Category: RC XFINITY

Race Central NASCAR XFINITY Series news and information

Haley sweeps Talladega; clinches Round of 8 spot

Emerging as a serious dark horse candidate for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship battle, Justin Haley won the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway after rallying from a late pit road penalty, taking the lead with two laps remaining and retaining his advantage following a multi-car wreck on the final lap. The victory was Haley’s third of his Xfinity career and of the season as he punched his ticket into the Round of 8 in the Playoffs.

The starting lineup was based on four stats: the current owner points standings, driver’s and owner’s results from a previous Xfinity race and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Chase Briscoe, coming off his dominating win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Noah Gragson.

Prior to the race, Austin Hill’s No. 61 AISIN Group Toyota Supra failed pre-race inspection twice, resulting with his team losing pit road selection for next weekend’s series race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval. In addition, drivers like Brandon Jones and Joe Graf Jr. were not in their respective cars as the command to fire engines was given, resulting with both competitors having to hustle to their cars as the engines from the rest of the field were being ignited.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Briscoe jumped ahead with an early lead on the inside lane and was able to move in front of Noah Gragson on the outside lane in Turn 2 to retain the lead. He returned to the inside lane entering the tri-oval, but Gragson gained a run on the outside lane to emerge ahead and lead the first lap.

The following lap, Justin Allgaier left teammate Gragson out to dry on the outside lane to lead the second lap by a nose over Briscoe as the field expanded to two lanes while battling for positions.

By the third lap, Briscoe emerged with the lead to lead a lap for himself for the first time. Behind, Austin Cindric settled behind Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang followed by Anthony Alfredo and Justin Haley while Allgaier was the first competitor running on the inside lane followed by teammate Michael Annett.

Following the first five laps of the race, Briscoe continued to lead followed by Cindric, Alfredo, Allgaier as the field continued to run in two lanes while remaining in the draft and close to one another in a pack.

Five laps later, on Lap 10, Briscoe and Allgaier battled dead even for the lead and in a double lane battle within the pack. By then, Haley moved up to third place behind Cindric while Alfredo dropped back to 20th place.

With the field reaching its halfway mark of the first stage, Briscoe continued to run ahead of the pack followed by Cindric, Haley, Brandon Jones, Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Annett, Brandon Brown, Harrison Burton and Ryan Sieg while Ross Chastain and Noah Gragson were running inside the top 16 on the track.

With five laps remaining in the first stage and the early double-wide pack racing breaking apart, Briscoe led a single-file line with seven cars on the inside lane while Annett was the first car running on the outside lane in eighth place. By then, A.J. Allmendinger, who started at the rear of the field, cracked the top 15 while Alfredo and Daniel Hemric were running in the top 10 and as the highest-running non-title contenders on the track.

When the final lap of the first stage started, the field started to expand to two lanes as a multitude of Playoff contenders battled for spots in the top 10 for stage points. When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Briscoe emerged out in front as he collected his eighth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second place followed by Brandon Jones, Haley and Alfredo while Herbst, Sieg, Harrison Burton, Hemric and Allgaier settled in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Brandon Brown, Gragson, Chastain and Annett failed to secure stage points.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop, with Jones, Burton, Cindric and Herbst following behind after two-tire stops.

The second stage started on Lap 29 with Briscoe and Jones on the front row. At the start, Briscoe moved in front of Jones on the bottom lane to retain the lead.

The following lap, Jones led a lap for the first time by a nose over Briscoe on the inside lane and with teammates Harrison Burton and Herbst tucked behind Jones’ No. 19 Menards/Swiffer Toyota Supra. Leading the outside lane was Briscoe followed by Cindric, Sieg, Alfredo, Chastain and Haley.

Not long after, the outside lane led by Briscoe prevailed with a number of cars opting to run on the outside lane while the inside lane led by Jones fell back due to a lack of cars. Cindric continued to settle in second place behind Briscoe while Alfredo and Sieg made aggressive moves while attempting to move to the front.

By Lap 35, drivers like Haley, Hemric, Allgaier, Gragson and Chastain moved up behind Briscoe and Cindric with nearly the entire field opting to run in a single-file line on the outside lane.

Five laps later, on Lap 40, Briscoe continued to lead followed by Ford teammate Cindric and Haley while JR Motorsports’ teammates Hemric, Allgaier and Gragson settled in fourth through sixth. Chastain was in seventh place followed by Joe Gibbs Racing’s Harrison Burton and Herbst. Brown and Sieg were in 11th and 12th while Annett was back in 21st place behind Jeffrey Earnhardt. Allmendinger was in 16th place in front of Alfredo and Josh Williams while Myatt Snider, Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill were in the top 15.

On Lap 42, the caution flew when Austin Hill, in an attempt to side draft Herbst, made contact, turned and sent Herbst for a spin in Turn 4 before he made hard contact into the inside wall at the driver’s door near the pit road entrance before he drove through the tri-oval grass and limped back to his pit stall.

Under caution, few like Gragson, Annett and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by Briscoe and Cindric remained on track.

Prior to the restart with four laps remaining, the leaders stacked up the field and Chastain, who ran into the rear bumper of Hemric in the top 10, was hit by Harrison Burton, who was getting pushed by Sieg and Moffit, as he spun and touched the outside wall before he came back down and was hit by Colby Howard on the right side of his No. 10 Dyna-Gro Seed Chevrolet Camaro. Following the incident, the race was red-flagged for nine minutes due to fluid on the track.

When the red flag lifted, Chastain limped to pit road as his pit crew went to work to repair the damage and to ensure the car will reach minimum speed under NASCAR’s Damaged Policy guidelines. He was able to return back on the track and in front of the field with the field coming to the restart.

On a one-lap dash to conclude the second stage, Briscoe retained the lead over Cindric and Haley. When the second stage concluded on Lap 50, Briscoe was able to fend off Cindric and the field to collect his ninth stage victory of the season. Cindric settled in second followed by Hemric, Haley and Allgaier while Harrison Burton, Brandon Jones, Sieg, Brandon Brown and Gragson settled in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Gragson emerged with the lead following a fuel-only pit stop. Briscoe followed behind in second place and on two fresh tires followed by Annett, Cindric, Hemric and Jones. Chastain and Harrison Burton pitted to have their respective cars repaired with both on the lead lap. Prior to this, Herbst took his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra to the garage and retired from the race following his late incident in the second stage.

“It just sucks,” Herbst said at the infield care center on NBCSN. “This is the fastest race car I have ever had on a superspeedway. I was really excited for that. I want to thank everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing for that. It just sucks when a Truck Series guy comes in here to have fun. I’m really good friends with Austin [Hill], so I just hate to see that. If I went into the Truck Series and wrecked his Playoff hopes, he would be upset with me. I’m a little upset. We are not out of it yet. It’s going to be tough at the Roval, but we will see what we will have with the Monster Energy Supra.”

Following the pit stops, Allgaier was sent to the rear of the field due to having too many crew members over the pit wall. In addition, he also pitted again to address possible fluid concerns to his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, an issue first noted following the red flag period in the second stage, where he re-fired his car and a billow of smoke was puffing out of the tailpipes of his Camaro.

With 58 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allmendinger, Timmy Hill and Moffitt emerged out in front followed by Gragson and Briscoe. Entering the backstretch, the field expanded to three lanes, but Allmendinger retained the lead followed by Gragson, Annett, Hemric and Haley. Briscoe, meanwhile, was in seventh place while Cindric continued to run behind Briscoe.

At the halfway mark between Laps 56 and 57, Allmendinger continued to lead a bevy of cars running on the outside lane while Briscoe and Cindric fell back inside the top 20 and in front of Allgaier while stuck on the inside lane.

With 50 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead followed by JRM’s Gragson, Annett and Hemric while Haley, Allmendinger’s teammate at Kaulig Racing, was in fifth place. Sieg was in sixth place followed by Austin Hill, Alfredo, Snider and Jesse Little. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones and Brandon Brown were in 12th and 13th while Briscoe, Chastain, Cindric and Allgaier were in 20th through 23rd behind Ryan Vargas. Harrison Burton was in 25th place behind Jeffrey Earnhardt.

With 40 laps remaining, Allmendinger and his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro continued to lead the way over a multitude of competitors racing on the outside lane. Gragson was in second place followed by teammates Annett and Hemric while Haley, Sieg, Austin Hill, Alfredo, Snider and Little were scored in the top 10. Jones and Brown were still in 12th and 13th, Chastain was in 17th and Allgaier was in 19th. Cindric and Briscoe were back in 20th and 22nd while Harrison Burton was in 26th.

Two laps later and while a majority of competitors led by Allmendinger moved to the inside lane and were slowing down in an attempt to make a pit stop under green, Austin Hill got hit from behind from Alfredo while backing off the pace and spun before he made head-on contact into the inside wall. Behind, Cindric slipped sideways as he also made contact into the inside wall and damaged the front nose of his No. 22 CARQUEST Auto Parts Ford Mustang beyond repair. The caution immediately flew as Jeffrey Earnhardt was also involved in the carnage. Though the wreck knocked Cindric out of contention for the remainder of the race, the stage points he earned by finishing in second place in both stages kept him above the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings and with a decent cushion of transferring to the second round of the Playoffs.

“I just got smoked from behind,” Cindric said at the infield care center on NBCSN. “I had no chance of making it to pit road. It is really unfortunate. Obviously we hit the wall a ton. I really wanted to have a great run for our CARQUEST Ford Mustang and their first race on the car for us. It is really cool to have them back in the sport. We ran up front all day. Unfortunately, circumstances kept me and [Briscoe] from being up front with the way the slower cars stayed out…We were hoping to get ourselves locked into the next round today but we will have to go fight for it next week.”

At the time of caution, a handful of competitors led by Allmendinger entered pit road at the time the pit road entrance was closed. While some like Allmendinger and Gragson drove through pit road without service, Annett, Ryan Vargas and Haley received service and all three were penalized for pitting too soon.

Under caution and with the leaders pitting, Brown exited in first place followed by Allgaier, Jones, Chastain and Briscoe, all of whom opted for a fuel-only stop.

With 30 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Brandon Brown and Allgaier on the front row. At the start, Brown retained the lead on the inside lane followed by Jones and Chastain while Allgaier and Briscoe battled in the top five.

The following lane, Briscoe gained a huge run on the outside lane and drew himself alongside Brown for the lead followed by Allmendinger. Shortly after, the field started to expand into three lanes with Alex Labbe leading a small pack of cars on the outside lane and Jones leading Allgaier, Chastain and a number of competitors on the middle lane while Briscoe moved into the lead over Brown.

With 26 laps remaining and with Briscoe back in the lead ahead of Allmendinger, Josh Williams moved inside the top five while Brown was shuffled out of the inside lane and back in the middle lane, thus falling out of the top 10.

Three laps later, with 23 laps remaining, the outside lane led by Briscoe prevailed with a bevy of competitors opting to run on the outside lane. By then, Briscoe was leading Allmendinger, Jones, Chastain and Labbe while teammates Gragson and Hemric were in sixth and seventh while running on the inside lane.

Not long after, the caution flew due to debris on the frontstretch. Under caution, the mechanical issues for Allgaier returned with smoke starting to puff out of the tailpipes of his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro.

With 18 laps remaining, the race restarted under green and with Briscoe and Allmendinger on the front row. At the start, the inside lane prevailed as Briscoe retained the lead followed by Labbe, Gragson and Hemric while Allmendinger got shuffled back.

A lap later, Allgaier, who was still dealing with mechanical issues, took his car to the garage and retired for the remainder of the race. At the front, teammates Gragson and Hemric along with Chastain moved up to second, third and fourth while Briscoe continued to lead. In addition, Harrison Burton moved up to fifth place followed by Snider, Moffitt, Alfredo, Sieg, Brown and Jones.

With 15 laps remaining and a majority of competitors settling on the outside lane in a single-file line, Briscoe, the lone Ford competitor towards the front, continued to lead followed by Chevrolet teammates Gragson, Hemric and Chastain while Burton, the highest-running Toyota competitor, was in fifth place ahead of Alfredo.

With 10 laps remaining, Briscoe was still scored as the leader followed by teammates Gragson and Hemric with Chastain and Harrison Burton in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones and Brandon Brown were in eighth and ninth followed by Haley, who rallied from his late pit road penalty, while Annett was back in 16th place and the first car on the inside lane.

With eight laps remaining, Haley started to make moves to the front as he moved into sixth place, two spots behind teammate Chastain, and after making bold moves on the inside lane before settling back in the draft on the outside lane. A few laps later, teammate Allmendinger made his move on the inside lane and started to move into the top five. By then, Briscoe continued to lead over Gragson, Hemric, Chastain and Burton with five laps remaining and with the field starting to jumble up for runs to the front and for the finish.

With three laps remaining, Haley started to form a line on the inside lane in an attempt for the lead while Briscoe continued to lead the race on the outside lane. Entering Turn 4, Gragson got Briscoe sideways following a bump, but Briscoe was able to prevent the car from spinning out in front of the pack as he continued to battle Gragson on the inside lane for the lead.

With two laps remaining, Briscoe moved up the track to block Gragson, which allowed Haley to gain a run on the inside lane and challenge for the lead. In Turn 3, Haley moved into the lead followed by Annett and Sieg while Briscoe and Gragson made contact again, resulting in Briscoe scraping the outside wall and falling out of contention for the win.

At the start of the final lap, Haley was still in the lead followed by Annett and Sieg while Gragson continued to battle on the outside lane in fourth place next to Jones. Through the backstretch, a multi-car wreck ensued that involved Harrison Burton, Allmendinger, Snider, Little, Moffitt and Brown. The wreck ended the race under caution as Haley emerged out in front and was able to grab the win.

With his win, Haley joined Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the only competitors to achieve three consecutive Xfinity Series superspeedway wins. In addition, Haley became the first Xfinity competitor to win two series races at Talladega in one season as he recorded the fourth victory of the season and the sixth overall for Kaulig Racing. Ironically, five of Kaulig Racing’s six career wins in NASCAR have occurred on superspeedway venues.

“Three in a row is pretty hard to do on luck,” Haley said on NBCSN. “We had that penalty there. We struggled to get back, just bunny hopping. Thankfully, Kevin Hamlin, my spotter, was able to guide me through the bunny hops, being able to go from the bottom. We were so far back with 10 [laps] to go. This LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, these ECR Engines, [Richard Childress Racing], Matt Kaulig, we love you! We got this thing in the Round of 8, that’s the most important. Just super thankful to everyone. This is a blessing.”

Annett initially settled in second place for his best result of the season since winning the 2019 Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. Following the race, however, Annett was disqualified due to his No. 1 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro being deemed too low in the left front. As a result, he was credited with a 37th-place result (last place in the field) and dropped from ninth to 12th in the Xfinity Playoff standings, also leaving him with a 38-point deficit entering next Saturday’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.

With that, Sieg was promoted into second place while Gragson, Brandon Jones and Hemric rounded out the top five on the track.

“A win would’ve been a lot better, but we’re still on the positive side [in the standings],” Sieg said on NBCSN. “You never know what can happen at the road courses. We’ll do a little bit of a different strategy or you never know what can happen [at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval]. We’re excited to go to the Roval plus 23 [points]…Points day, it was great.”

“This is probably a really impressive day for a superspeedway because I’ve never really been a part of running great all the stages and then, getting that finish that we needed there at the end as well,” Jones said on NBCSN. “These guys did a really good job from the last superspeedway that we went to to try to get our Menards Supra as fast as Xfinity Internet. I think we showed up with something that contended almost for the win there. Really excited, I think the Roval’s gonna be pretty good for us. We had such a good run at Daytona earlier at the road course that I think is gonna be really strong next week. Looking forward to it.”

Chastain rallied from his share of challenges throughout the race by finishing in sixth place while Josh Williams, Garrett Smithley, Brandon Brown and Alex Labbe rounded out the top 10.

“It’s just about the fight, the fight of this No. 10 team,” Chastain said on NBCSN. “It’s no different than some farmer putting Dyna-Gro Seed to the ground and hoping for that rain. It’s the same thing with us…My Chip Ganassi Racing pit crew did an awesome job. Those guys are some unsung heroes today. [The car]’s toed in, the crush panels are knocked out of it. It was a hard hit… Our Dyna-Gro Seed guys, they did what a farmer does and we kept fighting. We came out of here and gave ourselves a shot at the Roval.”

“That was really cool to be able to get out and get our Larry’s Hard Lemonade No. 68 upfront,” Brown said on NBCSN. “I was like, ‘Man, we got the Xfinity Internet speed in this thing.’ We were gonna go all the way to the front, but it’s Talladega. It was a lot of highs and lows. Getting shuffled all the way to the rear and it feels like your race is over, but then you get a line that moves you to the front. It was a lot of fun all day to do that and battle back and forth with these guys…I think we came out and we showed how strong we can be.”

Briscoe, who won both stages, led a race-high 73 laps and was in position to win until the final two laps, fell all the way back to 19th place.

“Obviously, there at the end, you’re doing everything you can to protect the runs,” Briscoe said on NBCSN. “[Gragson]’s trying to make moves, just part of racing here. It was exciting at least on my end. I was about wrecked two or three times trying to block. I knew that he had talked to Dale [Earnhardt Jr.] about how to run this place and obviously, I talked to Dale how to run this place. It was weird because I knew what [Gragson] was trying to do every time. So, I just kept trying to protect it and just, it’s part of racing here. But overall, a really good day for our Ford Performance Racing Ford to win two stages. That’s huge going into the next round. So, 20th, obviously, doesn’t tell the whole picture, but it’s part of racing here. We’re going on to the Roval next week and have some fun.”

“There’s so much going on. I don’t remember what happened,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “It’s pretty wild out there, racing for the win in the Xfinity Series. This is all I’ve ever dreamed of as a kid is to come to these races and have an opportunity to race for the win…It was definitely wild. [Briscoe] was throwing big blocks. That’s what you gotta do in the lead. I thought he did a pretty damn good job up there, but definitely unfortunate letting [Haley] get through for the win. I don’t love sitting here watching people do burnouts. Hopefully, we can go get a burnout at the Roval and take home a checkered flag.”

There were 13 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 25 laps.

Results.

1. Justin Haley, two laps led

2. Ryan Sieg

3. Noah Gragson, two laps led

4. Brandon Jones, one lap led

5. Daniel Hemric

6. Ross Chastain

7. Josh Williams

8. Garrett Smithley

9. Brandon Brown, four laps led

10. Alex Labbe

11. Chad Finchum

12. Anthony Alfredo

13. Caesar Bacarella

14. Timmy Hill

15. Tommy Joe Martins

16. Joe Nemechek

17. Mike Harmon

18. Josh Bilicki

19. Chase Briscoe, 73 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

20. Jeremy Clements

21. Matt Mills

22. Vinnie Miller

23. Harrison Burton

24. A.J. Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, 24 laps led

25. Jesse Little – OUT, Accident, five laps led

26. Myatt Snider – OUT, Accident

27. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

28. Kody Vanderwal, three laps down

29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Engine, one lap led

30. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Suspension

31. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Engine

32. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

33. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

34. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident

35. Riley Herbst – OUT, DVP

36. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident, one lap led

37. Michael Annett – DISQUALIFIED

Playoff standings.

1. Chase Briscoe – Advanced

2. Justin Haley – Advanced

3. Austin Cindric +50

4. Noah Gragson +47

5. Brandon Jones +34

6. Ryan Sieg +27

7. Justin Allgaier +19

8. Ross Chastain +7

9. Harrison Burton -7

10. Brandon Brown -19

11. Riley Herbst -36

12. Michael Annett -38

Next on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on Saturday, October 10, where the Round of 12 in the Xfinity Playoffs will conclude and the first round of eliminations will occur. The race will air at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

October 3, 2020
Briscoe extends dominance by winning Xfinity Playoff opener at Las Vegas

Prior to the start of this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Chase Briscoe’s goal was to achieve eight wins in order to consider himself a potential Cup Series competitor for the 2021 season. Following a dominating run and a late restart in the Alsco 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 26, Briscoe fulfilled his goal after claiming his eighth victory of the season over Noah Gragson.

The win marked Briscoe’s 10th of his Xfinity career in his 77th series start as this marked the second time this season where he achieved back-to-back victories after winning last weekend’s regular-season finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The starting lineup was based on four statistical categories: current owner’s standings, the driver’s result from a previous Xfinity race, the team owner’s result from a previous Xfinity race, and the fastest lap recorded from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Chase Briscoe started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Austin Cindric, the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season champion.

Dexter Bean, Jesse Little, and Austin Hill failed pre-race technical inspection twice and all lost pit selection for the next race in the schedule, though they retained their starting spots for the race at Vegas.

When the green flag waved and the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs commenced, Briscoe squeaked ahead with the lead and was able to lead the first lap ahead of Cindric. Behind, Ross Chastain moved up to third place followed by Noah Gragson and Anthony Alfredo while Justin Allgaier, who started in third place in his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro, fell back to sixth place in front of Justin Haley.

By the fifth lap, Briscoe was leading by more than seven-tenths of a second over Cindric while Chastain and Gragson battled for third place. Behind, Ryan Sieg and Harrison Burton were in eighth and ninth while Riley Herbst, Daniel Hemric, Brandon Jones, and Brandon Brown were running inside the top 15.

It did not take long until the first caution of the race flew on Lap 8 when Kyle Weatherman made contact with the wall on the frontstretch and spun, where his No. 47 Chevrolet Camaro came to a rest near the Turn 1 inside wall and in front of the pace car while blocking it from entering the track to pace the field under caution.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, Chastain made a move on the outside of Briscoe and made a three-wide move on Briscoe and Cindric before challenging Cindric for the lead. Cindric, however, was able to retain the lead in his No. 22 Menards/NIBCO Ford Mustang when the field cycled back to the start/finish line.

With Cindric leading, Chastain retained second place ahead of Briscoe and Gragson while Alfredo, racing in his No. 21 Sim Seats Chevrolet Camaro, moved up to the fifth place. Behind, Haley was in sixth place followed by Sieg while Allgaier and Herbst battled for an eighth-place ahead of Burton.

By Lap 17 and with Cindric extending his advantage to more than a second over Chastain, Gragson and Alfredo overtook Briscoe for third and fourth place while Sieg moved up to the sixth place.

A few laps later, the caution flew when Austin Hill, winner of Friday night’s Truck Series Playoff race at Vegas, spun entering Turn 2. The caution for Hill’s spin was ruled as the competition caution planned on Lap 20. Under caution, some like Playoff contender Brandon Brown and Timmy Hill pitted while the rest led by Cindric remained on track.

The race restarted under green on Lap 23 with Cindric and Chastain on the front row followed by Sieg, Gragson, Haley, Briscoe, Allgaier, and Alfredo. At the front, Cindric retained the lead through Turn 1 until Chastain made a move on the outside lane in Turn 2 to take the lead.

Behind Chastain, Sieg received a boost from Gragson to move into second place while Cindric was stuck in a battle with Briscoe, Haley, and Gragson for third place. Behind, Alfredo fell back to seventh place in front of Herbst, Brandon Jones, Burton, Michael Annett, Allgaier, and Daniel Hemric.

On Lap 27, Sieg, racing in his No. 39 CMRroofing.com Chevrolet Camaro started to close in on Chastain for the lead as he was a tenth of a second behind. Entering turn 4, Sieg made a move beneath Chastain and had the lead until reaching Turn 2 when Chastain regained his momentum on the outside lane and retained the lead. While both battled for the lead, Briscoe moved up to third place followed by Gragson while Alfredo moved up to fifth place. Cindric fell back to seventh place in between Haley and Herbst while Hemric, racing in his No. 8 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet Camaro, moved up to the ninth place.

By Lap 35, Chastain was still leading by nearly six-tenths of a second over Sieg while Briscoe trailed by less than a second. Behind, Hemric and Playoff contender Brandon Jones continued to battle hard for the eighth place along with Herbst.

With the laps in the first lap continuing to dwindle, the battle for the lead continued to intensify between Chastain and Sieg as Briscoe joined the party. On Lap 39, Briscoe raced on the outside lane in Turn 3 to overtake Sieg for second place and he made a crossover move beneath Chastain entering Turn 4 while on the gas to take the lead.

Though Briscoe had the lead, Chastain continued to pounce for the lead back. Not long after, however, Chastain got into the outside wall entering Turn 4 and sustained minimal damage to his No. 10 Chevy Accessories Camaro. Chastain’s contact with the wall allowed Briscoe to extend his advantage.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Briscoe emerged ahead and was able to claim his sixth stage win of the season. Chastain, whose brake bias knob fell off, settled in second place despite the late contact with the wall followed by Sieg and Gragson. Alfredo was scored in fifth place followed by Haley, Cindric, Hemric, Brandon Jones and Herbst.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Sieg and Chastain.

The second stage started on Lap 51 with Briscoe and Sieg on the front row followed by Cindric, Chastain, Brandon Jones, and Alfredo. At the start, Briscoe and Sieg battled dead even through Turns 1 and 2 before Briscoe cleared the field and retained the lead. Behind, Chastain and Jones battled for third place while Cindric, who was in fifth place, slipped entering Turn 1 and lost positions to Alfredo and Gragson.

By Lap 55, Briscoe was still leading by more than three-tenths of a second over Sieg while Alfredo moved up to third place. Meanwhile, Chastain was stuck in a battle with Gragson, Jones, and Cindric for fourth place as Haley started lurking behind his fellow Playoff contenders for the lead.

Five laps later, on Lap 60, Briscoe, racing in his No. 98 FIELDS Ford Mustang, maintained his advantage by nearly a second over Sieg while third-place Gragson trailed by four seconds. Alfredo continued to trail Gragson for third place while Cindric was in fifth place. Behind, Chastain fell back to seventh place following a battle with Brandon Jones and with teammate Haley behind. Allgaier was back in 12th place in between Harrison Burton and Brett Moffitt.

By Lap 70, Briscoe was still leading by more than a second over Sieg with Gragson behind by less than two seconds. Alfredo was in fourth place followed by Cindric, Brandon Jones, and Haley. Teammate Chastain was in eighth place ahead of Hemric, Herbst, Allgaier, and Burton. Annett and Brandon Brown were the two lowest-running Playoff contenders in 14th and 15th while Jeremy Clements and Myatt Snider were in 16th and 17th.

Five laps later, on Lap 75, Briscoe maintained his advantage to less than a second over Gragson, who overtook Sieg for second place, while Cindric overtook Alfredo for fourth place. Chastain, on the other hand, fell back to ninth place in between Hemric and Allgaier.

Down to the final 10 laps of the second stage and with the leaders starting to encounter lapped traffic, Gragson, racing in his No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/True Timber Camo Chevrolet Camaro, started to close in on Briscoe for the lead as he was approximately three-tenths of a second behind.

With less than five laps remaining in the second stage, Gragson lost his momentum after encountering lapped traffic, which allowed Briscoe to stabilize his advantage to half a second. Though Gragson fought back, Briscoe was able to hold on by a narrow margin and claim his seventh stage victory of the season after winning the second stage on Lap 90. Cindric settled in third place followed by Sieg, who radioed air conditioning issues to his car. Alfredo was scored in fifth place followed by Brandon Jones, Haley, Hemric, Allgaier and Herbst. By then, Chastain, Burton, Annett and Brown settled in the top 15.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead after exiting pit road in first place followed by Gragson, Cindric, Jones, Alfredo, and Sieg.

The final stage started with 104 laps remaining and with Briscoe and Gragson on the front row followed by Cindric and Jones. At the start, Briscoe and Gragson battled for the lead before Briscoe retained his advantage entering Turns 3 and 4. Behind Briscoe and Gragson, Cindric retained third place followed by Alfredo and Jones while Allgaier moved up to sixth place ahead of Sieg.

At the halfway mark on Lap 100, Briscoe extended his advantage to less than eight-tenths of a second over Gragson.

With approximately 95 laps remaining, Alfredo got loose entering Turn 1 following contact with Hemric while racing in ninth place, but he managed to keep his car straightened and continue to run in front of Hemric on the track.

Five laps later, with 90 laps remaining, Briscoe was still leading by two seconds over Gragson followed by Cindric, Allgaier, and Brandon Jones. Haley, Sieg, and Chastain were running in sixth through eighth while Alfredo and Hemric rounded out the top 10. Burton was in 11th place followed by Moffitt, Herbst, Annett, Clements, and Brown.

With under 70 laps remaining and the track settling into night racing conditions, Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford continued to lead by more than three seconds over Gragson and more than five seconds over Cindric. Meanwhile, Allgaier trailed by more than 10 seconds in fourth place followed by Jones, Sieg, Haley, Hemric, Chastain and Harrison Burton.

Ten laps later, with 60 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to extend his advantage to less than five seconds over Gragson. Meanwhile, Sieg overtook Jones for fifth place with Allgaier and Cindric next on his front windshield. Behind, Chastain fell back to 10th place behind teammate Haley, Hemric, and Burton.

With approximately 55 laps remaining, pit stops under green started to occur as Burton pitted followed by Hemric, Jones, Herbst, Gragson, Cindric, Allgaier, Chastain, Haley, Briscoe, Alfredo and Sieg. By then, Brandon Brown had made an early pit stop.

When the field cycled through the pit stops under green and with less than 50 laps remaining, Annett, who has yet to pit in his No. 1 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet Camaro, emerged with the lead followed by Briscoe, Cindric, Gragson, Allgaier and Jones. Sieg fell back to ninth place after he overshot his pit box.

With 45 laps remaining, the caution flew due to a loose tire from Joe Graf Jr.’s pit box that came to a rest on the infield grass. Under caution, Annett pitted along with Harrison Burton, Sieg, Alfredo, Chastain, Clements, and Herbst while Briscoe reassumed the lead. By then, 15 cars were scored on the lead lap, including all 12 Playoff contenders.

The race restarted under green with 40 laps remaining and with Briscoe and Cindric on the front row. At the start, Briscoe and Cindric battled dead even for the lead before Briscoe retained the lead while cycling back to the start/finish line. Behind, JR Motorsports’ competitors Gragson, Allgaier, and Hemric battled inside the top five followed by Burton, Jones, and Annett. Sieg was in ninth place while Herbst was in 10th.

With 35 laps remaining and with Briscoe ahead by more than a second over Cindric, the battling for positions behind continued to ensue as Alfredo moved up to eighth place followed by Herbst, Sieg, Jones, Haley, and Chastain. Gragson settled in third place followed by teammates Hemric and Allgaier while Burton and Annett were scored in sixth and seventh.

Five laps later, with 30 laps remaining, Briscoe stabilized his advantage to more than two seconds over Cindric while Gragson trailed by more than three seconds in third place. Behind fourth-place Hemric, Harrison Burton, who struggled in the middle portions of the race, muscled his way into fifth place while Annett overtook teammate Allgaier for sixth place. Alfredo, Sieg, and Herbst were running inside the top 10 followed by Jones, Haley, and Chastain. Brandon Brown was the lowest-running Playoff contenders in 15th.

Down to the final 20 laps of the race, Briscoe, who radioed vibrating concerns to his car but continued to lead, extended his advantage to more than six seconds over Cindric, who had Gragson closing in on him for the position. Burton was up into fourth place followed by teammates Annett, Hemric, and Allgaier while Alfredo, Sieg, and Herbst continued to run inside the top 10.

With 13 laps remaining, the caution flew due to the stalled car of Alex Labbe, who was unable to limp back to pit road. The caution all but evaporated Briscoe’s lead of more than six seconds over Cindric and Gragson. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead followed by Gragson, Annett, Burton, and Cindric. During the pit stops, Alfredo dropped out of the top 10 following a slow pit stop due to lug nuts falling off of his tires. Following the pit stops, Brown was sent to the rear of the field due to a choose cone violation.

With nine laps remaining, the race restarted under green with Briscoe and Gragson on the front row. At the start, Briscoe and Gragson battled dead even before Briscoe was able to muscle through and retain the lead. Behind, Chastain was bumped by Cindric and got loose entering Turn 4 while battling for a top-10 spot. Though he was able to save the car, he fell all the way back to 15th place and was out of contention for a strong result.

Down to the final five laps of the race, Briscoe extended his advantage to less than a second over Gragson while Hemric moved up to third place. Teammates Annett and Allgaier were in the top five followed by Burton, Sieg, Cindric, Jones, and Alfredo. A few laps later, Allgaier and Sieg overtook Annett for spots in the top five. By then, no one had anything for Briscoe, who maintained his advantage to more than a second over Gragson.

On the final lap, Briscoe continued to lead by more than a second. With no challengers closing in behind him, Briscoe was able to come back around to the finish line and claim his eighth checkered flag of the season.

With his Vegas victory, Briscoe secured himself a spot to the Round of 8 in the 2020 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs. He also became the first competitor to sweep both Xfinity races at Vegas in a season and he recorded the 13th victory of the season for Ford.

“First off, incredible car by everybody at Stewart-Haas [Racing],” Briscoe said on NBCSN. “That made my job way too easy, honestly. It was a super fast FIELDS Ford Mustang. Happy to get them in Victory Lane. This is their only [sponsored] race they do all year. The restart, I knew that if I could just take the lead on the restart, I’d be ok, but I was spinning the tires so bad all night for whatever reason…We’ve had a lot of wins this year, but this was by far our most dominant car. I’m so glad that I can sleep a little bit easier this week going into Talladega and the [Charlotte] Roval, and just enjoy’em.”

Though he earned his spot in the Round of 8 in the Playoffs, Briscoe sets his focus on achieving more victories for the remainder of the postseason and placing himself in position to achieve his first NASCAR championship at Phoenix Raceway in November while he continues to await his racing plans for next season.

“I knew this team is fully capable of achieving that [winning] and even more,” Briscoe added. “I just can’t say thank you enough to Gene Haas, Tony Stewart, everybody that lets me drive these race cars. It’s been an unbelievable season. We still got a lot, six more wins we can try to get and obviously, a championship. So that’s what we’re gonna try to do. Just so happy to start the Playoffs like this.”

Gragson battled back from a bloody nose early in the race to finish in second place followed by teammates Hemric and Allgaier while Sieg battled back for a strong top-five result.

“It was a good day overall for our Bass Pro Shops True Timber team,” Gragson said on NBCSN. “I felt like we were really good, the best I’ve ever been here. [I] Just didn’t have enough for [Briscoe]. We’ll keep on working, but these guys did a heck of a job. A really good improvement from where we’ve been these past couple of weeks. Damn, I wanted to win this one so bad at my home town, but we’ll try again at Talladega…the car looks good, we were pretty fast, but came up short.”

“That’s what this 8 team set out to do was, hopefully, try to give ourselves an opportunity to race for an owners’ championship,” Hemric said on PRN Radio. “Jeb Burton did a great job the last two weeks leading into the Playoffs to get us in this position. Tonight was a good night of putting some coins in the bucket as we continue towards the second race in the Playoffs. Really proud of everyone on this South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet. We had a rough go back in the spring, but we had a couple of good restarts there at the end and got us a top five. We’re gonna take it and move on.”

“Really proud of all the guys on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture Camaro,” Allgaier said on NBCSN. “We battled a lot of adversity early. Just felt like we were behind the eight ball. We were able to make good adjustments on the car and get ourselves in better track position at the end there by the Choose Rule and gutted out a finish. These points are so important. Every position counts. As bad as we started the night off, I was getting a little flustered under the collar. These guys rallied behind me and gave me the car we needed at the end. We were able to pull off a solid top-five and still be OK in the points. We lost a few tonight but still have a good cushion. We got two crazy races these next few [weeks].”

“It’s huge for the CMR team and the guys did an awesome job all night,” Sieg said on NBCSN. “Just the driver did one little mess up, but we’re getting back to what we were running. I was trying to get something to drink. My helmet hose fell off end of stage one, so I was trying to get something to drink under that green flag and just kind of missed my stopping points on pit road. Just screwed me up a little bit, but we got it back. Just super, super excited to be plus nine in the Playoffs, headed to Talladega and we got the [Charlotte] Roval, which something can always happen. Just can’t be prouder of this team and all that they’ve done…Just can’t wait to get to the next two [races]. It’s been a fun first [Playoff] race, already.”

Cindric finished in sixth place while Annett, Alfredo, Harrison Burton, and Haley finished in the top 10.

“Frustrating [night],” Cindric said on NBCSN. “I definitely think we deserved to not finish as well as we should’ve. We put ourselves in position, but a lot of good lessons learned tonight. We made our car better throughout the night, we kept up with the track well. For the first time in a long time, everyone’s running the bottom [lane] and I’m running the top on both ends. We got a good points bank, but can’t take that for granted. [We] Gotta keep getting better. When [Briscoe] can walk away like that, you gotta make sure you step your game up.”

“We just weren’t good enough tonight,” Burton said on PRN Radio. “We really struggled all day today and into the night, we got a little bit better, but not much. That’s tough because these next few races are gonna be wild so for us, this was a big race. We didn’t do our job during the regular season to build up a cushion as big as we needed to with Playoff points. It’s biting us now, so now, it’s gonna be hard the next two weeks, gonna be fighting for every point and that’s what makes the Playoffs so fun, I guess, is to watch that battle for every point. We’re gonna have to be in it, for sure.”

“The car was a bit on the tight side, but it wasn’t so far off,” Haley said on PRN Radio. “Obviously, the Nos. 10 and 11 was struggling on speed, both pretty terrible there. I’m not sure where we missed it, but it definitely wasn’t there. Thankfully, we got two race tracks ahead of us that are good. Still on the positive side of things, I believe. Still got a top 10 out of it, somehow. We, actually, were looking good there for sixth or seventh and then, got behind on track position, just too tight on that last restart. Proud of these LeafFilter Gutter Protection boys on this Kaulig Chevrolet, but just needed a little bit more, especially for the second round.”

Playoff contenders Brandon Jones, Herbst, Brandon Brown, and Chastain finished 11th, 12th, 15th, and 16th.

There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps.

Results.

1. Chase Briscoe, 164 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner
2. Noah Gragson
3. Daniel Hemric
4. Justin Allgaier
5. Ryan Sieg, three laps led
6. Austin Cindric, 10 laps led
7. Michael Annett, eight laps led
8. Anthony Alfredo
9. Harrison Burton
10. Justin Haley
11. Brandon Jones
12. Riley Herbst
13. Jeremy Clements
14. Brett Moffitt
15. Brandon Brown
16. Ross Chastain, 15 laps led
17. Austin Hill, one lap down
18. Josh Williams, one lap down
19. Myatt Snider, one lap down
20. Stefan Parsons, one lap down
21. Colby Howard, two laps down
22. Tommy Joe Martins, two laps down
23. Jesse Little, two laps down
24. Gray Gaulding, three laps down
25. Bayley Currey, three laps down
26. B.J. McLeod, three laps down
27. Joe Graf Jr., four laps down
28. Timmy Hill, four laps down
29. Dexter Bean, five laps down
30. Matt Mills, six laps down
31. Kody Vanderwal, nine laps down
32. Alex Labbe – OUT, Electrical
33. Jeffrey Earnhardt, 34 laps down
34. Vinnie Miller – OUT, Too slow
35. Chad Finchum – OUT, Suspension
36. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

Playoff standings.
1. Chase Briscoe – Advanced
2. Austin Cindric +53
3. Noah Gragson +36
4. Justin Allgaier +28
5. Justin Haley +14
6. Brandon Jones +13
7. Ryan Sieg +9
8. Harrison Burton +2
9. Ross Chastain -2
10. Michael Annett -10
11. Riley Herbst -14
12. Brandon Brown -20

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, Oct. 3, for the second Round of 12 race in this year’s Xfinity Playoffs. The race will occur at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 27, 2020

Chase Briscoe takes the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol has been called many things but the most fitting is the Last Great Colosseum. With its high banks, it favors no driver. But one driver tonight, Chase Briscoe in his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang, had what it took to win, earning him his seventh win of 2020.

“I am so thankful that we are back with the race fans. You guys are the best. It’s not the same without you guys. We can’t wait to get you back all the time, but man, what a race.” When asked about the bump and run Briscoe added, “I was so mad after last week. I told all the guys there ain’t no way we are getting beat today. I was so mad after how we ran last week and I get on the internet all the time and see guys count us out after one bad race and I know what this team is capable of and I’m just so happy to get the Ford Performance Racing School back in Victory Lane.”

Also having a good run was Ross Chastain who brought his No. 10 RSS Chevy home in second place.

Coming home in third place was Austin Cindric in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford.

Harrison Burton and Justin Allgaier would round out the top five. Anthony Alfredo, Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, and Riley Herbst finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Seven drivers started the race tonight already having clinched a playoff spot. Briscoe led the way with six wins and Cindric tallied up five. Allgaier and Jones each had three, while Gragson, Justin Haley, and Burton had two each.

Chastain, Michael Annett, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, and Brandon Brown made it into the playoffs by points.

Stage one had a competition caution and another minor caution that brought out the red flag briefly for cleanup. Justin Allgaier had the car to beat and would win stage one.

Stage two was very similar to stage one, only having one caution which again brought out the red flag for cleanup. Allgaier would go on to win this stage as well.

In the final stage, Allgaier lost the handling of the car leaving the door open for other drivers to pass. This stage was mainly between Cindric and Chastain for the lead. Cindric lost his power steering as he was leading and couldn’t protect the bottom of the track leaving the door open for Briscoe who would then go on to take the win.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 26 to begin their Playoffs.

Xfinity Series Playoff Driver Points Prior to Las Vegas

Rank	Driver	Points
1	Chase Briscoe	2050
2	Austin Cindric	2050
3	Justin Allgaier	2033
4	Noah Gragson	2025
5	Brandon Jones	2020
6	Justin Haley	2018
7	Harrison Burton	2014
8	Ross Chastain	2010
9	Ryan Sieg	2002
10	Michael Annett	2002
11	Riley Herbst	2001
12	Brandon Brown	2000

September 18, 2020

Weekend schedule for Bristol

This week NASCAR heads to Bristol Motor Speedway. The Cup Series will compete Saturday night as they close out the first round of their playoffs to narrow the field from 16 drivers to 12.

Thursday evening will feature the opening round of the playoffs for the NASCAR Gander & RV Outdoors Truck Series. Friday night the Xfinity Series takes to the track for the last race of the regular season.

There will also be a doubleheader for the ARCA Menards Series at Bristol. They will race Thursday night following the Truck Series and again on Saturday afternoon prior to the Cup Series event.

All times are Eastern.

Thursday, Sept. 17

7:30 p.m.: Truck Series UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics (Stages 55/110/200 Laps = 106.6 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Grant Enfinger

9:30 p.m.: ARCA Bush’s Beans 200 (200 Laps, 106.6 Miles) FS1/MRN

Friday, Sept. 18

7 p.m.: Xfinity Series Food City 300 (Stages 85/170/300 Laps = 159.9 Miles) NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Justin Allgaier

Saturday, Sept. 19

3 p.m.: ARCA Toyota 200 presented by Crosley Brands (Winchester) Trackpass

7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Bass Pro Shops Night Race (Stages 125/250/500 Laps = 266.5 Miles) NBCSN/PRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Pole: Brad Keselowski

Cup Series Bubble Watch (Via NASCAR.com)
Rank	Driver	Points to cutoff
9	Kyle Busch	18
10	Aric Almirola	7
11	Kurt Busch	7
12	Clint Bowyer	3
——-	Cut-Off Line	———————
13	William Byron	-3
14	Cole Custer	-8
15	Matt DiBenedetto	-25
16	Ryan Blaney	-27

September 17, 2020

Allgaier sweeps Richmond in doubleheader weekend

Coming off his late surge and dominating win on Friday night in Richmond, Virginia, while recording a milestone win for JR Motorsports, Justin Allgaier backed it up by winning the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday afternoon, September 12, for his third NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season and in the past six races as he also claimed his second victory of the weekend. The win was Allgaier’s 14th of his Xfinity career and 11th while driving JRM’s No. 7 car as JR Motorsports recorded its 51st NASCAR Xfinity career victory.

The starting lineup was based on the results from Friday night’s race at Richmond, where the top-14 finishers were inverted. With that, Tommy Joe Martins started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Brandon Jones. Chad Finchum started at the rear of the field due to an engine change. Rookie Myatt Snider also started at the rear of the field in a backup car.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Martins and Jones battled dead even for the lead before Jones was able to prevail through Turns 3 and 4 and lead the first lap. Behind, Chase Briscoe and Ryan Sieg made a three-wide move on Martins entering Turn 1 before both moved up to second and third behind Jones. Not long after, Kaz Grala also moved up into fourth followed by Michael Annett while Martins continued to fade and lose spots on the track.

By the fifth lap, Jones was ahead by nearly three-tenths of a second over Briscoe with Sieg trailing by half a second. Five laps later, on Lap 10, Jones stabilized his advantage to nearly three-tenths of a second over Briscoe. Behind, Grala moved into third place over Sieg while Noah Gragson joined the battle. Austin Cindric was in sixth followed by Annett, Justin Haley, teammate Ross Chastain and rookie Riley Herbst. Justin Allgaier, winner of Friday night’s Xfinity race at Richmond, was in 11th ahead of cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton while Tommy Joe Martins fell back to 20th.

On Lap 17, Briscoe emerged with the lead after passing Jones on the inside lane the previous lap in Turn 1. Behind him. Grala moved into second place followed by Gragson while Jones settled in fourth place ahead of Haley and Cindric. Four laps later, Haley, who finished in second place on Friday night behind Allgaier, continued his march to the front after passing Jones for fourth place. By then, Allgaier cracked the top 10.

By Lap 25, the top-three competitors on the track led by Briscoe and followed by Grala and Gragson were ahead of fourth-place Haley by a second with Cindric trailing by more than a second and Annett by more than two seconds. Shortly after, Gragson moved into second place over Grala.

Thirty laps into the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Gragson emerged with the lead after passing Briscoe the previous lap in Turn 1. Briscoe maintained second place over Grala while Haley and Cindric stabilized themselves inside the top five. Behind, Allgaier moved up to sixth place and Ross Chastain moved up to eighth place while Jones fell back to 11th behind teammates Herbst and Harrison Burton.

While Gragson slowly extended his advantage, Grala and Briscoe battled for second place with Haley joining the party and heavy lapped traffic in front of them. On Lap 37, Haley, Briscoe and Grala went three wide for second place amid the lapped traffic for nearly a full circuit before Haley prevailed and took the spot. Behind, Allgaier rocketed his way into third place while Briscoe and Grala settled in the top five ahead of Cindric. Shortly after, Allgaier moved into second place.

With the battling for positions settling down, Gragson was able to maintain the lead just as the competition caution flew on Lap 40. Under caution, few that included Joey Gase and Tommy Joe Martins made a pit stop while the rest remained on track.

The race resumed under green on Lap 45 as teammates Gragson and Allgaier battled for the lead while Briscoe made a three-wide move to move up to third place. At the front, Allgaier emerged with the lead entering Turn 2 and after restarting on the inside lane. Behind, Haley passed Briscoe for third place while teammate Chastain overtook Annett into fifth place in pursuit of more on the track.

Fifty-five laps into the event, Allgaier was ahead by three-tenths of a second over teammate Gragson while Kaulig Racing teammates Haley and Chastain trailed behind. Annett, teammates to Allgaier and Gragson at JR Motorsports, was back in fifth place while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Herbst and Burton battled with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Briscoe for sixth and seventh. Penske’s Cindric was in ninth while RSS Racing’s Ryan Sieg was in 10th. Richard Childress Racing’s Grala was back in 12th behind Sieg.

Five laps later, on Lap 60, Allgaier continued to lead by half a second over Gragson with Haley trailing by seven-tenths of a second and Chastain trailing by more than a second. Jones was back in 14th while Martins was back in 27th. In addition, Grala overtook Cindric for 10th place.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 75, Allgaier emerged at the front of the field as he claimed his 10th stage victory of the season. Gragson settled in second place behind his teammate followed by Haley, Chastain and Harrison Burton while Annett, Herbst, Jeb Burton, Sieg and Grala settled in the top 10. By then, Briscoe and his No. 98 Go Bowling Ford Mustang dropped back to 11th place ahead of Brandon Jones while Cindric and his No. 22 PPG Ford Mustang also fell back to 15th place.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead following his pit stop ahead of teammate Gragson, Chastain, Haley, Harrison Burton and Jeb Burton. Following the pit stops, Sieg was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road.

The second stage commenced on Lap 82 and Chastain made a bold three-wide move beneath Allgaier and Gragson in Turn 1 to take the lead. Eight laps later, on Lap 90, Chastain stabilized his advantage to a second over teammates Allgaier and Gragson while Jeb Burton moved up to fourth place in front of Haley and Harrison Burton. Behind, Cindric rallied from his late issues near the end of the first stage to run in seventh place followed by Herbst, Briscoe and Brett Moffitt. Annett, Jeremy Clements, Brandon Jones, Brandon Brown and Grala were running in the top 15.

Another 10 laps later, on Lap 100, Chastain stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier, whose car slowly came to life and with speed on long runs like the first stage, with Gragson trailing by more than a second. Behind, Jeb Burton continued to maintain fourth place over Haley.

By Lap 110, Allgaier cut his deficit to three-tenths of a second over Chastain as the leaders started to approach heavy lapped traffic. Both Chastain and Allgaier were ahead of third-place Gragson by more than two seconds with Haley in fourth. Behind by more than four seconds were cousins Harrison and Jeb Burton, both battling for fifth place, with Herbst joining the party. Cindric was back in eighth place ahead of Briscoe and Annett.

Ten laps later, on Lap 120, Allgaier started to pressure Chastain for the lead as they cleared the lapped traffic. He then attempted to gain a run and set up a pass on the outside lane, but Chastain was able to stabilize his narrow lead.

When the race reached its halfway point on Lap 125, Chastain was still ahead with the lead as Allgaier settled right behind the rear bumper of Chastain’s No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro. Three laps later, Allgaier and his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro moved back into the lead after fending off a challenge by Chastain, who refused to back out of the gas.

Behind, Harrison Burton made his way to third place after passing Gragson while Herbst moved up to fifth place after passing Haley. Jeb Burton settled in seventh place in front of Cindric, Jones and Briscoe. Shortly after, Herbst muscled his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra into fourth place.

With 10 laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew for an incident involving in Turn 3 involving Colby Howard. By then, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Chastain with Harrison Burton trailing by less than four seconds. Under caution, some like Chastain, Haley, Harrison Burton, Herbst, Cindric, Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones and Briscoe pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on track. Following the pit stops, Jones was sent to the rear for speeding on pit road.

With five laps remaining, the short dash to the conclusion of the second stage started under green and with Allgaier and Grala restarting on the front row followed by teammates Gragson and Annett. At the start, Allgaier retained the lead while Chastain rocketed his way on the outside lane to move all the way up to second place in two laps and on fresh tires than Allgaier. All this occurred as the field scrambled for positions between those on fresh tires versus those on old tires.

A lap later, teammates Chastain and Haley made a three-wide move on Allgaier for the lead with Chastain reassuming the lead while Allgaier was overtaken by a handful of cars on fresh tires and dropped back to the top 10. By the time the second stage concluded on Lap 150 and with the scrambling for positions still ongoing through every turn and straightaway, Chastain emerged out in front and claimed his second stage victory of the season. Teammate Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro settled in second followed by Jeb Burton, Briscoe and Harrison Burton while Cindric, Herbst, Allgaier, Gragson and Grala settled in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some like Allgaier, Gragson, Jeb Burton, Grala, Clements and Brandon Brown pitted while the rest led by teammates Chastain and Haley remained on track.

The final stage commenced under green with 93 laps remaining and with Chastain and Haley on the front row. At the start, Chastain took off with the lead followed by Briscoe and Jeb Burton while Haley got shuffled out of the top five entering Turn 2. In one lap, Allgaier moved up to sixth place on fresh tires.

At the front, Jeb Burton made a move beneath Chastain to take the lead with 90 laps remaining. Shortly after, Allgaier rocketed into third place after passing Cindric while Briscoe settled in fifth place in front of Harrison Burton.

With 87 laps remaining, Allgaier overtook Chastain for second place as Jeb Burton continued to lead by a second. Seven laps later, with 80 laps remaining, Allgaier cut his deficit to Jeb Burton down to less than three-tenths of a second. Behind, Chastain trailed by two seconds in third place followed by Gragson and Cindric while Harrison Burton and Haley battled for sixth place.

Two laps later, Allgaier made his way back into the lead after passing teammate Jeb Burton. Another five laps later, with 73 laps remaining, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than a second over Jeb Burton’s No. 8 LS Tractor Chevrolet Camaro.

As the green-flag run progressed and with Allgaier ahead by more than two seconds, Chastain took second place over Jeb Burton with Gragson and Haley in the top five. Cindric was in sixth place followed by Harrison Burton, Annett, Grala and Herbst while Briscoe was back in 12th place in front of Jones, Clements and Brown.

With 60 laps remaining, Allgaier stabilized his lead to three seconds over Chastain. Ten laps later, with 50 laps remaining, Allgaier extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by less than six seconds.

Another 10 laps later and with 40 laps remaining, Allgaier continued to extend his advantage by seven seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by more than eight seconds. Fourth-place Haley was trailing by 10 seconds while Gragson and Harrison Burton trailed by more than 12 seconds. By then, names like Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Chase Briscoe were lapped.

Under 30 laps remaining, Allgaier’s lead expanded to eight seconds over Chastain with Jeb Burton trailing by nine seconds, Haley by less than 11 seconds and Harrison Burton by less than 15 seconds. Gragson retained sixth place ahead of teammate Annett and Grala while Cindric and Jones were scored in the top 10. Behind, Alex Labbe was in 11th place ahead of Herbst, Clements, Brandon Brown and Matt Mills. Jeffrey Earnhardt was in 16th place, a lap down, while Sieg and Briscoe were back in 17th and 19th.

With approximately 20 laps remaining, the caution flew after contact from Brandon Brown sent Herbst hard into the Turn 1 outside wall and with significant damage sustained to the rear end of Herbst’s No. 18 Toyota that knocked Herbst out of contention in the closing laps of the race. The caution erased a nearly nine-second advantage for Allgaier. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Allgaier retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Jeb Burton and Chastain.

The race restarted under green with 13 laps remaining and with teammates Allgaier and Burton on the front row while Chastain and Harrison Burton lined up on the second row. At the start, Allgaier withstood a challenge from Jeb Burton to retain the lead,

With 10 laps remaining, Allgaier stabilized his advantage to nearly four-tenths of a second over teammate Jeb Burton with Chastain trailing behind and the pack behind jostling for late positions. Two laps later, Allgaier extended his advantage to six-tenths of a second.

With five laps remaining and Allgaier leading by more than a second, Jeb Burton continued to maintain second place ahead of Chastain and Harrison Burton with Haley in fifth place ahead of Gragson.

With the leaders encountering lapped traffic, Chastain started to challenge Jeb Burton for second place followed by Harrison Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra. Despite encountering lapped traffic in front of him, Allgaier was able to stabilize his advantage and navigate his way through one final circuit and come back around to win by two seconds and for his second checkered flag of the weekend.

Through the first 19 regular-season races of this year, Allgaier had yet to fill in the win column to his stats in 2020. Since recording his first victory at Dover International Speedway in August, Allgaier’s pair of victories this weekend at Richmond allowed him to join Cindric, Briscoe and Brandon Jones as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve three or more victories throughout the regular-season stretch. In addition, Allgaier joined Cindric as the lone Xfinity competitors to achieve two victories in a doubleheader weekend at a track, when Cindric made his accomplishment at Kentucky Speedway in July.

“I knew how good our car was all day,” Allgaier said in Victory Lane on NBCSN. “It seems like lately, we haven’t been able to get [BRANDT] to Victory Lane. It wasn’t for lack of effort. I knew at the end there, I knew we had speed. I knew when we needed to go we could. I just didn’t know how fast. My teammate, Jeb Burton, did a fantastic job today on that last restart. I’m just so proud of these guys.”

In addition, Allgaier, who won on Friday night at Richmond, spent time afterwards working with his crew to install a new front nose on his No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro prior to Saturday afternoon’s race, where he went on to win.

“I have to thank the Man upstairs,” Allgaier added. “Tonight was definitely a push to the end, but we just had the luck we needed. I say luck, but luck is opportunities and preparation. We were prepared and the opportunities came tonight and we did a good job. I’m really proud of these guys.”

Behind, Jeb Burton settled in a career-best second place in his 40th series start followed by Chastain, who racked up his 12th top-five result of this season. Harrison Burton rallied from a 16th-place result on Friday night to finish in fourth place while Haley recorded a fifth-place run for his second top-five result in two days and for his eighth top-five finish of this season. Gragson finished in sixth place while Annett, Brandon Jones, Grala and Cindric rounded out the top 10. By finishing in 10th place, Cindric clinched this year’s regular-season championship and he will be awarded 15 bonus points for this year’s Playoffs.

By finishing 15th and 34th, Ryan Sieg and Riley Herbst clinched their spots for this year’s Xfinity Playoffs, thus joining Austin Cindric, Chase Briscoe, Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Brandon Jones, Justin Haley, Harrison Burton, Ross Chastain and Michael Annett for this year’s championship battle.

Brandon Brown finished in 11th place and he holds sole possession of the 12th and final transfer spot to the Playoffs by 49 points over Clements, who finished 17th, and 88 over Snider, who finished 31st, as the series makes its way to the regular-season finale next Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.

There were nine lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 29 laps.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 135 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Jeb Burton, 12 laps led

3. Ross Chastain, 58 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Harrison Burton

5. Noah Gragson, 16 laps led

6. Justin Haley

7. Michael Annett

8. Brandon Jones, 16 laps led

9. Kaz Grala

10. Austin Cindric

11. Brandon Brown

12. Alex Labbe

13. Matt Mills

14. Jeffrey Earnhardt

15. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

16. Chase Briscoe, one lap down, 13 laps led

17. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

18. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

19. Bayley Currey, one lap down

20. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

21. Mason Massey, two laps down

22. Stephen Leicht, three laps down

23. Joey Gase, three laps down

24. B.J. McLeod, three laps down

25. Josh Williams, three laps down

26. Tommy Joe Martins, three laps down

27. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

28. Chad Finchum, four laps down

29. Kody Vanderwal, four laps down

30. Dexter Bean, four laps down

31. Myatt Snider, four laps down

32. Vinnie Miller, five laps down

33. Jesse Little, six laps down

34. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

35. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

36. Timmy Hill – OUT, Fuel pump

The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular-season finale will occur at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Food City 300, which will occur on Friday, September 18, at 7 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

September 12, 2020

Justin Allgaier earns his second win of the season at Richmond

Justin Allgaier captured his second win of the season Friday night in the Go Bowling 250 at Richmond Raceway. It was his 13th Xfinity Series career win and the 50th win for JR Motorsports.

Justin Haley finished second in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet followed by Kyle Busch, Austin Cindric and Ross Chastain to complete the top five finishers.

Brett Moffitt, Michael Annett, Noah Gragson, Kaz Grala and Riley Herbst (the highest finishing rookie) placed sixth through 10th, respectively. Annett’s finish earned him enough points to advance to the playoffs.

Allgaier described the race as being one where everything came together after a frustrating season of ups and downs.

“It feels great,” he said. “You know, we’ve had fast Camaros all year long and everybody at JR Motorsports has worked their butts off and put us in position many times. You know, the definition of luck is when opportunity meets preparation and when we’ve been prepared, the opportunity hasn’t come and when we’ve had the opportunity we just haven’t been prepared. And the team today did a fantastic job of executing, just from beginning to end.

“You know, we knew we were a little behind the eight ball when the green flag dropped, just starting as far back as we were. That first cycle on tires was really rough on us. We lost some spots, got a little bit of damage, unfortunately. Just really felt like we were not where we wanted to be at. And the guys rallied, we had unbelievable pit stops tonight. We made great adjustments and you know just ultimately put ourselves in good position at the end.”

Haley was disappointed with his second-place finish but proud of his efforts. He was as far back as 25th after two consecutive pit stops during the Stage 1 caution to repair damage to his car. Haley was able to get back to the front, lead 51 laps and contend for the win in the final laps but fell short.

“Allgaier was just a little bit better. I’m about tired of everyone on social media saying I can’t show up anywhere but superspeedways,” Haley said, smiling. “So I finally showed up somewhere where talent matters.”

The playoffs will begin in two weeks at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with only one spot left to be filled. Brandon Brown currently has the advantage with 43 points over Jeremy Clements for the final transfer position.

The Xfinity Series will race again Saturday at 2 p.m. ET at Richmond Raceway in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 250 which was realigned from Michigan International Speedway.

Post Inspection Report:

The No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet of Ross Chastain had one loose lug nut.

The No. 61 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota driven by Chad Finchum was disqualified for failing rear heights and was scored in last place.

Car Chief, Zach Gobble, for the No. 13 Motorsports Business Management Toyota driven by Stephen Leicht, ejected and will miss Saturday’s race for a safety violation: 12.5.2.7.4.e – Any loss or separation of an improperly installed rear axle from the vehicle will result in a one Race suspension of a crew member(s).

Complete Results:

1. Justin Allgaier

2. Justin Haley

3. Kyle Busch

4. Austin Cindric

5. Ross Chastain

6. Brett Moffitt

7. Michael Annett

8. Noah Gragson

9. Kaz Grala

10. Riley Herbst

11. Chase Briscoe

12. Ryan Sieg

13. Matt Mills

14. Brandon Jones

15. Tommy Joe Martins

16. Harrison Burton

17. Jeremy Clements

18. Brandon Brown

19. Joe Graf Jr

20. Joey Gase

21. Bayley Currey

22. Josh Williams

23. Alex Labbe

24. Jeffrey Earnhardt

25. Jesse Little

26. Kyle Weatherman

27. Mason Massey

28. Kody Vanderwal

29. BJ McLeod

30. Vinnie Miller

31. Dexter Bean

32. Jeb Burton

33. Colby Howard

34. Stephen Leicht

35. Myatt Snider

36. Timmy Hill

37. Chad Finchum

September 11, 2020

Brandon Jones steals a win at Darlington Raceway

It was the perfect day for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Darlington Raceway, also known as the “Track Too Tough To Tame”. Many drivers earned their Darlington stripe today and several drivers more than once. There was one driver who happened to be at the right place at the right time and that was Brandon Jones in his No. 19 Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing, who came away with the win, his third of the season.

“Look at the right side of this thing!” he exclaimed, “I think everybody’s looks like this. That’s what’s so much fun about this track.’ He added, “This is a tough place to get around.”

Coming in second place today was the No. 10 Chevy of Ross Chastain.

“Denny (Hamlin) was faster, I knew that and everyone watching NBC knew that,” Chastain commented, “I just kept ripping the top as best I could, I probably hit it 25 times.” He added, “I was really struggling on entry. I’m just proud of this group and proud of their effort.”

Ryan Sieg brought his No. 39 RSS Racing Chevy into third place today.

Riley Herbst and Hamlin would round out the top five. Harrison Burton, Noah Gragson, Michael Annett, Austin Hill, and Myatt Snider finished sixth through 10, respectively.

Stage 1 only had 2 cautions. The first was for the cars of Sieg, Hemric and Brandon Brown who got tangled up together. The second was a scheduled competition caution. By Lap 34 Hamlin took the lead after starting at the rear of the field. He would win the stage.

Stage 2 had one caution for Noah Gragson. Allgaier had tire trouble and went behind the wall and later returned to the track. Hamlin retook the lead from Briscoe on Lap 84 and went on to win the stage.

Stage 3 is where all the action was. Jeremy Clements stalled on the track and brought out the caution. David Starr smacked into the wall after his tire went down. Next, Brett Moffitt’s car laid fluid on the track, sending several cars spinning and bringing out the red flag for cleanup. When the race resumed, a battle between Chastain and Hamlin was on. It was exciting to watch as Hamlin tried to take the lead away. Both cars bounced off the wall several times. Coming down to the white flag both Hamlin and Chastain got into the wall, and Jones, who was in third, jumped into the lead and the race win. It was such an exciting race to watch, I can’t wait for the rest of this weekend’s racing.

Austin Cindric leads the Xfinity Series points standings with 1005 points, in second is Chase Briscoe with 951 points, third in the points is Chastain with 911 points, fourth is Gragson with 878 points, and rounding out the top five is Harrison Burton with 789 points.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Richmond Raceway on Friday, Sept. 11.

NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 23

Darlington Raceway – Darlington, SC – 1.366 – Mile Paved

Total Race Length – 147 Laps – 200.802 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	S3Pos	Pts	Status
1	8	19	Brandon Jones	Toyota	147	6	2	0	54	Running
2	5	10	Ross Chastain	Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet	147	2	4	0	51	Running
3	11	39	Ryan Sieg	CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet	147	9	6	0	41	Running
4	6	18	Riley Herbst #	Monster Energy Toyota	147	0	10	0	34	Running
5	37	54	Denny Hamlin(i)	SportClips Toyota	147	1	1	0	0	Running
6	3	20	Harrison Burton #	DEX Imaging Toyota	147	0	5	0	37	Running
7	14	9	Noah Gragson	Unilever United for America Chevrolet	147	5	0	0	36	Running
8	7	1	Michael Annett	OREO/Pilot Flying J Chevrolet	147	8	8	0	35	Running
9	26	61	Austin Hill(i)	Toyora Tsusho Toyota	147	0	0	0	0	Running
10	20	93	Myatt Snider #	The Original Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	27	Running
11	2	98	Chase Briscoe	Highpoint.com Ford	147	4	3	0	41	Running
12	4	22	Austin Cindric	MoneyLion Ford	147	3	7	0	37	Running
13	1	11	Justin Haley	LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	24	Running
14	27	78	BJ McLeod	Koolbox Ice Toyota	147	0	0	0	23	Running
15	9	92	Josh Williams	DGM Racing Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	22	Running
16	24	36	Alex Labbe	DGM Racing Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	21	Running
17	17	68	Brandon Brown	Costal Carolina University Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	20	Running
18	10	4	Jesse Little #	Shriners Hospitals Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	19	Running
19	18	15	Colby Howard	Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet	147	0	0	0	18	Running
20	23	13	Chad Finchum	CRASHCLAIMSR.US Toyota	146	0	0	0	17	Running
21	25	0	Jeffrey Earnhardt	KSDT CPA Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	16	Running
22	33	99	Matt Mills	JF Electric Toyota	146	0	0	0	15	Running
23	28	8	Joe Graf Jr #	Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	14	Running
24	30	74	Bayley Currey(i)	Mutt and Jeff Porkskins Inc. Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	0	Running
25	29	6	Ryan Vargas	Cranio Care Bears Chevrolet	146	0	0	0	12	Running
26	19	44	Tommy Joe Martins	Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet	145	7	0	0	15	Running
27	12	21	Anthony Alfredo	Blue Otter Polarized Chevrolet	145	0	0	0	10	Running
28	32	5	Vinnie Miller	Koolbox Ice Toyota	145	0	0	0	9	Running
29	34	52	Kody Vanderwal #	The Rolling Home Show with Bill Malone Chev	145	0	0	0	8	Running
30	35	90	Dexter Bean	Sleep Well Chevrolet	145	0	0	0	7	Running
31	16	7	Justin Allgaier	BRANDT Chevrolet	135	10	0	0	7	Running
32	13	51	Jeremy Clements	Repairables.com Chevrolet	129	0	9	0	7	Running
33	21	2	Brett Moffitt(i)	Knockaround Chevrolet	118	0	0	0	0	Oil Leak
34	22	7	David Starr	Richardson Service 1991 Inc. Chevrolet	108	0	0	0	3	Accident
35	36	66	Stephen Leicht	JANIKING Toyota	11	0	0	0	2	Suspension
36	31	47	Kyle Weatherman	Back The Blue Chevrolet	5	0	0	0	1	Accident
37	15	8	Daniel Hemric	Poppy Bank Chevrolet	2	0	0	0	1	Accident

September 5, 2020

Haley notches a thrilling win at Daytona

At the start of the final lap of the Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, all three Kaulig Racing competitors led by A.J. Allmendinger and followed by Ross Chastain and Justin Haley were running at the front with an opportunity to win. When the checkered flag flew, two Kaulig competitors made contact and wrecked while the third competitor, Haley, escaped the carnage on the final lap to win at Daytona.

The victory was Haley’s second of his Xfinity Series career, second of this season after winning his first Xfinity career race at Talladega Superspeedway in June and the fifth NASCAR win overall for Kaulig Racing.

The starting lineup was based on three statistical categories: current owner points standings, the results from a previous Xfinity race and the fastest lap from a previous Xfinity race. With that, Chase Briscoe, coming off his victory at Dover International Speedway in part of a doubleheader weekend, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Ross Chastain.

Rookie Riley Herbst was the only competitor to drop to the rear of the field due to an improperly mounted ballast discovered from his No. 18 Monster Energy Toyota Supra during the pre-race technical inspection, resulting in his car chief being ejected. In addition, he was assessed a pass-through penalty at the start of the race. Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams and Tim Viens retained their starting spots, but they all lost a pit stall selection for next weekend’s series race at Darlington Raceway due to multiple pre-race technical failures.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Briscoe received a push from Austin Cindric at the start to jump to an early lead. The top-eight competitors led by Briscoe ran in a single-file lane following by a bevy of competitors racing in double lanes for one lap around the superspeedway venue as Briscoe led the first lap.

The following lap, with Briscoe still leading, Cindric settled in second followed by Kaulig Racing’s Ross Chastain and Justin Haley while Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brandon Jones and Harrison Burton were running inside the top six. Anthony Alfredo was in seventh place ahead of Brandon Brown, Alex Labbe and Brett Moffitt while JR Motorsports’ four-car lineup led by Noah Gragson and including Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Michael Annett were running inside the top 16.

By the fifth lap, Briscoe was still leading Cindric, Chastain and a bevy of cars racing in a single-file lane followed by a scattered pack racing in two lanes. Trailing the lead pack by more than 34 seconds was Herbst following his opening lap penalty.

Shortly after, the first caution of the race flew when rookie Joe Graf Jr. spun across the tri-oval/frontstretch, made contact with the outside wall and damaged his car following contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt as Caesar Bacarella also sustained damage. Following his incident, Graf was limping his No. 08 Bucked Up Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road when the right-rear tire on his car shredded and left a multitude of debris scattered across Turn 2. The shredded right-rear tire and the damage to the right side of Graf’s car also left his car beyond repairable to continue.

Following the incident, NASCAR declared the caution involving Graf, Earnhardt and Bacarella as the competition caution originally planned on the 10th lap. Under caution, few like Moffitt, Earnhardt, A.J. Allmendinger, Chad Finchum, Ryan Sieg and Herbst pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on track.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Briscoe jumped ahead on the outside lane and moved in front of Cindric’s No. 22 Odyssey Battery Ford Mustang on the inside lane to retain the lead through Turn 1. Entering Turn 2, however, Haley made a charge on the outside lane and started to battle with Cindric for the runner-up spot.

A lap later, just as Haley started to mount a challenge on Briscoe and Cindric for the lead, a rough start became worse for Bacarella as he wrecked on the backstretch and sustained heavy damage to the front nose of his No. 90 Alpha Prime/Maxim Chevrolet, thus brining out the second caution of the race. In addition, John Jackson was slowly limping back to pit road.

Under caution, some like teammates Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier and Annett along with Moffitt, Allmendinger and Sieg pitted while the rest led by Briscoe remained on the track.

The race restarted under green on Lap 17, and Briscoe jumped ahead and moved in front of Cindric with the lead again. In Turn 1, Burton mounted a challenge on the outside lane as he and Briscoe battled dead even for the lead. When the field returned to the tri-oval, Briscoe and his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School Ford Mustang were ahead by a nose over Burton and his No. 20 Dex Imaging Toyota Supra with the entire pack running close behind the leaders.

Two laps later, on Lap 20, Briscoe, who has led every lap thus far, was still ahead with the lead and in front of Cindric, Haley, Chastain, Alfredo and Brown. Not long after, Gragson, fresh off a one-year contract extension with JR Motorsports, started to move into the top five on the outside lane with his three teammates (Allgaier, Hemric and Annett) tucked behind.

On Lap 23, Haley emerged with the lead followed by teammate Chastain and Alfredo while Briscoe fell back to fourth place alongside Brown.

While the battling for the lead continued to intensify, the caution returned a lap later for an accident in Turn 1 involving Earnhardt, teammate B.J. McLeod and Kody Vanderwal, who came to rest below the Turn 1 infield grass with the hood raised above his No. 52 The Swag Spot Chevrolet.

Under caution, some like Alfredo, Labbe, rookie Jesse Little, Myatt Snider, Josh Williams, Timmy Hill, Sieg and Allmendinger pitted while the rest led by teammates Haley and Chastain remained on track.

For the conclusion of the first stage, the field restarted under green for a one-lap shootout. At the start, Haley and his No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet Camaro jumped ahead and moved in front of teammate Chastain on the inside lane while retaining the lead. In addition, he pulled away in Turn 1 before Cindric and Chastain came charging along with the pack through Turns 2 and 3. Despite the run, Haley was able to fend off the field to win the first stage on Lap 30 and for his third stage victory of the season. Chastain settled in second place followed by Cindric, Brown and Briscoe while Herbst, Gragson, Allgaier, Jones and Hemric were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the majority of the leaders pitted and Chastain emerged with the lead ahead of Briscoe and Haley. Following the pit stops, however, a number of competitors led by Hill, Labbe, Allmendinger, Williams, Moffitt, Sieg and Snider remained on track to occupy the top-seven positions.

The second stage started on Lap 34 with Hill leading as Allmendinger quickly made his way to second place. Back in seventh place in Turn 2 while also gaining a draft back to the front was Chastain with teammate Haley and Cindric also making their move back to the front. With the competitors running close to one another in a pack, Allmendinger made his way into the lead followed by teammates Chastain and Haley on Lap 36.

On Lap 40, with Allmendinger continuing to lead teammates Chastain and Haley followed by Cindric, the caution flew when contact from Briscoe and Jones, who was turning across the nose of Briscoe’s No. 98 Ford in Turn 3, resulted in Jones being spinning sideways as a multi-car erupted in Turn 4. The accident involved all four competitors from JR Motorsports (Gragson, Hemric, Allgaier and Annett) along with Moffitt, Labbe, Brown, Alfredo, Snider, Colby Howard and Tommy Joe Martins.

When the race restarted on Lap 45, Allmendinger retained the lead on the inside lane followed by Cindric and Chastain. Shortly after, the caution returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 3 when Allgaier, who was trying to continue after being involved in the first multi-car wreck, spun after cutting a tire and triggered another multi-car wreck that involved Labbe, Joey Gase, Snider, Brown and Jeremy Clements. Following the wreck, the race was red-flagged for more than 11 minutes while the safety workers cleaned up the carnage area in Turn 3.

When the race resumed under cautious pace and under green near the 50th lap, Allmendinger and Cindric battled for the lead through Turns 1 and 2. By then, Brown retired in the garage. Allmendinger, nonetheless, was able to retain the lead with his teammates Chastain and Haley tucked right behind. Meanwhile, Cindric dropped out of the top five after receiving no drafting help on the outside lane.

At the halfway mark, Lap 50, Allmendinger and his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro were still leading teammates Chastain and Haley followed by Herbst and Burton. A few laps later, the caution returned due to debris on the backstretch. Under caution, some like Chastain, Allmendinger, Haley and Hemric pitted while others led by teammates Herbst and Burton remained on track.

With five laps remaining in the second stage, Herbst moved in front of teammate Burton to emerge with the lead. Behind, Cindric, Allmendinger and Chastain wasted no time carving their way back to the front. The following lap, Gray Gaulding and his No. 07 Walk-Ons.com Chevrolet Camaro owned by Bobby Dotter started to challenge Herbst for the lead with Allmendinger behind.

With three laps remaining in the stage, Gaulding emerged with the lead while Allmendinger started to challenge Herbst for second place on the outside lane. On the final lap of the stage, with his Kaulig Racing teammates tucked behind him, Allmendinger was able to pass Gaulding on the backstretch and hold on to win the stage for his second stage victory of the season and the fourth of his career. Teammate Chastain muscled his way to second place followed by teammate Haley, Gaulding and Annett. Herbst, Burton, Briscoe, Cindric and Sieg settled in the top 10. By then, 25 competitors were running on the lead lap. In addition, names like Justin Allgaier, Noah Gragson, Brett Moffitt and Brandon Brown were out of the race.

Under the stage break, some like teammates Allmendinger, Chastain, Haley and Sieg remained on track while the rest led by Gaulding, Cindric and Briscoe pitted.

With less than 40 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green and Allmendinger moved in front of teammates Chastain and Haley to retain the lead. While Allmendinger and Chastain managed to clear the field, Haley was locked in a battle for third place with Sieg. Not long after, Sieg was black-flagged due to having a rear bumper cover loose on his No. 39 CMRroofing.com Chevrolet.

Remaining on track for three laps, Sieg made the turn to pit road to have the bumper cover addressed. At the same time, Hemric was also black-flagged to have a rear bumper replaced and addressed on his No. 8 Poppy Bank Chevrolet. Following his stop, however, Hemric was assessed a drive-through penalty on pit road for having too many crew members over the wall during his service.

With 30 laps remaining and with the laps continuing to wind down, Allmendinger and his No. 16 Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet Camaro continued to lead a 10-car breakaway running in a single-file lane. Teammates Chastain and Haley were in second and third followed by Briscoe, Josh Williams and Cindric. Annett, the lone JR Motorsports competitors in the top 10, was in seventh followed by Herbst, Burton and Gaulding.

Five laps later, Allmendinger was still ahead of a 10-car breakaway followed by teammates Chastain and Haley while rookie Jesse Little, running in 11th place and leading the next wave of cars, was trailing by nine seconds. Another five laps later, with 20 laps remaining, Allmendinger continued to lead teammates Chastain and Haley, though all three Kaulig Racing Chevrolets were in question about having enough fuel to complete the race to its distance compared to their challengers behind them.

Under 15 laps remaining, the top-10 competitors led by Allmendinger were separated by nearly four seconds while the 11th-place car led by Little was trailing by 20 seconds. Five laps later and with 10 laps remaining, the following competitors of Cindric, Briscoe, Annett and Herbst overtook Haley for position while Allmendinger and Chastain continued to lead. By then, 16 competitors were running on the lead lap and the top-nine competitors were ahead of 10th-place Williams by nearly 10 seconds.

With five laps remaining and the top-nine competitors at the front still settling in a single-file line, nose to nose and bumper to bumper, Allmendinger was leading teammate Chastain while Cindric and Briscoe were behind.

With two laps remaining, entering Turn 1, Chastain and Briscoe attempted to pull beneath Allmendinger for the lead, but Allmendinger kept his car ahead of the pack after blocking the run. Chastain and his No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet Camaro remained in second while Briscoe fell back to seventh.

When the final lap of the race started, Allmendinger was still leading and blocking Chastain, Cindric and Haley. Entering Turn 3, Chastain gained a run through Turn 2 and he attempted to make a move beneath Allmendinger for the lead and the win. Chastain ended up giving his teammate a bump in the turn that turned Allmendinger sideways as he spun with a multi-car wreck erupting that collected Chastain, Annett and Cindric.

In the midst of the wreck, Haley dodged the carnage involving his teammates and came out on top as he was able to cruise across the finish line to grab a thrilling victory at Daytona.

The victory was Haley’s second at Daytona after he won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Daytona last July in a rain-shortened race while driving for Spire Motorsports. Including his three NASCAR Truck Series career victories in 2018, Haley has won six races across NASCAR’s three major division series. In addition, Haley’s last three victories across NASCAR have occurred on superspeedway venues.

“An amazing effort by Kaulig Racing,” Haley said on the frontstretch on NBCSN. “Obviously, I hate that A.J. and Ross got together there. As you guys at home can see, [team owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice, we built a team and a family. We all work as one. Extremely proud of this LeafFilter Gutter Protection crew. [I] Can’t believe it. Two superspeedway wins in a row. Gotta say something for [spotter] Kevin Hamlin on the booth, too. Just a little lucky there. We got shoved out and I was a little frustrated, but that’s why you never give up. These things are so unpredictable. An incredible effort today. We swept everything [stages and race win]. Extremely proud of everyone.”

Haley’s victory at Daytona was also redemption from the Xfinity Series race at Daytona in July 2018, where Haley, driving for GMS Racing, made a bold three-wide pass for the win on Kyle Larson and Elliott Sadler entering the tri-oval for the win. While he was able to clear both competitors and streak across the finish line in first place, he completed his pass with his left-side tires crossing beneath the double yellow line zone. As a result, Haley was disqualified and demoted back to the last car on the lead lap while Larson was awarded the win.

“[I] Parked it right here on the double yellow line [area] where I went down too low about two years ago in a Xfinity race,” Haley added. “A little humor there.”

Behind Haley, Gray Gaulding tied his career-best result of second place in his 43rd series start followed by Briscoe, Herbst and Burton. Chastain, Annett and Cindric limped across the line in sixth, seventh and eighth while Williams and Little finished in the top 10. Allmendinger, who was unable to limp his car back to the finish line, ended his race in 15th place.

Following the race, Allmendinger made the mandatory post-race trip to the infield care center. Both Kaulig Racing teammates, at the end, expressed no ill will towards one another with Chastain defending his move and attempt to win to lock himself into the Xfinity Playoffs.

“Hopefully, we get some good ratings on that one,” Chastain said on pit road on NBCSN. “Terrible to run into your teammate like that. It must be my fault, though. It’s unfortunate, we did everything right all night. Man, we just got to win. This No. 10 car, Nutrien Ag Solutions. [I] Did everything right to be the best teammate I could. I haven’t always been. Last lap, I don’t back down and I’m gonna go for it. If I wasn’t there, if I watch the replay, but he got turned, so it wasn’t completely into the bumper. I hate it, man! It’s not gonna help me moving forward. It doesn’t matter how many races each of us run. We’re supposed to go for the win. Team rules the last 10 laps, and we all stayed committed. I hated that Justin got shoved out there with 10 or five [laps] to go. Coming to the checkered, what am I supposed to do? Just finish second? Not this guy.”

“It’s the way it is,” Allmendinger added in the infield care center on NBCSN. “We’re proud of everybody at Kaulig Racing for building really fast Chevys. [I] Wanted to do everything I could to get that Ellsworth Advisors Chevy in Victory Lane. I try to take care of my teammates, but it is what it is. It’s for the win. Ross is going for the championship and going for a win there. I saw him get low and I thought he’d, maybe, take care of me a little bit, considering I was there. He’s going for the win. It is what it is. It’s just disappointing. We were gonna have another 1-2-3 Kaulig finish at Daytona. It’s part of life, it’s racing. More importantly, congrats to my little bro, Justin Haley, and at least getting a Kaulig Racing Chevy in Victory Lane. That’s the most important thing. We’re bringing more trophies home for Matt Kaulig and that’s all that matters. He’s going for the win. I get it.”

There were nine lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 28 laps.

With his top-10 result, Cindric continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 58 points over Briscoe.

Results.

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

2. Gray Gaulding, two laps led

3. Chase Briscoe, 22 laps led

4. Riley Herbst, four laps led

5. Harrison Burton

6. Ross Chastain, one lap led

7. Michael Annett

8. Austin Cindric

9. Josh Williams

10. Jesse Little

11. Vinnie Miller

12. Colby Howard

13. Brandon Jones

14. Tommy Joe Martins

15. A.J. Allmendinger – OUT, Accident, 58 laps led, Stage 2 winner

16. Matt Mills, one lap down

17. Mike Harmon, one lap down

18. Tim Viens, one lap down

19. Myatt Snider, one lap down

20. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

21. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

22. Timmy Hill, three laps down, four laps led

23. Ryan Sieg, four laps down

24. Daniel Hemric, eight laps down

25. Chad Finchum – OUT, Engine

26. Brandon Brown – OUT, Dvp

27. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

28. Joey Gase – OUT, Dvp

29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

30. Alex Labbe – OUT, Accident

31. Noah Gragson – OUT, Accident

32. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Accident

33. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

34. Kody Vanderwal – OUT, Accident

35. John Jackson – OUT, Handling

36. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will run its next scheduled race at Darlington Raceway on September 5 at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

August 29, 2020
Weekend schedule for Daytona and Gateway

This weekend the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series head to Daytona International Speedway in Florida while the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series travel to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in Illinois.

The Cup Series race at Daytona will serve as the regular season finale with the start of the postseason Playoffs set to begin on Sept. 6 at Darlington Raceway.

There are 13 drivers who have already earned a spot in the Cup Series 16-driver Playoff field. They include Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Aric Almirola, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Austin Dillon and Cole Custer.

All times are Eastern.

Friday, August 28, 2020

7:30 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Wawa 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona (Stages 30/60/100 Laps = 250 Miles) NBCSN/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020

11:30 a.m.: ARCA Menards Series final practice at Gateway – No TV

6:15 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Dutch Boy 150 at Gateway (120 Laps, 150 Miles) TrackPass/MRN

7:30 p.m.: Cup Series Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona NBC/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Stages 50/100/160 Laps = 400 Miles) Pole: Kevin Harvick

Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020

Noon: Truck Series CarShield 200 Presented by CK Power at Gateway (Stages 55/110/160 Laps = 200 Miles) FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

August 27, 2020
Briscoe snaps a one-month dry spell; rallies to win at Dover

From a wreck on Saturday to a win on Sunday, Chase Briscoe capped off an up-and-down weekend at Dover International Speedway by winning the second Drydene 200 event on August 23 in a backup car and following a late battle with Ross Chastain. The victory was Briscoe’s sixth of the season, first since early July at Indianapolis and the eighth of his NASCAR Xfinity Series career.

The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s first Xfinity race at Dover, where only the top-15 finishers were inverted. With that, Brett Moffitt, who finished 15th on Saturday, started on pole position and was joined on the front row with Brandon Brown.

Chase Briscoe started at the rear of the field after moving to a backup car along with Daniel Hemric due to a driver change. Anthony Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Alex Labbe and Vinnie Miller also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments. Noah Gragson and Myatt Snider retained their starting spots for Sunday’s event, but both lost their pit stall selection for next week due to two pre-race technical failures.

When the green flag waved and the second Xfinity Dover race commenced, Moffitt jumped to an early advantage through Turns 1 and 2. Justin Haley moved up to second place followed by rookie Riley Herbst while Brown fell back to fourth place in front of Noah Gragson.

By the third lap, Justin Allgaier, coming off his first win of this season at Dover on Saturday and who started 15th, moved up to eighth place. Ryan Sieg, on the other hand, fell back to 12th place behind rookie Harrison Burton while Austin Cindric was scored in 10th place.

Following the first 10 laps, the first caution of the race flew due to an incident involving Earnhardt and Miller in the backstretch, where they made contact with one another and towards the outside wall before Miller made more contact against the Turn 3 outside wall. By then, Moffitt was still leading over Haley, Herbst, Gragson and Allgaier. Ross Chastain was in seventh place ahead of Cindric and Michael Annett while Burton was in 10th. Brandon Jones was in 14th, Chase Briscoe was in 16th and Alfredo, who rallied from power issues that forced him to start at the rear of the field, was in 20th ahead of Daniel Hemric.

Under caution, few like Timmy Hill, Stephen Leicht, Matt Mills and Korbin Forrister pitted.

When the race restarted around the Lap 15 mark, Moffitt retained the lead following a strong start. Haley and Herbst battled for second place while behind, Brown got loose underneath Gragson in Turn 3. Brown and Gragson were able to prevent their cars from spinning despite sliding sideways as they continued running inside the top 10.

Towards the front, Chastain took over second place followed by Herbst while Haley fell back to fourth in front of teammates Allgaier and Gragson. Meanwhile, Moffitt retained the lead through Lap 20 and when the competition caution flew.

Under caution, only a few that included Brandon Jones, Hemric, Josh Williams, Stephen Leicht, Kody Vanderwal and Matt Mills pitted while the rest remained on track. Prior to the restart, Burton was sent to the rear due to a choose cone violation.

When the race restarted on Lap 24, Moffitt and Chastain battled dead before Chastain emerged with the lead the following lap. Behind, Allgaier continued to muscle his way to the front after taking over third place from Herbst. In addition, Gragson passed Haley for fifth place while Cindric and Briscoe moved up to seventh and eighth. Hemric also emerged in the top 10 as he battled Brandon Brown for more.

Following Lap 30, Chastain was ahead by nearly a second over Moffitt and more than a second over Allgaier. Behind, Jones, racing on fresh tires, was in 18th. Five laps later, Chastain extended his advantage to more than a second over Moffit and nearly two seconds over Allgaier. Gragson moved back up into the top five while Haley, Briscoe, Cindric and Hemric battled for sixth place.

Another five laps later and with the laps in the first stage dwindling, Chastain continued to extend his advantage to more than two seconds over Allgaier and Moffitt. Proving he had a fast car throughout Saturday’s Xfinity Dover race and in the early stages of Sunday’s event, Chastain raced to his first stage victory of the season on Lap 45. Allgaier settled in second followed by Moffitt, Herbst and Gragson. Briscoe, Cindric, Haley, Hemric and Brown were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Jones emerged with the lead following a two-tire pit stop. Behind, Allgaier beat Chastain to exit in second place, but the first on four fresh tires. Following the stops, however, Herbst was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

When the second stage started past the Lap 50 mark, Allgaier muscled ahead with the lead. Behind, Chastain and Briscoe made a three-wide move on Jones to move up followed by Cindric while Jones fell back to fifth place. In addition, Gragson took over seventh place from Hemric while Burton moved up to ninth ahead of Haley. Shortly after, Alfredo joined the battle as he battled Burton for a top-10 spot.

While the batting around the track among multiple competitors continued to ensue, Allgaier was ahead by two-tenths of a second over Chastain and with Briscoe and Cindric trailing closely behind the two leaders. By Lap 60, the top-four competitors were ahead by more than a second over fifth-place Jones and more than two seconds over sixth-place Gragson.

Past the Lap 60 mark, the caution returned due to an incident in Turn 2 involving Earnhardt and Herbst. Under caution, few that included Jeremy Clements, B.J. McLeod, Kody Vanderwal and Chad Finchum pitted while the rest remained on track.

On Lap 69, the race restarted and the battle for the lead ignited between Allgaier, Chastain, Briscoe and Cindric. The following lap, Briscoe moved up to second place and he grabbed the lead the next lap. While Briscoe led his first lap of the day, Chastain and Cindric battled for third place followed by Gragson while Hemric moved up to sixth place after passing Jones.

By Lap 80, Briscoe was ahead by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Chastain, Cindric and Gragson continued running inside the top five. Behind, Hemric and Jones were in sixth and seventh and Moffit was in eighth ahead of Haley and Burton. Alfredo was in 11th ahead of Brown and Michael Annet, Sieg was in 14th ahead of Snider and Herbst was in 16th.

For the final 10 laps of the second stage, Briscoe was able to power away from the field and claim his fifth stage of the season on Lap 90. Allgaier settled in second followed by Chastain, Cindric and Gragson. Hemric, Jones, Moffitt, Burton and Haley were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Briscoe retained the lead after exiting pit road first following a four-tire stop followed by Cindric, Hemric, Chastain, Burton and Jones while Allgaier fell back to eighth place. The race went from bad to worse for Allgaier, who dropped to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation. Labbe also dropped to the rear of the field due to crew member interference.

With nearly 100 laps remaining, the final stage started and Briscoe retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane. Chastain moved up to second place over Cindric while Burton moved up to fourth place over Hemric. Gragson and Jones also joined the battle involving Burton and Hemric.

Three laps later and at the halfway mark on Lap 100, Briscoe was ahead by nearly a second over Chastain, who continued to run ahead of Cindric for the runner-up spot. Another 10 laps later and with 90 laps remaining, Briscoe was still leading by more than a second over Chastain and Cindric. Hemric and Burton settled in the top five ahead of Gragson, Annett, Jones, Herbst and Moffitt. Meanwhile, following his uncontrolled tire violation penalty, Allgaier raced his way back up to 14th behind Alfredo, Haley and Sieg. Brown was in 15th, Snider was in 17th and Clements was in 19th.

With 80 laps remaining and while the laps continued to dwindle, Briscoe stabilized his advantage to nearly a second over Chastain with Cindric trailing by two seconds. Hemric trailed by less than four seconds while Burton trailed by more than four seconds. Gragson settled in sixth while Annett and Jones battled for seventh. Allgaier, meanwhile, was up to 11th.

Twenty laps later and with 60 laps remaining, Briscoe extended his advantage to two seconds over Chastain followed by Cindric, Hemric and Burton. Behind, Allgaier was back in the top 10 as he was running in 10th place.

With approximately 40 laps remaining and with only 11 cars on the lead lap, Hemric was the first of the lead-lap competitors to make a green flag pit stop for fresh tires and fuel to complete the race to its distance. Shortly after, Burton made the turn to pit road, but he was penalized for a commitment line violation after he locked up his tires, nearly slid while turning down the banking and failed to keep all four tires inside the pit road entrance line. Haley, not long after, pitted along with race leader Briscoe, Cindric, Moffitt and Chastain.

While the pit stops under green continued to cycle through, Stefan Parsons spun while entering pit road. At the same time, Chastain and Briscoe made contact with one another as Chastain blocked and attempted to retain his spot ahead of Briscoe, who approached him with full speed, bumped him and struggled to navigate his way around Chastain’s No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet. Shortly after, Briscoe bumped and moved Chastain out of the way in Turn 3.

At the front, after Jones pitted, Gragson retained the lead ahead of Annett, Allgaier and Alfredo, but all needed to make a final pit stop to complete the race to its distance. Behind, Briscoe was in sixth ahead of Chastain, Cindric and Hemric.

With less than 20 laps remaining, Annett was the leader after teammate Gragson pitted. Behind, Briscoe was ahead by less than two seconds over Chastain. Shortly after, Briscoe extended his advantage over Chastain after Chastain struggled to navigate his way through three lapped cars.

With 12 laps remaining, Briscoe reassumed the lead after Annett pitted. By then, he was ahead by nearly three seconds over Chastain while Cindric started to close within Chastain for the runner-up spot.

Under 10 laps remaining, Briscoe continued to stabilize his advantage to nearly three seconds over Chastain and Cindric. For the remainder of the race and with a decent advantage, Briscoe was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic and claim his sixth checkered flag of the season.

The victory was the 17th in the Xfinity Series for Stewart-Haas Racing since joining forces with Fred Biagi as Briscoe currently leads the current Xfinity field with the most wins of this season (six). In addition, Briscoe recorded his third victory of this season with crew chief Richard Boswell and the 11th for Ford (ninth since June).

“At the beginning of the race, as soon as we took the green [flag], I knew that I was gonna be really good,” Briscoe said on MRN. “The car was way better than what it was yesterday and really what I was looking for. I think we were able to finish sixth in the first stage from the back. I knew that if we could just get clean air, I was gonna be in really good shape. That long run, I felt like I was not the greatest, but just having clean air helped. The green flag cycle, I lost the race last year because I didn’t come to pit road hard enough. I still, obviously, gave up a lot of time to Ross [Chastain]. I got to get a lot better at that. I didn’t want a caution because I had such a big lead, but I was wanting a caution so I didn’t have to do green flag pit stops. Overall, super happy to get HighPoint.com back in Victory Lane. It feels like it’s been forever and it’s only been a month and a half. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into the Playoffs.”

While celebrating his win, Briscoe took a moment to address his on-track contact with Chastain.

“Me and Ross, I feel like, always race really hard, but we normally keep it clean,” Briscoe added. “I knew that Ross would’ve did the exact same thing in my situation, especially if I’d done what I did off of pit road. I packed air on him, I didn’t hit him. I think once I packed air on him, he slowed up so much. I was so close, I hit him eventually, but I didn’t wreck him. I think he knew I wasn’t very happy after getting ran down the apron. I just moved him out of the way. He’s trying to win his first race of the year. His job is to not let cars pass him…that’s the same as my job. I did what I did.”

Chastain finished in second place for his ninth top-five result of the season followed by Cindric, who has finished in the top five in the last nine Xfinity races. Despite the contact with Briscoe, Chastain expressed no hard feelings towards the race winner.

“I’m just proud of this whole Moose Fraternity team, this No. 10 car, this Kaulig Racing group,” Chastain said. “We’ve been working at it. We didn’t have the speed to start the year. We had high expectations. We’ve been working as a group. I’m just proud that we came here with no practice and we had a car capable of winning both days. We just needed a few more things to go our way. I think if we came back and raced again tomorrow, we probably had one. We keep getting one spot better every day. Our changes overtime were incredible. They were exactly what I needed. Once the race went on, then I needed a little more. It’s one of those things, it’s tough right now…this whole Kaulig group is getting hot and getting fast at the right time.”

“Obviously, a solid day,” Cindric added. “Not the best. We tried some things overnight. Probably the first doubleheader, we tried some things and it didn’t work. It didn’t help when we didn’t have track position. We weren’t able to work our way as forward as quickly we did yesterday on our PPG Ford Mustang. [We] Scored some solid points and move on to Daytona and try to have a little fun there.”

Jones and Hemric rounded out the top five following stellar runs. Finishing in the top 10 were Gragson, Allgaier, Annett, Herbst and Moffitt as only the top-seven competitors finished on the lead lap. Following his pair of penalties, Burton finished in 11th place ahead of Haley.

There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 24 laps.

With his pair of podium results, Cindric continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 62 points over Briscoe and 97 over Gragson.

Results.

1. Chase Briscoe, 107 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Ross Chastain, 24 laps led, Stage 1 winner

3. Austin Cindric, one lap led

4. Brandon Jones, eight laps led

5. Daniel Hemric

6. Noah Gragson, 11 laps led

7. Justin Allgaier, 19 laps led

8. Michael Annett, one lap down, five laps led

9. Riley Herbst, one lap down

10. Brett Moffitt, one lap down, 25 laps led

11. Harrison Burton, one lap down

12. Justin Haley, one lap down

13. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

14. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

15. Tommy Joe Martins, two laps down

16. Brandon Brown, two laps down

17. Alex Labbe, two laps down

18. Myatt Snider, three laps down

19. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

20. David Starr, three laps down

21. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

22. Josh Williams, three laps down

23. Jesse Little, three laps down

24. Chad Finchum, four laps down

25. B.J. McLeod, four laps down

26. Colby Howard, four laps down

27. Kody Vanderwal, four laps down

28. Stefan Parsons, four laps down

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, five laps down

30. Matt Mills, six laps down

31. Stephen Leicht, eight laps down

32. Korbin Forrister – OUT, Brakes

33. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine

34. Timmy Hill – OUT, Overheating

35. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Suspension

36. Vinner Miller – OUT, Accident

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will run its next scheduled race at Daytona International Speedway on August 28, which will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 23, 2020

Category: RC XFINITY

Thursday, Sept. 17

Friday, Sept. 18

Saturday, Sept. 19

Post Inspection Report:

Complete Results:

Friday, August 28, 2020

Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020

Sunday, Aug. 30, 2020