Tag: Austin Cindric

  • Briscoe claims inaugural Xfinity race on Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit

    Briscoe claims inaugural Xfinity race on Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit

    In a late battle against the road-course aces, Chase Briscoe made a bold move on A.J. Allmendinger for the lead with two laps remaining and pulled away from a four-car battle for second to win the inaugural Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Grand Prix Circuit, NASCAR’s first race on the famed racetrack’s oval-road course design. The victory was Briscoe’s fifth of this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series season, the seventh of his career and his first at his hometrack as a native from Mitchell, Indiana.

    “Growing up, coming here all the time, it’s unbelievable to think that I just won here,” Briscoe said. “So happy to get HighPoint.com in Victory Lane again. Man, I’m wore out. That fence climbing, that’ll take a lot out of you. From a personal standpoint, the Darlington deal [in May] meant a ton just ‘cause what I was going through, but I’ve dreamed of coming to this racetrack and just getting to race here. To win here, it’s unbelievable. I can’t put into words and to get all our sponsors in Victory Lane driving for Stewart-Haas [Racing] at Indianapolis, it doesn’t get any better than that.”

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Jeb Burton, making his third start of the season in the No. 8 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro, drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with teammate Michael Annett.

    When the inaugural road course event at Indianapolis commenced, Burton came out with the lead following the first two turns. He was quickly pursued by Brandon Jones and Justin Allgaier. In Turn 12, Jones made a peak for the lead on the inside lane, but Burton fought back on the outside lane through Turns 13 and 14, and was able to lead the first lap with no incidents occurring behind the leaders. By the first lap, Austin Cindric, one of the favorites who was the fastest in the final practice session on Friday and who started 10th, was in fourth. 

    The following lap, Allgaier and Jones went three wide on Burton before Allgaier moved into the lead. By Turn 11, Cindric moved into second and started to narrow the gap between himself and Allgaier while Burton fell back to fifth. By the fourth lap, Allmendinger, another favorite who was the fastest in the first practice session on Friday and who started 30th, had made his way into the top 20, running 19th. On the fifth lap, Cindric emerged with the lead on the frontstretch after crossing over Allgaier and gaining a huge run entering the frontstretch exiting Turn 14. From there, he slowly started to build a gap from Allgaier. Behind the two front-runners, Justin Haley and Chase Briscoe were in third and fifth while Ross Chastain was running in between the Indiana natives.

    By Lap 10, Cindric was leading by more than three seconds over Allgaier and more than four seconds over Haley. Behind, Briscoe was in fourth followed by Chastain, Noah Gragson, Jones, rookie Harrison Burton, Quebec’s Alex Labbe and Allmendinger. Jeb Burton, who started on pole, was back in 12th while Jeremy Clements was in 11th. 

    Starting on Lap 11, a number of competitors started experiencing on-track issues while navigating the turns at Indy’s road course. It started with Jeffrey Earnhardt limping to pit road after the rear track bar of his No. 15 JD Motorsports Chevrolet broke. Ultimately, he retired due to chassis issues. Another lap later, rookie Anthony Alfredo made an unscheduled pit stop under green when his window net came loose and fell down, a misfortune that cost him a lap. By then, Josh Williams missed the first turn and Preston Pardus ran off the track entering Turn 7. On Lap 15, Jeb Burton reported power steering issues when smoke started billowing out of his car and the Virginia native was dropping positions. He would pit the following lap to have the issue addressed. The following lap, Pardus spun, but he was able to straighten his car with the race remaining under green. 

    With three laps remaining in the first stage, the caution flew due to debris from B.J. McLeod, who lost a tire and had limped his way to pit road. At the time of caution, Allmendinger, Jones and rookie Riley Herbst were on pit road for service, but Allmendinger was sent to the rear of the field when he sped in the pits. The first stage concluded under caution on Lap 20 with Cindric winning his fourth stage of the season. Allgaier was in second followed by Haley, Briscoe and Gragson while Chastain, Harrison Burton, Labbe, Clements and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, everyone except Jones and Herbst, pitted. Following the pit stops, Briscoe exited first followed by Harrison Burton, Cindric, Gragson, Allgaier and Chastain. While exiting his pit stall, Haley nearly made contact with Jade Buford and he braked again to allow Buford to pull in his pit stall, which cost Haley valuable spots on pit road.

    With the clouds hovering around the track and light sprinkles being reported around the track, the second stage started on Lap 24. By the first two turns, Briscoe emerged with the lead followed by Cindric and Gragson. Two laps later, the caution returned when Bayley Currey stalled on the track.

    The race resumed on Lap 29 and Cindric jumped ahead on the outside lane to return to the lead over Briscoe through the first two turns. A lap later, after reviewing the Lap 29 restart, Cindric was assessed a pass-through penalty for jumping the restart over Briscoe. Another lap later, after trying to appeal the penalty between his crew and the NASCAR officials, Cindric served his pass-through penalty on pit road under green, which allowed Briscoe to return to the lead. Gragson moved into second followed by Allgaier, Herbst and Haley.

    On Lap 35, the third caution flew when fire and smoke started billowing out of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra of Jones, which forced the Georgia native to pull his car into the grass in Turn 9. With oil reported around the track, Jones retired from the race. Under caution, the majority of the field pitted and Briscoe exited pit road first. 

    With two laps remaining in the second stage, Sieg and Michael Annett, two of six competitors who elected not to pit, led the field under green. Sieg maintained the lead through Turns 1 and 2 while Briscoe made a three-wide move to advance into second as the field behind him jumbled up and made contact against one another for positions. In the ensuing shuffling of positions, Brandon Brown lost his rear bumper. In Turn 13, Gragson spun following contact with Timmy Hill. At the start of the final lap of the second stage, Briscoe emerged with the lead. Briscoe was able to maintain the lead for another circuit to win the second stage and for his third stage win of this season. Allgaier crossed the line in second followed by Annett, Haley and Snider while Brown, Harrison Burton, Josh Bilicki, Allmendinger and Timmy Hill finished in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, some like Sieg, Annett and Brown pitted while the rest remained on track. Following the pit stops, Stephen Leicht and Matt Mills were tabbed with speeding penalties on pit road.

    The final stage started with 20 laps remaining and Briscoe maintained the lead through the first two turns followed by Allgaier, Haley, Myatt Snider and Harrison Burton. Behind, Allmendinger and Cindric, both of whom rallied from their respective penalties, were in seventh and eighth.

    With 15 laps remaining, Briscoe was leading by a second over Allgaier while Allmendinger and Cindric moved into third and fourth. Haley settled in fifth followed by Harrison Burton, Chastain, Gragson, Herbst and Labbe. The following two laps, Allmendinger and Cindric moved into second and third as Briscoe continued to lead by nearly three seconds. Behind the leaders, Brett Moffitt and Mike Wallace wrecked in Turn 1, but they proceeded without drawing a caution. The following lap, Alfredo slipped off the track while running 15th, but he continued on the track despite sustaining minimal damage to the front nose of his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro.

    With 11 laps remaining, the caution flew when smoke started billowing out from Tommy Joe Martins’ car due to axle issues and reports of fluid on the frontstretch. Under caution, a majority of the field pitted and Briscoe maintained the lead off pit road just ahead of Allmendinger. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was assessed a penalty for removing an air hose out of his pit stall. Prior to the restart, Harrison Burton pulled his No. 20 Toyota to pit road to address a loose wheel.

    With seven laps remaining, the race restarted with Preston Pardus and Kyle Weatherman on the front row. Once the green flag flew, Briscoe went through the middle to reassume the lead. Allmendinger moved into second while Cindric was stuck in a battle with Gragson for third. With four laps remaining, the battle for the lead and the win started to intensify among the three road-course ringers with Allmendinger drawing himself near the rear bumper of Briscoe and Cindric settling behind the two. In Turn 10, Briscoe slipped, which allowed Allmendinger and Cindric to move pass Briscoe with Allmendinger in the lead. 

    With two laps remaining, through the frontstretch and approaching Turn 1, Cindric ran into the rear bumper of Allmendinger’s No. 16 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro, which allowed him and Briscoe to go three wide with Allmendinger before Briscoe powered his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang back into the lead on the inside lane in Turn 1. The following turn, Briscoe forced Allmendinger off the track, which allowed Cindric to draw himself dead even with Allmendinger for second. In Turns 5 and 6, Cindric and Allmendinger made contact and nearly wrecked, which allowed Gragson to move up into third as Cindric fell back to fifth behind Haley. In Turn 7, Allmendinger slipped and Gragson moved into second followed by Haley, costing Allmendinger and Cindric time to catch back to Briscoe. At the front, Briscoe was leading by nearly two seconds when he started the final lap. For a final circuit, Briscoe was able to navigate the 14-turn layout to perfection and hold off a four-car pack for second to streak across the finish line first and claim the biggest win of his racing career.

    With the victory, Briscoe has won three times in the last four races with interim crew chief and veteran Greg Zipadelli. Richard Boswell, Briscoe’s regular crew chief, will return next week in the series’ doubleheader at Kentucky Speedway. Briscoe recorded back-to-back wins in NASCAR for the first time in his career as his win was also the 16th NASCAR Xfinity victory for Stewart-Haas Racing with Fred Biagi since 2018.

    After returning to the frontstretch and celebrating with a victorious burnout, Briscoe, who led a race-high 30 of the event’s 62-scheduled laps, paid homage to his racing hero and team owner, Tony Stewart, by climbing the fence in celebration along with his pit crew. The fence climbing was something Briscoe had planned in the case that he would win at his home track.

    “Everybody knows that I grew up and my hero in racing was Tony Stewart,” Briscoe added. “To get to drive for him and watch him win the Brickyard and that was his signature thing [climbing the fence]. I just wanted to do it. Obviously, it’s not the same prestige as winning on the oval, but you still won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It doesn’t matter if you’re racing on the oval, the road course, the dirt track…It’s special to win here.”

    From one Indiana native to another, Winamac’s Haley settled in second, trailing Briscoe by nearly two seconds, followed by Gragson. Allmendinger and Cindric settled in fourth and fifth following their late contact.

    Chastain finished sixth followed by Allgaier, who rallied from his late pit road penalty of removing equipment out of his pit box and will fill in as an interim competitor for seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in tomorrow’s Cup race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Labbe, Annett and Pardus rounded out the top 10 on the track. Jade Buford finished 14th in his NASCAR debut, Mike Wallace finished 24th in his first race since 2015 and Harrison Burton finished 25th following his late pit stop.

    The Xfinity race capped off the first NASCAR-IndyCar doubleheader at the same track on the exact date. Earlier in the day, five-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon won at the Indianapolis road-course layout by nearly 20 seconds over Graham Rahal and Simon Pagenaud.

    There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 15 laps.

    With his win, Briscoe continues to lead the regular-season series standings by 21 points over Gragson, 55 over Chastain and 61 over Cindric.

    Results:

    1. Chase Briscoe, 30 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Justin Haley

    3. Noah Gragson

    4. A.J. Allmendinger, two laps led

    5. Austin Cindric, 21 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    6. Ross Chastain

    7. Justin Allgaier, two laps led

    8. Alex Labbe

    9. Michael Annett

    10. Preston Pardus, two laps led

    11. Brandon Brown

    12. Brandon Gdovic

    13. Jeremy Clements

    14. Jade Buford

    15. Kyle Weatherman

    16. Myatt Snider

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps led

    18. Jesse Little

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Anthony Alfredo

    21. Stephen Leicht

    22. Josh Williams

    23. Josh Bilicki

    24. Mike Wallace

    25. Harrison Burton

    26. Joe Graf Jr.

    27. Chad Finchum

    28. Kody Vanderwal, one lap down

    29. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

    30. Matt Mills, one lap down

    31. Jeb Burton, two laps down, one lap led

    32. Vinnie Miller, two laps down

    33. Riley Herbst, five laps down

    34. Bayley Currey, eight laps down

    35. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Axle

    36. Brett Moffitt, 18 laps down

    37. Brandon Jones – OUT, Oil line, two laps led

    38. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Chassis

    Next on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule will be the series’ second time hosting two series races at the same venue, this time at Kentucky Speedway. The two series races at Kentucky will run on July 9-10 and will each be aired at 8 p.m. on FS1. 

  • NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings- Phoenix I

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings- Phoenix I

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series came to play at Phoenix International Raceway this past weekend for race No. 4 of the 2020 season. All-time win-list leader Kyle Busch was back in the field and while everyone expected him to run away and dominate the field, he didn’t as his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Brandon Jones passed Busch for the lead with 20 laps to go. Jones built a sizable lead and played his cards right for the second Xfinity Series victory of his career. While Jones was the story of the day, there were some other drivers who had some great runs as well.

    Here are this week’s Power Rankings following the LS Tractor 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. 

    1. Brandon Jones – Jones is making a leap from fifth to first this week in the rankings after scoring the victory. The Georgia native qualified eighth, finished 10th in Stage 1 and seventh in Stage 2. He didn’t lead a lot of laps but was up there at the end when it counted. By scoring the victory, Jones can now worry about focusing on the Playoffs and trying some different things as the season goes on. It won’t be surprising if the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is able to score more wins before the Playoffs begin.

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth

    2. Harrison Burton – Burton continues his solid 2020 season by having another top-five finish. The North Carolina driver finished second to teammate Jones after passing Kyle Busch for the second position late in the going. Burton wasn’t much of a factor all day, but had a car capable of winning the race should a late-race caution had come out. He placed ninth in Stage 1 and eighth in Stage 2 before earning his fourth consecutive top-five finish. So far, Burton has not finished outside the top five throughout the first four races giving him an average finish of 2.5.

      Previous Week Ranking – First

    3. Chase Briscoe – Chase Briscoe and the No. 98 team of Stewart-Haas Racing team quietly earned a top-10 finish after a battle with Kyle Busch earlier in the day. In fact, Briscoe’s mid-race run was averaging a second-place position and he spent 92% of the day in the top-15. The Indiana native finished third in both stages, respectively, before ultimately finishing sixth. Despite the results not showing the good run, Phoenix was more than likely a disappointment for Briscoe and the No. 98 crew who ran in the top five for most of the day.

      Previous Week Ranking – Third

    4. Noah Gragson – Coming back into the Power Rankings this week is the No. 9 JR Motorsports driver of Noah Gragson. After being called into the NASCAR hauler for his recent incidents over the last couple of weeks (see Myatt Snider, Las Vegas), Gragson was able to put that behind him by earning a seventh-place finish after leading 27 laps and winning the second stage. Gragson started the day in the seventh position and consistently remained in the top-10, as he only ran as low as 11th. The JR Motorsports driver made some noise by leading laps 90-116. At the end of the day, however, it’s what could have been as Gragson earned his third top-10 finish of the 2020 season.

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

    5. Austin Cindric – A disappointing Phoenix outing for Austin Cindric and the No. 22 Team Penske crew, who finished eighth after qualifying second. Cindric led nine laps early on after a short-lived battle with Kyle Busch. Unfortunately, those laps would be the only laps that Cindric led of the day as he would wind up with an eighth-place finish with what could have been a race-winning car. Cindric placed fifth in Stage 1 and ninth in Stage 2.

      Previous Week Ranking – Second

    Fell Out 

    1. Ryan Sieg – Sieg, the Atlanta, Georgia native had somewhat a disappointing 11th place run this past weekend at Phoenix after having a string of top-five and top-10 finishes early this season. He was able to place sixth in the second stage, but that was about it. Sieg and the RSS Racing team will hope to turn it around next week at their hometown race track Atlanta Motor Speedway.

    Previous Week Ranking – Fourth

  • Allgaier, Cindric have strong day at Dover

    Allgaier, Cindric have strong day at Dover

    It was almost a picture-perfect day for Justin Allgaier and his No. 7 JR Motorsports team at Dover International Speedway. Allgaier qualified eighth for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race and worked his way up early taking the lead on Lap 27.

    His No. 7 Northeastern Supply Chevy was strong enough to win both the stages. However, pit strategy and late-race cautions cost him late in the going. In the end, Allgaier finished runner up to race winner Cole Custer.

    “Disappointing,” Allgaier told MRN Radio. “I feel like we give Cole (Custer) a gift there. Our Northeastern Supply Camaro was really strong today. I felt like we made decent changes throughout the course of the race. We got track position. Obviously points are what they are and we maximized the points in the stages and that’s all we really could do. But at the end there, I feel like we made the right pit strategy. Those guys went five laps further than what I thought we could on fuel.”

    “Just disappointing to come out first for the cars that had pitted and to be able to show for it. It’s disappointing, but to get Northeastern Supply in their first race under the hood a good finish and moving on to the next round is a big deal.”

    Austin Cindric and his No. 22 Team Penske team had a quiet day for the most part. He raced with Allgaier for parts of the race before racing on his own. Cindric finished third and second in both stages, before coming home third.

    “You feel like when you run all three races and you run 12th, we were the best car,” Cindric described to MRN Radio. “Worst finish is third. Really proud of our MoneyLion team. I don’t think we had a car capable of winning today. In clean air, we could hold our own but once we got behind, we were a third-place car and that’s where we finished. I’m proud of that and proud of that effort. Definitely proud of the recovery we made from practice. Trying to keep bringing this momentum into the next round.”

  • Cindric and Briscoe both face challenges at the Charlotte Roval

    Cindric and Briscoe both face challenges at the Charlotte Roval

    While Austin Cindric and Chase Briscoe had what most would consider a solid day with top-10 finishes at the Charlotte Roval, it was challenging for them in many aspects.

    Cindric was decent throughout most of the race, many times following right behind the leader and at one point, beating Briscoe off pit road to have better position for the restart. Toward the end of race, however, more and more cautions began to fall and that would limit Cindric from trying to take the win. The No. 22 Money Lion Ford came home third after starting third.

    “I think in the end if that last caution wouldn’t have come out, for whatever reason, I broke a right rear shock mount and my right rear shock was gone for the last three or four laps of the race,” Cindric explained to PRN Radio. “I’m glad we didn’t wreck, I’m glad we finished third. It’s just frustrating when you come down to all that and you get a good restart, and it fades away. All in all, it was a good points day and you got to keep pushing this way. We just want some more points.”

    Cindric is +50 above the cut line and fourth in the playoff points standings.

    In what looked like a possible repeat of last year’s race at the Roval, Chase Briscoe and his No. 98 team had to settle for a disappointing ninth-place finish after having a few runs in with Christopher Bell, including getting turned around by Bell on Lap 59 in Turn 2.

    “I felt like I was the best car all day long,” Briscoe said to PRN Radio. “With 10 to go, AJ (Allmendinger) was getting a pretty good lead. Once I caught Bell, I caught him from half a straightaway. Down here in (Turns) 16 and 17 was my best passing zone, where I have been the strongest all day. So I tried to take advantage of it, but once I turned to the right and out braked him at that point, I was committed. I can’t slow it down anymore. I was trying to whoa it up as much as I can, just because I had to try to make the next corner, anybody on my left side wasn’t going to make that next corner.”

    “It’s unfortunate, we both had really good racecars and we both don’t have good finishes to show for it. I hadn’t seen a replay of it, so I don’t know. It’s a lot different when you’re sitting in a racecar and get a outside view of it. I don’t want to say too much because if it’s 100 percent my fault, I’ll take blame for it. I feel like through 1 and 2, I gave him plenty of room and I felt like I just got tagged. I just want to see a replay for sure.”

    Briscoe qualified on the pole, led 21 laps, won Stage 1 and finished second in Stage 2. He heads to Dover, +35 above the cut line in the sixth position.

  • Christopher Bell wins at Road America, first on road course and sixth of season

    Christopher Bell wins at Road America, first on road course and sixth of season

    Despite wild closing laps with road course ringers and Cup regulars spinning off track, Christopher Bell displays his talent and wins the CTECH Manufacturing 180 at Road America in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

    “Man, I’m honestly in shock,” Bell said. “I really butchered qualifying and tore the crap out of the left front. I felt like once we got in the race there, we’d be able to drive by those guys. Instead, they dropped the green flag and they were driving by me. That wasn’t much fun.

    “Then I told Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) I was really, really tight. We got those tires off and he said the left-front was hurt pretty bad. We got pretty good there when we put our new set of tires on.

    “That strategy worked out well for us coming in there (with 14 to go) and then the yellow coming out. This car was really, really fast today. We’ve had a great road course season.”

    NASCAR was forced to throw a caution for debris, setting up the race for a two-lap shootout for the win. Bell controlled the restart perfectly, but AJ Allmendinger spun his tires and fell back from the outside front row. Bell would hold off the field for the win, but it was eventful throughout the field behind him.

    Austin Cindric pitted during the last caution flag to make a late-race charge through the field. After restarting in the 20th position, he had passed 15 cars and found himself on the heels of Matt DiBenedetto. Coming through Turn 14, DiBenedetto ended up spinning his No. 18 iK9 Toyota Supra, allowing Cindric to cross the start-finish line second — 1.891 seconds behind Bell.

    “We talked about a five-to-go plan, that was like a green-white-checkered,” said Cindric, who came a position short of claiming three straight road-course wins in August. “I wasn’t 100 percent confident, but at the same time, we were battling a lot of wheel hop after four or five laps on tires and we had a lot more than on tires.

    “In this kind of racing, you pretty much know that you’re going to get used up if you’re slower, so we wanted to go on offense and that was our strategy all day and we probably just needed one or two laps to get our Menards–Richmond Ford Mustang in Victory Lane. All in all, a good day, good points. P-2 is all right.”

    Cindric also shared his viewpoint in the last two laps fittingly.

    “It was chaos, it was insane. I think it’s why all these people show up at Road America and enjoy this type of racing. You never know what you’re going to get, it always comes down to those last-lap dashes to the finish, I’m glad to be able to put on a show at a place like this.”

    Allmendinger admitted to the poor restart, but also collided with Noah Gragson after Turn 1 and spun off course. He would later be collected in a different off-course exchange and finished in a dismal 24th position.

    The rest of the top five included points leader and Bristol Motor Speedway winner Tyler Reddick. Gragson and Kaz Grala. Justin Haley, Chase Briscoe, Jeremy Clements, Justin Allgaier and Cole Custer completed the top 10. Allgaier and Custer both recovered from earlier race incidents.

    It was Bell’s 14th career Xfinity Series victory but his first triumph on a road course.

    “I guess I just get lucky on these things, that’s for sure,” Bell said.

    Just three races remain in the regular Xfinity Series season. They compete next in the throwback weekend at Darlington Raceway with the Sport Clips Haircuts VFW 200 (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, NBC/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

  • Austin Cindric comes up short for hat trick at Bristol

    Austin Cindric comes up short for hat trick at Bristol

    In what has been a dominant couple of weeks for Cindric and Team Penske with wins at the road courses at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio, Cindric was ready to finally win on an oval.

    Cindric got off on the right track in Friday afternoon qualifying by winning his third pole of the year. When the Food City 300 got underway, the No. 22 Money Lion Ford was fast even though Cindric did not earn a top-10 stage finish in Stage 1.

    He fought hard and finished fourth in Stage 2 and led for one lap. Cindric caught a few lucky breaks at the end with a caution late in the going. With the caution, the Team Penske driver still had hopes of going three in a row this season.

    Ultimately, Cindric had to settle for a fifth-place finish. Still, he was happy with the result.

    “I would say we were a little better,” Cindric told PRN Radio describing his car. “I just never got an outside restart the entire night. They mean a lot here, especially when our short run wasn’t the best. We had a great car after 30 to 40 laps, fastest car on track kind of deal but didn’t have track position to use well enough.”

    “Congrats to Tyler (Reddick), he’s a good friend of mine but I want it, man. It’s great to be on the pole, great to come home with a top-five. Great day for the guys, so we’ll move on to Road America and see if we can go three in a row on road courses.”

    With the fifth-place finish, Cindric earned his ninth top five of the season.

  • Cindric goes back-to-back, wins Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio; Hawksworth takes 15th in NASCAR debut

    Cindric goes back-to-back, wins Xfinity Series at Mid-Ohio; Hawksworth takes 15th in NASCAR debut

    Team Penske driver Austin Cindric went back-to-back in the Xfinity Series on Saturday, winning the B&L Transport 170 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for his second-straight win in the series. Cindric’s performance was a dominant one, winning from the pole and leading 46 of the race’s 75 laps and taking the checkered by 3.78 seconds over runner-up Christopher Bell.

    “It feels good, two in row and going for three at Bristol,” Cindric said in Victory Lane. “I’ll probably go crazy if I win there. Should be a lot of fun. This is great momentum for our group.”

    Cindric also took his No. 22 Penske Ford Mustaing to Victory Lane at Watkins Glen a week ago, narrowly taking the checkered flag following a dramatic last-lap battle with AJ Allmendinger.

    Allmendinger, Tyler Reddick, and Noah Gragson rounded out the top-five. Allmendinger’s third-place finish was bittersweet for his Kaulig Racing team, as it was the first time in three starts with Allmendinger in 2019 that they weren’t disqualified following post-race tech. He had taken Kaulig Racing to a third-place run in the July Daytona event and a runner-up last weekend at Watkins Glen, but both finishes were disallowed and Allmendinger was credited with last-place finishes in both events.

    2018 Mid-Ohio winner Justin Allgaier finished sixth, while Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, Justin Haley, and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10. Former IndyCar driver and current IMSA regular Jack Hawksworth, who scored an IMSA class win at Mid-Ohio earlier this year, made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing in their No. 18 Toyota. He paced one of the practice sessions before qualifying second for the race and winning the second stage. Hawksworth would go on to finish 15th.

    “First off, thank you to Joe Gibbs Racing for having me and to Toyota for putting it together; and of course to my team AVS Racing, IMSA and Lexus for allowing me to go do this Xfinity stint,” he told NBCSN. “I was having a lot of fun out there. Some good battles over the beginning. The first stint, I was struggling with the rear tires a little bit. The second stint we made it a little bit better.

    “I was comfortable on those restarts going for the lead and felt pretty good about it; but then I think we had a little issue on that second stop so that kind of put us back there. Got grass on the grille on one of those restarts, then kind of lost the brakes and that was kind of all she wrote.

    “Little bit of a shame, but I had a great time and the iK9 car was great. I just want to thank everyone for having me here, and we’ll have to come back at some point and give it another shot.”

    The race was slowed by six cautions for 17 laps, while eight drivers led for 10 times over the course of the event. The Xfinity Series visits Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night for the Food City 300 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Monster Energy Cup regular Kyle Larson won the event in 2018.

  • Cindric holds off Allmendinger in thriller for first career win

    Cindric holds off Allmendinger in thriller for first career win

    Austin Cindric earned his first career NASCAR Xfinity Series win at Watkins Glen in a last-lap thriller. It was an intense battle after Cindric started on the outside pole for the Zippo 200 and made a gusty pit call with 10 laps to go. He also had to dodge a near wreck off a restart, going from seventh to second, then trading the lead back and forth with AJ Allmendinger, to get to victory lane.

    “That was nuts, I didn’t know how that was going to work out,” Cindric said to MRN Radio describing his near miss. “Sometimes you have to take advantage of it and we executed all day.”

    All-time Xfinity Series winner Kyle Busch was back in the field for his first race since Texas back in March. Busch sat on the pole, continuing his impressive streak of earning one pole every year in the Xfinity Series. It was his first pole since Bristol last August.

    Stages were broken up into 20/20/42 laps to make up the 82 laps distance.

    Several drivers had issues before the race started, however. Cole Custer went to a backup car after crashing in Friday’s practice session. Vinnie Miller, who spun in qualifying early Saturday morning, couldn’t get the car started and was pushed behind the wall. The 74 of Dan Corcoran was also pushed behind the wall, before returning to the race later.

    Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

    While Kyle Busch checked out, Tyler Reddick missed the inner loop on the first lap. Many other drivers like Chase Briscoe, Michael Annett, Alex Labbe, Brandon Jones and Ray Black Jr. also had issues with grass on their grille, forcing them to pit to clean it off. Josh Bilicki, in the No. 93, went spinning around in Turn 7, but the race remained green.

    Miller’s issues continued as he went out for the rest of the race on Lap 8 with an ignition problem. J.J. Yeley also went to the garage on the same lap.

    The first caution flew on Lap 10 for the No. 35 of Joey Gase who stalled in Turn 1. During the caution, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Blaney, Custer, Jones, John Hunter Nemechek, Briscoe, Reddick and Annett, along with others, pit.

    Allgaier’s name would come up again on Lap 14, as Ross Chastain made contact with him in Turn 3, which sent Allgaier toward the tire barrier to bring out the caution again. Allgaier would later retaliate by sending Chastain into the tire barrier, which would end Chastain’s day.

    No other incidents took place for rest of the stage, other than Cindric pitting with three to go.

    Busch went on to take the stage win after leading every lap. Christopher Bell, Jeremy Clements, Justin Haley, Blaney, Ryan Preece, Noah Gragson, Ryan Sieg, Reddick, Gaulding rounded out the top-10 stage finishers.

    Tommy Joe Martins and Clements were penalized for a crew member over the wall too soon under the stage break.

    Stage 2: Lap 23 – Lap 40

    After staying out, Bell and Blaney would regain the front spots with Stage 1 winner Busch restarting 15th.

    Not much happened in the second stage, aside from Cindric and Custer going side-by-side with each other in the inner loop with Custer getting the worst of it by collecting grass on his grille, and a possible tire rub as well. Custer would end up pitting to clean the grass off his grille.

    Another major issue broke out for Busch when he went to make a pass on race leader Blaney in the inner loop. Busch could not stop and was going toward the wall in the carousel after what turned out to be a broken control arm. This sent Busch behind the wall for the rest of the race and he ended up with a disappointing 32nd place finish. This would bring out the caution on Lap 33.

    Allmendinger took the lead off the restart on Lap 37 and held on for the rest of the stage to take the stage win. Blaney, Preece, Cindric, Briscoe, Nemechek, Jones, Allgaier, Haley and Bell claimed the remaining top-10 spots for Stage 2. Briscoe and Nemechek would later pit under the stage break.

    Stage 3: Lap 43 – Lap 82

    Like Stage 1, Reddick once again went through the inner loop on Lap 47 and fell back to 20th. Sieg also went around in the inner loop as well after making contact with Nemechek.

    Green flag pit stops started to occur on Lap 48 with Blaney pitting from second. His teammate, Cindric would pit one lap later. This continued until 20 to go with race leader Allgaier being the final driver to pit. In what would be the battle for the lead, Allmendinger pitted from first on Lap 51 but had a slow stop with him coming out behind Cindric.

    After Allgaier pitted, Cindric would cycle out as the race leader. A thrilling battle took place with Allmendinger and Blaney a few laps before with Allmendinger getting the better of it.

    While it looked liked Cindric would run away with the race win, a caution came out on Lap 68 for Garrett Smithley’s tire carcass that was left in the inner loop and eventually picked up by the 99 of Cody Ware. Right before the yellow, Tommy Joe Martins went spinning around in Turn 1.

    In what seemed like a questionable strategy, Cindric pitted from the lead under the yellow for fresh tires. He would restart sixth with Allmendinger as the race leader.

    A wreck with Haley and Bilicki occurred on the restart in Turn 1 with contact from Briscoe, which brought out the caution again.

    A late-race restart took place with seven laps to go. Bell almost went spinning around after contact with Allgaier that caused a logjam in the esses. This also saw Cindric going from sixth to second after the incident.

    This later produced a thrilling battle for the win between Allmendinger and Cindric. Both would trade the lead with each other with less than three laps remaining, with Cindric at one point, almost going off course after a shot from Allmendinger. Both would be side-by-side at the finish on the white flag lap.

    Eventually, Cindric had the better car and pulled away from Allmendinger to earn his first Xfinity Series career win at Watkins Glen International.

    “This is awesome,” Cindric said. “I’ve got so many people to think. You fans are awesome, thank you for coming to Watkins Glen every single year. This is why you come. I’m so pumped.”

    Cindric led twice for eight laps to pick up his first career win. There were seven cautions for 16 laps with nine lead changes among six leaders.

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series continues the road course season by heading to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on Saturday, August 10.

    UPDATE: Allmendinger’s car failed post-race inspection after a rear-height violation and he will be credited with a 37th place finish. The Kaulig Racing team has until noon Monday to appeal the decision.

    Xfinity Series Race Number 20
    Race Results for the 25th Annual Zippo 200 at The Glen – Saturday, August 3, 2019
    Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, NY – 2.45 – Mile Road
    Total Race Length – 82 Laps – 200.9 Miles

    Fin Str No Driver Team Laps S1Pos S2Pos S3Pos Pts Status
    1 2 22 Austin Cindric MoneyLion Ford 82 0 3 0 48 Running
    2 4 20 Christopher Bell Rheem Toyota 82 2 9 0 46 Running
    3 9 7 Justin Allgaier BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet 82 0 7 0 38 Running
    4 3 12 Ryan Blaney(i) Pirtek Ford 82 5 1 0 0 Running
    5 5 2 Tyler Reddick Anderson’s Pure Maple Syrup Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 32 Running
    6 6 98 Chase Briscoe # Ford Performance Ford 82 0 4 0 38 Running
    7 13 0 Cole Custer GoBowling Ford 82 0 0 0 30 Running
    8 14 1 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 29 Running
    9 18 9 Noah Gragson # West Herr Auto Group Chevrolet 82 7 0 0 32 Running
    10 8 8 Ryan Preece(i) Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet 82 6 2 0 0 Running
    11 11 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet 82 3 0 0 34 Running
    12 20 23 John Hunter Nemechek # Digital Ally Chevrolet 82 10 5 0 32 Running
    13 23 5 Scott Heckert Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 24 Running
    14 12 11 Justin Haley # LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 82 4 8 0 33 Running
    15 15 8 Gray Gaulding GPSPURE.com Chevrolet 82 9 0 0 24 Running
    16 21 90 Alex Labbe DGM Racing Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 21 Running
    17 10 19 Brandon Jones First Foundation Toyota 82 0 6 0 25 Running
    18 27 86 Brandon Brown # Vero Tru Social Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 19 Running
    19 30 36 Josh Williams Star Brite/Star Tron/Sleep Well Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 18 Running
    20 28 1 Stephen Leicht teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 17 Running
    21 26 99 Cody Ware Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 16 Running
    22 24 7 Ray Black II ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys/Scuba Life Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 15 Running
    23 31 42 Stanton Barrett(i) Horseheads Brewing Toyota 82 0 0 0 0 Running
    24 29 0 Garrett Smithley teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 80 0 0 0 13 Running
    25 34 74 Dan Corcoran(i) Woobie Shoes/Threatcon 5 Clothing Chevrolet 75 0 0 0 0 Running
    26 16 93 Josh Bilicki Lemons of Love Chevrolet 72 0 0 0 11 Accident
    27 33 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 67 0 0 0 10 DVP
    28 22 66 Tommy Joe Martins Gusset.com Toyota 65 0 0 0 9 Accident
    29 32 52 David Starr Chevrolet 57 0 0 0 8 Fuel Pump
    30 17 39 Ryan Sieg Midstate Chevrolet 47 8 10 0 11 Accident
    31 1 18 Kyle Busch(i) iK9 Toyota 35 1 0 0 0 Suspension
    32 35 13 Chad Finchum MBM Motorsports Toyota 30 0 0 0 5 Brakes
    33 19 4 Ross Chastain(i) Buckle Up New York Chevrolet 19 0 0 0 0 Accident
    34 36 35 Joey Gase MBM Motorsports Toyota 9 0 0 0 3 Transmission
    35 25 38 JJ Yeley(i) RSS Racing Chevrolet 6 0 0 0 0 Overheating
    36 37 78 Vinnie Miller Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet 0 0 0 0 1 Ignition
    37 7 10 AJ Allmendinger Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet 82 0 0 0 1 Running
  • Cole Custer claims Dash 4 Cash prize, wins the ToyotaCare 250

    Cole Custer claims Dash 4 Cash prize, wins the ToyotaCare 250

    Cole Custer set a dominating pace by leading the most laps and earning his second win of the 2019 season in Friday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

    Custer briefly lost the lead to Austin Cindric on a restart with 26 laps remaining, but would not be denied. He reclaimed the lead just seven laps later to win his first career short track race in the Xfinity Series, and also claim the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize.

    “We had a great car,” Custer said. “Mike Shiplett made great adjustments as it went. This one means a lot. We hadn’t had a short-track win yet. We’ve struggled a lot at short tracks, but this helps.

    “A lot of my friends give me crap for being bad at this place, but I finally won, so I’ve got a little bit of bragging rights there. I’m just so happy. Two wins—that’s pretty awesome.”

    Cindric was playing the weather game as rain threatened the finish of the race, but wasn’t able to have mother nature on his side. With his runner-up finish, he qualifies himself for the next Dash 4 Cash race at Talladega Superspeedway. His primary sponsor, MoneyLion, will also be sponsoring that race.

    “Congrats to Cole and those guys,” Cindric said. “I tried my best on that restart to hold him off, but they were obviously the class of the field, him and the 7 (Allgaier). We had some fun and got some points and now we will move on to Talladega for the MoneyLion 300.

    “That will be a big one for me. I would love to win that race and the Dash for Cash at Talladega.”

    Justin Allgaier finished third in his JR Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet. He led 86 laps throughout the night and won the first stage. Similar to Cindric, Allgaier was trying to have pit strategy fall in his favor, but by the time he charged to the front, he ran out of both car and time.

    “The pit call we made at the end of the (second) stage there, it worked out, obviously, in our favor,” said Allgaier. “But I pushed really hard to get back up to the front, and I just didn’t quite have enough there at the end to really do anything.

    “I made a mistake on that restart. It really burns me up that I made the mistake, but all in all, a great day. I hope we got the monkey off our back.”

    Allgaier’s former teammate Tyler Reddick came home fourth with Ryan Sieg rounding out the top five. Zane Smith running in the No. 8 JR Motorsports car is running a limited schedule in the Xfinity Series, but continues to impress many with another strong sixth place finish at Richmond. John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, pole sitter Riley Herbst and Justin Haley completed the top 10.

    Elliott Sadler finished in the 12th position at his home track after making the first of his two planned starts for the 2019 season.

    All cars passed post-race tech, so Custer was declared the official winner. Reddick’s car was caught with one lug nut unsecure, so potential fines will be announced next week by the sanctioning body.

  • Bell Wins at ISM Raceway, Xfinity Championship 4 Field Set

    Bell Wins at ISM Raceway, Xfinity Championship 4 Field Set

    Christopher Bell fought his way into the Championship 4 finale, winning the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Cole Custer, Tyler Reddick and Daniel Hemric will join him for the 2018 Xfinity Championship at Homestead Miami Speedway.

    “We’re going to Homestead baby!” Bell exclaimed over the radio in celebration with his team.

    Bell started the day by failing inspection three times during qualifying. According to the NASCAR rule book, the No. 20 Gamestop Toyota would lose their car chief and be forced to start in the rear. They did not get a qualifying time set, and started 38th for the race. However, they did not give up and took the lead just past halfway through the race, easily becoming the car to beat. It was Bell’s seventh win in his rookie season, a new Xfinity Series record.

    “Man, that’s never sounded sweeter before in my life,” Bell said with a feeling of relief on the frontstretch in front of all the fans. “I’ll be honest, after Kansas and Texas, I accepted that we weren’t going to be able to get there [to the Championship 4]. I knew this thing was fast. It feels good to give Gamestop a win.”

    The early parts of the race saw Justin Allgaier winning both stages, but a late-race collision with John Hunter Nemechek forced his team to make repairs, blocking the brake ducts. Later in the final run, Allgaier’s right front caught fire and he lost a lap, and eventually, his spot in the Championship 4.

    ”Disappointment,” Allgaier shared. “At the end of the day we did everything right this year. We had a great season. Today we did everything right at the beginning part of the race. That was probably the most frustrating part. We led a lot of laps. We won both stages. All things considered, it was going to be a great day. Ultimately at the end, getting ourselves in that bad position, getting caught up in that little of a crash and losing brakes. At that point it was survival, gain as many points as we can gain.”

    Elliott Sadler, Austin Cindric and Matt Tifft were the others eliminated from the Playoffs for the Xfinity Series.

    Field Fights for Every Spot in Stage 1

    John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer battle for position in the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.
    John Hunter Nemechek and Cole Custer battle for position in the Whelen Trusted to Perform 200 at ISM Raceway. Photo by Rachel Schuoler for Speedway Media.

    As the field took the green flag, they were put under yellow for the third race in a row. Akinori Ogata in the No. 66 Toyota lost a deck lid and spun before the field could complete a lap. The team for the Japanese rookie was able to make repairs and continue in the race.

    On the restart, Justin Allgaier and Ryan Preece were able to get by the outside rows and put themselves into the second and third positions respectively. Further along in the run, Preece’s car fell off pace with the leaders, but Allgaier was able to get by about 30 laps into the race.

    With about five laps to go, Elliott Sadler made slight contact with the No. 40 Toyota of Chad Finchum. There was no visible tire smoke or rub, but Sadler did lose a few spots. While his teammate Allgaier would go on to win the stage, Sadler would be the only Playoff driver to finish outside of the top-10 and not collect any stage points.

    Sadler would spend a lot of time on pit road as his team made repairs. He would stay on the lead lap. Austin Cindric beat Allgaier and Nemechek off pit road to claim the lead starting the second stage. Matt Tifft was caught speeding on pit road, and Brandon Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Both drivers had to restart at the rear.

    Allgaier Makes a Statement, Sweeps Both Stages

    On the restart, Cindric chose the outside. As we saw in most cases during yesterday’s NASCAR Camping World Truck series, the inside was the preferred line with the extra room of the dogleg and the least risk going into Turn 1 fighting a 3-wide move. Allgaier was able to get by easily and reclaim the lead. He would lead all the laps and take the win in the second stage in a yellow-free stage.

    However, it was not uneventful. With a handful of laps left, Bell was attempting to pass Cindric when the two made slight contact multiple times. The last bit of contact was coming out of Turn 2. Bell was not happy, shaking his fist out the window net at Cindric, and said over the radio to his team, “I so wanted to wreck him!”

    During pit stops, Allgaier lost four positions as Nemechek reclaimed the lead.

    Championship Hopes Flip in Final Stage

    Bell clawed his way to the front and with 100 laps to go, claimed the top spot. Allgaier made a few adjustments on pit road to make his car a little faster, but lost track position and ran in the fourth position at this time.

    During the run before their potential last pit stop, Cindric drove hard into Turn 1 but slid up in Turn 2, colliding into Allgaier. It was the second time Cindric collided into a Playoff drive. Allgaier held his hand out the window net, palm up, but was able to stay focused and drive forward to get around Nemechek for the third position. Cindric lost his fifth position to Matt Tifft, fighting his way back to the front after a pit road speeding penalty after Stage 1. By this time, the bottom four drivers were now in a must-win situation, so nerves and aggression were starting to get the best of some of those drivers.

    With about 65 laps to go, Tyler Hill in the No. 13 spun right in front of a few championship drivers, but no other cars were collected. The yellow flag was displayed, and everyone came down pit road for what may be the final time. Bell won the battle off pit road and all Playoff contenders were in the top 11 at this point.

    Tifft fought his way up into the second position on the restart, but a few laps into the run, there were two separate incidents. Ty Majeski spun in Turn 3 to officially bring out the yellow, but Nemechek got loose on the exit of Turn 4. Tyler Reddick inadvertently helped spin out Nemechek with slight contact, but the heaviest contact actually corrected his car when he dove to the inside and hit Allgaier, causing massive damage to the right front fenders. During the yellow, Allgaier came to pit road and his crew made repairs, and surprisingly, it did not affect the handling.

    The field took the restart, and Allgaier was able to climb back up into the top-10. Tifft and Bell were both in must-win scenarios, and with both drivers running up front for the potential win, that forced Allgaier to start considering a must-win situation to ensure a chance for the championship at Homestead. With about 48 laps to go, the No. 8 Chevrolet of Tommy Joe Martins went up in smoke to bring out the yellow. He would retire from the race, as no front runners elected to visit pit road.

    The Xfinity Series drivers would see yet another restart where most of the field panned out through the dogleg to fight for as many positions as possible. With some contact and beating and banging, Bell emerged as the leader with a hungry and hard-chargin Tifft.

    With about 25 laps remaining, Allgaier had a fire in the right-front corner as he lost brakes, making his championship hopes go up in smoke. There was no damage to the tire, so he was able to continue without visiting pit road, but was much slower having no brakes in the right front. No other incidents occurred in the closing laps, as Bell secured his spot for the Championship 4 at Homestead.

    The final championship race will be held at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Coverage for the Ford EcoBoost 300 begins at 3:30pm ET on Saturday, November 17.

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Race
    Unofficial Race Results for the 20Th Annual Whelen Trusted To Perform
    200 – Saturday, November 10, 2018
    ISM Raceway – Avondale, AZ – 1 Mile Paved

    Pos St Car Driver Team Make
    1 38 20 Christopher Bell # (P) GameStop Just Cause 4 Toyota
    2 8 21 Daniel Hemric (P) South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet
    3 10 2 Matt Tifft (P) Go Green Chevrolet
    4 3 22 Austin Cindric # (P) Discount Tire Ford
    5 5 18 Ryan Preece Rheem/Smurfit Kappa Toyota
    6 14 9 Tyler Reddick # (P) BurgerFi Chevrolet
    7 7 19 Brandon Jones Toyota Service Centers/Mobil 1 Toyota
    8 2 00 Cole Custer (P) Haas Automation Ford
    9 1 42 John Hunter Nemechek Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet
    10 11 23 Spencer Gallagher ISM Connect Chevrolet
    11 6 1 Elliott Sadler (P) Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet
    12 12 16 Ryan Reed Drive Down A1C Lilly Diabetes Ford
    13 15 11 Ryan Truex LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet
    14 9 3 Shane Lee CIPT/Race to Give Chevrolet
    15 23 4 Ross Chastain Flex Seal Chevrolet
    16 13 5 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet
    17 18 51 Jeremy Clements RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet
    18 39 60 Ty Majeski Ford Ford
    19 16 39 Ryan Sieg Lombard Brothers Chevrolet
    20 17 36 Alex Labbe # Can-Am/Wholey/Cyclops Gear Chevrolet
    21 19 38 JJ Yeley Iron Mountain Data Centers Chevrolet
    22 21 35 Joey Gase Donate Life Arizona/Sparks Chevrolet
    23 28 01 BJ McLeod Flex Glue Chevrolet
    24 4 7 Justin Allgaier (P) BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
    25 26 90 Donald Theetge Mercedes-Benz St. Nicolas/Circuit Acura Chevrolet
    26 27 0 Garrett Smithley Flex Tape Chevrolet
    27 24 52 David Starr Whataburger Chevrolet
    28 32 76 Spencer Boyd # Grunt Style Chevrolet
    29 29 15 Quin Houff teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet
    30 34 55 Bayley Currey(i) Rollin Smoke Barbeque/Touched by Pros Toyota
    31 31 13 Tyler Hill OCR Gaz Bar Dodge
    32 36 74 Mike Harmon Veterans 4 Child Rescue Chevrolet
    33 33 66 Akinori Ogata Toyota
    34 40 45 Josh Bilicki # Prevagen Toyota
    35 20 8 Tommy Joe Martins Chevrolet
    36 37 78 Vinnie Miller # CorvetteParts.net/JW Transport LLC Chevrolet
    37 22 40 Chad Finchum # Smithbilt Homes Toyota
    38 30 99 Stephen Leicht Chevrolet
    39 35 89 Morgan Shepherd Visone RV Chevrolet
    40 25 93 Jeff Green RSS Racing Chevrolet