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Reddick dodges final lap carnage for wild Cup victory at Talladega

With drafting help from two Toyota teammates as team owner Michael Jordan watched atop the pit box, Tyler Reddick rose to the occasion and raced his way to a wild overwhelming NASCAR Cup Series victory in the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 21, amid a final lap accident that knocked pole-sitter Michael McDowell out of race-winning contention.

The two-time Xfinity Series champion from Corning, California, led five times for 13 of 188 scheduled laps. Reddick started 18th and kept his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE intact while working closely with his Toyota teammates amid the draft and the three-wide packed action towards the front.

Despite losing four of his Toyota teammates, including team owner Denny Hamlin and 23XI Racing teammate Bubba Wallace, to a multi-car wreck with 33 laps remaining amid a late cycle of green flag pit stops Reddick cycled into the lead during the caution period. Drafting support from Martin Truex Jr. and Ty Gibbs kept him in contention for a 27-lap dash to the finish as he squared off against Ford competitors Michael McDowell and Brad Keselowski.

Then, on the final lap, Reddick, who led the penultimate lap by a hair over McDowell initially lost ground to McDowell and Keselowski amid the draft. But with two corners remaining, he capitalized on a swerved move by McDowell entering the frontstretch resulting in McDowell spinning in the middle of the track and igniting a multi-car wreck. Reddick was able to zip by both Keselowski and Noah Gragson to cross the finish line by two-tenths of a second ahead of Keselowski and capture his first Cup Series victory of the 2024 season along with his first at Talladega and of the season for 23XI Racing.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup on Saturday, April 20, Michael McDowell captured his second Cup Series pole position of the season and his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.022 mph in 52.609 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Austin Cindric, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.739 mph in 52.691 seconds.

When the green flag waved and the event commenced, Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric battled for the lead in front of two packed lanes through the first two turns before they navigated through the backstretch. With the field behind still running in two tight-packed lanes through the final two turns and back to the tri-oval, McDowell managed to lead the first lap by a hair over Cindric.

During the next four laps, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as McDowell and Cindric battled and swapped the lead. Amid the battles, Martin Truex Jr. mounted a charge from the outside lane with drafting help from Bubba Wallace and Daniel Hemric while McDowell started to muscle ahead on the inside lane.

Meanwhile, Kyle Larson, who was not allowed to post a qualifying lap on Saturday due to unapproved adjustments involving his roof rails to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and was assessed a drive-through penalty on pit road during the opening lap, was mired at the rear of the field and trailing by a distance with no drafting help.

Over the next five laps, Truex, Hemric and BJ McLeod each led at least a lap while the pack of 37 competitors fanned out to three lanes as they navigated around the superspeedway venue to take advantage of the draft.

Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Chase Briscoe assumed the lead from Hemric on the outside lane amid the tight-packed racing before Justin Haley carved his No. 51 Parts Plus Ford Mustang Dark Horse to the front as he challenged Briscoe for the top spot during the proceeding laps. Despite Briscoe blocking Haley and briefly stalling his momentum through the backstretch by Lap 16, Haley switched to the inside lane and continued to battle Briscoe before he assumed the top spot by Lap 18. Truex, however, would join the battle and lead by the Lap 20 mark. By then, Larson was lapped by the field.

By Lap 25 and with the field still fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Truex was ahead with the lead by a hair on the outside lane as Haley was leading the draft on the inside lane and Briscoe was mired as the lead competitor in the middle lane. As Haley, Truex and Briscoe battled against one another for the lead within the draft, Truex continued to muscle ahead and lead the proceeding laps by the Lap 30 mark.

At the Lap 35 mark, Truex, who led eight of the previous 10 laps, was ahead by a hair over McLeod and Briscoe while he had teammates Ty Gibbs and Denny Hamlin drafting him through the middle lane. McLeod, however, would have Daniel Suarez pushing him on the outside lane as he remained in contention for the lead before Suarez bailed on him by Lap 37, allowing Truex to muscle ahead while Briscoe tried to mount another challenge on the inside lane. McLeod would then receive drafting help from Chase Elliott by Lap 40 to muscle back ahead on the outside lane, with Truex and Briscoe remaining in the middle and inside lanes, respectively.

Then on Lap 40, McLeod went up against the outside wall entering Turn 3, and fell off the pace as the entire field zipped by him. McLeod then pitted as the race remained under green flag conditions. By then, Briscoe had muscled his way back to the lead on the inside lane while Truex fought back on the middle lane. Meanwhile, Elliott was trying to mount a charge from the outside lane and received a push from Ryan Preece through the backstretch to challenge the front-runners for the lead.

Not long after on Lap 41, Indiana natives Briscoe and Haley peeled off the track to pit under green. Another wave of competitors, mainly Chevrolet competitors led by Suarez and rookie Zane Smith, pitted by Lap 42 before another led by Alfredo and Gragson pitted. During the latest wave, Hamlin, who was trying to slam on the brakes to enter pit road under pit road pace, got loose and ran into the side of John Hunter Nemechek before he spun his No. 11 FedEx Toyota Camry XSE on pit road. The race, however, remained under green as Hamlin proceeded to his pit stall while another wave of competitors led by Elliott and Larson, who was a lap down, pitted. By then, Zane Smith and Suarez were penalized for speeding on pit road.

On Lap 45, the final wave of competitors led by Shane van Gisbergen pitted under green. Once the pit stops cycled through, Elliott emerged as the new leader ahead of teammate William Byron, Kyle Busch, Cindric and Harrison Burton. During the pit stops, Joey Logano was penalized for speeding on pit road as Briscoe would have to pit for a second time to address a flat tire on his entry.

By Lap 50, Cindric, who assumed the lead from Elliott two laps earlier, was still leading ahead of Elliott, Burton, Byron and Ryan Blaney as the top 30 competitors were separated by a second. As Cindric and Elliott battled for the lead in front of two packed lanes during the proceeding laps, Larson was running in front of teammate Elliott as he was trying to remain on the lead lap following his opening lap penalty.

Just past the Lap 55 mark, Cindric and Elliott battled for the lead in front of two packed lanes, with Cindric having Harrison Burton drafting him on the outside lane. Elliott was still running behind teammate, Larson, and had teammate Byron drafting him on the inside lane.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Cindric edged Elliott by a hair to claim his second Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Elliott ended up second followed by teammate Byron, Blaney and Kyle Busch while Burton, Christopher Bell, Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and Alex Bowman were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Larson, who was lapped by Cindric at the start/finish line, was the recipient of the free pass as he returned to the lead lap category.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Cindric pitted while Brad Keselowski and Anthony Alfredo remained on the track. Not long after, the following names that included Hamlin, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Keselowski, John Hunter Nemechek, Logano, Corey LaJoie, Truex and Larson would pit again for extra fuel to their respective entries.

The second stage period started on Lap 66 as Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Busch briefly muscled ahead exiting the frontstretch until Blaney fought back on the inside lane through the first two turns. As the field started to fan out to three lanes, Blaney received a draft from teammate Cindric and Burton to clear Busch and muscle ahead of the pack through the tri-oval and back to the start/finish line for the following lap.

Then on Lap 68 and as the field continued to battle through three packed lanes, Shane van Gisbergen mounted a drafting charge to the front followed by Austin Dillon from the outside lane. After clearing both Busch and Blaney, Dillon then bailed on van Gisbergen as he moved his No. 3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in front of teammate Busch’s No. 8 Cheddar’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. But van Gisbergen fought back on the outside lane as he picked up Alfredo as his new drafting partner. Alfredo then bailed on van Gisbergen on Lap 70 as he led while van Gisbergen was shoved out of the draft as he and his No. 16 Wendy’s Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 slowly drifted to the rear of the field. Meanwhile, Noah Gragson carved his way into the lead during the following lap as he was pursued by John Hunter Nemechek and while Larson was battling Alfredo for third place.

Just past the Lap 75 mark, Nemechek assumed the lead in his No. 42 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE on Lap 72, was leading ahead of Alfredo and a bevy of competitors charging strong amid a scattered, three-wide pack. Despite being pressured by Gragson, Alfredo and Corey LaJoie during the proceeding laps, Nemechek would retain the top spot by Lap 80 as 36 of 38 starters were running within two seconds of one another amid the draft.

Through Lap 85, Nemechek continued to lead ahead of Gragson and LaJoie while Chris Buescher was trying to mount a charge on the outside lane with drafting help from Gilliland. As Alfredo occupied the inside lane amid a three-wide battle within the pack, the top-36 competitors were separated within three seconds while Nemechek remained in front of Gragson with the top spot.

At the halfway mark on Lap 94 and with the field running tight in three packed lanes, Hamlin overtook Nemechek for the lead while Cody Ware, Buescher, Gragson, Gilliland, Truex, LaJoie, Preece and Larson were scored in the top 10 ahead of Busch, Austin Dillon, van Gisbergen, Wallace, Cindric, Ty Gibbs, Alfredo, Logano, Byron, Bell, Elliott and Hemric. Meanwhile, Briscoe, who pitted by himself under green earlier, trailed the lead pack by 41 seconds.

Six laps later, Buescher drafted his No. 17 Fastenal Ford Mustang Dark Horse into the lead followed by Ford teammates Gilliland, Preece, Logano and Gragson while van Gisbergen, who led on Lap 98 and battled Buescher during the following lap, was shuffled out of the draft for a second time. Meanwhile, Larson occupied sixth place ahead of LaJoie, Wallace, Austin Dillon and Busch as Briscoe was lapped by the field during the following lap.

Then on Lap 102, another cycle of green flag pit stops commenced as the first wave, mainly Ford competitors led by Buescher, pitted primarily for fuel. Another wave, mainly Chevrolet competitors led by Austin Dillon and Busch, pitted during the following lap. During the second pit sequence, trouble struck for LaJoie, who spun his No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 after running into standing water on the asphalt while exiting pit road. Despite LaJoie’s spin, the race remained under green flag conditions as Logano led a wave of 12 competitors who had yet to pit. Logano and Hamlin would then battle for the top spot by Lap 106.

On Lap 110, Hamlin was leading ahead of teammate Bell, Logano, Cindric and teammate Truex as the top-12 competitors, all of whom had not yet pitted, continued to run on the track while the next wave of competitors comprising those who pitted led by Byron trailed by 33 seconds. Another lap later, Hamlin led a wave of Toyota competitors to pit road under green while the rest, including, Logano, Cindric, Blaney and Josh Berry remained on the track. During the pit stops, Bell was penalized for speeding on pit road as Logano, Berry, Blaney and Cindric pitted by Lap 112. Upon the completion of the pit stops, Blaney was penalized for speeding on pit road as Logano and Cindric managed to blend back onto the track and regain the pace with the field that enabled them to contend towards the front.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Logano fended off a late challenge from Larson to capture his first Cup stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Cindric edged Larson at the start/finish line to claim second followed by Austin Dillon and Ross Chastain while Reddick, Buescher, Elliott, Ryan Preece and Ty Gibbs were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Logano returned to pit road for service while the rest including Keselowski, LaJoie, Briscoe, van Gisbergen, Truex, Gibbs and Alfredo pitted. Following the pit stops, Logano exited pit road first ahead of Larson, Cindric, Chastain, Dillon, Elliott, Reddick, Busch, Buescher and Bowman. Shortly after, Keselowski would lead the rest of the competitors who pitted during the caution period as Logano cycled back into the lead.

With 62 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Logano and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Logano and Chastain battled dead even for the lead as Logano had Team Penske teammate Cindric drafting him while Chastain had Chevrolet teammate Kyle Busch drafting him. Chastain then muscled away from Busch before moving in front of Logano and Cindric in the draft by the following lap just before the rest of the field caught back up to the top-four leaders. Shortly after, Chastain and Logano returned to battling dead even for the lead in front of two packed lanes with 60 laps remaining.

With 56 laps remaining, the caution returned after Elliott ran into the rear of Haley that sent Haley into Bell’s No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE as Bell went back up the track and hit the outside wall head-on in Turn 3 while barely dodging Elliott as Briscoe, Blaney and Zane Smith were also involved. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Logano pitted while the rest led by Alfredo remained on the track. Once Alfredo and others pitted with 50 laps remaining, Berry cycled into the lead.

During the following restart with 49 laps remaining, where teammates Berry and Gragson occupied the front row, Berry and Gragson battled dead even against their Overstock.com-sponsored Ford Mustang Dark Horses for a full lap. The following lap, Hemric ignited a charge from the outside lane as he assumed the lead in his No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with drafting help from Chastain before McDowell received a push from Austin Dillon to muscle ahead, clear Hemric and return to the lead.

With 40 laps remaining and with a majority of the field migrating to the outside lane, McDowell was leading ahead of teammate Gilliland, Keselowski, Busch and Cody Ware while Gragson, Chastain, van Gisbergen, Suarez and Larson were running in the top 10 ahead of Bowman, Elliott, Stenhouse, Buescher, Berry, Alfredo, Logano, Hemric, Burton and LaJoie.

Three laps later, a bevy of Toyota competitors pitted under green, mainly for fuel. As the Toyota competitors managed to blend back onto the track and remain on the lead lap, McDowell retained the lead over Gilliland, Keselowski, Berry, Hemric, Gragson and a bevy of competitors running two by two in a tight pack with 35 laps remaining.

Then with 33 laps remaining, the caution flew after Bubba Wallace, who was running in a seven-car Toyota line towards the rear of the field upon pitting under green and trying to regain ground of the lead pack, got Erik Jones’ No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE loose in Turn 3 that resulted with Jones getting turned and sent head-on into the outside wall as Wallace and John Hunter Nemechek also piled into him before Nemechek came back the track and clipped Hamlin as Hamlin also wrecked against the wall while Reddick, Truex and Gibbs escaped the carnage.

During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McDowell returned to pit road for fuel while the rest including Carson Hocevar, Reddick, Truex and Gibbs remained on the track as McDowell exited off of pit road first from the first pit stall. Hocevar would then pit not long after as Reddick cycled into the lead.

As the event restarted under green with 27 laps remaining, Reddick received a push from Toyota teammate Truex to rocket ahead of McDowell with the lead through the first two turns until McDowell came charging back from the inside lane with drafting help from Keselowski’s No. 6 Castrol Edge Ford Mustang Dark Horse. Reddick and McDowell battled side by side for the lead during the following lap until McDowell muscled ahead and was placed on defense as he fended off both Keselowski and Reddick for the lead in his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse with 25 laps remaining.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, McDowell retained the lead ahead of Keselowski, Reddick, Gragson and Berry while Truex, Gibbs, Chastain, Busch, Suarez and 20 additional competitors running within two seconds of one another trailed in a tight two by two pack.

During the proceeding laps, the battle for the lead was drawn to a side-by-side battle between McDowell and Reddick as Reddick had Toyota teammates Truex and Gibbs drafting him on the outside lane while McDowell had Ford teammates Keselowski, Gragson and Berry drafting him on the inside lane while also trying to gain control of both lanes with 15 laps remaining.

With 10 laps remaining, Reddick and McDowell continued to swap against one another for the lead and in front of two stacked lanes, with neither stepping out of the throttle nor giving an inch as they kept their respective manufacturer drafting partners lined up behind them.

During the proceeding laps and with a majority of the field continuing to run in two tight-packed lanes, McDowell started to muscle ahead from the inside lane as he was placed on defense to keep Keselowski drafting him and to stall Reddick’s momentum from the outside lane. Amid his strong defensive drive, Reddick fought back on the outside lane as he continued to challenge McDowell for the lead while a third drafting line led by van Gisbergen, who was running within the top 15, was trying to mount a charge toward the front. Gibbs and Busch would also move up to the third outside lane as McDowell held a narrow lead over both Keselowski and Reddick with two laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Reddick was leading by a hair over McDowell amid the tight two-pack formation. As the field navigated past the lapped competitor of John Hunter Nemechek through the first two turns, McDowell and Reddick continued to battle dead even through the backstretch until Keselowski drafted McDowell clear ahead of Reddick and the field with Noah Gragson trying to follow suit through Turns 3 and 4.

Then entering the frontstretch, Keselowski made a move to the outside of McDowell, but McDowell blocked Keselowski. As Keselowski crossed over back to the inside lane, McDowell did the same to make a second blocking attempt, but he got sideways after barely driving off the front nose of Keselowski. This resulted in McDowell spinning back across the middle of the track and igniting a vicious multi-car wreck that nearly collected the entire field and resulted in Corey LaJoie sliding across the outside wall on his side while also nearly turning over Josh Berry in the process and just past the finish line before his car tumbled once and came to a rest right-side up.

Amid the carnage, Reddick, who dropped to fourth entering the frontstretch, surged his No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry XSE past both Gragson and Keselowski while barely avoiding McDowell’s spinning car through the frontstretch to claim the lead and cross the finish line in first place to score the victory just before the caution flew.

With the victory, Reddick racked up his sixth career win in the NASCAR Cup Series division, his first at Talladega and his first since winning at Kansas Speedway last September. In addition, Reddick became the sixth winner through the first 10 events on the 2024 Cup Series schedule as he also recorded the fourth victory of the season for the Toyota nameplate and the first of the season for 23XI Racing.

“Man, it’s incredible!” Reddick said on FOX. “Everyone on this No. 45 Jordan Brand Toyota Camry worked really hard today. [Things] Didn‘t really work out in that third stage for us, but we were able to fight and defend our track position. Was [that finish] crazy [fans]?! That was chaos! That’s Talladega for you. I got to give a lot of credit to Ty Gibbs and Martin Truex [Jr.]. It was just us Toyotas left and they pushed me with everything they had. Huge credit to Martin and Ty. Without those pushes, we don‘t win this race.”

The victory celebration for 23XI Racing, which marks the sixth Cup career win for the organization, was also big as team owner and NBA legend Michael Jordan was also present to celebrate in Victory Lane with Reddick, co-owner Denny Hamlin, former 23XI Racing competitor Kurt Busch and the 23XI team.

“Denny [Hamlin] keeps saying I was bad luck when I come to the track,” Michael Jordan said in Victory Lane. “Today, we proved him wrong. I think Tyler did a good job. The whole team did a good job. I’m very happy to be here to see it. Everybody tells me when we win, we can have a good celebration, but this is the first time I’ve been here. We’ve been working hard, trying to get ourselves up to where we can compete against the top guys in this sport. We’ve done a heck of a job just to be where we are and for us to win a big race like this, it means so much to me and for the effort the team has done. I’m all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness that I had in basketball.”

With Reddick winning the race, Keselowski ended up in second place for a second consecutive week while Noah Gragson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman avoided the final lap carnage to finish in the top five.

“I was getting some great pushes from Noah Gragson,” Keselowski said. “I thought the Fords were really working well together. We cleared the Toyotas there on the bottom lane and it was pretty clear that it was gonna come down to the three of us [me, McDowell and Gragson]. I backed up, Noah gave me a great push and I went to make a move on Michael [McDowell]. He covered it, went back the other way. I got another push from Noah and just nowhere to go when Michael came back down. I hate that for [McDowell]. He’s a good guy, hope he’s alright. Just kind of the way this stuff goes, right? All in all, really solid day for us, for Ford, for Castrol. Another second. It’s a solid day, but not the win we wanted. Good finishes are important, but we want wins. I could really taste it today, but it just didn’t happen.”

Anthony Alfredo piloted the No. 62 Beard Motorsports entry to a sixth-place result while William Byron, Todd Gilliland, Daniel Hemric and Harrison Burton ended up in the top 10.

Notably, Truex ended up 11th ahead of Briscoe, Chastain, Preece and Elliott. In addition, LaJoie slid across the finish line on his side in 18th place, Larson ended up 21st in between Blaney and Ty Gibbs and Kyle Busch ended up 27th in between Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen.

Meanwhile, McDowell, who led a race-high 36 laps from pole position, ended up in 31st place as he was unable to limp his wrecked race car across the finish line to complete the final lap.

“Yeah, it’s just super unfortunate,” McDowell said in the infield care center. “I just hate it for everybody on this Love’s Travel Stop Ford Mustang and I hate it for Brad [Keselowski] too because we did a good job of keeping those Mustang Dark Horses upfront. He did everything right. He pushed me out, I drugged back to him and I was able to get in front of him that very first time, but when I came back down, [I] just barely, barely wasn’t clear. I hate it that we didn’t make it to the finish line. We had such a fast Mustang today. It’s unfortunate. It’s been a rough few weeks, but it’s last-lap Talladega. Going for it, trying to get a win and just came up short. [I] Hate that I took a lot of guys with me, so [I] apologize to Brad and everybody that got collected in that. [I’ll] Go back and watch [the replay] and see what we could’ve done better.”

There were 73 lead changes for 23 different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 21 laps. In addition, 30 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 10th event of the 2024 Cup Series season, Kyle Larson leads the regular-season standings by 15 points over Martin Truex Jr., 22 over Chase Elliott, 24 over William Byron and 43 over Tyler Reddick.

Results.

1. Tyler Reddick, 13 laps led

2. Brad Keselowski, two laps led

3. Noah Gragson, five laps led

4. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

5. Alex Bowman

6. Anthony Alfredo, four laps led

7. William Byron

8. Todd Gilliland

9. Daniel Hemric, eight laps led

10. Harrison Burton

11. Martin Truex Jr., 16 laps led

12. Chase Briscoe, three laps led

13. Ross Chastain, six laps led

14. Ryan Preece

15. Chase Elliott, five laps led

16. Josh Berry, three laps led

17. Carson Hocevar, one lap led

18. Corey LaJoie

19. Joey Logano, 22 laps led, Stage 2 winner

20. Ryan Blaney, one lap led

21. Kyle Larson

22. Ty Gibbs, one lap led

23. Austin Cindric, 16 laps led, Stage 1 winner

24. Cody Ware

25. Chris Buescher, six laps led

26. Daniel Suarez

27. Kyle Busch, five laps lef

28. Shane van Gisbergen, three laps led

29. Zane Smith

30. Austin Dillon

31. Michael McDowell – OUT, Accident, 36 laps led

32. BJ McLeod, one lap down, five laps led

33. John Hunter Nemechek, four laps down, 20 laps led

34. Justin Haley, four laps down, four laps led

35. Erik Jones – OUT, Accident

36. Bubba Wallace – OUT, Accident

37. Denny Hamlin – OUT, Accident, four laps led

38. Christopher Bell – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, April 28, and air at 2 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 21, 2024
Jesse Love outlasts two overtime shootouts for first Xfinity career win at Talladega

After generating an impressive start to his first NASCAR Xfinity Series campaign, rookie Jesse Love sealed the deal by notching his first career victory in the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, April 20, amid two overtime shootouts.

The 19-year-old Love from Menlo Park, California, led five times for 28 of 124 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside teammate and pole-sitter Austin Hill. After spending nearly the entire first stage period running behind Hill amid the draft, Love overtook him on the final lap prior to Justin Allgaier wrecking out of the event to capture the stage victory.

Love then spent the remainder of the event battling within the draft and towards the front while avoiding a handful of late on-track calamities that sent the event into overtime twice. After sneaking his way back into the lead for the start of the second overtime shootout, Love survived on a low tank of fuel and fended off late challenges from Leland Honeyman and Brennan Poole to score his first Xfinity Series career victory in his ninth series start.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, April 19, Austin Hill notched his fifth Xfinity career pole position, his first of the 2024 season and his third straight at Talladega after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.629 mph in 52.723 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate and rookie Jesse Love, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.120 mph in 52.871 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Jeb Burton, Sheldon Creed and Taylor Gray dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Austin Hill received a push from Cole Custer on the outside lane to muscle ahead before he then transitioned to the inside lane and moved in front of teammate Jesse Love through the first two turns. As the field fanned out to three lanes through the backstretch, Hill would manage to fend off the early challenges and maintain control of both lanes to return to the tri-oval with the lead and lead the first lap.

On the second lap, Sammy Smith would challenge Hill for the lead from the backstretch through the frontstretch amid the draft as the field fully fanned out to three packed lanes. Smith, however, would lose ground during the following lap as he had no drafting help on the inside lane as Hill, who continued to have both lanes under his control, maintained the top spot ahead of teammate Love, Parker Kligerman, Ryan Truex and AJ Allmendinger through the fifth lap mark.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps and with a majority of the field migrating to a long line on the outside lane, Hill was leading ahead of teammate Love, Kligerman, Truex and Chandler Smith, who was trying to ignite a drafting run from the inside lane, while Cole Custer, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Sieg trailed in the top 10 ahead of rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Weatherman, Jeremy Clements and Sheldon Creed.

A lap later, Custer, who was drafting Chandler Smith on the inside lane, made a bold move beneath Smith to assume the runner-up spot before he then made a move beneath Hill in a bid for the lead through the frontstretch. Despite drawing even against Hill through the first two turns and the backstretch, Hill quickly fought back on the inside lane as he had teammate Love drafting him while Custer was trying to keep pace amid the draft.

By Lap 15, Hill was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Love followed by Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Truex while Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Kyle Weatherman, Clements and the rest of the field followed suit, with the top 29 of 38 starters trailing within three seconds.

Just past the Lap 20 mark, Hill continued to lead just ahead of teammate Love as Chandler Smith, Kligerman, Truex, Allmendinger, Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Weatherman and Clements were running in the top 10 ahead of Brandon Jones, Jeb Burton, Alfredo, Perkins, Taylor Gray, Creed, Herbst, Custer, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams, all of whom were running under two seconds.

On the final lap of the first stage period, the event’s first caution period flew after Allgaier, who was running in the top 10, got loose entering the backstretch and made contact with Herbst that sent Allgaier spinning before the Illinois veteran T-boned the inside wall hard at full pace as his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro then came to a halt back across the track, with Allgaier managing to emerge uninjured. Allgaier’s incident not only spoiled his chances of achieving the third Xfinity Dash 4 Cash bonus of the season, but it was also enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 25 to conclude under caution as Jesse Love, who overtook teammate Hill for the lead on the frontstretch and prior to Allgaier’s wreck, captured his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Kligerman ended up second followed by Hill, Chandler Smith and Allmendinger while Truex, van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Riley Herbst and Custer were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Love pitted for service while the rest led by Matt DiBenedetto and including Joey Gase, Caesar Bacarella, Leland Honeyman, Jordan Anderson, Dawson Cram, Mason Massey and Hailie Deegan remained on the track. All including Josh Bilicki, who exited pit road first the lap prior, pitted during the following lap, which allowed Love to cycle back into the lead. Kligerman, who slid through his pit box earlier, also returned to pit road for another pit service.

The second stage period started on Lap 30 as teammates Love and Hil occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Hill battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and entering the backstretch until Hill muscled back ahead with the lead exiting the backstretch as Ryan Truex followed suit in second. With the field fanning out to three tight-packed lanes during the following lap, Hill maintained control of both lanes amid the draft.

On Lap 34, a three-wide battle for the lead ensued as Custer, Truex and Hill battled dead even for the lead through the frontstretch until Custer muscled his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into the lead. Hill then fought back during the following two turns and the backstretch before Custer moved in front of Hill to stall his momentum. This allowed Ryan Sieg to move into the lead despite drawing dead even with Truex through the first two turns before Custer fought back and battled Sieg for the lead through the backstretch and the frontstretch. With the field tight-packed amid three lanes, Sieg fended off Custer to maintain the lead on the inside lane while Hill was trying to regain momentum on the outside lane by Lap 37.

Just past the Lap 40 mark, Sieg continued to lead ahead of Hill, who surged his way back towards the front, along with Herbst while Love followed suit in fourth, though he would be overtaken by Chandler Smith, Custer and Taylor Gray amid the draft. Chandler Smith would then challenge Sieg in a side-by-side battle for the lead from the inside lane by Lap 42 before he assumed the top spot by the following lap as he had Hill following suit. Another lap later, teammate Truex challenged Smith for the lead before he got shuffled out of the draft. This enabled Smith to retain the top spot ahead of Hill and Love while Brandon Jones was trying to ignite a charge from the inside lane.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 50, Hill, who reassumed the lead four laps earlier, captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season after fending off a last-lap charge from Allmendinger. Love edged Allmendinger to claim second followed by Sieg and Brandon Jones while Chandler Smith, Kligerman, Herbst, Jeb Burton and Truex were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, a majority of the field led by Hill pitted for service while the rest led by Jordan Anderson remained on the track. The remaining competitors who elected not to pit led by Anderson would pit shortly after as Love, who only opted for fuel to his entry, reassumed the lead.

With 58 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Love and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Love muscled ahead from the outside lane to retain the lead as he had Chandler Smith following him in the draft while Jones was trying to keep pace from the inside lane. With Hill trying to fight his way back to the front in ninth place and as the field fanned out amid the draft, Jones would assume the lead just past the halfway mark on Lap 57. With Jones leading, Kligerman followed suit along with Hill while Love was left to fend off Sieg for fourth place.

With 52 laps remaining, Ryan Sieg muscled ahead from Jones on the inside lane entering the frontstretch to assume the lead. Sammy Smith would then rocket his way into a side-by-side challenge against Sieg for the lead entering Turn 3 as Smith had Shane van Gisbergen following him. With more battles at the front ensuing and more names carving their way to the front, van Gisbergen then led a lap for himself in his No. 97 Wendy’s Chevrolet Camaro with 50 laps remaining until Hill drafted Sammy Smith back to the lead ahead of a tight three-wide pack.

A few laps later, the caution returned after Kligerman, who was running fourth, turned across the right-front fender of Sieg, where he then turned and sent Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro head-on into the outside wall in the frontstretch. This triggered a multi-car wreck that involved Allmendinger, Clements, Truex, Sam Mayer, Josh Williams, Jeb Burton, DiBenedetto, Leland Honeyman and Kyle Weatherman. At the moment of caution, Hill had reassumed the lead over Sammy Smith.

During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Hill pitted for service while the rest led by David Starr remained on the track. As the rest of the field, including Starr and DiBenedetto pitted during the following few laps, Hill, who only opted for fuel to his entry, cycled back into the lead.

As the event restarted under green with 41 laps remaining, Sieg received a push from Custer to maintain the lead on the inside lane as Herbst tried to follow suit in third place. Hill, however, would fight back on the outside before Custer moved in front of Hill to stall his momentum. Amid the field fanning out through the frontstretch, Herbst would assume the lead with 40 laps remaining. Then as Herbst was trying to fend off Love for the lead, the caution returned after Allmendinger’s rear bumper cover split, came off of the car and fell on the backstretch.

During the following restart period with 35 laps remaining, Herbst muscled his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang ahead from the inside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns before he transitioned up to the outside lane to block Sieg and retain the lead. With the field fanning out to three lanes and charging hard to the front, Hill challenged Herbst for the lead during the following lap, but Herbst received a strong push from Sieg, Custer and Kligerman amid the draft to maintain the lead from the outside lane, which dropped Hill out of the top five as he was trying to regain momentum with drafting help from Alfredo and Love.

With 30 laps remaining, Hill, who led the previous lap by a hair, over Herbst, was leading by a mere margin over Herbst amid a side-by-side battle while Alfredo, Sieg, Custer, Love, Kligerman, Sheldon Creed, Jordan Anderson and Chandler Smith were running in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Parker Retzlaff and Taylor Gray. By the following lap, the top-29 competitors were separated by two seconds as Herbst rocketed back into the lead ahead of Ford teammates Sieg and Custer while Kligerman, Creed and Hill followed suit.

Five laps later, Kligerman, who led the previous lap, was leading ahead of Hill followed by Herbst, Sieg and Custer while Creed, Alfredo, van Gisbergen, Love and Jeb Burton were scored in the top 10 within the bevy of cars battling in the pack.

Two laps later, Sieg, who was battling for the lead, lost pace and pitted under green to address a flat right-rear tire to his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang after he made contact with the frontstretch’s outside wall earlier. The move pinned Sieg a lap down and currently out of contention to claim the third Dash 4 Cash prize while allowing Allmendinger, who was racing in the middle of the pack, to draw himself back into contention for the prize. Amid Sieg’s late-race issue, Anthony Alfredo cycled into the lead as he was trying to fend off Kligerman, Chandler Smith and a bevy of competitors towards the front and in the draft.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event and with a majority of the field migrating to a long single-file line towards the outside wall, Alfredo was leading ahead of Kligerman, Hill, Creed and van Gisbergen while Burton, Josh Williams, Retzlaff, Custer and David Starr were racing in the top 10. Behind, Love, Weatherman, Herbst, DiBenedetto and Patrick Emerling occupied the top-15 spots ahead of Blaine Perkins, Sammy Smith, Taylor Gray, Chandler Smith and Anderson.

Five laps later, Custer, who assumed the lead the previous lap, was leading ahead of teammate Herbst while Alfredo, who nearly wrecked amid contact with Creed, had drifted out of lead contention. Custer would then get stuck in the middle of a three-wide packed competition that resulted with him losing the lead and a handful of spots as Herbst assumed a brief lead before Love assumed the lead back to the frontstretch.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Love was leading both the race and a long line of competitors running towards the outside wall, with Kligerman, Hill, Herbst, Creed, Williams, van Gisbergen, Alfredo, Retzlaff and Perkins following suit in the top 10. By then, the top-19 competitors were running within two seconds of one another.

With five laps remaining, Love continued to lead ahead of Kligerman, Hill, Herbst, Creed and a long line of competitors within the lead-lap draft, with some including Jeb Burton, Custer and Chandler Smith starting to fan out of the line and attempt to mount a charge from the inside lane.

Two laps later, the front-runners started to scatter and fan out as Hill made a move underneath Kligerman through the first two turns to settle behind the leader and teammate Love, with Creed also mounting a charge from the outside lane amid the draft. Entering the frontstretch, Kligerman ran towards the outside wall to overtake Creed for position as Hill overtook teammate Love for the lead with two laps remaining.

Then with two laps remaining, Hill got loose exiting the backstretch after he received a tap from Kligerman within the draft that resulted with Hill spinning his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro across the front nose of Alfredo’s No. 5 Dude Wipes Chevrolet Camaro while Weatherman, Gray, Anderson, Starr, Burton, Herbst and Emerling also wrecked in an attempt to avoid Hill’s carnage as the rest of the front-runners scattered. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime as Kligerman escaped with the lead followed by Williams, Love, Perkins, van Gisbergen and Creed.

The start of the first overtime attempt did not last long after Creed, who was running fourth, got bumped by Sammy Smith exiting the frontstretch that resulted with Creed running into the side of Williams and sending Williams sideways before he spun and clipped Kligerman’s No. 48 Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet Camaro as Kligerman hit the outside wall head-on and was taken out of contention for his first victory. The incident occurred as van Gisbergen, who restarted on the second row, fell off the pace after he ran out of fuel. Amid the carnage and fuel concerns amongst the leaders, Love escaped with the lead followed by Sammy Smith while Leland Honeyman, Hailie Deegan, Joey Gase, Caesar Bacarella, Brennan Poole and Ryan Ellis followed suit in the top eight. During the caution period, however, Smith fell off the pace after he ran out of fuel, where he then needed a wrecker to push his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro back to his pit stall.

The start of the second overtime attempt generated a different outcome as Love rocketed his No. 2 WAT Chevrolet Camaro away from a side-by-side battle involving Honeyman and Deegan through the first two turns. With Ryan Ellis slipping sideways and coming to a halt towards the bottom of the track while the race remained under green flag conditions, Love was left to defend a stacked three-wide charge behind through the following two turns.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Love remained as the leader as he had Honeyman drafting him just past the start/finish line. With Love leading a scattered field through the backstretch, he then threw two blocks on Honeyman before Brennan Poole mounted a charge entering Turns 3 and 4 followed by Alfredo. Poole then drew even with Love and tried to take the lead entering the tri-oval, but his momentum stalled as Love muscled back ahead. With the field fanned out to four lanes and as Joey Gase wrecked through the tri-oval while charging to the front, Love had enough momentum, motor and gas to drive across the finish line first for his first ever checkered flag in the Xfinity circuit.

With the victory, Love, the reigning ARCA Menards Series champion, became the 177th competitor overall to win in the Xfinity Series and the seventh to do so at Talladega. He also became the seventh winner through the first nine events of the 2024 Xfinity schedule.

In addition, Love recorded the 95th Xfinity career win for Richard Childress Racing and the first for RCR’s No. 2 entry since Myatt Snider won at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February 2021. The victory was the first in eight years in the Xfinity circuit for veteran Danny Stockman Jr., who returned to RCR as a crew chief for the California rookie.

“Man, it’s been just a journey to get to this point,” Love said on FOX. “I got so many people to thank. Man, I wanted [this win] so bad. I had PTSD flashbacks from Atlanta and burned [the car] to the ground. It’s awesome. I love Talladega, my favorite speedway. I love the fans. My team did a phenomenal job. I was just going back and forth to if I thought I was doing a good job and then, I was making dumb decisions. Towards the end, the bottom [lane] started rolling. I don’t even remember what happened. I’d be lying if I told you I remembered what happened. Just a phenomenal car. Just ready to go celebrate with my family. A lot of people that I love very much that sacrificed a lot for me to get to this point.”

Behind Love, Herbst mounted a late rally to finish second while Alfredo, Leland Honeyman and Brennan Poole finished in the top five.

Sheldon Creed, Caesar Bacarella, Matt DiBenedetto, Jeb Burton and Custer completed the top 10 on the track.

Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg finished 17th and claimed the third Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2024 season and his first overall by two positions over AJ Allmendinger, who ended up 19th. Sieg, Jesse Love, Riley Herbst and Anthony Alfredo will square off against one another for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2024 season next weekend at Dover Motor Speedway.

There were 34 lead changes for 16 different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 28 laps. In addition, 22 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the ninth event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Chandler Smith leads the regular-season standings by 14 points over Cole Custer, 16 over Austin Hill, 41 over Jesse Love, 79 over Justin Allgaier and 85 over Riley Herbst.

Results.

1. Jesse Love, 28 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Riley Herbst, 13 laps led

3. Anthony Alfredo, six laps led

4. Leland Honeyman

5. Brennan Poole

6. Sheldon Creed

7. Caesar Bacarella

8. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led

9. Jeb Burton

10. Cole Custer, four laps led

11. Mason Massey

12. Hailie Deegan

13. Kyle Sieg

14. Austin Hill, 41 laps led, Stage 2 winner

15. Taylor Gray, one lap led

16. Josh Bilicki

17. Ryan Sieg, seven laps led

18. Joey Gase

19. AJ Allmendinger

20. Josh Williams

21. Sammy Smith, two laps led

22. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap led

23. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

24. David Starr, one lap down, one lap led

25. Chandler Smith, one lap down, three laps led

26. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

27. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, DVP

28. Dawson Cram, four laps down

29. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident, 10 laps led

30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Ignition

31. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Accident, one lap led

32. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident

33. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident, four laps led

34. Ryan Truex – OUT, Accident, one lap led

35. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine

38. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the BetRivers 200 at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 27, and air at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 20, 2024
Logano clinches first Daytona 500 pole; McDowell claims front-row starting spot

Joey Logano saved his best qualifying lap for last and the result netted him the Busch Light Pole Award for this year’s 66th annual running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway following the event’s single-car, two-round qualifying session on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

The qualifying format that determined the front row and pole winner of this year’s Daytona 500 event was based on two qualifying rounds comprised of a single-lap session for each competitor. Following the first round, the top-10 fastest qualifiers from a total of 42 transferred to the second and final single-lap round to contend for the pole and a front-row starting spot.

During the qualifying session, Logano, who was the fastest qualifier during the first qualifying round, repeated his strong, early performance by claiming the pole position for this year’s Great American Race. He posted a pole-winning lap at 181.947 mph in 49.465 seconds in his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang Dark Horse, which was enough to outperform Michael McDowell, who qualified with the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.686 mph in 49.536 seconds.

With his accomplishment, Logano, a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and the 2015 Daytona 500 champion, became the 45th competitor to claim the pole position for the Great American Race as he also notched his 29th Cup Series career pole and first on a superspeedway venue.

Logano also snapped Chevrolet’s 11-year pole-winning streak by achieving Ford’s first 500 pole since Carl Edwards in 2012 and he became the first non-Hendrick Motorsports competitor to win the pole position for the 500 since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the last accomplishment in 2020. As a result, Logano also recorded the first Daytona 500 pole award for Team Penske as he strives to battle for his second Great American Race victory this upcoming Sunday, Feb. 18.

“This [pole] is all about the team,” Logano said on FS1. “I’d like to take credit, but I can’t today. The guys have done such an amazing job working on these cars. This superspeedway qualifying is a hundred percent the car. There’s only so much a driver can do, so I’m really proud of [the team]. It’s a big win for our team, for everyone at Team Penske, Ford with the new Dark Horse Mustang. Being able to come down here and put in on the pin. Finally, someone else wins the pole. That part feels good. I’ve never even been close to a superspeedway pole before, so it’s my first pole in a speedway. It couldn’t be at a cooler event [than], obviously, Daytona 500. Huge deal for Team Penske.”

Joining Logano on the front row for this year’s Daytona 500 and for the first time in his career is Michael McDowell, the 2021 Daytona 500 champion who qualified in his No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports. Ironically, this year’s Daytona 500 marks the first time Ford competitors have swept the front-row starting spots since Edwards and Greg Biffle in 2012. McDowell’s win at last year’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course enabled him to qualify for the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs and strive to contend for a second Daytona 500 victory.

Kyle Larson, the 2022 Daytona 500 pole winner and the 2021 Cup Series champion, posted the third-fastest qualifying time of 181.550 mph in 49.550 seconds and will be one of the remaining 40 competitors to vie for their official starting spots for the 500 through a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duel that will take place on Thursday, Feb. 15. Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott completed the top five in qualifying time and speed while William Byron, Austin Dillon, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain and Harrison Burton, all of whom advanced to the second and final qualifying round, rounded out the top 10 on the qualifying chart.

Todd Gilliland, who was one of 32 competitors who did not transfer to the second qualifying session, posted the 11th-fastest qualifying time of 180.339 mph in 49.903 seconds followed by Riley Herbst, Ryan Preece, Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Noah Gragson, Alex Bowman, Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez and Anthony Alfredo.

Alfredo and David Ragan were also victorious along with Logano and McDowell as both achieved guaranteed starting spots for this year’s Daytona 500 by being the two fastest non-chartered qualifiers of six on the leaderboard.

Alfredo ended up being the fastest non-chartered competitor on the leaderboard after posting his qualifying lap at 179.648 mph in 50.098 seconds, which was enough to claim 20th place on the leaderboard. With his accomplishment, Alfredo, a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for Our Motorsports and a part-time Cup competitor in Beard Motorsports’ No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry this season, will make his second career start in the Daytona 500 after making his first with Front Row Motorsports in 2021. In addition, Beard Motorsports, who did not make the 500 field last season, will appear in the 500 for a sixth time this upcoming Sunday.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“This is insane,” Alfredo said. “We were just talking about every possible scenario we might find ourselves in today, tomorrow and obviously, Sunday, but to make it to Sunday’s a challenge. It was such a competitive field of open cars and drivers behind the wheel. I’m just really thankful for the Beard family [for] giving me this opportunity and Death Wish Coffee coming on board. We have, clearly, a fast Chevrolet Camaro. To know that we’re in [the Daytona 500] and cannot have to race in tomorrow [via the Duels] and just remove ourselves from some of the sketchy circumstances and focus on Sunday is just an amazing feeling.”

Ragan posted the 27th-fastest qualifying lap at 179.283 mph in 50.200 seconds, which was enough for him to outperform Jimmie Johnson, who posted the 35th-fastest lap at 178.845 mph in 50.323 seconds. With his accomplishment, Ragan, who is piloting Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s No. 60 Ford Mustang Dark Horse as part of the team’s #Stage60 program, will make his 17th appearance in the Great American Race this Sunday and his first since the 2022 season. This year’s Daytona 500 will mark his first Cup start as a Roush competitor since the 2011 season as Ragan will also be pursuing his first 500 victory.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It’s always big to be in the Daytona 500 and the whole week, I’ve just been trying to make sure we didn’t have any mistakes,” Ragan said. “I really feel like we were gonna have a shot at a top-10 or top-12 starting spot, but it just shows all the hard work this BuildSubmarines.com Ford team has done. I’m really proud for [crew chief] Derrick [Finley] and proud for the whole [Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing] guys. I appreciate [owners] Brad Keselowski and Jack Roush [for] giving me an opportunity to come down here to try to win a Daytona 500.”

The remaining open competitors including Jimmie Johnson, BJ McLeod, JJ Yeley and Kaz Grala will compete for the final two open spots for this weekend’s Daytona 500 through Thursday’s Duels.

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is a pair of Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will determine the rest of the starting lineup for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 scheduled for Feb. 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. First, on Thursday, Feb. 15, the first Bluegreen Vacations Duel is slated to commence at 7 p.m. ET on FS1 while the second Duel event will follow suit at approximately at 8:45 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 15, 2024
NASCAR Cup Series: First-time winner(s) in 2024?

In 75 years of NASCAR competition, a total of 204 competitors have achieved at least one victory in the sport’s premier series: the Cup Series.

The commencement of the list of Cup Series winners dates back to June 19, 1949, when Jim Roper, a native of Halstead, Kansas, won NASCAR’s first-ever event at Charlotte Speedway after initial winner Glenn Dunaway was disqualified due to illegal springs being detected in his race-winning car during the post-race inspection process.

The most recent occurrence of a first-time Cup Series winner was during NASCAR’s inaugural event on the Streets of Chicago this past July when Shane van Gisbergen, a three-time Supercars champion from Auckland, New Zealand, won in his series debut while driving Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 entry. In winning at Chicago, van Gisbergen became the seventh different competitor to win in a Cup Series debut, a feat that includes Roper, Jack White, Harold Kite, Leon Sales, Marvin Burke and Johnny Rutherford.

Over the last decade (2014-23), 22 competitors won for the first time in the Cup Series, minus the 2015 season that featured no first-time winners. The list of 22 first-time winners between the 2014-23 seasons is more than the list between the 1974-83 seasons (14), the 1984-93 seasons (15) and the 2004-13 seasons (17), but the same as between the 1994-2003 seasons combined. Currently, the season that holds the all-time record of occurrences of first-time Cup winners is 1950, which featured 12 first-timers, including the season’s eventual champion Bill Rexford.

During the last decade (2014-23), a Cup Series season featured on average two first-time winners, minus the 2017 and 2021 seasons that featured three. Another season within the last decade that did not feature two first-time winners is 2022. Instead, it was a season that featured five first-timers (Chase Briscoe, Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Suarez) stapling their names among NASCAR’s elite, from the past to the present and future, as winners in NASCAR’s premier series. The previous season with the most first-time winners was back in 2011, which also featured five first-time winners (Marcos Ambrose, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard, David Ragan and Regan Smith).

To date, the 2011 and 2022 seasons along with the 2001 and 2002 seasons hold the record with the most first-time winners in the modern era of NASCAR at five each. Between 2001 and 2002, the following names that include Johnny Benson Jr., Kurt Busch, Ricky Craven, Robby Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler and Michael Waltrip each scored their first Cup career victory.

Additional names that have won in the Cup Series for the first time from 2003 to 2023 include AJ Allmendinger, Aric Almirola, Christopher Bell, Greg Biffle, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch, Chris Buescher, William Byron, Cole Custer, Austin Dillon, Carl Edwards, Chase Elliott, Justin Haley, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Erik Jones, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Michael McDowell, Casey Mears, Juan Pablo Montoya, David Reutimann, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Brian Vickers and Bubba Wallace.

From the list of 49 first-time winners between 2001 to 2023, 37 would proceed to win multiple Cup events. In addition, 10 would become Cup Series champions and 12 would become Daytona 500 champions.

With the 2024 season set to present a new season of Cup Series competition, beginning this upcoming weekend for the third annual running of the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, it also presents an array of opportunities for a bevy of competitors, new and familiar, to elevate their names and achieve the title of race winner in NASCAR’s premier series.

The competitor who leads the group of potential first-time Cup Series winners entering the 2024 season is Ty Gibbs. The 21-year-old Gibbs, who is the grandson of NASCAR championship-winning team owner and Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, is coming off his first full-time campaign in the Cup Series, where he achieved the 2023 Rookie-of-the-Year title on the strength of four top-five results, 10 top-10 results, 112 laps led, an average-finishing result of 18.4 and an 18th-place finish in the final standings.

A former champion of both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and the ARCA Menards Series divisions, Gibbs’ highest finish in the Cup Series is fourth place, which occurred at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course last October. He also displayed a strong performance at Bristol Motor Speedway last September, where he led 102 laps before finishing fifth. Having completed his first full-time Cup season, new goals await for Gibbs and the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry XSE team in the form of achieving a first Cup victory, making the Playoffs and continuing to make the presence of running towards the front known frequently.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Another name that stands out as a potential first-time winner is Josh Berry. The 33-year-old Berry from Hendersonville, Tennessee, graduates to the Cup Series to drive the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing as he replaces the 2014 Cup champion Kevin Harvick, who retired at the 2023 season’s conclusion. Berry, a former champion of the CARS Late Model Stock Tour is the all-time wins leader in the series and spent the bulk of his career competing in late models and earning his way toward the top level of stock car competition.

He spent the previous three seasons as an Xfinity Series competitor for JR Motorsports, where he made the Playoffs during the last two seasons, made the Championship 4 round in 2022, and notched five series victories. He has also made 10 career starts in the Cup Series, with his first two occurring with Spire Motorsports in 2021.

This past season, he made 10 Cup starts as an interim competitor between Hendrick Motorsports and Legacy Motor Club, where he filled in for top names that included Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Noah Gragson. During the short stint, he piloted Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 Chevrolet to a non-points victory in the NASCAR All-Star Race Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway that allowed him to compete in his first All-Star Race in May. He also piloted the No. 9 Chevrolet to a career-best runner-up finish behind teammate Kyle Larson at Richmond Raceway in April. With a new opportunity in the form of a new seat in a new team earned for him in 2024, the next goal for Berry is to earn a first Cup career victory.

Next is Harrison Burton, who returns to pilot the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Mustang Dark Horse for a third consecutive Cup season. A 23-year-old, second-generation racer from Huntersville, North Carolina, Burton, who is also the 2017 ARCA Menards Series East champion and a four-time Xfinity Series race winner, is coming off two consecutive seasons in the Cup Series. During those two seasons, he has tallied only a total of four top-10 results, 60 laps led, average-finishing results outside the top-20 mark and final points results below the top-25 mark. His best on-track result was a third-place finish at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in July 2022.

Amid the on-track difficulties, Burton remains optimistic about turning the tide and regaining his competitiveness from his early racing career that would enable him to join his father Jeff, and Uncle Ward, as Cup Series winners. Should Burton accomplish his goal of winning in 2024, he would also strike gold in recording the elusive 100th Cup career win for Wood Brothers Racing, a goal that has eluded the organization since 2017.

After relinquishing his full-time seat at Front Row Motorsports for select events but managing to compete the entire 36-race schedule with select starts with Rick Ware Racing last season, Todd Gilliland reclaims his seat in FRM’s No. 38 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for the entire 2024 season. Like Burton, the 23-year-old, second-generation Gilliland from Sherrills Ford, North Carolina, is also a two-time ARCA Menards Series West champion and a three-time Craftsman Truck Series race winner. is coming off two full-time Cup seasons, where he has only achieved a single top-five result, six top-10 results, 11 laps led, average-finishing results outside the top-20 mark and two consecutive 28th-place finishes in the final standings, with his best result being a fourth-place finish at Indianapolis in July 2022.

Compared to his rookie season in 2022, Gilliland steadily improved his stats to notch 11 top-15 results this past season, which is seven more than the 2022 season, and he tallied a total of 554 points at this season’s conclusion, which is 23 points extra than the previous season. With Front Row Motorsports slowly becoming competitive on a weekly basis and coming off a dominant victory at Indianapolis with teammate Michael McDowell that enabled them to contend in the first round of the 2023 Cup Playoffs, the next step for Gilliland remains to gain more consistency that would enable him to contend for victories with FRM and become the first member of the Gilliland racing family to win in the Cup Series.

Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Coming off his strongest Cup Series season to date, Corey LaJoie enters the 2024 season with an aim to continue to elevate both himself and Spire Motorsports from the midfield to the front on a consistent basis that would enable both to motor their way to Victory Lane. The 32-year-old, third-generation LaJoie from Kannapolis, North Carolina, is coming off his fifth full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series, second piloting the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, where he recorded career-high stats in top fives (two), top 10s (three) and laps led (66) as he also notched a career-best average-finishing result of 20.8 on the strength of 18 top-20 results and a career-best 25th place in the final standings. Throughout the season, he scored a career-best fourth-place finish twice, the first at Atlanta Motor Speedway in March and the second at Talladega Superspeedway in October, and made a single start in Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 9 entry in place of the suspended Chase Elliott at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, where he finished 21st.

LaJoie’s closet opportunity to win a first Cup event still dates back to July 2022 at Atlanta, where he led 19 laps and was leading during a three-lap shootout until he was overtaken by Elliott during the final lap and wrecked on the final lap while trying to overtake Elliott through the first turn as he plummeted to 21st place in the final running order. Compared to the 2022 season, where he ended up with eight DNFs throughout the 36-race schedule, LaJoie was the only competitor to sustain no DNFs throughout the 2023 campaign, which marks a drastic level of improvement amid a rocky start to his career as the driver strives to march closer to the front and contend for the first Cup victory regularly beyond superspeedway venues.

Coming off a difficult first-time campaign with Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Preece aims to turn the tide amid the on-track struggles directed to SHR and Preece’s No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse entry entering the 2024 Cup season. The 33-year-old Preece from Berlin, Connecticut, who is the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and a race winner across the Truck and Xfinity Series divisions, made his return to full-time Cup competition after previously competing in the series from 2019 to 2021 with JTG-Daugherty Racing.

Amid five DNFs throughout the 2023 season, including a harrowing barrel-roll accident at Daytona in August while contending for a Playoff berth, Preece managed to pilot SHR’s No. 41 entry to 12 top-15 results and 19 top-20 results throughout the 36-race campaign before settling in 23rd place in the final standings. With Richmond Raceway in late July providing his best run of the season in fifth place, he notched his first pole at Martinsville Speedway in April in an event where he led the first 135 laps before he was penalized early for speeding on pit road and rallying up to 15th place. He also displayed a strong performance during last year’s Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum, where he led a race-high 43 laps before fading to seventh place. After concluding the 2023 season with a steady gain in the form of five top-15 results in the final eight-scheduled events, the next step for Preece involves steadily gaining consistency within the top-10 mark that would enable him to contend and add a Cup Series victory next to his accomplished modified tour resume.

Within this year’s list of potential first-time Cup Series winners, the series will also feature two future stars who have been elevated from Truck Series competition to full-time Cup Series rookies in 2024.

The first is Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion who won nine series races, including twice at Daytona, in four seasons (92 starts) and made 12 career starts in the Xfinity Series. The 24-year-old Smith from Huntington Beach, California, will pilot the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports in collaboration with Trackhouse Racing, a team which Smith is under contract with on a multi-year basis. While Smith enters the Cup Series as a first-time full-time competitor, he does so with limited Cup starts noted on his resume as he made his series’ debut at World Wide Technology Raceway as an interim competitor for Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing in 2022 before making eight starts between Front Row Motorsports and Rick Ware Racing this past season. His best result in the Cup circuit is a 10th-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway during the Coca-Cola 600 in May followed by a 13th-place finish during the 65th running of the Daytona 500 in February. Having made his name known within the top ranks of NASCAR based on his Truck Series performance and championship, the next step for Smith will involve elevating himself amongst NASCAR’s elite as he contends for both his first series victory and the Rookie-of-the-Year title.

Photo by Kirk Schroll for SpeedwayMedia.com.

Another Cup Series rookie contender who has been elevated from the Truck Series is Carson Hocevar, a 21-year-old native from Portage, Michigan, who comes with three full-time seasons of Truck competition and a total of five Xfinity starts within his resume. A former winner of the Winchester 400, Hocevar is coming off a career year to date, where he notched his first four career victories in the Truck Series and transferred to the Championship 4 round before ending up in third place in the final standings while competing for Niece Motorsports. Amid his full-time Truck campaign, Hocevar made his first nine career starts in NASCAR’s premier series in 2023, with his first occurring at World Wide Technology Raceway in June. He then competed in eight of the final 10 races for Legacy Motor Club, where he achieved a season-best 11th-place result at Bristol in September. Driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports for the 2024 season, Hocevar aims to implement the select Cup starts gained throughout the 2023 season along with his early Truck Series success to gain consistency in NASCAR’s premier series that would enable him to contend for both a first Cup victory and this year’s Rookie-of-the-Year title.

This year’s growing list of potential first-time winners also features a host of names who re-enter the series and aim for redemption by being consistently competitive against NASCAR’s elite. One of the names from this category is Noah Gragson, a competitor who was deemed a prominent star at the start of the 2023 season before his career was placed on a hiatus amid an off-track action that nearly derailed his path to becoming a future Cup Series winner and champion. After graduating to the Cup level with a full-time ride at Legacy Motor Club this past season, the 25-year-old Gragson from Las Vegas, Nevada, competed in 21 events, where he recorded an average-finishing result of 28.2 and a season-best 12th-place finish at Atlanta in March, before being suspended indefinitely from both Legacy Motor Club and NASCAR for violating the sport’s member conduct policy and liking an offensive meme on social media in early August.

A month later, Gragson was reinstated by NASCAR after completing the sport’s diversity and inclusion program. Another three months later, the opportunity for him to return to the Cup level arrived when he was selected as the driver of the No. 10 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Stewart-Haas Racing on a multiyear basis, beginning in 2024, as he replaced veteran Aric Almirola, who scaled back to competing on a part-time basis in the Xfinity Series.

Before his suspension, Gragson had already developed a name for himself within the NASCAR ranks, having achieved victories across both the ARCA Menards Series East and West divisions along with the Truck and Xfinity circuits. His best results in championship standings are a pair of runner-up finishes, the first occurring during the 2018 Truck season and the second occurring during the 2022 Xfinity season. The Las Vegas native also campaigned in half of the Cup events throughout the 2022 season between Beard Motorsports, Kaulig Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, where he notched a strong fifth-place run at Daytona while driving the No. 62 Beard entry. With his past success, Gragson strives to make the most of a second opportunity and transform a hard-working, off-season period into success with a championship-winning organization.

Another competitor who returns to full-time Cup Series competition for a second opportunity amid a five-year absence is Daniel Hemric. The 33-year-old Hemric from Kannapolis, North Carolina, who also won the 2010 Legends Million, made his first two Cup career starts in 2018 with Richard Childress Racing before achieving a full-time Cup ride in RCR’s No. 8 entry in 2019. Despite claiming the rookie title, Hemric, who only notched one pole, two top-10 results with an average-finish result of 22.5, was replaced by Tyler Reddick before the 2020 season.

Since the 2020 season, the North Carolina native scaled back down to the Xfinity Series, a series in which he made two Championship 4 appearances in 2017 and 2018, where he started as a part-time competitor for JR Motorsports before returning as a full-time competitor in 2021 with Joe Gibbs Racing. During his series’ return, Hemric achieved a breakthrough moment by achieving both his first Xfinity victory and championship during the 2021 finale at Phoenix. He also recorded a pole, 31 top-five results, 65 top-10 results and nearly 800 laps led while also achieving three Playoff appearances.

With Hemric coming off two full-time Xfinity seasons with Kaulig Racing, where he made the Playoffs and ended up in the top 10 in the final standings during both seasons, an opportunity to return to Cup competition for this season was announced last August as he replaces the departing Justin Haley in Kaulig’s No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry. With his new Cup ride, the next step for Hemric involves striving to both keep his name in the series and continue to have the final word against his doubters for years to come.

Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images.

Like Hemric, John Hunter Nemechek experienced a similar path in having a first full-time Cup season marred with on-track challenges that resulted in him scaling back down in NASCAR’s divisional ranks and working his way back up to the top to obtain another opportunity to compete against NASCAR’s elite.

A 26-year-old, second-generation racer from Mooresville, North Carolina, Nemechek’s inaugural presence in the Cup Series occurred in the final three events of the 2019 season, where he replaced Matt Tifft to drive for Front Row Motorsports before becoming a full-time FRM competitor in 2020.

After only obtaining three top-10 results and finishing 27th in the final standings with an average-finishing result of 22.4, Nemechek made the big decision to scale back down to the Truck Series and join forces with Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2021 with a goal to win races and regain his competitiveness. Having previously achieved six Truck Series victories and two Playoff appearances in 2016 and 2017, Nemechek quickly regained his competitive form as he notched six victories between 2021 and 2022 with KBM, won the 2021 Truck Series Regular Season championship, clinched a Playoff berth during both seasons and the Championship 4 round in 2021, where he ended up in third place in the final standings.

This past season, Nemechek, who competed for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series, nabbed seven victories and made it to the Championship 4 round, where he contended for the series’ title until a final lap incident during an overtime shootout resulted with the North Carolina native settling in fourth place in the final standings. Nonetheless, this past season marked Nemechek’s strongest in the Xfinity circuit as he ended up with an average-finishing result of 9.5 and finished in the top 10 in all but nine of the 33-race schedule. Now set to pilot the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club for the 2024 Cup season amid a rejuvenated, three-year climb back to the top, Nemechek next strives to both etch a new legacy towards his racing family and a new chapter to his racing career in the form of winning in the Cup Series.

Lastly, this year’s list of potential first-time Cup winners features a host of names who will campaign in NASCAR’s premier series on a part-time basis, but remain on the radar for any element of potential on-track surprises. The first name within this category is Anthony Alfredo, who is currently scheduled to make two Cup starts in the No. 62 Beard Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry for Beard Motorsports, which includes this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500. The 24-year-old Alfredo from Ridgefield, Connecticut, makes a limited return to the Cup circuit after campaigning in two events with Live Fast Motorsports this past season.

Previously, he competed on a full-time Cup basis with Front Row Motorsports in 2021, where he recorded a single top-10 result, a total of five top-20 results and a 30th-place result in the final standings. To date, he has also made a total of 85 starts in the Xfinity Series and 13 in the Truck Series. Despite having his overall average-finishing result in the Cup circuit hovering outside of the top-25 mark, the Connecticut native’s previous successes of strong runs on superspeedway venues across NASCAR’s top three national touring series along with Beard Motorsports’ grit in vying for spots on superspeedway venues, including the Daytona 500, gives Alfredo a strong sense of optimism to place himself in a potential spot of vying for a victory in the Great American Race. Aside from his part-time Cup campaign, Alfredo is set to compete on a full-time basis in this year’s Xfinity season with Our Motorsports.

After making select premier series starts in three of the previous four seasons, Kaz Grala will campaign in an expanded Cup slate of 26 races, 25 in the No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing and one in the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang Dark Horse throughout Daytona Speedweeks as he attempts to qualify for this year’s 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

The 25-year-old Grala from Boston, Massachusetts, notches Cup Series rides for the majority of the 2024 season after competing in this past season’s Xfinity Series circuit with Sam Hunt Racing, where he ended up in 17th place in the final driver’s standings on the strength of nine top-10 results and an average-finishing result of 19.1. In total, Grala has 77 Xfinity career starts and 51 Truck Series starts within his racing resume, with a single victory occurring during the Truck opener at Daytona in 2017.

Meanwhile, the Boston native has only made seven Cup career starts, with his first occurring during the series’ inaugural event at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course in 2020, where he achieved an impressive seventh-place result as a fill-in competitor for Austin Dillon and the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet team after Dillon was absent following a positive COVID-19 test. His other Cup starts include three with Kaulig Racing in 2021 and three with The Money Team Racing in 2022, where he competed in the Daytona 500 during both seasons and notched a career-best sixth-place finish at Talladega in 2021.

Amid his limited Cup starts, the newly formed alliance for Rick Ware Racing with Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, a championship-winning organization that achieved three victories and placed both owner Brad Keselowski and veteran Chris Buescher into the 2023 Cup Series Playoffs, gives both the team and driver a sense of optimism and excitement approaching the new season, with Grala striving to claw his way to the top amongst NASCAR’s elite. Grala’s 2024 campaign with Rick Ware Racing commences with this weekend’s Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum followed by Atlanta Motor Speedway in late February. The rest of his schedule with RWR remains to be determined.

Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

More than two months after scoring a full-time seat in Kaulig Racing’s No. 11 entry for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season, Josh Williams has scored again by notching a part-time Cup Series ride in Kaulig’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry, beginning this upcoming weekend at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Busch Light Clash. The 30-year-old Williams from Port Charlotte, Florida, leaps into the spotlight amongst NASCAR’s elite with only three previous Cup starts listed in his extensive racing resume that includes 186 career starts in the Xfinity circuit, two in the Truck Series and 102 in the ARCA Menards Series.

Within his three Cup career starts, all occurring with Live Fast Motorsports in 2022, the Floridian managed to finish on average 10 spots better than where he started, with his best results being a pair of 25th-place runs at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. Having full confidence in the team’s model and management amid the intensity to boost his performance, Williams strives to capitalize on the biggest opportunity of his racing career by being both consistent and competitive on the track that would enable him to contend for an Xfinity Series championship and potentially become a future Cup Series star. Following The Clash, Williams will make his first points-paying start of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway in late February while the rest of his schedule remains to be determined. He will have race-winning crew chief Travis Mack as his crew chief and share the No. 16 ride with veteran AJ Allmendinger while the rest of the entry’s driver lineup also remains to be determined.

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to commence this Sunday, February 4, with the third annual running of the Busch Light Clash at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum that will air at 8 p.m. ET on FOX. Afterward, the 66th running of the Daytona 500 will follow suit on February 18, which will serve as the first points-paying event on the schedule and provide one of 36 opportunities for any competitors listed above to achieve a first-time win in NASCAR’s premier series. The 2024 Daytona 500’s broadcast time is set to air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

January 31, 2024
Alfredo joins Beard Motorsports for Daytona 500 bid, part-time Cup Series campaign in 2024

Anthony Alfredo has been selected to pilot the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Beard Motorsports throughout Daytona Speedweeks in preparation for the 66th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February 2024, where he will then attempt to compete at Talladega Superspeedway in April.

The news comes as Beard Motorsports is set to return on a part-time NASCAR Cup Series campaign in 2024, beginning with an eighth consecutive entrance in Daytona Speedweeks and the team’s bid to make the Daytona 500 field, which would mark the team’s sixth qualification for the 500, after missing the event this past season. Due to being a non-chartered team, Beard Motorsports will have to make the 500 either through the Daytona 500 Qualifying session that will occur on February 14 or through one of two Bluegreen Vacations Duels that will occur the following day on February 15.

For Alfredo, the 24-year-old native from Ridgefield, Connecticut, will attempt to become the sixth competitor to compete in a Cup Series event for Beard Motorsports. He previously competed in the entire 2021 Cup season with Front Row Motorsports, where he ended up in 30th place in the final standings on the strength of a single top-10 result and an average-finishing result of 27.5. He also made two Cup starts with Live Fast Motorsports this past season, which occurred at Richmond Raceway and at Martinsville Speedway in April.

Aside from his part-time Cup campaign with Beard Motorsports, Alfredo is set to campaign on a full-time basis in the 2024 Xfinity Series season for Our Motorsports.

“I’m so thankful for this opportunity,” Alfredo said in a released statement. “Every driver that runs stock cars wants to race in the NASCAR Cup Series and the Daytona 500. I’ve been blessed to race at this level against drivers that are childhood heroes of mine. This opportunity with the Beard family is very exciting. They have always fielded great cars in these superspeedway races, so I’m thrilled to get behind the wheel of their No. 62 Chevrolet.”

Beard Motorsports, which is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, and has only a single full-time employee, that being crew chief Darren Shaw, made its Cup Series debut during the 2017 Daytona 500 with veteran Brendan Gaughan. Since then, the team has made 26 career starts in NASCAR’s premier series, primarily at Daytona and Talladega. Within the 26 starts, the team recorded five top-10 results and a career-best fifth-place run with Noah Gragson at Daytona in August 2022. The team’s best result in the Daytona 500 is a seventh-place finish produced by Brendan Gaughan in 2020.

This past season, Austin Hill, an Xfinity Series competitor for Richard Childress Racing, made a total of five Cup starts for Beard Motorsports. Hill’s best result with the team was a 14th-place run at Daytona in August.

“The 2024 season marks our eighth year competing in the NASCAR Cup Series,” Amie Beard, executive vice president of Beard Motorsports, added. “It’s surreal to even be referencing year number eight. This race team is a passion project for all of us. My dad loved the sport and it’s a passion that we now share as a family. It’s what drives this team.”

Beard Motorsports also plans to compete at Daytona in August and at Talladega in October. The team’s driver plans for both events along with additional events to enter remain to be determined.

Alfredo’s first Cup Series campaign with Beard Motorsports commences with the Daytona 500 Qualifying session on February 14 followed by the Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona International Speedway that will occur on February 15 as he attempts to qualify for the 66th running of the Daytona 500 that will follow suit on February 18 and air at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

December 20, 2023
Allgaier edges Creed in double overtime for thrilling Xfinity victory at Daytona

Amid early adversity by dropping to the rear of the field and serving a pass-through penalty for multiple pre-qualifying technical failures to his No. 7 JR Motorsports entry, Justin Allgaier rallied in thrilling fashion by surviving two overtime attempts and late on-track chaos to edge Sheldon Creed in a photo finish and win the Wawa 250 at Daytona International Speedway on Friday, August 25.

The 37-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led twice for 14 of 110 over-scheduled laps, including the final 12, in an event where he was one of five competitors who served a pass-through penalty through pit road following the opening lap and due to his entry failing pre-qualifying inspection three times. Being mired towards the rear of the field, Allgaier managed to methodically carve his way to the front amid the draft and tight-packed racing before he led for the first time with 15 laps remaining.

Following a caution period due to a multi-car wreck with eight laps remaining, Allgaier, who was then running on fumes to have enough fuel to the finish, reclaimed the lead at the start of a two-lap shootout when another multi-car wreck sent the event into an overtime attempt. Amid another multi-car wreck that sent the field into a second overtime attempt, where he managed to retain the lead, Allgaier then fended off late challenges from Parker Kligerman and Daniel Hemric before Sheldon Creed launched a final side-by-side duel on the final lap. With both drag-racing to the finish, Allgaier managed to edge Creed by 0.005 seconds to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and his first at Daytona.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Austin Hill started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.719 mph in 49.256 seconds. Joining him on the front row was his Richard Childress Racing teammate Sheldon Creed, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 181.620 mph in 49.554 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Justin Allgaier, Jordan Anderson, Jeb Burton, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Ryan Sieg dropped to the rear of the field and were assessed pass-through penalties through pit road as a result of their respective entries failing pre-race technical inspection multiple times. Connor Mosack and Natalie Decker were also sent to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments to their respective entries, but not assessed pass-through penalties.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, teammates Hill and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Hill muscled ahead from the outside lane. Hill then transitioned from the outside to the inside lane and back to the outside lane to defend his line and the lead while rookie Chandler Smith dueled and challenged rookie Sammy Smith for the lead. With the field running two by two and just as Allgaier, Anderson, Jeb Burton, Retzlaff and Ryan Sieg served their pass-through penalties, Hill proceeded to lead the first lap while Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith continued to duel for the runner-up spot.

Just past the third lap mark, Hill maintained the lead as he was running on the outside lane while Sammy Smith tried to challenge Hill for the lead on the inside lane as he had Creed following him while Chandler Smith and Daniel Hemric remained on the outside lane to assist Hill amid the draft.

Through the first five scheduled laps and with the field still running in two stacked lanes amid the draft, Hill was leading ahead of Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Hemric and Trevor Bayne while Creed, Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman, Riley Herbst and Justin Haley were in the top 10. By then, Kaz Grala was in 11th ahead of Cole Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Josh Berry and John Hunter Nemechek while Brandon Jones, Brett Moffitt, Joe Graf Jr., Jeremy Clements and JJ Yeley occupied the top 20. In addition, the top 32 competitors were separated by three seconds.

A lap later, Sammy Smith gained a run beneath Hill entering the frontstretch and started to inch ahead, but Hill managed to regain his momentum and retain the top spot by a hair towards the start/finish line mark. Hill and Smith continued to duel for the top spot during the proceeding laps until Smith managed to lead a lap for himself on the eighth lap.

At the Lap 10 mark, Sammy Smith, who continued to duel against Hill for the lead, was leading by 0.003 seconds over Hill as the top-32 competitors were separated by five seconds amid the draft.

Five laps later, Hill, who reassumed the lead on Lap 11, retained the lead ahead of teammate Creed followed by Chandler Smith, Hemric and Alfredo while Mayer, Moffitt, Clements, Custer and Kligerman were in the top 10, with a majority of the field migrating to the outside lane behind Hill. Meanwhile, Herbst, who was running 31st, reported a steering issue to his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang, though he continued to run at full pace.

At Lap 20 and with nearly the entire field running in a long single file line on the outside lane, Hill, who had debris on his front grille, continued to lead ahead of Creed followed by Chandler Smith, Hemric and Alfredo while Moffitt, Clements, Mayer, Custer and Kligerman retained the top-10 spots in the running order. Shortly after, Mayer, who was running eighth, attempted to make a move to the front amid the draft as he transitioned from the outside to the inside lane, but he had no assistance from anyone as he dropped towards the top 15 on the track. With Kligerman also meeting the same fate as his move to the bottom lane did not prevail, Hill would retain the lead ahead of teammate Creed and Chandler Smith through the Lap 25 mark.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 30, Hill, who fended off a late surge from Chandler Smith through the backstretch as he maintained control of both lanes through Turns 3 and 4, claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2023 season. Creed edged Chandler Smith to settle in second while Moffitt, Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Hemric, Clements, Custer and Bayne were scored in the top 10. By then, Herbst blew a left-front tire and damaged his fender amid his steering issue as he limped his Ford back to pit road. The issue would place Herbst three laps behind the leaders despite continuing under full pace while his Playoff hopes were taking another hit amid on-track issues.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Hill pitted. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Hill exited first ahead of Nemechek, Creed, Sammy Smith and Kligerman, all of whom took two tires, while sixth-place Chandler Smith was the first competitor to opt for four fresh tires ahead of teammate Hemric and Brandon Jones.

The second stage started on Lap 36 as teammates Hill and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek gave Hill a push to muscle ahead of Creed which enabled Hill to maintain the lead. Hill then continued to run the outside lane in front of Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith while Creed was trying to fight back on the inside lane with drafting help from Kligerman. As the field fanned out to three lanes entering the frontstretch, Hill retained the lead.

By Lap 40, Creed gained a run on the inside lane with drafting help from Kligerman as he muscled ahead of Hill and led a lap for himself. A lap later and with the field fanned out to three lanes, the caution flew when Anthony Alfredo moved up the track and made contact with Brandon Jones who got loose and clipped Moffitt before both veered and collided against the outside wall towards the frontstretch. The incident triggered a multi-car wreck that involved Connor Mosack, Kyle Weatherman, Allgaier, Haley, Connor Mosack, Moffitt, Grala, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg, Natalie Decker and Alex Guenette. During the extensive caution period, some led by Berry pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

When the race restarted on Lap 50, which marked the halfway mark of this event, Creed received a shove from teammate Hill to muscle ahead from the outside lane ahead of Kligerman. Despite Kligerman drawing even with Creed through the backstretch, Creed fired back on top through Turns 3 and 4 and back to the frontstretch before Kligerman fought back during the following lap in Turn 1. Kligerman then received a huge push from Nemechek and Bayne through the backstretch to rocket ahead with the lead as he led the Lap 52 mark.

By Lap 53, however, Bayne, who was making his first of three Xfinity starts of the season while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, powered past Kligerman and emerged as the new leader while Kligerman and Chandler Smith battled for second in front of Nemechek, Creed, Hill and Hemric. Bayne would proceed to lead through and past the Lap 55 mark as the field settled in a long single-file line behind Bayne and towards the outside wall amid the draft.

Two laps later, Creed made his move beneath the inside lane and overtook Bayne to reassume the lead followed by teammate Hill and Kligerman. Hill then bailed on Creed as he assumed the lead. In the process, Bayne and Kligerman moved to second and third while Creed fell back to fourth in front of Sammy Smith and Hemric.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 60, Creed, who threw a big block on Custer through the backstretch before drawing even against teammate Hill through Turns 3 and 4, edged Hill by a fender to claim the stage victory, which marked his fourth of the 2023 season. Hill settled in second ahead of Custer, Sammy Smith and Hemric while Nemechek, Bayne, Kligerman, Mayer and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Creed pitted. Following the pit stops and another cycle of mixed strategies, Mayer, who nearly spun his car upon exiting his pit stall, exited first after opting for no fresh tires followed by Creed, who pitted for two fresh tires, as Allgaier, Hill, Sammy Smith, Custer and Berry followed suit. By then, Bayne, who exited pit road in 10th, was the first competitor who opted for four fresh tires.

With 34 laps remaining, the final stage started as Mayer and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn until Creed muscled ahead from the inside lane with drafting help from teammate Hill while Mayer was trying to connect with teammate Allgaier from the outside lane. Creed and Hill, however, would prevail on the inside lane as they rocketed away from the field that fanned out to three stacked lanes through the frontstretch and during the proceeding lap.

With 30 laps remaining, Creed and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead in front of two stacked lanes as Creed had teammate Hill assisting him amid the draft while Smith had teammates Bayne and Nemechek along with Kligerman assisting him on the inside lane. Smith would prevail through the backstretch as he led the following lap before Creed returned the favor and reassumed the lead. By then, Smith, who nearly got turned by Hill through the backstretch, was deadlocked against Bayne for the runner-up spot until Bayne muscled ahead and started to challenge Creed for the lead with drafting help from Nemechek.

Five laps later, Bayne, who had been dueling against Creed during the previous few laps for the lead, had the top spot and both lanes to his control as he was ahead of teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith amid two tight-packed lanes. Shortly after, Kligerman made a bold three-wide move on the backstretch to assume the runner-up spot as he settled behind Bayne while Creed dueled Sammy Smith for third in front of Nemechek and Hill. Teammates Sammy Smith and Nemechek would reclaim second and third during the following lap as they both settled behind Bayne amid the draft. Nemechek and Smith, however, would both get shuffled out of the draft with 22 laps remaining as Kligerman reclaimed second while Creed, Mayer, Hill and Allgaier were in the top six.

With 20 laps remaining, Bayne, trying to block both lanes, was still leading ahead of Creed and Kligerman while Hill, Mayer and Allgaier joined the battle toward the front. Two laps later, Mayer muscled ahead beneath Bayne to lead a lap for himself before Bayne fought back on the outside lane. With Bayne having Creed pushing him from the outside lane, Mayer had teammate Allgaier assisting him on the inside lane as Jeb Burton charged his way into the top five along with Creed, Kligerman and Nemechek.

Five laps later, Allgaier, who received a huge push from Bayne through the backstretch, managed to duel and overtake teammate Mayer to lead and muscle ahead of the pack that fanned out to three tight lanes. With Allgaier leading, he then blocked teammate Mayer to defend the spot and maintain control of both lanes as Bayne also tried to fight back with drafting help from Creed. Bayne would then draw even against Allgaier through Turns 3 and 4 before sliding in front of Allgaier and reassuming the lead with 13 laps remaining. With Bayne back out in front ahead of Allgaier and Creed, Hill pushed Kligerman to fourth while Mayer was getting shuffled out of the top five. With Hill cracking back in the top three, he gave teammate Creed the assistance needed to reassume a brief lead from Bayne with 12 laps remaining before Bayne fought back and dueled with Creed for the lead.

Dow to the final 10 laps of the event, Bayne was leading by 0.027 seconds ahead of Creed with Allgaier, Hill and Kligerman running in the top five while Chandler Smith, Hemric, Mayer, Alfredo and Jeb Burton were battling in the top 10. By then, Sammy Smith and Nemechek were back in the top 12 while Custer and Berry were mired outside the top 15.

Then two laps later, the caution flew when Jeb Burton, who was running in the top 10, veered sideways entering Turns 3 and 4 and despite trying to keep his car straight, he ended up spinning before making contact with the outside wall. Amid Burton’s wreck, more issues ensued behind the lead pack as Haley got hit by Caesar Bacarella as he spun while Ryan Ellis also spun and pounded the inside wall towards the pit road entrance head-on while Bacarella plowed his damaged car through the frontstretch grass. At the moment of caution, Bayne retained the lead after executing a bold block on Hill through Turns 3 and 4 as Allgaier, Hill, Kligerman and Chandler Smith were scored in the top five.

During the caution period, some like Custer, Berry, Moffitt, Clements, Ryan Sieg, Garrett Smithley and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest led by Bayne remained on the track.

With the event restarting with two laps remaining, where Bayne and Allgaier occupied the front row front of Kligerman and Hill, Allgaier and Bayne dueled for the lead exiting the backstretch until Hill tried to make a move to the outside of Bayne. As Bayne tried to block Hill, his late move ended up being costly as Bayne got turned into the outside wall and ignited a chain reaction multi-car wreck with Chandler Smith getting bumped by teammate Hemric and turned into Nemechek and Mayer, who spun and clipped Bayne’s No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra as Bayne then clipped teammate Nemechek in the process and destroyed his rear deck lid, as Sammy Smith, JJ Yeley and Jeffrey Earnhardt sustained damage to their respective entries. Amid the wreck that eliminated most of the front-runners, Allgaier escaped with the race lead followed by Kligerman, Retzlaff, Hemric and Creed. The wreck also sent the event into overtime.

During the first overtime attempt, where Allgaier and Kligerman occupied the front row, Allgaier muscled ahead in his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro with a narrow lead over Kligerman’s No. 48 Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro as the field started to fan out exiting the frontstretch and entering the first turn. Allgaier and Kligerman dueled for the top spot through Turns 1 and 2 before Allgaier started to inch ahead with drafting help from Creed on the inside lane. Then through the backstretch, the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt when Blaine Perkins got loose and turned into Josh Williams, who spun and clipped Berry into a spin before he hit the outside wall head-on as his car briefly got airborne after then getting hit by Nemechek’s No. 20 Yahoo! Toyota Supra, whose event came to a fiery end. Bayne, Clements and Moffitt were also involved in the wreck as their runs came to a late end.

For the second overtime attempt, Allgaier surged ahead on the inside lane while Hemric and Kligerman battled for the runner-up spot. As the field fanned out through the first two turns and the backstretch, Hemric and Kligerman appeared to have formed a two-car tandem behind Allgaier before Kligerman made a move to Hemric’s outside. This allowed Allgaier to maintain the lead as Creed drafted Kligerman away from Hemric with more momentum coming to the outside lane.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained as the leader over Kligerman, Creed and the field through the frontstretch. With the event remaining under green flag conditions as Kaz Grala spun towards the frontstretch, Creed made his move into the runner-up spot amid a tight battle with Kligerman while Allgaier was left to fend off both lanes by himself as he was pulling away from the field.

Then through the backstretch, Creed gained a draft from Hemric to make his move to Allgaier’s outside as both dueled for the top spot through Turns 3 and 4. With the field approaching the frontstretch while Jordan Anderson and Berry wrecked behind, Allgaier managed to surge ahead and edge Creed’s No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro by 0.005 seconds to claim his first victory at Daytona.

With the victory, Allgaier scored his 21st career victory in the Xfinity Series, his first since winning at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May and his first at Daytona in his 26th series start as he became the fifth series regular to achieve multiple victories this season. The victory was the fourth of the season for JR Motorsports, the team’s eighth at Daytona and the 13th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate.

“I’ve been coming to this place for a long time,” Allgaier, who celebrated on the frontstretch with his team, said on USA Network. “I’ve wanted to win here so bad and we’ve been so close. This team, I just can’t say enough. [Crew chief] Jim Pohlman, everybody on this No. 7 team, everybody at JR Motorsports. Our Hellmann’s Camaro was awesome tonight. To come through the adversity we had to come through and to not really be sure what we were going to have there at the end. We did all the things we needed to do. The team never quit, never gave up and we rallied. Obviously, we put ourselves in good position. Man, it’s special. This is Daytona. This is one of the iconic places in the world and I’m just so thankful to be here.”

Despite finishing in the runner-up spot for the fifth time in his Xfinity career and second in recent weeks after falling short a week ago at Watkins Glen International, Creed remained optimistic over his strong run throughout the night as he is 60 points above the top-12 cutline to make the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs with two regular-season events remaining on the schedule.

“We have some momentum, finally,” Creed said. “Back-to-back second places. I’m cleaning it up and doing better myself. Just putting races together. I thought we killed it tonight. [Finished] second [in] Stage 1, won Stage 2…Just an amazing night for us. Good points night for us, so we’re gonna make the Playoffs this year and we’re gonna keep fighting for these good finishes. It’s a good time to be heating up.”

Hemric came home in third place for his fifth top-five finish of the season followed by Kligerman, who nabbed his sixth top-five result of the season and coming off the announcement that he will be remaining at Big Machine Racing for the 2024 season. Hemric’s run currently places him 57 points above the top-12 cutline to make the 2023 Xfinity Playoffs while Kligerman was able to crack the top-12 cutline and be 20 points within the cutline amid Herbst’s issues as Herbst ended up 24th, two laps down.

Cole Custer finished fifth while Ryan Sieg, Parker Retzlaff, Alfredo, Gray Gaulding and Haley completed the top 10 on the track.

There were 20 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps. In addition, 19 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

With two Xfinity regular-season events remaining on the schedule, Austin Hill continues to lead the regular-season standings by 27 points over Justin Allgaier and 28 over John Hunter Nemechek.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 14 laps led

2. Sheldon Creed, 21 laps led, Stage 2 winner

3. Daniel Hemric

4. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

5. Cole Custer, one lap led

6. Ryan Sieg

7. Parker Retzlaff

8. Anthony Alfredo

9. Gray Gaulding

10. Justin Haley

11. Jeffrey Earnhardt

12. Jeb Burton

13. Kyle Sieg

14. Joey Gase

15. Jordan Anderson

16. Garrett Smithley

17. Josh Berry

18. Brett Moffitt

19. Sam Mayer, six laps led

20. Kaz Grala, one lap down

21. Sammy Smith, one lap down, four laps led

22. Chandler Smith, one lap down, one lap led

23. Austin Hill, one lap down, 36 laps led, Stage 1 winner

24. Riley Herbst, two laps down

25. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

26. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

27. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

28. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

29. Trevor Bayne – OUT, Accident, 26 laps led

30. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

31. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

32. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Dvp

34. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Dvp

35. Natalie Decker – OUT, Accident

36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

37. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

38. Alex Guenette – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ second and final visit of this season to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 2, during Labor Day weekend at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

August 25, 2023
Jeb Burton upsets the competition with thrilling Xfinity victory at Talladega

In an event mired with multiple lead changes amid a series of competitive battles plus multiple carnages and two rollovers, Jeb Burton and Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport pulled the upset by fending off the competition through two overtime attempts and steering their way to victory in the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway on Saturday, April 22.

The 30-year-old Burton from Halifax, Virginia, led three times for 17 of 121 over-scheduled laps in an event where he kept pace with the front-runners amid the draft. After falling short of winning the first stage before winning the second, Burton seized an opportunity for the win when he dodged a multi-car pileup with two laps remaining that eliminated initial leader Daniel Hemric to reassume the lead. From there, he fended off late charges from Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman through two overtime attempts to claim his second NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory and the first ever for Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport at the 2.6-mile superspeedway venue.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Richard Childress Racing’s two-car stable comprising of drivers Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed swept the front row, with Hill claiming the pole position at 182.459 mph in 52.483 seconds while Creed started on the front row with a fast qualifying lap at 181.632 mph in 52.722 seconds.

Prior to the event, Cole Custer, Sam Mayer and Parker Kligerman dropped to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, teammates Hill and Creed dueled for the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and entering the backstretch. Then through the backstretch, Creed gained momentum on the outside lane followed by rookie Parker Retzlaff before moving in front of teammate Hill through Turns 3 and 4. Retzlaff, however, seized the clean air opportunity in front of him by storming to the lead on the outside lane through the frontstretch as he managed to lead the first lap over Creed.

Through the second lap, Retzlaff continued to lead while fending off Alfredo and Creed from the top to the bottom lane. As the field fanned out through the backstretch, Alfredo started to challenge Retzlaff for the lead on the outside lane while Creed and Jeb Burton battled Hill for third.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Alfredo was leading ahead of both Jeb Burton and Retzlaff while Brett Moffitt and Riley Herbst were scored in the top five. Behind, Creed was in sixth ahead of rookie Sammy Smith, Hill, Ryan Truex and Daniel Hemric. By then, all 38 starters were separated by three-and-a-half seconds as the field continued to jostle for positions amid three tight-packed lanes.

Three laps later, Hemric muscled his way into the lead over Alfredo. He continued to lead at the Lap 10 mark while Moffitt tried to launch a challenge on the inside lane. Hemric, though, moved from the outside to the inside lane to fend off Moffitt with the lead as Alfredo fell back to fourth in front of Justin Allgaier. By Lap 13, however, Creed moved his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro into the lead as he led a lap for himself.

Just past the Lap 16 mark, the battle for the lead intensified amid four tight-packed lanes as rookie Chandler Smith tried to use the draft to move his No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro into the lead on the inside lane. Creed, however, maintained the lead on the outside lane in front of teammate Hill and Moffitt while Smith had his teammates Hemric and Derek Kraus coming to his assistance within the draft and the middle lane. By then, Ryan Truex ignited a third lane on the inside lane as he tried to move his way to the front.

At the Lap 20 mark, the top-21 competitors were separated under a second as Creed retained the lead ahead of teammate Hill with Moffitt, Chandler Smith and Alfredo in close pursuit while Hemric, Herbst, Kraus, Sammy Smith and Allgaier were in the top 10. By the following lap, however, Chandler Smith peeked ahead to lead a lap for himself before Creed reassumed the lead with drafting help from Hill on the outside lane. The intensity towards the front continued during the following lap as Allgaier carved his No. 7 Fight Hunger Spark Change Chevrolet Camaro towards the front amid three lanes and challenged Creed for the lead on the inside lane. Both Creed and Allgaier would battle dead even for the lead during the following lap and in front of the pack.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 25, Allgaier, who dipped his car below the double yellow lines through the backstretch and nearly lost the lead to Jeb Burton, fended off the pack and a hard-charging Creed through the final turns to claim his fourth stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Creed settled in second while Sam Mayer, Jeb Burton, Hill, Kligerman, Truex, Chandler Smith, Josh Berry and Herbst were scored in the top 10. By then, the event featured seven different lead changes for six different leaders.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted amid mixed strategy while some led by Brennan Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Ryan Truex was the first competitor to exit pit road first after only opting for two fresh tires followed by Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Moffitt and Creed. Amid the pit stops, Hill and Josh Williams were penalized for speeding on pit road. Once the remaining names led by Poole who had yet to pit pitted, Truex cycled his way into the lead under caution.

The second stage started on Lap 31 as Truex and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Truex and Allgaier dueled in tight formation for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Soon after, the field fanned out to three lanes as both Truex and Allgaier remained dead even for the lead in front of Moffitt, Nemechek and Sammy Smith. During the following lap, Moffitt launched a charge for the lead amid the draft on the inside lane as Allgaier managed to move in front of Truex for the lead both on the outside lane and the overall race.

By Lap 34, Moffitt managed to pull himself from the top to the outside lane in front of Allgaier as he had the clear air to his advantage. Allgaier, however, fought back on the outside lane as he led the following lap with the field behind jostling for positions amid the draft and the pack.

Then on Lap 37, the caution flew when Derek Kraus turned Parker Chase into Retzlaff through the backstretch, which nearly turned over Retzlaff as Retzlaff spun in the middle of the pack before he was hit by Alfredo’s No. 78 RTIC Chevrolet Camaro while the rest of the field scattered to avoid the melee mayhem. In the ensuing mayhem, Chase went dead straight towards the inside wall on the backstretch and sustained more damage as both his and Alfredo’s run came to an early end.

During the caution period, names that included Hemric, Kraus, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, CJ McLaughlin, Kyle Sieg, Berry, Ryan Sieg, Poole and Josh Williams pitted while the rest led by Moffitt remained on the track.

With eight laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Moffitt and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Moffitt managed to pull ahead and move in front of Herbst for the lead as both had Cole Custer drafting on them on the inside lane. As Sam Mayer tried to challenge Moffitt for the lead on the outside lane, Jeb Burton made a bold move beneath Custer through the frontstretch to move up to third followed by Hill as Custer dropped out of the top five. By then, Moffitt continued to lead ahead of Herbst.

By Lap 44, Jeb Burton moved into the lead followed by a hard-charging Hill, who then tried to make his move for the lead. Hill, however, got shuffled out by Nemechek through Turns 3 and 4 before fighting back through the frontstretch as he then drew himself alongside Burton for the lead. With the event surpassing the Lap 45 mark, the field fanned out to three packed lanes as Jeb Burton maintained a narrow lead ahead of Chandler Smith, Hill and Brandon Jones before Josh Berry started to carve his way to the front.

Then on Lap 47 and amid the tight battles towards the front, the caution flew for a harrowing multi-car wreck on the backstretch that started when Dexter Stacey got loose and spun below the track while clipping Blaine Perkins before he slammed the inside wall at full speed. Meanwhile, Perkins spun back across the track and towards the outside wall before he got T-boned by Jade Buford, which sent the latter airborne and flipping multiple times as the right-rear wheel of Perkins’ car flew off, which would be hit by Kaz Grala, before coming to rest right-side up. Despite his wild rollover ride, Perkins along with Stacey emerged unscathed as they made the trip to the infield care center. Perkins would eventually be transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. The wreck, however, put the race in a 12-minute red flag period to remove the carnage.

Once the red flag lifted and the field proceeded under a cautious pace, the second stage scheduled to conclude on Lap 50 concluded under caution as Jeb Burton claimed his first Xfinity stage victory of the season. Chandler Smith followed cautiously in second while Truex, Berry, Hemric, Hill, Kraus, Creed, Brandon Jones and Allgaier were scored on the lead lap. By then, the field featured 14 lead changes for 10 different leaders.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Burton pitted while some led by Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Hemric, who only opted for fuel, exited pit road first followed by teammate Kraus, who also opted for fuel, while Truex, Nemechek and Sammy Smith exited in the top five. Once the rest of the field, led by Poole, had to pit, Hemric inherited the lead.

With 59 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hemric and Ryan Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric and Truex dueled for the lead in front of the pack submerged in two tight-packed lanes. The field would quickly fan out to three lanes through the backstretch as both Hemric and Truex continued to duel for the lead in front of Kraus, Nemechek, Jeb Burton and Sammy Smith.

During the following lap, Hemric managed to break away from the pack on the outside lane followed by teammate Kraus, Truex, Nemechek and Ryan Sieg while Hill and Jeb Burton battled for sixth. Creed would then muscle his way into seventh behind teammate Hill while Berry and Chandler Smith battled Burton for eighth amid three lanes. By then, the event surpassed its halfway point while Hemric maintained the lead.

Then with 50 laps remaining, the caution returned when Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones made contact entering the backstretch, which resulted in Smith spinning and pounding the inside wall hard in his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra while Jones emerged with significant front nose damage to his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro. By then, Hill, who overtook Hemric following a strong move to Hemric’s outside on the backstretch during the previous lap, was still leading as Creed, Chandler Smith and Berry were in the top five.

During the caution period, some led by Hill, Creed and Josh Bilicki remained on the track while a majority, led by Hemric, pitted amid mixed strategies for enough fuel for the finish.

With the event restarting under green with 44 laps remaining, Hill and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead until Hill peeked ahead with drafting help from teammate Creed. Hill then pulled ahead in his No. 21 Bennett/Realtree Chevrolet Camaro through the backstretch while running on the outside lane as Chandler Smith tried to keep pace as the lead competitor on the inside lane.

A lap later, Chandler Smith gained a run on Hill through the backstretch as he tried to snatch the lead away, but Hill received another boost from teammate Creed to maintain the lead. Then through the frontstretch, Cole Custer, who was pushing Chandler Smith, launched a three-wide battle on Chandler Smith and Hill for his bid for the lead, though he moved up to second. Creed quickly overtook Custer to move back into second as Hill maintained the lead in front of two tight-packed lanes.

With 40 laps remaining, Hill was leading ahead of teammate Creed followed by Hemric, Custer and Truex while Chandler Smith, Berry, Kraus, Moffitt and Gray Gaulding were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-19 competitors were separated under a second amid the tight-packed competition.

A lap later, the caution returned when Brandon Jones, who received front nose damage during the previous caution after his on-track incident with Sammy Smith, went up the track entering Turn 1 after blowing a tire and clipped the No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang piloted by Herbst as he made contact with the wall. In the process, Mayer, who was running behind teammate Jones, slipped sideways in front of his other teammate Allgaier as he spun below the apron. During the caution period, some led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Truex remained on the track.

During the following restart with 34 laps remaining, Truex fended off Moffitt to maintain the lead entering the backstretch as Retzlaff made his way into second. As Truex tried to fend off Retzlaff, Moffitt assumed the lead during the following lap followed by a hard-charging Nemechek as the field fanned out to three lanes. It would not take long until the caution flew with 32 laps remaining when Nemechek, who moved up the track in front of teammate Truex, was bumped by Truex just past the start/finish line as he spun his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra below the frontstretch and hit the inside wall on the driver’s left side while damaging his rear suspension.

With 24 laps remaining, the race restarted under green as Moffitt and Ryan Sieg occupied the front row. At the start, Moffitt jumped ahead with a strong start as he moved from the top to the inside lane in front of Sieg to maintain the lead. Behind, Kaz Grala was up in third followed by Hill and Creed while Truex fell back to sixth. As Moffitt led through the backstretch, Hill moved up to third while Moffitt maintained the lead in front of Sieg.

During the following lap, Ryan Sieg made his move beneath Moffitt on the backstretch to move into the lead and in front of two tight-packed lanes with multiple competitors bumping, pushing and jostling for late positions. With Sieg maintaining the lead on the outside lane, Creed tried to launch a charge on the inside lane followed by Chandler Smith and Kaz Grala.

With 22 laps remaining, Hill made a move beneath Moffitt in his attempt for the lead, but he could not gain drafting help from teammate Creed as he began to lose a bevy of spots on the inside lane while Moffitt retained the lead in front of a bevy of cars opting to run in a single file line on the outside lane. With both Hill and Creed falling back, Moffit was in second while Kligerman, Hemric and Ryan Truex were in the top five.

Then with 19 laps remaining, the caution returned when Hill and Berry made contact as a result of Berry trying to block Hill with the former spinning in Turn 4. Berry, though, managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro.

During the following restart with 15 laps remaining, Sieg battled and fended off Moffitt to maintain the lead. Shortly after, Hemric launched his bid for the lead against Sieg, with Hemric side-drafting Sieg to slow his momentum and take the lead on the outside lane. With the field behind fanning out to four lanes, Sieg maintained the lead on the inside lane followed by Moffitt as Hemric, Kligerman, Truex and Jeb Burton were all in the midst of the battle for the lead.

Then with 13 laps remaining and as Sieg continued to lead in front of Hemric and Moffitt, the caution flew when Mayer spun off the front nose of teammate Berry, came down across the track and collected teammate Justin Allgaier in Turn 3, thus sending all three JR Motorsports’ competitors with wrecked race cars as Derek Kraus and Gray Gaulding also received damage.

Down to the final six laps of the event, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Moffitt peeked ahead with drafting help from Kligerman while Ryan Sieg fought back on the outside lane followed by Hemric. As the field battled through two tight-packed lanes, Sieg emerged with the lead on the outside lane with five laps remaining as Hemric moved up to second and made a bid for the lead. In the process, Jeb Burton challenged Moffitt for third while Sieg remained in front of Hemric with the lead. Moffitt would then gain the draft on the inside lane and nearly make contact with Hemric as he battled for second with drafting help from Kligerman.

With three laps remaining, Hemric muscled his way into the lead through the backstretch followed by Jeb Burton as Creed followed suit in third. Then as the battle for the lead intensified through the backstretch, the caution flew amid another multi-car wreck in Turn 3 when Creed made contact and turned the leader Hemric around as Hemric tried to block Creed, which resulted in Hemric spinning and getting hit by Ryan Sieg. Hemric’s No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro then shot back across the track and towards the outside wall amid a vicious hit from Herbst as Hemric rolled upside down while towards the wall and the catchfence before his car slid below the apron and came to rest while still on its roof. Among other names involved in the wreck included Hill, Moffitt, Jeremy Clements, Ryan Truex, Josh Bilicki, Chandler Smith, Grala, Retzlaff and Joey Gase. Amid the carnage, all competitors, including Hemric, emerged uninjured. The carnage, however, was enough to send the field into a second red flag period for nearly 14 minutes. Meanwhile, Jeb Burton carved his way into the lead followed by Creed while Kligerman, Poole, Kyle Sieg and Custer were scored in the top six.

When the red flag lifted and the race restarted in an overtime attempt, Burton and Creed dueled for the lead entering the first turn as Creed peeked ahead with drafting help from Kligerman. Burton, however, fought back on the outside lane with help from Kyle Sieg through the backstretch before Creed muscled back into the lead through Turns 3 and 4. Then as the field entered the frontstretch, the caution returned and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt due to debris reported on the track that came off of Hill’s car. At the moment of caution, Burton was deemed the leader over Creed.

At the start of the second overtime attempt, Burton peeked ahead on the outside lane entering the first turn until Creed claimed the lead with a push from Kyle Sieg on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, however, Burton received another push from Kligerman as he cleared the field and had both lanes to his control with the lead. In the process, Kligerman moved his No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro up to second while Creed slipped to third.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Burton remained as the leader ahead of Creed, who overtook Kligerman as he reignited his sights on Burton for the lead and win. After keeping his No. 27 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet Camaro in front of Creed’s through the first two turns, Burton then went from the top to the bottom lane to fend off late charges from both Kligerman and Creed through the backstretch. Through Turns 3 and 4, Burton started to pull away followed by a hard-charging Creed. Then as names that included CJ McLaughlin, Clements, Garrett Smithley, Moffitt and Ryan Ellis wrecked entering the backstretch, Burton managed to block and hold off Creed to return to the finish line and claim the checkered flag for his first series victory in two years.

With the victory, Burton, who swapped teams from Our Motorsports to Jordan Anderson Racing Bommarito Autosport prior to this season, notched his second career victory in the Xfinity circuit in his 118th series start, both occurring at Talladega Superspeedway and became the sixth different winner of the 2023 season. Compared to his first victory at Talladega and of his career, which occurred in a rain-shortened event in 2021, Burton’s second career victory in the series and at Talladega was all earned on the track and amid a wild finish to the checkered flag. It also served as a redemptive moment for Burton, who claimed his first top-five finish in the series since September 2021 at Darlington Raceway and after posting an average-finishing result of 20.9 all during the previous Xfinity season with no top-five or top-10 results.

The first NASCAR victory for Jordan Anderson as an owner in his third season was also a redemptive one for the Forest Acres, South Carolina, native, who survived a fiery incident during the Craftsman Truck Series’ Talladega event in October 2022, where he sustained second degree burns on his body.

“The only thing I’m disappointed about is that I didn’t get to do a burnout,” Burton, who celebrated with his crew and team owner Jordan Anderson on the frontstretch, said on FS1. “I blew the transmission out of [the car]. Man, I’m pumped up. I’m out of breath from yelling. [I] Went through some stuff on the off-season [period]. I’m more focused now than ever. These [Jordan Anderson Racing] guys made racing fun again for me. Our little team, you have no idea how big this is. This is huge. We’re locked in the Playoffs. I can promise you one thing. We’re gonna drink a lot of beer tonight. I hope my buddies better be ready when we get home because we’re gonna burn it down.”

Sheldon Creed tied his career-best result of second place followed by Kligerman while Cole Custer claimed the third Dash 4 Cash bonus by finishing fourth and emerging as the lone Dash 4 Cash competitor to finish the race while his opponents (Josh Berry, John Hunter Nemechek and Sammy Smith) were eliminated due to wrecks. Poole claimed fifth place while Caesar Bacarella, Parker Retzlaff, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase and Josh Williams finished in the top 10.

Custer along with race winner Jeb Burton, Sheldon Creed and Parker Kligerman will contend for the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash bonus of this season at Dover Motor Speedway next Saturday.

There were 28 lead changes for 12 different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 48 laps, including two red flag periods. In addition, 18 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap while 19 sustained DNFs.

Following the ninth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by four points over John Hunter Nemechek, 19 over Chandler Smith, 32 over Riley Herbst, 36 over Josh Berry and 41 over Justin Allgaier.

Results.

1. Jeb Burton, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Sheldon Creed, 11 laps led

3. Parker Kligerman

4. Cole Custer

5. Brennan Poole, two laps led

6. Caesar Bacarella

7. Parker Retzlaff, two laps led

8. Gray Gaulding

9. Joey Gase

10. Josh Williams

11. Ryan Ellis

12. Brett Moffitt, 20 laps led

13. CJ McLaughlin

14. Brandon Jones

15. Kyle Sieg

16. Garrett Smithley

17. Ryan Truex, nine laps led

18. Austin Hill, 14 laps led

19. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

20. Joe Graf Jr., eight laps down

21. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident, 15 laps led

22. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident, 18 laps led

23. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

24. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

25. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident, one lap led

26. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

27. Derek Kraus – OUT, DVP

28. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

29. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

30. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

31. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Transmission

32. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

33. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

35. Dexter Stacey – OUT, Accident

36. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

37. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident, five laps led

38. Parker Chase – OUT, DVP

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware, which will serve as the site of the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 29, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 22, 2023
$Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 team issued L1-level infraction penalty from Martinsville$

Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 team issued L1-level infraction penalty from Martinsville

NASCAR issued its penalty report following the sport’s triple-header weekend at Martinsville Speedway, where the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team piloted by Austin Dillon in the Cup Series headlined the report.

Per the report, NASCAR penalized the No. 3 team for an L1-level infraction after it was discovered that the team violated Sections 14.6.1 A&B from the NASCAR Rule Book pertaining to the underwing assembly mounting and underwing stay assembly hardware. The infraction was discovered after NASCAR took Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet to the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, North Carolina, following the Martinsville event this past Sunday, April 16, where Dillon finished 12th.

As a result, Dillon and his team have been penalized 60 points and five NASCAR Cup Series Playoff points. In addition, crew chief Keith Rodden has been issued a two-race suspension and a $75,000 fine. The points penalty dropped Dillon from 21st to 29th in the regular-season standings as he went from a 24-point deficit to an 84-point deficit to make the top-16 cutline for the 2023 Cup Playoffs.

NASCAR also issued two-race suspensions for crew members Chris Jackson and David Smith from Live Fast Team Motorsports Racing Team for the loss of a wheel on the track during the Martinsville event, where the right-rear wheel came off of the team’s No. 78 entry piloted by Anthony Alfredo nearing the final quarter-mark of the event. Alfredo proceeded to finish 35th of the 36-car field.

In the Xfinity Series, crew chiefs Mike Bumgarner, Jeff Meendering and Mike Scearce were fined $5,000 apiece for lug-nut violations for their respective entries and teams following the Xfinity event at Martinsville that occurred this past Saturday, April 15.

There were no penalties issued for any NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers or teams during the series’ event that occurred this past Friday, April 14.

The next event on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two-scheduled visits to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. The event is scheduled to occur this upcoming Sunday, April 23, at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. It will take place a day after the Xfinity Series hosts its lone annual visit to the superspeedway venue on Saturday, April 22, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 19, 2023
Austin Hill survives wild finish for second consecutive Xfinity victory at Atlanta

Austin Hill flexed his superspeedway muscles and defended his home turf amid a late challenge from Parker Kligerman and the field during a two-lap shootout to win the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 18.

The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for a race-high 103 of 163-scheduled laps, including the final 64, as he survived the track’s record 12 caution periods and on-track carnages from start to finish. Then during a two-lap shootout, Hill, who was being intimidated by Kligerman’s last-lap effort, avoided chaos himself by keeping his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry straight as Kligerman got bumped and was wrecking toward the finish while rubbing fenders with Hill for the win, which enabled the Georgian to capture a second consecutive Xfinity victory at his home track.

With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday canceled due to persistent rain, the starting lineup for Saturday’s main event was determined through a performance metric system. Based on the system, rookie Sammy Smith, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Phoenix Raceway, started on pole position and was joined on the front row by teammate John Hunter Nemechek.

Prior to the event, Kyle Sieg and Joe Graf Jr. dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, teammates Sammy Smith and Nemechek dueled dead even for the lead amid two tight-packed lanes through the first two turns until Nemechek peaked ahead on the inside lane. Then through the frontstretch, Nemechek pulled his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra in front of Smith’s No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra as he led the first lap while teammate Ryan Truex battled Hill for third. During the second lap, the first caution of the event flew due to a two-car wreck involving Joey Gase and Caesar Bacarella on the frontstretch.

With the event proceeding under green on the seventh lap, Nemechek received a push from teammate Smith to pull ahead of Austin Hill and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Hill carved his way into second place before being locked into a battle with Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith for the spot. Amid the battles, Nemechek retained the lead in front of the pack.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by a hair over Austin Hill, rookie Chandler, Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith while Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg, Cole Custer, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst were in the top 10. Shortly after, Hill muscled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro into the lead after overtaking Nemechek.

Then on the 11th lap and with Hill leading ahead of teammate Creed and Nemechek, the second caution flew following a vicious three-car wreck that involved Jeffrey Earnhardt, Kaz Grala and Garrett Smithley in Turn 3.

Following an extensive caution period and a restart on Lap 24, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead until Hill pulled ahead entering Turns 3 and 4. In the process, Creed followed suit in second along with Chandler Smith and Custer while Nemechek fell back to fifth. He then continued to lose spots on the inside lane as Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt, Parker Kligerman and Ryan Truex streaked by him on the outside lane. It would not be until Lap 26 that the caution returned due to another multi-car wreck that struck in Turn 1 when Kyle Weatherman got loose and hit the outside wall with Josh Williams and Jeb Burton also sustaining damage to avoid Weatherman. During the caution period, some like Sammy Smith, Justin Haley, Sam Mayer, Gray Gaulding, Joe Graf Jr. and Blaine Perkins pitted while the ret led by Hill remained on the track.

With nine laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill received a push from teammate Creed on the outside lane to retain the lead ahead of Custer, who had drafting help from Ryan Sieg on the inside lane. Nearly a lap later, the caution flew for the fifth time due to debris on the frontstretch. By then, Hill managed to remain ahead of Custer with the top spot. During the caution period, some like Ryan Truex, Josh Berry, Justin Allgaier and Sage Karam pitted while the rest led by Hill remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Josh Williams parked his car on the frontstretch and walked away from his car to the infield after being ordered by NASCAR officials.

With three laps remaining in the first stage, the race restarted under green. At the start, Hill retained the lead ahead of teammate Creed with drafting help from Custer. With Hill remaining out in front and transitioning from the outside to the inside lane for the following lap, Chandler Smith challenged Creed for the runner-up spot. Then on the final lap of the first stage, Creed launched his bid for the lead on teammate Hill after receiving a push from Nemechek through the backstretch and entering Turn 3. Then the first stage scheduled on Lap 40 concluded under caution when Chad Chastain and Patrick Emerling wrecked in Turn 4. Amid a duel between two Richard Childress Racing teammates, Hill was awarded the first Xfinity stage. Teammate Creed settled in second while Chandler Smith, Nemchek, Herbst, Moffitt, Ryan Sieg, Custer, Hemric and Kligerman were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some of the drivers, led by Creed, pitted while the rest, led by Justin Haley and Brandon Jones, remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 47 as Haley and Anthony Alfredo occupied the front row. At the start, Haley and Alfredo battled for the lead in front of the pack while Nemechek launched a three-wide bid just outside of the top 10 entering Turn 1. With the field fanning out to three lanes entering the frontstretch, Alfredo made his way into the lead over Haley while Ryan Truex battled for third over Brandon Jones.

At the Lap 55 mark, the caution returned for a spin involving Chad Chastain in Turn 3. By then, Alfredo was leading over Haley, Jones, Ryan Sieg and Connor Mosack while Kligerman, Parker Retzlaff, Berry, Joe Graf Jr. and Ryan Truex were running in the top 10.

With the event restarting under green on Lap 60, Alfredo and Jones dueled for the lead with Ryan Sieg, Haley and the field following suit. As the battle for the lead ensued, the caution returned a lap later when Parker Retzlaff blew a right-front tire and slapped the Turn 1 outside wall.

During the following restart on Lap 66, Alfredo and Jones battled for the lead until Jones muscled into the lead on the inside lane while Alfredo lost the lead and lost a handful of spots on the outside lane. Behind, Kligerman launched his attack on Ryan Sieg for second as Jones remained as the leader. A few laps later, the eighth caution of the event flew amid a two-car wreck involving Connor Mosack and Hemric in Turn 4 after Mosack got loose. With the caution flying, names like Haley, Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith and Hemric pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track.

As the field restarted with five laps remaining in the second stage, Jones and Kligerman battled for the lead ahead of two tight-packed lanes until Jones peaked ahead through Turns 3 and 4. During the following lap, however, the ninth caution flew when Berry made contact and turned teammate Allgaier head-on into the outside wall on the backstretch, with Jeremy Clements sustaining damage while trying to dodge Allgaier’s damaged No. 7 RAPTOR Chevrolet Camaro. The multi-car wreck was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 80 to conclude under caution as Kligerman captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Herbst settled in second followed by Brandon Jones, Creed, and Alfredo while Ryan Sieg, Berry, Hill, Custer and Joe Graf Jr. were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, names like Gray Gaulding, Patrick Emerling and Chad Chastain remained on the track while the rest led by Kligerman pitted for service. During the pit stops, Alfredo was penalized for having a crew member jump over the pit wall too soon.

With 77 laps remaining, the final stage started as Herbst and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, both of the front-runners dueled for the lead in front of two packs of cars, but Herbst kept his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang up front with Moffitt running towards the front. As the field fanned out to multiple lanes in the following laps, Herbst continued to lead ahead of Moffitt, Kligerman, Hemric and Brandon Jones while Creed was in sixth.

Down to the final 70 laps of the event, Hill muscled and carved his way back to the lead as the field towards the front continued to jostle for the lead. In the process, Nemechek carved his way back into the top five in fourth and Chandler Smith was in fifth while Herbst and Creed were in second and third. Six laps later, Herbst reassumed the lead from Hill while Kligerman, who fell back to sixth earlier, moved up to fourth.

With 50 laps remaining, Hill was out in front of a long line of competitors running towards the outside lane as Kligerman was in second followed by Moffitt, Chandler Smith and Ryan Truex. Behind, Hemric, Haley, Clements, Ryan Sieg and Herbst were in the top 10. Creed, meanwhile, fell off the pace from 10th place after suffering a right-front tire.

Following the event’s 10th caution period with 47 laps remaining amid a two-car wreck involving Patrick Emerling and Kyle Sieg in Turn 1, some that included Hill, Herbst, Truex, Jones, Gray Gaulding and Ryan Ellis remained on the track while the rest of the front-runners pitted.

During the following restart with 40 laps remaining, Hill peeked ahead of Brandon Jones at the start until Jones received a push from Custer to assume the lead. Hill, however, fought back on the outside lane as he had drafting help from Herbst with the pack behind locked in deep between two tight lanes. Not long after, Hill gained the momentum on the outside lane to clear Jones and assume the lead to both lanes while Herbst battled Jones for second. In the process, Custer remained in fourth while battling Truex while Ryan Sieg and Hemric battled for sixth.

With less than 35 laps remaining, Hill led in front of Herbst, Truex, Hemric and Custer on the outside lane. By then, Chandler Smith, who was running towards the front earlier, took his car to the garage due to a gearing issue. Then with 29 laps remaining, Kligerman gained a huge run on the inside lane to move his No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro all the way up to third place independently as he tried to blend in within the top-five front-runners. In the process, Hill retained the lead in front of Herbst and Truex while a majority of the field opted to remain in a long single-file line on the outside lane.

Then with nearly 20 laps of the event remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as Kligerman tried to challenge Hill for the lead while running on the inside lane. Despite receiving help from Alfredo, Jeb Burton and Haley, Hill continued to lead while defending both lanes to his control and having the clean air to his advantage. Kligerman, however, kept himself within the hunt as he battled Herbst for second.

With 15 laps remaining, the field fanned out to two tight-packed lanes as Hill continued to lead while Kligerman and Herbst battled for second. Behind, Jeb Burton and Alfredo moved into the top five while Hemric, Haley, Moffitt, Custer and Clements were scored in the top 10. By then, the top-17 competitors were separated under a second.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Hill retained the lead despite having Kligerman close to Hill’s rear bumper. Herbst was in third followed by Hemric and Alfredo while the top-19 competitors were separated by less than two seconds. Two laps later, however, the event’s 11th caution flew when Parker Retzlaff wrecked in Turn 4.

As the field restarted with two laps remaining, Hill, who received drafting help from Kligerman on the outside lane, was drafted to the lead ahead of Hemric, who restarted on the inside lane. Hill then was left on his own to fend for his lead amid Kligerman while Hemric kept the two leaders close within his sight.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader in front of a hard-charging Kligerman and Hemric. Then through the backstretch and with Hemric trying to get to Hill’s rear bumper, Kligerman made his move to Hill’s outside as he tried to draw his No. 48 entry even to Hill’s No. 21 entry. Then entering Turn 4 and the frontstretch, contact from Hemric turned Kligerman into Hill, though both managed to keep their respective cars straight as they rubbed fenders and traded paint. With Hill managing to keep his car straight, Kligerman was then bumped and turned by Hemric again as he spun and ignited a multi-car wreck across the finish line while Hill managed to pull away and capture the victory by 0.085 seconds over Hemric.

With the victory, Hill became the first three-time winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season as he captured his fifth Xfinity career victory in his 53rd series start. In addition to collecting his second straight win at Atlanta, Hill has notched three consecutive top-two finishes in three Xfinity career starts at his home track.

“[This win] really does [matter],” Hill said on FS1. “Just having my whole family here, growing up in Georgia, an hour down the road and growing up racing here on this little quarter-mile racetrack. I knew it was gonna be tough today. It just seemed like guys could get really good runs, a lot different than last year’s race the way that it unfolded. [Spotter] Derek Kneeland did a hell of a job on top of the spotter’s stand. Everybody with [Richard Childress Racing] and ECR Engines did such a phenomenal job. Really good pit strategy. We were on it all night. Once I got into the lead, I knew it was wreckers or checkers. When [Kligerman] hit me in the right rear, I’m guessing he got hit or something, I thought I was heading into the outside wall but was able to gather it up, bring [the car] on home. This is so special. That was a tough one to win. I can’t wait to celebrate this with my family.”

Amid the wild two-lap shootout and the carnage at the conclusion’s event, Hemric came home in second followed by Ryan Truex while Kligerman slid backward across the finish line to grab fourth place. Herbst, who also wrecked as he hit Kligerman and slid his car toward the inside lane before clipping Haley, managed to finish fifth while Moffitt, Berry, Nemechek, Mayer and Haley finished in the top 10.

There were a record 12 cautions for 68 laps. The event featured 13 lead changes for eight different leaders.

Following the fifth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, race winner Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 46 over both John Hunter Nemechek and Riley Herbst with Chandler Smith trailing by 77, Justin Allgaier by 84 and Sam Mayer by 92.

Results.

1. Austin Hill, 103 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Daniel Hemric

3. Ryan Truex

4. Parker Kligerman, five laps led, Stage 2 winner

5. Riley Herbst, 11 laps led

6. Brett Moffitt

7. Josh Berry

8. John Hunter Nemechek, 10 laps led

9. Sam Mayer

10. Justin Haley, five laps led

11. Ryan Sieg

12. Cole Custer

13. Brennan Poole

14. Anthony Alfredo, 18 laps led

15. Jeremy Clements

16. Jeb Burton

17. Sammy Smith

18. Patrick Emerling

19. Brandon Jones, 10 laps led

20. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

21. Sheldon Creed

22. Blaine Perkins

23. Ryan Ellis

24. Chad Chastain

25. Joe Graf Jr.

26. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

27. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

28. Chandler Smith – OUT, Rear Gear

29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

30. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

31. Sage Karam – OUT, Radiator

32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Accident

37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

38. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ third annual trip to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, which will also serve as the Dash 4 Cash qualifying event. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 25, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 19, 2023
Alfredo to make 100th NASCAR national touring series career start at Martinsville

While Anthony Alfredo is nearing the conclusion of his first full-time campaign in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Our Motorsports, he is also within reach of achieving a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s Xfinity Playoff event at Martinsville Speedway, Alfredo will achieve 100 career starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

A native of Ridgefield, Connecticut, Alfredo, whose racing career started with go-karts before moving up to Legends cars, made his inaugural presence within NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where he drove for David Gilliland Racing on a part-time basis in the Camping World Truck Series. By then, Alfredo was coming off his first season in the ARCA Menards Series East, where he achieved his first career victory at South Boston Speedway before finishing in fifth place in the final standings. In his debut at Atlanta, Alfredo started 27th and finished 17th in his Truck debut. Throughout the 2019 season, Alfredo competed in 13 of 23-scheduled Truck events for David Gilliland Racing while swapping between the Nos. 15, 17 and 54 Toyota Tundras. He recorded a total of eight top-20 results, two of which were in the top 10, as his highest on-track result was an eighth-place run at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May.

In December 2019, Alfredo joined forces with Richard Childress Racing to pilot the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro on a part-time basis for the 2020 Xfinity Series season, which marked his first start in the series. Making his debut at Auto Club Speedway in February, Alfredo notched an impressive sixth-place result in his debut. He backed up his strong debut by notching five additional top-10 results during his next eight scheduled starts, which included his first top-five result after finishing fourth during a Homestead-Miami Speedway doubleheader feature in June. During his final 10 scheduled events, he recorded a total of three top-10 results and achieved a new career-best result of third place at Texas Motor Speedway in October. In total, Alfredo competed in 19 of 33-scheduled Xfinity events for RCR as he achieved two top-five results, nine top-10 results, 15 total laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.6. He also contributed to RCR’s No. 21 entry finishing in 11th place in the final Xfinity owners’ standings.

A month prior to the 2021 NASCAR season, Alfredo was named a full-time competitor of the No. 38 Ford Mustang for Front Row Motorsports for the upcoming Cup Series season, where he contended for the Rookie-of-the-Year title. His debut in NASCAR’s premier series, however, started off on a rough note after being involved in a multi-car wreck 13 laps into the 63rd running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in February. The Connecticut native proceeded to record a total of three top-20 results during the 26-race regular-season stretch, which were not enough for him to qualify for the 2021 Cup Series Playoffs. During the final 10 Playoff events on the schedule, Alfredo managed to record his first top-10 career result in the Cup circuit after finishing 10th at Talladega Superspeedway in October before settling in 30th place in the final standings and in the runner-up spot in the Rookie-of-the-Year battle against Chase Briscoe. His overall average-finishing result in his first Cup season was 27.5.

A month following the conclusion of the 2021 season, Alfredo was named a full-time Xfinity Series competitor of the No. 23 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports. He commenced the season with a seventh-place result at Daytona followed by a fifth-place run at Auto Club Speedway in February. He went on to finish sixth at Talladega in April before achieving his first career pole for the inaugural Xfinity event at Portland International Raceway, but he did not accumulate enough points to qualify for the 2022 Xfinity Playoffs. Coming off five consecutive top-20 results throughout the Playoffs, he is currently ranked in 15th place in the drivers’ standings with two races remaining to this season.

Through 99 previous starts across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Alfredo has achieved one pole, three top-five results, 16 top-10 results and 38 laps led while competing for four different organizations.

Alfredo is scheduled to make his 100th NASCAR national touring series career start at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 29, with the event’s coverage to occur at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

October 26, 2022