway.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available this weekend after Cup Series qualifying and after each Playoff race.  

    Cup Series Playoff Championship Standings:

    Joey Logano +17
    Christopher Bell +42
    Kyle Larson +35
    William Byron +27
    Denny Hamlin -27
    Tyler Reddick -30
    Ryan Blaney -47
    Chase Elliott -53

    Xfinity Series Playoff Championship Standings

    AJ Allmendinger +7
    Justin Allgaier +32
    Cole Custer +16
    Chandler Smith +8
    Austin Hill -8
    Jesse Love -13
    Sam Mayer -23
    Sammy Smith -53

    CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff Championship Standings

    Grant Enfinger +18
    Corey Heim +30
    Christian Eckes +29
    Ty Majeski +5
    Rajah Caruth -5
    Taylor Gray -13
    Nick Sanchez -20
    Tyler Ankrum -23

    Friday, Oct. 25

    2:35 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – All entries, 20 minutes
    3:05 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying (Impound)
    4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    Timed, 2 Groups, 15 minutes each
    4:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying
    Impound – All entries, single vehicle, 1 lap

    Saturday, Oct. 26

    9:05 a.m.: Cup Series Practice
    Groups A & B, 20 minutes each
    MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App

    9:50 a.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
    Impound – Groups A & B, Single Vehicle, 1 Lap, 2 Rounds
    MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App

    Noon: NASCAR Truck Series Baptist Health 200
    Stages 30/60/134 Laps = 201 Miles
    FS!/MRN/SiriusXM

    3:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit 300
    Stages 45/90/200 Laps = 300 Miles
    CW/MRN/SiriusXM

    Sunday, Oct. 27

    2:30 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Straight Talk Wireless 400
    Stages 80/165/267 Laps = 400.5 Miles
    NBC/MRN/SiriusXM

  • Brandon Jones to make his 300th Xfinity start at Homestead

    Brandon Jones to make his 300th Xfinity start at Homestead

    Brandon Jones will achieve a milestone start this weekend in the Xfinity Playoff event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will make his 300th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Jones made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Iowa Speedway in May 2015. By then, he had won two races in the ARCA Menards Series and one event in the ARCA Menards Series East, all while driving for Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM).

    He had also made 11 career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, recording a total of two top-10 results while competing between TSM and GMS Racing. Driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing (RCR) on a part-time basis, Jones started fifth and finished eighth in his Xfinity debut. He then made four additional Xfinity starts in 2015, which started in the series’ second visit of the season at Iowa in August along with the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Bristol Motor Speedway, both also occurring in August, before wrapping up his part-time schedule at Kentucky Speedway in September. During this span, Jones notched a season-best fifth-place result at Kentucky, which also marked his first career top-five finish in the series.

    In 2016, Jones campaigned as a full-time Xfinity competitor in RCR’s No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro. After finishing in seventh place during the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February, the Atlanta native proceeded to record 10 additional top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were enough for him to claim a spot into the 2016 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    Jones fell out of title contention after finishing 26th, 17th, and 16th throughout the Round of 12.He recorded a single top-10 result through the remaining four scheduled events and settled in 10th place in the final standings. Despite achieving his first career pole position for the 2017 season opener at Daytona, he only recorded a total of three top-10 results throughout the 33-race schedule as his average-finishing result dropped from 13.8 to 21.4. After missing the 2017 Xfinity Playoffs, Jones, who finished no higher than 11th throughout the Playoffs, ended up in 16th place in the final standings.

    For the 2018 season, Jones transitioned from RCR to Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) to pilot the No. 19 Toyota Camry on a full-time basis in the Xfinity Series. Commencing the season by finishing 10th at Daytona, he utilized consistency in the form of a season-best runner-up result at Talladega Superspeedway in May. He also won the pole at Dover Motor Speedway in May, and a total of 12 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch to qualify for his second career Playoffs.

    Jones recorded two top-10 results throughout the Round of 1 but was eliminated from the Playoffs. But, he finished strong with three additional top-10 results in the final four events on the schedule before claiming ninth place in the final driver’s standings. Overall, Jones boosted his average-finishing result to 13.6 and recorded both double-digit results of top-10 runs (17) and triple-digit results of laps led (173) in a season for the first time in his career. He had also surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.

    Jones’ second Xfinity campaign as a JGR competitor commenced on a strong note as he finished in third place at Daytona in February. He then finished in the top four three additional times and logged in a total of 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch before qualifying for his third career appearance in the Playoffs.

    Jones was eliminated from title contention early after finishing no higher than 11th throughout the Round of 12. He responded by notching his first career victory in his 134th Xfinity Series start at Kansas Speedway in October after leading the final 10 laps and muscling away from the field during a five-lap shootout, which made him the third first-time winner of the season alongside Michael Annett and Austin Cindric. Finishing no lower than 11th through the final three events on the schedule, Jones claimed 10th place in the final standings. By then, Jones had tripled his top-five results recorded from the previous season (six).

    The 2020 Xfinity season was a breakout year for Jones, who claimed two top-10 results through the first three events on the schedule before notching his first victory of the season and the second of his career at Phoenix Raceway in March amid a late battle with teammate Kyle Busch. The Atlanta native then recorded five top-10 results during his next 12 starts before recording his second victory of the season at Kansas in July after overtaking Austin Cindric on the final lap amid an overtime shootout.

    Another six races later, Jones capitalized on a late-race skirmish involving teammate Denny Hamlin and Ross Chastain to overtake both before the final lap and claim victory No. 3 of the season at Darlington Raceway in September. Proceeding to make his fourth career appearance in the Playoffs, Jones transferred into the Round of 8 for the first time in his career after finishing no lower than 11th throughout the Round of 12. But he was eliminated from title contention after finishing ninth, 25th and ninth, respectively, throughout the Round of 8. Managing a strong third-place finish during the finale at Phoenix Raceway in November, Jones settled in a career-best sixth place in the final driver’s standings. By then, he had achieved a career-best 19 top-10 results, 10 of which were top fives, 160 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 12.8.

    Despite commencing the 2021 Xfinity season with a hard incident at Daytona, Jones recorded a season-best runner-up result at Michigan International Speedway in August, nine top-five results and 13 top-10 results throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, all of which were enough for him to make the Playoffs for the fifth time in his career. Despite finishing no lower than 11th throughout the seven-race Playoff stretch, Jones’ title hopes evaporated following the Round of 8 as he claimed seventh place both during the finale and in the final standings. By then, he achieved a career-high 11 top-five results and tied his career-high results of top-10 runs in a season (19). He had also surpassed 200 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    Making his fifth campaign as a Joe Gibbs Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity season, Jones commenced the season by recording a runner-up result at Phoenix in March and three top-10 finishes through seven starts. Then at Martinsville Speedway in April, Jones bumped and overtook teammate Ty Gibbs on the final lap to snap a one-year winless drought with his fifth career victory in the series. He finished in the top 10 six additional times in 18 events on the regular-season calendar before making his sixth career appearance in the Playoffs.

    After transferring into the Round of 8 amid respective finishes of 27th, ninth and seventh throughout the Round of 12, the Georgian finished ninth and 15th, respectively, through the Round of 8’s first two events. Then during the Round of 8 finale at Martinsville in October, Jones, who made a bold three-wide pass on Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson during an overtime shootout, was leading on the final lap when Gibbs bumped and sent his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate spinning and crashing into the Turn 1 outside wall, which plummeted him to 23rd place in the final running order and evaporated his final effort in making the Championship 4 round.

    Concluding the season in 11th place during the finale at Phoenix, Jones ended up in seventh place in the final standings. By then, he led a career-high 240 laps and notched a career-high five poles to coincide with his Martinsville April victory, six top-five results, 13 top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 13.4.

    Jones was named the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JR Motorsports In September 2022 for the 2023 season, replacing Gragson who moved up to the Cup Series. Commencing the season with a 14th-place finish at Daytona, Jones only recorded two top-five results and five top-10 results through the first 25 events on the schedule. Despite posting a season-best runner-up result during the regular-season finale at Kansas in September, he missed the Xfinity Playoffs for the first time since 2017. Jones would proceed to steer the No. 9 entry to three top-10 results throughout the final seven events on the schedule before ending up in 14th place in the final standings.

    Remaining at JR Motorsports for a second full-time campaign in 2024, Jones recorded two poles, a runner-up result at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and seven top-10 results through the season’s 26-race regular-season stretch. He missed the Playoffs but since then he has finished in the top 10 once in his previous four starts. Jones is currently in 14th place in the standings. He is also down to his final three races with JR Motorsports as he will be returning to Joe Gibbs Racing tp pilot a Toyota Supra for the 2025 Xfinity season.

    Through 299 previous Xfinity starts Jones has achieved five victories, 12 poles, 40 top-five results, 119 top-10 results, 921 laps led and an average-finishing result of 15.7.

    Brandon Jones will make his 300th Xfinity Series career start at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit Card 300. The event is set for Saturday, October 26, and will air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Las Vegas

    NASCAR reveals penalty report following Xfinity-Cup features at Las Vegas

    NASCAR released the penalty report following this past weekend’s Xfinity-Cup Series Playoff events at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that occurred between October 19-20, 2024.

    In the Cup Series, John Rosselli (front-tire changer) and Kellen Mills (jackman), both of whom work in the No. 43 Legacy Motor Club Toyota Camry XSE team piloted by Erik Jones, have been issued a two-race suspension due to a right-front wheel that detached from Jones’ car towards Lap 70 of 267 during Sunday’s event. The incident occurred during the event’s first caution period that started on Lap 62, when the wheel detached from Jones’ entry on the track entering Turn 1 after the event’s first round of pit stops and after Jones had received the free pass to cycle back on the lead lap.

    Following the incident in an event that was won by Playoff contender Joey Logano, Jones would finish in 25th place, a lap down, of the 37-car field.

    With the suspensions, Rosselli and Mills will not be present for the upcoming Cup Series Playoff events at Homestead-Miami Speedway and at Martinsville Speedway, respectively.

    In the Xfinity Series, three 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.

    The crew chiefs that were penalized include Kevin Johnson, crew chief for Matt DiBenedetto and the No. 38 RSS Racing Ford Mustang team; Jonathan Toney, crew chief for Playoff contender Cole Custer and the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team; and Shane Whitbeck, crew chief for Jeb Burton and the No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet Camaro team.

    During Saturday’s Xfinity Playoff event at Vegas that was won by Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger, Custer would finish the best of the trio in eighth place while DiBenedetto and Burton ended up 16th and 24th, respectively.

    The NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series’ teams return to action alongside the Craftsman Truck Series’ teams this upcoming weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the second of three Round of 8 events for each of the three series. The Truck and Xfinity divisions host a doubleheader feature on Saturday, October 26, that will commence with the Trucks at noon ET on FS1 while the Xfinity division will follow suit at 3:30 p.m. on the CW Network. The Cup Series action at Homestead will occur the following day, October 27, and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • William Sawalich Joins Joe Gibbs Racing for 2025 Xfinity Series

    William Sawalich Joins Joe Gibbs Racing for 2025 Xfinity Series

    William Sawalich will be a full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2025.

    Sawalich will pilot the No. 18 Toyota Supra at Daytona International Speedway on February 15, 2025. The 18-year-old racer from Eden Prairie, Minnesota will have sponsorship support from Starkey and SoundGear.

    The news comes a month after Sawalich achieved his second consecutive ARCA Menards Series East championship. He won three of the series eight-scheduled events, including the season-finale event at Bristol Motor Speedway. His win at Bristol enabled him to lock up the title by 12 points over Connor Zilisch. Sawalich will also make his Xfinity Series debut this weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway, driving JGR’s No. 19 “all-star” Toyota entry.

    ”I am honored to be driving the No. 18 full-time in the Xfinity Series next year,” Sawalich said. ”It has been really cool to drive for Joe Gibbs Racing, and I feel like I have developed so much as a driver over the past two years. I still have a lot to learn, especially with moving to a new series, so I am looking forward to taking this next step in racing.”

    Sawalich grew up competing in midget cars before transcending from legends cars to late models and the CARS Tour. He is the 2023 All-American 400 winner and won the 2022 SCCA Trans-Am TA2 ProAm Series championship and rookie titles.

    In 2023, Sawalich joined Joe Gibbs Racing on a full-time basis in the ARCA Menards Series East. He will also compete in select events between the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA West division. After winning the season-opening event at Five Flags Speedway, he won half of the season’s eight scheduled events. He wrapped up his first ARCA East title by 58 points over Luke Fenhaus. Sawalich has 13 victories in the ARCA Menards Series between two part-time seasons in 2023 and 2024. Sawalich recorded three victories in the ARCA West division to coincide with his seven victories in the ARCA East division.

    In 2023 Sawalich made his debut in the Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville Speedway in the No. 1 Toyota TRICON Garage. Sawalich started 22nd and finished an impressive ninth place during his debut. He recorded an additional two top-10 results, including a career-best sixth-place result at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park in August, during his next five starts of the season. Returning for a 10-race Truck schedule in 2024. Sawalich made seven starts in the 2024 season. His best result was 11th place at Bristol in September. During his most recent series start at Talladega Superspeedway, he notched his first career pole. Sawalich will also compete in the final three Truck events of the 2024 season with TRICON, beginning this upcoming Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    Following his Xfinity debut at Homestead, Sawalich will drive JGR’s No. 19 Toyota entry for two events at Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway. He will become the 10th competitor overall to drive the No. 19 JGR and record three top-five results and six top-10 results through 30 scheduled starts this season.

    Sawalich will contend for both the series rookie and the driver’s title during the 2025 season. He will compete alongside Joe Gibbs Racing’s two other full-time competitors which include Taylor Gray and Brandon Jones. JGR announced Gray as a full-time Xfinity competitor five days ago. Brandon Jones will return to JGR following a two-year absence.

    “We are thrilled to announce William’s promotion to the next stage of his racing career with us, Steve de Souza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development at JGR, said. “His outstanding record of victories and development over the past two years shows he’s ready for the Xfinity Series. We’re confident he’ll remain a strong contender for wins as he takes on this new challenge in 2025.”

    Additional partners and the crew chief for Sawalich’s No. 18 team in 2025 will be announced at a later date.

    Sawalich will make his 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series debut Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Credit One NASCAR Amex Credit 300.

  • 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.