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  • Nemechek dominates for second Xfinity win at Texas

    Nemechek dominates for second Xfinity win at Texas

    With a championship spot on the line for eight Playoff contenders, including runner-up Daniel Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek, a part-time Xfinity Series competitor, had other plans and stole the spotlight after rallying from a late pit road penalty to win the Andy’s Frozen Custard 335 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, October 16, while on two fresh tires. 

    Nemechek, who currently competes as a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship competitor for Kyle Busch Motorsports, led three times for a race-high 92 of 200 laps as he fended off Hemric by more than a second to deny Hemric and seven other Playoff contenders an early automatic spot to the Championship Round at Phoenix Raceway scheduled in early November.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Playoff event at the Charlotte Roval, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allmendinger got off to a strong start as he cleared his No. 16 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevrolet Camaro through the field through the first turn and led the first lap ahead of Cindric and Daniel Hemric. Behind, Noah Gragson was in fourth ahead of Justin Haley and Brandon Jones. 

    The following lap, Hemric, who was running on the outside lane, slipped from second to fifth as Cindric, Gragson and Haley muscled their way to the front on the inside lane. 

    By the fifth lap, Allmendinger was leading by nearly a second over Cindric while the field continued to jostle for positions towards the front.

    Through the first 13 laps, Allmendinger continued to lead the field. Then, Cindric emerged with the top spot in his No. 22 Snap-On Ford Mustang on Lap 14. 

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Cindric remained out in front. During the competition caution, the front-runners led by Cindric elected to remain on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 25, Cindric and Allmendinger engaged in a tight side-by-side battle through Turn 1 and ahead of the field until Cindric squeaked ahead entering the backstretch. Then, the caution returned when Landon Cassill stalled his car in Turn 4. 

    Under caution, Jeb Burton and rookie Sam Mayer, both of whom made contact on the track, pitted for repairs.

    Six laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric received a strong start on the inside lane after receiving a push from Hemric, which allowed him to clear Allmendinger entering Turn 1 as Hemric also moved up to second place.

    On Lap 33, Gragson made the slightest on contact to the rear bumper of Allmendinger’s car, which sent Allmendinger up the track and down from fourth to sixth while Gragson and Brandon Jones moved up. By then, Cindric continued to lead by a decent margin over Hemric.

    In the closing laps of the first stage, the third caution of the event flew when JJ Yeley stalled in Turn 4. Under caution, some like John Hunter Nemechek, Myatt Snider, Ryan Sieg, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, rookie Sam Mayer, and Riley Herbst pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    Following a one-lap shootout to conclude the first stage on Lap 45, Cindric, who retained the lead, claimed his 10th stage victory of the season. Gragson settled in second followed by Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, Haley, Harrison Burton, Jeremy Clements, Brett Moffitt and Brandon Brown.

    Under the stage break, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Hemric, who pitted under the previous caution, remained on the track.

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Hemric pulled his No. 18 Craftsman Toyota Supra away from teammate Nemechek following a strong start on the inside lane while Mayer and Brandon Jones battled for third. In addition, Riley Herbst and Austin Hill overtook Myatt Snider through three lanes to move up to fifth and sixth. 

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to debris reported on the track. In the midst of the battles occurring towards the front and around the track, Hemric was out in front by a narrow margin over Nemechek.

    When the race restarted on Lap 61, Hemric and Nemechek were locked in a heated, side-by-side lead for a full lap before Hemric cleared Nemechek entering Turn 2. By then, Nemechek slipped entering the backstretch, which allowed Sam Mayer to move into the runner-up spot.

    Shortly after, the sixth caution flew when Ryan Sieg spun his No. 39 CMR Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on Lap 68, Hemric retained the lead on the inside lane while Mayer slipped after having brief issues getting going on the outside lane, which allowed Nemechek to reassume the runner-up spot.

    Four laps later, Nemechek, making his second Xfinity Series start in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Romco Toyota Supra, peaked ahead of Hemric to lead for the first time, but Hemric fought back through the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Hemric slipped up the track and nearly wrecked with Nemechek, but both Joe Gibbs Racing competitors kept their cars straight as they continued to battle for the lead through the frontstretch. By the time the leaders entered the backstretch, Nemechek cleared Hemric to retain the lead.

    By Lap 75, Nemechek was leading by half a second over Hemric while Mayer, Jeb Burton and Riley Herbst were in the top 10. Haley was in sixth ahead of Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Cindric. Allmendinger, meanwhile, was in 11th ahead of Gragson and Harrison Burton.

    With less than 10 laps remaining in the second stage, Nemechek extended his advantage to a full second over teammate Hemric while third-place Mayer trailed by more than six seconds. By then, Cindric slipped back to 12th behind Allmendinger while Gragson moved up to ninth. In addition, Haley overtook Herbst to move in the top five behind teammate Jeb Burton.

    Having no competition lingering or closing towards him, Nemechek, who made his way through lapped traffic, came back around to claim the second stage victory on Lap 90, which marked his second stage victory of the season. Hemric settled in second, trailing by a second, followed by Mayer, Jeb Burton, Haley, Herbst, Annett, Allgaier, Gragson and Allmendinger.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Nemechek retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Mayer, Jeb Burton and Haley. During the pit stops, Allmendinger nearly left his pit stall without a left-front tire after his jackman dropped the jack early while the crew members were changing the tires on the left side. In addition, Allmendinger’s service was slow for repairs due to hitting a tire being held by Gragson’s crew member during Gragson’s service. Both returned to pit road to have the lug nuts on their respective machines secured. Soon after, Haley dropped to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. 

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started. At the start, Nemechek jumped ahead following a strong start while Mayer issued a challenge on Hemric for the runner-up spot. Behind, Jeb Burton and Allgaier battled for fourth in front of Cindric. 

    Just shy of the halfway mark scheduled on Lap 100, the eighth caution flew for a heavy multi-car wreck involving Dylan Lupton, Tanner Berryhill and Jade Buford, who slammed into Lupton after nearly having the incident dodged.

    Down to the final 92 laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek launched ahead following another strong start while Hemric and Mayer battled again side-by-side for second. Then through the backstretch, Allgaier made a bold three-wide move to take over the runner-up spot entering Turn 3. Hemric, however, fought back and took over second place through the frontstretch as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes while jostling for positions.

    At the front, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second over Hemric and Allgaier while Mayer settled in fourth ahead of Jeb Burton and Cindric. Brandon Jones was in eighth, Harrison Burton was in 10th and Allmendinger was mired in 12th behind Herbst while ahead of Gragson and Haley. Meanwhile, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for a restart violation.

    With 80 laps remaining, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to nearly two seconds over teammate Hemric while Allgaier remained in third ahead of Cindric and Jeb Burton. Annett was in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Gragson, Brandon Brown and Allmendinger. By then, Mayer had fallen back to 12th behind Haley, Harrison Burton was mired in the top 15.

    Ten laps later, Nemechek remained as the leader by less than two seconds over Hemric while third-place Allgaier trailed by more than three seconds. Cindric remained in fourth ahead of Annett, Jeb Burton and Gragson, who recovered from his pit road issue following the second stage but was now under surveillance by NASCAR for possibly leaking fluid on the track. 

    Another 10 laps later, Nemechek, who was making his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by two seconds over teammate Hemric as Allgaier, Cindric and Annett remained in the top five. Gragson also remained in sixth ahead of Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Haley and Jeb Burton. Harrison Burton, meanwhile, remained as the lowest-running Playoff contender in 12th.

    Two laps later, the ninth caution of the event flew when CJ McLaughlin spun in Turn 4. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Nemechek exited the pits with the lead ahead of Hemric, Allgaier, Cindric, Annett and Gragson. During the pit stops, Nemechek dropped out of the lead after being penalized for having too many crew members over the wall. In addition, Brandon Brown was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Down to the final 51 laps of the event, the race restarted as Hemric and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Cindric shoved Hemric clear of Allgaier through the first turn as he challenged Allgaier for second place. Meanwhile, Hemric was clear out in front while Annett overtook teammate Gragson for fourth. Behind, Allmendinger battled Brandon Jones for sixth.

    With 40 laps remaining, Hemric was out in front by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Cindric trailed by more than two seconds. Gragson and Allmendinger were in fourth and fifth while Annett, Haley, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Herbst were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Nemechek was in 12th before he made a bold move through the backstretch to overtake Jones, Harrison Burton and Herbst for eighth place.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Hemric stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Allgaier while third-place Gragson trailed by nearly four seconds. Allmendinger and Cindric were in the top five ahead of Annett and Nemechek, who continued to methodically make his way to the front with a fast car. Haley, Harrison Burton and Brandon Jones were in the top 10.

    Just then, the 10th caution flew when Brandon Brown, winner at Talladega Superspeedway earlier this month, wrecked in the backstretch and retired due to heavy damage on his No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Nemechek leap-frogged back to the lead following a two-tire stop ahead of Hemric, Allgaier, Gragson, Annett and Allmendinger. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton remained on the track to inherit the lead.

    Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, teammates Harrison Burton and Nemechek battled dead even for a full lap until Burton cleared Nemechek returning to the frontstretch. 

    The following lap, however, Nemechek returned to the lead for the first time since Lap 144 as Hemric joined the battle involving his two JGR teammates. Allgaier and Gragson were in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Cindric, Haley, Annett and Brandon Jones.

    With 15 laps remaining, Nemechek, racing on two fresh tires, was leading by less than seven-tenths of a second over teammate Hemric, who was trying to close in on four fresh tires, while third-place Harrison Burton, racing on four worn tires in his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra, trailed by a second. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Hemric while Gragson was up in third, trailing in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro by less than three seconds. Behind, Allgaier and Allmendinger were up in fourth and fifth followed by Cindric and Harrison Burton, who continued to hold strong on worn tires. Haley, Annett and Jones were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Nemechek, who started to make his way through lapped traffic, had his advantage decreased to less than a second as Hemric tried to close in for his first win and a championship finale spot. 

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by more than a second over teammate Hemric. With a clear race track in front of him and his teammate unable to narrow the deficit, Nemechek, whose late strategy for only two fresh tires paid off, was able to come back around and claim his first checkered flag in this year’s Xfinity season. 

    With the victory, Nemechek collected his second Xfinity Series career win in his 55th series start, fourth of the season, and since winning his first at Kansas Speedway in October 2018. The victory was also the 10th of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 54 Toyota Supra led by crew chief Chris Gayle. Nemechek’s win also comes two days after announcing that he will be remaining with Kyle Busch Motorsports for the 2022 Truck Series season.

    This also marked the third time through the first four Playoff races where the events were won by non-Playoff Xfinity Series competitors.

    “[Spotter] Stevie Reeves and Chris Gayle kept me calm [after the pit road penalty],” Nemechek said on NBC. “I think this year, I’ve grown a lot as a driver. I’ve been put in positions like that in the Truck Series as well. Man, I can’t say enough about this whole team. The No. 54 [car] has been fast every single week. My goal coming in was to win. I had to win to prove to myself that I can do this and it’s just like taking a step back to the Truck Series. I wanted to get back to Victory Lane. Thank you to all the fans that are out here. It’s an amazing accomplishment to get this one done, beating my teammate as well. We’re racing for an owner’s championship, so I’m back in the No. 54 [car] at Phoenix. Going for double championships there when we go.”

    Behind Nemechek was Daniel Hemric, who led 54 laps but finished in second place for the 10th time in his career as he continues to pursue his first win across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. Ironically, Hemric also finished second to Nemechek during Nemechek’s first Xfinity career win in 2018.

    “[Nemechek] just made a really good call to take two [tires] there,” Hemric, who was left dejected, said. “Obviously, clean air was so big. When we had clean air with our Craftsman Toyota Supra there at one point, it was really good. We were on the tighter side all day. Even earlier when [Nemechek] was better than us, he was just a little freer. I just couldn’t quite carry the same mid-quarter exit speed. [Crew chief] Dave Rogers made good adjustments all day, getting it better. Once we got that clean air, we were pretty well checked out. The caution came out and [Nemechek] just made a good call there to take two [tires]. It’s ‘Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’ It just didn’t work out. I was just too tight there. It never got far into the run where our tires could make a difference. With 20 laps to go, you’re not going to overcome the gap I needed to make up. Too tight. I was whipping it for all I had. [I] About pounded the fence there three or four times trying to catch [Nemechek]. Great job to those guys, congrats to those guys. Really fast JGR Supras. Just not quite good enough.”

    Gragson rallied from his early pit road issue and damage to finish in third place followed by teammate Allgaier and Cindric.

    Meanwhile, Allmendinger ended up in sixth place followed by teammate Haley, Harrison Burton, Annett and Brandon Jones, with the remaining eight Xfinity Playoff contenders finishing in the top 10.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 54 laps.

    Results.

    1. John Hunter Nemechek, 92 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Daniel Hemric, 55 laps led

    3. Noah Gragson

    4. Justin Allgaier

    5. Austin Cindric, 34 laps led

    6. AJ Allmendinger, 13 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    7. Justin Haley

    8. Harrison Burton, six laps led

    9. Michael Annett

    10. Brandon Jones

    11. Jeb Burton

    12. Riley Herbst

    13. Sam Mayer

    14. Ryan Sieg

    15. Kaz Grala

    16. Brett Moffitt

    17. Bayley Currey

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Josh Williams

    20. Austin Hill, one lap down

    21. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    22. Ryan Vargas, one lap down

    23. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    24. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    25. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

    26. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    27. Mason Massey, four laps down

    28. Spencer Boyd, four laps down

    29. Jeremy Clements, four laps down

    30. Joey Gase, five laps down

    31. Jesse Little, five laps down

    32. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    33. Brandon Brown – OUT, Accident

    34. David Starr – OUT, Engine

    35. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Suspension

    36. Landon Cassill – OUT, Electrical

    37. Tanner Berryhill – OUT, Accident

    38. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    39. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

    40. JJ Yeley – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, +30

    2. Austin Cindric, +26

    3. Justin Allgaier, +4

    4. Noah Gragson, +2

    5. Daniel Hemric, -2

    6. Justin Haley, -6

    7. Harrison Burton, -21

    8. Brandon Jones, -32

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, October 23, with the race scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Allmendinger three-peats at the Charlotte Roval, Playoff’s Round of 8 set

    Allmendinger three-peats at the Charlotte Roval, Playoff’s Round of 8 set

    A week after being eliminated in an early accident at Talladega Superspeedway, AJ Allmendinger raced his way into the Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs after leading the final 21 laps and winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course for a third consecutive season on Saturday, October 9.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Playoff contender Austin Cindric started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Justin Allgaier.

    Prior to the event, Michael Annett, who returned as driver of the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro for the first time since Richmond Raceway in September, started at the rear of the field due to replacing Josh Berry, who was originally on the entry list.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric and Allgaier battled dead even for the lead entering the first turn while Jeb Burton and Noah Gragson made a four-wide move on Harrison Burton and Justin Haley to move up towards the top five.

    From Turn 1, the six additional infield turns of the Roval and entering Turn 8, Cindric managed to remain with the lead ahead of Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and the field. Behind, Tommy Joe Martins spun entering Turn 8, but the race remained under green as the field scattered to avoid Martins. Shortly after, Kris Wright, who sustained a flat tire, spun entering the backstretch chicane.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was able to lead the first lap ahead of Allgaier, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Gragson, who was being challenged by Haley.

    As the field made their way out of the infield turns in Turn 8, the first caution flew when Sage Karam spun in Turn 6 following on-track contact. At the same time, Jade Buford, who was trying to dodge Karam, pinned his car against Brett Moffitt and the wall as the field behind was forced to scatter. 

    By the fifth lap, the race restarted on the frontstretch. At the start, Allgaier challenged Cindric side-by-side through the infield turns before Cindric prevailed entering Turn 7. While battling Hemric for the runner-up spot, Allgaier locked up his tires entering the backstretch chicane, but managed to keep his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro straight and through the chicane clean, though he lost the spot to Hemric.

    Three laps later, Allgaier slipped and made contact with the wall in Turn 2, damaging the right side of his Camaro. The incident forced Allgaier to pit under green and fall below the running order. At the same time, Cindric, who was leading, missed the backstretch chicane and served his penalty by stopping on the frontsretch chicane, thus surrendering the lead to Daniel Hemric. 

    Another three laps later, the second caution of the event flew due to Gray Gaulding stalling in the backstretch. Under caution, some like Michael Annett, Brandon Brown and Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 14, Hemric retained the lead over Cindric entering the infield turns as the field fanned out to multiple lanes and jostled for positions. Through the infield turns, the oval turns and the chicanes in the backstretch and frontstretch, Hemric was able to remain ahead of Cindric, Gragson, AJ Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Justin Haley while the field battled in a single-file line.

    With five laps remaining in the first stage, Hemric was leading by nearly a second over Cindric while Allmendinger, Gragson and Haley were in the top five. Brandon Jones was in sixth ahead of Gibbs, Herbst, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton. Meanwhile, Josh Williams spun in the backstretch chicane, but the race remained under green.

    Just as the pit road closed with two laps remaining in the second stage, Cindric peeled his No. 22 Richmond/Menards Ford Mustang to pit road for service and in preparation for the second stage. Meanwhile, Hemric continued to lead by more than three seconds over runner-up Allmendinger and nearly second seconds over third-place Gragson. By then, Gibbs overtook Haley to move into fourth place.

    On the final lap of the first stage, the third caution of the event flew due to possible fluid on the course and when No. 15 Toyota driven by Kris Wright, who was smoking through the backstretch, came to a stop in Turn 12 due to a broken track bar. The caution was enough for the first stage scheduled on Lap 20 to conclude under a cautious pace as Hemric claimed his eighth stage victory of the season. AJ Allmendinger settled in second followed by Gragson, rookie Ty Gibbs, Haley, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton and Jeremy Clements.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Hemric pitted while few led by Cindric, who pitted prior to the first stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. 

    The second stage started on Lap 22 as Cindric and rookie Sam Mayer filled the front row. At the start, Cindric retained the lead over Mayer entering the first turn while the field fanned out to three and four lanes. Behind, Hemric muscled his pink No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra to third followed by Gragson, who made a four-wide move prior to the first turn to move up into the top five.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Cindric was the leader of a four-car breakaway stretched out by less than a second. Meanwhile, Allmendinger was in fifth, trailing by three seconds, while Austin Hill, Haley, Preston Pardus, Brandon Jones and Gibbs were in the top 10.

    By Lap 25, Cindric continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Mayer while Hemric, Gragson and Allmendinger remained in the top five. Meanwhile, Allgaier was mired in 29th in between Loris Hezemans and Stefan Parsons.

    Three laps later, the fourth caution of the event flew when Josh Bilicki ran over the curbs through the backstretch chicane and destroyed the front spitter of his car, where the front of his car went airborne before he limped to pit road in a cloud of smoke and ended up in the garage. The debris and damage towards the backstretch was enough for the event to be red-flagged for approximately five minutes.

    When the red flag was lifted following the cleanup and repairs to the chicane, names like Herbst pitted under caution while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    Down to the final laps of the second stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Cindric powered ahead on the inside lane while Mayer struggled to launch on the outside lane. Through the infield turns and the circuit turns while the field jostled for positions, Cindric was leading ahead of Hemric, Haley, Gibbs and Mayer.

    A lap later, Jeb Burton made contact with the wall entering Turn 2, but he proceeded under green and just outside of the top 15.

    When the field surpassed the halfway mark on Lap 35, Cindric stabilized his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Hemric. Meanwhile, Gibbs moved his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra up to third place while Haley and Mayer remained in the top five. 

    Just then, the caution returned due to debris reported on the frontstretch. Under caution, some led by Cindric pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    With three laps remaining in the second stage, the race resumed under green. At the start, Hemric fended off Haley to maintain the lead entering and exiting the infield turns. He also continued to stabilize his lead through the backstretch chicane, the oval turns and the frontstretch chicane.

    On the final lap of the second stage, Haley started to close in and challenge Hemric for the top spot. Despite getting close to Hemric’s rear bumper through the infield, Hemric continued to lead over Haley. Haley issued a final challenge on Hemric entering the frontstretch chicane, but the latter managed to hold him off to win the second stage on Lap 40 and record his ninth stage victory of the season. Haley settled in second followed by Myatt Snider, Gragson, Clements, Brandon Jones, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, Jeb Burton and Mayer. By then, Hemric and Allgaier secured their spots for the Round of 8 in the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points.

    Under the stage break, some led by Hemric pitted while the rest led by Gibbs and Mayer remained on the track.

    With 25 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gibbs jumped ahead from the field following a strong start while the rest of the field jostled for positions through multiple lanes.

    The following lap, Gibbs was out in front by one-and-a-half seconds over Mayer, who had Allmendinger and Cindric challenging behind. Herbst, who was now placed in a “must win” situation to keep his title hopes alive, was in fifth ahead of Sage Karam, Allgaier, Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe and Haley while Hemric was mired in 13th. Meanwhile, cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton, both of whom were battling one another for a Playoff spot, were in 16th and 18th.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Gibbs continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Allmendinger, who was methodically closing in for the lead. Behind, Cindric moved up to third while Mayer fell back to fourth. Karam was in fifth ahead of Haley, Allgaier, Hemric, Herbst and Labbe. By then, cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton were in 15th and 16th.

    Just then, Gibbs, who was battling brake issues, missed the backstretch chicane and was forced to come to a complete stop on the backstretch before proceeding. Gibbs’ misfortune allowed Allmendinger to take the lead as Cindric and Mayer moved up to second and third, thus dropping Gibbs to fourth ahead of Karam.

    Five laps later, Allmendinger was leading by nearly four seconds over Cindric while Mayer, Haley and Hemric were in the top five. Karam was in sixth ahead of Gibbs while Allgaier and Herbst battled for eighth in front of Labbe. Harrison Burton was mired in 15th ahead of teammate Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Clements and Gragson while Michael Annett was in 21st.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to more than four seconds over Cindric and Mayer. Haley, who was in fourth, trailed by nearly nine seconds while Hemric, who was mired in fifth, trailed by more than 13 seconds. 

    Not long after, Cindric got loose approaching Turn 7, which allowed Mayer to briefly move into second before Cindric fought back through the oval turns. While both Cindric and Mayer battled, Allmendinger extended his advantage to more than six seconds. In addition, Haley started to close in on Cindric and Mayer for the runner-up spot.

    With five laps remaining, Allmendinger remained as the leader by nearly nine seconds over Cindric, who was under fire by Mayer, Haley, Hemric and Gibbs for the runner-up spot. By then, Herbst took his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang to the garage due to a rear end issue. The late misfortune ended Herbst’s hopes of advancing to the Round of 8.

    A lap later, the caution flew due to an incident involving Tommy Joe Martins in Turn 14. The caution all but evaporated Allmendinger’s advantage of nearly nine seconds.

    Under caution, names like Hemric, Labbe, Allgaier, Gragson, Snider, Michael Annett and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track.

    With two laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger launched ahead on the inside lane while Cindric spun the tires on the outside lane. Through the infield turns and the chicanes while the field battled for late positions, Allmendinger maintained the lead ahead of Mayer while Gibbs and Cindric battled for third. 

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger continued to lead by nearly two seconds over Gibbs and Mayer, both of whom battled for second ahead of Cindric and Hemric. Then entering Turn 5, Mayer sent Gibbs in a spin, dropping Gibbs back to sixth as Cindric, Mayer, Haley and Hemric moved up the leaderboard. Soon after, Mayer missed the backstretch chicane and came to a stop before proceeding. By then, Mayer dropped out of the top 10.

    In the midst of the late spins and battles, Allmendinger was long gone as he made his way through the frontstretch chicane and cruised his No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet Camaro across the finish line for the win.

    With the victory, Allmendinger captured his sixth road course win, which was the most all-time for an Xfinity competitor. In addition, he captured his fifth victory of the season and his 10th triumph in the Xfinity circuit as he took another step closer in capturing his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    “I knew [the final caution] was coming out,” Allmendinger said on NBC. “It wasn’t gonna go simple like that. That was a fight today. We had to be kind of on defense early, worried about the points. This place was tough to pass. The track was really slick to begin with, obviously with all the rain. [I] Can’t thank all the men and women at Kaulig Racing enough, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice. This Hyperice Chevy, once it got into the lead, it was stupid fast. The big picture’s the championship, but getting another win, three in a row here at the Roval, that means the world to me…What an awesome day.”

    As the cars were approaching the finish line, a multi-car melee struck that involved Gibbs, Josh Williams, Brandon Brown and Ty Dillon.

    Cindric, who secured his spot for the Playoffs based on points a week ago at Talladega Superspeedway, finished in second place after leading a race-high 22 laps while Hemric, who won both stages and led 17 laps, made his way up to third place on fresh tires.

    “Pretty solid round,” Cindric said. “I feel like today’s a bit of a missed opportunity. I feel like I was able to drive as hard as I wanted to today. I made some mistakes because of it, but learned some things. [I] Thought we were gonna be a bit better today, but it should set us up for Texas. I know we put in a fast lap early. Finishing second and good in points. I had fun today.”

    Haley, Brandon Jones and Gragson secured their spots for the Round of 8 after finishing fourth, fifth and sixth while Preston Pardus, Snider, Allgaier and Mayer ended up in the top 10 on the track.

    “I think me and AJ probably had the best cars there,” Haley said. “His points gap coming into today just allowed him to short-pit and get the lead, and I had to go through traffic through that second stage. I think we had a pretty good LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet. A second-place car. I don’t know. We never really got towards AJ, but awesome day. Locked into the Round of 8.”

    “Pretty much, all the road courses this year haven’t been too bad to us,” Jones said. “Lot of time, lot of effort into trying to make something of this. There’s been a lot of additions at road courses, so it’s a big part of our schedule now. Today paid off for us, I think, having a lot of preparation to come into this weekend and have a run like we did. [I] Did exactly what I really needed to do. I know when when we step into a race track, we wanna win. That’s our main goal, but we sat down as a team and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna make it to the next round.’ It’s all about being smart…All that went perfect.”

    “[Today] was alright,” Gragson said. “I didn’t really feel like we had the speed we did here in the rain or the dry in the past. [I] Salvaged a fourth- or fifth-place car. To come home sixth from starting at the back there at the end, we’re just focused on points the whole time. Pretty much, just race the race at 80 percent, 85 percent. There’s a lot at risk, but there’s a lot of reward here at this race track for speed and it’s a big penalty when you go off…Came back, did our job, collected points in all three stages and came home a sixth-place finish. We’ll keep on pushing. On to the next round in the Playoffs.”

    In the midst of the late chaos and battles, Harrison Burton coasted his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra across the finish line in 15th and secured the eighth and final transfer spot to the Round of 8 over his cousin Jeb Burton, who had his title hopes come to an end.

    “Yeah, it was a boring race for us ’cause it was just pins and needles,” Harrison Burton said. “We had two decent first stages where we ran about seventh or eighth or wherever. Then we come into this race, the last stage, and it’s like, ‘OK, just stay wherever [Jeb] is.’ It wasn’t the most fun. I wasn’t able to be aggressive, be like myself, just kind of cruising, so that was boring. Glad it worked out. Now we can go and we’ll go win and get into Phoenix. That’s all that matters is getting to Phoenix with a chance. These next three races, [we] might have to win one. These are all great tracks for us, so I’m excited to go try.”

    “I made a couple of mistakes,” Jeb Burton said. “I got in the wall and I was side by side with Harrison. Luckily, it didn’t end our day, but I just need some more laps here. I hadn’t raced here before. I was getting better and better. [I] Appreciate Kaulig [Racing] and everything they’re doing for me. Congrats to AJ. He helped me a lot. Just needed a little bit more.”

    AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton have transferred into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs. Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements have been eliminated from title contention.

    “I made a rookie mistake there,” Snider said. “I pulled out too soon on the restart, knowing there were a couple of slow cars in front of me. I was just trying to get all I could and misunderstood the rule that I follow. That’s on me. [Crew chief] Andy Street made a great call to get us tires there at the end, help us get back up there to eighth and get ourselves a fight for it, but finished eighth and we’re still 15 points out, we’re gonna need a lot more than that. Really proud of everybody on the TaxSlayer crew for slaying it. That’s what I gotta learn for next year’s ride. It’s just to not make those rookie mistakes…Something to build on.”

    “We just got in a wreck the first [Playoff] race we couldn’t avoid, broke a rocker arm at Talladega, lost a cylinder and rode around, and battled hard here today with our pink All South Electric Chevrolet,” Clements said. “We weren’t as fast as Xfinity internet this round, but we’re gonna keep digging deep and give it all we got. We got four more races to learn and try to get better for next year. I’m proud of our effort. This is how we should’ve ran the last two races, so it is what it is. We were dealt the cards we had and we were in a big whole, but just proud of our group. I’m proud we made the Playoffs and we’re gonna keep trying to get faster.”

    There were six lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 13 laps.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, 21 laps led

    2. Austin Cindric, 22 laps led

    3. Daniel Hemric, 17 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

    4. Justin Haley

    5. Brandon Jones

    6. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    7. Preston Pardus

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Sam Mayer

    11. Josh Williams

    12. Jeremy Clements

    13. Jeb Burton

    14. Alex Labbe

    15. Harrison Burton

    16. Jade Buford

    17. Landon Cassill

    18. Austin Hill

    19. JJ Yeley

    20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21. Ty Gibbs, seven laps led

    22. Brandon Brown

    23. Kyle Weatherman

    24. Stefan Parsons

    25. Sage Karam

    26. Ty Dillon

    27. Michael Annett

    28. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    29. Will Rodgers, one lap down

    30. Matt Mills, one lap down

    31. Spencer Boyd, one lap down

    32. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    33. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident

    34. Riley Herbst – OUT, Suspension

    35. Loris Hezemans – OUT, Electrical

    36. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Axle

    37. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    38. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

    39. Kris Wright – OUT, Suspension

    40. Gray Gaulding – OUT, Rear gear

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    2. Austin Cindric – Advanced

    3. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    4. Noah Gragson – Advanced

    5. Daniel Hemric – Advanced

    6. Justin Haley – Advanced

    7. Harrison Burton – Advanced

    8. Brandon Jones – Advanced

    9. Jeb Burton – Eliminated

    10. Myatt Snider – Eliminated

    11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated

    12. Jeremy Clements – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will commence next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway for a 300-mile feature. The event will occur on Saturday, October 16, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Brandon Brown achieves first NASCAR Xfinity career win at Talladega

    Brandon Brown achieves first NASCAR Xfinity career win at Talladega

    An ultimate underdog story was made on a dark afternoon in Talladega, Alabama, after Brandon Brown dodged two late multi-car wrecks and emerged out in front of the field to win the weather-shortened Sparks 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, October 2, and score his first NASCAR Xfinity Series career win.

    Brown, who achieved his first Xfinity win in his 114th career start, had managed to remain as the leader ahead of Playoff contenders Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier when the caution flew for a late multi-car wreck involving Harrison Burton. During the cleanup session, the track was beginning to darken and NASCAR eventually made the call for the race to be deemed official six laps shy of the scheduled distance and under caution, thus handing a first career win for the Woodbridge, Virginia, native and his family operated team.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric.

    Prior to the event, Justin Haley, winner of both Xfinity events at Talladega in 2020, started at the rear of the field due to illegally applied decals that were found on the rear roof of his car during pre-race inspection. In addition, he was forced to serve a pass-through penalty at the start of the race.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Allgaier jumped ahead with an early advantage through the first turn until Cindric fought back on the inside lane entering the backstretch. 

    With the field fanning out to double lanes and running in a tight pack for a full turn, Cindric, who moved in front of Allgaier through the backstretch, led the first lap by a nose over Allgaier. Cindric was the lead car on the inside lane followed by Josh Berry while Allgaier led the outside lane, where he received drafting help from teammate Noah Gragson.

    Two laps later, Berry, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Las Vegas, gained a draft on Cindric through the frontstretch and pulled a slingshot move to lead a lap for himself.

    Through the first six laps of the event, Cindric, who reassumed the lead two laps earlier, was leading followed by Berry, Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger and Gragson while Brandon Jones, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider and John Hunter Nemechek were in the top 10 as Jeb Burton, winner of the spring Talladega event, was in 11th.

    By Lap 10, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Brandon Jones, Cindric and a steaming pack of cars competing in close quarters and double lanes. By then, three different competitors (Allmendinger, Cindric and Berry) had led a lap, comprising of six lead changes.

    Five laps later and as the field fanned out to three and four lanes, Brandon Jones, who took over the lead on Lap 13, was leading followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Harrison Burton, Nemechek and Hemric while Allmendinger settled in fifth ahead of teammate Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider. 

    A lap later, Harrison Burton took the lead after Jones got stalled by Justin Haley in Turn 1, who was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty. Behind, Allgaier and Jeb Burton made contact and nearly wrecked in the middle of the field. 

    The following lap, Jones shoved Haley out of the draft with the pack, placing him a lap behind the leaders as Harrison Burton continued to lead ahead of the field. 

    Then through the frontstretch, Harrison Burton was placed in a three-wide battle with teammates Jones and Nemechek before he got shuffled out, which allowed Nemechek to take the lead on Lap 20. By then, the field started to get dicey with multiple competitors fanning out as high as four lanes and trying to formulate a run to the front.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage, the caution flew when rookie Sam Mayer got turned out of a four-wide battle with Allmendinger, Brandon Brown and Brett Moffitt before he made hard contact into the outside wall in Turn 3, collecting Allmendinger as both competitors were taken out with demolished race cars. 

    “I just got hung up there and once you get back [to the field] with the people that you’re racing, there’s a chance of [a wreck] happening,” Allmendinger, who was released from the infield care center, said. “At the end of the day, it’s disappointing, but that’s why you work hard in the regular season, to gain all those bonus points. [It] Doesn’t completely put you in a hole. We’re going to a pretty good race track for us [next weekend]…It is what it is.”

    The wreck involving Allmendinger and Mayer ended the first stage scheduled on Lap 25 under caution as Nemechek, who zigged and zagged through the inside and outside lanes to maintain the lead, claimed the stage victory. Jeb Burton settled in second followed by Riley Herbst, Cindric, Harrison Burton, Snider, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Blaine Perkins and Daniel Hemric. By then, six different competitors led at least one lap.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Herbst, who opted for a two-tire service, left his pit stall with the lead followed by Nemechek, Snider, Cindric and Harrison Burton. Jeb Burton, who was second, got boxed behind Tommy Joe Martins while exiting his stall and came out in 10th.

    Not long after, the race was red-flagged for five minutes due to repairs being made on the SAFER barriers in Turn 3 where Mayer and Allmendinger wrecked.

    When the red flag lifted and the second stage started on Lap 30, Herbst gained a brief advantage through the first turn until Nemechek fought back on the inside lane. With the field running in close quarters and double lanes through the backstretch and entering the frontstretch, Herbst managed to maintain a brief advantage ahead of Nemechek and Cindric.

    By Lap 35, Herbst was leading ahead of Cindric, Hemric, Blaine Perkins and Gragson while Nemechek, Brandon Brown, Brett Moffitt, Jeb Burton and Snider were in the top 10. By then, Haley, who received the free pass under the first stage, was up in 12th behind Allgaier.

    Five laps later and with the field running in a long, single file line, Herbst continued to lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Perkins, Brown and Jeb Burton.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, the field started to fan out to multiple lanes and charge to the front as Herbst continued to lead by a narrow margin. 

    Then on the final lap of the second stage, Blaine Perkins challenged Herbst for the top spot through the backstretch. Despite the field gaining a run on him through the frontstretch, Perkins managed to claim the stage 2 victory on Lap 50. Moffitt settled in second followed by Nemechek, Herbst, Allgaier, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Haley, Cindric and Gragson. By then,  the race featured nine different leaders for 14 lead changes.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Herbst reassumed the lead followed by Haley. During the pit stops, names like Joe Graf Jr., Bayley Currey, Ryan Vargas and Mason Massey remained on the track, though all pitted prior to the restart.

    With 59 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Herbst and Haley started on the front row. At the start, Herbst jumped ahead of Haley followed by Allgaier before Allgaier moved to the lead the following lap. With Allgaier leading, he was followed by Cindric and Harrison Burton.

    The following lap, Cindric moved to the front followed by Herbst, Allgaier, Harrison Burton and the field.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading ahead of Moffitt, Gragson, Jeb Burton and Berry while Hemric, Haley, Perkins, Cindric and Herbst were in the top 10. Harrison Burton was in 11th while teammate John Hunter Nemechek was in 13th. 

    A lap later, Moffitt moved into the lead. Another two laps later, Jeb Burton led a lap for himself before Cindric re-took the top spot. 

    Shortly after, Moffitt joined Berry, Allgaier and Gragson in pitting under green. A few laps later, names like Cindric, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Hemric and Nemechek pitted under green. While most of the Toyota competitors pitted, Brandon Jones failed to dive on to pit road with his teammates. 

    Soon after, names like Jeb Burton, Haley, Jones, Jade Buford, Snider, Jordan Anderson and others pitted under green. 

    With 40 laps remaining, names like Mason Massey, Kyle Weatherman, CJ McLaughlin and Jason White had yet to pit while the first 10 competitors, running in a single file line on fresh tires and full fuel led by Herbst, were trailing by 20 seconds. 

    Just then, the caution flew when Bayley Currey stalled his car on pit road. Under caution, names like Massey, Weatherman, McLaughlin, White and Moffitt pitted while the rest led by Herbst and Cindric remained on the track. Playoff contender Jeremy Clements also pitted due to experiencing cylinder issues in his car.

    With 34 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Herbst received a push from Allgaier to jump ahead with the lead and in front of Cindric. Then through the backstretch, Herbst and Cindric moved up to the outside lane as Gragson challenged for the lead on the inside lane.

    As Gragson took the lead, Herbst challenged on the outside lane followed by Cindric and Allgaier while Josh Berry closed in on teammate Gragson’s rear bumper.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event and with the field fanning out to multiple lanes in a pack, Gragson was leading ahead of teammate Berry, Moffitt, Jeb Burton, Snider, Brandon Jones, Cindric, Jordan Anderson, Haley and Herbst. Allgaier was in 12th, Henric was in 14th and Harrison Burton was in 17th in front of teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

    Five laps later, Moffitt and Gragson challenged in a side-by-side battle for the lead. Then, the caution flew for a vicious crash that started when Jeb Burton and Moffitt made contact in Turn 3, which sent Moffitt turning into Gragson as Gragson pounded into the outside wall and was hit by Myatt Snider. As more cars wrecked behind, Gragson received another vicious hit by McLaughlin and Caesar Bacarella before his battered No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro came to a rest below the apron. Among those involved included Jeb Burton, Moffitt, Berry, Brandon Jones, Bacarella, Vargas, Garrett Smithley, McLaughlin, Santino Ferrucci, Ryan Sieg and Mason Massey. The wreck was enough to pause the race for more than 15 minutes as all competitors, including Gragson, were okay.

    Following an extensive cleanup period and with the skies darkening as rain was being reported near the superspeedway, the race restarted with 20 laps remaining as Jeb Burton and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. 

    At the start, Brandon Jones jumped to the lead followed by Allgaier, Hemric and Haley while Jeb Burton was falling behind on the outside lane. 

    The following lap, Jeffrey Earnhardt made contact with the outside wall near the pit entrance and spun, but he was able to nurse his car to pit road as the race remained running in green. 

    Back on the track, Jones continued to lead followed by Allgaier, Hemric, Haley, Brown, Jade Buford, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Jordan Anderson and Austin Cindric. 

    With 15 laps remaining, Brandon Jones was leading a long single-file line ahead of Allgaier, Hemric, Haley and Brown as Jeb Burton led a charge on the outside lane. Burton’s momentum, though, stalled was the leaders moved up the outside lane.

    A few laps later, the field fanned out to multiple lanes and in a tight pack as Brandon Brown and Jordan Anderson challenged for the lead alongside Brandon Jones. 

    Then with 11 laps remaining, the caution returned when Harrison Burton got sideways entering Turn 3 and turned back across the track and into the Turn 3 outside wall, where he collected Nemechek, Moffitt, Herbst, Josh Williams, Alex Labbe, Jason White and Jeb Burton, who bumper cover got clipped off. At the time of caution, NASCAR ruled that Brown was the leader ahead of Brandon Jones and Allgaier.

    Following the cleanup, the field continued to run behind the pace car and under caution as darkness began to overshadow the track. With darkness looming and beginning to cover the superspeedway, NASCAR then decided to declare the race official six laps shy of the finish. The decision handed the victory to Brandon Brown, who crossed the finish line under cautious pace with the lead.

    With his victory, Brown became the 169th different competitor to win in the Xfinity Series. He also became the fifth first-time Xfinity winner of 2021 and the sixth to do so at Talladega.

    While celebrating on the frontstretch amid a chorus of cheers from the crowd, Brown dedicated the win to his family operated organization, Brandonbilt Motorsports.

    “Oh my God!” Brown, who celebrated on the frontstretch, exclaimed. “This is a dream come true! Wow, Talladega, winner in NASCAR! Oh my God! Dad, we did it! Let’s go! This is everything we hoped and dreamed for. Everything I’ve wanted to do was to take the trophy home for mom and dad. Oh my God. Thank you so much. Thank you to all our partners. It’s just such an unbelievable moment. We saw our moment and we seized it. I’m just so proud of Brandonbilt Motorsports, so proud of everybody on our team, here and at home. Everybody that’s worked on our team since the beginning. We did it, we did it, we did it.”

    Brandon Jones was the highest-finishing Playoff competitor in second place while Justin Allgaier ended up in third place.

    “First off, let me just say how grateful I am to have Menards on our Supra,” Jones said. “It’s a big day for us. You look at the whole day and all the scenarios that happened. I think that’s probably the best option without us winning, to have [Brown] win. Good for him. Also, I think that it obviously doesn’t affect the point too bad for us. [I] Had some solid moments there. Don’t know how we missed the Big One there in [Turns] 3 and 4 early on in the day. Lot of positives, but we’re close. It’s tough to swallow.”

    “It’s disappointing to get that close and not being able to race for [the win],” Allgaier said. “Congrats to Brandon. Those guys worked really, really hard. It’s cool to see a first-time winner. Obviously, they did what they needed to do there at the end. Really proud of my team. The BRANDT Professional Agricultural Camaro was really good. We did what we needed to do. We come out of here with a good points gap. We didn’t lock our way into the next round, but we can go to the [Charlotte] Roval next week, have some fun and hopefully, go for it. “

    Daniel Hemric ended up in fourth for his 11th top-five result of the season while Jordan Anderson emerged with his first top-five result in the Xfinity Series by finishing fifth.

    Haley, teammate Jeb Burton, Cindric, Berry and Joe Graf Jr. completed the top 10 on the track.

    Cindric’s eighth-place result was enough for him to clinch his spot in the Playoff’s Round of 8 based on points as he continues his pursuit to defend his series title. Meanwhile, names like Jeb Burton, Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements are below the top-eight cutline entering next weekend’s Playoff elimination event at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course.

    There were 33 lead changes for 17 different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 21 laps.

    Results.

    1. Brandon Brown, eight laps led

    2. Brandon Jones, 12 laps led

    3. Justin Allgaier, seven laps led

    4. Daniel Hemric

    5. Jordan Anderson

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Jeb Burton, seven laps led

    8. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led

    9. Josh Berry, three laps led

    10. Joe Graf Jr., one lap led

    11. Ryan Sieg

    12. Jade Buford

    13. Blaine Perkins, two laps led, Stage 2 winner

    14. Josh Williams

    15. Joey Gase

    16. JJ Yeley

    17. Santino Ferrucci

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Garrett Smithley

    20. Kyle Weatherman

    21. Alex Labbe

    22. John Hunter Nemechek, eight laps led, Stage 1 winner

    23. Matt Mills, one lap down

    24. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    25. Harrison Burton -OUT, Accident, two laps led

    26. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    27. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

    28. Jason White – OUT, Accident

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    30. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident, eight laps led

    31. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

    32. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    33. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Accident

    34. CJ McLaaughlin – OUT, Accident

    35. Mason Massey – OUT, Accident, four laps led

    36. Bayley Currey – OUT, Drifeshaft, two laps led

    37. Landon Cassill – OUT, Engine

    38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    39. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, three laps led

    40. David Starr – OUT, Engine

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric – Advanced
    2. Justin Allgaier, +55
    3. Daniel Hemric, +41
    4. AJ Allmendinger, +33 
    5. Justin Haley, +24
    6. Brandon Jones, +21
    7. Noah Gragson, +18
    8. Harrison Burton, +8
    9. Jeb Burton, -8
    10. Myatt Snider, -24
    11. Riley Herbst, -32
    12. Jeremy Clements, -48

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs will continue next weekend at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course venue, where the Round of 8 field will also be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 9, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Weekend schedule for Talladega

    Weekend schedule for Talladega

    NASCAR travels to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend as the Playoffs continue for all three national series. There will be no practice or qualifying and the lineups will be set by NASCAR’s metric format.

    Saturday will feature a doubleheader with the Camping World Truck Series race at 1 p.m. followed by the Xfinity Series Sparks 300 at 4:30 p.m.

    Sunday’s Cup Series YellaWood 500 will begin with Dale Earnhardt Jr., a six-time winner at the track, taking a ceremonial lap before the start of the race in Ron Bouchard’s No. 47 Buick. The lap will pay tribute to Bouchard’s 1981 upset win when he passed Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte on the final lap and won by a margin of only two feet to claim the checkered flag in the 11th start of his rookie season.

    All times are Eastern

    Saturday, October 2

    1 p.m.: Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250
    Stages 20/40/94 Laps/250.04 Miles
    Pole: Ben Rhodes
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    4:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Sparks 300
    Stages 25/50/113) Laps/300.58 Miles
    Pole: Justin Allgaier
    NBCSN/TSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    Sunday, October 3

    2 p.m.: Cup Series YellaWood 500
    Stages 60/120/188 Laps/500 Miles
    Pole: Denny Hamlin
    NBC/TSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

    The NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega has been rescheduled to Monday at 1 p.m. ET on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

    Talladega Superspeedway Data

    Season Race #: 31 of 36 (10-03-21)
    Track Size: 2.66-miles
    Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 33 degrees
    Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 33 degrees
    Banking/Frontstretch: 16.5 degrees
    Banking/Backstretch: 2 degrees
    Frontstretch Length:  4,300 feet
    Backstretch Length:  4,000 feet
    Race Length: 188 laps / 500 miles
    Stage 1 & 2 Length: 60 laps (each)
    Final Stage Length: 68 laps

    Talladega Superspeedway Qualifying Data

    -Track qualifying record: Bill Elliott, Melling Racing Ford (212.809 mph, 44.998 secs.) on April 30, 1987.
    -2020 Playoff pole winner: Metric Qualifying – Denny Hamlin (Toyota) started in the first position.
    -2019 Playoff pole winner: Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet (192.707 mph, 49.692 secs.) on October 12, 2019.

    • Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch lead all active Cup drivers in starts at Talladega with 41 each.
    • Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in average starting position at Talladega with a 6.000 in 11 starts.
    • Six of the 44 NASCAR Cup Series pole winners at Talladega Superspeedway are active this weekend.  Chase Elliott (2), Kevin Harvick (2), Austin Dillon (1), Kurt Busch (1), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (1), and Martin Truex Jr. (1).
    • Kevin Harvick (2005, 2018) and Chase Elliott (2016, 2019) lead all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in poles at Talladega with two each.
    • The youngest series Talladega pole winner: Chase Elliott (May 1, 2016 – 20 years, 5 months, 3 days).
    • Hendrick Motorsports leads the series in poles at Talladega Superspeedway with 13 among eight different drivers.
    • Eight different manufacturers have won at least one pole in the NASCAR Cup Series at Talladega Superspeedway; led by Chevrolet with 37 and followed by Ford (29), Dodge (12), Mercury (five), Oldsmobile (five), Pontiac (three), Toyota (three) and Buick (two).

    Talladega Superspeedway Race Data

    -Track race record: Mark Martin, Roush Fenway Racing Ford (188.354 mph, 02:39:18) on May 10, 1997.
    -2020 Playoff race winner: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (129.774 mph, 04:05:58) on October 4, 2020.
    -2019 Playoff race winner: Ryan Blaney, Team Penske Ford (136.644 mph, 03:39:35) on October 14, 2019.

    • Nine of the 49 NASCAR Cup Series race winners at Talladega Superspeedway are active this weekend.  Brad Keselowski (6), Joey Logano (3), Denny Hamlin (2), Ryan Blaney (2), Chase Elliott (1), Aric Almirola (1), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (1), Kevin Harvick (1), and Kyle Busch (1).
    • Brad Keselowski leads all active NASCAR Cup Series drivers in wins at Talladega Superspeedway with six victories (2009, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2021).
    • 15 of the 104 NASCAR Cup Series races (14.4%) at Talladega Superspeedway have been won from the pole or first starting position.
    • The outside front row (second starting position) is the most proficient starting position in the field, producing more winners (20) than any other starting position at Talladega Superspeedway in the NASCAR Cup Series.
    • The deepest in the field that an active race winner has started at Talladega is 34th, by Denny Hamlin in the 2014 spring race.

    From OddsChecker: Denny Hamlin a slight favorite to win YellaWood 500’

    Hamlin is given +900 odds to win the YellaWood 500. That’s an implied 10% chance to win the race. He’s quickly followed by Joey Logano who’s given +1000 odds, or a 9.1% chance. Chase Elliot and Ryan Blaney aren’t far behind either as both are given +1100 odds, or an 8.3% chance.

    YELLAWOOD 500 WINNER ODDS 

    Driver Odds Implied chance 
    Denny Hamlin +900 10% 
    Joey Logano +1000 9.1% 
    Chase Elliot +1100 8.3% 
    Ryan Blaney +1100 8.3% 
    Kevin Harvick +1600 5.9% 
    William Byron +1600 5.9% 
    Kyle Larson +1800 5.3% 
    Alec Almirola +2000 4.8% 
    Alex Bowman +2200 4.3% 
    Martin Truex Jr. +2800 3.4% 

  • Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    Berry wins Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

    On a night where the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, a non-title contender stole the show as Josh Berry outran teammate Justin Allgaier to win the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 25.

    The victory was Berry’s second of his Xfinity Series career and in his 20th start of this season. The victory also occurred as Berry filled in the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro as a relief competitor for veteran Michael Annett.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric and AJ Allmendinger, both of whom wrecked and battled for the win last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway, started on the front row. 

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric had Justin Haley pushing him on the outside lane while Allmendinger had Justin Allgaier pushing him on the inside lane through Turn 1. Through Turns 1 and 2, Cindric and Allmendinger battled dead even for the top spot until Cindric was able to clear Allmendinger in Turn 3 and lead the first lap.

    Entering the second lap, Cindric was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allmendinger as the field fanned out to two lanes while battling for positions.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Allmendinger while Justin Haley, Justin Allgaier and rookie Ty Gibbs were in the top five. Harrison Burton was in sixth followed by Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider.

    Five laps later, Cindric stabilized his advantage to over Allmendinger. Behind, Allgaier overtook Haley for third while Gibbs, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Gragson, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Cindric stretched his advantage to nearly a second over Allmendinger. Teammates Gibbs and Hemric were up in third and fourth while Allgaier fell back to fifth.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 25, Cindric remained as the leader of the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Allgaier, who had concerns of oil leaking from his car, pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 30, Cindric and Allmendinger battled for the lead as the field fanned out to multiple lanes approaching the first turn. Just then, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 1 that involved Joe Graaf Jr., Ty Dillon, Alex Labbe, Dylan Lupton, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley, Brandon Brown, Bayley Currey and rookie Sam Mayer. Also involved were Playoff contenders Jeb Burton, Jeremy Clements and Riley Herbst, all of whom were eliminated from the race. At the time of caution, Allmendinger had managed to take the lead.

    Following an extensive cleanup period, the race restarted under green on Lap 40 as Allmendinger and Cindric started on the front row. At the start, Allmendinger received a strong start on the outside lane to retain the lead while Cindric moved up to second. Through the backstretch, Hemric challenged teammate Gibbs for third while Harrison Burton and Gragson battled for fifth. Behind, Brett Moffitt moved up to seventh ahead of Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Allmendinger earned his 10th stage victory of the season. Hemric made his way up to second followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Gragson, Harrison Burton, Sieg, Brandon Jones, Josh Berry and Moffitt. Meanwhile, Snider, Haley and Allgaier were in 11th, 12th and 14th.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead after beating Allmendinger off of pit road by a narrow margin. Back on the track, however, Ty Dillon and Brandon Brown moved up to first and second after both elected to remain on the track. During the pit stops, Gragson was sent to the rear for driving through multiple pit boxes while trying to enter his along with Sieg, who was penalized for an equipment interference

    The second stage started on Lap 51. At the start, Ty Dillon jumped ahead with the lead followed by Hemric as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn. Through the backstretch, Brandon Jones muscled his way to third place followed by teammate Harrison Burton and Allgaier, all of whom overtook Brown on fresh tires.

    Three laps later, the caution flew when Sieg spun in Turn 2 as he collected Jade Buford. Under caution, Brandon Jones surrendered third place to pit due to a vibration on the right rear of his No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra. 

    On Lap 59, the race restarted under green. At the start, Ty Dillon retained the lead followed by Allgaier and Harrison Burton while Hemric fell back to fifth in front of Cindric, Gibbs and Berry.

    On Lap 65, the battle for the lead intensified was Allgaier closed in on Ty Dillon’s No. 31 South Point Chevrolet Camaro for the top spot. Behind, Harrison Burton was in third followed by Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric. Meanwhile, Gragson worked his way up to ninth ahead of Allmendinger, Haley, Brandon Jones and Myatt Snider.

    A lap later, Allgaier motored his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro to the lead. 

    By Lap 75, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Ty Dillon while Cindric, Gibbs and Hemric were in the top five. Gragson was in sixth followed by Moffitt, Berry, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger while Haley, Brandon Jones and Snider were in 11th, 12th and 13th.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Allgaier claimed his third stage victory of the season. Behind, Ty Dillon fended off Cindric to settle in second followed by Gragson, Hemric, Berry, Gibbs, Moffitt, Allmendinger and Haley.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Hemric, Gragson and Gibbs. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized again, this time for speeding on pit road. 

    With 105 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead ahead of Hemric, Cindric and the field as the track fell into night conditions. The following lap, Cindric and Allmendinger overtook Hemric’s No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota Supra for spots in the top three

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by half a second over Cindric while Allmendinger was in third. Hemric and Gibbs were in the top five followed by Berry, Haley, Snider, Moffitt and Brandon Jones.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Cindric and by more than two seconds over Allmendinger. Behind, Gibbs and Berry moved up to fourth and fifth while Hemric settled in sixth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another 10 laps later, the caution flew when a bump from Moffitt sent Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro spinning in Turn 3. Under caution, the leaders returned to pit road and Allgaier retained the lead followed by Cindric, Gibbs, Allmendinger and Gragson.

    With 76 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead on the outside lane despite being challenged by Gibbs and Cindric. Behind, Cindric bolted his way to second while Gibbs retained third ahead of Allmendinger and Gragson. 

    Six laps later, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Cindric. Meanwhile, Berry, Gibbs and Allmendinger battled for fifth ahead of Gragson. 

    Another three laps later, Cindric powered his No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang to the lead over Allgaier. By then, Allmendinger worked his way up to third. 

    With 63 laps remaining, Allgaier reassumed the lead. Not long after, a battle for the runner-up spot between Cindric and Josh Berry occurred as Berry prevailed. During this battle, Gragson closed in on the top-three leaders followed by Allmendinger and Gibbs.

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier was leading by nearly a second over teammate Berry while Cindric, Gragson and Gibbs were in the top five.  Allmendinger was in sixth followed by Hemric, Brandon Jones, Haley and Ty Dillon. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton was in 12th while Myatt Snider was back in 15th.

    Nine laps later, Berry, who filled in as an interim competitor in JR Motorsports’ No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro for veteran Michael Annett, made his way into the lead over teammate Allgaier.

    With less than 30 laps remaining, Brandon Jones pitted under green. Soon after, Allgaier pitted along with Hemric, Gibbs, Ty Dillon, Moffitt, Gragson, Allmendinger. Berry, the leader, also pitted during this sequence. During the green flag pit stops, Gibbs was penalized for speeding his No. 54 Interstate Batteries Toyota Supra on pit road.

    Under the final 20 laps, Haley, who had yet to pit, was leading followed by Snider, Allgaier, Berry and Gragson. Once Haley pitted, Allgaier, who overtook teammate Berry on the track, made his way back to the lead. Another two laps later, however, Berry reassumed the lead. 

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than three seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson was in third, trailing by nearly nine seconds in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro. Cindric was up in fourth followed by Hemric and Brandon Jones while Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Haley and Harrison Burton were in the top 10.

    With five laps remaining, Berry stabilized his advantage to four seconds over teammate Allgaier while teammate Gragson trailed by nine seconds in third place.

    When the white flag waved and the final laps started, Berry continued to lead by more than four seconds over teammate Allgaier. Following a smooth navigation around the circuit for a final time, Berry came back around and claimed the checkered flag for his first series win since Martinsville Speedway in April.

    In addition to securing his second Xfinity Series career victory, Berry became the first non-Playoff contender to win the Playoff opening race since Tyler Reddick made the last accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in September 2017. Berry also recorded the 57th Xfinity career victory for JR Motorsports and the first win for JRM’s No. 1 team since Daytona International Speedway in February 2019.

    “Oh my gosh,” Berry, who led 38 laps, said on NBCSN. “This [car] was fast. It just took me a while to figure it out. I knew the race would go down to the bottom at the end, I felt like. I just wanted to really work hard, make sure my car ran good on the bottom [lane] and I just had to stay disciplined and keep working on it. [The No. 1 crew] made the right adjustments. I knew it was fast. Just finally got a long run, put everything together and I was able to do it.”

    “Me and Justin [Allgaier] have raced together a lot this year,” Berry added. “Most of them, he’s got the better of me. Today, we were able to get one. This is cool. This moves the No. 1 car to the next round in the owner’s points. That was really important for this group. They’ve worked so hard, they’ve been through so much and they deserve this. I wanna say hey to Michael [Annett] at home and thank him and his group for trusting me in driving this race car…One, two three finish [for JR Motorsports], that’s pretty cool.”

    With teammates Allgaier and Gragson finished second and third, JR Motorsports achieved its first 1-2-3 finish in NASCAR history.

    Allgaier was the highest-finishing Xfinity drivers’ title contender in second place on the track while teammate Gragson rallied from his pair of pit road penalties to settle in third place at his home track. With the results, Allgaier is ranked in third place in the Playoff standings, 38 points above the top-eight cutline, while Gragson is in fourth place in the standings, 37 points above the cutline.

    “It’s super tough,” Allgaier, who led a race-high 90 laps, said. “First of off, hats off to Josh and the No. 1 team. They, obviously, had a lot of adversity this year, so for them to come home with a victory was really cool. Just proud of our guys, everybody on this No. 7 team. I was disappointed in the middle of the race there. We felt like we were really good and then as the sun went down, we just needed a little bit more right-rear grip. That’s where I feel like [Berry] had us beat. We’ll rebound, we’ll go next week to Talladega. [We] Should’ve gotten some decent points tonight and hopefully, have a good week next week.”

    “I’m really frustrated, but I think the Bass Pro Shops No. 9 team and everybody at JR Motorsports should be really frustrated with me,” Gragson said. “Just ’cause it’s two weeks in a row and I need to get better. [The crew] brought an unbelievable race car to the track. I’m happy, happy for Josh, happy for Justin, happy everybody at JR Motorsports. Wish we could’ve beaten the guy…We’ll go on to Talladega, hopefully don’t get in a wreck, knock on wood and can transfer to the next stage.”

    Austin Cindric, the pole-sitter who led 33 laps, finished fourth and he leads the Xfinity Playoffs by four points over AJ Allmendinger, the 2021 Xfinity Series regular season champion, while Hemric, who was announced as a Kaulig Racing competitor for the 2022 Xfinity Series season, finished fifth and is in fifth place in the Playoff standings, 34 points above the cutline.

    Brandon Jones, AJ Allmendinger, Ty Dillon, Justin Haley and Harrison Burton finished in the top 10 on the track.

    There were 13 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps.

    Results.

    1. Josh Berry, 38 laps led

    2. Justin Allgaier, 90 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Noah Gragson, one lap led

    4. Austin Cindric, 33 laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. AJ Allmendinger, 20 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    8. Ty Dillon, 17 laps led

    9. Justin Haley, two laps led

    10. Harrison Burton

    11. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    12. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    13. Bayley Currey, one lap down 

    14. Tommy Joe Martins, one lap down

    15. Myatt Snider, one lap down

    16. Landon Cassill, one lap down

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

    18. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    19. Ryan Vargas, two laps down

    20. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    21. David Starr, four laps down

    22. Brandon Brown, four laps down

    23. Mason Massey, four laps down

    24. Josh Williams, five laps down

    25. Spencer Boyd, five laps down

    26. Jade Buford, six laps down

    27. Matt Jaskol, six laps down

    28. Matt Mills, seven laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, seven laps down

    30. BJ McLeod, eight laps down

    31. Carson Ware – OUT, Electrical

    32. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Overheating

    33. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

    34. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    35. Dylan Lupton – OUT, Accident

    36. Jeb Burton – OUT, AAccident

    37. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

    38. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

    39. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

    40. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    Bold indicates Playoff contenders.

    Playoff standings.

    1. Austin Cindric, +66

    2. AJ Allmendinger, +59

    3. Justin Allgaier, +38

    4. Noah Gragson, +37

    5. Daniel Hemric, +34

    6. Justin Haley, +17

    7. Harrison Burton, +13

    8. Brandon Jones, +10

    9. Myatt Snider, -10

    10. Jeb Burton, -27

    11. Riley Herbst, -32

    12. Jeremy Clements, -36

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the series will next travel to Talladega Superspeedway for the second Round of 12 event of the season. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, October 2, at 4:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Weekend schedule for Las Vegas

    Weekend schedule for Las Vegas

    NASCAR travels to Las Vegas Motor Speedway as the Playoffs continue after an exciting weekend at Bristol where four drivers in the Cup Series were eliminated from championship contention.

    It will be the first race in the Cup Series Round of 12.

    The Xfinity Series will begin its Playoffs at Las Vegas as 12 drivers compete for the title. The post-season title contenders include AJ Allmendinger, the Xfinity Series Regular Season Champion, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider, Jeremy Clements, Riley Herbst, Noah Gragson and Brandon Jones.

    Friday night, the Camping World Truck Series will begin its Round of 8. John Hunter Nemechek leads the way with 3050 points followed by Sheldon Creed, Ben Rhodes, Zane Smith, Chandler Smith, Matt Crafton, Carson Hocevar and Stewart Friesen.

    There will be no qualifying or practice this weekend and starting lineups will be determined by the metrics formula established by NASCAR.

    Thursday, Sept. 23

    11 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series West Star Nursery 150
    TV: Trackpass

    Friday, Sept. 24

    9 p.m.: Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts
    Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 30, Stage 2 ends on Lap 60, Final Stage ends on Lap 134
    Pole: John Hunter Nemechek
    TV: FS1 – Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

    Saturday, Sept. 25

    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Alsco Uniforms 302
    Distance: 302 miles (201 Laps)
    Stage 1 ends on Lap 45, Stage 2 ends on Lap 90, Final Stage ends on Lap 201
    Pole: Austin Cindric
    TV: NBCSN – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

    Sunday, Sept. 26

    7 p.m.: Cup Series South Point 400
    Distance: 400.5 miles (267 Laps)
    Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 80),
    Stage 2 ends on Lap 160, Final Stage ends on Lap 267
    Pole: Kyle Larson
    TV: NBCSN – Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway Data

    Season Race #: 30 of 36 (09-26-21)
    Track Size: 1.5-miles
    Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 20 degrees
    Banking/Turns 3 & 4: 20 degrees
    Banking/Frontstretch: 9 degrees
    Banking/Backstretch: 9 degrees
    Frontstretch Length:  2,275 feet
    Backstretch Length:  1,572 feet
    Race Length: 267 laps (400.5 miles)
    Stage 1 & 2 Length: 80 laps (each)
    Final Stage Length: 107 laps

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway Qualifying Data

    Track Qualifying Record: Kurt Busch, Chevrolet (196.328 mph. 27.505 secs.) on March 4, 2016.
    2020 Playoff Race Pole Winner: Metric Qualifying, Kevin Harvick started from the first position.

    • Kevin Harvick leads the NASCAR Cup Series in starts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with 24 starts.
    • Daniel Hemric leads the series in average starting position at Las Vegas a 5.5 in two starts.
    • Chase Elliott leads all active drivers in the series in average starting position at Las Vegas an 8.778 in nine starts.
    • Kyle Busch (2008, 2009) and Kurt Busch (2010, 2016) lead all active drivers in poles at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with two each.
    • Kyle Busch is the only driver to win consecutive Cup Series poles at Las Vegas from 2008-2009.
    • Five different manufacturers have won a pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series led by Ford (11), and followed by Chevrolet (four), Dodge (four), Toyota (three) and Pontiac (one).

    Las Vegas Motor Speedway Race Data

    Track Race Record: Brad Keselowski, Ford (154.633 mph, 2:35:24) on March 9, 2014.
    2020 Playoff Race Winner: Kurt Busch, Chevrolet (131.420 mph, 03:03:32) on September 27, 2020.

    • Brad Keselowski leads all active drivers in NASCAR Cup Series wins at Las Vegas with three (2014, 2016, 2018).
    • The youngest LVMS winner: Kyle Busch (March 01, 2009 – 23 years, 9 months, 27 days).
    • Kyle Busch became the first and only driver to win from the pole at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Cup Series on March 1, 2009.
    • Five of the 27 Las Vegas races (18.52%) have been won from the front row.
    • The second starting position is the most proficient starting position in the field producing more winners (four) than any other starting position at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (14.81%).
    • Roush Fenway Racing leads the NASCAR Cup Series in wins at Las Vegas with seven victories: Mark Martin (1998), Jeff Burton (1999, 2000), Matt Kenseth (2003, 2004), Carl Edwards (2008, 2011).
    • Four manufacturers have visited Victory Lane in the NASCAR Cup Series at Las Vegas, led by Ford (13 wins), Chevrolet (nine), Toyota (four) and Dodge (one).

    From OddsChecker: Kyle Larson favorite to win South Point 400

    Larson is given +350 odds, or an implied 22.2% chance to win the race. He’s followed by Kyle Busch, who is given +650 odds or an implied 13.3% chance. Denny Hamlin is given +700 odds, Chase Elliot +800, and Martin Truex Jr. +900. Those are the 5 favorites. Even among them, it’s clear that oddsmakers are separating Larson from the pack.

    SOUTH POINT 400 WINNER ODDS 

    Driver Odds Implied chance 
    Kyle Larson +350 22.2% 
    Kyle Busch +650 13.3% 
    Denny Hamlin +700 12.5% 
    Chase Elliot +800 11.1% 
    Martin Truex Jr. +900 10% 
    Kevin Harvick +1000 9.1% 
    Joey Logano +1100 8.3% 
    William Byron +1200 7.7% 
    Ryan Blaney +1400 6.7% 
    Brad Keselowski +1500 6.3% 
  • Allmendinger spins and wins a wild finish at Bristol; locks up Xfinity regular season championship

    Allmendinger spins and wins a wild finish at Bristol; locks up Xfinity regular season championship

    The conclusion of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 17, left a bevy of race cars wrecked and tempers flaring amongst a number of competitors, including the top-two finishers fighting for both the win and the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season championship.

    In a late overtime shootout between two potential championship favorites, AJ Allmendinger bumped and rubbed Austin Cindric for the lead before overtaking him on the final lap and just had enough to stay ahead of Cindric, who sent both competitors spinning and wrecking across the finish line, to win both the race and claim the regular season title. The finish of the event also provided a possible preview of this year’s Xfinity Series championship battle between two dominating competitors throughout this year’s Xfinity regular-season stretch.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Noah Gragson, winner of last weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Justin Allgaier.

    Prior to the event, Josh Berry dropped to the rear of the field for filling in for veteran Michael Annett, who re-injured his right leg while working out. The move eliminated Annett in making the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs for the first time since 2018.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Gragson powered ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Daniel Hemric and the field. As Gragson led the first lap, Hemric retained second while Allgaier was trying to fend off Harrison Burton, rookie Ty Gibbs and Justin Haley in third.

    On the fifth lap and while the field battled competitively early, Hemric emerged with the lead after passing Gragson, who led the first four laps, on the inside lane through Turns 4 and 1. Behind, Gibbs muscled his way into fourth behind Allgaier while Harrison Burton was left battling with Kaulig Racing’s Haley and Jeb Burton near the top five.

    On the ninth lap, the first caution of the race flew when Brett Moffitt made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2, an incident that ended his hopes to make the Playoffs. By then, Harrison Burton fell back to eighth behind Austin Cindric while Josh Berry was up in 27th behind Spencer Boyd.

    Seven laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead while Allgaier overtook teammate Gragson to move into second. Behind, Gibbs and Haley battled for fourth while Cindric and Jeb Burton battled for sixth.

    By Lap 20, Hemric was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Gragson, Haley and Jeb Burton were in the top five. Cindric, Harrison Burton, Gibbs, Jeremy Clements and Brandon Jones were in the top 10 while AJ Allmendinger was in 12th behind Ryan Sieg.

    Ten laps later, Hemric, who was approaching lapped traffic, continued to lead by a narrow margin over Allgaier while Haley was in third. Meanwhile, Cindric was up in fourth followed by Gragson. Behind, Gibbs was up in sixth followed by cousins Jeb and Harrison Burton. In addition, Allmendinger cracked the top 10.

    On Lap 36, Allgaier made a move on Hemric, who was trapped behind the lapped car of Jade Buford, to move into the lead. Shortly after, Haley moved into second while Hemric got shuffled back to third.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 40, Allgaier was leading by three-tenths of a second over Haley while Hemric, Cindric and Gragson were in the top five. Gibbs, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. By then, Ryan Sieg, Riley Herbst and Brandon Brown, all of whom were battling for spots in the Xfinity Series Playoffs, were in 11th, 12th and 13th, Myatt Snider was in 15th and Berry was in 19th.

    Under the competition caution, some like Sieg and Jeremy Clements pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Spencer Boyd, who also pitted, dragged a gas can out of his pit box and on the track. When the gas can came off of Boyd’s machine, fuel spilled out on the racing surface, which required safety crews to remove the can.

    When the race restarted on Lap 51, Allgaier continued to lead over the field.

    By Lap 60, Allgaier was ahead by four-tenths of a second over Hemric and nearly seven-tenths of a second over teammate Gragson. Mayer was in fourth followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton and Harrison Burton. Meanwhile, Gibbs was back in 11th, but locked in a battle with teammate Harrison Burton and Riley Herbst.

    Fifteen laps later, Allgaier remained in the lead by nearly half a second over Hemric while third-place Gragson trailed by nearly a second. Meanwhile, light smoke and possible fluid was billowing out of the No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro driven by Berry. 

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 85, Allgaier, who led 50 laps, was able to capture his second stage victory of the season. Hemric settled in second followed by Gragson, Haley, Mayer, Allmendinger, Cindric, Brandon Jones, Gibbs and Harrison Burton. By then, Berry, who pitted for fresh tires and to have the smoke assessed, took his car behind the wall.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead ahead of the field following his pit service. Meanwhile, Jeremy Clements moved up to third after opting for no fresh tires during his pit service.

    The second stage started on Lap 93 as teammates Allgaier and Gragson occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier muscled into the lead on the outside lane while Hemric overtook Gragson for the runner-up spot. Behind, a pair of side-by-side battles occurred between Clements, Haley, Allmendinger and Cindric.

    Two laps later, Haley, who was in fourth, slipped in Turn 1, which nearly placed him in a four-wide battle with teammate Allmendinger, Cindric and Clements entering Turn 2. With the field jumbled up, Allgaier continued to lead.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Hemric followed by Gragson, Haley and Allmendinger. Cindric was in sixth ahead of Ty Gibbs while Jeb Burton, Mayer and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. 

    Three laps later, the caution flew when BJ McLeod bumped and turned Tommy Joe Martins in the backstretch.

    Another five laps later, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allgaier jumped ahead with a slight advantage over Hemric, who fought back on the inside lane. A lap later, Hemric muscled his way back into the lead. Not long after, the caution returned when Matt Mills wrecked on the frontstretch following contact from Boyd. After exiting his car, Mills expressed his displease to Boyd with an obscene gesture.

    On Lap 116, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hemric retained the lead following another strong start while JR Motorsports’ teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for second. Behind, Cindric was in fourth followed by Haley and Allmendinger.

    By Lap 125, Hemric was out in front by six-tenths for a second over Allgaier while Gragson, Cindric and Haley remained in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Gibbs and the field.

    On Lap 136, Allgaier seized an opportunity to retake the lead after Hemric was mired behind lapped traffic.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Allgaier continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hemric while Gragson, Cindric and Haley remained in the top five. Behind, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger battled for sixth while Gibbs, Maayer and Jeb Burton were in the top 10. Harrison Burton was in 12th behind Myatt Snider, Sieg was in 13th ahead of Herbst and Brandon Brown was in 17th area of Jeremy Clements and Sage Karam.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Allgaier, the leader who was trying to navigate his way through lapped traffic, made contact with the lapped car of Joe Graf Jr., wiggled and got sideways in Turn 1. Despite sliding sideways in the first turn, Allgaier managed to straighten his car and continue without sustaining any damage. 

    Under caution, some led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Hemric remained on the track. Under caution, Snider was busted for speeding on pit road.

    With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race resumed under green. At the start, Hemric fended off Allgaier on the outside lane to retain the lead while Gragson, Cindric and Haley battled in the top five. 

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 170, Hemric secured his seventh stage victory of the season. Allgaier settled in second followed by Gragson, Haley, Cindric, Allmendinger, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Sieg and Jeb Burton.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allgaier pitted while others led by Jeb Burton, including those who pitted under the previous caution prior to the second stage’s conclusion, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, teammates Allgaier and Gragson were penalized for speeding on pit road.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Jeb Burton moved and cleared Herbst for the lead in Turn 2. A lap later, though, Mayer used the outside lane to overtake Burton and move into the lead. 

    Eleven laps later, Mayer was leading by a second over Jeb Burton while Herbst, Hemric and Cindric were in the top five. 

    Nearing the final 100 laps of the event, the caution flew when Carson Ware cut a left-front tire in Turn 1 and went up the racetrack, though he managed to keep the car off the wall. 

    With 96 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Mayer retained the lead on the outside lane while Jeb Burton and Hemric battled for second. Soon after, Hemric and Cindric overtook Jeb Burton for second and third before Cindric muscled into the runner-up spot.

    Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Mayer was leading by nearly four-tenths of a second over Cindric while Hemric, Herbst and Allmendinger were in the top five. Jeb Burton was back in sixth ahead of Brandon Jones, Haley, Gibbs and Snider.

    With 75 laps remaining, Mayer continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over Cindric while third-place Hemric trailed by more than two seconds. Herbst and Allmendinger remained in the top five followed by Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Allgaier, who rallied from his late pit road penalty. Gibbs and Snider were in the top 10 while Haley slipped back to 11th ahead of Sieg, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton, Gragson and Jeremy Clements.

    Four laps later, Cindric took advantage of Mayer getting stuck behind the lapped car of Tommy Joe Martins to challenge Mayer for the lead. After drawing himself alongside Mayer for a full lap, Cindric then made contact with Mayer and the outside wall in Turn 4 while trying to clear himself for the lead. Despite the contact, Cindric and Mayer continued to run in first and second

    With 62 laps remaining, the caution flew for a two-car spin involving David Starr and Tommy Joe Martins on the frontstretch.

    Under caution, the leaders pitted and Cindric remained as the leader ahead of Mayer and the field following his pit service.

    With 53 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Cindric jumped ahead with a strong start while Allgaier challenged teammate Mayer for the runner-up spot. Behind, Brandon Jones moved up to fourth ahead of Herbst and Allmendinger.

    With less than 50 laps remaining, Cindric was out in front by more than a second over Mayer while Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger battled for third. Herbst was back in sixth ahead of Hemric, who had a slow pit stop under the previous caution. 

    Soon after, Jeb Burton made contact with the wall after racing hard with Snider, which dropped him off the pace and eventually livid with Snider. After spending a lap below the apron, Burton then pitted under green to have the damaged right side of his car addressed.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Cindric, who was mired behind lapped traffic, was leading by three-tenths of a second over Mayer while Allgaier kept the two leaders in his sight. Allmendinger was in fourth while Hemric moved back up to fifth.

    Seven laps later, Mayer drew himself towards Cindric, who was mired in lapped traffic, and attempted to take the lead, but Cindric fought back on the outside lane. By the time Cindric retained the lead to a reasonable margin, Mayer was left to battle with teammate Allgaier for the runner-up spot.

    With 15 laps remaining, Cindric extended his advantage to more than a second over Mayer and Allgaier while fourth-place Allmendinger trailed by more than three seconds and fifth-place Hemric trailed by four seconds.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Cindric continued to lead by a second over Mayer, who was able to place a half-a-second gap over teammate Allgaier. 

    With five laps remaining, Cindric, who continued to deal with lapped traffic, retained the lead by nearly a second over Mayer, who had teammate Allgaier reeling back in.

    Just then, the caution flew coming to the final four laps when Allgaier, who was trying to navigate his way to the front through lapped traffic, made contact with teammate Mayer and sent him spinning along with Josh Williams entering Turn 2. The contact and the incident between the two JR Motorsports competitors erased a comfortable advantage for Cindric and sent the race into overtime.

    When the race restarted in overtime, Cindric held a narrow lead over Allmendinger, who fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. Then in Turn 3, Allmendinger bolted his way alongside Cindric and rubbed Cindric’s No. 22 Menards Ford Mustang through Turn 4. As both competitors got sideways, Allgaier drew his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro beneath both as the final lap started.

    Just as Cindric and Allgaier were locked in a dead heat for the win, Allgaier made contact with Cindric in Turn 1, which opened the door for Allmendinger to overtake both competitors in a bold three-wide move entering Turn 2. As Cindric pursued Allmendinger for the win, Allgaier rubbed with Riley Herbt for third.

    Then, entering the final turn, Cindric, knowing he was battling Allmendinger for the regular season title, made his way beneath Allmendinger and made contact with the Californian as both competitors veered sideways and headed for the inside wall. In the process, Allmendinger managed to edge Cindric by 0.082 seconds to claim the win. Moments after both slid across the finish line, though, Allmendinger and Cindric then made contact into the inside wall as Allmendinger veered back across the racetrack and was hit by teammate Haley and Snider.

    Despite the accident, Allmendinger managed to claim his ninth career win in the Xfinity Series, fourth of the season and first at Bristol. In addition, he became the fifth different competitor to claim the Xfinity Series regular season title.

    Moments after climbing out of his wrecked race car, Allmendinger, who was livid towards Cindric over being wrecked, saluted the fans before hopping into the ambulance and making the trip to the infield care center while Cindric was welcomed with mixed reaction from the crowd. While both competitors expressed no ill feelings towards one another, their on-track battle left both setting their sights for the series’ title.

    “That was crazy at the end,” Allmendinger, who was released from the infield care center, said on NBCSN. “We had about a fourth-place car. My team did a great job. We just kept trying to work on it. You got a chance on the bottom [lane] and got in there. I slid into Austin trying to throttle up and stay on the bottom. Then into [Turn] 1, Allgaier had a run and there was contact there. [I] Went down into the last corner, I expected to get run into. It happened in the previous corner. It’s frustrating to get hit that hard coming to the checkered, but we’re battling for the win. It’s Bristol, baby. It’s what it’s all about. I haven’t had a lot of chances to ever in my life win at Bristol, so you know what, you get a chance to go do it, you got to do it. If I don’t take that chance, I don’t belong in a race car because my team deserves to win. Not the way you want to finish the race like that, destroying a lot of race cars. It’s a dream come true for this year. Thank you so much. Whether you love me or hate me for that, you know what, just keep being you guys [fans] because this is what makes this sport bad ass.”

    “I thought we had a really great battle all season long up to this point,” Cindric said. “Congratulations to Kaulig [Racing] and AJ. Those guys didn’t want us to win really bad and I hate it completely destroyed our Menards/Richmond Ford Mustang. That’s all I got, man. I know what happened. I got drove into the door…AJ just drove straight through us. You’ll have that green-white-checkered racing. Man, what a hell of a race. I tried. That’s a big bummer. Sorry to everybody else that got involved in that wreck as well. That was really unfortunate…I just got booed and just got cheered. I don’t know what’s going on. Welcome to Bristol.”

    Meanwhile, Riley Herbst came home in third place and secured his spot in the Playoffs along with fifth-place finisher Brandon Jones and 13th-place finisher Jeremy Clements. Names like Brandon Brown, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams failed to qualify for the postseason battle for the title.

    Allgaier and Jones finished in the top five on the track followed by Haley, Harrison Burton, Snider, Mayer and Hemric.

    AJ Allmendinger, Austin Cindric, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Justin Haley, Daniel Hemric, Jeb Burton, Harrison Burton, Myatt Snider, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst and Jeremy Clements have made the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs, and will compete for this year’s series title.

    There were 11 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 72 laps. Only 14 of 40 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. AJ Allmendinger, one lap led

    2. Austin Cindric, 75 laps led

    3. Riley Herbst

    4. Justin Allgaier, 92 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Brandon Jones

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Harrison Burton

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Sam Mayer, 49 laps led

    10. Daniel Hemric, 78 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    11. Ty Gibbs

    12. Noah Gragson, four laps led

    13. Jeremy Clements

    14. Brandon Brown

    15. Ty Dillon, one lap down

    16. Sage Karam, one lap down

    17. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    18. Gray Gaulding, one lap down

    19. Alex Labbe, one lap down

    20. Josh Williams, one lap down

    21. Brandon Gdovic, one lap down

    22. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    23. Tommy Joe Maartins, two laps down

    24. Jeb Burton, three laps down

    25. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

    26. BJ McLeod, three laps down

    27. Jade Buford, four laps down

    28. Jesse Little, four laps down

    29. Kyle Weatherman, five laps down

    30. David Starr, six laps down

    31. Spencer Boyd, eight laps down

    32. Carson Ware, nine laps down

    33. Chad Finchum, 24 laps down

    34. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Fuel pump

    35. Josh Berry, 91 laps down

    36. Matt Mills – OUT, Accident

    37. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Brakes

    38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Brakes

    39. Landon Cassill – OUT, Electrical

    40. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

    The 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence next Saturday, September 25, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, with the event scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Gragson goes back-to-back with a win at Richmond

    Gragson goes back-to-back with a win at Richmond

    One week after snapping a 49-race winless drought at Darlington Raceway, Noah Gragson benefitted through a handful of late-race restarts and four fresh tires to lead the final 14 laps and win the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, September 11.

    The victory made Gragson the fourth multi-winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season as he claimed his fourth career win in the Xfinity circuit. This also marked the first time in Gragson’s racing career where he claimed back-to-back victories across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Austin Cindric started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Harrison Burton. Prior to the event, Ty Dillon and Bayley Currey started at the rear of the field due to driver change of their respective machines. Akinori Ogata also dropped to the rear for missing driver introductions.

    When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Cindric jumped ahead with an early advantage over Harrison Burton to lead the first lap. Behind, Justin Haley boosted his way to third place followed by teammate Jeb Burton and Noah Gragson.

    Through the first five laps of the event, Cindric was leading by a narrow margin over Harrison Burton. Jeb Burton was up in third followed by Gragson and Justin Allgaier while Haley fell back to sixth. AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Sieg and Daniel Hemric were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was making his lone Xfinity scheduled start of the season, was up in 24th after starting.

    By Lap 10, Cindric continued to lead by nearly half a second over Harrison Burton. By then, NASCAR crew members and fans paused for a moment of silence through Laps 9 to 11 and saluted with American fans in remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

    Through Lap 20 and when the competition caution flew on Lap 35, Cindric was still out in front of the field. Under the competition caution, the leaders remained on the track. During this time, Jeb Burton’s car was pushed to pit road due to a battery issue.

    When the race restarted on Lap 43, Allmendinger and Harrison Burton challenged Cindric for the top spot, but Cindric maintained his ground and continued to lead. Two laps later, however, Allmendinger made his move beneath Cindric to take the lead. Shortly after, Allgaier and Harrison Burton moved up to second and third while Cindric slipped to fourth in front of Ty Gibbs.

    By Lap 70, Tommy Joe Martins, who pitted for fresh tires under the competition caution, emerged with the lead over Allmendinger.

    When the final lap of the first stage occurred, Martins was still leading by a narrow margin over Allmendinger. Then in Turn 3, Martins got briefly stalled behind the lapped car of David Starr. While Martins went high, Allmendinger went low and was able to edge Martins at the start/finish line to win the first stage on Lap 75 and claim his ninth stage victory of the season. Cindric rallied for third followed by Gibbs, JJ Yeley, Harrison Burton, Daniel Hemric, Gragson, Spencer Boyd and Patrick Emerling settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted for service. During the pit stops, Allmendinger got boxed into his pit stall while Allgaier encountered steering issues.

    The second stage started on Lap 84 as Cindric and Hemric filled out the front row. At the start, Hemric battled dead even with Cindric for a full lap before the former prevailed the following lap. Then the following lap, the caution flew when Tommy Joe Martins, who had a strong run in the first stage, spun following contact from Spencer Boyd.

    Five laps later, the race restarted and Hemric retained the top spot. By Lap 98, Ty Gibbs made his way to the lead.

    With four laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin spun and wrecked off the front nose of Jade Buford in Turn 3. The wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 150 to conclude under caution as Gibbs claimed his third stage victory of the season. Allmendinger ended up in second followed by Harrison Burton, Gragson, Hemric, Cindric, Sam Mayer, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Hemric emerged with the lead followed by Gragson, Gibbs, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger.

    With 92 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Gragson managed to peak ahead of Hemric and Gibbs on the inside lane to take the lead for the first time. 

    Five laps later, Gragson was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Hemric, who was pursued by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Gibbs and Harrison Burton. Behind, Sam Mayer was in fifth followed by Allmendinger, Cindric, Allgaier, Earnhardt Jr. and John Hunter Nemechek.

    Another three laps later, Gibbs made a move to the outside of Gragson to reassume the lead. While Harrison Burton challenged Gragson for the runner-up spot, Hemric, meanwhile, fell back to 10th.

    Nearing the final 80 laps of the event, the caution flew for a spin involving Bayley Currey. Under caution, Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. 

    With 74 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Harrison Burton overtook teammate Gibbs to lead for the first time. While Mayer was up in third, Allgaier charged his way up to fourth after overtaking teammate Gragson. 

    Six laps later, the caution returned due to Landon Cassill coming to a stop at the pit road entrance. Under caution, some led by Harrison Burton and Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Mayer, Haley and Earnhardt Jr. remained on the track.

    Under the final 63 laps, the race restarted under green. At the start, Mayer took off with the lead while the field bumped and fanned out to multiple lanes for a full lap between competitors on old or fresh tires. Meanwhile, Harrison Burton bolted his way up to third place on fresh tires after overtaking a multitude of competitors, including Earnhardt Jr.

    With 58 laps remaining, Harrison Burton reassumed the lead. A few laps later, Ty Gibbs took over the runner-up spot while Allmendinger challenged Mayer for third. Joining the battle were John Hunter Nemechek, Haley and Cindric. 

    Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Harrison Burton was leading by a second over teammate Gibbs, with Allmendinger, Nemechek and Cindric in the top five. Allgaier was in sixth followed by teammate Gragson, Alex Labbe, Hemric and Sieg. Meanwhile, Haley was in 12th ahead of Michael Annett, Mayer and Riley Herbst while Myatt Snider was in 16th, Brandon Jones was in 18th and Earnhardt Jr. was in 21st behind Jeb Burton.

    Ten laps later, Harrison Burton continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Gibbs. Meanwhile, Allmendinger continued to run in third followed by Nemechek, Cindric, Allgaier and Gragson. Behind the front-runners, Mayer and Earnhardt Jr. were in 20th and 21st.

    With 27 laps remaining, the caution flew due to Josh Williams spinning and backing his car into the Turn 2 outside wall following contact with Akinori Ogata. Under caution, the leaders led by Harrison Burton pitted while Allmendinger, Cindric and Brandon Jones remained on the track. During the pit stops, Earnhardt Jr. was penalized for speeding while Jeb Burton was also penalized for an uncontrolled tire.

    Down to the final 21 laps of the event, the rare restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger peaked ahead with the lead and Cindric spun the tires on the outside lane while the field fanned out to multiple lanes entering the first turn and through the backstretch. Then, the caution returned for Martins wrecking in Turn 1.

    With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Allmendinger jumped ahead of Brandon Jones, who spun the tires, as the field fanned out to multiple lanes again through the first turn and the backstretch. 

    A lap later, the caution flew due to Clements spinning on the frontstretch after getting turned by Myatt Snider. During the incident, Earnhardt Jr. made contact with the frontstretch outside wall while battling Kyle Weatherman. By then, Gragson emerged with the lead followed by Nemechek while Allmendinger slipped back to third. Under caution, Cindric pitted for tires.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted. At the start, Gragson retained the lead following a strong start followed by Nemechek and Allgaier while Allmendinger fell back to fourth ahead of Gibbs.

    With five laps remaining and the field fanning out across the track, Gragson continued to lead by half a second over Nemechek as Allgaier challenged Nemechek for more.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Gragson was ahead by half a second. Behind, Haley made his way to second followed by Nemechek, Allgaier and others. While Haley had a late charge established, Gragson was able to retain the lead and come back around to claim his second consecutive checkered flag of this season and his first at Richmond.

    After celebrating with his burnout, Gragson, who saluted the fans with an American flag, took a moment to pay tribute to the victims and those affected by the September 11 attacks 20 years ago today.

    “I knew [Haley] had tires, but the thing that really kept us alive were those two cautions at the end,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “Today’s not about this team or this win. It’s about everybody who lost their life 20 years ago. You got a lot of heavy hearts. At least in America, we can come together on this day. [I] Appreciate all you race fans for coming out. Man, it’s an emotional day. It’s a special day, but it’s not about us today.”

    “It’s really special to be able to come here to Richmond, to beat Dale [Earnhardt] Jr., which is pretty cool,” Gragson added. “I never thought I’d say that. We’re starting to get momentum at the right time. Appreciate everything, for sure. Very emotional.”

    Haley, winner at Daytona International Speedway in late August, finished in second place at Richmond for a second consecutive season while Nemechek, making his second Xfinity start of the season in the No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra, finished third. 

    “I was fully prepared to do anything it took to win,” Haley said. “We had better tires. We were so fast. We showed a championship-caliber team there coming back through the field, taking a bad day and making it okay. That one’s definitely tough. It hurts, it stinks.”

    Allgaier placed fourth followed by Riley Herbst. Hemric, Gibbs, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton finished in the top 10.

    Mayer finished 12th while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 14th in his lone NASCAR start of the season.

    Cindric and Allmendinger shuffled back to 16th and 18th while Brandon Jones, Annett, Josh Berry, Snider and Clements finished 20th, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 26th.

    There were 15 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 58 laps.

    AJ Allmendinger continues to lead the regular-season standings by five points over Austin Cindric. With their top-20 runs, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones and Riley Herbst occupy the final three open spots to the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs with one regular-season event remaining. Herbst, the 12th-place competitor in the standings, is ahead by 66 points over Michael Annett, 93 over Ryan Sieg, 109 over Brandon Brown and 198 over Josh Williams.

    Results.

    1. Noah Gragson, 22 laps led

    2. Justin Haley

    3. John Hunter Nemechek

    4. Justin Allgaier

    5. Riley Herbst

    6. Daniel Hemric, 17 laps led

    7. Ty Gibbs, 67 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Brandon Brown

    9. Harrison Burton, 43 laps led

    10. Jeb Burton

    11. Ty Dillon

    12. Sam Mayer, seven laps led

    13. Ryan Sieg

    14. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    15. Kyle Weatherman

    16. Austin Cindric, 50 laps led

    17. Mason Massey

    18. AJ Allmendinger, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    19. Alex Labbe

    20. Brandon Jones

    21. Matt Mills

    22. Michael Annett

    23. Josh Williams

    24. Josh Berry

    25. Myatt Snider

    26. Jeremy Clements

    27. Bayley Currey

    28. David Starr, one lap down

    29. JJ Yeley, two laps down

    30. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

    31. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

    32. Patrick Emerling, two laps down

    33. Spencer Boyd, two laps down

    34. Akinori Ogata, three laps down

    35. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    36. Jade Buford, four laps down

    37. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Accident, five laps led

    38. Stephen Leicht, 30 laps down

    39. Landon Cassill – OUT, Ignition

    40. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway, the final regular-season event of the season and where this year’s Xfinity 12-car Playoff field will be determined. The event is scheduled to occur on Friday, September 17, at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Noah Gragson captures first Xfinity Series win of the year in overtime at Darlington

    Noah Gragson captures first Xfinity Series win of the year in overtime at Darlington

    It all came down to two laps and Noah Gragson never looked back as he held on to score his first Xfinity Series win of the season in overtime at Darlington Raceway.

    “A lot of frustration this year,” Gragson said, “and things haven‘t gone our way, but we‘re getting some momentum when we need to, and I just can‘t thank everybody enough on this No. 9 team.

    “This is Darlington, I can’t believe it.”

    Gragson now has five top 10s in five starts at the Darlington and earned his third victory in 93 Xfinity Series starts. Coming off the announcement by JR Motorsports only a few days ago that his contract was renewed through 2022, Gragson can advance to the Playoffs with confidence.

    Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton finished second, his third top-10 finish in four races at Darlington. Defending series champion Austin Cindric placed third for Team Penske, his third top-10 finish in four starts at the 1.366-mile track. Kaulig Racing drivers, Justin Haley and Jeb Burton rounded out the top five.

    Allgaier, Tyler Reddick, Jeremy Clements, Snider and Alex Labbe finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

    Stage 1 Highlights

    Power issues that resulted from a faulty plug wire during the opening laps forced Daniel Hemric to pit twice but he was able to move up through the field and rebound to win Stage 1. 

    Noah Gragson finished second followed by AJ Allmendinger in third and Justin Haley in fourth. Denny Hamlin had the dominant car during the first stage but spun as Stage 1 was ending and finished fifth. Harrison Burton, Austin Cindric, Brandon Jones, Myatt Snider and Justin Allgaier finished sixth – 10th in the first stage.

    Stage 2 Highlights

    Noah Gragson won Stage 2 in a three and four-wide race to the finish. Hamlin, Cindric, Allgaier, Hemric, AJ Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Austin Dillon, Haley and Snider rounded out the top 10.

    During the stage break, the leaders chose to pit and Gragson was able to retain the lead after pit stops were completed.

    Stage 3 Highlights

    On Lap 108 Riley Herbst was involved in an accident when Tommy Joe Martins suddenly slowed in Turn 3. Herbst was unable to stop and ran into the back of Martins. As he took his car to pit road, Herbst’s car caught on fire but he was able to get out of the car quickly. The incident brought out the sixth caution of the race.

    During the caution, most of the leaders again decided to pit and Hamlin was first off pit road to take the lead. As the race neared its finish, Brandon Jones spun on Lap 138 leaving debris on the track and bringing out the eighth and final caution on Lap 146 to send the race into overtime. 

    Gragson held off Harrison Burton and led the final two laps to capture the victory. 

    There were eight cautions for 41 laps and 19 lead changes among eight drivers. Hamlin led a race-high 43 laps followed by Gragson who led 40 laps during the race.

    There were no issues in the post-race inspection.

    The Xfinity Series’ next race is at Richmond Raceway, Saturday, Sept. 11 at 2:30 p.m. ET. There are only two races remaining in the regular season.

    Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 results:

    1Noah Gragson
    2Harrison Burton
    3Austin Cindric
    4Justin Haley
    5Jeb Burton
    6Justin Allgaier
    7Tyler Reddick
    8Jeremy Clements
    9Myatt Snider
    10Alex Labbe
    11Ryan Sieg
    12Denny Hamlin
    13Ty Dillon
    14Michael Annett
    15Josh Williams
    16Landon Cassill
    17Colin Garrett
    18Mason Massey
    19Joe Graf Jr.
    20AJ Allmendinger
    21Jade Buford
    22BJ McLeod
    23Matt Mills
    24Daniel Hemric
    25Ryan Vargas
    26Jeffrey Earnhardt
    27Colby Howard
    28Brandon Brown
    29Austin Dillon
    30David Starr
    31Carson Ware
    32Jesse Little
    33Brandon Jones
    34Kyle Weatherman
    35Ryan Ellis
    36Timmy Hill
    37Tommy Joe Martins
    38Riley Herbst
    39Sam Mayer
    40Gray Gaulding
  • Haley wins a thrilling three-wide photo finish at Daytona

    Haley wins a thrilling three-wide photo finish at Daytona

    Saving their absolute best for the last, Kaulig Racing utilized teamwork to storm to another victory at Daytona International Speedway. On this occasion, Justin Haley edged teammate AJ Allmendinger by a nose and in a three-wide photo finish including their other teammate, Jeb Burton, to win the rain-postponed Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, August 28.

    The victory was Haley’s first of the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    The starting lineup was based on a performance metric formula, weighing the driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity event, the owner points position and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, AJ Allmendinger, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Michigan International Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Noah Gragson.

    The race started on Friday evening, August 27, and Allmendinger received a push from Justin Allgaier on the outside lane to jump to an early lead and lead the first lap ahead of Noah Gragson and a steaming pack of cars. He went on to lead the following two laps before Gragson peaked ahead during the fourth lap. Allmendinger, however, quickly snatched the lead back the following lap.

    By the ninth lap, Brandon Jones, who was the lead car on the inside lane, encountered early issues when he made an unscheduled pit stop under green due to overheating issues as a result of a piece of debris.

    When the competition caution flew on Lap 15, Gragson, who reassumed the lead on Lap 14, was scored the leader ahead of Allmendinger and the field. Under the competition caution, some led by Gragson pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. By then, Jones retired due to his mechanical issue.

    Just as the field was set to restart, rain fell on the track and the field was brought to pit road as the race was red-flagged for a weather delay on Lap 19. Over an hour later, NASCAR declared that the race would be postponed to Saturday afternoon and run prior to the Cup event due to inclement weather continuing throughout Friday evening. At the time of, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Christopher Bell, Myatt Snider, Austin Cindric, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton, Daniel Hemric, Jeremy Clements and Caesar Bacarella.

    When the race resumed under green on Lap 21 and on Saturday afternoon, Allmendinger jumped ahead with another strong start on the outside lane followed by Cindric, Haley and Bell while Snider mounted a charge on the inside lane.

    By Lap 25, Allmendinger continued to lead followed by teammate Haley while Cindric challenged as the lead car on the outside lane. Snider and Jeb Burton were in the top five followed by Bell, Michael Annett, Hemric, Allgaier and Moffitt.

    A lap later, the caution flew when a bump from Snider sent Cindric making hard contact into the outside wall in the frontstretch. The incident ignited a chain reaction wreck that involved Snider, rookie Sam Mayer, Hemric and Annett. The wreck was enough to knock Cindric, who won the Xfinity opener at Daytona in February, out of contention.

    With the caution period and cleanup surpassing the first stage’s conclusion on Lap 30, the first stage concluded under caution as Haley, who overtook teammate Allmendinger at the moment of caution, claimed his fifth stage victory of the season. Teammates Allmendinger and Jeb Burton settled in second and third followed by Bell and Allgaier. Scored in the top 10 were Moffitt, Gragson, Bacarella, Brandon Brown and Harrison Burton.

    Under the stage break, everyone pitted except for Brandon Brown, Herbst, Chase Briscoe, Ryan Sieg and Jason White.

    The second stage started on Lap 33 and Herbst jumped ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Briscoe as the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstraightaway.

    When the field returned to the start/finish line, Brown mounted a challenge on the inside lane against Herbst for the lead. As the field continued to battle through Turns 2 and 3, the caution returned due to debris from Michael Annett’s car coming out in Turn 2.

    When the race restarted on Lap 39, Herbst jumped ahead with the lead on the inside lane before he moved up to the outside lane in front of Briscoe and a bevy of cars.

    Two laps later, the inside lane led by Brown mounted a charge for the lead through the tri-oval and entering the first turn. Herbst, however, was able to fight back through the backstraightaway and when the field returned to the start/finish line.

    By Lap 45, Brown took the lead followed by Allmendinger, Allgaier, Gragson, Jeb Burton and Sam Mayer while Herbst fell back to eighth alongside Harrison Burton. A lap later, though, Allmendinger muscled his way back into the lead followed by Allgaier, Gragson and Mayer while Brown got shuffled back to fifth.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to debris coming off of Caesar Bacarella’s car in the frontstretch following contact from Blaine Perkins. Under caution, some including Allmendinger, Allgaier, Gragson, Mayer, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Haley, Sieg and Bell pitted while the rest led by Brown and Herbst remained on the track.

    With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race restarted. At the start, Brown rocketed with the lead followed by Herbst. Through the backstraightaway, though, the field fanned out to multiple lanes and caught Brown through Turns 3 and 4 as Sam Mayer made his way into the lead with drafting help from teammate Gragson.

    By Lap 54, all three Kaulig Racing competitors lined up on the inside lane resulted with Jeb Burton taking the lead ahead of teammates Allmendinger and Haley. They were then quickly pursued by three JR Motorsports competitors featuring Mayer, Gragson and Allgaier, respectively.

    In the closing laps of the second stage, the battle for the lead intensified as Jeb Burton continued to lead by a narrow margin over his Kaulig Racing teammates, a trio of JR Motorsports competitors and the field. By then, Brown pitted as the hood of his car went up.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Jeb Burton, who was blocking all comers through both lanes, managed to claim his first stage victory of the season. Teammates Allmendinger and Haley settled in second and third followed by Herbst and Bell. Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier, Briscoe and Mayer settled in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some led by Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Bell and Gragson remained on the track.

    With 36 laps remaining, the final stage commenced. At the start, Bell and Gragson battled dead even for the lead as the field fanned out to double lanes and in a pack behind the two leaders.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, the field settled in a long single-file lane as Gragson was leading followed by Bell, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Snider, Allgaier, Mayer, Herbst, Briscoe and Moffitt while Allmendinger and Haley were in 11th and 15th. By then, Hemric was back in 14th.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Colin Garrett spun and wrecked in Turn 4 as he ended up getting his car stuck in the tri-oval muddy grass. Colby Howard also spun to avoid Garrett.

    With 23 laps remaining, the race restarted under green. At the start, Bell and Gragson battled dead even for the lead through the backstraightaway as the field fanned out to three lanes. 

    Back to the start/finish line, Bell was leading followed by Jeb Burton while Gragson fell back to fourth while battling Snider. 

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the majority of the field settled in a single-file line as Bell was leading followed by Jeb Burton, Gragson, Allgaier, Herbst, Allmendinger, Snider, Harrison Burton, Hemric, Haley and Mayer while Chase Briscoe was in 13th.

    A few laps later, the caution flew when Caesar Bacarella made contact with Jordan Anderson and hit the outside wall in the backstretch. While trying to straighten his car, Jade Buford and Matt Mills also wrecked to avoid Bacarella.

    Under caution, some including Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Bell remained on the track.

    With 14 laps remaining, the race restarted. At the start, Jeb Burton had drafting help from Gragson to take a narrow lead before Bell fought back on the outside lane.

    The following lap, Bell cleared the field with the lead followed by Allgaier and Allmendinger while the Burton cousins battled for fourth.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Bell continued to lead followed by Allgaier, Allmendinger, Harrison Burton, Jeb Burton, Haley, Hemric, Snider, JJ Yeley, Jason White and the field, all running in a single-file line. By then, Joe Graf Jr.’s car was smoking through the frontstretch, but the field continued to run under green as Graf took his car below the apron and out of the racing groove.

    With five laps remaining, Bell continued to lead, but a bevy of cars behind started to fan out to multiple lanes while challenging Bell for the lead. A lap later, Allmendinger stormed to the lead followed by teammates Jeb Burton and Haley while Allgaier also moved up, dropping Bell to fifth.

    A few laps later, all three Kaulig Racing competitors led by Jeb Burton were at the front followed by Bell, Harrison Burton, Allgaier and the field.

    When the final lap started, Allmendinger was leading by a narrow margin over teammate Jeb Burton, Bell and the field. Through the backstretch, Jeb Burton peeked to the inside of teammate Allmendinger, who tried to block Burton, for the lead while Bell got shuffled out on the inside lane with no drafting help. In addition, Haley made his move to the outside of Allmendinger, thus placing all three Kaulig Racing competitors in a dead three-wide heat for the win in Turns 3 and 4.

    Entering the tri-oval and with the field fanning out to three lanes, Allmendinger peaked ahead with a push from Allgaier, but Haley started to gain a run on the outside lane as he had Hemric behind him. At the finish line, Haley managed to edge teammate Allmendinger by 0.023 seconds to grab the checkered flag and the win.

    Photo by Andrew Boyd for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    The victory guaranteed Haley a spot in the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs as he also captured his fourth career victory in the series. All four of Haley’s Xfinity victory have occurred on superspeedway venues (Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway). In addition, Kaulig Racing captured its third win at Daytona.

    “It’s just not been the best season,” Haley said on NBCSN. “It’s been really, really hard on this No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection team all year. We’ve had a lot of bad luck. I was trying to formulate the plan there and obviously, team orders, saw it out of there, they were so good. Hats off to Kaulig Racing. I think we got the teammate thing down. It’s just so special to win here at Daytona. It’s absolutely incredible. That was a close one and getting it to just beat out AJ. It always means a lot, too.”

    Allmendinger settled in second place while Allgaier, Jeb Burton and Hemric finished in the top five.

    “I mean, that was like the perfect photo shoot right there coming across the [finish] line for all the Kaulig Racing Chevys,” Allmendinger said. “Proud of my son, Justin Haley. He might be one of the best we’ve ever seen on superspeedway. Jeb [Burton] did a fantastic job. I was hanging on in the middle [lane] there. I thought we might get it, but proud of everybody at Kaulig Racing, all the men and women. The Hyper Ice Chevy was good. I think we led the most laps as well. Finished second, all day, it seemed like, but just proud. It was fantastic.”

    “We led some [laps] today and going down the back, I think I led for a second,” Jeb Burton said. “AJ kind of slid up in front of me. I checked up and gave him a shot and then, I had to take the run. I looked and we were one, two and three, and I was thinking we were gonna come across the line like that, but [Allgaier] got me at the line. Really proud of Kaulig Racing. Thanks to Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen for coming on board. We needed this and the Playoffs are coming, so we needed the momentum.”

    Bell settled in sixth followed by Gragson, Snider, Harrison Burton and Herbst.

    With their top-10 results, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Hemric and Harrison Burton have locked themselves into the 2021 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points. Including six other competitors that are in based on winning throughout the regular-season stretch (Austin Cindric, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Justin Haley, Jeb Burton and Myatt Snider), there are four spots left vacant to the Playoffs with three regular-season races remaining to the schedule.

    There were 17 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 29 laps.

    With his runner-up result, AJ Allmendinger leads the regular-season standings by 17 points over Austin Cindric.

    Results.

    1. Justin Haley, five laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. AJ Allmendinger, 30 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Justin Allgaier

    4. Jeb Burton, eight laps led

    5. Daniel Hemric

    6. Christopher Bell, 23 laps led

    7. Noah Gragson, 16 laps led

    8. Myatt Snider

    9. Harrison Burton

    10. Riley Herbst, nine laps led

    11. Brett Moffitt

    12. Sam Mayer, one lap led

    13. JJ Yeley 

    14. David Starr

    15. Jason White

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. Josh Williams

    18. Tommy Joe Martins

    19. Chase Briscoe

    20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    21. Landon Cassill

    22. Jordan Anderson

    23. Blaine Perkins

    24. Jeremy Clements

    25. Mason Massey

    26. Colby Howard

    27. Ryan Vargas

    28. Jade Buford

    29. Tim Viens

    30. Michael Annett

    31. Alex Labbe

    32. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    33. Matt Mills, two laps down

    34. Brandon Brown, three laps down, nine laps led

    35. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    36. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

    37. Colin Garrett – OUT, Accident

    38. Spencer Boyd – OUT, Engine

    39. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

    40. Brandon Jones – OUT, Engine

    With the 2021 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season stretch nearing its conclusion, the series will next travel to Darlington, South Carolina, and compete at Darlington Raceway on Saturday, September 4, during Labor Day weekend. The event will occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.