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Race Central NASCAR XFINITY Series news and information

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Talladega – Fall 2024

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Talladega – Fall 2024

    NASCAR travels to Talladega Superspeedway this weekend with all the series set to compete on the 2.66-mile asphalt track.
    The race will mark the second race in the Round of 12 Playoffs for the Cup Series and Xfinity Series and the first event of the Craftsman Truck Series Round of 8.

    Qualifying (impound) for all series: Single Vehicle – 1 Lap – 2 Rounds.

    Note: There will be no practice at Talladega.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available post-race for all series.

    All times are Eastern.

    Friday, Oct. 4
    1:00 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2
    4:30 p.m.: Truck Series Love’s RV Stop 225
    Stages end on laps 20/40/85 Laps = 226.1 Miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $880,113

    Saturday, Oct. 5
    Noon: Xfinity Series Qualifying
    USA/NBC Sports App
    1:30 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM
    4:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series United Rentals 250
    Stages end on laps 25/50/94 Laps = 250.04 Miles
    CW/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $1,337,574

    Sunday, Oct. 6
    2:00 p.m.: Cup Series YellaWood 500
    Stages end on Laps 60/120/188 = 500 Miles
    NBC/MRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $9,222,964

  • Aric Almirola rallies for second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Kansas

    Aric Almirola rallies for second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Kansas

    Aric Almirola commenced the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs by spoiling the opening race with a resurgent victory in the Kansas Lottery 30 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, September 28, leaving a bevy of Playoff contenders left with bruised feelings and an early axe to grind toward one another.

    The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led twice for 16 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started sixth and generated race-winning pace in the early portions of the race as he won the first stage period. Then, after settling in second place after the second stage period, Almirola’s event nearly went south when he pitted under green with less than 80 laps remaining due to scraping the outside wall entering the backstretch that cut his right-rear tire.

    With a late-race caution flying with under 60 laps remaining due to a wheel rolling onto the frontstretch’s grass during a late cycle of green-flag pit stops, Almirola was able to methodically carve his way back to the front. Starting from the final restart period with 49 laps remaining, he overtook Playoff contender Cole Custer for the lead with three laps remaining. From there, Almirola was able to drive away from Custer and cruise to his second Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Brandon Jones notched his third Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 175.553 mph in 30.760 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 175.291 mph in 30.806 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following drivers, including Logan Bearden, Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Brad Perez and Dawson Cram dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Leland Honeyman also dropped to the rear of the field for an engine change.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith jumped ahead with an early advantage from the inside lane as he led Brandon Jones and the field through the first two turns and the backstretch. With nearly the entire field running in two packed lanes, Smith muscled ahead and led the first lap as Connor Zilisch managed to keep his car running straight after he slid sideways through Turns 3 and 4 from fourth place.

    Over the next four laps, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead as Jones, Playoff contender Cole Custer, Aric Almirola, Playoff contender Justin Allgaier and Playoff contender Jesse Love followed suit in the top six while Zilisch dropped to seventh. By then, Jeremy Clements was penalized for a restart violation, when he changed lanes before reaching the start/finish line to begin the race, as Zilisch continued to lose spots while being overtaken by Taylor Gray and Playoff contender Parker Kligerman.

    Then on the sixth lap, the event’s first caution flew when Playoff contender Sammy Smith spun by himself on the backstretch after he got tagged into the frontstretch outside wall by Playoff contender AJ Allmendinger the lap prior. During the caution period, select names including Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen, Dawson Cram, Joey Gase, Ryan Vargas, Patrick Emerling and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest, led by Chandler Smith, remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart on Lap 11 featured a duel between Jones and Chandler Smith before teammate Aric Almirola shoved Smith back out in front from the inside lane entering the first two turns. Smith then proceeded to clear Jones through the backstretch as both Almirola and Custer challenged Jones for the runner-up spot. With Jones fending off Custer and Almirola for the runner-up spot, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by a second over Jones as Custer, Almirola and Taylor Gray were racing in the top five. Behind, Playoff contenders Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer, Austin Hill, Parker Kligerman and Sheldon Creed were scored in the top 10 as Playoff contenders Riley Herbst and Jesse Love followed suit in the top 12. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith added another second to his advantage and led by two seconds at the Lap 25 mark. By then, Custer and Almirola had navigated their way to second and third on the track while Jones fell to fourth in front of Gray.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Chandler Smith maintained his early advantage by a second over Almirola, with Custer, Jones and Gray scored in the top five. With Playoff contenders Mayer, Allgaier, Hill, Creed, Herbst and Kligerman racing in the top 11, Love was back in 13th place, AJ Allmendinger was mired in 15th place, van Gisbergen was down in 26th place and Sammy Smith was trapped in 28th place.

    Seven laps later, Almirola got to teammate Chandler Smith’s left-rear quarter panel and got him loose, then drag-raced him through the frontstretch to assume the lead for the first time. With the clean air to his advantage, Almirola proceeded to lead by more than a second over Smith by Lap 40 with Custer, Jones and Mayer racing in the top five.

    Then on the final lap of the first stage period, the caution flew after Taylor Gray lost an engine and dropped oil across the frontstretch. The caution for Gray was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 45 to officially conclude under caution as Almirola cruised to his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Chandler Smith followed suit in second along with Custer, Jones and Mayer while Creed, Hill, Allgaier, Herbst and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Love, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith were mired in 13th, 16th, 23rd and 28th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Almirola peeled off the racetrack to pit for service. Following the pit stops, Custer exited first with the lead, followed by Hill, Mayer, Creed, Chandler Smith and Jones while Almirola lost six spots amid a slow pit service and ended up exiting pit road in seventh place. Amid the pit stops, Allmendinger was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while JJ Yeley was also penalized for a safety violation. Jones then pitted again from sixth to tighten loose lug nuts

    The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Custer and Hill occupied the front row. Custer gained a strong start from the outside lane to transition back to the inside lane in front of Hill entering the first two turns. As the field behind fanned out, Custer proceeded to lead the following lap while Mayer and Chandler Smith overtook Hill for second and third, respectively. As Smith and Hill dueled for third, Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed battled for fifth in front of Almirola while Daniel Dye nearly spun after he made contact with Anthony Alfredo. Amid the early battles, Custer proceeded to lead by half a second just past the Lap 55 mark.

    By Lap 60, Custer retained the lead by a second over Chandler Smith as Mayer, Herbst and Hill remained in the top five ahead of Creed, Allgaier, Almirola, Kligerman and Zilisch. Behind, Love and Allmendinger were mired back in 18th and 20th, respectively, while van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith were back in 25th and 28th, respectively. In addition, Jones was in 15th behind Matt DiBenedetto, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and Corey Heim.

    Three laps later, the caution returned due to Brad Perez falling off the pace below the backstretch’s apron and coming to a stop in Turn 3. During the caution period, select names including Love, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith, who cycled back onto the lead lap, pitted while the rest, led by Custer, remained on the track.

    The beginning of the next restart period on Lap 69 did not last long as Playoff contender Justin Allgaier got hit by Sheldon Creed entering the backstretch, sending Allgaier sliding and making head-on contact with the inside wall. During the incident, Custer, who received a strong shove from Chandler Smith during the previous restart’s start, maintained the lead over Mayer, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Hill.

    At the beginning of the next restart period on Lap 75, Mayer and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch. Then as Chandler Smith tried to make a move beneath Custer, Almirola launched a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot through the first two turns as Mayer surged ahead with the lead entering the backstretch. As Mayer led the field through the backstretch, more trouble struck for Allgaier, who blew a tire, hit the outside wall and retired from further competition. Amid his wreck that took an early hit in his Playoff bid, the race remained under green flag conditions as Mayer proceeded to lead the next four laps while Almirola overtook Custer for the runner-up spot.

    At the Lap 80 mark, Mayer retained the lead by half a second over Almirola as Custer, Chandler Smith and Zilisch were racing in the top five. Mayer would slightly extend his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Almirola by Lap 85.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Mayer fended off Almirola to capture his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Almirola retained second while trailing Mayer at the start/finish line by three-tenths of a second while Custer, Chandler Smith and Zilisch were in the top five. “Behind, Hill made contact with Herbst entering the frontstretch and sent Herbst spinning through the frontstretch’s grass while Hill proceeded to finish sixth ahead of Creed, Jones, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg. Amid his spin, Herbst ended up in 16th place and joined Love, Kligerman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Sammy Smith as Playoff contenders who did not record and stage points after the second stage period.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field, led by Mayer, pitted. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith exited pit road first ahead of Custer, Almirola and Creed while Mayer dropped four spots. Not long after, Almirola pitted for a second time to have the lug nuts tightened.

    With 103 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Chandler Smith and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Smith received a strong push from teammate Creed from the outside lane to rocket ahead and maintain the lead from Custer through the first two turns. With the field fanning out and jostling for late spots, Smith proceeded to lead at the event’s scheduled halfway distance on Lap 100.

    With 90 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by a second over Custer with Zilisch, Creed and Hill scored in the top five on the track. Behind, Jones, Ryan Sieg, Mayer, Allmendinger and Corey Heim were racing in the top 10 as Almirola was mired in 11th place ahead of Heim, Josh Williams, Love, Kligerman, Herbst and Retzlaff. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen was back in 21st and Sammy Smith was mired in the 29th.

    Ten laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Custer while Zilisch, Creed and Hill remained in the top five. Smith would proceed to lead by four-tenths of a second over Custer with 70 laps remaining. By then, Corey Heim pitted under green after he got loose through the first two turns and smacked the outside wall in front of Kligerman eight laps earlier. Almirola hit the outside wall entering the backstretch after marching his way back into the top 10 and pitted to change a flat right-rear tire nearly five laps earlier.

    Then with 64 laps remaining, Custer, who spent the last several laps closing in and stalking Chandler Smith, used the inside lane from Turns 3 and 4 to muscle ahead of Smith and assume the lead. By then, Ryan Sieg pitted from the top 10 under green. As Herbst and Kligerman battled for ninth place behind Allmendinger, Custer maintained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Hill pitted from the top five with 60 laps remaining.

    With 59 laps remaining, Playoff contenders Mayer, Allmendinger and Herbst pitted along with Patrick Emerling and Zilisch before Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Chandler Smith and Creed pitted during the following lap. The leader Custer then pitted with 57 laps remaining before the caution flew due to a tire rolling out of Parker Retzlaff’s pit box and onto the frontstretch’s grass. By then, 15 competitors were scored on the lead lap, including Custer as he had exited pit road and returned to the track without being lapped, as Jones had cycled into the lead followed by Josh Williams. During the caution period, some of the drivers, led by Jones, pitted while the rest, led by Custer and including Chandler Smith, Hill and Creed, remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green with 49 laps remaining, Custer rocketed ahead from the outside lane and he maintained the lead from Hill and Chandler Smith while Almirola rocketed his way back up into the top five. As the field fanned out towards the top-10 mark, Custer proceeded to lead the following lap as Smith was up to second place ahead of Hill. Behind, Almirola barely slid in front of Zilisch entering the frontstretch to snatch fourth place before the latter fought back. While Zilisch and Almirola proceeded to battle for fourth place, Chandler Smith started to close in on Custer for the lead.

    Then with 45 laps remaining, a heated side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between Custer and Chandler Smith that started with both dueling for the lead through the backstretch as they remained dead even through the frontstretch. Chandler Smith would prevail and return to the lead for the following lap while Custer followed suit in second.

    Down to the final 30 laps of the event, Chandler Smith retained the lead by seven-tenths of a second over Custer as Almirola, Zilisch and Jones were scored in the top five. Behind, Hill dropped to sixth ahead of Creed, Love, Williams and Alfredo while Mayer, Herbst, van Gisbergen, DiBenedetto and Ryan Sieg were mired in the top 15 ahead of Allmendinger and Kligerman as Sammy Smith was back in 22nd place.

    Five laps later, Chandler Smith’s advantage decreased to two-tenths of a second over Custer while Almirola, who was faster compared to the top-two competitors, trailed the lead from third place by two seconds. As Custer cut the deficit to a tenth of a second, he could not execute the final move to overtake Chandler Smith as the latter continued to lead while third-place Almirola cut his deficit to a second as he trailed both Chandler Smith and Custer by a second with 20 laps remaining.

    Then with 18 laps remaining, Custer launched a side-by-side battle with Chandler Smith through the frontstretch, but he still could not execute the pass on Smith for the lead entering Turns 1 and 2. With Custer still trailing Chandler Smith for the lead, their early side-by-side battle allowed Almirola to close in to within eight-tenths of a second for the following lap. Custer then drove his car towards the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2 to regain ground on Smith with 16 laps remaining, but he remained behind Smith as Almirola trailed by a second in third place during the following lap.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Custer, who nearly got squeezed into the outside wall by Chandler Smith, used the outside lane amid a huge run gained towards the outside wall from Turns 3 and 4 to duel with Chandler Smith through the frontstretch. This time, he was able to rocket past Smith and assume the lead. As Custer rocketed away with the lead, Almirola, who had caught both Custer and Smith on the track, overtook Smith for the runner-up spot exiting the backstretch as he set his sights on Custer, who maintained a reasonable advantage, for the lead.

    With five laps remaining, Custer, who was trying to weave his way through lapped traffic, maintained the lead by two-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Almirola while Chandler Smith trailed in third place by three seconds. A lap later, however, Almirola gained a run beneath Custer through the frontstretch and he proceeded to snatch the lead entering the first two turns with three laps remaining as Custer was unable to respond with a crossover move.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained in the lead by nearly half a second over Custer. With Custer unable to regain ground to mount a final lap charge and reclaim the lead, Almirola was able to smoothly cycle his way around the Kansas circuit for a final time before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by six-tenths of a second over Custer.

    With the victory, Almirola, who will contest in the remaining six Playoff events in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota entry, notched his sixth career win in the Xfinity Series, his second of the season amid eight starts and his first at Kansas, a venue where he was involved in a harrowing accident during a 2017 Cup Series event that left him with a compression fracture to his T5 vertebra. The Kansas victory was the 10th of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota, eight of which have been achieved from the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry as the entry earned an automatic pass into the Playoff’s Round of 8 for the owners’ championship battle.

    “[I had to be] Really patient,” Almirola, who described his final overtake on Cole Custer, said on CW Network. “I, obviously, wasn’t patient earlier in the race. I’m wore out. That was a hard day at the office, especially for a guy who’s been sitting on the couch. I knew we had such a great He Gets Us Toyota GR Supra. I was able to get by everybody on the long run and I just pushed too hard there when we had the issue on pit road and I got into the fence and cut the right-rear tire down. I knew I had to put my head down and got to work after that. We got lucky to get the caution when we did and then, we were out of tires, so the fact that [the race] went green there to the end and then, that’s where we were strong. We were really strong on the long run. It just worked out.”

    Meanwhile, as Almirola proceeded to celebrate in Victory Lane, Cole Custer and Chandler Smith, both of whom ended up second and third in the final running order, engaged in a brief post-race conversation on pit road. Custer, who was displeased with being raced hard and nearly getting squeezed into the outside wall by Smith, approached Smith, vocally expressed his displeasure and gestured a wave at Smith before walking away and not hearing Smith’s stance.

    “[Chandler Smith] killed us,” Custer, who leads the Playoff standings by points said, said. “He definitely burned our stuff up [while I was] trying to get by him. It really made me mad when he put us in the fence on that restart. He’s gonna pay the consequences and I’m gonna race him like he races me. I think we could have gone back-to-back [in wins] pretty easily if things fall the right way, but we’ll move on to Talladega. I’m sure points-wise, we’re pretty good, so just got to keep chugging along.”

    “I definitely understand [Custer’s] position,” Smith, who sits in second place behind Custer in the Playoff standings, said. “Last week, I was racing behind somebody for 80 laps and couldn’t find a way around him because we were running the same lane. Obviously, our car was really dominant on the short run. [I] Was able to build up a little bit of a gap and had to come up with a game plan of when [Custer] gets to me, what do I got to do because last time, I just kept running my lane and he just blew my doors off. This is for the race win, this is for advancing into the next round [of the Playoffs] and this is also the guy I’m racing for the championship. I’ve got to be a little more aggressive in a sense of just taking his air away, kind of Cup racing, Truck racing style. Just trying to do the best for my team. [Custer]’s got a very, very valid statement, I understand, but I also wouldn’t change what I did because I was giving myself the best shot to win.”

    Custer and Chandler Smith were not the only pair of Playoff contenders to exchange words on pit road following the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoff opener. In addition, Austin Hill and Riley Herbst, both of whom finished seventh and 10th on the track, exchanged words, where Hill apologized for turning Herbst at the conclusion of the second stage period, while AJ Allmendinger and Sammy Smith, both of whom ended up 17th and 22nd on the track, exchanged words as Smith expressed his displeasure for nearly getting turned and having his car damaged by Allmendinger in the opening laps.

    Meanwhile, Connor Zilisch came home in fourth place for his second consecutive top-five result in just his second Xfinity career start while Sheldon Creed finished fifth. Pole-sitter Brandon Jones settled in sixth place in front of Hill while Playoff rookies Shane van Gisbergen and Jesse Love rallied to finish eighth and ninth in front of Herbst.

    There were 14 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Aric Almirola, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 48 laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 114 laps led

    4. Connor Zilisch

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Brandon Jones, four laps led

    7. Austin Hill

    8. Shane van Gisbergen

    9. Jesse Love

    10. Riley Herbst

    11. Josh Williams

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Sam Mayer, 18 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    14. Matt DiBenedetto

    15. Anthony Alfredo

    16. Ryan Sieg

    17. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    18. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    19. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    20. JJ Yeley, one lap down

    21. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    22. Sammy Smith, one lap down

    23. Jeb Burton, two laps down

    24. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    25. Leland Honeyman, two laps down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, three laps down

    27. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    28. Blaine Perkins, three laps down

    29. Ryan Vargas, four laps down

    30. Patrick Emerling, four laps down

    31. Corey Heim, five laps down

    32. Joey Gase, six laps down

    33. Logan Bearden, 10 laps down

    34. Daniel Dye, 11 laps down

    35. Dawson Cram – OUT, Fuel Pressure

    36. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    37. Brad Perez – OUT, Oil Pump

    38. Taylor Gray – OUT, Engine

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Cole Custer +41

    2. Chandler Smith +36

    3. Austin Hill +26

    4. Sam Mayer +13

    5. Sheldon Creed +10

    6. Shane van Gisbergen +8

    7. Jesse Love +3

    8. Riley Herbst +1

    9. Justin Allgaier -1

    10. AJ Allmendinger -13

    11. Parker Kligerman -15

    12. Sammy Smith -23

    The second Round of 12 event in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur at Talladega Superspeedway for the United Rentals 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 5, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Custer rallies to win regular-season finale at Bristol, claim 2024 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship

    Custer rallies to win regular-season finale at Bristol, claim 2024 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship

    In a war of attrition-type event under the lights, Cole Custer muscled his way from early adversity to claim the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship by winning the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 20.

    The reigning Xfinity Series champion from Ladera Ranch, California, led three times for a race-high 104 of 300-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row but had his race hit an early roadblock when he cut a tire and hit the backstretch’s outside wall that resulted with him dropping off the pace and plummeting below the leaderboard. After managing to continue and remain on the lead lap amid slight cosmetic damage, Custer carved his way back into the top-10 mark when the first stage period concluded.

    Then after leading for the first time just past the event’s halfway mark before proceeding to finish second in the second stage period amid mixed pit strategies, Custer’s charge to win the regular-season title ignited as his title rival Justin Allgaier was involved in three separate incidents that both dropped him out of race-winning contention and off of the lead lap category. Despite regaining the lead prior to the start of the final stage period before losing it to Sheldon Creed a few laps later, Custer dropped the hammer by sliding in front of Creed with a bold move from the inside lane to reassume the top spot with 91 laps remaining.

    For the remainder of the event, Custer was able to weave his way through lapped traffic and maintain a steady margin to within a second over Creed as he triumphed for the second time in the 2024 Xfinity Series season and captured the regular-season title by a narrow margin over Allgaier.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Chandler Smith notched his second Xfinity Series pole position and the fifth of his career after he posted a pole-winning lap at 121.366 mph in 15.810 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 120.490 mph in 15.925 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Sam Mayer, Josh Williams, Parker Retzlaff and Leland Honeyman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Stefan Parsons also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his entry. Parsons, however, was unable to roll off the starting grid with the field and was pinned multiple laps down due to the engine changes being made.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith muscled his No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra ahead of Cole Custer with a strong start from the outside lane and he maintained the lead while transitioning to the inside lane through the backstretch. Exiting the backstretch, however, Justin Allgaier used the outside lane to draw even with Smith and muscle ahead entering the frontstretch to lead the first lap.

    On the following lap, Custer, who was battling Anthony Alfredo for third place, hit the outside wall entering the backstretch after he cut a tire and he dropped off the pace, which drew the event’s first caution period. During the caution period, Custer pitted for repairs and fresh tires to his No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang. Another competitor who pitted was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who pitted to address a radio issue inside of his cockpit and was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Allgaier used the outside lane to launch his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro ahead through the first two turns and proceeded to lead the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith and Anthony Alfredo. Jeffrey Earnhardt and AJ Allmendinger followed suit in front of a stacked field. By Lap 12, Chandler Smith challenged Allgaier for the lead through every turn and straightaway, but the latter was able to fend off the former through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Allmendinger while rookie Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Sheldon Creed and Ryan Truex were scored in the top 10. Behind, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman trailed in the top 15 ahead of Joe Graf Jr., Sammy Smith, Matt DiBenedetto, Chad Finchum and Josh Bilicki while Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer and Austin Green were racing in the top-25 mark. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was still having radio issues, was mired back in 31st place behind rookie Shane van Gisbergen.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier, who was slowly approaching the rear end of the field, stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Alfredo, Jese Love and Jeffrey Earnhardt battled in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Creed, Ryan Truex and Clements.

    Another 10 laps later, Allgaier slightly grew his lead to half a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Alfredo trailed by two seconds. With Love fending off Jeffrey Earnhardt for fourth place, Allgaier, who lapped van Gisbergen, extended his advantage to a second over Smith by Lap 45 while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Creed for sixth place.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Chandler Smith as Alfredo, Love and Jeffrey Earnhardt remained in the top-five mark. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was in 24th place and trying to remain ahead of his driver and leader Allgaier on the lead lap category.

    A lap later, the event’s second caution flew when Austin Green slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 and barely clipped Allgaier, who was lapping Green. The contact caused Allgaier’s rear bumper to come loose as Green, whose damaged car continued to steer down the track, made contact with Parker Retzlaff as both spun and wrecked against the inside wall.

    During the caution period, Earnhardt Jr. made another trip to pit road to change his helmet as part of his effort to have his radio communication with his team restored. Soon after, select names led by Allgaier, who pitted to have his rear bumper removed, pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included teammate Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Bilicki, Jeb Burton and the Sieg brothers of Ryan and Kyle.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 65 featured Chandler Smith rocketing ahead with the lead from the outside lane, where he led the following lap, while Love overtook Alfredo for second place. In addition, Allmendinger was battling Alfredo for third place in front of Creed. By then, Earnhardt Jr., who remained on the lead lap despite having to pit again to have his wire harness changed as part of his radio communication with his team restored, was mired within the top-30 mark on the track while Allgaier, who was racing without a rear bumper, was marching his way towards the top-20 mark.

    By Lap 75, Chandler Smith stretched his advantage to more than a second over Love while Allmendinger, Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top five ahead of Clements, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Joe Graf Jr. Smith would then add another second to his advantage by the Lap 80 mark.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 85, Chandler Smith thundered his way to his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Love settled in second ahead of Creed, Allmendinger and Alfredo while Clements, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Truex and Graf were scored in the top 10, with Ryan Sieg settling in 11th place. By then, Allgaier muscled his way up to 18th place behind Kligerman, Mayer and Sammy Smith while Earnhardt Jr., who had his radio communication with his team restored after four attempts and despite making earlier contact with Leland Honeyman, managed to drive up to 20th place.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the front-runners led by Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by Ryan Sieg and including Brandon Jones, Mayer, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Earnhardt Jr., Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Bilicki and Sheldon Creed remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for a safety violation while Graf was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 95 as Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer launched a three-wide battle on both Sieg and Jones for the lead through the first two turns before Mayer launched his No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro ahead and assumed the lead, where he led the following lap. As the field behind fanned out and scrambled for positions, Mayer proceeded to lead the Lap 100 mark while Sieg and Allgaier battled for second place in front of Jones, Jeb Burton and Earnhardt Jr., with Creed, Custer, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith trailing in the top 10.

    Through the Lap 110 mark, Mayer extended his lead to eight-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier while teammate Jones trailed by more than a second. Behind, Ryan Sieg retained fourth place ahead of Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst while Earnhardt Jr., who was battling Sieg for fourth place a few laps later, had dropped to ninth place ahead of Love. By then, DiBenedetto pitted under green after he briefly fell off the pace due to losing power.

    Ten laps later, the caution flew due to Kligerman spinning his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro from the inside lane and back across the middle of the track and towards the outside wall, starting from the backstretch to Turn 2, as he managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his entry.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 126, Mayer rocketed ahead of teammate Jones from the outside lane as he brought teammate Allgaier, Custer and Creed with him while Jones, who struggled to launch from the inside, was trying to remain in the top-five mark. Mayer would proceed to lead the following lap as the field behind jostled for spots. With Mayer proceeding to lead up to the Lap 130 mark, Custer challenged Allgaier for second place while Chandler Smith overtook Jones for fifth place. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was up to eighth place in front of Ryan Sieg and Love while Sammy Smith was mired in 14th place.

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Mayer extended his advantage to more than two seconds over a fierce battle between Custer and Allgaier for the runner-up spot as Creed fended off teammate Chandler Smith for fourth place. Custer would then proceed to challenge Mayer for the lead towards the Lap 145 mark while Creed tried to close in from third place.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Mayer retained the lead by a narrow margin over Custer, who managed to draw even and assume the lead for himself during the following lap as Creed tried to challenge Mayer for the runner-up spot. Creed then made contact with Mayer through Turn 1 on Lap 152 before he turned left and made contact with Allgaier, sending the latter for a spin through the backstretch. Allgaier would then hit the inside wall head-on before he slid back across the racetrack and managed to continue without getting hit by the field.

    During the caution period, a majority of the leaders led by Custer pitted while the rest led by Clements remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier, who pitted to have his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro repaired, was penalized for dragging a saw block out of his pit box and on the track, which caused sparks to flame out of the front of Allgaier’s entry as he was dragging the tool towards his front splitter.

    With the race restarting with nine laps remaining in the second stage period, where Clements and Sammy Smith occupied the front row, Clements fended off both Sammy Smith and Kligerman to retain the lead as he led the following lap. With Kligerman trying to challenge Clements for the lead, Jones carved his way to third place ahead of Creed and Custer, who hit the wall for a second time, while the field behind scrambled and jostled for spots between competitors who pitted and those who remained on the track. Amid the on-track chaos, Clements maintained the lead ahead of a side-by-side battle involving Kligerman and Jones with five laps remaining.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 170, Clements notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer carved his way to second ahead of Truex, Creed and Chandler Smith while Love, Herbst, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr. and Kligerman, who hit the wall amid contact with Custer a few laps earlier, were scored in the top 10. Despite recording a single point during the event’s two stage periods, Kligerman was able to officially secure his spot into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points. By then, Ryan Sieg was mired in 12th place and running seven spots ahead of Sammy Smith while Allgaier, who was pinned a lap down, was down in 30th place.

    During the stage break, select names including the leader Clements, Kligerman, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Custer and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Custer rocketed away from both Creed and Truex and he proceeded to lead the following lap in front of a stacked field. Creed then overtook Custer for the lead during the next lap period as the latter was battling handling issues while Chandler Smith and Love trailed in the top five. With Herbst, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg and Jones battling within the top 10, Creed proceeded to lead with 115 laps remaining.

    Then with 101 laps remaining, the caution returned due to Allgaier, who was three laps down, spinning his damaged car in Turn 2 and blowing a right-rear tire as he kept his car from spinning back above the track and towards oncoming traffic. At the moment of caution, Creed had maintained a narrow lead over a hard-charging Custer, who was within striking distance of toppling Allgaier atop the regular-season standings, while Chandler Smith, Love, Truex and Mayer were scored in the top six, with Earnhardt Jr. up to seventh place despite having his radio communication issues returning. During the caution period, select names including Herbst, Josh Williams and Kyle Weatherman pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 94 laps remaining featured teammates Creed and Chandler Smith occupying the front row as Creed, who restarted on the outside lane, managed to fend off teammate Smith and lead the following lap while muscling ahead. Custer then battled and slid in front of Creed’s No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra to move back into the lead with 91 laps remaining as he had the preferred outside lane while Creed followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Love and Truex. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr., who made slight contact with Truex, occupied sixth place as Jones, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill were trailing in the top 10 while Sammy Smith was back in 16th place.

    Down to the final 80 laps of the event, Custer stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Creed while Chandler Smith, Love and Truex continued to run in the top five. Behind, Earnhardt Jr. was still trying to challenge Truex for fifth place along with Jones as Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith gained two spots and was up to 14th place as Custer continued to stretch his lead to a second-and-a-half over Creed with 70 laps remaining.

    With 60 laps remaining, Custer, who was mired in lapped traffic, had his advantage slightly decrease to eight-tenths of a second over Creed as Chandler Smith, Love and Truex continued to follow suit in the top five. With Earnhardt Jr., Jones, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill retaining their respective spots in the top 10, Allmendinger, Clements, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Alfredo and Herbst followed suit in the top 16 while Brennan Poole, Graf, van Gisbergen and Josh Bilicki were mired in the top 20.

    Ten laps later and with the front-runners mired in lapped traffic, Custer stretched his advantage back up to a second over Creed and Chandler Smith while Love and Truex trailed by as far back as three seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. retained sixth place in his No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of teammates Jones and Mayer while Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger were in the top 10. By then, Sammy Smith remained in 13th place while Allgaier was scored eight laps down in 30th place.

    Another 15 laps later, Custer, who continued to weave his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by more than a second over Creed while Chandler Smith and Love remained in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Truex was fending off repeated challenges from Earnhardt Jr. for fifth place as Jones also tried to navigate his way past both while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Clements, Hill and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top 13.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Custer, who was currently scored atop the regular-season standings by a narrow margin over Allgaier and had made contact with Graf while trying to lap him, retained the lead by within a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith while fourth-place Love trailed by three seconds. Behind, Truex, racing in his No. 20 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra, was being pressured by Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro for fifth place while Earnhardt Jr. dropped to seventh place ahead of Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger as Sammy Smith was back in 15th place ahead of Kligerman.

    With 10 laps remaining, Custer, who lapped 18th-place van Gisbergen a few laps earlier before van Gisbergen made light contact with Custer to express his displeasure over receiving a bump from Custer while being lapped, stabilized his lead to a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith as Love and Truex remained in the top five ahead of Jones, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Allmendinger.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Custer kept leading in his No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang by a second as Chandler Smith started to challenge teammate Creed for the runner-up spot through every corner and straightaway. In the process, Creed retained the spot by a narrow margin while Love retained fourth place by two seconds over both Truex and Jones as Earnhardt Jr. trailed by another two seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader by more than a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith. With the latter two unable to narrow the deficit amid their late battle on one another, Custer was able to smoothly navigate his way around Bristol for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for both his second Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and to capture the regular-season championship by three points over Allgaier, who capped off his long night in 30th place.

    With the victory, Custer notched his 15th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his first at Bristol Motor Speedway and his first race victory since he won at Pocono Raceway in July. The victory was also the third of the season overall for both the Ford nameplate and Stewart-Haas Racing.

    As an added bonus, Custer, who came into the regular-season finale at Bristol trailing Justin Allgaier in the regular-season standings by 43 points but took advantage of Allgaier’s triple misfortunes, became the seventh competitor overall to win a regular-season championship in the Xfinity circuit and the first Ford competitor to do so since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2020. With the title and the bonus points, Custer will commence the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs to defend his series title before moving back up to the Cup Series with Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “Man, it’s unbelievable,” Custer said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “Just a testament to these [No. 00] guys. A really hard month, but everybody at the shop really kept their heads in it. All the guys did such a great job. Unbelievable car all night. Ready to get to the Playoffs. It’s huge, huge to get this momentum because our confidence was going down this last month. To get this win really means a lot.”

    Behind Custer, Sheldon Creed fended off teammate Chandler Smith to claim his record-setting 13th runner-up result in the Xfinity Series while rookie Jesse Love and Ryan Truex finished in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who missed the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, came home in sixth place while team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled through adversity from his radio communication issues to finish seventh in his 147th career start in the Xfinity Series. Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 on the track.

    Sieg’s eighth-place result was not enough for the Tucker, Georgia, native to launch himself back into the top-12 mark in the regular-season standings as Sammy Smith claimed the 12th and final berth into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs with a 15th-place result at Bristol.

    “It’s been a real grind the last couple of months, just kind of struggled here and there,” Smith said. “We’ve hit it a couple of times, but that was one of those nights again. Just really struggled and I just feel like we got to dig deep and figure something out. It’s cool to make the Playoffs. We just got to keep getting better.”

    “There were a few races where we led some points slip,” Sieg said. “All in all, a great year. Nothing to hang our heads on. We still got some races to go win and that’s the goal. That was our goal this year. We’ve been in shots to do it. Just got to execute everything.”

    Sammy Smith along with race winner Cole Custer join Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst along with rookies Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen as the 12 competitors who have qualified for the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. All 12 competitors will now embark on a seven-race Playoff stretch for this year’s championship.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 57 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 104 laps led

    2. Sheldon Creed, 28 laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 29 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Jesse Love, one lap led

    5. Ryan Truex

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., one lap led

    8. Ryan Sieg, five laps led

    9. Sam Mayer, 55 laps led

    10. AJ Allmendinger

    11. Anthony Alfredo

    12. Jeremy Clements, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Sammy Smith

    16. Parker Kligerman

    17. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    18. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    19. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    20. Josh Bilicki, one lap down

    21. Josh Williams, one lap down

    22. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

    23. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    24. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    25. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    27. Logan Bearden, two laps down

    28. Carson Ware, five laps down

    29. Greg Van Alst, eight laps down

    30. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps down, 60 laps led

    31. Leland Honeyman, 10 laps down

    32. Chad Finchum, 20 laps down

    33. Stefan Parsons, 24 laps down

    34. Matt DiBenedetto, 25 laps down

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Rear Gear

    37. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Green – OUT, Accident

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs are set to commence next Saturday, September 28, at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 and the Round of 12 opener. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • NASCAR Weekend schedule for Bristol – September 2024

    NASCAR Weekend schedule for Bristol – September 2024

    This weekend NASCAR travels to Bristol Motor Speedway for some short track racing.

    Saturday’s Bass Pro Shops Night Race is the final event in the Round of 16 Cup Series Playoffs. At the conclusion of the race, four drivers will be eliminated from championship contention.

    The following drivers are currently below the cutline:

    1. Denny Hamlin – 6 points
    2. Brad Keselowski -12 points
    3. Martin Truex Jr. – 14 points
    4. Harrison Burton – 20 points

    This will be the final race of the regular season for the Xfinity Series and will determine which 12 drivers will advance to the series Playoffs.

    The Craftsman Truck Series Round of 10 in the Playoffs continues this weekend at Bristol. Layne Riggs won the first event at The Milwaukee Mile.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available after Cup Series qualifying, post-Cup Series race and post-Xfinity Series race.

    All times are Eastern.

    Thursday, Sept. 19
    1:00 p.m.: ARCA Practice, All Entries
    2:00 p.m.: ARCA Qualifying, Timed, Impound

    3:00 p.m.: Truck Series Practice – FS2
    2 Groups, 15 minutes each
    3:35 p.m.: Truck Series Qualifying – FS2
    Impound, All Entries, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps

    5:00 p.m.: ARCA Bush’s Beans 200
    200 LAPS, 106.6 miles – FS1/MRN

    8:00 p.m.: Truck Series UNOH 200
    Stages 55/110/200 Laps = 106.6 miles
    FS1/MRN/SiriusXM

    Friday, Sept. 20
    2:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Practice
    Timed, 2 Groups, 15 Minutes Each – USA
    2:40 p.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying – Impound
    All Entries, Single Vehicle, 2 Laps – USA

    4:00 p.m.: Cup Series Practice, Timed, 45 Minutes
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    5:05 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying – Impound
    Groups A & B: Single Vehicle, 2 Laps, 2 Rounds
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM

    7:30 p.m.: Xfinity Series Food City 300
    Stages 85/170/300 Laps = 159.9 Miles
    CW/PRN/SiriusXM
    $1,680,574

    Saturday, Sept. 21
    7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race
    Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles
    USA/PRN/SiriusXM
    Purse: $9,222,417

  • Connor Zilisch muscles through two overtime attempts and late fuel drama to win in Xfinity debut at The Glen

    Connor Zilisch muscles through two overtime attempts and late fuel drama to win in Xfinity debut at The Glen

    On a day when Connor Zilisch made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Watkins Glen International, he added another pair of first-time accomplishments to his impressive racing resume, with his first career pole and first career win.

    The 18-year-old Zilisch from Charlotte, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 45 of 90 over-scheduled laps in an event where he commenced his Xfinity Series debut by notching his first pole position and claiming the first stage victory after leading all of the stage’s laps. Despite enduring a slow pit stop while pitting during the first stage break period, Zilisch methodically raced his way back up the leaderboard and settled in third place when the second stage period concluded.

    The start of the final stage period with 38 laps remaining was where Zilisch’s opportunity to contend for the victory appeared to evaporate after he along with the leader Ty Gibbs and Sam Mayer were sent to the rear of the field due to driving through the Inner Loop’s off-course turn and not serving a “stop-and-go” penalty just as a caution flew for Justin Allgaier getting stuck in the Turn 6 gravel trap. However, since the following restart period with 33 laps remaining, Zilisch methodically carved his way back up the leaderboard with a fast car again. As fuel shortages became a highlighted topic in the closing laps, the Charlotte native, who had more fuel in his fuel tank compared to most of the front-runners who pitted, cycled back to the lead with 15 laps remaining. He would then maintain a healthy lead and conserve as much fuel in his fuel tank until a late-caution period with six laps remaining for Matt DiBenedetto stalling his car on the course briefly stalled his progress.

    Then through another caution period during an attempted two-lap shootout and two overtime shootouts, Zilisch had enough fuel and muscle within his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry to fend off the field amid a series of on-track chaos and coast to the finish line during the event’s race-ending caution for a multi-car wreck to win the Mission 200 at The Glen on Saturday, September 14, for his first career victory and become the seventh competitor overall to win in an Xfinity debut.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, newcomer Connor Zilisch notched his first Xfinity pole position in his series debut with a pole-winning speed at 124.176 mph in 71.028 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Ty Gibbs, who posted the second-fastest qualifying speed at 123.927 mph in 71.171 seconds.

    Before the event, Ed Jones started at the rear of the field due to an engine change to his Sam Hunt Racing Toyota entry. The following names that include Jeb Burton, Ross Chastain, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Joey Logano and Josh Williams also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Zilisch, who was among select front-runners who briefly went off the course entering Turn 1, managed to fend off Gibbs to retain the lead. He would proceed to lead the next set of turns that included the Esses before he navigated his way through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops. Following the final set of turns that included a left-hand turn following a brief straightaway and a right-hand turn through Turn 7 back to the frontstretch, Zilisch proceeded to lead the first lap in front of Gibbs, Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger and Chandler Smith.

    Over the next four laps, Zilisch retained the lead ahead of a hard-charging Ty Gibbs, who trailed the leader by a second by the fifth lap mark, while third-place Allgaier followed suit by two seconds. With fourth-place Allmendinger trailing by five seconds, Chandler Smith retained fifth place ahead of William Byron while Sam Mayer, Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill were running in the top 10. Behind, rookie Jesse Love, Cole Custer, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones followed suit in the top 15 ahead of Sammy Smith, Parker Kligerman, Jeremy Clements, Parker Retzlaff and Mike Skeen while Shane van Gisbergen was up to 23rd place in front of Ross Chastain and Joey Logano.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Zilisch extended his lead to three seconds over runner-up Gibbs while Allgaier and Allmendinger remained in third and fourth, respectively. Behind, Byron was up into fifth place ahead of Mayer while Chandler Smith dropped to seventh ahead of Almirola, Creed and Hill. Meanwhile, van Gisbergen cracked the top-20 mark as he was running in 19th place behind Jeremy Clements while Love, Herbst, Custer, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg were mired in the top 15 ahead of Sammy Smith and Kligerman.

    Five laps later, Zilisch continued to extend his advantage as he was now leading by over Gibbs while Allgaier, Allmendinger and Byron continued to run in the top five. Earlier, Herbst performed a stop-and-go on the course for missing the Inner Loop, which dropped him from 12th to 14th. In addition, Kligerman, who was reporting a gearing issue to his No. 48 Borchetta Bourbon Chevrolet Camaro entry, had dropped to 24th place from outside the top-15 mark. Amid the on-track battles, van Gisbergen carved his way up into the top-15 mark while Mayer, Chandler Smith, Almirola, Creed and Hill continued to run in the top 10.

    Before the Lap 17 mark, select front-runners including Gibbs, Allmendinger, Byron, Mayer, Hill, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen and Austin Green pitted their respective entries while Zilisch kept his pole-winning No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro entry on the track with the lead.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Zilisch captured his first Xfinity stage career victory. Teammate Allgaier trailed by in second place by more than 10 seconds followed by a trio of Joe Gibbs Racing competitors that included Almirola, Chandler Smith and Creed while Custer, Love, Herbst, Ryan Sieg and Clements were scored in the top 10. By then, 36 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap, with van Gisbergen remaining on the lead lap and in front of the leader Zilisch in 36th place.

    Under the stage break, Chandler Smith made an unscheduled pit stop from third place due to his No. 81 Smith General Contracting Toyota Supra entry overheating on water temperature due to a piece of debris lodged in his front grille. Once pit road became accessible for the field, a majority of the field led by Zilisch pitted for service while the rest led by Ty Gibbs remained on the track.  Following the pit stops, Allgaier exited pit road first while teammate Zilisch was the sixth competitor to exit the pits following a slow pit service. Amid the pit stops, Alon Day and Thomas Annunziata were penalized for speeding on pit road. Not long after, Sammy Smith made a second pit stop to have a right-rear shock repaired.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as Gibbs and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs and Allmendinger dueled for the top spot through the frontstretch and the first turn until Allmendinger managed to rocket his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro entry ahead with the lead through the Esses. As the field behind jostled for spots through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops, Allmendinger retained the lead through the final set of turns that led back to the frontstretch as he led the following lap while Mayer and Byron battled for third place. Byron would manage to overtake Mayer for third place entering the first turn while Allmendinger retained a narrow lead over Gibbs. Meanwhile, Zilisch was back in 11th place as Allgaier, Brandon Jones, van Gisbergen, Creed, Custer and Herbst were scored in the top 10.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Byron, who dueled and overtook Allmendinger through the frontstretch a lap prior, was leading by a second over Allmendinger while Gibbs and Allgaier also followed suit by a second. Meanwhile, Mayer had dropped to fifth place after he went off the course just past the Outer Loop while van Gisbergen, Jones, Zilisch, Creed and Custer trailed in the top 10 ahead of Herbst, Almirola, Ryan Sieg, Hill and Clements. By then, Logano and Chastain were mired in 18th and 19th, respectively, while Kligerman was back in 21st place in front of Parker Retzlaff and Chandler Smith. In addition, Sammy Smith was trapped a lap down in 36th place.

    Five laps later, Byron stretched his advantage to more than two seconds over Gibbs while Allmendinger and Mayer trailed by four seconds. Behind, Zilisch navigated his way back into the top five after he overtook teammate Allgaier a lap earlier, while van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed and Custer were racing within the top 10 ahead of Herbst, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Clements and Love.

    Another lap later, select names including Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed, Chandler Smith and Josh Bilicki pitted their respective entries under green. By then, Logano had also pitted under green as Byron kept his No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro entry on the track with the lead.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 40, Byron claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Gibbs trailed in second place by more than three seconds while Zilisch, Mayer, Allgaier, Custer, Herbst, Hill, Ryan Sieg and Clements were scored in the top 10. By then, 34 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    During the stage break, Almirola made an unscheduled pit stop to address losing both his third and fourth gears on his No. 20 Go Bowling Toyota Supra entry. Once pit road became accessible for the field, some, led by Allgaier, pitted while the rest, led by Byron and including Gibbs and Zilisch, remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Jeremy Clements was penalized for speeding on pit road. Not long after, Joey Gase filled in for Thomas Annunziata, who was taken to the care center due to feeling dehydrated. Allmendinger made a second pit stop to have a left-front tire changed.

    With 38 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Byron and Gibbs occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead through the frontstretch until Byron got loose from Zilisch and went wide in Turn 1. This allowed Gibbs to move in front of the field as the field fanned out entering the Esses. Then after the field navigated through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops, trouble occurred as both Allgaier and Mike Skeen were sent sliding off the course in Turn 6, with Allgaier getting his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro entry stuck in the gravel trap. Amid the incident, the race remained under green flag conditions before the caution flew a lap later. By then, Gibbs was the leader ahead of Mayer, Zilisch and Custer while Byron had dropped to fifth place.

    Shortly after, however, the top three competitors including Gibbs, Mayer and Zilisch were penalized and sent to the rear of the field due to driving through the Inner Loop and not stopping for a stop-and-go penalty for missing the corner. The trio of penalties allowed Cole Custer to cycle into the lead as he was followed by Byron, van Gisbergen, and Austin Green.

    During the caution period, some including Hill, Creed, Brandon Jones, Love, Jeb Burton, Josh Williams, Allmendinger, Josh Bilicki and Almirola pitted their respective entries while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hill was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The start of the next restart period with 33 laps remaining featured Custer retaining the lead following a strong start through the frontstretch and the first turn while van Gisbergen challenged Byron for the runner-up spot. With Herbst up to fourth place in front of Chandler Smith, Custer retained the lead through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loop, with the field behind fanning out. As van Gisbergen was being intimidated by Herbst and Chandler Smith for third place, Byron retained second ahead of the trio battle while Custer led the following lap.

    Then with 30 laps remaining, Byron gained a strong run beneath Custer through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. With Byron leading, Custer was being challenged by van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot through the Esses and backstretch while Herbst and Chandler Smith remained within close pursuit in the top five. Meanwhile, Kligerman was up to sixth place while Ed Jones, Logano, Austin Green and Ross Chastain were scored in the top 10.

    A lap later, Byron surrendered the lead to pit under green, which allowed van Gisbergen, who overtook Custer for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, to cycle his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro entry into the lead for the first time. Custer, Chastain, Austin Green, Mike Skeen, Kyle Sieg and Chandler Smith would all pit during the following two laps as Herbst, Kligerman, Ed Jones and Logano moved up into the top five. With Love and Creed following suit in sixth and seventh, respectively, Zilisch was up to eighth place ahead of Allmendinger and Brandon Jones while Gibbs and Mayer were mired in 14th and 15th, respectively. As more names including Logano and Brennan Poole pitted their respective entries, van Gisbergen retained the lead by three seconds over Herbst and Kligerman with 25 laps remaining.

    With 20 laps remaining, van Gisbergen continued to lead by four seconds over Herbst while Kligerman, Zilisch and Creed trailed in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Gibbs, Brandon Jones, Mayer and Love. By then, Ed Jones, who was dealing with a cool suit malfunction, pitted under green from fourth place two laps earlier, though he would then encounter a mechanical issue while trying to exit his pit stall. In addition, Retzlaff pitted his Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet entry.

    A few laps later, Herbst surrendered the runner-up spot to pit his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang entry for both tires and enough fuel to the event’s scheduled distance. Kligerman, who briefly inherited the runner-up spot, would also pit, which allowed Zilisch to move into the runner-up spot. Zilisch, who was also trying to stretch his fuel tank to the event’s scheduled distance, would then return atop the leaderboard with 15 laps remaining as van Gisbergen pitted for fuel under green, though the latter would be penalized for speeding on pit road. With Zilisch leading, Creed, Gibbs, Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Mayer followed suit in the top six. By then, Byron returned to pit road to address a vibration concern.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Zilisch continued to lead by more than five seconds over Creed while Ty Gibbs followed suit by within six-tenths of a second to teammate Creed. Behind, fourth-place Allmendinger trailed the lead by 13 seconds while JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Mayer trailed in the top six by less than 20 seconds on the track.

    Two laps later, teammates Gibbs and Creed dueled for the runner-up spot, with the former prevailing with the spot while Zilisch retained the lead by more than six seconds as he was also trying to stretch his fuel tank to the distance. A lap later, Creed surrendered his top-three spot on the track to pit for a quick splash of fuel, which allowed Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Mayer to move up the leaderboard in the top five.

    Then with six laps remaining, the caution flew due to Matt DiBenedetto coming to a stop in the Inner Loop after he endured a mechanical issue through the backstretch. The caution all but erased Zilisch’s steady advantage of six seconds over Gibbs as Allmendinger, Brandon Jones and Mayer were scored in the top five.

    During the caution period, some including Love, Custer, Hill, Josh Bilicki, Ryan Sieg, Ryan Ellis and Anthony Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with two laps remaining, Allmendinger tried to throw a three-wide move beneath both Zilisch and Gibbs for the lead exiting the frontstretch and in Turn 1, but Zilisch managed to retain the lead as multiple competitors were sent spinning and colliding into one another, among which included Ed Jones, Josh Williams, Logano, Byron, Mike Skeen, Sammy Smith, Hill and Alfredo.

    Amid the incidents, the race remained under green flag conditions as Zilisch retained the lead through the Esses and the backstretch. Then caution returned for the incidents, that left carnage and leaked fluid left from Turn 1, with Alfredo and Hill sustaining the most damage to their respective entries. With the caution being flown, the race was sent into overtime. It was also sent into a red flag period to have the carnage and the spilled fluid cleared, with Alfredo hitting the guardrails while trying to nurse his damaged No. 5 Ferguson Chevrolet Camaro entry that was leaking fluid back to the infield.

    Twenty-two minutes later, the red flag was lifted and the field led by Zilisch proceeded under a cautious pace. During the caution period, select names led by Sammy Smith and including those involved during the previous caution period pitted while the rest led by Zilisch remained on the track.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Zilisch fending off Mayer through the frontstretch, the first turn and the Esses with the lead. By then, Gibbs ran out of fuel and dropped out of contention during the restart as the field scattered through the opening turns. Zilisch, who was continuing to try and stretch his fuel tank to the distance, would proceed to lead through the backstretch and both the Inner and Outer Loops just before teammate Brandon Jones was sent for a spin from the middle of the field through the Inner Loop. Jones was then hit hard by Mike Skeen as the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt.

    Following an extensive caution period, the start of the second overtime attempt featured teammates Zilisch and Mayer dueling for the lead exiting the frontstretch before the former muscled ahead through the first turn, where Custer spun. Mayer, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen then went three wide through the Esses and backstretch in a battle for the runner-up spot. Shortly after, Mayer was seen slowly losing pace with the front-runners as he was shaking the car back and forth to keep it under power while Allmendinger and van Gisbergen continued to fiercely duel for the runner-up spot as Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed and Kligerman joined the battle.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Zilisch remained as the leader by three seconds over Creed, who overtook Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith for the runner-up spot through the frontstretch as Mayer spun entering Turn 7. Before this, Allgaier spun in the Inner Loop. Amid the chaos, the race remained under green flag conditions.

    Then with numerous bumps and on-track chaos continuing to ensue around the course, the event concluded under caution as a multi-car wreck erupted on the backstretch that started when Ryan Sieg, who was running inside the top 10, got Herbst loose as Herbst spun back in front of Sieg and both were sent wrecking hard against the guardrails while clipping Austin Green in the process as more names, including Ed Jones, Clements and Brennan Poole, would also get collected.

    With the caution being displayed, Zilisch, who was exiting the Outer Loop at the moment the event was deemed official, had enough fuel in his dry tank to coast his No. 88 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro entry through the final two turns under reduced pace and back to the frontstretch for his first checkered flag in his debut in the Xfinity circuit.

    With the victory, Connor Zilisch, who inked a sponsorship deal with Red Bull a day ago and is set to become a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for JR Motorsports in 2025, became the 179th competitor overall to win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division as he joined Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen as competitors to notch a first-time Xfinity victory in 2024. He also joined an exclusive list that includes Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, Joe Ruttman, Terry Labonte, Kurt Busch and recently Ty Gibbs as competitors to win in an Xfinity Series debut. As added bonuses, he also became the second-youngest winner in the Xfinity Series division at age 18 years, one month and 23 days while becoming the first competitor to record a first-time Xfinity victory at The Glen since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2019.

    Zilisch’s Xfinity victory at The Glen marked his second trip to Victory Lane of the weekend after he won Friday’s ARCA Menards Series event at The Glen, with the Charlotte native etching the fifth victory of the season for JR Motorsports, the first victory for JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet entry in two seasons and the first ever for crew chief Andrew Overstreet.

    “Man, I don’t even have words,” Zilisch, who fought tears of emotions on the frontstretch, said on USA Network. “I worked so hard for this one. I’ve been working for this one for months. It’s so special. I don’t even have words right now. I don’t know how I saved enough [fuel]. I sputtered up the hill with two [laps] to go. I didn’t think I was gonna make it back to the line. I was saving the last two laps. I’m gonna enjoy this one for a while. That’s special. One-on-one [in the Xfinity Series], not bad.”

    “Coming into today, I just wanted to run all the laps,” Zilisch added. “I ran all the laps and I came home with a win too. I can’t complain about that. I just can’t thank everyone who’s helped me get to this point. It’s special [to] come out here and win my first race. Hopefully, the first of many.”

    With Zilisch winning the race, Sheldon Creed settled in second place for the 12th time in his career while AJ Allmendinger came home in third place. The top three results were enough for both Allmendinger and Creed to secure their spots into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs by points.

    “[I was] Just trying to keep the nose on [the car] there,” Creed said. “[The race was] Actually really fun. I felt like that was the battle for the win probably if [Zilisch] ran out [of fuel]. I thought I put myself in really good position. To end up second again, I could be mad, but I’m actually happy for kind of how our day was going. We were a top-10 car, but I just didn’t know how good we were to run in the top three there. Another top five for our team. Just good momentum for the Playoffs and I can’t wait for Bristol next week. I’m having a lot of fun right now, so that’s what’s important.

    Chandler Smith settled in fourth place while Shane van Gisbergen ended up in fifth place. Ross Chastain, Parker Kligerman, Jesse Love, Joey Logano and Josh Bilicki completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 10 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 19 laps. In addition, 21 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Following the 25th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the regular-season standings by 43 points over Cole Custer, 62 over Chandler Smith and 99 over Austin Hill.

    With next weekend’s Xfinity Series event at Bristol Motor Speedway marking the final regular-season event of the 2024 season, the following names that include Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, rookie Jesse Love, Riley Herbst, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Sam Mayer have clinched spots into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs either by regular-season victories or by points.

    Currently, Parker Kligerman holds one of two vacant spots in the Playoffs by 85 points. Lastly, Sammy Smith, who fell back to 19th place in the final running order at The Glen, holds the 12th and final transfer spot into the Playoffs by 43 points over Ryan Sieg, who ended up in 22nd place after he was unable to complete the final lap amid his multi-car wreck.

    Results.

    1. Connor Zilisch, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Sheldon Creed

    3. AJ Allmendinger, five laps led

    4. Chandler Smith

    5. Shane van Gisbergen, 14 laps led

    6. Ross Chastain

    7. Parker Kligerman

    8. Jesse Love

    9. Joey Logano

    10. Josh Bilicki

    11. Austin Green

    12. William Byron, 16 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Parker Retzlaff

    15. Ryan Ellis

    16. Leland Honeyman

    17. Justin Allgaier

    18. Jeremy Clements

    19. Sammy Smith

    20. Sam Mayer, one lap led

    21. Cole Custer, six laps led

    22. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

    23. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    24. Ed Jones, one lap down

    25. Ty Gibbs, one lap down, three laps led

    26. Aric Almirola, two laps down

    27. RC Enerson, five laps down

    28. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    29. Thomas Annunziata, six laps down

    30. Mike Skeen – OUT, Accident

    31. Jeb Burton – OUT, Oil Leak

    32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    33. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Rear Gear

    36. Alon Day – OUT, Brakes

    37. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Axle

    38. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Rear End

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300, which will serve as this year’s regular-season finale and determine the 12-car Playoff field. The event is scheduled to occur next Friday, September 20, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta for third Xfinity victory of 2024

    Austin Hill sweeps Atlanta for third Xfinity victory of 2024

    With his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro entry sporting a special gold scheme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his sponsor Bennett Transportation & Logistics, Austin Hill generated a late golden performance on the track to win the Focused Health 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 7.

    The 30-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final 12 of 163-scheduled laps in an event where he started fourth place and spent the first stage period racing upfront getting shuffled within the top-10 mark throughout the second stage period. After spending most of the final stage period methodically carving his way back to the front amid the draft, Hill capitalized on the final restart period with 13 laps remaining to overtake Chandler Smith for the lead during the following lap. He then fended off a pair of final lap challenges from Chandler Smith and Corey Heim to notch his third NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season, his fourth at his home track and his first series victory since late February.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, rookie Jesse Love notched his fourth Xfinity career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.646 mph in 31.927 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Taylor Gray, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.489 mph in 31.956 seconds.

    Before the event, the following names that included AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Jesse Love and Taylor Gray dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch until the outside lane led by Love gained the advantage as Love muscled ahead with drafting help from teammate Austin Hill. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Love led the first lap in his No. 2 Samsara Chevrolet Camaro.

    Over the next four laps and with the field briefly fanning out to three lanes before the majority of the filed settled in a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Love retained an early advantage ahead of teammate Hill and Justin Allgaier while Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray pursued in the top five. Behind, Sheldon Creed, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, rookie Shane van Gisbergen and Parker Kligerman were in the top 10 while Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Ryan Truex, Riley Herbst, Josh Williams, Sam Mayer, Sammy Smith, Corey Heim, Anthony Alfredo and Blaine Perkins were in the top 20 ahead of Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, AJ Allmendinger and Garrett Smithley.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead ahead of teammate Hill, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray as the top-six competitors, including Creed, were separated by less than a second Meanwhile, the top 13 competitors were separated by within two seconds while the top 19 were separated by within three seconds.

    A lap later, the event’s first caution flew when Ryan Sieg, a Playoff bubble competitor, coasted to a halt in the backstretch due to a wiring issue as he fell out of the lead lap category while needing a wrecker to have his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang entry nursed back to his pit stall. Amid Sieg’s issues, Anthony Alfredo also encountered early issues due to scraping the outside wall and damaging the right side of his No. 5 Our Motorsports entry. During the caution period, some led by Sammy Smith and including AJ Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 16, Sheldon Creed and Love dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled ahead from the outside lane with drafting help from Chevrolet teammates Hill and Allgaier. With Creed falling back to fourth place, Love proceeded to lead the following lap as the majority of the field migrated towards the outside wall and behind Love. Meanwhile, Parker Kligerman, who was running within the top-10 mark, was trying to form a drafting lane on the inside lane ahead of van Gisbergen, Sam Mayer and Jeb Burton before he quickly moved back up the outside lane and with the pack. Amid the shuffles and battles within the lead pack, Love proceeded to lead the Lap 20 mark.

    At the Lap 25 mark, Allgaier, who spent the previous few laps dueling with Love for the lead from the inside lap despite having no drafting help, was out in front as he muscled his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Love with the top spot and towards the outside lane. With Allgaier leading and the field behind slowly fanning out to two drafting lanes, Love was second ahead of teammate Hill, Creed and Cole Custer while Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. Shortly after, the top-nine competitors were separated by less than a second and the top 19 were separated by less than four seconds as Allgaier continued to lead by the Lap 30 mark.

    Nearing the Lap 35 mark, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than two seconds as Allgaier remained out in front of Hill and Love while Herbst and Creed were scored in the top five ahead of Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith, Taylor Gray, Ryan Truex and Corey Heim.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 40, Allgaier edged a hard-charging Hill by 0.012 seconds to score his 14th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Hill settled in second ahead of Riley Herbst, Creed and Love while Mayer, Brandon Jones, Custer, Chandler Smith and Taylor Gray were scored in the top 10. By then, 34 of 37 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted while others led by Allmendinger and Sammy Smith remained on the track. During the pit stops, Josh Williams was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead entering the first two turns and the backstretch as the field fanned out to three lanes. With Cole Custer fanning out to boost his way up to fourth place, Allmendinger retained the lead from the outside lane over Allgaier as the former had Sammy Smith drafting him.

    Just past the Lap 50 mark, Allmendinger was leading ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Hill, Creed and Gray were scored in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Kligerman, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex.

    Ten laps later, Allmendinger retained the lead ahead of Sammy Smith, Custer, Herbst and Mayer while Allgaier, Love, Creed, Gray and Jones followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Hill, Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Corey Heim, Truex, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Brennan Poole and Lawless Alan. With a majority of the field running in a single-file line towards the outside wall, Allmendinger continued to lead by the Lap 79 mark as the top 14 competitors were separated by three seconds.

    Then with three laps remaining in the second stage period, the caution flew after Mayer was turned across the frontstretch’s outside wall by Gray as Mayer, who hit the wall, proceeded with right-side damage to his No. 1 High Rock Vodka Chevrolet Camaro. As Mayer’s damaged car continued to zip through the frontstretch, his car then had flames bursting out from behind and Mayer proceeded to pull his car below the apron and park in the backstretch before exiting uninjured.

    The caution for Mayer’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 80 to officially conclude under caution as Allmendinger notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Sammy Smith settled in second ahead of Custer, Herbst and Allgaier while Love, Taylor Gray, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Allmendinger pitted for service while select names including Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, David Starr and Garrett Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, teammates Gray and Creed exited first and second on two fresh tires. Amid the pit stops, Creed was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while teammate Ryan Truex was penalized for pitting outside of his pit box. In addition, Hill ran into the rear of van Gisbergen after entering pit road.

    With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Gray and Allmendinger occupied the front row. At the start, Gray and Allmendinger dueled for the top spot, with the former managing to retain the top spot. Amid the battles and with the field stacked to two lanes, Gray retained the lead with 70 laps remaining before teammate Chandler Smith would overtake him a lap later.

    With 66 laps remaining, the caution returned for van Gisbergen getting into the outside wall in Turn 4 while running inside the top 10 as he proceeded to nurse his No. 97 Quad Lock Chevrolet Camaro back to his pit stall with right-side damage. During the caution period, multiple names including Hill, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Corey Heim, Jeb Burton and Creed pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    The start of the following restart period with 59 laps remaining featured Chandler Smith and Gray dueling for the top spot as Smith retained the lead for the following lap. Three laps later, Smith was overtaken by Custer through the backstretch and Smith was left battling Herbst for the runner-up spot.

    The caution would then return with 55 laps remaining due to Jeb Burton losing a left front tire and spinning to the bottom of the track. During the caution period, select names including Blaine Perkins, van Gisbergen, Clements and Ryan Ellis pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    As the race restarted with 48 laps remaining, Custer dueled and held off Gray to lead the field. Amid the late battles within the pack, Custer proceeded to lead with 40 laps remaining. By then, Chandler Smith was up to second ahead of Herbst, Love and Allmendinger while Josh Williams, Truex, Allgaier, Heim and Hill were in the top 10. After Custer led the next nine laps, Allmendinger overtook him with 31 laps remaining.

    Down to the final 25 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who assumed the lead two laps earlier, was out in front of Allgaier, Custer, Hill and Gray as Love, Ryan Sieg, Williams, Herbst and Jones followed suit in the top 10, with the top-16 competitors separated by a second. By then, Creed made an unscheduled pit stop under green.

    With less than 20 laps remaining, Chandler Smith continued to lead ahead of Custer, Allgaier, Taylor Gray and Hill. Behind, Jones, who had tried to slide in front of Chandler Smith for the lead a few laps earlier but was unable to do so, slipped out of the top five on the inside lane, and was in seventh as the top 10 competitors were separated by less than a second. By then, Smith was also able to muscle ahead of Allgaier, who was trying to use the inside lane to slide in front of Smith but was unable to do so.

    Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution flew when Allgaier, who was dueling Custer for the runner-up spot, went up the track just past the backstretch and made contact with Custer and Gray. Custer was sent for a spin before he collided with teammate Herbst and Ryan Sieg as Allgaier and Gray were pinned against one another towards the outside wall as Love barely ran into the rear of Gray. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 15 minutes.

    Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, multiple names that included Love, Allmendinger, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff, Clements, Nick Leitz, Blaine Perkins, Ryan Ellis, Garrett Smithley and David Starr pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included Love, who had a rear bumper cover from Herbst’s car stuck atop the No. 2 Chevrolet.

    With the race restarting under green with 13 laps remaining, Chandler Smith and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch before Hill muscled ahead and tried to slide in front of Smith through Turns 3 and 4. Smith, however, pulled a crossover move on Hill through the frontstretch, but Hill would prevail from the outside lane through the first two turns as he would maintain the lead through the backstretch while Smtih was battling Josh Williams and Corey Heim for second place.

    Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hill was leading ahead of Chandler Smith and Williams while the rest of the field behind followed in close pursuit amid two stacked lanes. By then, the top 12 competitors were separated by less than a second while the top 19 were separated by under two seconds.

    With five laps remaining, Hill maintained a steady advantage ahead of Chandler Smith, Heim, Kligerman and Lawless Alan as the top-15 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. Allmendinger would then transition to the inside lane and try to gain a drafting run while battling Sammy Smith for sixth place, but he would then make contact with Alan and nearly send him spinning

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill, who nearly got sideways off the front nose of Chandler Smith as Smith made a move beneath Hill to duel with him exiting Turns 3 and 4, remained as the leader on the outside lane as Heim, who elected not to draft his Toyota teammate Smith from the inside lane, drafted Hill back out front ahead of Kligerman through the frontstretch.

    Then through Turns 1 and 2, Heim attempted to make a move to Hill’s outside, but Hill blocked and fended off Heim as the latter scraped his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing Toyota Supra towards the outside wall. This allowed Hill to retain the top spot as Kligerman zipped by for second place. With Allmendinger and Chandler Smith following Kligerman and passing Heim, all four were unable to regain their momentum and catch Hill as Hill cycled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second.

    With the victory, Hill notched his ninth Xfinity Series career win in his 105th series start, his seventh on a superspeedway venue and his fourth at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track. This season marks the first time Hill swept both Atlanta Xfinity events as he also notched the 96th Xfinity career victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 13th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Just resilience with this whole Bennett No. 21 team,” Hill said on USA Network. “Our Bennett Chevrolet wasn’t handling great all day. It had plenty of speed. Just the handle on it was tough all day. We had to dig deep for that [win]. [Chandler Smith] got into [Turn] 3 and had me jacked up. He’s doing what he has to do to try to win. [I’m] Very surprised that [Heim] pushed me there and didn’t go with a  Toyota and then, I thought that I messed up into [Turns] 1 and 2. I hate it that [Heim] got in the fence. I wasn’t trying to run him in the fence. I was just trying to get him aero-tight or get him aero-loose because that was happening to me a lot today.”

    “This is insane like to win with this gold car, Bennett’s 50th anniversary. This is their biggest race of the entire year,” Hill added. “To do this for our sponsor, it means a lot. We’re gonna celebrate this one because [the win] didn’t come easy.”

    With Hill winning the race, Parker Kligerman edged AJ Allmendinger by 0.004 seconds to finish in second place for the first time this season while Chandler Smith and Corey Heim rounded out the top five following their last-lap charges for the victory. To add to Hill being surprised about Heim not drafting with Chandler Smith and challenging him for the win, Smith was also left surprised and disappointed with not having the drafting help to challenge for the victory as his home track.

    “I expected my Toyota teammate to come with me and that didn’t happen,” Smith said. “It is what it is. I’m kind of speechless, honestly. There’s a lot of different things I could’ve done that I could’ve been more selfish and when I got clear, went to the bottom [lane] and cover that and just control the race, for sure, but I was trying to be a good teammate. It didn’t pay off for me today, as usual.”

    Rookie Jesse Love charged back up the field to finish sixth while Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Brandon Jones and Ryan Truex finished in the top 10.

    There were 12 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 36 laps. In addition, 23 of 37 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 24th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Justin Allgaier continues to lead the regular-season standings by 34 points over Cole Custer, 67 over Chandler Smith and 71 over Austin Hill.

    Results.

    1. Austin Hill, 12 laps led

    2. Parker Kligerman

    3. AJ Allmendinger, 40 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    4. Chandler Smith, 28 laps led

    5. Corey Heim

    6. Jesse Love, 23 laps led

    7. Sammy Smith

    8. Josh Williams

    9. Brandon Jones

    10. Ryan Truex

    11. Kyle Weatherman

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Lawless Alan

    14. Anthony Alfredo

    15. Brennan Poole

    16. Kyle Sieg

    17. Leland Honeyman, one lap led

    18. Mason Maggio

    19. Blaine Perkins

    20. Nick Leitz

    21. Ryan Ellis

    22. David Starr

    23. Garrett Smithley

    24. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    25. Sheldon Creed, three laps down, one lap led

    26. Riley Herbst, five laps down

    27. Shane van Gisbergen, six laps down

    28. Taylor Gray – OUT, Suspension, 12 laps led

    29. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Suspension

    30. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 19 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    31. Cole Custer – OUT, Accident, 27 laps led

    32. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

    33. Morgen Baird, 21 laps down

    34. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Engine

    35. Matt DiBenedetto – OUT, Oil Line

    36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    37. Dawsom Cram – OUT, Engine

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, for the Mission 200 at The Glen. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 14, and air at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Atlanta – September 2024

    NASCAR Weekend Schedule for Atlanta – September 2024

    NASCAR heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend as the 2024 Cup Series Championship Playoffs begin. William Byron is the defending race winner.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will also compete at Atlanta, one of three races remaining in the series regular season.

    NASCAR Press Pass will be available after Cup Series qualifying and post-race. It will also be available after the Xfinity Series Focused Health 250 race.

    Notes:  There will not be any practice sessions this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Playoff Drivers/Points:
    Kyle Larson – 2,040 points
    Christopher Bell – 2,032 points
    Tyler Reddick – 2,028 points
    William Byron – 2,022 points
    Ryan Blaney – 2,018 points
    Denny Hamlin – 2,015 points
    Chase Elliott – 2,014 points
    Brad Keselowski – 2,008 points
    Joey Logano – 2,007 points
    Austin Cindric – 2,007 points
    Daniel Suárez – 2,006 points
    Alex Bowman – 2,005 points
    Chase Briscoe – 2,005 points
    Harrison Burton – 2,005 points
    Ty Gibbs – 2,004 points
    Martin Truex Jr. – 2,004 points

    All times are Eastern.

    Saturday, September 7
    11:00 a.m.: Xfinity Series Qualifying
    (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds
    USA/NBC Sports App

    12:30 p.m.: Cup Series Qualifying
    (Impound) Single Vehicle/1 Lap/2 Rounds
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App

    3:00 p.m.: Xfinity Series Focused Health 250
    Stages 40/80/163 Laps = 251.02 Miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    Purse: $1,480,058

    Sunday, September 8
    3:00 p.m.: Cup Series Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart
    Stages 60/160/260 Laps = 400.4 Miles
    USA/MRN/SiriusXM/NBC Sports App
    Purse: $7,801,384

  • Christopher Bell claims hard-fought victory in Xfinity Series race at Darlington

    Christopher Bell claims hard-fought victory in Xfinity Series race at Darlington

    Christopher Bell won Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200 in an overtime finish at Darlington Raceway.

    He was dominant during the race, starting on the pole and leading 108 laps of 150, but Bell was passed by his Joe Gibbs racing teammate, Sheldon Creed, who led 30 laps. But, with only three laps remaining, a caution came out when AJ Allmendinger hit the outside wall on Lap 143.

    Bell was first off pit road and maintained the lead to score his 19th Xfinity Series victory as Creed finished third due to a slow pit stop.

    “That was wild, for sure,” Bell said. “I thought I was headed nose-first into the inside wall… It’s a tough race track, and off of (Turn) 2, whether you’re on the bottom of the top, it flushes you to the wall, and then you kind of get a little bit of a wiggle coming down.

    “Once again, I feel terrible for Sheldon, to essentially win the race on the long run there and then lose it on pit road. It’s a big bummer … It seemed like our car was really good on the short runs. Obviously, the 18, Sheldon, was really good on the long runs.

    “Unfortunately for him, the race played out differently, and fortunately for us, we got another shot at it.”

    Creed was understandably disappointed.

    “I lost one the same way a few years ago here,” he said. “This has been a really good place for me. I’ve always loved racing here. Man, I don’t know if we could be any better than that.

    “I felt like I put in one of my best performances today, man, it’s a bummer. I’m so proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing on this 18 team. I took a chance on myself and brought all the money we could. I’m literally not even making a dollar this year.”

    Cole Custer finished in second place, Chase Elliott was third and Sammy Smith rounded out the top 5. Jesse Love, Shane van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier finished in the top 10.

    The Xfinity Series heads to Atlanta Motor Speedway next Saturday for the Focused Health 250 at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network with radio coverage provided by PRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Christopher Bell wins Xfinity Series pole at Darlington, joined by teammate Sheldon Creed on front row

    Christopher Bell wins Xfinity Series pole at Darlington, joined by teammate Sheldon Creed on front row

    Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, competing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Cup Series races this weekend, won the pole for Saturday’s Xfinity Series Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 race with a 164.865 mph qualifying lap, earning his 13th career pole in the series. Teammate Sheldon Creed will start beside him for an all-JGR front row.

    Sam Mayer, AJ Allmendinger, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst, Parker Retzlaff, and Parker Kligerman will round out the top 10 starting grid for Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.

    Joining the list of full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers who are running both races this weekend are Chase Elliott (HMS No. 17), Joey Logano (AM Racing No. 15), Ross Chastain (DGM Racing No, 92) and Noah Gragson (Rette Jones Racing No. 30).

    The Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 will air on the USA Network at 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

  • Preview: NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington

    Preview: NASCAR Xfinity Series at Darlington

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will compete at Darlington Raceway on Saturday afternoon in the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help a Hero 200. There are only four races remaining in the regular season. In 68 previous races at the track “Too Tough to Tame, there have been 36 different race winners and 32 different pole winners.

    JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier is the most recent race winner at the 1.366-mile track with his victory in May earlier this season and has already clinched a spot in the 12-driver playoff field, along with Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith and Shane van Gisbergen. That leaves seven spots up for grabs.

    Notable Cup Series drivers who will be competing in the Xfinity Series race include Joey Logano in the No. 15 AM Racing Ford, Chase Elliott in the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and Noah Gragson in the No. 30 Rette Jones Racing Ford.

    Clinch Scenarios:
    The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by any driver that already has a win:

    • Cole Custer: Would clinch regardless of finish
    • Riley Herbst: Would clinch regardless of finish
    • Jesse Love: Would clinch regardless of finish

    The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Parker Kligerman, Ryan Sieg or Sammy Smith:

    • Cole Custer: Would clinch with 14 points

    The following drivers could clinch on previous wins with a win by Brandon Jones or a driver lower in the standings:

    • Cole Custer: Would clinch regardless of finish

    Cole Custer, Riley Herbst and Jesse Love could clinch with a win at Darlington.

    The following drivers could clinch with a win:

    • AJ Allmendinger: Could only clinch with help

    The Sport Clips Haircuts VFW Help A Hero 200 will air on the USA Network at 3:30 p.m. Saturday with radio coverage provided by MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.