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Allgaier gambles for first Xfinity victory of 2023 at Charlotte

In an event that was delayed for two days and more than nine hours, the early season wait for Justin Allgaier and JR Motorsports evaporated under the lights at home turn after Allgaier made a late fuel strategic call work to perfection by winning the rain-postponed Alsco Uniforms 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday, May 29.

The 36-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led three times for a race-high 83 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started on pole position, led early and ran up front throughout the event that was scheduled to start on Saturday, May 27, but was postponed to Monday and delayed yet again for another nine hours amid ongoing precipitation and steady rain.

Once the racing resumed nearing the one-quarter mark, Allgaier, who remained in contention as the race proceeded, seized upon an opportunity to pit for a final time with less than 70 laps remaining during a caution period. Then during the final 66-lap dash to the finish, Allgaier swapped the lead with John Hunter Nemechek before assuming it for good with 33 laps remaining. He then stretched his low fuel tank to the absolute distance as he managed to coast across the finish line and claim his first elusive Xfinity victory of the 2023 season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Justin Allgaier notched his first Xfinity pole of the 2023 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.172 mph in 29.806 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 180.246 mph in 29.959 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Josh Berry, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Stefan Parsons, Parker Retzlaff and Kyle Sieg dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Ryan Sieg also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his RSS Racing entry. Then with the event being postponed to Monday, Justin Haley also dropped to the rear of the field due to a driver change as he replaced Kyle Busch in the No. 10 Kaulig Racing entry, with Busch setting his focus on the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 that occurred prior to the Xfinity Charlotte event.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced amid a two-day delay due to the ongoing precipitation, Allgaier launched ahead on the inside lane and assumed an early command through the first two turns while teammates Nemechek and Ty Gibbs battled dead even for second. As the field fanned out to three and four lanes through the backstretch and in Turns 3 and 4, Allgaier proceeded to lead the first lap. Allgaier then managed to extend his advantage to half a second over Nemechek while Ty Gibbs settled in third and trailed by less than eight-tenths of a second.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by more than a second over Gibbs while Nemechek, who got loose in Turn 1, fell back to third as Brandon Jones and Cole Custer were in the top five. Behind, Sheldon Creed was in sixth ahead of Daniel Hemric and rookie Chandler Smith while Jeb Burton and Riley Herbst were battling in the top 10. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar was in 11th in his No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Brett Moffitt and Austin Hill while rookie Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Anthony Alfredo battled within the top 16.

At the Lap 10 mark, Allgaier continued to hold a steady advantage over a hard-charging Gibbs, who cut the deficit to within half a second in his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra, while Nemechek trailed by more than a second in third place. Behind, Creed moved up to fifth place behind Custer while Brandon Jones fell back to sixth. Jones would then slip to ninth as Hemric, Chandler Smith and Moffitt overtook him for spots while Gibbs tried to challenge Allgaier for the lead.

When a scheduled competition caution flew on Lap 20, Allgaier fended off Gibbs’ challenges on the outside lane to maintain the lead. By then, Nemechek, Custer and Creed were scored in the top five ahead of Hemric, Chandler Smith, Moffitt, Hocevar and Brandon Jones.

During the competition caution period, nearly the entire field led by Allgaier pitted, except for Ryan Sieg as Sieg remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited pit road first ahead of Gibbs, Custer, Creed, Allgaier and Hemric.

Not long after, the field was brought down to pit road and the race was placed in a red flag period on Lap 25 due to a steady increase of mist. Nearly 27 minutes later, the red flag lifted and the field led by Ryan Sieg returned to the track under a cautious pace.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 31, Nemechek quickly assumed the lead in his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra followed by teammate Gibbs as the field fanned out entering the first turn. As Ryan Sieg began to slip and lose spots while on worn tires, Nemechek assumed a steady advantage over teammate Gibbs followed by Creed, Hemric and Allgaier while Custer, who tried to launch to the front during the restart and ended up with a tire rub, was mired back in seventh behind Chandler Smith.

At the Lap 40 mark, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over teammate Gibbs, with both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates battling close for the lead, while Hemric trailed in third place by more than two seconds. Behind, Allgaier was in fourth ahead of Creed and Chandler Smith while Custer slipped to eighth behind Austin Hill.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Ty Gibbs, who assumed the lead from teammate Nemechek on Lap 42 after Nemechek scrubbed the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2, captured the stage victory. Teammate Nemechek settled in second while trailing by more than a second while Allgaier, Hemric, Creed, Chandler Smith, Hill, Josh Berry, Custer and Riley Herbst were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road and the race was placed under a second red flag period on Lap 48 due to the return of the mist that eventually resulted in an increase of rain. Not long after and with the precipitation increasing, NASCAR declared that the event would resume at the conclusion of the Cup Series’ Coca-Cola 600 which was scheduled to commence within 3 p.m. ET.

More than nine hours later and moments after Ryan Blaney withstood a long, chaotic and delayed Coke 600 event to emerge victorious, the red flag period for the Xfinity Series competition was lifted and the field returned to track under a cautious period. During the caution period, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Gibbs retained the lead ahead of teammate Nemechek, Allgaier, Hemric, Creed and Chandler Smith.

The second stage started on Lap 55 as Gibbs and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs retained the lead as the field fanned out through the first two turns. With Gibbs maintaining the lead, teammate Nemechek retained second in front of Allgaier as Hemric fended off Creed, Chandler Smith and Hill for fourth.

Just past the Lap 60 mark, Gibbs was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Hemric moved up to third after he overtook Allgaier for position. Hemric, however, shortly pitted under green after reporting concerns of a loose wheel to his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro. The move dropped Hemric out of the lead lap category as Gibbs continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek and more than two seconds over Allgaier.

By Lap 70, Gibbs stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Allgaier trailed by nearly four seconds. Behind, Richard Childress Racing’s Hill and Creed occupied fourth and fifth while Chandler Smith settled in sixth in front of Mayer, Brandon Jones, Hocevar and Sammy Smith.

At the Lap 80 mark, Gibbs continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over teammate Nemechek while Allgaier, Hill and Creed remained in the top five.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Ty Gibbs notched his second consecutive stage victory of the night after cruising to the start/finish line with an advantage of more than a second. Teammate Nemechek settled in second while Allgaier, Hill, Creed, Chandler Smith, Sam Mayer, Brandon Jones, Cole Custer and Carson Hocevar were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. In addition, Brett Moffitt was scored out of the lead lap category after making contact against the wall a few laps earlier and pitting under green.

Under the stage break, the field led by Gibbs returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, however, Nemechek emerged with the lead after exiting first followed by Creed, Allgaier, Hill, Chandler Smith and Custer. Meanwhile, Gibbs was mired back in 28th amid an extensive pit service to resolve a radio issue.

With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started as Nemechek and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek launched ahead with a strong start while Creed and Allgaier dueled for second. With Allgaier moving up to second, Custer challenged Creed for third as the field fanned out and jostled for late positions.

At the halfway mark with 100 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Custer, Creed and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Ty Gibbs, who restarted just outside the top 20, had carved his way up to 13th while Josh Berry overtook Creed for fifth. In addition, Hill was in seventh ahead of Chandler Smith, Mayer and Sammy Smith while Justin Haley carved his way up to 11th.

Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by more than a second over Allgaier while third-place Custer also trailed by more than a second. With JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Berry trailing in the top five, Ty Gibbs re-entered the top 10 as he was in ninth behind Creed, Hill and Chandler Smith. Gibbs would then get bottled within a tight battle involving himself, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Hocevar as his fast charge to the front stalled.

Another 15 laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to more than a second over Allgaier followed by Custer, Brandon Jones and Berry while Hill, Ty Gibbs, Creed, Chandler Smith and Mayer were scored in the top 10. As Sammy Smith, Hocevar, Haley, Herbst and Kaz Grala were scored in the top 15, Hemric was still mired a lap behind in 28th.

With 73 laps remaining, the caution flew when Mayer, who was running 10th, spun off of the Turn 2 outside wall, slid down to the track and pounded the inside wall as he limped to pit road with a shredded right-front fender as a result of a flat tire. During the caution period, the field led by Nemechek returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek retained the lead after exiting first ahead of Allgaier. During the pit stops, Creed pitted for a second time for repairs after making contact with Berry on pit road.

As the race proceeded under green with 66 laps remaining, Nemechek and Allgaier dueled for the lead as Allgaier tried to peek ahead through the backstretch. Then as Hill launched himself into the picture and made it a three-wide battle at the front, Allgaier assumed the lead during the following lap while Hill battled Nemechek for second. Nemechek would fend off Hill for second as Custer tried to challenge Hill for third in front of Berry and Brandon Jones.

With less than 60 laps remaining, Allgaier maintained the lead by nine-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Hill trailed in third by a second and a half. With Custer and Brandon Jones running in the top five, Chandler Smith was in sixth followed by Ty Gibbs while Berry fell back to eighth. Behind, Hocevar was in ninth ahead of a battle between Sammy Smith and Haley while Kaz Grala, Jeb Burton, Connor Mosack and Kyle Weatherman battled inside the top 15.

Down to the final 50 laps of the event, Allgaier’s advantage evaporated to a tenth of a second over Nemechek as he re-ignited his battle for the lead. Not long after, they both made contact, but both competitors continued to run straight as Allgaier retained the lead by nearly half a second while third-place Hill trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Custer occupied fourth while Brandon Jones and Ty Gibbs battled for fifth.

With less than 40 laps remaining, Allgaier and Nemechek re-ignited their battle for the lead before Nemechek reassumed the top spot off of Turn 4 with 36 laps remaining. Then just as Alfredo pitted under green with 33 laps remaining, Allgaier muscled his Chevrolet back to the top of the leaderboard. He would maintain the lead over Nemechek under the final 30-lap and 25-lap marks of the event.

Then with 20 laps remaining and as Allgaier continued to lead by four-tenths of a second, Hill surrendered third place to pit his No. 21 Alsco Chevrolet Camaro. He would then be followed by Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Ty Gibbs, who had worked his way up towards the front. By then, Allgaier, who was leading, started to back off his pace in an attempt to save fuel under the direction of his team.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Allgaier stretched his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek while trying to stretch his fuel tank to the finish. By then, Nemechek, who was trying to pounce on Allgaier, started to back off on his pace to have enough fuel to finish. Nearing the final five-lap mark, more names that included third-place Hocevar, Brandon Jones and Haley pitted, but Allgaier continued to run under power with the lead. As runner-up, Nemechek trailed by more than five seconds with third-place Custer trailing by more than nine seconds, Hill, who pitted earlier and had enough fuel to finish under full power, was in fourth, but trailing by more than 25 seconds.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier, who continued to run under a conservative pace on the track, remained as the leader by more than seven seconds over Nemechek, who too was still remaining on the track while on low fuel. Despite being overtaken by lapped competitors while managing his throttle through the turns and straightaway, Allgaier was able to make the low fuel tank last to perfection as he cycled his No. 7 Unilever Military DeCA RCPT Chevrolet Camaro back to the frontstretch and streaked across the finish line for his first victory of the season.

With the victory, Allgaier notched his 20th career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first at Charlotte. He also returned to Victory Lane for the first time in the Xfinity circuit since winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2022. By recording his 17th victory as a driver for JR Motorsports, the Illinois veteran recorded the first NASCAR victory of the season and the second consecutive victory at Charlotte for JRM. In addition, Allgaier, who became the ninth different winner of this year’s Xfinity season, achieved his first victory with new crew chief Jim Pohlman.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I’m speechless, man,” Allgaier said on FS2. “You fans that stuck it out here tonight, thank y’all so much. I just cannot say enough about [crew chief] Jim Pohlman, everybody on this No. 7 team. It’s not been for lack of speed this year. We’ve battled. Tonight was kind of the opposite. We had to go slow to go fast. I’m speechless, man. I really am…I didn’t know how much [fuel] to save. Just lucky we had enough.”

Nemechek, who led 57 laps and was pursuing his third Xfinity victory of the season, settled in second place for the third time this season as he trailed Allgaier by seven seconds to the finish.

“It was definitely tough to not push as hard as you could there at the end when trying to run Allgaier back down,” Nemechek said. “We raced each other really hard, really clean. Overall, our Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was fast as Xfinity 10G [Internet]. I didn’t do us any favors by stuffing [the car] in the fence before we had our whole rain delay today. Just hats off to all the guys, the effort at this Joe Gibbs Racing organization. Man, if consistency is key to win a championship, then we are pretty consistent. Just gotta keep plugging on and we’ll go click off some more wins.”

Custer, who also gambled late on fuel, came home in third place while Hill ended up fourth after narrowing the gap to only 16 seconds. Ty Gibbs ended up in fifth after leading 52 laps followed by rookie Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton, all of whom rounded out the top-seven lead lap finishers. Carson Hocevar, the first competitor to finish a lap down, ended up eighth while Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith completed the top 10 on the track.

There were eight lead changes for four different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 31 laps. While all but one of 38 starters finished the race, seven finished on the lead lap.

Following the 12th event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over Austin Hill, 50 over Justin Allgaier, 74 over Cole Custer and 85 over Josh Berry.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 83 laps led

2. John Hunter Nemechek, 57 laps led

3. Cole Custer

4. Austin Hill

5. Ty Gibbs, 52 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

6. Parker Retzlaff

7. Jeb Burton

8. Carson Hocevar, one lap down

9. Brandon Jones, one lap down

10. Sammy Smith, one lap down

11. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

12. Justin Haley, one lap down

13. Chandler Smith, one lap down

14. Riley Herbst, one lap down

15. Josh Berry, one lap down

16. Kaz Grala, one lap down

17. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

18. Josh Williams, one lap down

19. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

20. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

21. Jeffrey Earnhardt, two laps down

22. Daniel Hemric, two laps down

23. Connor Mosack, two laps down

24. Ryan Sieg, two laps down, eight laps led

25. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

26. Stefan Parsons, three laps down

27. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

28. Sheldon Creed, three laps down

29. Brett Moffitt, three laps down

30. Brennan Poole, three laps down

31. Patrick Emerling, five laps down

32. Anthony Alfredo, five laps down

33. Garrett Smithley, five laps down

34. Natalie Decker, five laps down

35. Sam Mayer, seven laps down

36. Dawson Cram, seven laps down

37. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Engine

38. Parker Kligerman, 56 laps down

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is a trip back to the West Coast for the series’ second-ever event at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 3, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

May 30, 2023
Ryan Truex dominates for first NASCAR Xfinity victory at Dover

In his 188th start across NASCAR’s top three national touring series, Ryan Truex silenced his doubters and emerged triumphant for the first time after claiming his first Xfinity Series career victory in the A-GAME 200 at Dover Motor Speedway on Saturday, April 29, following a dominant run from start to finish.

The 31-year-old Truex from Mayetta, New Jersey, led seven times for a race-high 124 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final 11, and swept both stages en route to a long-awaited first career victory at the Monster Mile, his home race track. The victory occurred in Truex’s fifth start of this season in the Xfinity circuit, all in Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 “all-star” entry, and in his 89th series start overall.

With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Friday being canceled due to rain, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Parker Kligerman was awarded the pole position and was joined on the front row by Cole Custer. The only competitor to drop to the rear of the field was Timmy Hill, who did so due to unapproved adjustments to his entry.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kligerman and Custer dueled for the lead through the first turn until Custer muscled ahead on the inside lane. He then proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Kligerman and Sheldon Creed as the rest of the field jostled early through two lanes for positions.

On the fifth lap, the first caution flew when Jeremy Clements, who was running in the top 10, spun his car toward the apron between Turns 1 and 2. By then, Custer was leading by half a second over Creed while Kligerman fell back to third. Austin Hill and rookie Chandler Smith were in the top five while Jeb Burton, Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Herbst and Justin Allgaier occupied the top 10.

During the following restart on the ninth lap, Creed gained a strong start on the inside lane as he assumed the lead from Custer. Behind, teammate Hill battled and overtook Custer for the runner-up spot as Custer fell back to third. As the field behind continued to jostle for early positions, Creed started to pull away from the field with the lead.

At the Lap 15 mark, Creed was leading by a second over teammate Hill followed by Custer, Truex and Kligerman while Riley Herbst, Justin Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Chandler and Brett Moffitt Moffitt were running in the top 10.

Two laps later, Ryan Ellis spun off of Turn 2, but the race remained under green flag conditions as Ellis managed to steer his car and proceed below the apron. By Lap 19, however, the caution flew when Anthony Alfredo, who lost a brake rotor through the backstretch earlier, stalled his car up the high lane in Turn 2. Alfredo’s caution served as the competition caution initially planned for Lap 20. By then, Creed was ahead by a second over teammate Hill while Truex, Custer and Kilgerman were in the top five. In addition, Josh Berry was up in ninth, Nemechek was in 11th, Hemric was back in 14th ahead of Jeb Burton, rookie Sammy Smith was scored in 16th ahead of Sam Mayer and Derek Kraus was in 19th.

During the competition caution, select names led by Creed remained on the track while the rest of the field pitted. Following the pit stops, Allgaier was penalized for speeding on pit road.

When the race restarted on Lap 24, Creed fended off teammate Hill while restarting on the outside lane to retain the lead, though Hill kept his Richard Childress Racing teammate close within his sights. Behind and amid the on-track battles, Custer was in third while fending off Berry and Truex while Nemechek was up in sixth.

Just past the Lap 30 mark, Creed was leading by three-tenths of a second over teammate Hill, who had Truex, Custer and Berry hounding him for the runner-up spot. Behind, Nemechek retained sixth ahead of Jones, Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Clements while Chandler Smith, Hemric, Jeb Burton, Sam Mayer and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15.

Soon after, the battle for the lead between Creed and a hard-charging Truex ignited as Truex tried to assume the top spot over Creed, but the latter maintained his ground and the top spot. Behind, Nemechek carved his way up to third followed by Hill and Berry while Custer fell back to seventh behind Jones. In addition, Kligerman, who was awarded the pole, was slowly dropping below the leaderboard and out of the top 10.

Then on Lap 34, Truex, who pitted during the competition caution, assumed the lead for the first time over Creed. Another four laps later, teammate Nemechek, who also pitted during the competition caution, moved up to second as Creed fell back to third in front of teammate Hill and Berry.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Ryan Truex, who despite being mired in lapped traffic, claimed the stage victory after retaining the lead by more than three seconds over teammate Nemechek. Creed settled in third followed by Hill and Berry while Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Custer, Hemric and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Kligerman fell back to 12th and Allgaier was mired back in 18th as 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Truex pitted. Following the pit stops, Truex exited first followed by Hill, Nemechek and Allgaier, who only opted for two fresh tires to gain a bevy of spots, while Sammy Smith and Jones exited in the top six. Back on the track, however, Kyle Weatherman opted to remain on the track as he inherited the lead. Amid the pit stops, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Herbst were penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 53 as Weatherman and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Weatherman briefly jumped ahead, but Truex rocketed past him to reassume the lead in Turn 1. Hill quickly followed pursuit in second along with Nemechek while Weatherman was trying to retain fourth ahead of Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith and the rest of the field.

By Lap 60, Truex was leading by more than a second over Hill and more than three seconds over Nemechek as Allgaier navigated his way past Weatherman for fourth. Behind, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith were in sixth and seventh while Custer, Berry and Creed were scored in the top 10.

Nearly three laps later, the caution returned when Kligerman got turned by newcomer Corey Heim entering the backstretch, which sent Kligerman’s No. 48 Big Machine Racing Chevrolet Camaro spinning before he slammed the inside wall. The incident spoiled Kligerman’s opportunity of both winning the race and claiming the final Dash 4 Cash prize as he sustained significant damage to both the front and rear of his car. The incident also prompted Kligerman to express his displeasure to Heim on the track with an obscene gesture.

During the following restart on Lap 69, Truex and Hill dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Truex managed to pull ahead on the outside lane entering the frontstretch to retain the lead. As Truex fended off Hill for the lead, Nemechek battled Allgaier for third as Chandler Smith moved up to fifth in front of Custer and Sammy Smith. Meanwhile, Creed was back in eighth ahead of Berry and Mayer.

Just past the Lap 75 mark, Truex was leading by nearly two seconds over Hill followed by Nemechek and Allgaier while Custer battled and overtook Chandler Smith for fifth. By then, Creed was in seventh in front of Sammy Smith while Berry, who went up the track a few laps ago, fell back to 10th in front of Hemric.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 90, Truex, who approached and carved his way through lapped traffic, claimed his second consecutive stage victory of the day. Hill trailed in second place by more than four seconds while Nemechek, Allgaier, Custer, Chandler Smith, Creed, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Berry were scored in the top 10. By then, 27 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Truex returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Hill exited with the lead ahead of Truex and followed by Nemechek, Custer, Chandler Smith and Creed.

With 101 laps remaining, the final stage started as Hill and Truex occupied the front row. At the start, Hill fended off Truex on the outside lane to maintain the lead. Shortly after, Nemechek battled and overtook teammate Truex for second as the field fanned out and battled for positions. Then just as the field surpassed its halfway mark, the caution returned when Creed got loose amid a three-wide battle for sixth with Allgaier and Sammy Smith as he spun in the middle of the track in Turn 3. Despite the incident, Creed managed to continue without sustaining any damage to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro as the rest of the field dodged him.

During the following restart with 94 laps remaining, Hill fended off Nemechek on the outside lane to maintain the lead. Truex, however, followed pursuit in second as he then set his sights on Hill for the lead. Then with 88 laps remaining, Truex seized an opportunity as he side-drafted Hill to reassume the lead.

With 80 laps remaining, Truex was leading by more than a second over Hill as third-place Nemechek trailed by more than two seconds. Behind, Custer was in fourth ahead of Allgaier while Sammy Smith, Berry, Hemric, Jones and Mayer were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was in 11th ahead of Herbst, Jeb Burton, Kraus and Moffitt while Kaz Grala, Creed, Ryan Sieg, Weatherman and Clements were in the top 20.

Ten laps later, Truex continued to lead as he extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Hill. He then extended his advantage to more than three seconds over Hill with 60 laps remaining and more than four seconds with 50 laps remaining. By then, Allgaier was in fourth ahead of Berry and behind Nemechek.

With less than 40 laps remaining, Truex retained the lead by more than five seconds over Allgaier while Hill fell back to third, trailing by more than six seconds. Berry and Custer were in the top five while Sammy, Jones, Mayer, Creed and Hemric were in the top 10. By then, green flag pit stops commenced as Nemechek and Sammy Smith pitted. A host of names, including Truex, would pit as the laps dwindled past the final 30-lap mark.

Back on the track and with 27 laps remaining, Creed cycled into the lead followed by Herbst and select names while Truex was back in fifth and awaiting the fate of those who had yet to pit.

Then with 11 laps remaining, Creed, who was vying for his first victory and the final Dash 4 Cash prize, surrendered the lead to pit under green. Herbst would also pit, though he would eventually be penalized for speeding on pit road. Their pit stops allowed Truex to cycle his No. 19 Toyota Genuine Accessories Supra back to the lead as he was leading by more than five seconds over Berry.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex, who led by more than five seconds with five laps remaining, remained as the leader by more than four seconds over Berry. Having a clear path in front of him and with no challengers closing in, Truex managed to cycle around his home track smoothly for a final time and return to the frontstretch to claim his first elusive checkered flag in the Xfinity circuit and across NASCAR’s top three national touring series.

With the victory, Truex, whose previous best result in the series was second three times, became the 174th different competitor to win in the Xfinity circuit and the third first-time winner of this season in the series alongside teammate Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith. He became the 22nd different competitor to win an Xfinity event for Joe Gibbs Racing as he also recorded the fourth victory of the season for both the JGR organization and for the Toyota nameplate.

The victory was also redemption for Truex, who was within striking distance of winning his first Xfinity event at Dover in 2012 until his advantage was erased amid lapped traffic, which enabled Joey Logano to overtake Truex with six laps remaining as Truex ended up in a disappointing second place. Ironically, Truex’s first NASCAR career victory at Dover, his home track, occurred nearly 16 years after his brother and former Cup Series champion, Martin Truex Jr., recorded his first Cup career victory at the Monster Mile.

“I’m out of breath, man,” Truex said on FS1. “Oh my god. Just so thankful. All these fans, my team, everybody that stuck behind me. Most people didn’t believe in me and I still did. Just so thankful to be here. This is amazing. [With] Twenty [laps] to go, I was just waiting for something to happen and I was just praying, ‘Please, guys. Just keep everything straight. Let’s get to the end of this. What a car. What an amazing GR Supra. I’m speechless. I thought I’d be more emotional right now but when I crossed the flag [finish line], I couldn’t even talk on the radio. I’m not an emotional guy. This is for everyone that doubted me.”

“I belong here,” Truex added. “I just proved that. I’ve known it for a while. People around me have known it for a while. Now, everybody in this garage area knows it. My goal is to drive one of these cars full-time next year. Hopefully, we can make it happen.”

Berry finished in second place followed by teammate Allgaier while Hill and Nemechek completed the top five. Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Custer, Brandon Jones and Hemric finished in the top 10.

With today’s Xfinity event serving as the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash event of the 2023 season, the final $100,000 prize from the initiative went to Custer, who claimed the prize for a second consecutive week after finishing eighth.

There were 11 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 32 laps. Only 10 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the 10th event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by four points over John Hunter Nemechek, 38 over Chandler Smith, 43 over Josh Berry and 49 over Justin Allgaier.

Results.

1. Ryan Truex, 124 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Josh Berry

3. Justin Allgaier

4. Austin Hill, 18 laps led

5. John Hunter Nemechek

6. Sammy Smith

7. Cole Custer, 13 laps led

8. Brandon Jones

9. Sam Mayer

10. Daniel Hemric

11. Sheldon Creed, one lap down, 41 laps led

12. Kaz Grala, one lap down

13. Chandler Smith, one lap down

14. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down, four laps led

15. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

16. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

17. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

18. Jeb Burton, two laps down

19. Jeremy Clements, two laps down

20. Derek Kraus, two laps down

21. Riley Herbst, two laps down

22. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

23. Josh Williams, two laps down

24. Brennan Poole, three laps down

25. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

26. Rajah Caruth, four laps down

27. Gray Gaulding, four laps down

28. Stefan Parsons, four laps down

29. Kyle Sieg, five laps down

30. Timmy Hill, five laps down

31. Garrett Smithley, five laps down

32. Chad Chastain, seven laps down

33. Patrick Emerling, eight laps down

34. CJ McLaughlin, eight laps down

35. Corey Heim – OUT, Engine

36. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Brakes

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine

38. Parker Kligerman – OUT, Accident

With the 2023 Dash 4 Cash initiative concluded, the next regular-season event on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits to Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The event is scheduled to occur on May 13 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 29, 2023
Jeb Burton upsets the competition with thrilling Xfinity victory at Talladega

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

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

2. Sheldon Creed, 11 laps led

3. Parker Kligerman

4. Cole Custer

5. Brennan Poole, two laps led

6. Caesar Bacarella

7. Parker Retzlaff, two laps led

8. Gray Gaulding

9. Joey Gase

10. Josh Williams

11. Ryan Ellis

12. Brett Moffitt, 20 laps led

13. CJ McLaughlin

14. Brandon Jones

15. Kyle Sieg

16. Garrett Smithley

17. Ryan Truex, nine laps led

18. Austin Hill, 14 laps led

19. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

20. Joe Graf Jr., eight laps down

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

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

23. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

24. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

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

26. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

27. Derek Kraus – OUT, DVP

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

29. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

30. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

31. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Transmission

32. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident

33. Sammy Smith – OUT, Accident

34. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

35. Dexter Stacey – OUT, Accident

36. Jade Buford – OUT, Accident

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

38. Parker Chase – OUT, DVP

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

April 22, 2023
John Hunter Nemechek clocks in for dominant Xfinity victory at Martinsville

Two weeks after having a victory at Richmond Raceway slip out of his grasp in the late stages, John Hunter Nemechek doubled down with resilience and rose to the occasion after scoring a dominant victory in the Call811.com Before You Dig. 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 15.

The 25-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led three times for a race-high 198 of 250-scheduled laps, including the final 33, as he also capitalized on the final restart with 18 laps remaining to beat teammate Sammy Smith and Cole Custer by more than a second to claim his second checkered flag of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season in an event where he swept both stages. As an added bonus, Nemechek claimed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus with his victory at the Paperclip-shaped short track.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Cole Custer notched his second Xfinity pole of the season after posting a pole-winning lap at 94.411 mph in 20.057 seconds. Joining him on the front row was John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.331 mph in 20.074 seconds.

Prior to the event, names that included Sheldon Creed, Jeremy Clements, Kaden Honeycutt, Anthony Alfredo and Alex Labbe dropped to the rear due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Custer launched ahead with a strong jump on the inside lane as he cleared Nemechek and assumed the lead for a full circuit, where he proceeded to lead the first lap. Behind, the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes as rookie Parker Retzlaff, who qualified fourth, was getting shuffled out of the racing groove while rookie Sammy Smith and Samy Mayer moved up and battled for third in front of Riley Herbst and Josh Berry.

Three laps later, Nemechek launched his bid for the lead as he drew his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra beneath Custer’s No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang through Turns 1 and 2. After dueling with Custer amid a tight side-by-side battle during the following lap, Nemechek became the new leader of the event on the sixth lap after clearing Custer in Turns 3 and 4 while Sammy Smith trailed behind in close distance.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by more than half a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst while Berry, rookie Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Behind, Austin Hill was in 11th over Brandon Jones, Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Derek Kraus in the top 15 while Ryan Truex, Connor Mosack, Parker Kligerman, Kaz Grala and Josh Williams occupied the top 20.

Fifteen laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by half a second over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than a second. With Herbst and Mayer remaining in the top five, Berry also remained in sixth followed by Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Hemric and Retzlaff.

Another 11 laps later, the first caution of the event flew when Moffitt got loose while battling Austin Hill through Turns 3 and 4 as he spun without getting hit by the oncoming field. By then, Nemechek and Custer had reignited their early battle for the lead amid lapped traffic while 30 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. During the caution period, some like Josh Berry, Hill, Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Dawson Cram, Kaden Honeycutt, Gray Gaulding and Anthony Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

During the following restart on Lap 43, Nemechek retained the lead and pulled ahead of Custer after receiving a bump and shove from teammate Sammy Smith on the inside lane amid a stacked-up restart. With Nemechek out in front, teammate Sammy Smith battled and fended off Custer to assume second while the field behind jostled amid tight-quarter lanes for positions.

At the Lap 50 mark, Nemechek was leading by half a second over teammate Sammy Smith while third-place Custer trailed by more than a second along with Mayer and Herbst.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 60, Nemechek captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season after fending off teammate Sammy Smith by more than six-tenths of a second. Custer trailed the two Joe Gibbs Racing competitors in third while Mayer, Herbst, Allgaier, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Retzlaff and Brandon Jones were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Nemechek pitted while others led by Hill and Berry, both of whom pitted on Lap 39, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited pit road first followed by Sammy Smith, Hemric, Chandler Smith and Herbst.

The second stage started on Lap 71 as Hill and Berry occupied the front row followed by Dawson Cram and Jeb Burton. At the start, Hill rocketed with the lead on the inside lane followed by Berry as the field fanned out and stacked up through the turns and the straightaways. With Berry trying to close back towards Hill’s rear bumper for the lead, Nemechek shoved his way up to fourth on fresh tires behind Jeb Burton while Cram was shuffled out and falling below the leaderboard. In the process, Hemric carved his way up into the top five while Sammy Smith was mired in sixth as he battled Custer to retain the spot.

Three laps later, Berry moved his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro into the lead as the front-runners settled in a single-file line. This kept Nemechek in fourth behind Jeb Burton while Hemric was in fifth ahead of Custer and Sammy Smith. By Lap 78, however, Nemechek navigated his way into second as Hemric and Custer joined the battle while Berry continued to lead.

Nearing the Lap 85 mark, the second caution of the event flew when smoke billowed out of the No. 74 entry piloted by Kaden Honeycutt exiting the frontstretch and entering Turn 1, with the driver proceeding to park his car towards the outside wall in Turn 1 as he became the first retiree of the event. During the pit stops, names that included Moffitt, Parker Kligerman, Josh Williams, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole pitted while the rest led by Nemechek opted to remain on the track.

Following an extensive caution period amid Honeycutt’s mechanical issue, the race restarted on Lap 100. At the start, Berry and Nemechek dueled for the lead entering Turn 1 before the former managed to pull ahead of the latter. Then entering Turn 3, Sammy Smith vaulted his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra past Nemechek as he challenged Berry for the lead on the outside lane, which he succeeded. During the following lap, Berry made contact with Smith in Turn 1, but Smith returned the favor entering Turn 3 as he bumped and moved Berry out of his path, which moved Smith back into the lead after Berry got loose and slipped up. In the process, teammate Nemechek moved into second while Berry fell back to third in front of Custer and Hemric. Meanwhile, Hill, who was stuck on the outside lane, was also locked in a side-by-side battle with Brandon Jones for sixth.

Not long after, a side-by-side battle for the lead ignited between teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith as Nemechek, who drew himself beneath Smith, peeked ahead to lead Lap 107. Nemechek then managed to pull ahead of Smith and assume full control of both lanes with the top spot while Berry tried to close in on Smith for second.

Just past the Lap 110 mark, Berry and Sammy Smith were locked in a tight side-by-side battle for second in front of Custer through every corner and straightaway. This, however, allowed Nemechek to pull away by nearly a second with the lead.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Nemechek, who extended his advantage to more than two seconds, claimed the second stage victory of the night and the third of this season. Berry muscled his way into second followed by Custer, Sammy Smith and Hemric while Brandon Jones, Ryan Truex, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Derek Kraus were scored in the top 10. By then, 32 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

Under the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Nemechek pitted while Brennan Poole remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Nemechek exited first followed by teammate Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones, Custer, Berry and Hemric.

With 119 laps remaining, the final stage started as teammates Nemechek and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Nemechek, who restarted on the outside lane, rocketed ahead with a strong start entering Turn 1 while Sammy Smith, who restarted on the inside lane, engaged in a side-by-side duel with Custer, who battled Smith hard on the outside lane, for second. In the process, JR Motorsports’ Brandon Jones and Berry battled for fourth in front of Kaulig Racing’s Hemric and Chandler Smith. It would only take three laps, however, for the caution to return when Joe Graf Jr. and Ryan Ellis made contact and wrecked up against the Turn 1 outside wall. During the caution period, Berry, who initially reported his spoiler was delaminated pitted as his pit crew later determined he had a right-front tire going down.

During the following restart with 108 laps remaining, Nemechek, who restarted on the inside lane on this occasion, muscled away from teammate Sammy Smith with the lead while Custer drew himself alongside Sammy Smith in his bid for second. It would only take one lap for the caution to return for a multi-car wreck that erupted on the backstretch that involved Dawson Cram, Ryan Ellis, Alex Labbe and Kyle Sieg.

At the start of the following restart with 95 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead on the inside lane while Sammy Smith and Custer reignited their side-by-side battle for second in front of Hemric and Brandon Jones. Following a heated side-by-side battle for second for two laps, Custer made contact with Smith and moved him up the track as he managed to peek ahead and grab second place. Sammy Smith, however, came under attack from Hemric and Herbst for third while Nemechek was pulling away with the lead. Then as Hemric battled and cleared Sammy Smith for third place with Herbst joining the battle, the caution returned with 89 laps remaining when Josh Williams spun between Turns 1 and 2 after cutting a right-rear tire.

During the following restart with 82 laps remaining, Nemechek pulled ahead of Custer on the inside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns. In the process, Custer, who restarted on the outside lane, fended off Hemric for second while Sammy Smith trailed in fourth in front of Chandler Smith and Herbst.

With less than 75 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Hemric and Herbst while Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones, Kraus, Jeb Burton and Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Creed, Retzlaff, Ryan Truex, Grala and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15 while Berry and Hill were mired back in 17th and 19th.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Nemechek continued to lead by a second over Custer while Sammy Smith Hemric and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five. By then, Creed cracked the top 10 in 10th, Berry moved his way up in 12th and Hill had fallen back to 20th.

Ten laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Custer while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than two seconds.

Then with 42 laps remaining, the caution flew when Jeremy Clements, who nearly made contact with the wall a few laps earlier, slapped the outside wall between Turns 1 and 2. By then, Nemechek retained the lead by a second over Custer despite encountering lapped traffic while Berry had worked his way up to eighth, though he had no fresh sets of tires for another pit stop for the remainder of the event. During the pit stops, the leaders led by Nemechek pitted and Nemechek retained the lead after exiting first followed by Custer, Hemric, Sammy Smith and Berry, who pitted for scuffed tires. Back on the track, however, a handful of competitors led by Patrick Emerling and Allgaier, who was also out of fresh tires, remained on the track. While Emerling would eventually surrender the lead to pit, Allgaier remained on the track alongside Labbe while Nemechek lined up in third place and as the first competitor on fresh tires.

During the following restart with 33 laps remaining, Allgaier, Nemechek and Custer launched ahead on the inside lane while Labbe, who restarted on the front row and on the outside lane, struggled to launch ahead of Hemric on old tires as the field stacked up. With the field fanning out to three lanes amid a stacked-up restart, Nemechek dueled and overtook Allgaier during the following lap. Sammy Smith quickly followed suit in second while Custer battled Allgaier for third. Then as Sammy Smith tried to close in on teammate Nemechek for the lead, the caution returned with 29 laps remaining when Ryan Truex turned and sent Mayer into Herbst as the latter two spun. While Herbst backed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the Turn 1 outside wall, Mayer came back down the track and collided with Jeb Burton as he emerged with extensive nose damage. The incident prompted Mayer to display an obscene gesture to Truex after emerging from his wrecked car.

Following an extensive caution period for the wreckage to be cleared, the race restarted with 18 laps remaining. At the start, Nemechek, who restarted alongside Custer on the front row, rocketed away with the lead as teammate Sammy Smith quickly vaulted himself into second. Behind, Custer battled and fended off Allgaier for third with Berry joining the battle.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek was leading by six-tenths of a second over Custer, who overtook Sammy Smith for the runner-up spot four laps earlier, while Berry moved his way up to fourth. Meanwhile, Allgaier settled in fifth as he was locked in a battle with teammate Brandon Jones for the spot while Creed, Hemric, Kraus and Moffitt were mired back in the top 10.

With five laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Custer, who continued to try and close in for his bid for the victory while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by a second. By then, fourth-place Berry trailed by two seconds while Brandon Jones was in fifth ahead of Allgaier and Hemric.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by nearly a second over Custer as Sammy Smith tried to close in on Custer for second. Amid the battles within the field, Nemechek was able to cycle his way around the Paperclip-shaped circuit for a final time and claim the checkered flag for his second victory of the season just as the caution flew when Sheldon Creed wrecked on the backstretch while vying for a top-15 finish.

With the victory, Nemechek, who delivered the third victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing, claimed his fourth career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, his first since winning at Auto Club Speedway in February and his second national touring series win at Martinsville after winning the Truck Martinsville race in 2018. He also became the second multi-race winner of this year’s Xfinity season as he pocketed the second Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000, which was also his first in the series, to go along with the race-winning grandfather clock trophy.

“I’m just grateful for [sponsor] Pye Barker Fire & Safety,” Nemechek, whose car caught on fire while performing his victorious burnout across the frontstretch wall, said on FS1. “Martinsville Speedway, actually, uses Pye Barker Fire & Safety fire extinguishers. Thank you to them for all the safety equipment, for that amazing burnout that caught on fire. I can’t say enough about this whole team. If you would’ve asked me yesterday if we would’ve won, I thought we were a 10th-place car in practice, didn’t think we were very good. Just grateful that the guys made the right adjustments and gave me a Pye Barker Toyota GR Supra as fast as Xfinity 10G. Let’s celebrate. We’ll go celebrate with [family]. [Wife] Taylor, we got another grandfather clock to bring home.”

Behind, Sammy Smith pulled a bump-and-run move on Custer on the final turn to claim second place as Custer fell back to third. Berry navigated his way through the scuffed tires to finish fourth while Brandon Jones claimed his first top-five finish of the season by finishing fifth. The top-four finishers that include Nemechek, Sammy Smith, Custer and Berry will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

“[I] Just a little bit more drive off,” Smith said. “Congrats to [Nemechek]. They were the best car all night. We just needed a couple more adjustments to get our Pilot Flying J Toyota GR Supra in Victory Lane, but close. We’ll get’em next week.”

Like Berry, teammate Allgaier navigated his way through worn tires to finish sixth while Hemric, Kraus, Moffitt and Chandler Smith finished in the top 10.

There were seven lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 10 cautions for 82 laps. In total, 27 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the eighth event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, John Hunter Nemechek leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Austin Hill, 34 over Chandler Smith, 38 over Riley Herbst and 43 over Josh Berry.

Results.

1. John Hunter Nemechek, 198 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

2. Sammy Smith, six laps led

3. Cole Custer, five laps led

4. Josh Berry, 27 laps led

5. Brandon Jones

6. Justin Allgaier, six laps led

7. Daniel Hemric

8. Derek Kraus

9. Brett Moffitt

10. Chandler Smith

11. Parker Retzlaff

12. Ryan Truex

13. Blaine Perkins

14. Jeb Burton

15. Kaz Grala

16. Austin Hill, eight laps led

17. Parker Kligerman

18. Ryan Sieg

19. Josh Williams

20. Jeffrey Earnhardt

21. Patrick Emerling

22. Matt Mills

23. Gray Gaulding

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Leland Honeyman

26. Alex Labbe

27. Sheldon Creed

28. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

29. Brennan Poole, four laps down

30. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

31. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

32. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident

33. Connor Mosack, 45 laps down

34. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Suspension

35. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident

36. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident

37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

38. Kaden Honeycutt – OUT, Engine

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ lone visit of the season to Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, which will serve as the site of the third Dash 4 Cash event of this season. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 22, at 4 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 15, 2023
Austin Hill survives wild finish for second consecutive Xfinity victory at Atlanta

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Results.

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

2. Daniel Hemric

3. Ryan Truex

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

5. Riley Herbst, 11 laps led

6. Brett Moffitt

7. Josh Berry

8. John Hunter Nemechek, 10 laps led

9. Sam Mayer

10. Justin Haley, five laps led

11. Ryan Sieg

12. Cole Custer

13. Brennan Poole

14. Anthony Alfredo, 18 laps led

15. Jeremy Clements

16. Jeb Burton

17. Sammy Smith

18. Patrick Emerling

19. Brandon Jones, 10 laps led

20. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

21. Sheldon Creed

22. Blaine Perkins

23. Ryan Ellis

24. Chad Chastain

25. Joe Graf Jr.

26. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

27. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

28. Chandler Smith – OUT, Rear Gear

29. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

30. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

31. Sage Karam – OUT, Radiator

32. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

34. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Accident

37. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

38. Caesar Bacarella – OUT, Accident

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

March 19, 2023
Austin Hill scores dramatic Xfinity Series victory at Las Vegas

From trailing rookie Chandler Smith by nearly three seconds with 25 laps remaining to narrowing the deficit and overtaking him prior to the final lap, Austin Hill cashed in with his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the season in the Alsco Uniforms 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 4.

The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led three times for 19 of 200-scheduled laps, including the final two, as he overtook Smith for the lead prior to the final lap. Smith, who led a race-high 118 laps but had an advantage of nearly three seconds erased in the closing laps, was then overtaken by Justin Allgaier for the runner-up spot as Allgaier, who had been penalized earlier for a restart violation, tried to steal the victory away on the final lap. Time, however, fell in the favor of Hill as he held off a hard-charging Allgaier to steal the spotlight with his second victory through the series’ first three events of the season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, rookie Chandler Smith notched his first Xfinity career pole after posting a pole-winning lap at 183.119 mph in 29.489 seconds. Joining him on the front row was veteran Justin Allgaier, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 182.778 mph in 29.544 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Cole Custer, Sheldon Creed, Gray Gaulding, Josh Berry, Brandon Jones and Kyle Busch dropped to the rear of the field in backup cars. Brennan Poole, Ryan Ellis, Alex Labbe and Garrett Smithley also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars along with Patrick Emerling, who replaced CJ McLaughlin in the No. 53 Emerling-Gas Motorsports entry.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Chandler Smith peeked ahead with the lead on the outside lane followed by Brett Moffitt while John Hunter Nemechek and Austin Hill fanned out entering the first turn. With a three-wide action occurring through the first two turns between Nemechek, Hill and Parker Kligerman for spots in the top five, Smith cleared the field to assume the lead followed by a side-by-side battle for the runner-up spot involving Justin Allgaier and Brett Moffitt.

As the field returned to the frontstretch, Chandler Smith led the first lap ahead of Moffitt and Allgaier while the field behind continued to fan out and jostle for positions early. Then during the following lap, the first caution flew when Kligerman, who was locked in a battle with Daniel Hemric for fifth place, got loose and slightly tapped by Nemechek as he spun in Turn 2, though he did not make any contact to his No. 48 Big Machine Racing entry as he pitted for fresh tires.

When the race restarted under green on the sixth lap, Chandler Smith and Allgaier dueled for the lead for nearly a lap until Smith managed to pull ahead on the outside lane to retain the lead. As the field behind fanned out, Austin Hill made his way into third place followed by Nemechek, Brett Moffitt and Daniel Hemric.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Hill and Hemric while rookie Sammy Smith, Herbst, Sam Mayer, Berry and Moffitt were running in the top 10. Tyler Reddick was in 11th ahead of Rajah Caruth, Anthony Alfredo, Kyle Sieg and Jeb Burton while Kyle Busch methodically worked his way up to 16th from the rear of the field.

Three laps later, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 Brandt Chevrolet Camaro past Chandler Smith for the lead as Nemechek started to gain ground on the two leaders. Another four laps later, Nemechek assumed the runner-up spot over Smith while Hill and Hemric remained in the top five. It would not be until Lap 22, however, when Nemechek cycled his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra into the lead over Allgaier.

Through the first 30 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Hill, Hemric and Chandler Smith while Herbst, Sammy Smith, Berry, Mayer and Kyle Busch were battling in the top 10. Behind, Moffitt was in 11th ahead of Creed, Reddick, Jeb Burton and Kligerman while Brandon Jones, Alfredo, Custer, Ryan Sieg and Kyle Sieg occupied the top 20.

When the first stage concluded on Lap 45, Nemechek, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Auto Club Speedway, captured his first stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Allgaier trailed in the runner-up spot by more than a second while Hill, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Hemric, Kyle Busch, Sammy Smith, Creed and Berry were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the field led by Nemechek pitted for service and Hill was the first competitor to exit pit road first followed by Nemechek, Allgaier, Busch, Hemric and Chandler Smith. During the pit stops, Alex Labbe was penalized after a tire rolled out of his pit stall and toward the track. Josh Bilicki was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage started on Lap 53 as Hill and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Nemechek dueled for the lead as the field behind fanned and jostled for spots. Entering the backstretch, Nemechek cleared Hill for the lead while Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch and Allgaier engaged in a three-wide battle for third place. A few laps later, Allgaier launched a bid for the lead to the outside of Nemechek, but Nemechek managed to pull ahead on the inside lane as Chandler Smith and Hill joined the battle. The battle for spots towards the top five proceeded as Sammy Smith and Kyle Busch crept into the picture at the front while Allgaier managed to pull ahead in front of Chandler Smith and Hill for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles, Nemechek checked out with a decent advantage while Hill and Kyle Busch duked for fourth place in front of Sammy Smith.

Through the first 60 scheduled laps, Nemechek was leading by two-tenths of a second over Allgaier, who had Chandler Smith closing in for the spot, while Kyle Busch and Sammy Smith were in the top five. Meanwhile, Hill fell back to sixth ahead of Mayer, Herbst, Hemric and Kligerman while Brandon Jones, Creed, Berry, Custer and Moffitt were mired in the top 15.

Ten laps later, Nemechek continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over the new runner-up competitor Chandler Smith, who overtook Allgaier for the spot nearly 10 laps earlier, while Allgaier, Kyle Busch and Mayer were running in the top five. In the midst of the battles, Hill was back in sixth ahead of Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Brandon Jones and Herbst while Hemric was back in 11th.

Then after Chandler Smith reassumed the lead on Lap 72 followed by Allgaier, the caution flew a lap later when Josh Berry, who was battling Herbst for 10th place, got loose entering Turn 4 and spun his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Camaro across the grass without sustaining any damage. By then, Nemechek had fallen back to third in front of his former boss Kyle Busch. During the caution period, Berry pitted along with Nemechek, who radioed a possible vibration and loose wheel throughout the second stage, while the rest led by Chandler Smith on the track.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 78, Chandler Smith and Allgaier battled for the lead for nearly a lap until Allgaier managed to pull ahead on the inside lane to take over the lead. In the midst of the battles, Hill was in third place followed by Kyle Busch while Brandon Jones emerged in the top five in fifth over Sammy Smith.

Five laps later, however, Allgaier surrendered the lead and was forced to serve a pass-through penalty down pit road after being assessed a restart violation for diving his car below the inside line prior to the start/finish line. With Allgaier plummeting to 26th place and as the last competitor on the lead lap, Chandler Smith reassumed the lead followed by Hill and Kyle Busch while Brandon Jones and Sammy Smith were in the top five. Then with four laps remaining in the second stage, Hill overtook Chandler Smith for the lead as Kyle Busch and Jones closed in on the two leaders.

With two laps remaining in the second stage, the caution flew when Rajah Caruth spun towards the apron in Turn 2. Caruth’s spin was enough for the second stage scheduled on Lap 90 to conclude under caution as Hill captured his second stage victory of the 2023 Xfinity season. Brandon Jones settled in second in front of a hard-charging Kyle Busch while Mayer, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Herbst, Custer, Moffitt and Creed were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the leaders led by Hill returned to pit road for service and Hill retained the lead after exiting pit road first. Kyle Busch exited second followed by Berry, who only opted for fuel for his service, while Herbst, Brandon Jones and Chandler Smith exited in fourth through sixth, respectively. Following the pit stops, Ryan Sieg and Jeremy Clements were penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 103 laps remaining, the final stage started under green as Hill and Kyle Busch occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Busch duked for the lead through the first two turns as the field behind fanned out. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Busch peaked ahead with the lead and started to maintain control of the field in his No. 10 LA Golf Chevrolet Camaro while teammate Chandler Smith battled Hill for second place.

With the event surpassing its halfway mark, Busch maintained a slight advantage over teammate Chandler Smith, with the latter launching his own challenge for the lead before reassuming it on Lap 102. Meanwhile, Hill fell back to third in front of Brandon Jones and Herbst while Berry was back in sixth over teammate Mayer, Sammy Smith, Custer and Hemric. By then, Allgaier was in 12th while Nemechek was in 15th.

Down to the final 90 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by nine-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch and a second-and-a-half over Hill while Bery and Mayer were in the top five. By then, Brandon Jones was in sixth ahead of Herbst and a hard-charging Allgaier while Sammy Smith and Hemric occupied the top 10. By then, Custer was back in 11th over Creed, Nemechek, Kligerman and Tyler Reddick while Moffitt, Kaz Grala, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton and Joe Graf Jr. were mired in the top 20.

Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith continued to lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Kyle Busch, who slowly began to decrease his deficit to his Kaulig Racing teammate, while Hill remained in third place and trailed by more than a second. Meanwhile, Allgaier charged his way back to fifth place following his restart violation penalty in the second stage as he tried to navigate his way around teammate Mayer for fourth place. Then with 69 laps remaining, Hill navigated his way around Busch for the runner-up spot as Allgaier started to close in on Busch for third place.

With nearly 60 laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead by more than a second over the new runner-up competitor Allgaier while Hill, Mayer and Kyle Busch were scored in the top five. By then, Nemechek carved his way back to eighth behind Herbst and Berry while Hemric had fallen to 14th in between Custer and Moffitt.

Not long after, pit stops under green ensued as Kyle Busch pitted. Chandler Smith would pit his No. 16 Quick Tie Chevrolet Camaro a lap later along with Allgaier, Hill, Mayer and others. During the pit stops, Sammy Smith slid his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra sideways below the apron while trying to enter pit road. During his spin, he managed to come to a stop sideways in front of Josh Williams’ pit stall and avoid hitting Mayer, who was completing his service, as the race remained under green flag conditions. Amid his spin, Sammy Smith was penalized for speeding on pit road. Brandon Jones was also assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road, but his situation went from bad to worse when he received another speeding penalty when he sped while serving his first penalty.

With less than 55 laps remaining and with the series of green flag pit stops completed, Chandler Smith, who lost the lead to Hill following his pit stop under green before navigating his way back around Hill, cycled his way back to the lead followed by Hill, Kyle Busch, Allgaier and Mayer.

Under the final 40 laps of the event, Chandler Smith was leading by more than two seconds over Hill followed by Allgaier, who navigated his way around Kyle Busch for third place, while Mayer settled in fifth. By then, Berry occupied sixth in front of Herbst, Nemechek, Creed and Hemric while 13 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap. Following his pair of pit road speeding penalties, Brandon Jones was relegated back to 28th.

With 25 laps remaining, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to nearly three seconds over Hill while Allgaier trailed by nearly four seconds in third place. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in fourth place, trailing by more than six seconds, while Mayer was back in fifth place and trailing by nearly 10 seconds.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Chandler Smith, who was mired behind lapped competitors a few laps earlier and had led by more than two seconds, continued to lead by over a second Hill despite being reported to save fuel. Hill remained in second followed by Allgaier, who closed in on Hill for the runner-up spot.

With five laps remaining, Chandler Smith retained the lead, but only by nearly half a second as Hill continued to cut Smith’s advantage in his final bid for the lead and the win. Then with two laps remaining, Hill, who managed to close the gap and get close to the rear bumper of Smith’s car through the first two turns and through the backstretch, made his move beneath Smith’s No. 16 entry as he assumed the lead entering the frontstretch.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill was out in front ahead of Smith as Allgaier drew himself alongside Smith for the runner-up spot. Through the backstretch, Allgaier overtook Smith as Hill remained as the leader. As Allgaier tried to close in to Hill’s rear bumper, Hill managed to methodically navigate his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro through the final two turns out in front and beat Allgaier by two-tenths of a second to steal the show and grab the victory.

With the victory, Hill, who won the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in February, notched his fourth career win in the Xfinity Series, his first in the series at Las Vegas and the 90th Xfinity victory overall for Richard Childress Racing.

“[While I was] Passing one of the lapped cars early in our run, when [Chandler Smith] got by me [after a restart on Lap 98], I got really, really loose on entry to [Turn] 3,” Hill said on FS1. “I thought I was gonna wreck it, saved it. [Smith] got really far out. I just knew I had to not abuse the tires and try to methodically just work my way through traffic. The track was really tough today. Had a really thin line between [Turns] 3 and 4. If you missed it by—it seemed like a half of an inch—you paid for it through the whole lap. That’s just really what I stuck to all race long, was just trying to be disciplined through 3 and 4…I saw [Smith] struggling in traffic and my spotter Derek [Kneeland] was like, ‘Come on, baby. You can get it!’ I saw him get tight off of [Turn] 4 there, and I knew I painted the line perfectly. I knew if I could clear him down the frontstretch, I felt like once we had clean air, we could hold him off. We still got some things to work on, but it feels good to win on a mile and a half, not just these superspeedways.”

As Hill celebrated the victory, Chandler Smith was left disappointed over falling short of his first Xfinity Series victory. The 20-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, however, remained optimistic over his third-place finish and a strong run in his third career start with Kaulig Racing.

“Overall, I got a little tight there at the very end,” Smith said. “It is what it is. That’s a tough pill to swallow. There’s some things I could’ve done inside before we started getting tight. All in all, I can’t be too disappointed. It’s my sixth [Xfinity] start, third start with Kaulig Racing. We had a really fast Quick Tie Products Camaro, and I just really appreciate [owner] Matt Kaulig, [team president] Chris Rice, everybody at Kaulig Racing for bringing me on board, believing in me. We’re going to win a few races this year, for sure.”

Allgaier settled in second place while Kyle Busch, who was aiming for a triple weekend sweep at his home track, ended up in fourth place in his first start with Kaulig Racing and in his first of five Xfinity starts of the 2023 season. Berry rallied to finish fifth while Nemechek, Mayer, Herbst, Creed and Hemric completed the top 10.

There were 14 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 22 laps. Only 12 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the third event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 21 points over Justin Allgaier, 24 over John Hunter Nemechek, 34 over Chandler Smith and 44 over Riley Herbst.

Results.

1. Austin Hill, 19 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps led

3. Chandler Smith, 118 laps led

4. Kyle Busch, four laps led

5. Josh Berry, two laps led

6. John Hunter Nemechek, 45 laps led, Stage 1 winner

7. Sam Mayer, one lap led

8. Riley Herbst

9. Sheldon Creed

10. Daniel Hemric

11. Parker Kligerman

12. Cole Custer

13. Tyler Reddick, one lap down

14. Jeb Burton, one lap down

15. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

16. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

17. Sammy Smith, one lap down

18. Alex Labbe, one lap down

19. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down, one lap led

20. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

21. Brandon Jones, two laps down

22. Brett Moffitt, two laps down

23. Kaz Grala, two laps down

24. Ryan Sieg, three laps down

25. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

26. Rajah Caruth, three laps down

27. Ryan Ellis, three laps down

28. Bayley Currey, three laps down

29. Jeffrey Earnhardt, three laps down

30. Josh Williams, three laps down

31. Josh Bilicki, four laps down

32. Gray Gaulding, four laps down

33. Brennan Poole, four laps down

34. Patrick Emerling, six laps down

35. Blaine Perkins, eight laps down

36. Garrett Smithley, 13 laps down

37. Parker Retzlaff, 14 laps down

38. Joey Gase – OUT, Fuel Pump

Next on the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the series’ third and final stretch of a three-week West Coast swing. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 11, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 4, 2023
Austin Hill survives dramatic finish for second Xfinity win at Daytona

From starting at the rear of the field to claiming the lead at the moment of caution, Austin Hill commenced a new season of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition on a thrilling note by winning the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, February 18.

The 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led four times for a race-high 39 of 125 over-scheduled laps in a season opener that started off on a rough note, when Hill was forced to surrender his pole-winning spot to resolve radio issues to his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro. Starting at the rear of the field, he managed to methodically carve his way to the front and claim the first stage victory. He then spent the majority of the event running within the lead pack and managed to withstand the field during an overtime attempt to emerge victorious under caution amid a multi-car wreck on the final lap and win the opener at Daytona for a second consecutive season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Austin Hill, the reigning Xfinity rookie of the year and the reigning Daytona opener winner, started on pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 182.563 mph in 49.298 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Parker Kligerman, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 182.441 mph in 49.331 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Blaine Perkins, Gray Gaulding, Kyle Sieg and Joey Gase dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Ryan Ellis also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change while Stefan Parsons also fell back to the rear after replacing an ill Caesar Bacarella in the No. 45 Alpha Prime Racing entry. Jeb Burton would also start at the rear of the field after making a pit stop to replace a battery to his No. 27 Jordan Anderson Racing entry.

Then, just as the start of the event was approaching, Hill peeled off the track and pitted after dealing with radio issues to his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry. With Hill having to drop to the rear of the field, this allowed the third-place starter Cole Custer to start alongside Kligerman on the front row.

When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Kligerman, the new full-time driver of Big Machine Racing’s No. 48 entry, shot out with an early advantage on the outside lane by Sheldon Creed through the first two turns. Kligerman continued to lead through the backstretch until Custer fought back on the inside lane followed by Justin Allgaier and John Hunter Nemechek. Maintaining both lanes to his control, Custer proceeded to lead the first lap in his No. 00 Has Ford Mustang before Allgaier launched his bid for the lead on the inside lane. Through the backstretch, Allgaier was able to break away from the pack and move up the outside lane with drafting help from Nemechek as he went on to lead the second lap followed by Nemechek and Riley Herbst while Brandon Jones served as the lead competitor on the inside lane.

Through the first five scheduled laps and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes, Allgaier was leading by a hair over Nemechek followed by Brandon Jones, Herbst and Daniel Hemric while Custer, Kligerman, Justin Haley, Sam Mayer and Creed were in the top 10. By then, rookie Chandler Smith was in 11th followed by Anthony Alfredo, Hill, Jade Buford and Josh Berry while Jeb Burton, Sammy Smith, Ryan Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Myatt Snider were running inside the top 20.

Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew when smoke billowed out of the No. 4 JD Motorsports entry piloted by Bayley Currey past the frontstretch. During the caution period, a multitude of names that included Herbst, Custer, Mayer, Berry, Burton, Snider, Parker Retzlaff, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole, Kyle Sieg, Kaz Grala, Ryan Ellis and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by new leader Nemechek remained on the track.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 11, Nemechek received a push from Kligerman to shoot to an early lead until Allgaier fought back on the inside lane through the first two lanes and the backstretch. As the field fanned out to three lanes, Nemechek and Allgaier continued to duel for the lead in front of Haley and Hill.

By Lap 15, Nemechek and Allgaier remained dead even in a tight battle for the lead and in front of a tight pack of cars, with Nemechek running the outside lane in front of Hemric while Allgaier remained on the inside lane in front of Haley.

At the Lap 20 mark, the caution returned when Mayer made contact with Blaine Perkins by turning Perkins into Hemric as Perkins proceeded to spin and hit the inside wall towards the pit wall entrance while Hemric limped his No. 11 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road with extensive right-front damage. The incident on the frontstretch was one that ended Hemric and Perkin’s run early. During the caution period, a multitude of names that included Buford, Creed, Kligerman, Moffitt, Custer, Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Clements, Grala, Brandon Jones, Mayer, Snider and Retzlaff pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

With the event restarting under green on Lap 25, Allgaier and Haley dueled for the lead until Haley was drafted into the lead on the outside lane following a push from Hill. During the following lap, Hill made his move beneath Haley to contend for the lead as he received drafting help from Allgaier on the inside lane. He would then prevail entering the frontstretch and proceed to fend off challenges coming through both lanes.

Then on the final lap of the first stage, Chandler Smith launched a final corner attack to Hill’s outside as the field jostled and scrambled for positions towards the front. Hill, however, was able to pull ahead on the inside lane through the frontstretch as he claimed the first stage victory on Lap 30. Smith settled in second while Allgaier, Haley, Burton, Creed, Berry, Kligerman, Nemechek and Snider were scored in the top 10 as all received the first wave of stage points of the season. Under the stage break, some led by Hill pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

The second stage started on Lap 36 as Creed and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Creed received a push from Kligerman to maintain a slight advantage through the backstretch before Mayer fought back after receiving a draft from Herbst’s No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. As the rest of the field caught up to the two leaders, Creed and Mayer continued to duel for the lead before Herbst drew himself alongside Mayer to ignite his bid for the lead. By Lap 39, however, Mayer managed to pull away with a slight advantage over Creed and Kligerman.

Then on Lap 40 and as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes through the frontstretch, the caution returned when Creed, who was getting bumped by Kligerman, got loose as he barely hit Hill before veering into the outside wall just past the frontstretch and with damage to his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro. As the field scrambled to avoid the incident, Allgaier got loose as he also spun his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro from the bottom to the inside lane and just in front of Haley’s nose. Stefan Parsons also spun in the middle of the pack as he limped his car back to pit road with flat tires. During the caution period, some like Haley pitted while the rest led by Mayer remained on the track.

At the start of the following restart on Lap 45, Mayer prevailed on the outside lane with drafting help from Brandon Jones and in front of two tight-packed lanes. Kligerman would soon challenge Mayer on the inside lane as both engaged in a tight side-by-side battle for the lead. By the Lap 50 mark, however, Hill reclaimed the lead.

With five laps remaining in the second stage, Allgaier, who methodically carved his way back to the front following his spin, was scored as the leader followed by teammate Mayer, Moffitt, Hill and Jeb Burton.

When the second stage concluded at the halfway mark on Lap 60, Allgaier fended off teammate Mayer to claim the second stage victory on Lap 60. Mayer settled in second followed by Hill, Jones, Moffitt, Berry, Herbst, Nemechek, Custer, and Sammy Smith, who spun past the frontstretch after he got by Burton, who originally got bumped and turned by Alfredo.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Allgaier pitted while some that included Gray Gaulding, Poole, Joey Gase, CJ McLaughlin and Kyle Sieg remained on the track. All five competitors would eventually pit as Allgaier cycled his way back into the lead.

With 54 laps remaining, the final stage started as Allgaier and Hill occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to battle dead even for the lead entering the frontstretch until Allgaier pulled ahead by a hair on the outside lane. He continued to lead the field as the event reached its final 50-lap mark.

Then with 45 laps remaining, a wave of competitors led by Allgaier pitted under green while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kligerman spun, but he managed to straighten his car without hitting the wall. Another lap later, another wave of competitors led by Nemechek pitted under green as Gaulding assumed the lead. Once the final wave of competitors led by Gaulding pitted with nearly 40 laps remaining, Josh Berry cycled his way into the lead followed by Hill, Allgaier, Mayer and Herbst while Jones, Custer, Moffitt, Nemechek and Snider were in the top 10. By then, Allgaier was back in 11th while Kligerman plummeted to 30th.

Down to the final 35 laps of the event, Berry was leading a 15-car breakaway ahead of Hill, Allgaier, Mayer, Herbst, Jones, Custer, Haley, Buford and Chandler Smith while Alfredo, Burton, Moffitt, Nemechek and Snider.

Three laps later, the caution flew when CJ McLaughlin and Sammy Smith wrecked on the frontstretch. During the caution period, names like Alfredo, Clements, Retzlaff, Parsons, Josh Williams, Kligerman, Jesse Iwuji, David Starr and Smith pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.

With 26 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green. At the start, Berry and Hill dueled for the lead until Hill peaked ahead through the first two turns. Berry, however, prevailed on the outside lane as he received a draft from all three of his JR Motorsports teammates to reassume the lead through the backstretch. Then during the following lap, Hill, who was being drafted by Herbst through the first two turns, managed to slide in front of Berry to control the field exiting the backstretch. Soon after, a multitude of competitors settled in a long single-file line on the outside lane as Hill retained the lead followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Jones while Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Jeffrey Earnhardt were scored in the top 10.

Down to the final 20 laps of the event, the top-26 competitors were separated by two seconds while running in a long line on the outside lane and as Hill was leading Berry, Allgaier, Mayer, Jones, Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Earnhardt while Kligerman, Herbst, Retzlaff, Joe Graf Jr. and Jade Buford, Gaulding, Parker Chase, Josh Williams, Chandler Smith and Haley occupied the top 20.

A few laps later, Moffitt dropped out of the 26-car train after scraping the wall and limping back to pit road with a flat tire. Despite the contact, the race remained under green flag conditions as Hill continued to lead the JR Motorsports’ quadruplet. Then with 12 laps remaining, Kligerman made a bold move to the inside lane and back up to the outside lane, where he forced Earnhardt into the outside wall in Turns 1 and 2 as Earnhardt fell off the pace with a flat tire.

With 10 laps remaining, Hill continued to lead a long line of competitors followed by Berry, Allgaier, Mayer and Jones while Nemechek, Snider, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo and Kligerman were scored in the top 10. By then, Parker Retzlaff was in 11^th while Herbst, Graf Jr., Buford and Gaulding occupied the top 15.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Hill retained the lead ahead of the pack while the four JR Motorsports’ competitors remained in a single-file lane within the top five. Soon after, Kligerman, who was mired within the top 15, made the first move towards the inside lane as he tried to launch his bid to the front.

Three laps later, Allgaier initiated a move to the inside lane as he overtook Berry for the runner-up spot. Hill then moved back to the bottom of the track to block Allgaier as Jones opted to follow Allgaier. Then on the backstretch, Jones got turned by teammate Berry while running third as he spun his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro through the grass. The incident not only displayed the caution, but it also sent the field into overtime. Prior to overtime, however, Berry fell off the pace after his No. 8 Bass Pro Shops Club Chevrolet Camaro ran out of fuel. This allowed Alfredo and Nemechek to move up the leaderboard within the top five behind Hill, Allgaier and Mayer.

At the start of the first overtime attempt, Allgaier and Hill duked for the lead, with Hill receiving a draft from Alfredo while Allgaier battled back on the inside lane followed by teammate Mayer. Exiting the backstretch, Allgaier started to pull away on the inside lane as he placed a huge distance between himself and a side-by-side battle between Mayer and Hill.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained as the leader, but was far ahead of the pack that quickly caught back to him through the first two turns amid the draft. Through Turns 1 and 2, Mayer made a bold move to Allgaier’s outside to assume a brief advantage. Then entering the backstretch, he moved up in front of Hill’s front nose to block him while also bumping into Allgaier. This resulted with Mayer getting loose as Hill made contact and turned Mayer across the straightaway and into the outside wall. As a result, Mayer’s No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro hit the wall and overturned on its roof as he slid upside down amid a shower of sparks throughout the backstretch before flipping back on all four wheels in the grass. While a majority of the field dodged the carnage, additional names that included Kligerman, Alfredo, Buford and David Starr also wrecked.

With the event concluding under caution, NASCAR was left to determine the winner between a tight three-wide battle between Hill, Nemechek and Allgaier. Following an extensive review, Hill was declared the official winner as he emerged out in front of both Nemechek and Allgaier when the caution was displayed.

With the victory, Hill claimed his third career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway in July 2022. He also became the first Xfinity competitor of this season to be guaranteed a spot for the 2023 Xfinity Playoffs while also recording the eighth Daytona Xfinity victory for Richard Childress Racing and the 50th overall for Chevrolet. By winning the opener at Daytona for a second consecutive year, he became the first competitor to win the opener at Daytona in consecutive seasons since Tony Stewart achieved four consecutive opener wins from 2008 to 2011.

“I have no idea [how I won],” Hill said on FS1. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel like the inside line was that great all day, for most of the day. I just wanted to choose the top [lane]. I knew [Alfredo] would stay with me. He was pretty committed. When I saw [Mayer] and [Allgaier] get together, I went to go squeeze him. [Mayer] came down. He started getting loose and then, you can’t lift. It’s the last lap. I hope Sam’s okay. That was a heck of flip there, but as soon as the caution lights came out, I thought I had it, but it’s so close. To get back to back [wins] here at Daytona, it’s really special. That’s three wins for me now [at Daytona]. I can’t thank everyone at [Richard Childress Racing]. Our Bennett Chevrolet was so good. We came from the back two different times. [I] Hoped everyone enjoyed [the race]. It was such a blast. I had so much. We won at Daytona! Let’s go!”

With Hill emerging as the winner, John Hunter Nemechek settled in second place followed by Allgaier, who led 36 laps before being overtaken on the final lap.

“[I’m] Really proud of everybody at JR Motorsports,” Allgaier said. “Our Chevy Camaros were absolutely blazing fast. This whole team’s worked their guts out. To have the adversity that we had tonight, to go to the back and have that spin, just battled our way through. It’s crazy how fast our car was tonight and how good we were in traffic. [I’m] Disappointed. I thought I could get enough of a draft off of [Berry] and maybe, they couldn’t catch me, but I just got too far out there. That was really all it came down to, but proud of our team. Really proud of the effort we put in. I think we got a lot to walk out of here with our confidence high. We’ll go on next week to California and I think we’ll be as equally fast.”

Rookie Parker Retzlaff and Myatt Snider finished in the top five while Herbst, Joe Graf Jr., Ryan Sieg, Custer and Haley came home in the top 10 in the final running order. Mayer, who ended up 27th following his final lap wreck, emerged uninjured.

There were 25 lead changes for 11 different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 32 laps.

Following the first event of the 2023 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by six points over Justin Allgaier, 18 over John Hunter Nemechek, 23 over Riley Herbst and 24 over Chandler Smith.

Results.

1. Austin Hill, 39 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. John Hunter Nemechek, eight laps led

3. Justin Allgaier, 36 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Parker Retzlaff

5. Myatt Snider

6. Riley Herbst

7. Joe Graf Jr.

8. Ryan Sieg

9. Cole Custer, one lap led

10. Justin Haley, one lap led

11. Jeb Burton

12. Chandler Smith

13. Stefan Parsons

14. Brandon Jones

15. Josh Williams

16. Parker Chase

17. Jeremy Clements

18. Joey Gase

19. Sammy Smith

20. Gray Gaulding, one lap led

21. Kyle Sieg

22. David Starr, two laps led

23. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Jade Buford

26. Josh Berry, 17 laps led

27. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

28. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

29. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

30. Jesse Iwuji – OUT, Electrical

31. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Accident

32. Kaz Grala – OUT, Engine

33. Brennan Poole – OUT, Engine

34. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident, five laps led

35. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

36. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

37. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Engine

With the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season underway, the competitors and teams will be embarking on a three-race West Coast swing, beginning at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, which will mark the series’ final competition at the two-mile speedway venue. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, February 25, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 18, 2023
Almirola wins second Bluegreen Vacations Duel in a wild finish; Daly rallies to make Daytona 500 field

After spending a majority of the night engaged in side-by-side battles for the lead, Aric Almirola managed to pull away and beat the field of 21 to win the second of two Bluegreen Vacation Duels at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday, February 16.

The 38-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led five times for 17 of 60-scheduled laps and managed to fend off late charges coming from Kyle Larson, Austin Cindric and Todd Gilliland in the closing laps to capture his second checkered flag in a Daytona Duel event and commence the 2023 campaign on a strong note after going winless during the previous NASCAR Cup Series season.

The second Duel victory awarded Almirola a handful of championship points and a starting spot on the second row in fourth place for this year’s Daytona 500 as he will contend for his first victory in his 13th career start in the Great American Race.

Prior to the event, Kyle Larson, who claimed a front row starting spot for the 65th running of the Daytona 500 on Wednesday night, started on the pole and was joined on the front row with Aric Almirola. Meanwhile, BJ McLeod dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

When the green flag waved and the first Duel event commenced, Larson and Almirola dueled for the lead until Larson received a draft from Chase Briscoe to break away from the pack and have both lanes to his control through the backstretch. As Briscoe moved up to second, Almirola was left to battle Kyle Busch for third place on the outside lane as Larson proceeded to lead the first lap.

During the second lap, the outside lane led by Almirola’s No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang gained ground on Larson entering the frontstretch as Almirola led the following lap by a hair. While Almirola was leading the competition, he could not control both lanes as a pack of competitors led by Larson on the inside lane fought back.

With the event reaching its first five-lap distance, Larson reassumed the lead ahead of a hard-charging Almirola followed by Briscoe, Cindric and Busch while Daniel Suarez, Chase Elliott, Ryan Preece, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. were in the top 10.

A lap later and as Larson and Almirola continued to duke for the lead, the first caution of the event and between the two Duels flew when a side window from Justin Haley’s No. 31 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 came off and laid on the backstretch. During the first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Almirola and Larson pitted amid mixed strategies while Haley and BJ McLeod remained on the track. Haley and McLeod would eventually pit prior to the restart and give the top-two spots back to Almirola and Larson. During the caution period, Briscoe and Tyler Reddick, who stalled his car while trying to exit his pit stall, returned to pit road to top off on fuel.

When the race proceeded under green on Lap 10, Larson and Almirola dueled for the lead once again until Larson managed to break away far from the pack after receiving a push from Kyle Busch exiting the backstretch. Shortly after, however, Busch launched his challenge for the lead on Larson as the competitors towards the front battled in a tight pack within two lanes.

Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Busch, who engaged in a series of side-by-side battles against Larson for the lead earlier, was out in front by a hair over Suarez followed by Larson, Almirola and Cindric while Chase Elliott, Corey LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, Truex and rookie Noah Gragson were in the top 10. By then, 19 of 21 starters were separated by two seconds. In addition, Austin Hill was running in a transfer spot to make the Daytona 500 in 16th place while Conor Day, another competitor who was trying to make the 500, was in 20th behind Travis Pastrana, who holds a guaranteed spot to make the main event based on Wednesday’s qualifying speed.

At the halfway mark on Lap 30, Busch continued to lead ahead of Suarez, Larson, Almirola and Cindric while Elliott, LaJoie, Gilliland, Truex and Gragson remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Haley was in 11th followed by Ryan Preece, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Reddick while Hill, Riley Herbst, Pastrana, Briscoe, Daly and McLeod rounded out the 21-car field.

With less than 25 laps remaining, Busch retained the lead ahead of a bevy of competitors that included Suarez, Larson, Almirola and Cindric while Elliott, LaJoie, Gilliland, Truex and Gragson were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Hill remained in position to make the Daytona 500 in 15th in between Preece and Reddick while Daly, who lost the draft earlier, was mired back at the rear of the field in 21st place and a lap down.

Then with 20 laps remaining, the caution flew when Suarez bumped and turned Kyle Busch’s No. 8 3CHI Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, which was leading, into the outside wall on the backstretch and with heavy damage. Busch’s wreck ignited a multi-car crash that also collected Haley, Preece, Herbst, Pastrana and Hill, who limped his No. 62 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 back to pit road but was unable to continue as his hopes of making the Daytona 500 came to an end. With Hill out, Daly, who was a lap down, now found himself in prime position to make the 500.

During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Suarez pitted mainly for fuel while Briscoe remained on the track, though he eventually pitted after the field did. During the pit stops, Suarez slid through his pit stall as Larson reassumed the lead followed by Almirola and Brad Keselowski.

Down to the final 14 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Larson and Almirola battled for the lead with Keselowski, Cindric and the rest of the field keeping the two leaders within reach amid a tight two-lane pack.

With 10 laps remaining, Almirola was leading by a hair over Larson followed by Keselowski, Cindric and Truex while Gilliland, LaJoie, Gragson, Elliott and Hamlin were in the top 10. Soon after, Cindric ignited his bid for the win as he contested against Almirola and Larson for the lead along with Gilliland.

Down to the final five laps of the event and with the competitors towards the front beginning to jostle through two tight-packed lanes, Cindric was out in front by a hair over Almirola followed by Gilliland, Larson and LaJoie as 14 of 21 starters were separated by more than two seconds. By then, Daly was back in 17th place, a lap down but in position of making the Daytona 500.

Then with three laps remaining, Gilliland moved into the lead followed by Almirola, Larson and Cindric as the intensity towards the front crescendoed.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola, who gained a run to the outside of Gilliland, was leading by a nose over Gilliland as both competitors battled dead even in front of the pack. Then in Turn 1, Gilliland, whose car was shaking and getting loose, slipped sideways towards the apron following a bump from Larson. Miraculously, Gilliland kept his car straight and continued. He, however, lost his momentum as Almirola pulled away through the backstretch followed by Cindric and LaJoie. While the front-runners formed a long single file line behind Almirola through Turns 3 and 4, they could not gain a draft nor a final lap charge on Almirola as the Floridian managed to cycle back to the finish line and beat Cindric by 0.122 seconds to win and cap off the Duels on a high note.

The second Duel victory marked Almirola’s second career Duel win, his first since 2021 and the fourth Duel victory overall for Stewart-Haas Racing. It also marked his first checkered flag in NASCAR’s premier series since winning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July 2021 as he aims to rebound following a disappointing 2022 campaign where he missed the Playoffs.

“I did have my hands full,” Almirola said on FS1. “[Crew chief] Drew [Blickensderfer] said this Smithfield Ford Mustang was going to be fast, but he said I’d probably have my hands full. We kind of went for it from qualifying, put all the speed in the car and kind of sacrificed some handling. As you could see tonight, it was a handful, but man, this is so cool. Daytona’s such a special place to me. I want that [Daytona 500 win] on Sunday. I know Sunday’s the big one. We’re gonna keep focused on that one. The job’s not finished.”

Cindric, the reigning Daytona 500 champion, settled in second behind Almirola in the final running order while Chase Elliott, Keselowski, Corey LaJoie, Larson, Gilliland, Truex, Denny Hamlin and Preece earned top-10 finishes on the track.

Meanwhile, Conor Daly, who came into the Duels with a “one in a million shot” of making the Daytona 500 after failing to post a qualifying lap on Wednesday, crossed the finish line in 17th place, a lap down, and raced his way into the main event. Daly’s accomplishment will enable him to make his second career start in the Cup circuit on Sunday and his first in the Great American Race as the Money Racing Team will compete in the Daytona 500 for a second consecutive season.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“We were inherently lucky for the last 36 hours, but we got luck,” Daly said. “I wished I could’ve said that I drove [the car] in on pure pace, but it was crazy. When we went out there, the car was bouncing around. I had no idea what was going on. I thought the drive train was broken and [crew chief] Tony [Eury Jr.] just made it better every time we got lucky with the yellows [flags] to try to get some experience. It is pretty crazy. This race, I’ve watched it for so many years and so much crazy stuff can happen. Thankfully, we were on the right side of the craziness.”

With Austin Hill and Beard Motorsports failing to qualify for the 500, Travis Pastrana, who was eliminated late in the event due to the multi-car wreck that involved Kyle Busch, will implement his qualifying speed set on Wednesday to make the main event.

There were 15 lead changes for six different leaders. The event featured two cautions for nine laps.

Results.

1. Aric Almirola, 17 laps led

2. Austin Cindric, three laps led

3. Chase Elliott

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Corey LaJoie

6. Kyle Larson, nine laps led

7. Todd Gilliland, one lap led

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Ryan Preece

11. Noah Gragson

12. Daniel Suarez, two laps led

13. Tyler Reddick

14. Justin Haley

15. Chase Briscoe

16. BJ McLeod

17. Conor Daly, one lap down

18. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

19. Kyle Busch – OUT, Accident, 28 laps led

20. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

21. Travis Pastrana – OUT, Accident

With the starting lineup for the 65th annual running of the Daytona 500 set, the main event is set to commence on Sunday, February 20, which will also mark the start of NASCAR’s 75th season of premier series competition. The coverage for the event is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

February 16, 2023
Austin Hill named 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year

Austin Hill has been named the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year following the Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 5.

The news comes as the 28-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, is coming off his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit behind the wheel of the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing, where he achieved two victories, one pole, 12 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 329 laps led and an average-finishing result of 11.0 throughout the 33-race schedule.

Hill graduated to a full-time Xfinity campaign for this season after spending the previous four seasons in the NASCAR Truck Series, where he accumulated eight victories and three Playoff appearances. He commenced his rookie Xfinity campaign on a high note by winning the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway in February and achieving his first career victory in the Xfinity circuit. The victory occurred on a last-lap pass on veteran AJ Allmendinger, whom Hill managed to overtake prior to a caution due to a multi-car wreck occurring on the backstretch that concluded the event and handed the victory to Hill and RCR.

Following his victory at Daytona, Hill accumulated two runner-up results, five top-five results and eight top-10 results during the next 15-scheduled events. He then scored his second Xfinity career victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his home track, in July following a dominant run to the finish. The pair of victories were more than enough for Hill to solidify his spot for the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs as he earned six additional top-10 results for the remainder of the regular-season stretch. Despite finishing second, 14th and 29th, respectively, during the Round of 12, Hill transferred to the Round of 8. He, however, did not transfer to the Championship 4 round despite finishing in the top 10 throughout the Round of 8. Despite being involved in a post-race altercation fight with Myatt Snider at Martinsville Speedway in October, he rallied by finishing ninth during the finale at Phoenix, which was good enough to conclude this season in sixth place in the final driver’s standings behind Allmendinger.

With his accomplishment, Hill became the first competitor to capture the Xfinity rookie title while representing RCR since former series champion Austin Dillon made the last accomplishment in 2012. He also became the first Chevrolet competitor to claim the award since Tyler Reddick made the last accomplishment in 2018, where he won his first of back-to-back titles.

Hill’s rivals for this year’s Xfinity rookie title featured teammate Sheldon Creed, Kyle Sieg and Jesse Iwuji.

Hill’s Xfinity plans for 2023 have not been formally announced, though it is expected that he will be returning for a second full-time campaign with RCR. He is also scheduled to make six starts in the NASCAR Cup Series for Beard Motorsports, beginning with the 65th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway which is scheduled to occur on February 19.

The Xfinity Series competitors and teams enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2023, to commence a new season of racing.

November 5, 2022
Ty Gibbs claims controversial Xfinity victory at Martinsville; Championship 4 field set

With the championship finale looming over the NASCAR Xfinity Series competition and spots to battle for the title up for grabs, Ty Gibbs spoiled teammate Brandon Jones’ opportunity to compete for this year’s title by wrecking him on the final lap before proceeding to claim a controversial victory in the Dead on Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 29.

The 20-year-old Gibbs from Charlotte, North Carolina, led seven times for a race-high 102 of 269 over-scheduled laps and took care of business for the majority of the event to secure a spot for the Championship 4 round based on points. Under the final 10 laps and pushing his car for more, however, Gibbs found himself squared off against teammate Brandon Jones, who was placed in a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes through a series of late restarts and incidents that sent the event into overtime three times.

During the third and final overtime attempt, Jones, who traded paint with Gibbs throughout a series of late restarts, managed to navigate his way around Gibbs and the field for the lead, but Gibbs delivered the final blow on the final lap by bumping and sending his teammate backward into the wall. The incident netted Gibbs an unpopular victory from the grandstands while Jones was one of four competitors to have their championship hopes for this season come to a late end.

By claiming his sixth victory of the 2022 Xfinity Series season, Gibbs is set to square off against JR Motorsports’ Josh Berry, Noah Gragson and Justin Allgaier for this year’s Xfinity title that will determine a champion next weekend at Phoenix Raceway.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff competitor Brandon Jones scored his fifth pole position of the 2022 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 95.482 mph in 19.832 seconds. Joining him on the front row was rookie Sheldon Creed, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 95.333 mph in 19.863 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following competitors that included Playoff competitor Austin Hill, Derek Griffith and Kyle Weatherman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective cars. Daniel Hemric also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during the practice session on Friday.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Brandon Jones rocketed with an early advantage through the first two turns ahead of Creed and Sammy Smith while Ty Gibbs and Noah Gragson dueled for fourth place. As the field battled through two lanes for a full circuit, Jones went on to lead the first lap.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Jones was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Smith, Gibbs and Gragson while Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Riley Herbst, Anthony Alfredo and Jeb Burton were running in the top 10. Jeremy Clements, Joe Graf Jr., Josh Berry, Ryan Sieg and Landon Cassill occupied the top 15 while Sam Mayer was back in 16th.

Ten laps later, Jones continued to lead by more than a second over teammate Gibbs while Creed, Smith and Gragson were all scored in the top five. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were running in the top 10 on the track, minus Mayer and Hill.

On Lap 32, the first caution of the event flew when Patrick Emerling got into the rear of Joe Graf Jr. entering Turn 1 as Graf backed his car hard into the outside wall while Emerling also spun in front of Jeremy Clements and Howie Disavino III. During the first caution period, some led by Gragson pitted while the rest led by Jones remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Gragson was penalized for speeding while entering pit road.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 41, Jones retained the lead over teammate Gibbs and the field. As the field jostled for positions, Jones was able to maintain the top spot for the duration of the first stage as he went on to claim his third stage victory of the 2022 season on Lap 60, which marked the first stage’s conclusion. Teammate Gibbs settled in second followed by Allgaier, Berry and Smith while Herbst, Creed, Allmendinger, Mayer and Hill claimed top-10 spots and the first round of stage points.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Jones pitted while Gragson and Rajah Caruth remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kyle Weatherman and Alex Labbe were both penalized for safety violations.

The second stage started on Lap 70 as Gragson and Caruth occupied the front row. At the start, Gragson took off with the lead and managed to cross over from the outside lane to the inside lane entering the first turn. Behind, the field fanned out to three lanes as Jones muscled his way into the runner-up spot while Berry and Gibbs were also scored in the top five. Behind, Allgaier battled Smith for sixth place while racing on the outside lane as the field continued to duel and rub against one another for spots.

Eighteen laps later, Gibbs emerged as the third different leader of the event after he overtook Gragson.

On Lap 106, the caution flew when Landon Cassill wheel-hopped his No. 10 StormX Chevrolet Camaro entering Turn 3 and smacked the outside wall hard while locking up his front tires. During the caution period, some led by Gibbs remained on the track while the rest led by Jones pitted.

With nine laps remaining in the second stage, the race proceeded under green as Gibbs and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allgaier gained momentum on the outside lane to move his No. 7 iRacing/BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro into the lead. Five laps later, however, Allgaier slipped up the track entering Turn 3, which allowed Gibbs to reassume the top spot. As Gibbs maintained his ground with the lead, Berry and Hill rubbed fenders while battling for sixth place.

When the second stage concluded on Lap 120, Gibbs claimed his eighth stage victory of the 2022 season. Allgaier settled in second while Allmendinger, Gragson, Sanchez, Berry, Hill, Jeb Burton, Ryan Sieg and Alfredo were scored in the top 10. By then, six of eight Playoff competitors were scored in the top 10 and were awarded a second round of stage points while Brandon Jones and Mayer were mired back in 11th and 18th.

Under the stage break, some led by Gibbs pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.

With 122 laps remaining, the final stage started as Berry and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Berry retained the lead and had both lanes to his control with clean air while Hill intimidated Smith for the runner-up spot by bumping him and trying to move him up entering the turns. Smith, however, retained his ground and the runner-up spot while Creed and Jones battled for fourth in front of Herbst and Hemric. A few laps later, Hill prevailed over his battle with Smith as he moved into the runner-up spot while Jones tried to issue a challenge on teammate Smith for third place.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Berry was leading by more than a second over Jones, who battled and overtook Hill for the runner-up spot, while Herbst and Gibbs were scored in the top five. Smith, Mayer, Allmendinger, Gragson and Creed were running in the top 10 ahead of Allgaier, Sanchez, Hemric, Perkins and Snider while Alfredo, Labbe, Sieg, Weatherman and Derek Griffith occupied the top 20.

Eleven laps later, the caution returned when Yeley wrecked in Turn 3 after wheel-hopping entering the turn and sustaining significant rear-end damage to his car. During the caution periods, the leaders returned to pit road and Jones managed to reassume the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Berry, Gibbs, Gragson and Herbst.

When the race restarted under green with 81 laps remaining, Jones rocketed with the lead entering the first turn while Berry settled in the runner-up spot behind Jones and in front of Gibbs before Gibbs assumed Berry’s spot during the following lap. Behind, Herbst was in fourth while Allmendinger and Gragson battled for fifth place in front of Hill.

Then with 72 laps remaining, Gibbs muscled his No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Supra into the lead over teammate Jones’ No. 19 Menards Toyota Supra through Turns 3 and 4 as Jones was placed back into a “must-win” situation to maintain his title hopes.

Sixteen laps later, the caution flew when Kris Wright got bumped by Disavino III as both spun in Turn 3. During the caution period, some that included Allmendinger and Hill pitted while the rest led by Gibbs remained on the track.

With 48 laps remaining, the race proceeded under green as teammates Gibbs and Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Gibbs, who restarted on the outside lane, rocketed away from the field entering Turn 1 before he crossed over to the inside lane entering the backstretch to block Jones, who was being challenged by Gragson for more. Not long after, however, the caution returned when Ryan Sieg spun towards the outside wall in Turn 1 after getting hit by Hemric’s No. 11 AG1 Chevrolet Camaro.

As the race restarted with 40 laps remaining, Gibbs took off with another strong start while Jones and Gragson dueled for second in front of Smith, Berry, Mayer and Allgaier. Three laps later, however, the caution was displayed when Hill, Clements and Parsons came together as all three wrecked entering the backstretch. The incident prompted Hill to pit his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro from the top 20 during the caution period as his hopes of advancing to the Championship 4 round were placed in jeopardy.

When the race restarted with 32 laps remaining, Gibbs and Gragson dueled for the lead for nearly a full lap before Gibbs, who officially clinched his spot for the Championship 4 finale, cleared the field and had both lanes to his control through Turn 4. It did not take long, however, for the caution to return for a multi-car stack-up that struck entering Turn 4 when Snider got turned and collected Hill, Emerling, CJ McLaughlin, Disavino, Kris Wright, Stefan Parsons and Mason Massey. During the caution period, Berry surrendered seventh place to pit along with Labbe, Hill and Josh Williams while the rest of the competitors remained on the track.

During the following restart with 23 laps remaining, Gibbs took off with the lead while Jones battled Gragson for second place in front of Smith, Mayer, Herbst and Allgaier. Jones prevailed over Gragson during the following lap as he moved into second place while Allgaier and Allmendinger dueled and rubbed fenders for seventh place.

With less than 20 laps remaining, the battle for seventh place on the track and for a championship finale spot ignited between Allgaier and Allmendinger as Allgaier, who got moved up the track following a bump by Allmendinger a few laps earlier, ran into the rear of Allmendinger in Turn 3 as both dueled against one another. Then with 17 laps remaining, Allgaier, who got moved up the track again by Allmendinger in Turn 1, delivered the final blow as he pounded into Allmendinger’s rear bumper twice entering Turn 3. With Allmendinger moving up the track, Allgaier seized his opportunity and made contact into the side of Allmendinger as Allmendinger nearly got loose in Turn 4 before falling off the pace after cutting a left-rear tire amid the contact. With the caution flying, Allmendinger pitted his No. 16 Action Industries Chevrolet Camaro for fresh tires as his hopes of transferring to the finale were placed in jeopardy. The incident also erased Gibbs’ steady advantage over teammate Jones.

Down to the final nine laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Gibbs and Gragson squared off against one another on the front row. At the start, Jones, who restarted behind teammate Gibbs, made his move for the lead after getting into the rear of Gibbs. Just as Jones started to pull ahead of Gibbs with the lead, the caution flew due to Weatherman wrecking in Turn 1 along with Brandon Brown and Jeb Burton. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime.

During the first overtime attempt, Jones, who restarted on the inside lane alongside teammate Smith and in front of Gibbs, dueled against Smith for the lead entering Turn 1 before Gibbs shoved his nose beneath Jones entering the backstretch. This resulted in all three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors racing three wide for the lead entering Turn 3. That was when Smith got rubbed by Jones as Smith went for a spin as the caution flew and the event was sent into a second overtime attempt. At the moment of caution, NASCAR ruled that Jones was the leader followed by teammate Gibbs as Herbst, Gragson and Creed completed the top five.

At the start of the second overtime attempt, Jones briefly pulled away from the field entering the first turn until he barely slipped up the track, which allowed Gibbs to stick his car beneath Jones and challenge him for the lead through the backstretch. By then, however, the caution returned when Berry got turned in Turn 2 by teammate Allgaier after he got bumped by teammate Mayer. At the moment of caution, Gibbs was scored as the leader ahead of Jones, who fell back to a “must-win” situation as Allgaier, who continued to run towards the front, moved back up into contention to make the finale.

The start of the third overtime attempt favored Jones, who made his move beneath Gibbs and Gragson in Turn 1 before all three competitors fanned out to three lanes in a battle for the win through the backstretch. Jones then managed to pull ahead with the lead with a push from Creed through Turns 3 and 4 as he commenced the final lap followed by a hard-charging Gibbs. Then entering Turn 1, Gibbs ran into the rear bumper of Jones, which caused Jones to spin as he backed his No. 19 Toyota into the outside wall in Turn 1. With the caution being displayed, the event was deemed official as Gibbs hustled his way back to the frontstretch and claim the victory.

By winning for the sixth time in 2022 and for the first time at Martinsville, Gibbs claimed his 10th career win in the Xfinity circuit as he will be making his first appearance in the Championship 4 round as a championship contender, all of which will come in his first full-time Xfinity campaign.

Gibbs’ victory was met with mixed results as he received a chorus of boos from the grandstands with the winning driver saluting them before claiming the checkered flag.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I definitely didn’t want to wreck [Jones],” Gibbs said on NBC. “I wanted to get him out of the groove. I felt like we lost here earlier in the spring race just in the same way. I’m just pumped to get this win. It’s so awesome, especially at a track I feel like I’ve been coming to forever. It’s super cool to win here.”

The last lap incident involving Jones knocked Jones out of the 2022 Xfinity Series Playoffs as his hopes of competing for this year’s title evaporated along with the hopes of Allmendinger, Mayer and Hill, who was involved in a post-race altercation with Snider on pit road. On the contrary, the incident fell in the favor of Allgaier, who ended up in fifth place and managed to secure the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 Round. This season will mark Allgaier’s fifth appearance in the final round as a title contender, where he will contend for his first NASCAR national touring series championship alongside Gibbs and teammates Berry and Gragson.

“I had the race won, I think,” Jones, who ended up 23rd, said. “I love my guys. I love everyone on this No. 19 group. I’m excited to make my move to [JR Motorsports] next year and be a part of that organization. A little bit more respect over there, probably, given next year. We got one race left at Phoenix. I know we can go out there and win that, shake this [title fight] a little bit still yet and try to steal a little thunder there. I have no words. I know that we had some fun beating and banging back and forth a little bit, but I’ve never wrecked [Gibbs] or done anything for a win. It kind of shows where that level was there. I think [racing Gibbs earlier] opened up the opportunity to get moved, but I don’t know about dumped, destroyed and finished dead last. At the end of the day, I needed to win the race. Second and last, it is what it is. [I] Just expected to, maybe, have a little bit more of a shot at it there. To me, that’s what’s fun about this sport is having a duel, not just completely destroying somebody’s day.”

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“It was definitely a long day,” Allgaier, who finished fifth, said. “We just didn’t have the handling that we wanted to on our iRacing/BRANDT Camaro. We were OK. We were a top-five car all day. Obviously, AJ and I battled a lot today. We were both pushing each other really hard. I hate having to use the bumper, but our team has done such a good job this year and gave themselves a shot to go for a championship. I had to make the most of it today. Proud of our team at JR Motorsports. To put three cars in the final four. We got a long work this week to be ready for Phoenix, but it’s a great racetrack for us. We’re gonna go there. We’re gonna lay it all on the line. It’s gonna be a battle, for sure.”

“[The battle with Allgaier]’s all fair,” Allmendinger, who settled in 16th, said. “We knew it was gonna be a battle. Thank you to everybody at Kaulig Racing. Our Action Industries Chevy, we were making the best of it. It’s disappointing to end it like that, but still a great year. [We] Did everything we could.”

In addition to this year’s driver’s championship battle, the final four title contenders (Berry, Gragson, Gibbs and Allgaier) will contend for the 2022 Xfinity owners’ championship next weekend at Phoenix.

There were 18 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured 14 cautions for 91 laps.

Results.

1. Ty Gibbs, 102 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Sheldon Creed

3. Riley Herbst

4. Noah Gragson, 23 laps led

5. Justin Allgaier, five laps led

6. Sam Mayer

7. Nicholas Sanchez

8. Daniel Hemric

9. Blaine Perkins

10. Austin Hill

11. Jeb Burton

12. Alex Labbe

13. Rajah Caruth

14. Myatt Snider

15. AJ Allmendinger

16. Derek Griffith

17. Sammy Smith, one lap led

18. Jeremy Clements

19. Brandon Brown

20. Josh Berry, 40 laps led

21. Anthony Alfredo

22. Josh Williams

23. Brandon Jones, 98 laps led, Stage 1 winner

24. CJ McLaughlin, one lap down

25. Mason Massey, four laps down

26. Kris Wright, eight laps down

27. Joe Graf Jr., nine laps down

28. Howie Disavino III, 10 laps down

29. Ryan Vargas, 21 laps down

30. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

31. Stefan Parsons – OUT, Accident

32. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident

33. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Accident

34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Brakes

35. Matt Mills – OUT, Engine

36. Chad Finchum – OUT, Brakes

37. Landon Cassill – OUT, Accident

38. Bayley Currey – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff contenders

Playoff standings

1. Noah Gragson – Advanced

2. Ty Gibbs – Advanced

3. Josh Berry – Advanced

4. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

5. AJ Allmendinger – Eliminated

6. Austin Hill – Eliminated

7. Sam Mayer – Eliminated

8. Brandon Jones – Eliminated

The 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 5, where a champion will be crowned. The finale is set to commence at 6 p.m. ET on USA Network.

October 29, 2022