Tag: Austin Cindric

Briscoe snaps a one-month dry spell; rallies to win at Dover

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

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

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

3. Austin Cindric, one lap led

4. Brandon Jones, eight laps led

5. Daniel Hemric

6. Noah Gragson, 11 laps led

7. Justin Allgaier, 19 laps led

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

9. Riley Herbst, one lap down

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

11. Harrison Burton, one lap down

12. Justin Haley, one lap down

13. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

14. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

15. Tommy Joe Martins, two laps down

16. Brandon Brown, two laps down

17. Alex Labbe, two laps down

18. Myatt Snider, three laps down

19. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

20. David Starr, three laps down

21. Joe Graf Jr., three laps down

22. Josh Williams, three laps down

23. Jesse Little, three laps down

24. Chad Finchum, four laps down

25. B.J. McLeod, four laps down

26. Colby Howard, four laps down

27. Kody Vanderwal, four laps down

28. Stefan Parsons, four laps down

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, five laps down

30. Matt Mills, six laps down

31. Stephen Leicht, eight laps down

32. Korbin Forrister – OUT, Brakes

33. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine

34. Timmy Hill – OUT, Overheating

35. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Suspension

36. Vinner Miller – OUT, Accident

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

August 23, 2020

Cindric wins the UNOH 188 at Daytona Road Course

Austin Cindric won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race UNOH 188 on Saturday at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course. Cindric led 21 of the 52 laps in route to his fifth Xfinity Series win of the season and the seventh of his career.

“I’m not sure anyone was really happy with their race car. Unfortunately, I have a tough perspective of driving really fast high-grip race cars at this track, but great credit to my team, the MoneyLion guys, and everyone that puts this together. Ford Performance, Roush Yates Engines, obviously everyone at Team Penske for working hard.” Cindric said.

Cindric joins Sam Ard (1983) as the only drivers to win five times in six Xfinity Series races.

“Yeah, it’s incredible,” Cindric said, “and takes great race cars and executing races. I’m proud to be driving this 22 car and contending for wins week to week. There’s still a lot of work to do, but this is great for the points for sure.

“That’s five wins on the year and back-to-back now. I’m really proud of that. I didn’t feel like I drove my best today, but we executed there at the end where it counts and that’s what makes these races so difficult to win.”

Cindric led all 15 laps from the pole to win Stage 1. Chase Briscoe won Stage 2, taking the advantage on Lap 18 when Noah Gragson spun from the lead and then held off a hard-charging Cindric. Briscoe, who led a race-high 26 laps but was caught in a multi-car restart incident with only eight laps remaining, was unable to complete the race and finished 29th.

Brandon Jones finished second, Gragson third, AJ Allmendinger fourth and Andy Lally rounded out the top five.

There are seven races remaining before the Xfinity Series Playoffs begin, with 12 positions available. Cindric, Briscoe, Gragson, Jones, Harrison Burton and Justin Haley have secured their spots in the playoff field with victories. Cindric leads the standings by 48 points over Briscoe.

Up next: The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads to Dover where they will compete Saturday and Sunday. Both races will be broadcast on NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Race Results

Daytona International Speedway Road Course – Daytona Beach, FL – 3.61 – Mile Paved Total Race Length – 52 Laps – 187.72 Miles

Fin	Str	No	Driver	Team	Laps	S1Pos	S2Pos	S3Pos	Pts	Status
1	1	22	Austin Cindric	MoneyLion Ford	52	1	2	0	59	Running
2	10	19	Brandon Jones	Menards/Inspire Toyota	52	0	8	0	38	Running
3	3	9	Noah Gragson	Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber Camo Chevrolet	52	2	0	0	43	Running
4	11	16	AJ Allmendinger	Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet	52	0	4	0	40	Running
5	6	2	Andy Lally	Knockaround Chevrolet	52	10	5	0	39	Running
6	18	51	Jeremy Clements	All South Electric Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	31	Running
7	15	18	Riley Herbst #	Monster Energy Toyota	52	4	10	0	38	Running
8	9	20	Harrison Burton #	DEX Imaging Toyota	52	0	3	0	37	Running
9	17	7	Justin Allgaier	BRANDT Chevrolet	52	6	9	0	35	Running
10	27	93	Myatt Snider #	The Original Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	27	Running
11	8	39	Ryan Sieg	CMRRoofing.com Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	26	Running
12	19	99	Josh Bilicki	Insurance King/Rock’n Vodka Toyota	52	0	0	0	25	Running
13	22	44	Tommy Joe Martins	AAN Adjusters Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	24	Running
14	34	74	Bayley Currey(i)	We Stand for the National Anthem Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	0	Running
15	7	1	Michael Annett	Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet	52	9	0	0	24	Running
16	32	7	Jade Buford	Big Machine Distillery Chevrolet	52	3	0	0	29	Running
17	26	47	Kyle Weatherman	We Stand for the National Anthem Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	20	Running
18	24	4	Jesse Little #	JD Motorsports Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	19	Running
19	30	78	Scott Heckert	Koolbox Ice Toyota	52	0	0	0	18	Running
20	33	6	BJ McLeod	Florida Sherriffs Youth Ranches Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	17	Running
21	21	61	Stephen Leicht	JANIKING Toyota	52	0	0	0	16	Running
22	36	5	Matt Mills	Thompson Electric/JF Electric Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	15	Running
23	31	52	Kody Vanderwal #	ADVANCED DAIRY SERVICES Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	14	Running
24	14	92	Josh Williams	Alloy/StarTron Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	13	Running
25	20	0	Mike Wallace	Unkers Therapeutic/Market Scan Chevrolet	52	0	0	0	12	Running
26	25	8	Joe Graf Jr #	Bucked Up Energy Chevrolet	51	0	0	0	0	Running
27	16	90	Alex Labbe	Frameco/Prolon/rousseau Chevrolet	50	0	0	0	10	Running
28	37	26	Brandon Gdovic	Windstax Energy Toyota	47	0	0	0	9	Accident
29	2	98	Chase Briscoe	Highpoint.com Ford	46	7	1	0	22	Accident
30	35	13	Bobby Reuse	ROOFCLAIM.com Toyota	46	0	0	0	7	Running
31	12	36	Preston Pardus	Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet	45	0	6	0	11	Accident
32	28	15	Jeffrey Earnhardt	KSDT CPA Chevrolet	43	0	0	0	5	Running
33	29	21	Earl Bamber	KCMG Chevrolet	41	5	7	0	14	Accident
34	13	68	Brandon Brown	BMS Chevrolet	40	8	0	0	6	Axle
35	38	66	Harold Crooms	Unknown BBQ/Maxpay Pawn Toyota	36	0	0	0	2	Brakes
36	4	10	Ross Chastain	Moose Fraternity Chevrolet	34	0	0	0	1	Running
37	23	8	Daniel Hemric	Poppy Bank Chevrolet	14	0	0	0	1	Accident
38	5	11	Justin Haley	LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet	11	0	0	0	1	Suspension

August 15, 2020

Cindric to start on pole position for inaugural Xfinity Daytona Road Course event

In what has been a career year in his third full-time season of racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Austin Cindric will start on the pole for the inaugural UNOH 188 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course on Saturday, August 15.

The Daytona Road Course race marks the first race where the starting lineup was based on a new competition formula utilizing three statistical categories: the finishing results from the previous race (weighing at 50 percent), the order of owner points positioning (35 percent) and the fastest race lap from the previous race (15 percent).

Based upon the stats/measurements and averaging them, Cindric, the recent series winner at Road America and this year’s regular-season points leader, will lead the field to the start of the Daytona Road Course event. This will mark the first time where Cindric and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang will start on pole position for an upcoming Xfinity race this season.

Since May through last weekend at Road America, a random draw determined the starting lineup for an upcoming NASCAR race due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which eliminated practice and qualifying sessions throughout race weekend. When the 2020 Xfinity Playoffs commence in September at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the competitors in the Playoffs will occupy the top starting positions, according to how many remain throughout the Playoffs as four competitors will be eliminated after each round featuring three postseason races.

Chase Briscoe will start alongside Cindric followed by Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain and Justin Haley. Andy Lally, who tied his career-best result of fifth place last weekend at Road America, will start in sixth place followed by Michael Annett, Ryan Sieg, rookie Harrison Burton and A.J. Allmendinger. Brandon Jones and Brandon Brown will start 11th and 12th.

Starting in positions 13-25 are Josh Williams, rookie Riley Herbst, Preston Pardus, Alex Labbe, Justin Allgaier, Josh Bilicki, Jeremy Clements, Stephen Leicht, Mike Wallace, Tommy Joe Martins, Daniel Hemric, rookie Jesse Little and rookie Joe Graf Jr.

Starting in positions 26-38 are Kyle Weatherman, rookie Myatt Snider, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Scott Heckert, newcomer Earl Bamber, rookie Kody Vanderwal, Jade Buford, B.J. McLeod, Bayley Currey, Chad Finchum, Matt Mills, Brandon Gdovic and Harold Crooms.

The inaugural UNOH 188 at the Daytona International Speedway Road Course will occur on August 15 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 12, 2020
Road America Henry 180 could heat up Xfinity Series title race heading into Playoffs

A year ago it was obvious that the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship was going to be settled between three drivers from three different camps: Cole Custer in a Ford, Christopher Bell in a Toyota, and Tyler Reddick in a Chevrolet. Ultimately it was Reddick who came away with his second consecutive championship, while Custer finished second in points and Bell in third. The outcome of the championship was never in doubt regarding those three, while the rest of the Xfinity garage was just an afterthought.

In 2020, there are only two full-time Ford camps in the Xfinity garage and they also happen to be the season leaders as Chase Briscoe with Stewart-Haas Racing and Austin Cindric with Team Penske run second and first in the standings, respectively. Briscoe leads the series with five wins while Cindric has three, while the other regulars who have won have only won once or twice.

Briscoe and Cindric both have two Xfinity Series road course wins, with Briscoe winning at the Charlotte Roval in 2018 and the Indianapolis Road Course in 2020, while Cindric won back-to-back road course events in 2019 with wins at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio. Both drivers have considerable space ahead of third-place Noah Gragson and look to make the title fight an exclusively Ford affair.

Briscoe has edged the competition so far in 2020 with an average finish of 6.6 in 17 events. This is helped not only by his five wins this season but by his 10 top-fives and 13 top-10s as well. His No. 98 SHR Ford has hit few snags this season, but with his lowest finish being 20th at Charlotte he’s been consistent. He’s been strongest this season on the mile-and-a-half speedways, but at Road America in 2019, he posted a solid seventh-place result, one of the four top-10s he earned on road courses in 2019.

Cindric meanwhile is an established road course ace. Along with his two road course wins in 2019 he finished second at Road America and third at the Charlotte Roval, and in July he finished fifth. Considering he has an extra season under his belt as opposed to Briscoe, looking at his 2018 statistics he scored a second at Watkins Glen and a third at the Charlotte Roval. That adds to seven road course top-fives in 10 Xfinity Series road course races.

Cindric’s average finish this season is 8.9, but that’s only due to the three crash DNFs he’s experienced so far. He’s on par with Briscoe in terms of performance in 2020, with 11 top-fives and 13 top-10s to his name heading into Road America.

Although Noah Gragson has only won twice in 2020 (Daytona, Bristol) and sits third in points, his aggressive consistency has netted him eight top-fives and 11 top-10s this season. He’s been a contender on the road courses as well, with five straight top-fives on the Xfinity road course events including a third at Indy this year. Last year’s Road America event saw him finish fourth after starting fifth, so with the speed the No. 9 JR Motorsports crew has had this season mixed with Gragson’s experience, Road America could be the place that team makes a championship charge.

Perhaps the biggest dark horse among this season’s Xfinity Series leaders is Ross Chastain from the Kaulig Racing camp. He’s winless in 2020, but he sits fourth in points heading into Road America with a series-leading 15 top-10s in 17 races. 2019 was a partial Xfinity Series schedule for Chastain, however, his last start at Road America in 2018 yielded a seventh-place finish. Considering 2020 has been a career year for the Florida watermelon farmer, there’s no reason that Chastain shouldn’t be able to continue his consistent streak at Road America.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series Henry 180 at Road America will be August 8, at 12 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

August 6, 2020
NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings-Texas
The NASCAR Xfinity Series came to Texas Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon for the 16th race of the season.

The all-time wins list leader Kyle Busch was back in the field and as expected, he originally won the My Bariatric Solutions 300. Unfortunately, he failed post-race tech inspection due to the ride height rule and had his win taken away. Instead, the win was given to the second-place finisher Austin Cindric, who picked up his third consecutive win of the year. Even though Cindric was given the win, the victory shouldn’t come as a surprise to race fans as he led 44 laps in pursuit of victory.

While Cindric continued to enjoy some late-season momentum, Noah Gragson had his work cut out for him after he made contact with competitor Riley Herbst. The contact sent Herbst out of the race and he was credited with a 36th place position. Gragson would continue on for a few more laps, but coming out of the care center, Herbst noted ‘he (Gragson) has one coming to him.’ When the Playoffs start, Gragson will have to work harder to make it to the Championship 4 since previous drivers he has had run-ins with could make it that much more difficult on him. Gragson’s day would eventually come to end early on Lap 118 when he crashed in Turn 3.

Despite Gragson’s misfortune, we’ll take a look at drivers in this week’s Power Rankings and analyze if any of them capitalized on the race.
1. Austin Cindric – Another week, another win, for Cindric who became the eventual race winner. The Team Penske driver has been on fire as of late after securing his first oval wins at Kentucky Speedway the week before. In Saturday’s event, Cindric led 44 laps and finished third in Stage 1 and second in Stage 2. After the running, Cindric picked up 57 points overall, which could come in handy when the chase for the championship rolls around.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – First
2. Chase Briscoe – Briscoe scored a second-place finish after 300 miles. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver finished fourth in Stage 1 and fifth in Stage 2. He did manage to lead 15 laps before having to pit during a green flag pit cycle and gave up track position. But Briscoe caught a lucky break with a late-race caution and had another opportunity to earn a better finish. Ultimately, the top-five finish was Briscoe’s 10th of the year.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Second
3. Justin Allgaier – Allgaier stays in the third spot again this week after bringing the No. 7 JR Motorsports machine to a third-place finish. The Illinois native led 98 laps (a race high) and won both of the stages. While Allgaier couldn’t get the win, Saturday’s outing is an example of what will get you through to the Playoffs, being up front, leading laps and winning the stages. It was a great points day for Allgaier.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
4. Harrison Burton – Burton shined a couple of times before settling in the fourth position. The finish was much needed after Kentucky the week prior to Texas. Burton led 17 laps and earned stage finishes of fifth and sixth, respectively. By placing in the top five, Burton grabbed his eighth top-five of the year. He currently sits seventh in the championship points standings.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
5. Noah Gragson – Before Gragson’s day got cut short, he did have a respectable run and finished sixth in Stage 1 and fourth in Stage 2. Though Gragson is not making too many friends out on the track, as it appears he’s having a run in with someone every week. If Gragson can focus on the Playoffs and winning the championship without the contact on track, he could be a threat for the championship. But drivers like Myatt Snider, Riley Herbst, or Harrison Burton could make that tough on him as the season wears on.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
Fell Out
1. Anthony Alfredo – He had a 27th place outing after hitting the wall and bringing out the seventh caution of the day. Before that point, Alfredo was running solidly in the top 10 and even finished ninth in Stage 1 and 10th in Stage 2. It seemed as though the Richard Childress Racing driver would have another strong finish. But Alfredo will have to wait another week to rebound for a good finish.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
July 21, 2020
2020 Xfinity Series Playoff outlook after Texas

The NASCAR Xfinity Series recent race, Saturday’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, featured another repeat winner this season in an unexpected outcome, where it took approximately an hour after the race concluded for the official race winner to be declared. The battle for the final spots to the Playoffs, however, continued to tighten up with several key contenders struggling in the Lone Star state.

With his third consecutive Xfinity Series victory of the season, Austin Cindric and the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang team are establishing themselves as a potential championship threat for this season. Cindric’s victory was awarded to him following post-race technical inspection, when initial winner Kyle Busch was disqualified. With his third consecutive win, which was last made in the series in 2018 from Christopher Bell, Cindric joins Chase Briscoe as the only Xfinity competitors that have won three or more races this season. Both Ford competitors also remain as two of six drivers currently guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a regular-season win(s), a list that include Justin Haley, Brandon Jones, Noah Gragson and rookie Harrison Burton, who rallied from a five-race stretch of finishing no higher than 12th to post a top-five result.

With six of 12 spots to the Playoffs still vacant, Ross Chastain retains one of the spots as the highest-winless competitor this season. A ninth-place result, to go along with a handful of stage points, and his 14th top-10 result has Chastain and the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team 297 points above the cutline while the Floridian attempts to make his second series postseason appearance.

For Justin Allgaier, the majority of Saturday’s race at the Lone Star state had Allgaier and his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team scored as the leader. After leading a race-high 98 laps and winning both stages, it appeared that Allgaier would record his first victory of the season. His race-winning hopes, however, were dashed when he was penalized for a blend-rule violation in the final stage. Nonetheless, he was able to race his way back to a third-place result for his fourth top-five result, which keeps the Illinois veteran 228 points above the top-12 cutline.

Teammate Michael Annett also had a decent run at Texas, where he collected stage points from both stages and settled in fifth when the checkered flag flew. With his third top-five result and his fifth consecutive top-10 result in recent weeks, Annett is 164 points above the cutline to make the Playoffs for the second consecutive year.

While it was a good race for some, it was not the case for rookie Riley Herbst. Coming off two strong results at the Kentucky Speedway doubleheader, Herbst’s run was cut short early on the fourth lap when he was battling Gragson and made contact with the Turn 4 outside wall, an incident that would end his run in the garage. With a 36th-place result, the Las Vegas rookie and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team went from 69 points above the top-12 cutline to 60.

Following an up-and-down doubleheader at Kentucky, Ryan Sieg’s race at Texas concluded midway due to suspension issues. The Tucker, Georgia, native and his No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet team remain inside the cutline by 58 points despite posting their seventh result outside the top 20.

With last week’s doubleheader at Kentucky produced up-and-down results for Brandon Brown, Saturday’s run at Texas was a run that stabilized his position within the top 12. A 10th-place result, his fourth of the season, allowed the Woodbridge, Virginia, native to retain the 12th and final spot to the Playoffs by 31 points while he aims to make his first postseason appearance.

If there is a competitor making recent strides and gaining ground towards the cutline to the Playoffs, it is Jeremy Clements and his family owned team based in Spartanburg, South Carolina. With an 11th-place result, his ninth top-15 finish of the season and fifth in a row, Clements trails Brown for the final Playoff spot by 31 points in his quest to qualify for his second postseason, first since 2017.

Coming into Texas Motor Speedway and being 14 points below the cutline, Myatt Snider received an opportunity to race his way back into the top-12 cutline on the strength of eight top-15 results in his rookie Xfinity Series season. The Charlotte native, however, was involved in an early incident and could not recover as he settled in 34th place. In losing a spot in the standings to Clements along with a handful of points, Snider trails the cutline by 38 points.

Other competitors who remain in contention for the Playoffs include rookie Jesse Little, Alex Labbe, Josh Williams, B.J. McLeod, rookie Joe Graf Jr., Chad Finchum and Vinnie Miller.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will run its next scheduled race of the season at Kansas Speedway on July 25, which will air at 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

July 20, 2020
Kyle Busch DQ’d, Cindric declared Xfinity Series race winner
It was a hot day in Texas for the Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Xfinity Series race today. What a day it has been as race winner Kyle Busch was disqualified and Austin Cindric in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford has been declared the race winner. This is Cindric’s third win in a row. Chase Briscoe finished in second and Justin Allgaier brought home third.

“I’ll take it,” Cindric said. “It’s great to be able to capitalize on fast race cars. I said that last week and I’ll say that again. I didn’t think this weekend we were quite as good as what we had in Kentucky but overall being able to run up front all day and get great stage points was great and we’ve just got to keep building on that.”

Stage 1 started out with some very aggressive driving causing two cautions. One was for Riley Herbst hitting the wall and the other for Myatt Snider who also hit the wall. Cindric had the lead early on along with some great battles, but on Lap 35 Allgaier would get the lead and not look back easily winning the stage.

Stage 2 began with Busch in the lead but he was penalized for speeding and sent to the rear of the field. There were two cautions, one for debris and one when Kody Vanderwal tapped the wall. Allgaier again couldn’t be caught and would take the win for this stage. He definitely had one of the cars to beat today.

The final stage had three cautions. One occurred when Anthony Alfredo tagged the wall and the second when Noah Gragson also tapped the wall. Joe Graf Jr. would bring out the third caution. The biggest oops of the day goes to Allgaier for going over the blend line too soon and receiving a penalty putting him behind in the field. The only one who had a shot at catching Busch was Cindric.

Harrison Burton and Michael Annett would round out the top five. Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Justin Haley, Ross Chastain, and Brandon Brown finished sixth through 10, respectively.

Briscoe leads the Xfinity Series Standings with 688 points, Cindric is in second with 661 points, Gragson is in third with 641 points, Ross Chastain is in fourth with 612 points, and Justin Haley rounds out the top five with 549 points.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series heads next to Kansas Speedway on July 25.

Official Results:
1. Austin Cindric
2. Chase Briscoe
3. Justin Allgaier
4. Harrison Burton #
5. Michael Annett
6. Jeb Burton
7. Brandon Jones
8. Justin Haley
9. Ross Chastain
10. Brandon Brown
11. Jeremy Clements
12. Jeffrey Earnhardt
13. David Starr
14. Jesse Little #
15. Tommy Joe Martins
16. Brett Moffitt (i)
17. Timmy Hill (i)
18. Stefan Parsons
19. Bayley Currey (i)
20. BJ McLeod
21. Joe Graf Jr #
22. Josh Williams
23. Colby Howard
24. Chad Finchum
25. Vinnie Mille
26. Matt Mills
27. Anthony Alfredo
28. Kyle Weatherman
29. Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet
30. Noah Gragson
31. Alex Labbe
32. Kody Vanderwal #
33. Dexter Bean
34. Myatt Snider #
35. Stephen Leicht
36. Riley Herbst #
37. Kyle Busch (i)
July 18, 2020
2020 Xfinity Series Playoff outlook after Kentucky

For the second time this season, the NASCAR Xfinity Series ran a doubleheader feature on two consecutive dates, this week being at Kentucky Speedway. When both races were complete, the series featured a new winner to this season as Austin Cindric rallied from a season highlighted with near misses to win his first two races of 2020.

For Cindric and his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Mustang team, it all started on Thursday, July 9, when he outlasted fellow competitor Chase Briscoe through a handful of late restarts and cautions to record his elusive first victory of this year’s Xfinity season and his first on an oval-shaped circuit. Then, he came roaring back on Friday, July 10, with a dominating victory, leading more than half of the 200-scheduled laps and the final 43, to win his second consecutive race in a similar fashion to his first two career victories in August 2019 between Watkins Glen International and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Cindric’s breakthrough win at the Bluegrass State, now, guarantees six regulars into the 2020 Playoffs, a list that include points leader Chase Briscoe, Noah Gragson, rookie Harrison Burton, Justin Haley and Brandon Jones. The second half of the 12-car Playoff field remains to be determined with the Playoffs within sight, though not scheduled.

With solid third- and fourth-place finishes at Kentucky, Ross Chastain and his No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet Camaro team are the highest of those above the cutline with no recorded victories through the first 15 races of this season. The results, nonetheless, have Chastain with six top-five results and 276 points above the cutline.

Behind, Justin Allgaier rallied from a harrowing last-lap accident in the first Kentucky event that sent him to the hospital to post a strong fifth-place result the following day. While he, too, continues to pursue his first win of the year and since November 2019 at Phoenix, Allgaier and his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team are 184 points above the cutline.

The two Kentucky races produced strong results for Michael Annett and rookie Riley Herbst. For Annett, it started with a fifth-place result on Thursday and he came back the following race to finish eighth. The results kept Annett and his No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team 136 points above the cutline. For Herbst, a pair of top-10 results were much needed for the Las Vegas rookie, who has had an up-and-down season prior to Kentucky. It all started on Thursday, where Herbst made a late charge to finish in the runner-up spot, which tied his best result in the series since finishing second to teammate Harrison Burton at Auto Club Speedway on Leap Day. For Friday, Herbst was in position for another strong run when he was hampered with a late pit road speeding penalty. His 10th-place result was not only the eighth of this season, but it was also enough to keep him and his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra team 69 points above the cutline.

That leaves Ryan Sieg and Brandon Brown in sole possession of the final two spots to the Playoffs. For Sieg, it was an up-and-down week that started with a ninth-place result on Thursday. The ninth-place result marked his first top-10 result since Darlington Raceway in May followed by eight consecutive results of results outside the top 10, finishing no higher than 12th during the eight previous races and despite winning two stages in two consecutive races at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June. Everything, however, changed the following Kentucky race on Friday, when suspension issues and a 35th-place result has Sieg and his No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet Camaro team just 57 above the cutline. For Brown, finishes of 27th and 13th have him 14 points above the top-12 cutline.

The first trailing outside the cutline is Myatt Snider, who finished 15th on Thursday but 31st the following race at Kentucky after a crash. With a full season under his belt between RSS Racing and Richard Childress Racing, Snider remains in contention and within sight of the top-12 cutline by 14 points. Behind, Jeremy Clements recorded strong results in both Kentucky races, where he finished 12th on Thursday and came back to finish 11th on Friday after leading the first 11 laps. The top-10 results in both Kentucky races have the South Carolina native trailing the top-12 cutline by 30 points and with an opportunity to reach his second career Playoffs since 2017. The top-10 results at the Bluegrass State have tallied Clements’ top-15 results of 2020 to nine as his average result of 18.1 through the first 15 Xfinity races is his personal best. In addition, through the first 15 races, Clements has led a total of 12 laps, which ties his most laps led in a season, (2011 and 2017), with an opportunity to surpass the mark and establish a new record of laps led in a season.

Among those still pursuing the cutline include Alex Labbe, rookie Jesse Little, Josh Williams, B.J. McLeod, rookie Joe Graf Jr. and Vinnie Miller.

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return for its upcoming race at Texas Motor Speedway on July 18, which will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

July 13, 2020
Cindric sweeps at Kentucky Speedway

The Xfinity Series held their second race of Kentucky Speedway’s doubleheader tonight for the Alsco 300 and Austin Cindric swept the races. Last night saw him win his first-ever race on at an oval track and tonight he won the second in his No. 22 Penske Racing Ford. It was also the first time he led so many laps in a race.

“I hope I laid enough rubber down to make up for Watkins Glen last year, that was pathetic.” Cindric said, “I’m just so excited this is a credit to my team. What we did tonight was really impressive because we ran one setup last night and won the race.” He added, “We came with another setup for tonight and won the race again.” He explained, “ I trust my man, it’s difficult but he made the right call and that’s why he is on the pit box and I’m in the car.”

The runner-up spot went to Chase Briscoe in his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford. Following Briscoe in third spot was Justin Haley in his No. 11 Kaulig Racing Chevy.

Stage 1 started with Myatt Snider on the pole position. There were only two cautions in this stage, one for Ryan Sieg who went around and tapped the wall and the other was a scheduled competition caution. Harrison Burton and Noah Gragson were the front runners in the stage with Gragson taking the stage win.

Stage 2 started with Gragson and Harrison Burton battling for the top spot. Around Lap 63 Cindric took over the lead and didn’t look back. There weren’t any cautions in this stage and Cindric took the easy stage win.

The final stage had Cindric still at the front while Riley Herbst and Gragson tried to catch him. Fan-favorite Justin Allgaier who lost a lap early in the race due to a tire going down finally got his lap back. The epic save of the night went to Jesse Little whose car was sideways but he managed somehow not to spin. With laps winding down Brandon Jones hit the wall hard setting up for a short shootout. Cindric won the race easily, but the fireworks happened while he was celebrating. Burton and Gragson had made slight contact towards the end of the race and were having a discussion about it and then fists started flying between the two until they could be separated.

Ross Chastain and Allgaier would round out the top five finishers. Anthony Alfredo, Gragson, Michael Annett, Daniel Hemric and Riley Herbst finished sixth through 10, respectively.

Briscoe leads the Xfinity Series Standings with 643 points, Gragson is second with 624 points, Cindric is in third with 610 points, Chastain is in fourth with 583 points, and Haley rounds out the top five with 521 points.

The Xfinity Series will head next to Texas Motor Speedway on July 18.

Complete Results:

1. Austin Cindric
  2. Chase Briscoe
  3. Justin Haley
  4. Ross Chastain
  5. Justin Allgaier
  6. Anthony Alfredo
  7. Noah Gragson
  8. Michael Annett
9. Daniel Hemric
10. Riley Herbst
11. Jeremy Clements
12. Harrison Burton
13. Brandon Brown
14. Jesse Little
15. Josh Williams
16. Garrett Smithley
17. Brett Moffitt
18. Jeffrey Earnhardt
19. Matt Mills
20. BJ McLeod
21. Colby Howard
22. Joe Graf Jr
23. Mason Massey
24. Alex Labbe
25. Bayley Currey
26. Timmy Hill
27. Tommy Joe Martins
28. Vinnie Miller
29. Kody Vanderwal
30. Brandon Jones
31. Myatt Snider
32. Ronnie Bassett Jr
33. Chad Finchum
34. Stephen Leicht
35. Ryan Sieg
36. Kyle Weatherman

July 10, 2020
Cindric notches first win of 2020 at Kentucky Speedway

In an overtime shootout, Austin Cindric scored his first elusive NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season in the Shady Rays 200 at Kentucky Speedway, the first of a series doubleheader at the Bluegrass State, after powering away from Chase Briscoe and stabilizing a half-second lead over rookie Riley Herbst at the moment of caution due to a last-lap multi-car wreck. The victory was Cindric’s third of his Xfinity Series career and his first on an oval-shaped track after collecting his first two series victories in back-to-back races in August 2019 at Watkins Glen International and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Noah Gragson drew the pole position and was joined on the front row with Ross Chastain. The No. 90 DGM Racing Chevrolet team driven by Ronnie Bassett Jr. failed pre-race inspection twice, which cost the team the pit selection for next weekend’s race, but the driver and the team retained their 22nd-starting spot for the first Kentucky race. Mason Massey and Bayley Currey, however, dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

While the field rolled off of pit road for the pace laps, rookie Anthony Alfredo remained on pit road as his crew addressed a steering issue to the No. 21 Alsco/Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro. Because it was a safety issue being addressed, Alfredo was allowed to retain his 11th-starting spot.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Gragson shot to an early lead on the bottom lane. In Turn 1, however, Jeb Burton slipped on the bottom, spun and was T-boned by Brandon Jones as the rear tires of Burton’s No. 8 Rocky Boots/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro briefly came off the ground following the contact. The first caution of the race was immediately displayed. Burton was able to continue the race following repairs to the rear end, but multiple laps behind, while Jones retired. This marked the second time in the last three Xfinity Series races where Jones was eliminated prior to the first lap due to an accident.

When the race restarted on the eighth lap, Chastain made a brief challenge for the lead on the outside lane through Turns 1 and 2, but Gragson was able to retain it on the bottom in Turn 3. While Gragson was leading, Austin Cindric, who was in pursuit of his first win of 2020, moved into second after passing Chastain. Michael Annett, rookie Harrison Burton and Chase Briscoe would also overtake Chastain for positions in the top five. Gragson was able to retain the lead when the competition caution flew on the 15th lap.

Under the competition caution, some like Briscoe, Brandon Brown, rookie Joe Graf Jr., rookie Kody Vanderwal, Tommy Joe Martins and Matt Mills pitted for early adjustments while the rest remained on track.

The race restarted on Lap 20 and Gragson retained the lead, though he was being pressured by Cindric. Both competitors drove away with a one-second advantage over third-place Burton, who was followed by Chastain and Alfredo, who rallied from his early steering issues. While the racing progressed, Allgaier, who was running in sixth, slipped underneath Alfredo, but he was able to prevent his car from spinning, though Annett and Justin Haley each gained a position.

In the closing laps of the stage, Burton gained ground and moved into second while Cindric was left in a tight battle with Chastain and Alfredo for position. They did not have anything for Gragson as the driver of the No. 9 Switch/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro was able to win the first stage on Lap 30, thus collecting his sixth stage win of the season. Burton settled in second followed by Cindric, Chastain and Alfredo. Annett, Haley, Allgaier, Ryan Sieg and Brett Moffitt rounded out the top 10 in the first stage.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Gragson exited first followed by Burton, Cindric, Chastain and Alfredo. Briscoe remained on track and took over the lead. Following the pit stops, however, Burton was sent to the rear of the field due to an uncontrolled tire violation.

The second stage commenced on Lap 38 and Gragson was able to clear Briscoe for the lead on the bottom lane in Turn 1. By Lap 40, the top-three competitors of Gragson, Briscoe and Cindric were ahead by more than a second over Chastain while rookie Riley Herbst, who started 23rd, was in fifth after overtaking Brown. Behind, Allgaier and Haley were back in 10th and 11th while Alfredo had fallen back to 12th.

Ten laps later, the trio of Gragson, Briscoe and Cindric were still ahead by four seconds over Chastain, nearly five over Herbst and more than eight over Annett. At the front, Gragson was leading by half a second over Briscoe, who had Cindric running near his rear bumper and was reporting a vibration to his No. 98 Ford Performance Racing School/Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang. With the leaders starting to approach lapped traffic, Allgaier was in seventh while Alfredo was in 10th ahead of Haley.

On Lap 54, Cindric threaded his way between the lapped car of Kyle Weatherman and Briscoe to move into the runner-up spot. Though Cindric was starting to narrow his deficit to Gragson, he ran out of time to challenge for the lead as Gragson was able to win the second stage on Lap 60 and claim his seventh stage victory of 2020. Cindric settled in second, more than a second behind, followed by Briscoe, who was more than five seconds behind. Chastain and Herbst settled in the top five while Allgaier, Annett, Sieg, Brown and Alfredo were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Gragson retained the lead after exiting pit road first. Briscoe moved up to second followed by Herbst, Cindric, Chastain and Allgaier.

The final stage started at the halfway mark of the 134-lap race, and Gragson retained the lead following a strong start on the outside lane in Turn 1. Cindric moved his way back to second followed by Briscoe, Herbst and Allgaier while Chastain fell to sixth and in the clutches of Annett and Burton for position.

With 60 laps remaining, Gragson was ahead by a tenth of a second over Cindric and both were ahead of Briscoe, Herbst and Allgaier by more than a second. Behind, Chastain trailed by four seconds while battling a number of cars, including Burton. Ten laps later, Gragson was still ahead by around a tenth of a second over Cindric. Briscoe was in third while Allgaier was in fourth. Herbst was back in fifth and ahead of teammate Burton while Chastain, Annett, Alfredo and Sieg were in the top 10.

Four laps later, the caution returned when Brown, who came into the first Kentucky race clinging on to the 12th and final spot in the standings to the Playoffs, spun through Turns 3 and 4 and made contact with the outside wall following contact from Haley, thus sustaining heavy damage to the rear end. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Haley exited first after having two tires changed on his car. Clements exited second after also changing two tires while Gragson, the first on four fresh tires, was in third. Following the stops, Chastain was sent to the rear of the field due to speeding on pit road.

With less than 40 laps remaining, the race restarted and Haley maintained the lead on the outside lane followed by Cindric. The following lap, Cindric moved into the lead, Haley was pressured by Briscoe for second and Gragson had fallen back to eighth. Burton moved up into fourth followed by teammates Annett and Allgaier with Herbst also behind. Six laps later, Cindric was ahead by nearly two seconds over Haley, who was still pressured by Briscoe for the runner-up spot. Burton, Annett, Allgaier and Herbst followed suit while Gragson was stuck in eighth.

Under 30 laps remaining, the caution returned following a late incident involving Moffitt and Chastain. Four laps later, the race restarted and Haley, who spun his tires but received a push from Briscoe, cleared Cindric for the lead on the inside lane. In Turn 2, Cindric gained a huge run to reassume the lead and Briscoe and Burton moved up while Haley was left in fourth ahead of Allgaier.

Ten laps later, with 20 to go, Cindric was ahead by a second over Briscoe while Burton was trailing by two seconds. Behind, Allgaier moved into fourth after prevailing over a battle with Haley while Gragson was stuck in sixth. With the race dwindling to its final laps, Cindric stretched his lead by more than two seconds over Briscoe, who was struggling for grip. Burton was still in third followed by Allgaier while teammate Gragson was able to race his way back into the top five after passing Haley. Shortly after, the caution returned for a wreck involving Colby Howard in Turn 1.

When the race restarted with nine laps remaining, Cindric and Briscoe battled against one another for the lead as Gragson went three wide to move into third ahead of Burton and Allgaier. A lap later, Cindric cleared Briscoe for the lead and was slowly starting to stabilize his lead by half a second over a steaming pack of cars. With four laps remaining, however, the caution returned when Burton, who had fallen back into the top 10, slid sideways following contact with Annett in a cloud of smoke across the Turn 3 outside wall before he spun his car below the apron. He was able to continue without sustaining any damage.

Following Burton’s late spin, the race was sent into overtime. When the green flag waved, Cindric and Briscoe, again, battled dead even for the lead through Turn 1 when Briscoe got loose underneath Cindric’s No. 22 Team Penske/Snap-On Ford Mustang. Briscoe’s slip allowed Cindric to clear and set sail with the lead in Turn 2 while Herbst and Chastain moved into second and third. Behind, Gragson made contact with teammate Allgaier, which sent Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT/JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro slipping sideways across Turns 1 and 2 as he lost a multitude of positions.

On the final lap, with the field behind continuing to scramble for late positions, Cindric was ahead by half a second over Herbst and Chastain while Briscoe fell back to fourth and was locked in a battle with Annett, Alfredo and Haley. As Cindric entered Turn 3, the caution flew following a multi-car wreck that started when Allgaier got loose in Turn 2 and slipped into Bassett Jr., who spun and made hard contact against the inside wall as all four wheels of Bassett’s No. 90 Chevrolet came off the ground. Timmy Hill and Vanderwal were also involved in the wreck. With the race concluding under caution, Cindric was able to cruise across the finish line to win the race.

With the victory, Cindric became the sixth full-time Xfinity competitor to be guaranteed a spot in the Playoffs by virtue of a regular-season win and he became the 17th competitor to win an Xfinity race at Kentucky. He also recorded the first Xfinity victory of the season for Team Penske and the sixth for the Ford nameplate.

“I don’t care what shape the track is, if it’s dirt, oval! I don’t care!” Cindric exclaimed. “I’m just happy that this Snap-On Ford Mustang’s in Victory Lane. We’ve come so close all year. These guys have given me so many awesome race-winning cars with Snap-On celebrating their 100th anniversary with their Makers and Fixers program. It’s awesome to have them on the car. I’m pumped. This is awesome. I’d love to be able to come back and do another performance like that tomorrow night, but all the credit to my guys for getting me here. I love [Briscoe], but he’s won enough! Those restarts were a lot tougher than I was thinking they would be. Obviously, you never got out of the gas till he got loose like he should’ve, but I’m just so happy. Thank you to Roger [Penske], thank you to everyone on the team for believing in me. I believe this is a championship team and this is the start of many wins for this season. I’m so happy that it came here.”

Behind Cindric, Herbst tied his career-best finish of the series with a runner-up result while Chastain rebounded from his late incident with Moffitt to finish third. Briscoe settled in fourth while Annett settled in fifth for his second top-five result of the season. Alfredo finished sixth while Haley, Kyle Weatherman, Sieg and Moffitt concluded the race in the top 10.

Gragson, who led a race-high 87 laps, fell all the way back to 11th, Burton settled in 17th and Allgaier ended his night in 20th and on a wrecker after failing to complete the final lap. Myatt Snider finished 15th and based on the top-15 finishers from Thursday’s race being inverted for the start of Friday’s Xfinity race, second of the week, he will start on the pole and will be joined on the front row with rookie Jesse Little, who finished 14th on Thursday.

Following his last-lap accident, Allgaier was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.

There were six lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 40 laps.

With his fourth-place result, Briscoe maintained the lead in the Xfinity Series regular-season standings by 16 points over Gragson, 45 over Cindric and 48 over Chastain.

Results:

1. Austin Cindric, 41 laps led

2. Riley Herbst

3. Ross Chastain

4. Chase Briscoe, five laps led

5. Michael Annett

6. Anthony Alfredo

7. Justin Haley, three laps led

8. Kyle Weatherman

9. Ryan Sieg

10. Brett Moffitt

11. Noah Gragson, 87 laps led, Stage 1 and 2 winner

12. Jeremy Clements

13. Joe Graf Jr.

14. Jesse Little

15. Myatt Snider

16. Chad Finchum

17. Harrison Burton

18. B.J. McLeod

19. Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT, Accident

20. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

21. Timmy Hill – OUT, Accident

22. Bayley Currey, one lap down

23. Vinnie Miller, two laps down

24. Alex Labbe, two laps down

25. Kody Vanderwal, two laps down

26. Josh Williams, three laps down

27. Brandon Brown, four laps down

28. Mason Massey, six laps down

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Suspension

30. Matt Mills, 14 laps down

31. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Brakes

32. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

33. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Rear gear

34. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

35. Stephen Leicht – OUT, Electrical

36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

The NASCAR Xfinity Series will return for its second race of the week at Kentucky Speedway on July 10, which will air at 8 p.m. on FS1.

July 10, 2020