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Category: XFINITY Series

NASCAR XFINITY Series news and information

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Iowa Speedway

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Iowa Speedway

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Iowa Speedway for the first time. The Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol is scheduled for Sunday, June 16 at 7 p.m.. It will air on the USA Network at 7 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Nine drivers have earned a spot in the Cup Series Playoffs by virtue of wins including Christopher Bell, William Byron, Austin Cindric, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Larson, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suárez, leaving seven available spots.

    After a five-year absence, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will compete at the .875-mile short track. The Hy-Vee PERKS 250 is set for Saturday, June 15 at 3:30 p.m. ET and will also be broadcast on the USA Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Justin Allgaier, Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, and Shane van Gisbergen have claimed their spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs via wins, leaving six open spots.

    NBC Sports will broadcast the final 20 Cup Series and 11 NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2024 across the NBC, USA Network and Peacock platforms.

    BROADCAST TEAM

    • Play by Play: Rick Allen
    • Analysts: Jeff Burton, Steve Letarte, Brad Daugherty
    • Pit Reporters: Marty Snider, Dave Burns, Kim Coon
    • Specialty Reporter: Dale Jarrett

    STUDIO COVERAGE TEAM

    • Host: Marty Snider
    • Studio Analysts: Dale Jarrett, Brad Daugherty

    Friday, June 14
    3 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Practice – ARCA Race Center
    4 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Qualifying – ARCA Race Center
    4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – USA/NBC Sports
    5:35 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM
    8 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Atlas 150 (64 Laps, 127.36 Miles) FS1/MRN

    Saturday, June 15
    12:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports
    1:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM
    Post Cup Series Qualifying: NASCAR Press Pass
    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Hy-Vee Perks 250
    Stages 75/150/250 = 218.75 miles
    USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,408,568
    Post Xfinity Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass

    Sunday, June 16
    7 p.m.: Cup Series Iowa Corn 350 Powered by Ethanol
    Stages 70/210/350 = 306.25 miles
    USA/NBC Sports/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $8,881,630
    Post Cup Series Race: NASCAR Press Pass

    All times are Eastern.

  • Anthony Alfredo to make 100th Xfinity career start at Iowa

    Anthony Alfredo to make 100th Xfinity career start at Iowa

    Competing in his third consecutive season as a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Anthony Alfredo is set to achieve a milestone start. By competing in the series’ return at Iowa Speedway this upcoming weekend, the driver of the No. 5 Our Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro will make his 100th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Alfredo, a former CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour competitor for JR Motorsports, made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Auto Club Speedway in February 2020. By then, he had campaigned in the 2018 ARCA Menards Series East season on a full-time basis for MDM Motorsports, where he achieved his first victory at South Boston Speedway and ended up in fifth place in the final driver’s standings, and had made 13 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series for DGR-Crosley in 2019.

    Driving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro on a part-time basis, Alfredo started 13th and finished an impressive sixth place in his Xfinity debut following a late battle with Justin Haley. He would proceed to finish 14th at Darlington Raceway in May and 10th at Atlanta Motor Speedway in June before notching his first top-five career result in the form of a fourth-place finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway during his fourth series start. Throughout his next 13 starts, the Connecticut native racked five additional top-10 results, all being sixth-place finishes, before he was involved in a late multi-car accident at Kansas Speedway in October that resulted with him flipping over and ending up in 29th place. He would rally during the following weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, which also marked his final Xfinity start of the season, by notching a career-best third place. Overall, Alfredo notched two top-five results and nine top-10 results in 19 starts for RCR as RCR’s No. 21 entry ended up in 11th place in the 2020 Xfinity owner’s standings.

    After competing in the Cup Series for Front Row Motorsports in 2021, Alfredo returned to the Xfinity Series in 2022 as he joined forces with Our Motorsports to pilot the No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro. Commencing the season by finishing seventh at Daytona International Speedway in February amid a final lap multi-car wreck, he notched a fifth-place result during the following event at Auto Club Speedway before finishing no higher than 12th during his next six scheduled starts. He would then manage to finish sixth at Talladega Superspeedway in April before finishing no higher than 15th twice during his next four starts. During the series’ inaugural event at Portland International Raceway in June, Alfredo secured his first career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 93.229 mph in 76.071 seconds amid a rain-shortened qualifying session. Ultimately, he would end up in 31st place after being involved in a late multi-car wreck during a restart with 13 laps remaining.

    Despite recording eight top-20 results during the final 12 regular-season events on the schedule, Alfredo did not make the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs. He would proceed to finish in the top 20 five times in the final seven events on the schedule, including a 10th-place run at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in October, before settling in 15th place in the final driver’s standings. Overall, Alfredo notched a single pole position, a top-five result, four top-10 results, 15 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.3 during his first full-time Xfinity campaign.

    This past season, Alfredo transitioned from Our Motorsports to B.J. McLeod Motorsports as he piloted the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro on a full-time Xfinity basis. He commenced the season by finishing 24th at Daytona after being involved in a multi-car wreck on the final lap. During his next 23 starts, he racked up a total of nine top-20 results and finished no higher than 13th before recording his first top-10 result of the season at Daytona in August by finishing eighth. After missing the Playoffs for a second consecutive season, Alfredo secured another eighth-place run at Martinsville Speedway in October throughout the seven-race Playoff stretch before settling in 20th place in the final driver’s standings. Despite leading a career-high 24 laps throughout the 2023 season, he ended up with an average-finishing result of 24.1.

    Returning to Our Motorsports for this season, Alfredo has logged in five top-10 results and he tied his career-best result in the series by finishing third at Talladega in late April. He is currently ranked in 15th place and trails the top-12 cutline to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs by 31 points.

    Through 99 previous starts in the Xfinity Series, Alfredo has achieved one pole, four top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 60 laps led and an average-finishing result of 19.2 as he continues his pursuit for both his first Xfinity race victory and a Playoff berth.

    Anthony Alfredo is scheduled to make his 100th Xfinity Series career start at Iowa Speedway for the HyVee Perks 250. The event’s broadcast coverage is scheduled to occur on Saturday, June 15, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Shane van Gisbergen muscles to second consecutive Xfinity victory of 2024 at Sonoma

    Shane van Gisbergen muscles to second consecutive Xfinity victory of 2024 at Sonoma

    On the heels of notching two firsts between two road course venues in two West Coast states, rookie Shane van Gisbergen accomplished another first by notching back-to-back victories in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for the first time after scoring a dominant victory in the second annual running of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 8.

    The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led twice for a race-high 32 of 79 scheduled laps in an event where he led the field to the green flag from pole position for the first time in his career. After taking care of business early by winning the first stage period on Lap 20, he was shuffled back into the top 10 for the start of the second stage period after pitting during the first stage’s break period. Nonetheless, the New Zealander methodically carved his way back towards the front, where he would run for the remainder of the event.

    After challenging Austin Hill for the lead before a late-race caution for rookie Jesse Love spinning with 15 laps remaining, van Gisbergen capitalized on the ensuing restart period with 11 laps remaining by making contact with Hill entering the first two turns. The contact got Hill loose and shuffled him back to fifth place while van Gisbergen reassumed the lead. Despite battling a voltage issue to his No. 97 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet entry since the midpoint region, van Gisbergen managed to muscle away from Sam Mayer and Sheldon Creed in the closing laps with enough power to claim the checkered flag.

    It was his second consecutive victory in the Xfinity Series in Sonoma, California, one week after achieving his first series victory at Portland International Raceway.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his first Xfinity pole position of the season and of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.933 mph in 74.677 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 95.458 mph in 75.049 seconds.

    Before the event, Boris Said dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Friday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Shane van Gisbergen and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead through the first turn and approaching the uphill turn to Turn 2 before he managed to launch ahead of Gibbs prior to entering Turns 3 and 3A. As the field behind jostled for early spots, van Gisbergen retained the lead through Turns 4 and 7, including the circuit Chute corner, before navigating through a series of right and left-hand turns through Turns 8 and 10. Once he navigated his way through Turns 11 and 12, van Gisbergen proceeded to lead the first lap over Gibbs while AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill and rookie Jesse Love followed suit.

    Over the next three laps, van Gisbergen maintained and stretched his advantage as high as eight-tenths of a second over Gibbs throughout the circuit’s 12 turns while Allmendinger, Hill and Love continued to trail in the top five.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, van Gisbergen retained the lead by half a second over Gibbs as Hill, Love and Allmendinger followed suit in the top five. Behind, Justin Allgaier trailed closely in sixth place ahead of teammate Sam Mayer, John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith while Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Anthony Alfredo and Parker Retzlaff were racing in the top 15 ahead of Riley Herbst, Jeb Burton, Ed Jones, Austin Green and Ryan Sieg. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clements was mired in 22nd, three spots ahead of Josh Williams. In addition, Boris Said was back in 31st behind Brandon Jones and Hailie Deegan was in 37th while racing in between Matt DiBenedetto and Garrett Smithley.

    Five laps later, van Gisbergen stabilized his advantage to half a second over Gibbs, who kept van Gisbergen close in front of him as he continued to try to narrow the deficit, while Hill, Love and Allmendinger continued to trail in the top five. As Allgaier retained sixth place ahead of teammate Mayer, Nemechek and Creed, Kligerman navigated his way into 10th place after he made contact with Custer in Turn 11 before proceeding to overtake Sammy Smith on the track. Sammy Smith would then battle Chandler Smith and Custer for 11th place during the following lap while Kligerman proceeded to battle Creed for ninth place.

    On Lap 14, Creed pitted due to a vibration concern to his No. 18 MRC Construction Toyota Supra entry under green. Prior to Creed’s pit service, Hill slid his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro entry into the Turn 11 outside tire barrier while running in third place, but he proceeded without drawing a caution and without sustaining significant damage. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen continued to hold a narrow lead over Gibbs by the Lap 15 mark.

    Then starting on Lap 16, a first round of green flag pit stops commenced as Mayer, Allgaier, Custer, Austin Green and Ed Jones pitted their respective. Gibbs would then surrender the runner-up spot to pit his No. 19 Starkey/Soundgear Toyota Supra during the following lap along with Love as Allmendinger moved into second place, all while van Gisbergen remained on the track with the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, van Gisbergen claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the season and his career. Teammate Allmendinger trailed in second place by a distance along with Hill, Kligerman and Nemechek while Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Alfredo, Retzlaff and Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by van Gisbergen pitted while the rest led by Gibbs, including those who pitted before the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Herbst was penalized for speeding on pit road while Allmendinger endured a slow pit service due to the front tire changer’s hose getting caught on the splitter of Allmendinger’s entry.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Gibbs and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs muscled ahead of Love to retain the lead through the first turn and as he entered the uphill climb to Turn 2 while Love was trying to fend off JR Motorsports’ Mayer and Allgaier for the runner-up spot. A series of on-track battles and contact within the field ensued through the Chute and entering Turns 7 to 10 as van Gisbergen, the first competitor who exited pit road first, charged his way back into the top five on four fresh tires. With van Gisbergen starting to intimidate Creed for fourth place, Gibbs retained a steady advantage over Love and Mayer as Leland Honeyman went off the track and spun just past Turn 1.

    At the Lap 26 mark, Gibbs was leading by six-tenths of a second over Love while third-place Mayer trailed by a second. Behind, van Gisbergen trailed the lead by three seconds in fourth place while Creed settled in fifth, with Allgaier, Custer, Hill, Kligerman and Nemechek racing in the top 10.

    By Lap 30, Gibbs continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Mayer and by more than a second over third-place Mayer. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen settled in fourth place along with fifth-place Creed while Custer fended off Allgaier in a battle for sixth place. Allgaier would then be pressured by Hill, Kligerman, Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Allmendinger for seventh place while Sammy Smith, Austin Green and Retzlaff trailed in the top 15.

    Shortly after, Boris Said, who was piloting the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry for Hendrick Motorsports, spun in Turn 7A after he got hit by Alex Labbe while battling within the top 20 on the track. Nonetheless, Said managed to proceed without drawing a caution as Gibbs continued to lead. Gibbs would then proceed to extend his advantage to more than two seconds over Love by the Lap 35 mark.  

    Nearing the Lap 40 mark, a series of battles started to ensue within the circuit as Kligerman was trying to fend off Allgaier, who was slowly losing spots, and Nemechek for ninth place while van Gisbergen was closing in on Mayer and Love for top-three spots. Allgaier would then be overtaken by Nemechek for 10th place as Green, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Retzlaff all tried to close in on Allgaier for more. Soon after, van Gisbergen made a bold move beneath Mayer to move into third place and he proceeded to track Mayer for the runner-up spot while Gibbs stretched his advantage to four seconds.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage period, select names including Hill, Mayer, Green and Allmendinger pitted under green, with Mayer only opting for two fresh tires for his entry. Amid the pit stops Gibbs remained on the track with the race lead while Love was being pressured by van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 45, Gibbs claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season while van Gisbergen, who overtook Love for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, retained the spot. Creed and Custer followed suit in the top five while Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Kligerman, Allgaier and Retzlaff were scored in the top 10. Amid the conclusion of the second stage period, Sammy Smith pitted to address a broken axle to his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro, an issue that would send him to the garage and pin him multiple laps behind.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Gibbs pitted while select names including Hill, Green and Allmendinger remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Custer exited pit road first as he was followed by van Gisbergen, Mayer, Creed, Allgaier and Kligerman. Amid the pit stops, Nemechek and Clements were sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road while Herbst was penalized for a second time, this time for pitting his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang outside of his pit box. In addition, Boris Said was sent to the rear of the field for a safety violation.

    With 30 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Austin Hill and Austin Green occupied the front row. At the start, Hill muscled ahead with the lead while Allmendinger made his way into second place over Green. The caution then quickly flew when Chandler Smith, who was battling for a top-10 spot, got bumped and sent sideways by Jeb Burton in between Turns 2 and 3 as he bounced off of Josh Williams and triggered a multi-car wreck that stacked up the midfield region. Among those involved included Burton, Brandon Jones, Ed Jones, Herbst, Kyle Weatherman, Ryan Sieg, Retzlaff, Preston Pardus, Josh Bilicki, Said and Gibbs, who restarted in the mid-pack region after enduring a slow pit service during the second stage period and had his hopes of winning spoiled with a wrecked race car. Amid the carnage, Hill retained the lead as he was followed by Allmendinger, Green, van Gisbergen, Custer and Mayer.

    Following an extensive caution period to have the multi-car carnage cleared, the event restarted under green with 24 laps remaining. At the start, Hill and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the uphill first turn until Hill managed to muscle ahead with the lead. As Allmendinger tried to keep Hill close in front of him, he was pressured by teammate van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. Van Gisbergen then made a bold move beneath teammate Allmendinger to overtake him from the runner-up spot while Hill retained the lead during the next lap. Amid the battle towards the front, Custer was rammed by Mayer and sent for a spin in Turn 11. Not long after, Chandler Smith spun in Turn 7A, but the event remained under green as van Gisbergen started to close in on Hill for the lead.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Hill was leading by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging van Gisbergen while third-place Allmendinger trailed by two seconds. Mayer and Kligerman trailed in the top five while Creed, Green, Allgaier, Love and Nemechek were racing in the top 10 ahead of Alfredo, Ryan Sieg, Alex Labbe, Retzlaff and Herbst.

    Five laps later, Hill continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over van Gisbergen, who began to report a voltage issue to his car. Amid the issues, van Gisbergen started to close in on Hill for the lead, where he then tried to make a move beneath Hill in Turn 11, before the caution returned as Love slipped sideways and spun his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 10 while running in eighth place.

    During the caution period, select names including Kligerman, Blaine Perkins, Love, Brad Perez, Custer and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Hill and van Gisbergen remained on the track.

    As the event restarted with 11 laps remaining, Hill briefly muscled ahead from the inside lane approaching the uphill first turn before van Gisbergen drew even against Hill entering Turn 2. Van Gisbergen then kept his foot on the throttle and ran into the side of Hill, which resulted in Hill getting loose, briefly dropping off the pace and losing spots as van Gisbergen rocketed away with the lead. Behind, Mayer moved into the runner-up spot followed by Green while Allmendinger followed suit in fourth place. Allmendinger was then sent for a spin in Turn 7A after getting hit by Creed as he plummeted below the leaderboard. With the event remaining under green flag conditions, van Gisbergen retained the lead with 10 laps remaining.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, van Gisbergen stretched and stabilized his advantage to a second over Mayer’s No. 1 myRTIC Chevrolet Camaro while third-place Creed trailed by two seconds. Behind, Green retained fourth place ahead of Hill while Nemechek, Ryan Sieg, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Retzlaff were in the top 10.

    Two laps later, Creed made his move beneath Mayer through Turn 11 to assume the runner-up spot. With Mayer trying to keep Creed in pace along with Austin Green, Ryan Sieg and Preston Pardus both wrecked separately in Turn 3A, but the event remained under green flag conditions as van Gisbergen retained the lead by more than two seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by more than two seconds over Creed as Mayer and Green followed suit. Having a comfortable lead to his advantage, van Gisbergen cruised his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro smoothly around Sonoma’s 12-turn circuit for a final time before he cycled his way back to the frontstretch and claimed his second consecutive checkered flag in the series, where he beat runner-up Sheldon Creed by more than a second.

    With the victory, van Gisbergen became the first competitor to record his first two career wins in the series in back-to-back races since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2019 and the 132nd competitor overall to achieve multiple victories in the Xfinity circuit. He also joins Aric Almirola as the only other competitor to win an Xfinity event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, with the New Zealander etching the 25th Xfinity career win for Kaulig Racing.

    “Firstly, I got to thank these guys so much [at] Kaulig Racing,” van Gisbergen, who kicked another rugby football into the frontstretch’s stands, said on FS1. “Our WeatherTech Camaro got beat up again, but man, what a race. Adventure up and down all day. That last restart [with 11 laps remaining], I was just giving it all I had. Two guys going for the same real estate come together. It was pretty awesome, a lot of fun. Hope everyone enjoyed the show. Pretty awesome, back-to-back weeks for us. It’s awesome and the work we did between weeks to make the car better again. It’s special to win two road courses in a row and one day, dream about winning on an oval.”

    Sheldon Creed settled in the runner-up position for the second time of the 2024 season and the ninth of his career while Sam Mayer rallied from a 28th-place result last weekend at Portland to finish third. Austin Green, son of former Xfinity Series champion David Green, piloted the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet Camaro to a career-best fourth-place finish in his third series start while Hill, who led 21 laps, ended up in fifth place.

    During van Gisbergen’s post-race burnout around the Sonoma circuit, Hill kept his No. 21 Chevrolet running in front of van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet as the race-winning driver did a full course burnout and refused to let the latter pass until he pulled into his pit stall while van Gisbergen celebrated with more burnouts on the frontstretch. Amid the disappointment, Hill, who endured an earlier run-in with van Gisbergen at Circuit of the Americas while battling for the victory in late March, minced his words and spoke little about his perspective towards the contact with van Gisbergen that dropped him out of race-winning contention.

    “I’m gonna leave it to the keyboard warriors on this one,” Hill said. “I’ll let them figure out what happened. I’m sure no matter what comment I say, it’ll be wrong. I plead the Fifth [Amendment]. I’m not gonna say anything about [the contact]. We’ll just go onto the next [race]. Good hard racing. We were holding off [van Gisbergen] there for a while, had that caution [with 15 laps remaining], I knew it was gonna be tough on the restart. Didn’t work out, but we had a good points day, finished in the top five. Can’t ask for more than that.”

    Justin Allgaier settled in sixth while Chandler Smith rallied from being involved in two separate incidents to finish seventh. John Hunter Nemechek, Cole Custer and Parker Kligerman finished in the top 10.

    There were three lead changes for three different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 14 laps. In addition, 28 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 14th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer continues to lead the regular-season standings by 12 points over both Austin Hill and Chandler Smith, with Justin Allgaier trailing by 24 points and rookie Jesse Love trailing by 74 points.

    Results.

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 32 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Sheldon Creed

    3. Sam Mayer

    4. Austin Green

    5. Austin Hill, 21 laps led

    6. Justin Allgaier

    7. Chandler Smith

    8. John Hunter Nemechek

    9. Cole Custer

    10. Parker Kligerman

    11. Parker Retzlaff

    12. Jesse Love

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Brennan Poole

    15. Ed Jones

    16. Josh Bilicki

    17. AJ Allmendinger

    18. Blaine Perkins

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Ryan Sieg

    21. Matt DiBenedetto

    22. Jeremy Clements

    23. Kyle Sieg

    24. Brad Perez

    25. Preston Pardus

    26. Ryan Ellis

    27. Garrett Smithley

    28. Boris Said

    29. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

    30. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    31. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

    32. Hailie Deegan, seven laps down

    33. Sammy Smith, eight laps down

    34. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Transmission

    35. Ty Gibbs – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    36. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    37. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    38. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ return to Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, for the Hy-Vee PERKS 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 15, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Shane van Gisbergen speeds to first Xfinity career pole at Sonoma

    Shane van Gisbergen speeds to first Xfinity career pole at Sonoma

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen checked off another accomplishment to his racing resume by notching his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career pole for the second annual running of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway on Saturday, June 8.

    The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, commenced his first NASCAR weekend at Sonoma on a strong note by being the fastest during Friday’s lone practice session. After being one of 10 competitors to transfer into the final round of qualifying through two qualifying groups, van Gisbergen, who was the fastest in his qualifying group, posted his best qualifying lap at 95.933 mph in 74.677 seconds, which was enough to claim the pole position over a hard-charging Ty Gibbs.

    The first Xfinity pole for van Gisbergen comes on the heels of his first Xfinity career victory at Portland International Raceway a week ago, a victory that places him in contention to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. He has also recorded two top-five and three top-10 results through his previous 13 starts in this year’s Xfinity campaign and is ranked in 14th place in the current Xfinity regular-season standings with 303 points.

    In addition to his road-course expertise and the speed of his No. 97 WeatherTech/Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry, van Gisbergen credited his wheel force test he performed in a Cup Series’ Next Gen Chevrolet stock car entry at Sonoma in early May that enabled him to navigate his way around Sonoma Raceway for the first time.

    “The WeatherTech Chevrolet, it’s rapid, man,” van Gisbergen said on FS2. “I didn’t do the best laps I could. Still, to have that gap on the field, these [No. 97] guys have done an awesome job. We changed quite a lot from last week. It’s good. I understand what I need from the car to be faster…These NASCAR races are an adventure, so I’m sure this afternoon won’t be plain sailing. We’ll try and get through it.”

    Ty Gibbs, a Cup Series regular who is making his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season for Joe Gibbs Racing, posted the second-fastest qualifying lap at 95.458 mph in 75.049 seconds and will share the front row with van Gisbergen. Gibbs finished in fourth place while competing in the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma a year ago.

    Austin Hill will line up in third place and start in the second row alongside AJ Allmendinger while Justin Allgaier will start in fifth place as he will share the third row with rookie Jesse Love. John Hunter Nemechek, Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith, all transferred into the final round of qualifying, completing the top 10 in the starting lineup.

    Chandler Smith, the first competitor who fell short of transferring into the final round of qualifying, will start in 11th place and will share the fifth row with series’ points leader Cole Custer.

    Notably, Parker Kligerman, who was second fastest behind van Gisbergen during Friday’s practice session, will start in 14th place. Kyle Sieg, piloting the No. 28 RSS Racing Ford Mustang entry that won the inaugural Xfinity event at Sonoma with veteran Aric Almirola a year ago, will start in 32nd place. With Almirola not entered in this weekend’s event, we will see a new race winner in the series’ annual visit to Sonoma.

    In addition, Boris Said, who wrecked the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro during Friday’s practice session and switched to a backup car from JR Motorsports, will line up in 35th place as he relied on owner points to make the event. Other competitors who relied on owner points to make the event included Ryan Ellis, Matt DiBenedetto, Hailie Deegan and Garrett Smithley.

    With 39 competitors vying for 38 starting spots, Sage Karam, piloting the No. 35 Toyota entry for Joey Gase Motorsports, was the only competitor who did not qualify for the main event.

    Qualifying position, best speed, best time

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 95.933 mph, 74.677 seconds
    2. Ty Gibbs, 95.458 mph, 75.049 seconds
    3. Austin Hill, 95.370 mph, 75.118 seconds
    4. AJ Allmendinger, 95.040 mph, 75.379 seconds
    5. Justin Allgaier, 95.009 mph, 75.403 seconds
    6. Jesse Love, 94.939 mph, 75.459 seconds
    7. John Hunter Nemechek, 94.751 mph, 75.609 seconds
    8. Sam Mayer, 94.716 mph, 75.637 seconds
    9. Sheldon Creed, 94.624 mph, 75.710 seconds
    10. Sammy Smith, 94.509 mph, 75.802 seconds
    11. Chandler Smith, 94.607 mph, 75.724 seconds
    12. Cole Custer, 94.563 mph, 75.759 seconds
    13. Parker Retzlaff, 94.427 mph, 75.868 seconds
    14. Parker Kligerman, 94.389 mph, 75.899 seconds
    15. Riley Herbst, 94.360 mph, 75.922 seconds
    16. Anthony Alfredo, 94.159 mph, 76.084 seconds
    17. Ed Jones, 94.102 mph, 76.130 seconds
    18. Ryan Sieg, 94.050 mph, 76.172 seconds
    19. Alex Labbe, 93.741 mph, 76.423 seconds
    20. Jeb Burton, 93.661 mph, 76.489 seconds
    21. Blaine Perkins, 93.624 mph, 76.519 seconds
    22. Austin Green, 93.601 mph, 76.538 seconds
    23. Jeremy Clements, 93.593 mph, 76.544 seconds
    24. Preston Pardus, 93.566 mph, 76.566 seconds
    25. Kyle Weatherman, 93.532 mph, 76.594 seconds
    26. Thomas Annunziata, 93.515 mph, 76.608 seconds
    27. Brandon Jones, 93.499 mph, 76.621 seconds
    28. Josh Williams, 93.270 mph, 76.809 seconds
    29. Leland Honeyman, 93.251 mph, 76.825 seconds
    30. Brad Perez, 93.131 mph, 76.924 seconds
    31. Josh Bilicki, 93.112 mph, 76.940 seconds
    32. Kyle Sieg, 93.109 mph, 76.942 seconds
    33. Brennan Poole, 93.039 mph, 77 seconds
    34. Ryan Ellis, Owner Points
    35. Boris Said, Owner Points
    36. Matt DiBenedetto, Owner Points
    37. Hailie Deegan, Owner Points
    38. Garrett Smithley, Owner Points

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway is set to occur on Saturday, June 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for Sonoma Raceway

    Weekend schedule for Sonoma Raceway

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series travel to Sonoma Raceway. Martin Truex Jr. is the defending Cup Series race winner at the 1.99-mile track and leads all active drivers with four wins (2023, 2019, 2018, 2013) at Sonoma.

    Denny Hamlin is the most recent Cup Series pole winner with a lap of 92.178 mph in 77.719 seconds last June.

    This will be the second time the Xfinity Series has competed on the 1.99-mile course. Last year’s race winner, Aric Almirola, and pole winner, Kyle Larson, are not entered in this weekend’s event.

    The Craftsman Truck Series is off and returns to completion on June 28 at Nashville Superspeedway.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, June 7
    1:40 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice (All Entries) ARCA Race Center
    3:10 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying (Timed, Impound) ARCA Race Center
    4:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice – All Entries (Tape delayed: 5 p.m.) F1
    5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Practice – All Entries (Tape delayed: 8:30 p.m.) FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    6:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West General Tire 200 – 64 Laps, 127.36 Miles FloRacing

    Saturday, June 8
    3:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Impound, Group A & B, Multi-Vehicle, 2 Rounds) FS2
    6 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying (Impound, Group A & B, Multi-Vehicle, 2 Rounds) FS2/PRN/SiriusXM
    Post-NCS Qualifying Press Pass
    8 p.m.: Xfinity Series Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250
    Stages 20/45/79 Laps = 156.95 Miles – FS1/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,747,861
    Post-Xfinity Race – Press Pass

    Sunday, June 9
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350
    Stages 25/55/110 Laps = 218.9 Miles FOX/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $8,426,274
    Post-Cup Series: Press Pass

  • Josh Williams to make 200th Xfinity career start at Sonoma

    Josh Williams to make 200th Xfinity career start at Sonoma

    In his eighth season with at least one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Josh Williams is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 at Sonoma Raceway, the driver of the No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro will make his 200th career start in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of Port Charlotte, Florida, Williams made his inaugural presence in the Xfinity Series at Michigan International Speedway in June 2016. By then, Williams, who grew up competing in go-karts before ascending to Legends cars and stock cars, had made 89 career starts in the ARCA Menards Series and a single start in the Craftsman Truck Series, which occurred at Martinsville Speedway in March 2014 as most of his start occurred with his family-owned team. Driving the No. 79 Jimmy Means Racing Chevrolet as a start-and-park driver, Williams started 40th and finished 38th in his Xfinity debut. He would make a second start of the season at Kentucky Speedway in September and in the No. 92 Chevrolet for King Autosport, where he ended up in 37th place.

    The following season, Williams made a total of seven Xfinity starts between the Nos. 90 and 92 entries for team owner Mario Gosselin. During the season, he recorded a season-best 22nd-place at Bristol Motor Speedway in April. He then competed in 20 Xfinity events for Gosselin in 2018, where he achieved a season-best 20th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in September.

    In January 2019, Williams transitioned to pilot DGM Racing’s No. 36 Chevrolet for all 33 Xfinity Series events. Despite not qualifying for the Xfinity event at Richmond Raceway in April, the Floridian achieved his first top-10 career result after finishing eighth at Talladega Superspeedway in mid-April. His next best result were a pair of 14th-place finishes that occurred during both Texas Motor Speedway scheduled events in April and October, respectively, as he also led four laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in September before settling in 17th place. Ultimately, he would notch a total of seven top-15 results and 17 top-20 results before settling in 17th place in the final standings. By then, he boosted his average-finishing result from 26.7 during the previous season to 20.6 during the 2019 season.

    Williams would compete in every event of the 33-race Xfinity schedule in DGM Racing’s No. 92 Chevrolet during the 2020 season. After notching his first top-10 result of the season at Auto Club Speedway with a 10th-place run in March, Williams would proceed to finish in the top 10 five additional times as he would finish ninth at Bristol Motor Speedway in June, ninth at Daytona in August, seventh at Talladega Superspeedway, a career-best sixth at Kansas and ninth at Texas, with the latter three occurring in October. To go along with a total of 13 top-15 results and 20 top-20 results, Williams settled in a career-best 15th in the final driver’s standings and with a career-best average-finishing result of 18.6.

    The following season, Williams, who remained at DGM Racing, recorded only a single top-10 result, which was a 10th-place finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June. His next best results were a pair of 11th-place runs at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course and at Martinsville Speedway in October. Aside from not competing in the series’ inaugural event at Circuit of the Americas in May, the Floridian recorded 18 top-20 results throughout the 2021 Xfinity season before settling in 18th place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 20.7. By then, he had surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.

    The 2022 season was an eventful year for Williams, who parted ways from DGM Racing and joined BJ McLeod Motorsports at the start of the season. After not qualifying in four of 21-scheduled events while only managing to finish in the top 20 three times, Williams returned to DMG Racing, beginning at Darlington Raceway in September as he split driving roles between the team’s Nos. 92 and 36 entries. For the final 10 events on the schedule, he earned a 19th-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in October before notching a season-best 15th-place run in the 2022 Xfinity Series finale at Phoenix Raceway in November. Despite missing five events, Williams’ average-finishing result was 25.8.

    Retained by DGM Racing to pilot the No. 92 entry on a full-time basis in 2023, Williams commenced the season by finishing 15th at Daytona followed by finishing 16th at Auto Club Speedway in February. Three races later at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Williams gained national attention that started when he sustained right-front damage to his No. 92 entry after being involved in a Lap 26 incident involving Jeb Burton and Brett Moffitt. After drawing another caution five laps later due to debris that came off of his damaged car, Williams was parked by NASCAR for the rest of the event under a provision in the Damaged Vehicle Policy standard. In response, Williams parked his damaged car across the start/finish line in the frontstretch, climbed out and walked to pit road, where he saluted the fans before making the trip to the infield care center. Eventually, NASCAR suspended him from competing in the series’ following event at Circuit of the Americas in March due to his actions at Atlanta. Returning at Richmond Raceway in April, Williams would proceed to record a total of three top-10 results, including a season-best eighth-place run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, and a total of 15 top-20 results before ending up in 21st place in the final standings and with an average-finishing result of 23.3.

    Twelve days after the 2023 season concluded, Williams was announced as the driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing for the 2024 Xfinity Series season, where he replaced Daniel Hemric as Hemric moved back up to the Cup Series with Kaulig. Currently, Williams has achieved three top-10 results through the first 13 events of the season and is coming off a seventh-place result at Portland International Raceway. He is ranked in 18th place in the driver’s standings and trails the top-12 cutline to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs by 109 points with 13 regular-season events remaining.

    Through 199 previous starts in the Xfinity Series, Williams has achieved 14 top-10 results, 19 laps led and an average-finishing result of 22.6 as he continues his pursuit for both his first Xfinity victory and Playoff berth.

    Josh Williams is scheduled to make his 200th Xfinity Series career start at Sonoma Raceway for the second annual running of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250 on Saturday, June 8. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Shane van Gisbergen scores first Xfinity career victory at Portland

    Shane van Gisbergen scores first Xfinity career victory at Portland

    Nearly a year after making his inaugural presence in NASCAR quickly known with his first Cup Series career victory at Chicago, rookie Shane van Gisbergen checked off another accomplishment by clinching his first Xfinity Series career win in the third annual running of the Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, June 1.

    The three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, led three times for 12 of 75 scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly endured a wild start by sending pole-sitter Sam Mayer for a spin. Despite struggling to launch on restarts and after slipping off the course during the second stage period, van Gisbergen managed to keep himself running towards the front in the closing stages. Amid two late-race restarts, van Gisbergen then managed to overtake and fend off Justin Allgaier during a four-lap shootout to the finish to claim his first Xfinity career win in his 13th series start.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Sam Mayer claimed his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season and the second of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 96.654 mph in 73.375 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Shane van Gisbergen, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 96.596 mph in 73.419 seconds.

    Prior to the event, AJ Allmendinger dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the event’s qualifying session earlier in the day. The following names that included rookie Jesse Love, Patrick Gallagher, Brandon Jones, Hailie Deegan, ED Jones, Sage Karam, Austin Green, Chandler Smith, Kyle Weatherman and Logan Bearden also 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 launched ahead with a brief lead over Shane van Gisbergen as the field fanned out entering the first set of turns. Then in Turn 1, van Gisbergen hit Mayer as Mayer was sent spinning backwards through the course’s first three tight turns. Amid the early contact with the field scattering to avoid Mayer as Mayer plummeted below the leaderboard, Riley Herbst navigated his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead as Justin Allgaier overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. As Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman followed suit in the top six while Sammy Smith and Josh Bilicki battled for seventh, Herbst proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Over the next four laps, Herbst stabilized his advantage within four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while van Gisbergen trailed by a second in third place. Behind, Custer and Creed continued to trail in the top five along with Kligerman, Bilicki and Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton followed suit in the top 10. Meanwhile, Kyle Weatherman was trying to regain his momentum back on the course after he was sideways off the course in Turn 12 while AJ Allmendinger was mired in the top 30.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Herbst was leading by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Allgaier followed by van Gisbergen, Custer and Creed while Kligerman, Bilicki, Sammy Smith, Truex and Burton continued to follow suit in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill trailed in 11th place ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Williams and Jeremy Clements while Sage Karam, Ryan Sieg, Jesse Love, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer trailed in the top 20, with AJ Allmendinger and Brandon Jones occupying 21st and 24th, respectively.

    Five laps later and as Logan Bearden was trying to rally from getting sideways off the course entering Turn 12, Herbst continued to lead by half a second over van Gisbergen while Allgaier dropped to third place. Behind, Custer and Creed continued to run in the top five while Kligerman was trying to fend off Bilicki for sixth place and with Sammy Smith, Truex and Hill racing in the top 10.

    Another lap later, van Gisbergen, who got to Herbst’s rear bumper through the frontstretch, pulled a crossover move on Herbst through three turns to move into the lead. Van Gisbergen would maintain the lead for the following lap while Allgaier was trying to find a way to overtake Herbst for the runner-up spot.

    Just past the Lap 20 mark, van Gisbergen stretched his advantage to more than a second and a half over Allgaier while Herbst, Custer, Creed, Kligerman and Bilicki continued to follow suit in the top seven and by within less than five seconds. Behind, Sammy Smith trailed by more than seven seconds in eighth place and ahead of Truex and Hill while Retzlaff, Karam, Chandler Smith, Mayer and Alfredo occupied the top 15.

    Then on Lap 22, Custer went for a spin entering the first turn after he locked the brakes and got loose while trying to avoid hitting teammate Herbst. Amid Custer’s issues, the race remained under green flag conditions as Custer proceeded despite dropping to eighth place. Another lap later, van Gisbergen surrendered the lead to pit his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro under green. This enabled Allgaier to cycle into the lead over Herbst and Creed while Bilicki and Kligerman trailed in the top five and within less than four seconds.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 25, Allgaier, who navigated past a spinning Retzlaff in Turn 12, captured his ninth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second followed Creed, Bilicki and Kligerman while Sammy Smith, Custer, Truex, Hill and Sage Karam were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the field led by Allgaier pitted for a unique, competitive pit sequence for this event, where the pit stops were to last a minimum of 63 seconds from the pit road entrance to exit. Amid the pit sequence, all competitors could either gain or lose positions on pit road, with the lineup for the next stage being determined by the order of exit from pit road. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained the lead after he exited pit road first followed by Creed, Bilicki, Custer, Truex, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Hill, Sage Karam and Jesse Love.

    The second stage period started on Lap 29 as Allgaier and van Gisbergen occupied the front row. At the start, van Gisbergen struggled to launch and he was being pinned in a three-wide Joe Gibbs Racing sandwich in between Creed and Bilicki while Allgaier launched ahead through the frontstretch. As Allgaier led Creed through the first three turns, van Gisbergen made contact with Custer, which stalled their momentum as Bilicki and Ryan Truex overtook them to move up to third and fourth. As the field navigated through the next turns amid two tight lanes, Chandler Smith then passed van Gisbergen to claim sixth place. Amid the battles over the next sets of turns, Allgaier retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second by the Lap 30 mark.

    By Lap 35, Allgaier was out in front by more than a second over Creed and more than three seconds over Bilicki as van Gisbergen and Custer trailed in the top five ahead of Truex. Behind, Chandler Smith trailed in seventh ahead of Herbst and Sage Karam while AJ Allmendinger was scored in 10th.

    A lap later, van Gisbergen, who was racing with a damaged left-front fender amid his earlier contact with Custer, slipped off the course after he hopped the curbs in Turns 10 and 11. He then slid sideways and went off the course in Turn 12, all while battling Bilicki for third, but he managed to quickly blend back onto the racing surface as he dropped to seventh place.

    At the Lap 40 mark, Allgaier extended his advantage by more than over Creed as Bilicki, Custer and Chandler Smith occupied the top five. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was mired back in sixth while Herbst, Truex, Karam and Allmendinger were in the top 10.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, Lap 49, the caution flew after Matt DiBenedetto stalled his RSS Racing entry on the course. DiBenedetto’s stalled incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 50 to conclude under caution as Allgaier proceeded to capture his 10th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and sweep both stages of the event. Creed settled in second followed by Bilicki, Custer and van Gisbergen while Chandler Smith, Herbst, Karam, Mayer and Ed Jones were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, the field led by Allgaier returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Allgaier retained lead after exiting ahead of Creed, Bilicki, Chandler Smith, Truex, Herbst, Karam, Ed Jones, Mayer and van Gisbergen.

    With 20 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allgaier and Creed occupied the front row. At the start and as the field fanned out through the frontstretch, Allgaier and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn. Then as Bilicki was sent for a spin while three competitors led by Herbst missed the first turn, Creed muscled his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra ahead of Allgaier to move into the lead. Despite receiving numerous bumps into the rear by Allgaier for a series of turns, Creed retained the top spot when he led Allgaier back to the frontstretch.

    A lap later, however, Allgaier and Creed dueled through the frontstretch. Both competitors then proceed to hit and rub fenders against one another past the first three turns, with Allgaier reassuming the lead prior to entering Turn 4. Amid their contact, Chandler Smith tried to close in from third place while Truex and van Gisbergen were in the top five. Meanwhile, Jesse Love pitted with a crumbled hood after he T-boned into the rear of Mayer prior to the latest restart period.

    With 15 laps remaining, Allgaier was leading ahead of a side-by-side battle between Creed and van Gisbergen for second place while Mayer and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five. Behind, Truex was in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Herbst, Ed Jones and Kligerman while Williams, Allmendinger, Weatherman, Retzlaff and Hill were in the top 15. With Allgaier maintaining a reasonable advantage of three seconds during the following lap, van Gisbergen bumped, rubbed and overtook Creed for the runner-up spot before Mayer seized third place from Creed during the next lap.

    Following another late caution period with 13 laps remaining after Hailie Deegan lost a right front tire in Turn 9, the race restarted under green with nine laps remaining as Allgaier and van Gisbergen occupied the front row for a second time. At the start, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro ahead of a four-wide battle for second place entering the first turn. With the field tightly navigating through the first three turns, Allgaier maintained the top spot over Creed, who moved back into second place, as van Gisbergen, Mayer and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five.

    As Chandler Smith, who was running sixth, pulled his car off the course in Turn 12 with a damaged front nose, the caution quickly returned during the following lap for a multi-car wreck that ensued in Turn 12 when Brennan Poole and Blaine Perkins got turned sideways separately, with the latter getting spun into the path of Bilicki and Brandon Jones as Jones went head-on into the tire barriers while Andre Castro, Ryan Ellis, Kyle Sieg and Herbst were also involved. By then, Creed was assessed a drive-through penalty through pit road due to being penalized for a restart violation.

    During the next restart period with four laps remaining, Allgaier fended off van Gisbergen and teammate Sammy Smith through the frontstretch to retain the lead and through the first three turns. With the field behind navigating through the turns, the battle for the lead ignited as van Gisbergen attempted to make a move beneath Allgaier entering Turn 4. Despite sliding sideways through the next two turns, van Gisbergen managed to keep his car pointing straight while also keeping Allgaier next to him as he avoided spinning Allgaier through the turns. Then as Allgaier also got loose in between Turns 5 and 6, van Gisbergen seized an opportunity to move into the lead. As Allgaier was getting pressured by teammate Mayer for the runner-up spot, van Gisbergen retained the lead through the frontstretch and with three laps remaining.

    Then with two laps remaining, Mayer’s strong rally back to the front evaporated after he scrubbed the wall entering the frontstretch, which cut his left-rear tire as Mayer had to keep his No. 1 RTIC Outdoors Chevrolet Camaro running straight while going off the course. Amid Mayer’s incident, the race remained under green flag conditions as Allgaier was slowly closing in on van Gisbergen for the lead through each set of turns.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, van Gisbergen remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by two seconds. As van Gisbergen retained the lead through the first three turns before he made his way to Turn 4, he started to extend his advantage by more than a second as Allgaier was losing ground. With Allgaier unable to close the deficit for the final nine sets of corners, van Gisbergen was able to keep his car running straight on the course and cycle back to the frontstretch victorious as he claimed his first checkered flag of the season and of his career.

    With the victory, van Gisbergen, who drifted his race-winning car through the turns while performing his victory burnouts and kicked a rugby ball into the frontstretch’s crowd, became the 178th competitor overall to win in the Xfinity Series as he joined rookie rival Jesse Love as first-time Xfinity race winners of the 2024 season. He also became the seventh foreign-born competitor to win in the Xfinity level and the first since Daniel Suarez made the last accomplishment at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November 2016. As an added bonus, van Gisbergen notched the first victory of the season for Kaulig Racing.

    “Firstly, I’m very sorry to Sam Mayer and the No. 1 team for [hitting them in the] first corner,” van Gisbergen said on FS1. “I just mucked up there and just clipped him. He got back well, but year, Quad Lock Chevy. Thanks Kaulig Racing, Trackhouse [Racing] guys. What a day. It was really cool. Had some great racing. I need to get better at my restarts and learn how to position, but man, that was so much fun. Really cool racing. I love these cars. They’re great.”

    Justin Allgaier, who led a race-high 46 laps, settled in the runner-up spot for a second consecutive season in Portland while teammate Sammy Smith, AJ Allmendinger and Ed Jones finished in the top five.

    Cole Custer, the winner of last year’s Xfinity event at Portland, rallied for sixth place while Josh Williams, Parker Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff and Riley Herbst finished in the top 10.

    Notably, Josh Bilicki piloted the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra to a 12th-place result behind Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed rallied for 13th, Jesse Love ended up 19th, Ryan Truex dropped to 27th after he spun on the final lap and Sam Mayer plummeted to 28th.  

    There were nine lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 14 laps. In addition, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 13th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by 18 points over both Austin Hill and Chandler Smith, with Justin Allgaier trailing by 23 points and rookie Jesse Love trailing by 73 points.

    Results.

    1. Shane van Gisbergen, 12 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 45 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    3. Sammy Smith

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Ed Jones

    6. Cole Custer

    7. Josh Williams

    8. Parker Kligerman

    9. Parker Retzlaff

    10. Riley Herbst, 15 laps led

    11. Austin Hill

    12. Josh Bilicki

    13. Sheldon Creed, two laps led

    14. Ryan Sieg

    15. Austin Green

    16. Brennan Poole

    17. Ryan Ellis

    18. Kyle Sieg

    19. Jesse Love

    20. Blaine Perkins

    21. Nathan Byrd

    22. Garrett Smithley

    23. Andre Castro

    24. Patrick Gallagher

    25. Kyle Weatherman

    26. Leland Honeyman

    27. Ryan Truex

    28. Sam Mayer, one lap down

    29. Logan Bearden, one lap down

    30. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

    31. Matt DiBenedetto, two laps down

    32. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

    33. Hailie Deegan, four laps down

    34. Sage Karam, six laps down

    35. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    37. Jeb Burton, 14 laps down

    38. Preston Pardus – OUT, Track Bar

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second annual event at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, for the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 8, and air at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Weekend schedule for World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) and Portland 2024

    Weekend schedule for World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway) and Portland 2024

    This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Craftsman Truck Series travel to World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway). Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch is the defending Cup Series race winner of the 1.25-mile oval.

    The Toyota 200 is the second race of the Triple Truck Challenge and the winner of the event will receive a $50,000 bonus except Nick Sanchez who won the first race of the bonus program last week at Charlotte. If he wins at Gateway, he will receive an increased bonus of $150,000.

    The Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series West head to Portland International Raceway. AJ Allmendinger won the first Xfinity race at the 1.97-mile road course track in 2022 while Cole Custer took home the trophy last year.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available throughout the weekend.
    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, May 31
    2:35 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Practice (Portland) Race Center
    5:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Qualifying (Portland) Race Center

    6:05 p.m.: Craftsman Truck Series Practice (Gateway) FS1
    6:35 p.m.: Craftsman Truck Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1

    7 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Portland 112 – FloRacing/MRN

    Saturday, June 1
    9:30 a.m.: Cup Series Practice (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    10:15: Cup Series Qualifying (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    1:30 p.m.: Truck Series Toyota 200 (Gateway) Fox/MRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 200 miles (160 Laps)
    Stages end on Lap 35, Lap 70, Final Stage ends on Lap 160
    Purse: $752,252

    11:30: Xfinity Series Practice (Portland) No TV
    Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying (Portland) FS1
    4:30: Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 (Portland) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 147.75 miles (75 Laps)
    Stages end on: Lap 25, Lap 50, Final Stage ends on Lap 75
    Purse: $1,408,568

    Sunday, June 2
    3:30 p.m.: Cup Series Enjoy Illinois 300 (Gateway) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Distance: 300 miles (240 laps)
    Stages end on: Lap 45, Lap 140, Final Stage ends on Lap 240
    Purse: $7,776,907

  • Brandon Jones nabs first top-five finish of 2024 with runner-up result at Charlotte

    Brandon Jones nabs first top-five finish of 2024 with runner-up result at Charlotte

    Brandon Jones capped off a roller coaster afternoon that resulted in him rallying from early brake issues that dropped him to the rear of the field to post a strong runner-up result in the BetMGM 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, May 25, despite falling short of the victory to Chase Elliott

    The 27-year-old Jones from Atlanta, Georgia, commenced his run in NASCAR’s backyard at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 10th place. He would then methodically navigate his way into the top five as he was up into fifth place by the Lap 15. Running as high as fourth place during the proceeding laps, Jones lost two spots on pit road during the first caution period on Lap 32 but would make up the two spots on the track during the following restart period on Lap 36 as he would proceed to settle in fourth place when the first stage period concluded on Lap 45. By then, he had collected seven stage points.

    Lining up in fourth place for the start of the second stage period on Lap 52, Jones would slowly slip out of both the top five and top 10 on the track. Being scored in 19th place by the Lap 70 mark, three laps before Parker Kligerman drew a caution for spinning in Turn 4, Jones would pit even as pit road was closed following Kligerman’s incident to have a brake issue to his No. 9 Menards/CharBroil Chevrolet Camaro addressed. Amid multiple pit stops, the Atlanta native was able to continue and ended up in 25th place when the second stage period concluded on Lap 90.

    As the final stage period commenced with 103 laps remaining, Jones, who was still mired outside the top 20 but had a fast car to march back to the front, would return to the top 20 mark with 93 laps remaining. After returning to the top-10 mark with 77 laps remaining, he cycled his way up to fourth place with nearly 40 laps remaining and following a late round of green flag pit stops. Through three additional caution periods and restarts, where top names including series-points leader Austin Hill, Cole Custer and Jones’ teammate Justin Allgaier were being eliminated due to late-race incidents, Jones, who restarted in the second row with 12 laps remaining, overtook Kyle Busch to move into second place as he set his sights on Chase Elliott for the lead.

    Trailing Elliott by a second with 10 laps remaining, Jones began to methodically shave off Elliott’s steady advantage for the proceeding laps through the turns and straightaways as he trailed Elliott by seven-tenths of a second with five laps remaining. Despite scraping the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 with three laps remaining, he kept his foot on the throttle and still had Elliott close within his sights. Despite narrowing the gap to four-tenths of a second on the final lap, Jones, who tried to mount a final lap charge on Elliott, ran out of time to narrow the gap even closer as he crossed the finish line half a second behind in the runner-up spot behind race winner Elliott.

    Amid the disappointment of coming up one spot short of his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in two years, Jones emerged with a smile across his face and as the highest-finishing JR Motorsports competitor on the track as he finished ahead of teammates Sammy Smith and Sam Mayer, both of whom capped off strong runs in third and fourth place, respectively.

    “Talk about an up-and-down day and coming back from [the brake issues],” Jones said on FS1. “That was really fun to come from the back to the front, I think, three or four times right there. Really, really fast Camaro right there. We probably needed some track position. I’d like to have been a little bit better on that restart to take advantage of just getting some clean air on the nose. I think that’s really what [Elliott] just had at the end.”

    Jones’ runner-up result marks the 10th time he has finished in second place in an Xfinity event as he achieved his first top-five result of the 2024 season and his first since finishing second behind John Hunter Nemechek at Kansas Speedway last September. Jones’ previous best season result was seventh at Phoenix Raceway in March.

    With the result, Jones, who has now garnered five top-10 results through the first 12 events of the 2024 Xfinity Series schedule and came into the event in 11th place in the driver’s standings, gained one position to 10th place as he trails the regular-season points leader Austin Hill by 150 points. The good news for Jones is that he is 15 points above the top-12 cutline to make the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs with 14 regular-season events remaining on the schedule until the 2024 Xfinity Playoffs commence.

    Currently campaigning in his second season driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro for JR Motorsports, Jones has yet to achieve his first victory or his first Playoff berth as a JRM competitor. He last achieved both during the 2022 season while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, with a victory at Martinsville Speedway in April 2022.

    “All in all, a really, really fun day,” Jones added. “I love these hot slick races you gotta prepare for. Wished we could’ve won, but we’re really, really close right now. This team’s kind of have some up and downs all year. We just continue to fight. Looking forward to the rest of the races here. We’re gonna get this thing in the Playoffs soon.”

    Brandon Jones’ next start of the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ third annual event to Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, for the Pacific Office Automation 147. The event is scheduled for next Saturday, June 1, and will air at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Ty Gibbs collects the Xfinity Series pole at Charlotte  

    Ty Gibbs collects the Xfinity Series pole at Charlotte  

    Ty Gibbs will lead the field to the green flag in Saturday’s Xfinity Series BetMGM 300  at Charlotte Motor Speedway after winning the pole Friday with a lap of 177.194 mph in his  No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

    “I’m very thankful to run two races and I really have a good time out here,” Gibbs said. “Doing another race this weekend is fun. I always love racing so I always look forward to doing stuff like this.”

    Kyle Busch (176.482 mph) will join Gibbs on the front row as Chandler Smith (176.246), Jesse Love (175.873) and Jeb Burton (175.496) rounded out the top five in the qualifying session.

    Cole Custer will start sixth (175.433), followed by Sheldon Creed (175.433), Austin Hill (175.365 mph), Justin Allgaier (175.160) and Brandon Jones (176.103) to complete the top-10.

    The BetMGM 300  will be broadcast on FOX Saturday afternoon with the green flag set for 1:19 p.m. ET with radio coverage provided by PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Starting Lineup: