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  • Sam Mayer capitalizes in overtime for wild Xfinity victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    Sam Mayer capitalizes in overtime for wild Xfinity victory at Charlotte Roval; Playoff’s Round of 8 field set

    For a second consecutive season, Sam Mayer went from being scored below the cutline in the Playoff’s Round of 12 finale to leapfrogging his way into the Round of 8 by winning the Drive for the Cure 250 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course (Roval) on Saturday, October 12, amid an overtime shootout.

    The 21-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 13 of 72 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row alongside Playoff contender Shane van Gisbergen but was penalized for launching ahead of the latter prior to the start/finish line while not the control competitor. Despite serving a pass-through penalty through pit road during the second lap, Mayer blended back on the track inside the top-15 mark, carved his way back into the top 10 after pitting before the first stage’s conclusion, and settled in 11th place. Despite falling one spot short of accumulating crucial stage points following the first stage period, Mayer racked up eight points by settling in third place at the conclusion of the second stage period.

    After restarting on the front row for the start of the final stage period with 24 laps remaining, Mayer assumed the lead during the following lap. Despite pitting for fresh tires during a late caution period that started with 15 laps remaining, the Wisconsin native would use the tires to carve his way back up the leaderboard and up to second place as he tried to challenge Playoff contender Parker Kligerman for the victory in the closing laps.

    Initially poised to finish in second place behind Kligerman, which would have eliminated him from the Playoffs, Mayer was gifted an opportunity to reclaim the lead after Leland Honeyman wrecked in Turn 3. The caution occurred inches before Kligerman could start the final lap of the event and make the event official, and instead sent the field into overtime. During the overtime shootout, Mayer overtook Kligerman through the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 and muscled away from the field for two laps to win and maintain his 2024 championship hopes for another three weeks.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Playoff rookie Shane van Gisbergen notched his third Xfinity Series pole position of the season and his career with a pole-winning lap at 97.110 mph in 84.523 seconds. Playoff contender Sam Mayer joined him on the front row was Playoff contender Sam Mayer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 96.871 mph in 84.731 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Ed Jones and Thomas Annunziata dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Sam Mayer rocketed his No. 1 QPS Employment Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Shane van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger from the inside lane through the frontstretch as he proceeded to lead through the first turn before he navigated his way through the infield turns, starting in Turn 2. The field, led by Mayer, would then navigate through a pair of right-hand turns in Turns 3 and 4 before entering a brief straightaway to another right-hand turn in Turn 5. Mayer retained the lead through the Roval’s new design turns from Turns 6 and 7 before making a sharp left-hand turn to return back to the main Charlotte oval course.

    As the field continued to jostle for early spots, Mayer proceeded to lead through the backstretch’s chicane before he was penalized by NASCAR for jumping the start while not the leader of the race. Amid the penalty, Mayer navigated his way through the final pair of turns before he returned to the frontstretch, drove through the chicane and led the first lap while being black-flagged by NASCAR.

    During the second lap, Mayer served a drive-through penalty through pit road, which allowed van Gisbergen to assume the lead as he was followed by teammate AJ Allmendinger, Sheldon Creed, Josh Bilicki and Austin Hill. Despite being pressured by his Kaulig Racing teammate of Allmendinger, van Gisbergen would navigate his way through the 17-turn course and lead the following lap. By the fourth lap, however, Allmendinger navigated his way past van Gisbergen through the frontstretch’s chicane. With Allmendinger leading, van Gisbergen would fend off Creed for the runner-up spot as Bilicki and Hill followed suit.

    Through the first five-scheduled laps, Allmendinger was leading by over teammate van Gisbergen as Creed, Bilicki and Austin Hill continued to trail in the top five ahead of rookie Jesse Love, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Connor Mosack and Riley Herbst. Behind, Aric Almirola trailed in 11th place ahead of Cole Custer, Parker Kligerman and Anthony Alfredo while Sam Mayer was mired in 15th place ahead of teammate Sammy Smith.

    Two laps later, van Gisbergen missed the backstretch’s chicane, where he locked up the front tires and drove off the course while running in second place. The on-track misfortune dropped the New Zealander to sixth place, where he had to come to a full stop before proceeding back on the racing surface, as Bilicki, Creed, Hill and Jesse Love all moved up the leaderboard. By then, Allmendinger was leading by more than three seconds.

    At the Lap 10 mark, eight of 12 Playoff contenders were racing inside the top 10 as Allmendinger continued to lead by more than two seconds over Bilicki. Behind, Creed, Hill and Love followed suit ahead of van Gisbergen, Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Almirola while Mayer carved his way back into the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Kligerman, Herbst, Custer and Sammy Smith were racing inside the top 15 mark as Connor Mosack occupied 14th place.

    By Lap 15, Allmendinger stabilized his advantage to nearly four seconds over Bilicki while third-place van Gisbergen carved his way back up to third place in front of Creed, Hill and Love. Behind, Allgaier, Chandler Smith, Almirola and Mayer remained in the top 10 ahead of Kligerman and Herbst while Custer and Sammy Smith dropped to 16th and 17th, respectively.

    Not long after, Creed, who was racing in fourth place, spun in the Roval’s newly configured Turn 7 after he got hit by Love, who was trying to make a move beneath teammate Hill for a top-five spot. The incident dropped Creed out of the top-10 mark on the track as the event remained under green flag conditions.

    By Lap 17, select names led by Bilicki and including Chandler Smith, Almirola, Mayer, Kligerman, Austin Green, Brandon Jones, Custer, Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith, Josh Williams, Ed Jones, Alex Labbe and Ryan Sieg pitted under green. Parker Retzlaff had pitted a lap earlier as Allmendinger retained the lead by more than six seconds over teammate van Gisbergen.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 20, Allmendinger cruised to his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate van Gisbergen followed suit in second ahead of Allgaier, Hill and Love while Creed, Mosack, Herbst, Bilicki and Chandler Smith were scored in the top 10. With eight of 12 Playoff contenders racking up the event’s first round of stage points, the remaining Playoff contenders including Mayer, Kligerman, Custer and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th, 21st, 23rd and 26th, respectively.

    Under the stage break, some led by Allmendinger and including Playoff contenders van Gisbergen, Creed, Herbst, Allgaier, Hill and Love pitted while the rest led by Bilicki and Chandler Smith remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Love exited pit road first, ahead of Allmendinger, Creed, Hill, Herbst, Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Jeb Burton, Mosack and Sage Karam.

    The second stage period started on Lap 24 as teammates Bilicki and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Bilicki and Chandler Smith both dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Bilicki muscled his No. 19 Insurance King Toyota Supra ahead through the infield turns. As the field behind jostled for spots, Bilicki retained the lead through the infield turns, including the tight, left-hand Turn 7, before returning to the main oval course. In the midst of the battles, van Gisbergen, who restarted outside the top 20, made contact with Creed in Turn 7 in his charge back to the front before Alex Labbe spun through the backstretch’s chicane amid contact with Ed Jones. Amid the on-track chaos, the race remained under green flag conditions as Bilicki led the following lap ahead of teammate Chandler Smith while Aric Almirola was up to third place.

    During an ensuing caution period that started on Lap 26 due to debris spotted in Turn 2, select names led by Creed and including Thomas Annunziata, Leland Honeyman and Blaine Perkins pitted while the rest of the field led by Bilicki remained on the track. Creed’s pit service was due to the driver reporting a shifter issue to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra.

    With the field restarting under green on Lap 29, Bilicki fended off teammate Chandler Smith through the first two turns to retain the lead. Bilicki retained a steady advantage over Smith, Mayer, Almirola and Kligerman through the infield turns from Turns 3 to 7 as the field fanned out while navigating back onto Charlotte’s oval course. Then as the field navigated through the backstretch’s chicane before returning to the frontstretch, the caution returned due to Matt DiBenedetto crashing into the tire barriers just past Turn 6 and struggling to restart from his carnage scene.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 32 featured Bilicki and Mayer occupying the front row, where both dueled for the lead through the first three turns before Mayer muscled ahead entering Turn 4. As the field behind fanned out, Mayer fended off Bilicki through the following three sets of infield turns before he returned to the oval course and continued to lead through the backstretch chicane. With Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Allmendinger trailing in the top five, Mayer led the following lap.

    Shortly after, the caution returned when Herbst, who was battling Alfredo amid close-quarters racing for 15th place, made contact with Alfredo through the frontstretch chicane that resulted in Herbst getting turned sideways off the front nose of Alfredo as both went straight into the outside wall and igniting a pileup that involved Josh Williams, Mosack, Ed Jones, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg, Dylan Lupton, Preston Pardus, Blaine Perkins, Brad Perez, Jeremy Clements, Brennan Poole and Creed. Despite sustaining damage to their respective cars, Herbst and Creed continued and remained on the lead lap.

    During the caution period and extensive cleanup period, a majority of the field led by Mayer pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green with three laps remaining in the second stage period, Allgaier and Sage Karam led the field to the restart zone, where Allgaier rocketed away from Karam and the field to lead through the infield turns as Leland Honeyman overtook Karam for second place. With Allgaier retaining the lead, the field fanned out while navigating through the infield turns, the oval turns and the backstretch’s chicane. As Allgaier proceeded to lead the following lap, more trouble struck for Creed, who was off the pace and limping his damaged car below the Charlotte oval’s apron. Creed would lose a lap as the field lapped him entering the backstretch.

    As Herbst was also falling off the pace in his damaged No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang and with a broken trackbar, the caution would then fly on the final lap of the second stage period due to Creed coming to a halt in the backstretch. The caution would officially conclude the second stage period scheduled for Lap 40 as Allgaier claimed his 15th Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammates Mosack and Mayer would follow suit in second and third, respectively, while Almirola, Honeyman, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Karam and Bilicki were scored in the top 10. With five of 12 Playoff contenders racking up a second round of stage points and both Herbst and Creed out of contention, the remaining Playoff contenders that included Kligerman, Love, Hill, Sammy Smith and Custer were mired inside the top 20.

    During the stage break, select names including Allgaier, Karam, Clements, Retzlaff and Honeyman pitted while the rest led by Mosack remained on the track.

    With 24 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced under green as teammates Mosack and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Mosack muscled ahead and cleared teammate Mayer through the first turn. As Mosack proceeded to lead in his No. 88 Apollo Pex Chevrolet Camaro through the ensuing infield turns, Mayer fended off Allmendinger to retain second while Almirola, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top six. With van Gisbergen diving his way up to fourth place through Turn 7, Mosack fended off teammate Mayer through both the backstretch and frontstretch chicanes to lead the following lap while teammates Hill and Love battled for ninth place.

    Then, as Almirola and Clements spun in Turn 7, Mayer overtook teammate Mosack through Turns 8 and 9 to assume the lead. Mayer would retain the lead for the following lap as teammate Mosack, Allmendinger, van Gisbergen and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top five.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Mayer was leading by more than a second over teammate Mosack as Playoff contenders Allmendinger, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Kligerman and Hill followed suit in the top seven ahead of Bilicki, Austin Green and Love. Behind, Sammy Smith, Custer and Allgaier were scored in the top 15 along with Brandon Jones and DiBenedetto as 31 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Five laps later, Mayer continued to lead by more than a second over Allmendinger as van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith and Mosack followed suit in the top five. With Mayer, who came into the event scored below the top-eight cutline in the Playoff standings, leading, van Gisbergen currently occupied the eighth and final transfer spot to the top-eight cutline by two points over Allgaier, who overtook Custer for 12th place.

    Shortly after, the caution flew due to Thomas Annunziata driving his No. 35 NFPA Toyota entry head-on into the barriers entering Turn 1 due to a brake failure. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Mayer and including Playoff contenders Allmendinger, Hill, Kligerman, Allgaier, Custer and Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by van Gisbergen remained on the track. In addition to van Gisbergen, Austin Green, Love, Preston Pardus and Nathan Byrd remained on the track.

    The start of the ensuing restart period with 11 laps remaining featured van Gisbergen rocketing his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro away with the lead as the field fanned out entering the first turn. With van Gisbergen leading Love, Green, Mayer and Kligerman through the infield turns and back on the oval turns, the New Zealander retained the lead by a steady margin through the backstretch chicane as Kligerman battled and overtook Love for the runner-up spot.

    With 10 laps remaining, several competitors including Mosack and Alfredo spun through the frontstretch chicane while more including Sammy Smith served an on-track stop-and-go penalty in the frontstretch. At the front, van Gisbergen retained the lead over a hard-charging Kligerman while Mayer carved his way up to third place. Kligerman would cut van Gisbergen’s deficit through the infield turns before the former retained the advantage for the remaining turns.

    The following lap, Kligerman, who pitted for fresh tires during the previous caution period and is placed in a “must-win” situation to advance into the Playoff’s Round of 8, closed in to van Gisbergen’s rear bumper through the infield turns. Kligerman then made his move beneath van Gisbergen in Turn 7 to move his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro into the lead and he would retain the top spot through the oval turns and the following set of chicanes as Mayer overtook van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot. Van Gisbergen, whose tires were beginning to wear out, would then yield third place to teammate Allmendinger through the infield turns during the following lap as Kligerman retained the lead over Mayer.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Kligerman kept his lead to three-tenths of a second over Mayer, with the latter keeping pace and remaining within a striking zone of the former while Allmendinger tried to close in on the two leaders. Behind, van Gisbergen trailed by more than two seconds in fourth place ahead of Hill while Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Bilicki and Love were racing in the top 10.

    Then with four laps remaining, Mayer seized an opportunity and made his move beneath Kligerman entering the frontstretch chicane to assume the lead. With Mayer lightly bumping into Kligerman and retaining the lead through the chicane, Kligerman then executed a crossover move of his own as he made his move beneath Mayer and reassumed the lead through the frontstretch. With Kligerman fending off Mayer through the first three turns, Allmendinger joined the battle and van Gisbergen also tried to close in from fourth place. During the following lap, Mayer briefly lost his momentum through the oval’s backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger and van Gisbergen to challenge him for the runner-up spot. Mayer, however, defended his spot as Kligerman muscled away with the lead through every turn and straightaway.

    For the following lap, Kligerman’s steady advantage grew to nine-tenths of a second over Mayer as Allmendinger and van Gisbergen followed suit by less than two seconds. Despite Mayer trimming the gap to half a second towards the frontstretch, Kligerman remained in the lead.

    Then as Kligerman was inches away from crossing the start/finish line to take the white flag and start the final lap of the event, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime due to Leland Honeyman wrecking and getting buried beneath the tire barriers in Turn 3. During the caution period, some including Love pitted while the rest led by Kligerman remained on the track

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Kligerman and Mayer dueling for the lead through the first four turns before the former rubbed and fended his way back to the front to retain the lead. Kligerman would retain the lead for the following infield turns before Mayer pulled a crossover move beneath Kligerman in Turn 7 and assumed the lead entering the oval turns. Mayer would proceed to lead through the backstretch chicane while Kligerman was trying to fend off Allmendinger and van Gisbergen for the runner-up spot.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by a second over Allmendinger and van Gisbergen, who overtook Kligerman for second and third. By then, van Gisbergen was tied with Love for the final transfer spot to the Round of 8. As Love was trying to gain a spot within the middle of the pack, Mayer retained the lead from the infield turns to the backstretch. With both Allmendinger and van Gisbergen unable to close in from behind, Mayer would cycle back to the frontstretch and weave his way through the chicane before crossing the finish line in first place and notching his third Xfinity checkered flag of the 2024 season.

    With the victory, Mayer, who came into the Charlotte Roval event 13 points below the cutline after being disqualified due to his car failing to meet the height requirements during the post-race inspection process last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, notched his seventh career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his third of the season and his first since winning at Iowa Speedway in June. The victory was also the 16th of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate, with the manufacturer racking its sixth consecutive win at the Charlotte Roval, and the 88th overall for JR Motorsports.

    The second consecutive victory at the Charlotte Roval allowed Mayer and the No. 1 JR Motorsports Chevrolet team to automatically advance into the Round of 8, where the Wisconsin native continues his pursuit for his first Xfinity Series championship.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “Man, it’s all thanks to the good Lord above,” Mayer said on the CW Network. “He’s blessed me with a lot of issues this year, learning moments. To come out here to the Charlotte Motor Speedway [Rova], go back to back [in wins] with a fast, fast car. To do it at home is something special. This No. 1 car was fast today. We certainly had to work for [the win] there. I knew that [passing in Turn 7] was my only shot if I got a good angle into that corner. [Kligerman] blocked the bottom [lane], which was good for me. It gave me a better angle up off the corner and this QPS Employment Chevrolet hooked up and we were gone from there. [It] Was something super special and now, I get to celebrate.”

    As Mayer celebrated the race victory that enabled him to advance into the Round of 8, Jesse Love was also left smiling after he finished in 19th place, which was enough for him to claim the eighth and final spot to advance into the next round of the Playoffs by two points over rookie rival van Gisbergen, who ended up in third place. The result marks the second time where a driver of the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry claimed the final berth into the Round of 8 while van Gisbergen’s championship run in his first full-time NASCAR campaign came to a bittersweet end.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “[The ending was] Just stressful,” Love said. “[My team] were telling me I needed one more [spot] and then one more. I was like, ‘When is [the race] gonna end?’ At the end of the day, I got to be loyal to my guys and they busted their ass really hard, so I got to put a sack over my shoulder and man up and drive forward. Just proud of my whole Whelen No. 2 team. We’re good enough to go race for a championship and we just got to go show it in the next three weeks.”

    “It is what it is,” van Gisbergen said. “It probably comes down to last week [at Talladega] having the dramas we had and the DNF there, so that’s probably it. I’m proud of the Kaulig Racing guys. We’ve had an amazing year, my first year in NASCAR. I’ve loved it. I’m happy, but I’m also not. I’d love to keep going [in the Playoffs]. [I] Did what I could.”

    Compared to van Gisbergen, teammate AJ Allmendinger advanced into the Round of 8 by finishing in second place. Playoff contenders Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Justin Allgaier all advanced by finishing fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively, on the track as they joined Sammy Smith, who advanced by winning last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, for the Round of 8 battle.

    Meanwhile, Kligerman did not transfer despite capping off his strong run in sixth place. Kligerman’s sixth-place result left the Connecticut native with mixed emotions and fighting off tears as he was initially within inches of both achieving his first elusive Xfinity victory and advancing into the Round of 8 during the event’s regulation period. Nonetheless, Kligerman remained humble and remained optimistic in pursuing his victory before he retires from NASCAR competition at this season’s conclusion.

    Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “I might have teared up when I thought we got it there with the white flag and the caution comes out and then had to refocus,” Kligerman said. “I thought I’d cut off Turn 7 enough, but [Mayer] somehow got below me and then, it was on from there. I said I want to cry. I’m not gonna cry, but I really love this game. I just really, really wanted that. It would have meant the world, but you know what? It meant the world to be in that position. Thank you to [owner] Scott Borchetta and everyone at Spiked Coolers. Everyone who made this possible. Big Machine Racing. I don’t know how to process this. It’s going to take a while, but just really thankful to have the opportunity. God, I love this game. I want to get a trophy.”

    Ultimately, Kligerman and van Gisbergen join Riley Herbst and Sheldon Creed as the bottom four competitors in the Playoff standings to not advance into the Round of 8.

    There were 12 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 20 laps. In addition, 26 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Sam Mayer, 13 laps led

    2. AJ Allmendinger, 18 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    3. Shane van Gisbergen, seven laps led

    4. Austin Hill

    5. Chandler Smith, one lap led

    6. Parker Kligerman, 12 laps led

    7. Justin Allgaier, six laps led, Stage 2 winner

    8. Josh Bilicki, 10 laps led

    9. Aric Almirola

    10. Sammy Smith

    11. Brandon Jones

    12. Parker Retzlaff

    13. Cole Custer

    14. Alex Labbe

    15. Jeb Burton

    16. Anthony Alfredo

    17. Ryan Sieg

    18. Connor Mosack, five laps led

    19. Jesse Love

    20. Jeremy Clements

    21. Preston Pardus

    22. Matt DiBenedetto

    23. Kyle Sieg

    24. Dawson Cram

    25. Nathan Byrd

    26. Brad Perez

    27. Dylan Lupton, one lap down

    28. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

    29. Sage Karam – OUT, Brakes

    30. Austin Green – OUT, Engine

    31. Ryan Ellis, 14 laps down

    32. Riley Herbst – OUT, Driveshaft

    33. Blaine Perkins, 16 laps down

    34. Thomas Annunziata – OUT, Accident

    35. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    37. Ed Jones – OUT, Accident

    38. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Sam Mayer – Advanced

    2. Sammy Smith – Advanced

    3. Chandler Smith – Advanced

    4. Austin Hill – Advanced

    5. Cole Custer – Advanced

    6. AJ Allmendinger – Advanced

    7. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    8. Jesse Love – Advanced

    9. Shane van Gisbergen – Eliminated

    10. Sheldon Creed – Eliminated

    11. Riley Herbst – Eliminated

    12. Parker Kligerman – Eliminated

    The Round of 8 in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to commence at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Ambetter Health 302. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, October 19, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Riley Herbst scores thrilling last-lap Xfinity victory at Indianapolis

    Riley Herbst scores thrilling last-lap Xfinity victory at Indianapolis

    With his racing status for next season currently unknown, Riley Herbst peddled to the meddle and prevailed in a final lap battle with teammate Cole Custer and Aric Almirola to score a monstrous NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in the Pennzoil 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday, July 20.

    The 25-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, led four times for 30 of 100-scheduled laps in an event where he shared the front row with teammate/pole-sitter Cole Custer and implemented an early strategic pit call to claim the first stage victory and gain valuable Playoff points while on old tires. After spending a majority of the event racing towards the front, Herbst, who executed a bold three-wide pass for the lead on both Aric Almirola and AJ Allmendinger amid a late-race restart with 35 laps remaining, retained the lead during another restart with 29 laps remaining and held a steady advantage over teammate Cole Custer when his momentum was stalled due to another caution for a multi-car wreck with 17 laps remaining.

    Opting to remain on the track on old tires compared to a majority of the field, Herbst quickly lost the lead to Custer during the final restart with 11 laps remaining. Despite also losing the runner-up spot to Almirola, Herbst regained the spot amid light contact two laps later and spent the next seven laps methodically gaining ground on Custer with a strong race car amid the draft. Then as Herbst attempted to side-draft and snatch the lead from Custer through the frontstretch, Almirola threw himself into the picture by overtaking both in a three-wide pass at the start of the final lap. Herbst, however, quickly dispatched Custer and closed back in on Almirola through two turns before he executed his pass while side-drafting Almirola prior to Turn 4. With the lead in his grasp, Herbst, who nearly spun but regained control of his car prior to entering the frontstretch, fended off both Almirola and a hard-charging Custer to grab his first elusive Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and lock himself into the Playoffs.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Cole Custer notched his fifth Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after he posted a pole-winning lap at 167.582 mph in 53.705 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Riley Herbst, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 166.942 mph in 53.911 seconds.

    Prior to the event, Sheldon Creed dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra. Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, teammates Cole Custer and Riley Herbst dueled for the lead through the first two turns before Custer mustered his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang ahead of the field while clearing Herbst in the process prior to hitting the backstretch. Shortly after, Aric Almirola made his way into the runner-up spot over Herbst, who was trying to block Almirola, as Anthony Alfredo and Brandon Jones trailed in the top five.

    Then as the field entered Turn 3, the event’s first caution flew when Sam Mayer, who was trying to fend off AJ Allmendinger and Carson Kvapil for sixth place, slipped underneath Allmendinger as Allmendinger made a bold move to Mayer’s outside prior to the turn, which resulted with Mayer spinning through the turn before he was hit by a sliding Chandler Smith and backed his No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro both against the outside wall and into the path of Josh Berry, with Jeb Burton, Conor Daly, Justin Allgaier, Leland Honeyman, Jeremy Clements, Parker Retzlaff and rookie Jesse Love all sustaining damage to their respective entries.

    Following an extensive cleanup of the wreckage, the race restarted under green on the seventh lap. At the start, teammates Custer and Herbst dueled for a second time for the lead through the first two turns and they remained dead even through the backstretch. As Almirola tried to navigate his way past Custer, who led the first lap under caution, Herbst started to muscle ahead from the outside lane through Turns 3 and 4, but Custer gained the draft from the inside lane to retain the lead for the next lap as he was followed by Almirola. With Custer leading Almirola, Jones and Alfredo would overtake Herbst through the backstretch. Amid a series of on-track battles around the venue, Custer proceeded to lead at the Lap 10 mark by four-tenths of a second over Almirola.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Custer retained the lead by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Almirola, who kept gaining a draft while trying to close in on Custer for more through the straightaways. Behind, third-place Justin Allgaier trailed by four seconds as he was ahead of teammate Brandon Jones and Herbst while Kvapil, Allmendinger, Alfredo, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams were racing in the top 10. Meanwhile, Matt DiBenedetto occupied 11th place ahead of Daniel Dye, rookie Shane van Gisbergen, Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman while Kyle Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Brennan Poole, Parker Retzlaff and Sheldon Creed were mired in the top 20.

    A lap later, the event’s second caution flew due to Chandler Smith, the fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session who was trying to continue after being involved in the opening lap wreck, falling off the pace due to losing fuel pressure to his No. 81 QuickTie Toyota Supra as he was also unable to limp back to pit road. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Custer pitted for service while the rest led by Herbst and including Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Josh Williams, Matt DiBenedetto, Daniel Dye, Parker Kligerman and Brennan Poole remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 20 featured Herbst and Allmendinger dueling for the lead entering the first turn and they made contact in Turn 2 before they continued to duel in front of a stacked two-by-two through the backstretch. Then Ryan Sieg drafted Herbst into the lead as he cleared Allmendinger and muscled away prior to exiting the backstretch. With Herbst leading Sieg and Allmendinger for the following lap and through the frontstretch, Matt DiBenedetto trailed in fourth place along with Kligerman, Josh Williams and the rest of the field.

    By Lap 25, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than a second over both Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger while Kligerman and DiBenedetto continued to run in the top five. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who restarted 18th and whose pit crew discovered a puncture that was removed from a tire when he pitted during the previous caution period, had carved his way into sixth place as he was the first competitor running on the track on fresh tires while Retzlaff, Allgaier, Custer and Almirola followed suit in the top 10.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 30, Herbst claimed his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Allmendinger settled in second place ahead of Ryan Sieg while Jones muscled his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro up to fourth place. Teammate Allgaier settled in fifth place ahead of Custer, who had also charged his way back towards the front, as Kligerman, Almirola, Kvapil and DiBenedetto were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the field, including those who did not pit during the previous caution period, led by Herbst pitted while the rest, including those who pitted recently, led by Jones remained on the track. During the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for an uncontrolled tire penalty while both Retzlaff and Josh Williams were both penalized.

    The second stage period started on Lap 34 as teammates Jones and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start and as the field started to fan out, Jones managed to muscle ahead of teammate Allgaier through the first turn and he would retain the lead through Turn 2 and the backstretch while Custer, Almirola and Kvapil battled for third place. With Austin Hill trying to join the battle as a flurry of on-track battles ensued, Jones retained the lead ahead of Allgaier through the frontstretch and for the following lap.

    Through the Lap 40 mark, Jones continued to lead as he was out in front of a four-car breakaway from the pack that included teammate Allgaier, Custer and Almirola. In the process, Herbst was in sixth place and trying to gain a draft on Kvapil for more. A lap later, Allgaier gained a run beneath Jones and overtook him for the lead through the backstretch. Soon after, however, Custer, who followed Allgaier in the process, battled Allgaier for the lead through Turn 3 and the frontstretch before he muscled ahead along with Jones as Almirola also followed suit. This resulted with Allgaier slipping to fourth place by Lap 42.

    Within the Lap 45 range, Custer was leading by half a second over Almirola, who overtook Jones for the runner-up spot a lap earlier, while Allgaier trailed the lead by a second in fourth place. Meanwhile, Herbst navigated his way back into fifth place ahead of Kvapil and Hill while Ryan Sieg and Creed followed suit in the top 10 ahead of van Gisbergen, Conor Daly, Alfredo, Joe Graf Jr. and DiBenedetto.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 50, Custer extended his advantage to nearly two seconds over Almirola while Herbst, Allgaier and Jones followed suit in the top five. While Kvapil, Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Hill and Creed were in the top 10, van Gisbergen occupied 11th place ahead of Conor Daly, Graf, Dye and Anthony Alfredo while a total of 35 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Four laps later, the caution flew due to smoke billowing out of the No. 44 Macc Door Systems Chevrolet Camaro as Poole was dealing with a potential power steering pump failure. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by Custer pitted while Ryan Sieg, Leland Honeyman and Garret Smithley remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Herbst exited pit road first ahead of teammate Custer, Almirola, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Hill, van Gisbergen, Jones, Creed and Conor Daly. Not long after, Smithley voluntarily opted to restart at the rear of the field, which left Sieg and Honeyman restarting on the front row, but on old tires compared to the field.

    The start of the next restart period with a single lap remaining in the second stage period featured Sieg muscling his No. 39 SciAps Ford Mustang ahead as he was drafted into the lead by Herbst. With the field fanning out through the first two turns, Custer got loose as he made light contact with Honeyman as he slipped out of the top five. Amid the contact that involved Custer, the field continued to fan out and jostle for late spots through the backstretch while Sieg was trying to fend off Herbst and Almirola for two final turns.

    When the field returned to the frontstretch, Sieg managed to block and fend off both Almirola and Herbst to claim his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season as the second stage period concluded on Lap 60. Almirola edged Herbst to claim second place while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Custer, van Gisbergen, Hill, Honeyman and Creed were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, select few led by Sieg and Honeyman pitted while the rest of the field led by Almirola remained on the track.

    With 35 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Almirola and Allmendinger occupied the front row ahead of Herbst and Allgaier. At the start, Almirola and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as Almirola side-drafted Allmendinger to stall his momentum. In the process, Herbst went three wide on both Almirola and Allmendinger to move his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead as he retained the top spot for two corners and led the next lap. While Herbst made the biggest gain through the backstretch, Almirola was drifting out of the top five while Custer and Allgaier were moving their way up towards the front. Shane van Gisbergen would then make his way up to fifth place as he battled Austin Hill and Almirola through the frontstretch.

    A lap later, however, the caution flew when Almirola, who was mired in sixth place, got tapped by Hill in Turn 1 and did two 360 spins through the turn, though he managed to keep his No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra off the wall and be dodged by oncoming traffic as he limped back to pit road with flat-spotted tires.

    With the race restarting under green with 29 laps remaining, Herbst and Allmendinger dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Herbst then got loose entering Turn 3, which caused him to go high as he avoided Allmendinger while sliding sideways as Allmendinger assumed the lead while Herbst slipped to a side-by-side battle with teammate Custer for the runner-up spot. By the following lap, Custer moved into second place while Herbst settled in third place ahead of Allgaier, van Gisbergen and Hill as the rest of the field behind fanned out.

    With 25 laps remaining, Allmendinger was leading by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Custer, who was using the draft to gain runs on Allmendinger through the straightaways. Then in Turn 1, Custer made his move beneath Allmendinger’s No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro and assumed the lead. Custer, however, briefly lost his momentum in the backstretch, which allowed Allmendinger to fight back and duel with Custer through the backstretch until Herbst gave teammate Custer a draft that allowed Custer to drive his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang away with the lead in his grasp just past the backstretch. Shortly after, teammate Herbst overtook Allmendinger from the outside lane to claim second place while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Allgaier for third place. Despite losing third place to Allgaier not long after, Allmendinger reassumed the spot from Allgaier with 23 laps remaining as both van Gisbergen and Hill tried to close in on Allgaier for fourth place.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Custer was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Herbst, who was closing in on his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate through the straightaways amid the draft. Then entering the backstretch, Herbst gained a run underneath Custer and assumed the lead in his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang. Herbst would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over teammate Custer during the following lap as he was also trying to muscle away and break the draft off of Custer.

    Three laps later, the caution flew for a vicious multi-car wreck that started when Daniel Dye made contact with Alfredo that got Dye loose towards the apron in Turns 1 and 2 while Alfredo, who scraped the outside wall, fell off the pace with a flat tire to his No. 5 Dude Mint Chill Chevrolet Camaro and made contact with the outside wall again entering the backstretch. In the process, Retzlaff rammed into the rear of Alfredo, who would proceed to hit the inside SAFER Barrier, at full pace as Josh Williams also rammed into Retzlaff’s wrecked No. 31 FUNKAWAY Chevrolet Camaro before he hit the backstretch’s outside wall head on, thus leaving all three with wrecked race cars.

    During the caution period, some led by Herbst and including Custer, Allmendinger, Jesse Love, Almirola and DiBenedetto remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier pitted.

    Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the race restarted under green. At the start, Custer cleared Herbst amid two turns to assume the lead. Behind, Almirola wasted no time navigating his way past Allmendinger and Herbst to move into the runner-up spot. With Custer stretching his advantage to a second over Almirola with 10 laps remaining, the rest of the field behind fanned out and jostled as both Almirola and Herbst tried to close in.

    With nine laps remaining, Herbst got Almirola loose in Turn 1 and towards the outside wall, which allowed Herbst to reassume the runner-up spot as he set his sights on catching teammate Custer for the lead. Despite trailing teammate Custer by a second with eight laps remaining, Herbst started to close in while logging in faster lap times than Custer while Almirola, Allmendinger and van Gisbergen trailed in the top five.

    With five laps remaining, Custer continued to lead by a second over teammate Herbst, who was not getting closer to Custer and slowly losing valuable lap time as Almirola started to close in on Herbst for the runner-up spot. A lap later, however, Herbst chopped off three-tenths of a second off of teammate Custer’s advantage in his quest to catch him, where he would then trail by six-tenths of a second to Custer with three laps remaining, while van Gisbergen occupied fourth place ahead of Creed, Allmendinger and Hill.

    Then with two laps remaining, Herbst, who spent the previous two laps methodically gaining ground, gained all the ground he needed to get close to Custer’s rear bumper through the backstretch before he planned his move through Turns 3 and 4. As he made his move beneath Custer and dueled with him while also making contact with him through the frontstretch to gain the lead, however, Almirola gained a massive draft on both and he assumed the lead with a bold three-wide move from the outside lane before he started the final lap of the race.

    With Almirola leading, Herbst quickly assumed the runner-up spot just past the frontstretch while Custer drifted back to third place. Herbst then kept the latter close enough in front of him amid the draft and gained the momentum to close back in through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then in Turn 3, Herbst got to Almirola’s left-rear quarter panel, which got Almirola slightly loose, as Herbst side-drafted and snatched the lead entering Turn 4 as he also saved his car from spinning sideways in the process. While Custer regained the momentum to challenge Almirola for the runner-up spot entering the frontstretch, Herbst managed to motor away and streak across the finish line in first place to claim his first Xfinity victory of the 2024 season by a tenth of a second over teammate Custer.

    With the victory, Riley Herbst scored his second Xfinity Series career win in his 162nd series start and his first since winning his first series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, in October 2023. In addition, the Las Vegas native became the sixth competitor overall to win on Indy’s oval-shaped circuit as he recorded the second consecutive victory of the season for both Stewart-Haas Racing and the Ford nameplate.

    Herbst’s Indianapolis victory also makes him the eighth Xfinity Series regular to win in this year’s regular-season stretch as he is guaranteed a spot into the 2024 Playoffs, where he will contend to win his first NASCAR national touring series championship.

    Photo by Adam Lovelace for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “This is Indianapolis,” Herbst said on USA Network. “This is the most famous racetrack in the world. It’s an honor just to walk in this place, let alone win. Man, we’ve had speed all year. I felt like we could win. I just messed up on the restarts a little bit. It was a good fight. I thought I had Cole [Custer] clear and then, [my spotter] said bottom of three [wide] with [Almirola] and I was like, ‘Oh, this is gonna be tough.’ I just continue to work, continue to work, continue to work. It’s bee a pretty tough week on me mentally, to be honest to you. Proud of these guys, proud of everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. These [No. 98] guys could’ve given up on me, gone to different teams, but they’ve stuck behind me and Cole. That’s back-to-back wins for Stewart-Haas Racing. This is fun. I’m gonna go drink beer and turn my phone off for three weeks.”

    “This is hallowed ground, honestly,” Herbst added “This is the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Every person in the world wants to race here and I won here. I don’t care if it’s the Xfinity Series, this is the Cup Series, it’s the go-kart track out back. This is the Brickyard. This is Indianapolis. This is the coolest racetrack in the world and I love you [fans]. This is pretty sweet!”

    Behind Herbst, teammate Cole Custer edged Aric Almirola to claim the runner-up spot a week after he won at Pocono Raceway, with both Herbst and Custer delivering the first 1-2 finish for Stewart-Haas Racing’s in the team’s final season of competition.

    “You could see us beating doors down the frontstretch,” Custer, who led a race-high 47 laps, said. “That was…You’re gonna do everything it takes to win Indy. I was doing everything I could to try and get this [car] to turn. I just needed one less lap. What an awesome day for [Stewart-Haas Racing]. Two cars at the front all day. We qualified one, two. Finished one, two. Unbelievable day for [Stewart-Haas Racing] and hopefully, keep this thing rolling.”

    “[Stewart-Haas Racing drivers] were the class of the field,” Almirola, who led five laps and rallied from his late spin, said. “Those two cars were certainly better than us, but I knew if they got racing, it was gonna be an opportunity to steal it. I got to the lead and thought [I] was gonna be able to steal it. I just got too tight off of [Turn] 3 and [Herbst] got back inside of me. Those guys deserve it. Proud of them and happy for those guys. It was fun to get back in a race car and challenge for a win.”

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen motored his No. 97 WeatherTech Chevrolet Camaro to a stellar fourth-place result in his first NASCAR oval start at Indianapolis while Sheldon Creed ended up in fifth place.

    Austin Hill, Daniel Dye, AJ Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Carson Kvapil completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 29 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 20th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer continues to lead the regular-season standings by 56 points over Justin Allgaier, 87 over Austin Hill, 100 over Chandler Smith and 143 over teammate Riley Herbst.

    Results.

    1. Riley Herbst, 30 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    2. Cole Custer, 47 laps led

    3. Aric Almirola, five laps led

    4. Shane van Gisbergen

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Austin Hill

    7. Daniel Dye

    8. AJ Allmendinger, four laps led

    9. Justin Allgaier

    10. Carson Kvapil

    11. Ryan Sieg, four laps led, Stage 2 winner

    12. Parker Kligerman

    13. Jesse Love

    14. Conor Daly

    15. Brandon Jones, 10 laps led

    16. Matt DiBenedetto

    17. Joe Graf Jr.

    18. Sammy Smith

    19. Jeb Burton

    20. Leland Honeyman

    21. Brennan Poole

    22. Kyle Sieg

    23. Ryan Ellis

    24. Joey Gase

    25. Kyle Weatherman

    26. David Starr

    27. Josh Bilicki

    28. BJ McLeod

    29. Blaine Perkins

    30. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

    31. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    32. Greg Van Alst – OUT, Ignition

    33. Chandler Smith, 14 laps down

    34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

    35. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    37. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    38. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    With the Paris Summer Olympics set to occur for the next two weekends, the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ teams and competitors will be returning to action at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, for the Cabo Wabo 250. The event is scheduled to occur on August 17 and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network. 

  • Mayer survives overtime shootout for dramatic Xfinity victory at Iowa

    Mayer survives overtime shootout for dramatic Xfinity victory at Iowa

    Sam Mayer preserved his tires to the very end and fended off a late challenge from Riley Herbst during an overtime shootout to win the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 at Iowa Speedway on Saturday, June 15.

    The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 47 of 253 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started fifth and ran up front for the majority of the event. Amid a series of on-track carnages that knocked a multitude of front runners out of contention due to tire explosions, Mayer, who nearly wrecked at the start of the second stage period on Lap 82 but led for the first time on Lap 169, made the event’s final pass for the lead on Herbst with seven laps remaining. Then amid an overtime shootout, Mayer managed to fend off Herbst for two laps to score his second NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season and cap off an eventful afternoon of competition in Iowa Speedway’s return to hosting Xfinity events.

    With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday canceled due to inclement weather, the starting lineup for the main event was determined through a performance metric system from the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Austin Hill was awarded the pole position.

    Rookie Shane van Gisbergen, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Sonoma Raceway, was scheduled to start alongside Hill on the front row but he dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after he wrecked his primary car during Friday’s practice session. Patrick Emerling also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his respective entry.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Austin Hill muscled ahead with a brief advantage through the frontstretch until Justin Allgaier, who was scheduled to start in fourth place but moved up to start alongside Hill on the front row in second place, used the outside lane to his advantage as he rocketed his No. 7 BRANDT/Precision Build Chevrolet Camaro into the lead through the first two turns. Sheldon Creed then tried to battle Hill for the runner-up spot through the backstretch, but he slipped up the track while making light contact with Hill’s No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro. The contact cause Creed to slip into a side-by-side battle with Sam Mayer for third place as Hill retained second while Allgaier proceeded to lead the first lap.

    During the proceeding four laps, Creed retained third place while teammate Chandler Smith moved his No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra into fourth place over Mayer. Amid a flurry of battles ensuing within the middle of the pack, Brennan Poole got loose off the front nose of Sammy Smith and nearly slipped up the track and into the path of Jeremy Clements in Turn 3, but all kept their respective entries running straight. Amid the tight side-by-side battles as the competitors in the mid-pack region fanned out to multiple lanes, Allgaier retained the lead by nearly half a second over Hill as Chandler Smith, Creed and Mayer were running in the top five.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by three-tenths of a second over Hill followed by Chandler Smith, Creed and John Hunter Nemechek while Mayer, Cole Custer, rookie Jesse Love, Riley Herbst and Corey Heim trailed in the top 10. Behind, Parker Kligerman followed suit in 11th place ahead of AJ Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Parker Retzlaff while Anthony Alfredo, Brandon Jones, Matt DiBenedetto, Brett Moffitt and Ross Chastain were in the top 20 ahead of Jeb Burton, Kyle Sieg, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman and Jeremy Clements. Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen was up to 33rd place while teammates Josh Williams and Daniel Dye were mired in 28th and 29th, respectively.

    Five laps later, Chandler Smith overtook Allgaier to assume the lead. Smith would stretch his advantage to a second over Allgaier by the Lap 20 mark as Nemechek and Creed were up to third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Hill, who was battling loose conditions, dropped to fifth while Mayer, Custer, Love, Herbst and Allmendinger followed suit in the top 10.

    At the Lap 30 mark, Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage to more than a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Creed, another Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, trailed by four seconds. In the midst of the three Joe Gibbs Racing competitors running first through third on the track, Allgaier trailed in fourth place by six seconds while Hill retained fifth. Allgaier and Hill would then battle for fourth place as Mayer, Custer, Herbst, Love and Allmendinger were in the top 10. By then, van Gisbergen was lapped by the leaders.

    Three laps later, the event’s first caution period flew after Allmendinger, who was running 10th, blew a right-front tire and veered dead straight into the Turn 4 outside wall at full speed before he parked his damaged No. 16 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro on the frontstretch’s grass and retired from the event. During the event’s first caution period, nearly the entire field led by Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by teammate Nemechek and including Jeremy Clements and Ryan Ellis remained on the track. Shortly after the pit stops, Brandon Jones nursed his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro back to pit road as smoke was seen billowing out of his car with the driver battling oil pressure issues that would send the Georgian to the garage.

    When the event restarted under green on Lap 42, Nemechek gained a brief advantage from the outside lane through the frontstretch, but he then went wide in Turn 1, which allowed Jeremy Clements to move his No. 51 Whitetail Smokeless Chevrolet Camaro into the lead from the inside lane. Clements would retain the lead through Lap 48 before Chandler Smith reassumed the lead. Smith would be followed by teammates Creed and Nemechek along with Mayer by the Lap 50 mark while Clements dropped to fifth ahead of Hill.

    By Lap 60, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to more than a second over teammate Creed as Mayer, Nemechek and Custer trailed in the top five. Behind, Allgaier was up to sixth place and Clements dropped to seventh place, with Sammy Smith, Herbst and Moffitt following suit in the top 10 ahead of Love, Hill, Heim, Chastain and Ryan Sieg.

    Nearing the Lap 70 mark, Chandler Smith continued to extend his advantage as he was leading by nearly three seconds over teammate Creed while JR Motorsports’ Mayer, Allgaier and Sammy Smith were up in the top five. Meanwhile, Nemechek dropped to ninth as he trailed Custer, teammate Moffitt and Heim on the track as Love occupied 10th place.

    Two laps later, the event’s second caution period flew after Jeb Burton, who was running 14th, blew a right-front tire and scrubbed the outside wall through Turns 1 and 2. Burton’s incident was enough for the first stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 75 to officially conclude under caution as Chandler Smith claimed his fourth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Creed followed suit in second ahead of Mayer, Allgaier and Sammy Smith while Custer, Moffitt, Heim, Nemechek and Love were scored in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, the entire lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Chandler Smith retained the lead after exiting first followed by teammate Creed, Custer, Sammy Smith, Mayer and Moffitt.

    The second stage period started on Lap 82 as teammates Chandler Smith and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, both Joe Gibbs Racing teammates dueled for the lead until Smith muscled ahead from the outside lane while Creed got loose on the inside lane. Creed was then placed in a tight four-wide battle against Herbst, Mayer and Moffitt for fourth place through the backstretch while Custer and Sammy Smith grabbed second and third, respectively, through the backstretch.

    Mayer then slid sideways after getting hit by Moffitt through Turns 3 and 4, but he kept his car running straight as the oncoming field behind scattered and fanned out to avoid hitting him. Amid the war of attrition in the middle of the pack, Chandler Smith proceeded to lead Custer by a tenth of a second by the Lap 85 mark while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by four-tenths of a second in third.

    On Lap 87, the caution returned after van Gisbergen, who was mired in the top 25, got loose entering the backstretch and slipped up the track and into Blaine Perkins, which resulted in Perkins slapping the outside wall as van Gisbergen slid down the track and was hit hard by Kyle Weatherman, which took all three out of contention and spoiled van Gisbergen’s hopes of winning three consecutive Xfinity races.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 96, the two Smiths, Chandler and Sammy, battled for the lead, with the former edging ahead for nearly a lap from the outside lane until Sammy mounted the pressure on Chandler for the top spot after the latter slipped up the track. With the battle for the lead intensifying during the following lap, Chandler Smith would muscle ahead followed by Custer while Sammy Smith slipped to third. Behind, Chastain and Moffitt carved their way up to fourth and fifth, respectively, while Love trailed in sixth as Chandler Smith was leading by two-tenths of a second by the Lap 100 mark.

    Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Moffitt and Love while Chastain, Nemechek, Herbst, Allgaier and Mayer were in the top 10. Behind, Heim trailed in 11th place ahead of Creed, Kligerman, Ryan Sieg and Hill while Ryan Ellis, Leland Honeyman, Daniel Dye, Brennan Poole and Clements were scored in the top 20.

    Then on Lap 123 and with a multitude of competitors battling for car control on the track’s paved surface, the caution flew after Patrick Emerling spun in Turn 1. During the caution period, some including Moffitt, Hill, Josh Williams, Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Clements, Dawson Cram and Joey Gase pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 132, Chandler Smith muscled ahead of Custer to retain the lead as Custer slipped through the first two turns. Custer’s misfortune cost him three spots as Sammy Smith, Chastain and Allgaier all moved up the leaderboard. Soon after, Allgaier and Custer made contact, but they continued to race in the top 10 as the field fanned out. Amid the battles in the middle of the pack, the battle for the lead between the two Smiths, Chandler and Sammy, began to intensify as the latter challenged the former for the top spot. Chastain and Mayer would close in to make the battle for the lead a four-car battle while Chandler Smith retained the top spot.

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Chandler Smith continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Sammy Smith as Mayer, Chastain and Creed followed suit within a second in the top five. Behind, Heim was up to sixth place while Allgaier, Herbst, Love and Custer trailed in the top 10 ahead of Hill, DiBenedetto, Nemechek, Daniel Dye and Moffitt.

    Then on the final lap of the second stage period, the caution flew due to 14th-place runner Love cutting a right-front tire and going dead straight into the outside wall in between Turns 3 and 4 as his event came a late end. The drama for Love would continue as his damaged No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro went up in flames while being towed back to the garage.

    Love’s incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 150 to officially conclude under caution as Chandler Smith captured his fifth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season and second of the day. Mayer muscled his way up to second place as he was followed by Chastain, Heim and Sammy Smith while Creed, Allgaier, Herbst, Custer and Hill were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returned to pit road for service while Josh Williams remained on the track, with the latter assuming the lead. Amid the pit stops, Ryan Sieg exited pit road second after he opted for a full tank of fuel to his entry.

    With 90 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Williams and Ryan Sieg occupied the front row. At the start, Chandler Smith tried to force his way in between both for the lead, but Sieg muscled ahead with the lead. In addition, Mayer overtook both to assume the runner-up while Chandler Smith slipped. This resulted with Smith dropping out of race-winning contention and out of the top 10 on the track while Sieg was leading ahead of Mayer and a bevy of battles ensuing behind them.

    With 80 laps remaining, Mayer, who overtook Ryan Sieg for the lead two laps earlier, was leading by six-tenths of a second over Creed followed by Ryan Sieg, Custer and Moffitt while Nemechek, Heim, Hill, Williams and Sammy Smith were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Chandler Smith was still mired in 12th.

    Ten laps later, Mayer stabilized his advantage to half a second over Creed as Custer, Nemechek and Moffitt trailed in the top five. Behind, Chandler Smith retained 12th place as he was racing in between Allgaier and Chastain while Heim, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Williams were mired in the top 10.

    Another 10 laps later, Mayer slightly extended his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Creed as Custer, Nemechek and Heim followed suit in the top five. Meanwhile, Ryan Sieg and Moffitt, both of whom pitted under green a few laps earlier, were mired back in 25th and 27th, respectively.

    With 50 laps remaining, Mayer stabilized his advantage to a second over Creed as Nemechek moved up to third place ahead of Custer and Heim. By then, Williams and Matt DiBenedetto had pitted under green. Another lap later, the caution flew after Allgaier blew a right-front tire and went dead straight into the outside wall entering Turn 4 as his strong run came to a late end.

    During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Mayer pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek emerged with the lead after he exited first while teammate Creed, Mayer, Custer, Hill and Chandler Smith followed suit in the top six.

    As the event restarted with 40 laps remaining, Nemechek muscled ahead with the lead from the outside lane followed by teammate Creed while Hill put the bumper to Mayer and moved Mayer in the middle of a three-wide battle as Hill tried to march his way back to the front. Then as Kligerman went wide and nearly hit the outside wall in between Turns 3 and 4, the battle for the lead intensified between teammates Nemechek and Creed as they dueled in front of Custer through the frontstretch. Creed then briefly wiggled in Turn 1, which allowed Nemechek to muscle back ahead as Custer and Hill overtook Creed for second and third on the track.

    Then with 33 laps remaining, Hill’s chances of contending for the victory evaporated after a blown left-front tire sent Hill straight into the outside wall in Turn 1. With Hill out of contention, Nemechek had retained the lead while Custer, Creed, Mayer and Chandler Smith were scored in the top five.

    Down to the final 26 laps of the event, the event restarted under green. At the start, Nemechek continued to make the outside lane work to his advantage as he muscled away from the field followed by Custer while Mayer, who restarted as the first competitor on the inside lane, settled in third and in front of Creed. Mayer would then overtake Custer for the runner-up spot during the following lap. He would retain the spot over Herbst and Custer over the next four laps before the caution flew as Brennan Poole went up in smoke and dropped fluid around the circuit.

    The start of the next restart period with 13 laps remaining featured Nemechek fending off Herbst for nearly a lap before Herbst drew his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang alongside Nemechek’s No. 20 Daisy Brands Toyota Supra in a late battle for the lead through the frontstretch. Herbst then managed to clear Nemechek and emerge with the lead and with both lanes to his control during the following lap while Creed battled Nemechek for the runner-up spot.

    Shortly after, Nemechek and Creed made contact that resulted in Nemechek generating a tire rub and slipping out of the top five. Amid the contact, Mayer made his way into the runner-up spot. Heim, Custer and Chastain moved into the top five while Herbst retained the lead by three-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.

    Then with seven laps remaining, Mayer drag-raced against Herbst through the backstretch before he assumed the lead in his No. 1 Roto-Rooter Chevrolet Camaro. As Mayer started to pull away from Herbst and Heim with the lead, the caution returned with five laps remaining after Nemechek, who was trying to nurse his car to the finish amid his tire rub and late run-in with teammate Creed, ended up against the outside wall towards Turn 4 with a flat tire. Nemechek’s incident was enough to send the event into overtime.

    The start of the first overtime attempt featured Herbst and Mayer battling dead even for the lead approaching the first turn. As Creed got loose and nearly slid into Heim, Mayer managed to rocket ahead of Herbst through the first two turns and lead through the backstretch.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer was leading by two-tenths of a second over Herbst as Heim tried to join the battle. With both Herbst and Heim unable to mount a final lap charge, Mayer was able to nurse his car around the Iowa circuit smoothly for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag by a tenth of a second.

    With the victory, Mayer, who ended up with a flat left-rear tire after Herbst gave Mayer a post-race bump into the side to express his displeasure from an earlier on-track contact and proceeded to blow his right-rear tire from his post-race burnout, notched his sixth career win in his 99th Xfinity Series career start, his second of the 2024 season and his first since winning at Texas Motor Speedway in April.

    In addition to becoming the fourth multi-race winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season, Mayer became the 15th competitor overall to win an Xfinity event at Iowa in the speedway’s return to hosting NASCAR Xfinity events since the 2019 season. The Wisconsin native also delivered the 10th victory of the season for the Chevrolet nameplate and the third of the season for JR Motorsports.

    “We struggled yesterday and this Roto-Rooter team went to work,” Mayer said on USA Network. “Obviously, we did pretty good overnight making good decisions on this race car. Man, I’m out of breath because I was just huffing in a bunch of smoke, but I feel really good. I could do another 100 laps, for sure. With a race car like this, it’d be a lot of fun. We definitely got a little bit tight there at the end of the second stage, so I was a little concern [of the tire wear] there. [Crew chief] Mardy [Lindley] said the tires look all good. We took care of [the car] and we did our job and now, we get to celebrate.”

    As Mayer celebrated on the frontstretch, Herbst was left disappointed on pit road and with a small axe to grind towards Mayer after the latter had made contact with the former earlier prior to their late-race battle for the victory. Nonetheless, Herbst was also left pleased with his performance and the resilience being exhibited by Stewart-Haas Racing amid the team’s closure at this season’s conclusion. Currently, Herbst’s racing plans for the 2025 season remains to be determined.

    “It was just frustrating,” Herbst said. “It was an up-and-down day, for sure. I felt like we were okay yesterday and we got it better. We worked all night. [The No. 98 team] did a really good job. We worked our day back up through the field, got some track position and then, the guy who won [Mayer], I mean, he just absolutely brooms us into [Turns] 1 and 2, so that was frustrating. Then for him to door me down the straightaway before the green white checkered [restart], I don’t know.

    “That was a bit frustrating, but all in all, it was fun to race with them on the green-white checkered. I’m just most proud in that the speed’s back in the No. 98 Monster Energy car. It was really fast today, so I appreciate everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing for sticking together. It’s been a hard last couple of months and it’s gonna be a hard couple months going forward as well with everything that’s going on. Everybody staying together is awesome. Hopefully, we can continue to bring the speed to New Hampshire next week.”

    Corey Heim piloted the No. 26 Yahoo! Toyota Supra from Sam Hunt Racing to a career-best third place in his 11th career start in the Xfinity Series while Sammy Smith and Sheldon Creed finished in the top five.

    Cole Custer came home in sixth place while Matt DiBenedetto, Chandler Smith, Ross Chastain and Daniel Dye completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 71 laps. In addition, 17 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the 15th event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Cole Custer leads the regular-season standings by a single point over Chandler Smith while Austin Hill trails by 41 points and Justin Allgaier trails by 44 points.

    Results.

    1. Sam Mayer, 47 laps led

    2. Riley Herbst, seven laps led

    3. Corey Heim

    4. Sammy Smith

    5. Sheldon Creed

    6. Cole Custer

    7. Matt DiBenedetto

    8. Chandler Smith, 131 laps led, Stages 1 & 2 winner

    9. Ross Chastain

    10. Daniel Dye

    11. Parker Kligerman

    12. Ryan Sieg, eight laps led

    13. Leland Honeyman

    14. Ryan Ellis

    15. Anthony Alfredo

    16. Joey Gase

    17. David Starr

    18. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    19. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    20. Josh Williams, one lap down, four laps led

    21. Jeremy Clements, one lap down, seven laps led

    22. Dawson Cram, one lap down

    23. Patrick Emerling, one lap down

    24. Jeb Burton, three laps down

    25. Hailie Deegan, three laps down

    26. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

    27. John Hunter Nemechek – OUT, Accident, 35 laps led

    28. Brennan Poole – OUT, Oil Line

    29. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

    30. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident, 14 laps led

    31. Jesse Love – OUT, Accident

    32. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Electrical

    33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

    34. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Accident

    35. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Engine

    37. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

    38. Glen Reen – OUT, Carburetor

    Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is the series’ annual visit to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, for the SciAps 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, June 22, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Jesse Love outlasts two overtime shootouts for first Xfinity career win at Talladega

    Jesse Love outlasts two overtime shootouts for first Xfinity career win at Talladega

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results. 

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

    2. Riley Herbst, 13 laps led 

    3. Anthony Alfredo, six laps led 

    4. Leland Honeyman 

    5. Brennan Poole 

    6. Sheldon Creed 

    7. Caesar Bacarella 

    8. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap led 

    9. Jeb Burton 

    10. Cole Custer, four laps led 

    11. Mason Massey 

    12. Hailie Deegan 

    13. Kyle Sieg 

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

    15. Taylor Gray, one lap led 

    16. Josh Bilicki 

    17. Ryan Sieg, seven laps led 

    18. Joey Gase 

    19. AJ Allmendinger 

    20. Josh Williams 

    21. Sammy Smith, two laps led 

    22. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap led 

    23. Blaine Perkins, one lap down 

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

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

    26. Ryan Ellis, one lap down 

    27. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, DVP 

    28. Dawson Cram, four laps down

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

    30. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Ignition 

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

    32. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident 

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

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

    35. Jeremy Clements – OUT, Accident 

    36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident 

    37. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Engine 

    38. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident 

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

  • Brennan Poole joins Alpha Prime Racing for 2024 Xfinity Series season

    Brennan Poole joins Alpha Prime Racing for 2024 Xfinity Series season

    Brennan Poole will be piloting the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season.

    The news comes as the 32-year-old Poole from The Woodlands, Texas, is coming off a full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit with JD Motorsports. Throughout the 33-race schedule, Poole made 31 starts. During his starts, he notched a season-best fifth-place result at Talladega Superspeedway in April and an average-finishing result of 25.3 before finishing in 24th place in the final driver’s standings.

    “I already can’t wait for the season to start because I’m looking forward to working with such great people and partners,” Poole said. “I’m so honored for the opportunity to run the No. 44 [car] and thankful to the sponsors who are supporting the team this season.”

    Poole, a former IMCA Modifieds, Dirt Late Models, and UARA-Stars Late Models star who achieved the 2011 UARA-Stars Late Model Series title and holds the record for both the most wins in a season and the most consecutive wins in a UARA-Stars Late Model Series, has made 124 career starts in the Xfinity Series to date. Throughout his starts, he notched a pole position at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2016, nine top-five results, 37 top-10 results, 33 laps led and an average-finishing result of 18.3. He also made two consecutive Xfinity Series Playoff appearances in 2016-17, both seasons in which he achieved four top-five results and 17 top-10 results a piece, with his best points result being a sixth-place finish in 2017.

    In addition, Poole has made 42 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, including seven this past season with Rick Ware Racing, and 38 in the Craftsman Truck Series, including three this past season with G2G Racing. He has made 35 starts in the ARCA Menards Series, where he achieved a total of six victories between 2011-14.

    “We just landed one of the best drivers in the series,” Tommy Joe Martins, Alpha Prime Racing’s team owner and general manager, said. “It’s just a really exciting day for our company. It’s the first time we’ve had two full-time drivers, and to have them be the quality of Brennan and Ryan…both Caesar and myself are over the moon. He’s exactly what our team needed.”

    For the 2024 season, Poole will be receiving sponsorship support from Macc Door Systems and Finance Pro Plus. He will also be a teammate to Ryan Ellis, who was announced to pilot Alpha Prime Racing’s No. 43 entry for the upcoming season this past August.

    With his plans for next season set, Poole’s first campaign with Alpha Prime Racing commences in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series’ season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway on February 17. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Martin Truex Jr. snaps winless drought; returns to Cup Series Victory Lane at Dover

    Martin Truex Jr. snaps winless drought; returns to Cup Series Victory Lane at Dover

    Martin Truex Jr.’s 54-race winless drought evaporated on a clear Monday afternoon following a seven-lap dash to the finish as he proceeded to win the rain-postponed Würth 400 at Dover Motor Speedway on Monday, May 1.

    The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Mayetta, New Jersey, led two times for 68 of 400-scheduled laps, including the final 11, as he spent the majority of the event clashing with crew chief James Small for better adjustments and pit stops to move up to the front. After gaining ground on the leaders at the start of the final stage, Truex capitalized during a green flag pit stop sequence that started with 76 laps remaining to cycle ahead of Ross Chastain and inherit the lead with 68 laps remaining.

    Then, while trying to fend off Chastain and navigate his way through lapped traffic, a late caution period with 14 laps remaining was called for Joey Logano who was wrecking. This enabled Small to roll the dice and opt for a two-tire pit strategy that kept Truex in the lead. When the field restarted with seven laps remaining, Truex fended off a side-by-side battle against Ryan Blaney before holding off Chastain, who was charging on four fresh tires, to claim his first elusive checkered flag of the 2023 Cup season at the Monster Mile on his home track, and claim his first points victory in over a year.

    With on-track qualifying that was scheduled to occur on Saturday, April 29, being canceled due to rain, the starting lineup was determined through a metric formula per the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Kyle Busch, winner of last weekend’s Cup event at Talladega Superspeedway, started on the pole position. Joining him on the front row was Christopher Bell. Prior to the event, Austin Dillon dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Saturday’s practice session.

    Due to the inclement weather, the main event was postponed from Sunday, April 30, to Monday, May 1, with a noon ET start time. When the green flag waved and the race commenced on Monday, Kyle Busch muscled away from Bell on the outside lane as he assumed the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. As the field behind fanned out and jostled for early positions, Busch proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of Bell as Brad Keselowski overtook Ryan Blaney for third. In addition, Chase Briscoe was in fifth ahead of William Byron as Chris Buescher pressured Byron for more.

    Through the first five scheduled laps, Busch maintained the lead ahead of Bell, Keselowski, Blaney and Briscoe while Buescher, Byron, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Tyler Reddick and Chase Elliott were in the top 10. Behind, Denny Hamlin was in 11th ahead of Kevin Harvick, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Martin Truex Jr. while Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric and Justin Haley occupied the top 20. With more on-track battles ensuing, Busch retained the lead at the Lap 10 mark.

    When a scheduled competition caution flew on Lap 20, Busch was scored the leader by three-tenths of a second over Bell while Keselowski, Blaney, Byron, Buescher, Stenhouse, Hamlin, Reddick and Harvick were scored in the top 10. By then, Elliott was in 13th behind Suarez and Truex, Larson was in 15th behind Chastain and Briscoe had fallen back to 20th. Meanwhile, Berry, who was filling in driving the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the injured Alex Bowman, was in 17th.

    During the competition caution, the entire field led by Busch pitted as all took four tires, except for Berry and Todd Gilliland as both opted for two fresh tires. Following the pit stops, Busch exited first followed by Keselowski, Byron, Buescher, Hamlin and Berry. During the pit stops, teammates Byron and Berry made contact on pit road, when Berry exited his pit stall and ran into the side of Byron’s No. 24 Raptor Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Byron then made contact with the pit wall. In addition, Bell fell back to 14th after enduring a slow pit service while his crew was changing the right-front tire.

    Following the pit stops, however, Busch was sent to the rear of the field for speeding on pit road. Busch’s penalty allowed Keselowski and Byron to move up to the front row for the continuation of the event.

    When the race proceeded under green on Lap 27, Byron rocketed away from Keselowski with a strong start on the inside lane and with Hamlin pushing him as Byron assumed the lead. The caution, however, quickly returned when rookie Noah Gragson, who was running towards the rear, slapped the outside wall on the backstretch before spinning towards the bottom of the track and making light contact with the inside wall as he nursed his damaged No. 42 Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on Lap 33, Byron rocketed away with another strong start on the outside lane as he maintained the lead ahead of Hamlin and Keselowski, both of whom battled for second in front of Blaney. With the field fanning out for nearly a lap, the caution quickly returned during the following lap when Suarez, who was running towards the top 10, snapped loose and slapped the outside wall entering the frontstretch as he then spun his No. 99 Pitbull/Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 towards the inside wall. With the field slamming on the brakes to avoid Suarez’s incident, more issues ensued as Kyle Busch ran into the rear of Ty Dillon as both he and BJ McLeod also wrecked with Dillon sustaining more damage as he backed his Spire Motorsports entry into the inside wall. The incident knocked Dillon and Suarez out of contention as McLeod and Busch, whose early pit road speeding penalty sent him to the rear of the field, pitted for repairs.

    During the following restart on Lap 41, Byron maintained the lead ahead of Hamlin as the field fanned out to three lanes entering the first two turns. Behind, Blaney overtook Keselowski for third while Ross Chastain used a three-wide move on the outside lane to move up to fifth. Shortly after, however, Truex battled his way into the top five as Keselowski fell back to sixth while Buescher, Berry, and Larson followed in pursuit.

    Through the first 50 scheduled laps, Byron was leading by half a second over Hamlin followed by Blaney, Chastain and Truex while Keselowski, Buescher, Berry, Larson and Stenhouse were running in the top 10. Behind, Elliott was in 11th ahead of Bell, Harvick, Reddick and Cindric while Justin Haley, Michael McDowell, AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano and Todd Gilliland were in the top 20. By then, Bubba Wallace was in 22nd ahead of rookie Ty Gibbs and Erik Jones, Kyle Busch was mired in 25th, Briscoe had fallen back to 27th, Aric Almirola was in 30th and Austin Dillon was in 32nd after starting at the rear of the field.

    Ten laps later, Byron continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin as Blaney, Chastain and Truex remained in the top five. Byron proceeded to maintain his advantage by eight-tenths of a second over Hamlin and more than two seconds over third-place Blaney at the Lap 75 mark. By then, Larson cracked the top five in fifth while Truex fell back to seventh. In addition, Bell returned to the top 10 in 10th, Elliott was in 13th behind Berry and Reddick, Harvick was in 14th and Kyle Busch was in 17th behind McDowell.

    Then on Lap 80, the caution flew when Chastain, who was running fourth and getting pinned behind the lapped competitors of Brennan Poole and Austin Dillon, ran into Poole and sent Poole’s No. 15 Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang sideways in Turn 1. Poole then came back across the track and collected Larson, who was running fifth, as both wrecked against the outside wall, with Larson spinning below the track and sustaining significant front-end damage to his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. The incident was one that left Larson voicing his displeasure to Chastain over the radio.

    During the caution period, nearly the entire field pitted, except for Kyle Busch as he remained on the track and inherited the lead in his damaged No. 8 Lenovo Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. Following the pit stops and amid mixed strategies, Chastain exited first after opting only for two tires followed by Reddick, who also opted for two tires, while Byron exited third and was the first competitor on four fresh tires. Blaney, Keselowski and Buescher followed suit from fourth to sixth.

    At the start of the following restart on Lap 89, Busch and Chastain battled dead even entering Turn 1 as Chastain then slid up the track towards Busch. This caused Busch to brake to avoid wrecking as Byron seized an opportunity on the inside lane to battle and overtake Chastain for the lead. With Byron leading Chastain, Hamlin and Keselowski battled for third followed by Blaney while Busch fell back to sixth in front of Reddick. Meanwhile, Harvick was in 10th behind Buescher and Bell while Truex was in 11th in front of Corey LaJoie. In addition, Logano was battling Stenhouse and Ty Gibbs for 13th.

    At the Lap 100 mark, Byron was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Chastain followed by Hamlin, Keselowski and Blaney while Reddick, Buescher, Bell, Harvick, Busch and Truex battled within the top 11. Not long after, Larson nursed his damaged No. 5 car to the garage for additional repairs.

    Just past the Lap 110 mark, Byron maintained the lead by four-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Hamlin with Chastain falling back to third on two fresh tires. Keselowski and Blaney remained in the top five while Buescher, Bell, Harvick, Truex and Reddick were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Busch was scored outside the top 20 while names that included Logano, AJ Allmendinger, Berry, Erik Jones, Elliott and Ryan Preece were running within the top 20.

    When the first stage concluded on Lap 120, Byron claimed his sixth stage victory of the 2023 Cup season after fending off a last-lap charge from Hamlin. Blaney settled in third while Keselowski, Chastain, Buescher, Bell, Harvick, Truex and Stenhouse. Meanwhile, Busch, who radioed a right rear tire issue to his car and was lapped by Byron a few laps prior to the conclusion of the stage, was overtaken and edged by teammate Austin Dillon at the stage’s conclusion for the free pass spot in 25th place.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Byron pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron retained the lead after exiting first followed by Keselowski, Blaney, Chastain, Bell and Harvick. During the pit stops, Hamlin exited ninth after enduring a slow pit stop after the jackman tripped over the pit hose. Teammate Truex also endured a slow stop after the jackman had issues jacking up the right side of Truex’s car during the pit service. In addition, Keselowski was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation for knocking a tire out of his pit box and towards the infield.

    The second stage started on Lap 129 as Byron and Blaney occupied the front row. At the start, Byron rocketed away with the lead followed by Blaney and Chastain while Hamlin ignited his charge back to the front as he battled Harvick for fifth while Bell was in fourth. By then, Ty Gibbs cracked the top 10 in eighth ahead of Logano and Elliott.

    Through Lap 150, Byron was leading by more than a second over Blaney followed by Chastain, Hamlin and Harvick while Bell, Buescher, Gibbs, Elliott and Berry were in the top 10. Behind, Erik Jones was in 11th ahead of Logano, LaJoie, Stenhouse and McDowell while Reddick, Truex, Wallace, Allmendinger and Preece occupied the top 20. By then, Keselowski had fallen out of the top 20 in 22nd while Kyle Busch was mired in 26th.

    Twenty-five laps later, Byron stabilized his lead by six-tenths of a second over Blaney, who started to close in on Byron for the lead, while third-place Chastain trailed by eight-tenths of a second. Behind, fourth-place Hamlin was trailing by five seconds while fifth-place Harvick trailed by six seconds. By then, 21 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Logano, who restarted ninth during the previous restart, was lapped and mired in 22nd place.

    Another 10 laps later, the battle for the lead began to slow brew between Byron and Chastain, with the latter, who overtook Blaney earlier, closing in on the former and was trailing within five and six-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Blaney fell back to third and was trailing by more than two seconds followed by Hamlin and Harvick, Gibbs started to battle Buescher for sixth and Bell was clinging towards the edge of the top 10. Not long after, Bell and Logano, who was a lap down, pitted. Briscoe, who was also a lap down, pitted after making contact with the Turn 4 wall.

    Just past the Lap 190 mark, names that included Elliott, Buescher, Gibbs, Reddick, Harvick, Erik Jones, Hamlin and Stenhouse pitted under green as Byron continued to fend off Chastain for the lead. Then on Lap 194, Byron surrendered the lead to Chastain as he pitted under green. Chastain would pit during the following lap along with Blaney, Cindric, Truex, Preece, Berry and others.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 200 and with nearly the entire field having made a pit stop, Keselowski, who had yet to pit, was leading while Chastain, who was trailing by a long distance in second, managed to blend back on the track ahead of Byron and Blaney. Just then, Keselowski pitted his No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang under green as Chastain cycled into the lead. By then, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch, both of whom were in third and fifth, had yet to pit while Byron and Blaney were in second and fourth.

    Ten laps later, Chastain was leading by two-tenths of a second over Byron followed by Blaney while Harvick and Hamlin moved back up into the top five. Buescher was in sixth ahead of Austin Dillon and Elliott while Kyle Busch was in ninth ahead of Ty Gibbs. By then, Truex was back in 12th ahead of teammate Bell while Berry was running just outside the top 15.

    Another 15 laps later, Chastain continued to lead by three-tenths of a second over Byron and more than two seconds over Blaney while Harvick and Hamlin remained in the top five. By then, Buescher, Gibbs, Elliott, Reddick and Truex were in the top 10 while Bubba Wallace moved up to 11th followed by Bell, Corey LaJoie, Erik Jones and Josh Berry. Meanwhile, Keselowski was mired in 16th, the final competitor on the lead lap.

    Just past Lap 235, Chastain extended his advantage to more than a second over Byron and more than three seconds over Blaney as 15 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    When the second stage concluded on Lap 250, Chastain claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2023 Cup season. Byron settled in second followed by Blaney, Truex and Hamlin while Gibbs, Buescher, Reddick, Elliott and Bell were scored in the top 10. By then, only 12 of 36 starters were scored on the lead lap while Harvick, who was off the pace, had fallen back to 15th in his No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza/Realtree Ford Mustang.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap competitors led by Chastain pitted. Following the pit stops, Byron reassumed the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of Chastain while Blaney, Truex, Gibbs, Buescher and Hamlin followed suit.

    With 142 laps remaining, the final stage started as Byron and Chastain occupied the front row. At the start, Chastain received a strong push from Truex to challenge Byron for the lead, but Byron managed to use the outside lane to his advantage as he retained the lead while Truex overtook Blaney for third. As Byron continued to lead, Gibbs and Buescher were in fifth and sixth while Hamlin battled his driver Reddick for seventh.

    With 125 laps remaining, Byron stretched his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Chastain while third-place Truex trailed by a second. Blaney and Gibbs were in the top five while Buescher, Hamlin, Reddick, Bell, Keselowski, Elliott, Berry and Wallace were scored in the lead lap category within the top 13. Meanwhile, LaJoie and Harvick battled for 14th place and to emerge as the highest competitor scored a lap down while Erik Jones, Stenhouse, McDowell, Harrison Burton and Allmendinger were scored in the top 20. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch was mired in 22nd and Logano was down to 28th.

    Then 11 laps later, Chastain, who had methodically narrowed his deficit from Byron while also trying to fend off Truex, overtook Byron, who was battling loose conditions, through Turns 3 and 4 as he returned as the leader. Truex then overtook Byron for the runner-up spot two laps later as he started to ignite his charge to the front.

    Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Chastain was leading by six-tenths of a second over Truex. Behind, Blaney moved up to third along with Gibbs while Byron fell back to fifth. Meanwhile, Hamlin was in sixth ahead of Bell, Reddick, Keselowski and Buescher while Berry, Elliott and Wallace were scored on the lead lap.

    Ten laps later, Chastain continued to lead by nine-tenths of a second over Truex. Chastain proceeded to stabilize his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Truex with 80 laps remaining. By then, Byron, who earlier reported an issue to his right-rear tire, was back in seventh as Blaney, Gibbs, Bell and Hamlin occupied the top six.

    Then with 76 laps remaining, pit stops under the green flag slowly commenced as Keselowski pitted. Reddick would pit a few laps later along with Truex, Buescher, Ty Gibbs, Byron and Wallace, who shredded a tire, as Harrison Burton spun after locking his front tires while trying to enter pit road behind Truex. With Burton managing to continue to pit road despite briefly blocking the entrance, the race remained under green flag conditions. Chastain would then pit with nearly 70 laps remaining along with Hamlin and others while McDowell was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    Back on the track and with the green flag pit stops continuing to ensue, Truex, who managed to cycle ahead of Chastain, assumed the lead in his No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota TRD Camry over half a second over Chastain’s No. 1 Jockey Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 with 68 laps remaining.

    With 50 laps remaining, Truex was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Chastain while third-place Blaney trailed by more than five seconds. Behind, Ty Gibbs was in fourth ahead of teammates Hamlin and Bell, thus placing all four Joe Gibbs Racing competitors in the top six. Keselowski was up in seventh while Byron was back in eighth ahead of Buescher and Reddick.

    Then with nearly 40 laps remaining, the battle for the lead reignited as Chastain narrowed the deficit to less than three-tenths of a second over the leader Truex, who was getting mired in lapped traffic. By then, Ty Gibbs had fallen back to sixth place after being reported that he would be seven laps shy on his current tank of fuel.

    With 30 laps remaining, Truex, who was trying to lap Harvick, stabilized his advantage to four-tenths of a second over Chastain. Truex, however, would manage to lap Harvick a second time and navigate his way through lapped traffic smoothly as he extended his advantage to nearly a second over Chastain, who was blocked by Larson as Larson stalled Chastain’s progress to express his continuous displeasure from the Lap 81 incident between both, with 20 laps remaining.

    A few laps later, however, Truex encountered more heavy traffic, which enabled Chastain to close the deficit to within six-tenths and half a second. As Chastain started to encounter the traffic, among which included Reddick and Gibbs, he was trailing by within four-tenths of a second as Truex continued to lead.

    Then with 14 laps remaining, the caution flew when Logano’s long afternoon came to a crashing end after he lost a tire, spun and wrecked his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Ford Mustang against the outside wall in Turn 4. By then, Truex had retained the lead over Chastain as both along with Blaney, Hamlin, Bell, Keselowski, Byron and Buescher were the only competitors scored on the lead lap.

    During the caution period, the remaining eight lead lap competitors led by Truex pitted. Following the pit stops, Truex retained the lead after exiting pit road first while only opting for two fresh right-side tires along with Blaney and Bell. Meanwhile, Chastain, who opted for four tires, exited fourth followed by Keselowski, Byron, Buescher and Hamlin.

    Down to the final seven laps of the event, the race restarted under green as Truex and Blaney occupied the front row in front of Bell and Chastain. At the start, Truex and Blaney, both of whom were racing on two fresh tires, battled dead even for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch while Chastain was trying to overtake Bell for third. Blaney then sent his No. 12 Wabash Ford Mustang hard into Turns 3 and 4 to assume the lead, but Truex fought back on the outside lane entering the frontstretch. Then after their side-by-side battle for more than a lap, Truex pulled away from Blaney with the lead through the backstretch with six laps remaining. Chastain then overtook Blaney for second entering the frontstretch as he tried to catch Truex despite both time and laps winding down.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Truex remained as the leader by nearly six-tenths of a second over Chastain. With Chastain unable to launch a final lap charge to get to Truex’s bumper on four fresh tires, Truex was able to cycle his way back to the frontstretch and claim his first checkered flag of the season and his first win in over a year.

    With the victory, Truex, who won the non-points Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum in February, notched his 32nd career victory in NASCAR’s premier series, his 13th driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, his sixth with crew chief James Small and his fourth at Dover (three of which, including today and also in 2007 and 2019, occurring on a Monday). The victory also snapped a 54-race winless drought for the former Cup Series champion, who last won at Richmond Raceway in September 2021, and placed him in a guaranteed spot to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs after missing it during the previous season. It was also a memorable weekend for the Truex family, with Martin’s younger brother, Ryan, notching his first Xfinity Series career victory at the Monster Mile on Saturday.

    “Man, it feels incredible,” Truex, who became the eighth different winner of 2023, said on FS1. “I felt like we’ve been close a bunch of times. We gave some [wins] away, that’s for sure. I thought today, ‘Oh man. Late caution. What’s gonna happen here?’ Just a great call by James [Small] to take two [tires] and was able to get a pretty good restart and get Blaney there. He raced me hard, but clean. Just thanks to everybody that stuck with us. We knew we could do this. We’ve showed it. We’ve led laps, we’ve dominated races and it just would never all come together, and I kept saying that we gotta just keep doing what we’re doing and not overthink it. Tough day today with a few pit stops early and then, obviously, the [pit] guys got it going at the end. Really psyched and happy for everybody. Thanks to everyone at [Joe Gibbs Racing] as well. Awesome job.”

    Chastain, who is seeking his first victory of the season and since winning at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2022, settled in second after leading 98 compared to Truex’s 68 laps led, but finishing behind Truex by half a second.

    “[I] Knew whoever got into the lead was gonna have a good shot at [winning],” Chastain, who accepted the responsibility for the incident involving Brennan Poole and Larson, said. “Gosh, so close again for our Jockey Chevy. It’s surreal to continue to do this and race against my heroes. I guess I told [Truex] a few too many of my secrets last year after we went fishing.”

    Blaney, who has not won a Cup event since Michigan International Speedway in August 2021, ended up third. Byron, who led a race-high 193 laps, came home in fourth while Hamlin finished fifth. Bell, Reddick, Keselowski, Buescher and Josh Berry finished in the top 10 followed by Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace, all of whom finished on the lead lap.

    Notably, rookie Ty Gibbs ended up 13th, Kevin Harvick finished 19th in his final start at the Monster Mile, Kyle Busch settled in 21st, Logano retired in 31st and Larson finished in 32nd.

    There were 19 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 46 laps.

    Following the 11th event of the 2023 Cup Series season, Ross Chastain leads the regular-season standings by three points over Christopher Bell, 38 over Kevin Harvick, 40 over Martin Truex Jr. and 44 over Ryan Blaney.

    Results.

    1. Martin Truex Jr., 68 laps led

    2. Ross Chastain, 98 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    3. Ryan Blaney

    4. William Byron, 193 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Denny Hamlin

    6. Christopher Bell

    7. Tyler Reddick

    8. Brad Keselowski

    9. Chris Buescher

    10. Josh Berry, three laps led

    11. Chase Elliott

    12. Bubba Wallace

    13. Ty Gibbs, one lap down

    14. Corey LaLoie, one lap down

    15. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., one lap down

    16. Erik Jones, one lap down

    17. Ryan Preece, one lap down

    18. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

    19. Kevin Harvick, one lap down

    20. Harrison Burton, two laps down

    21. Kyle Busch, three laps down, 25 laps led

    22. Michael McDowell, three laps down

    23. Justin Haley, three laps down

    24. Aric Almirola, three laps down

    25. Todd Gilliland, four laps down

    26. Austin Cindric, four laps down

    27. Austin Dillon, five laps down

    28. JJ Yeley, seven laps down

    29. BJ McLeod, 19 laps down

    30. Chase Briscoe, 22 laps down

    31. Joey Logano – OUT, Accident

    32. Kyle Larson, 41 laps down

    33. Brennan Poole – OUT, Accident

    34. Noah Gragson – OUT, DVP

    35. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

    36. Ty Dillon – OUT, Accident

    Next on the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the series’ first of two scheduled visits this season to Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 7, at 3 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Brennan Poole to make 100th Xfinity career start at Richmond

    Brennan Poole to make 100th Xfinity career start at Richmond

    Competing in his fifth season with at least one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Brennan Poole is within reach of a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Richmond Raceway, the driver of the No. 6 Chevrolet Camaro will reach 100 career starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    A native of The Woodlands, Texas, and the 2011 UARA-Stars champion, Poole made his inaugural presence in the NASCAR Xfinity circuit during the 2015 season when he joined HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi to pilot the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro for 15 events. By then, he had made a total of 35 starts in the ARCA Menards Series while garnering six victories. Making his debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, Poole started 16th and finished ninth, which would be his best result of the season. He went on to make a total of 17 starts throughout the 2015 Xfinity season, where he notched another top-10 result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July by finishing 10th. He also achieved 10 top-15 results and an average-finishing result of 12.4.

    In 2016, Poole campaigned in the Xfinity circuit on a full-time basis behind the wheel of the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Chip Ganassi Racing. Commencing his rookie season by finishing 27th at Daytona International Speedway in February, Poole notched two 10th-place results during the first eight events on the schedule. Then at Talladega Superspeedway in April, he dodged a last lap carnage involving leaders Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler to edge Justin Allgaier in a photo finish and notch what would have been his first career victory in NASCAR. Poole, however, was relegated back to third place in the final running order after NASCAR awarded the win to Sadler by virtue of being in first place when the caution for the final lap wreck was displayed and since Poole had assumed the lead after the caution was displayed. Despite falling short of winning at Talladega, the Texan notched another third-place run at Road America in August along with an additional three top-five results and nine top-10 results during the final 17 regular-season events on the schedule before claiming a spot to the inaugural 2016 Xfinity Series Playoffs. With his title hopes evaporating despite claiming three consecutive top-20 results during the Round of 12, Poole earned three top-11 results during the final four events on the schedule before finishing in eighth place in the final standings. Overall, he achieved four top-five results, 17 top-10 results, 11 laps led and an average-finishing result of 12.4 during his first Xfinity season.

    Remaining at CGR for the 2017 season, Poole’s sophomore season commenced with a 26th-place run at Daytona after being involved in a late wreck. He rallied by posting four eighth-place runs during the following nine events. At Daytona in July, Poole notched his first career pole in the series and was running towards the front until he was bumped by William Byron and wrecked with Ty Dillon on the fronstretch. He rallied by finishing seventh. Throughout the 26-race regular-season stretch, Poole’s highest on-track result was a fourth-place run at Iowa Speedway in July as he recorded 12 top-10 results before making his second consecutive appearance in the Xfinity Playoffs. During the Playoff opener at Kentucky Speedway in September, the Texan notched a career-best runner-up result after finishing 14.5 seconds behind teammate Tyler Reddick. He then claimed back-to-back fifth-place results before transferring to the Round of 8. Following two consecutive top-12 results during the Round of 8, Poole entered the round’s finale at Phoenix Raceway in November with a five-point advantage over the fourth and final transfer spot to the Championship 4 finale. During the 23rd lap at Phoenix, however, Poole’s hopes of transferring to the finale evaporated after he collided with Caesar Bacarella in Turn 1, which sent Poole’s No. 48 Chevrolet into the outside wall with a blown right-front tire and significant damage that terminated his run. He went on to finish sixth in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway and in a career-best sixth place in the final championship standings. Ironically, Poole achieved the exact number of top-five runs (four) and top-10 results (17) from his rookie season while capping off the season with 14 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.5.

    The following season, Poole lost his ride at CGR, but sued the team in June and alleged that the organization along with agency Spire Sports + Entertainment breached his contract by moving his sponsor DC Solar to sponsor CGR’s NASCAR Cup Series operations. With the settlement between all three parties being disputed out-of-court at the conclusion of the season, Poole proceeded by making a total of 27 starts in the NASCAR Truck Series from 2018 to 2021. He also campaigned in his first full-time season during the 2020 Cup season, where he finished 32nd in the final standings while competing for Premium Motorsports.

    This past season, Poole returned to the Xfinity circuit with the intention of competing in the series’ three West Coast events for Mike Harmon Racing. He failed to qualify at Auto Club Speedway in February and at Phoenix in March, but managed to compete at Las Vegas in March, where he finished 37th following an early engine failure. Ultimately, Poole attempted to compete in 21 additional events with MHR, Jimmy Means Racing and JD Motorsports throughout the season, but successfully qualified for nine, beginning at Richmond Raceway in April and concluding at Phoenix in November. In a total of 10 starts, his best on-track result was a 14th-place run at Homestead with JD Motorsports in October.

    Through 99 previous Xfinity starts, Poole has achieved a pole, eight top-five results, 36 top-10 results, 31 laps led and an average-finishing result of 16.7 while he continues to pursue his first victory across NASCAR’s top three national touring series. He has racked up an average-finishing result of 27.7 through the first six Xfinity events on this year’s schedule, with his best on-track result being a 13th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway two races ago, and is ranked in 27th place in the driver’s standings.

    Poole is scheduled to make his 100th career start in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, April 1, with the event’s coverage scheduled slated to occur at 1 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Mike Shiplett to reach 150 Cup starts as crew chief at Bristol

    Mike Shiplett to reach 150 Cup starts as crew chief at Bristol

    A significant milestone is in the making for Mike Shiplett, crew chief for this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Playoff contender and Rookie-of-the-Year recipient Cole Custer. When the Cup Series competes in this weekend’s Playoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Shiplett will call his 150th race in NASCAR’s premier series as a crew chief.

    A native of Amherst, Ohio, Shiplett grew up working on street stock cars for local short track racing with his uncle before he raced his prepared street stock across Ohio at age 16, eventually moving up to late model stock cars. He went on to attain a degree in diesel technology at the University of Northwestern Ohio in 1992. Afterwards, he joined Liberty Racing as a mechanic in the American Speed Association in 1995, which made the eventual move to the NASCAR Truck Series.

    In 1998, Shiplett moved to North Carolina and worked as a car chief for the No. 75 Butch Mock Motorsports team that competed in the NASCAR Cup Series. Following the 2000 season, Shiplett joined forces with Ultra Motorsports in 2001 and continued to work as a car chief. Two years later, he joined Evernham Motorsports and another four years later, he worked as a crew chief for Evernham’s Xfinity Series program. Working with seven competitors in the 2007 NASCAAR Xfinity season, Shiplett won his first two NASCAR career races as a crew chief with Kasey Kahne.

    In 2008, when Evernham Motorsports became Gillett-Evernham Motorsports, Shiplett was named a full-time NASCAR Cup Series crew chief for the No. 10 Dodge team that started the season with Patrick Carpentier, the 1997 CART Rookie of the Year and Champ Car competitor from LaSalle, Quebec, Canada, behind the wheel. The 2008 season marked Shiplett’s first as a Cup crew chief. From 2008 to 2009, Shiplett worked with five different drivers (Patrick Carpentier, Terry Labonte, Mike Wallace, Reed Sorenson and A.J. Allmendinger) while remaining with the team that became Richard Petty Motorsports in 2009. In August 2008, Shiplett served as a crew chief for Carpentier for the NASCAR Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he finished 25th. Following the 2009 season, Shiplett called 66 Cup career races.

    In 2010, Shiplett worked as a full-time Cup crew chief with Allmendinger and the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford team. Together, Allmendinger and Shiplett achieved a pole position at Phoenix Raceway in April, two top-five results and eight top-10 results as Allmendinger concluded the season in 19th place in the final standings. Following the 2010 season, Shiplett reached 100 Cup races as a crew chief.

    For the first 19 Cup races of the 2011 season, Shiplett remained as crew chief for Allmendinger and the No. 43 RPM Ford team as Allmendinger earned one top-five result, four top-10 results and was ranked in 16th place in the standings following the recent Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. Afterwards, Shiplett was replaced by Greg Erwin for the remainder of the season and Allmendinger went on to conclude the season in a career-best 15th place in the final standings.

    In 2012, Shiplett scaled back to the Xfinity Series and worked at Turner Motorsports. He served as a crew chief for 23 Xfinity races while working with Kasey Kahne and Brad Sweet, both of whom split driving roles in the No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet. He also served as a crew chief for Kahne in the Truck Series race at Rockingham Speedway in April, where Kahne went on to win.

    From 2013 to 2014, Shiplett rejoined Richard Petty Motorsports and was involved with the team’s research-and-development program. He also served as an Xfinity Series crew chief for Corey LaJoie in the finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November when LaJoie made his series debut.

    In 2015, Shiplett rejoined the Xfinity Series and worked as a crew chief for HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Racing and the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro team driven between Kyle Larson, Justin Marks and Brennan Poole. Shiplett remained with the organization when the No. 42 car returned only under the Chip Ganassi Racing banner in 2016. From 2015 to 2018, Shiplett won a total of 15 Xfinity races between Larson, Marks, Tyler Reddick, Alex Bowman, Ross Chastain and John Hunter Nemechek.

    After Chip Ganassi Racing’s Xfinity program shut down due to sponsorship woes, Shiplett joined Stewart-Haas Racing to serve as crew chief for Cole Custer and the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang team. Together, Custer and Shiplett had great success all season long as they achieved seven victories, six poles, 17 top-five results, 24 top-10 results and an average result of 9.0. In the end, however, Custer and Shiplett finished in second place in the final standings behind the champions Tyler Reddick and crew chief Randall Burnett of Richard Childress Racing.

    Following a successful 2019 Xfinity Series season, Stewart-Haas Racing named Shiplett as a full-time crew chief of the No. 41 Haas Ford Mustang driven by Custer for the 2020 season as Custer entered this season as a Rookie-of-the-Year contender. Through the first 16 Cup races of this season, Custer and Shiplett achieved one top-five result, two top-10 results and were ranked in 25th place in the regular-season standings.

    The following race at Kentucky Speedway, however, Custer took advantage on a two-lap shootout and made a bold four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap and against names like Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to achieve his first Cup career victory in his 20th series start. The win was also Shiplett’s first in the Cup level as the victory guaranteed Custer, Shiplett and the No. 41 team a spot in the 2020 Cup Playoffs. Custer and Shiplett went on to achieve three additional top-10 results throughout the regular-season stretch. By the time the 2020 Cup Playoff field was set following the regular-season finale at Daytona International Speedway in August, Custer was named the 2020 Cup Rookie of the Year since he was the lone rookie candidate to make the 16-car Playoff field.

    Through the first two Cup Playoff races of this season, Custer and Shiplett achieved 12th- and 14th-place results at Darlington Raceway and at Richmond Raceway. Currently, Custer is eight points below the top-12 cutline and is one of four competitor who are on the brink of elimination from title contention entering this weekend’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Catch Shiplett’s milestone start at Bristol Motor Speedway for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race on Saturday, September 19. The race will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • 2020 NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year mid-season review

    2020 NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year mid-season review

    Five months after the first green flag of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season waved, the series has reached its halfway mark of this year. During the first 18 races of the 36-race schedule, a lot has occurred within the sport both on and off the track. From Ryan Newman’s harrowing accident on the final lap of the Daytona 500 to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that paused the on-track racing from nearly two months, from the sport returning at Darlington Raceway in May to running doubleheaders and four to five division series races a week, this season has been like none other in recent years. Among the storylines that have been ongoing throughout this year’s racing season has been the battle for this year’s Rookie-of-the-Year title between six up-and-coming competitors working their way to emerge as the next future stars of the Cup Series.

    Through the first 18 Cup races of this season, Tyler Reddick continues to lead the way in the rookie standings. Even though he is currently 17th in the regular-season standings and is 14 points shy of moving into the top-16 cutline to qualify for the Playoffs, Reddick has recorded a stage win at Talladega Superspeedway in June, the most top-10 results (six) and the best average result (17.17) among his five fellow rookie contenders. He is coming off a career-best result of second place at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished behind teammate and race winner Austin Dillon following a late strategic call for fuel only. His previous best result was fourth place at Homestead-Miami Speedway in June. In addition to his stats, another factor the Corning, California, native has displayed through the first half of this season is the speed to keep pace and contend against NASCAR’s elite on a weekly basis. With eight races remaining until the Playoffs is set, Reddick and his No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE team led by crew chief Randall Burnett look to carry the speed and competitiveness throughout this season and from winning the previous two Xfinity Series championships towards contending for the 2020 Cup title.

    Trailing behind Reddick is Christopher Bell. For Bell, it has been an up-and-down first half of his rookie Cup campaign that has seen a major improvement entering the second half of the season. For the first five races of the year, the Oklahoma native and the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota Camry team finished no higher than 21st, sustained two DNFs and were ranked 32nd in the regular-season standings. Since the second Darlington race in May through last weekend’s race at Texas, Bell has recorded five top-10 results and has worked his way up to 21st in the standings. His highlight run was at Pocono Raceway in June, the first of two Pocono races of the weekend, where he rallied from starting 36th to record a career-best fourth-place result ahead of former boss Kyle Busch. He is, however, 102 points below the top-16 cutline to make the Playoffs and needs to generate more strong results to come within reach of the Playoffs mark. With Bell and Leavine Family Racing’s future uncertain beyond 2020, the combo aims to strive for more and emerge as a competitive single-car organization for this season and beyond.

    Also trailing Reddick for the lead in the rookie standings is Cole Custer. While Reddick leads this year’s rookie class, the thing that Custer has, and the others rookies do not have, is a win. That was the case in July, when Custer made a bold, four-wide pass for the lead on the final lap against top names like Ryan Blaney, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. to score his first NASCAR Cup career win in his 20th series start and in an upset fashion. The victory not only made Custer as the first rookie contender to win a Cup race since 2016, but it also guaranteed the Californian and his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team a spot to this year’s Playoffs with an opportunity to contend for a Cup title. Prior to the win, Custer’s season started off on a low note with a lone top-10 result (ninth) at Phoenix in March along with seven results outside the top 20 in the first 16 races of the season. The turning point came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Fourth of July weekend, where he recorded his first top-five finish in NASCAR’s premier series. A week later, ironically, Custer won his first Cup race at Kentucky. Despite being involved in a multi-car wreck last weekend at Texas, Custer and his team appear to adapt to this year’s weekly approach of starting in a position based on a random draw and diving into competitive race trim on race day. With the Playoffs a month away from commencing, Custer and his team have time to continue to gain more momentum and contend for more wins and points that would make the Californian not only a potential Rookie-of-the-Year winner, but also as a title threat for this season.

    Next up is John Hunter Nemechek. A third-generation driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, the opportunity for Nemechek to move to the Cup level came in the final three races of the 2019 season, when he took over the Front Row Motorsports Ford entry driven by Matt Tifft. When Tifft suffered a seizure and opted to focus on his health, Nemechek was named one of two full-time competitors for FRM. He started off his rookie season strong by finishing 11th in the Daytona 500 before he recorded finishes outside the top 20 the following three races. He rebounded on a strong note at Darlington in May by finishing ninth for his first top-10 career result in the Cup level. He finished in the top 20 in four of the next seven races before recording a career-best finish of eighth at Talladega, a result where Nemechek was in race-winning position before being involved in an incident approaching the finish line. Thus far, he has finished in the top 20 nine times and he is currently 25th in the regular-season standings, 120 points below the cutline. With the recent string of consistent finishes inside the top 15 to 20 results and the momentum building for Front Row Motorsports, Nemechek looks to place an FRM entry into their first postseason appearance since 2016 and extend the on-track success previously displayed by his father, Joe.

    Behind him is Brennan Poole. Like Bell, this season marks Poole’s first season ever racing in the Cup level, an opportunity that he announced last December when signing with Premium Motorsports. Unlike Bell, Poole has struggled in keeping pace with his fellow rookie contenders. His lone highlight was finishing 16th in the season-opening Daytona 500 in his first Cup race. For the next 17 races, he has finished no higher than 24th, which occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in May. With the Texas native 32nd in the regular-season standings, he needs to grab a win and work his way into the top 30 in the standings to have any shot towards making this year’s Playoffs.

    Last but not least is Quin Houff, who was promoted to a full-time driving role in StarCom Racing’s No. 00 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for the 2020 and 2021 Cup seasons. Since his start this season, however, Houff has finished no higher than 23rd, which he finished at Indianapolis. He has also recorded five DNFs this season, including last weekend at Texas, where a last-minute turn to slow and come to pit road resulted with him clipping the cars of Bell and Matt DiBenedetto before wrecking himself out of the race. It was a move that was met by sharp criticism by Brad Keselowski. He is 34th in the regular-season standings and like Poole, he needs to grab a win and generate consistent results towards the front to work his way into the top 30 in the standings and have any shot for this year’s Playoffs.

    While Reddick leads the 2020 Cup Rookie-of-the-Year standings through the first half of this season, Harrison Burton leads the current Xfinity Series rookie standings while Christian Eckes leads the current Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series rookie standings.

    The Cup rookie contenders will embark on an 18-race stretch to conclude this year’s racing season and strive for more on-track success for the future, beginning on Thursday, July 23, for the Super Start Batteries 400 at Kansas Speedway. The race will air at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

  • Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

    Cup rookies prepare for first tackle at Talladega

    It has been a month since NASCAR returned to on-track racing amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and a number of firsts have occurred since the sport’s return. From midweek races to series’ doubleheaders at the same track and even quadruple-header weekends among the sport’s three major national division series, NASCAR has provided its share of resolving the unexpected and creating memories through the first half of the 2020 season. With Talladega Superspeedway next on the schedule, the unexpected is a term that every driver and team can annually anticipate from the drop of the green flag to the checkered. It is also a venue that can provide the element of surprise for anyone, especially for this year’s Cup rookie class.

    When the first green flag of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season flew at Daytona International Speedway in February, six rookies embarked on a yearlong journey filled with firsts and a new approach towards each track like none other from their previous seasons. This weekend will mark their first time racing at Talladega, one of the world’s fastest racing venues, in NASCAR’s premier series, which has not raced on a superspeedway event since the Daytona 500 in February.

    For years, Talladega is a track that does not yield a simple race-winning path for anyone after 500 miles. It is a track that requires patience, aggression and boldness for any competitor to emerge victorious ahead of a steaming pack of other competitors fighting towards the same goal. It is also a track that can make any dreams come true. Since its inception in 1969, 11 competitors have scored their first Cup win at Talladega, not since Ricky Stenhouse Jr. made the last accomplishment in 2017, which provides a golden opportunity for any rookie competitor to shine and rise to the occasion against NASCAR’s elite.

    Twelve races into the 2020 season, the reigning two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Tyler Reddick leads the Cup rookie standings. The Corning, California, native is coming off a career run last weekend at Homestead, where he finished fourth and picked up his first top-five career finish in the Cup Series. To go along with two additional top-10 results and fast racecars prepared by his team and crew chief Randall Burnett, Reddick is slowly peaking towards his first Cup win. When it comes to Talladega, there are two advantages for Reddick. The first is that Reddick is a former winner at the superspeedway event, having won last year’s Xfinity race at the track despite encountering early on-track issues. The second is that his team, Richard Childress Racing, has a rich history at Talladega with 12 wins, six poles and over 70 top-10 results, achieving results with names like Dale Earnhardt, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer. With the results, Reddick looks to add his name to RCR legacy’s at the superspeedway venue in Alabama and extend his recent stretch of solid performances.

    Pursuing Reddick in the rookie standings is John Hunter Nemechek. The second-generation driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, has achieved three top-15 results since May, including his first top-10 career finish at Darlington Raceway (ninth), and has displayed a model of consistency in his first full-time season in NASCAR’s premier series. Nemechek has raced at Talladega seven times between the Xfinity and Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, his best result being sixth in the 2017 Truck Series season and last year’s Xfinity Series season. An advantage Nemechek has towards Talladega is that his team, Front Row Motorsports, is competitive at superspeedway events (Daytona and Talladega). Since FRM’s started racing in the Cup Series in 2005, the team has notched 20 top-10 results, more than half coming at Talladega. In addition, Talladega serves as the track where the team notched its first Cup career win in 2013, when David Ragan and David Gilliland recorded a thrilling one-two finish for the team. With his consistent start, Nemechek looks to take the next step to finish at the front of the field and etch his name as the next upset winner at the world’s fastest racing venues.

    Next is Christopher Bell. The Norman, Oklahoma, native has achieved a multitude of accomplishments in racing, from sprint cars to stock cars. This includes winning the 2013 USAC National Midget title, three Chili Bowl sprint car titles, a NASCAR win at Eldora, the 2017 Truck Series championship and a combined 23 wins across the Truck and Xfinity Series in 14 different tracks, including his first road course win at Road America last season. There are a handful of accomplishments that Bell has yet to achieve, among which includes winning a Cup race and winning a superspeedway event. Thus far, Bell has achieved three top-10 results in his rookie Cup season and has raced at Talladega five times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, his best result being second in the 2017 Truck Series season and third in last year’s Xfinity Series season. His team, Leavine Family Racing, is competitive at superspeedway events despite scoring two top-10 career finishes at Talladega and his crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, has won at the track once in the 2011 Xfinity season with Kyle Busch. With his recent stride in producing decent results, Bell also looks to take the next step in his rookie Cup season by finishing towards the front and placing himself in position to emerge as an upset winner at a track that is very familiar with upset tales.

    While the last seven results since May have not fallen in the favors of Cole Custer, the Ladera Ranch, California, native remains in pursuit of his first breakthrough moment in the Cup Series while driving for one of the sport’s competitive teams, Stewart-Haas Racing. Entering this weekend, Custer has achieved one top-10 career finish in the Cup Series and has raced at Talladega four times between the Xfinity and Truck Series, with a best result of ninth in the 2018 Xfinity season. In 2018, Stewart-Haas Racing achieved its first Cup win at Talladega on a day where all four SHR cars led the field the majority of the race before Aric Almirola scored a breakthrough win of his career. This serves as an advantage for Custer to race towards the front competitively with a championship-winning team and possibly achieve his moment in NASCAR’s premier series.

    When it comes to Talladega Superspeedway, Brennan Poole has a notable moment at the track that is deemed heartbreaking. In 2016, Poole, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, dodged a last-lap incident between Joey Logano and Elliott Sadler in the tri-oval to nip Justin Allgaier at the finish line and score what appeared to have been his first Xfinity Series career win. Upon reviewing the footage, however, NASCAR determined that Sadler, who had managed to straighten his car and continued to race despite wrecking, was ahead of the field at the moment of caution, which resulted in Sadler winning while Poole was demoted to third. To date, this remains the closest Poole has come in winning at Talladega. The Woodlands, Texas, native has raced at the track three additional times between the Truck and Xfinity Series, but all finishes have been outside the top 20. In his first 12 Cup career starts this season, Poole has recorded a career-best result of 16th from this year’s Daytona 500, but has finished as high as 24th in the last seven races. This weekend serves as an opportunity for Poole to hone his driving skills against the current Cup stars and claim the win that was taken away from him four years ago.

    Lastly, Quin Houff also looks to achieve a breakthrough moment of his racing career on the track. Through the first 12 races of this season, Houff has finished in the top 30 twice (Darlington & Bristol) while sustaining three DNFs and finishing outside the top 30 in five of the last six Cup races. Houff’s team, StarCom Racing, has raced in NASCAR since 2017 and has finished in the top 15 twice, both coming at Daytona and Talladega. Like Poole, Houff sets his focus on this weekend to etch his name against the sport’s elite.

    This year’s rookie Cup class are among six of multiple stars that includes Matt DiBenedetto, William Byron, James Davison, Ty Dillon, Brendan Gaughan, Gray Gaulding, Joey Gase, Timmy Hill, Corey LaJoie, Michael McDowell, B.J. McLeod, Ryan Preece, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace and J.J. Yeley who will pursue their first win in the Cup Series this weekend at Talladega.

    All Cup Series competitors, including this year’s rookie class, will receive their first of two opportunities this season to conquer Talladega on June 21 with the race to air at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.