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Almirola cashes in for thrilling Xfinity victory at Martinsville

Seventeen years after being credited a NASCAR Xfinity Series victory driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Aric Almirola earned an Xfinity victory with JGR in the DUDE Wipes 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, April 6, following a dramatic, overtime shootout to the finish.

The 40-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, led six times for a race-high 148 of 251 over-scheduled laps in an event where he qualified in sixth place. He quickly made his name known at the front by assuming the lead for the first time on Lap 28, where he would win the first stage period on Lap 50.

Amid a series of war of attrition and on-track chaotic moments, including a series of late-race restarts, Almirola, who spent the majority of the event battling with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates towards the front, capitalized on an overtime shootout period to muscle away from Sam Mayer and retain the lead on the final lap amid a race-ending caution to achieve both his first race-winning checkered flag and first Dash 4 Cash bonus of the 2024 season.

On-track qualifying on Friday, April 5 determined the starting lineup with Brandon Jones initially recording his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season with a pole-winning lap at 96.15 mph in 19.694 seconds. Jones, however, was forced to start at the rear of the field due to an unapproved adjustment to change brake rotors on his pole-winning car along with teammates Allgaier and Sammy Smith. Akinori Ogata, Leland Honeyman, Ryan Ellis and Chandler Smith also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to their respective entries.

As a result, Cole Custer, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 95.845 mph in 19.757 seconds, led the field to the green flag as he started alongside Sheldon Creed, who posted the third-fastest qualifying lap at 95.840 mph in 19.758 seconds, on the front row.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Custer and Creed battled for the lead through the first two turns until Custer muscled his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang ahead on the outside lane through the backstretch. Custer would then move in front of Creed’s front nose entering Turns 3 and 4 and proceed to lead the first lap.

Through the second to fifth lap mark, Custer retained the lead by within three-tenths of a second over Creed while Jeb Burton trailed in third place ahead of Aric Almirola and Alfredo Alfredo, all of whom were racing in the top five. Behind, Sam Mayer occupied sixth place ahead of rookie Jesse Love, Parker Retzlaff, Ryan Sieg and AJ Allmendinger while Austin Hill was scored in 11th ahead of newcomer Carson Kvapil, Matt DiBenedetto, Taylor Gray and rookie Shane van Gisbergen.

On the ninth lap, the event’s first caution period flew after Sammy Smith, who attempted to throw a dive-bomb move underneath Garrett Smithley and Dexter Bean, made contact with both entering Turns 3 and 4 resulting in Bean spinning.

When the event restarted under green on Lap 14, Custer managed to fend off Creed for a full lap to retain the lead. As Custer muscled ahead during the Lap 15 mark, Almirola challenged teammate Creed for the runner-up spot while Burton and Mayer remained within close distance.

Through the first 20 scheduled laps, Custer was leading by half a second over Almirola followed by Creed, Burton and Mayer while Alfredo, Retzlaff, Love, Allmendinger and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10 ahead of Hill, Kvapil, Jeremy Clements, Corey Heim and Riley Herbst. Meanwhile, Brandon Jones was running in 23rd place behind teammate Sammy Smith and Hailie Deegan while Gray, DiBenedetto, van Gisbergen, Parker Kligerman and Josh Williams were running in the top 20. In addition, Chandler Smith, winner of last weekend’s Xfinity event at Richmond Raceway, was mired back in 25th.

Seven laps later, Almirola challenged and overtook Custer for the lead through the first two turns. Almirola would proceed to stretch his advantage to half a second by the Lap 30 mark while teammate Creed tried to close in on Custer for the runner-up spot.

On Lap 35, the event’s second caution period flew after Brennan Poole tapped and sent Hailie Deegan for a spin in Turn 2, where she was then hit by Kyle Weatherman and sustained damage to her No. 15 AM Racing entry. During the caution period, some including the JR Motorsports’ competitors Kvapil, Sammy Smith, Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones pitted as part of a strategic plan while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

During the following restart on Lap 42, Almirola muscled his No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra ahead to retain the lead on the inside lane ahead of teammate Creed and Custer. Almirola would continue to lead through the Lap 50 mark as Creed and Custer followed suit in second and third, respectively. Behind, Mayer occupied fourth place while Allmendinger trailed in fifth as he was ahead of Alfredo, Burton, Ryan Sieg, Retzlaff, Hill, Love, Herbst and Gray.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Almirola fended off a late challenge and bump from teammate Creed to capture his third Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Creed settled in second followed by Custer, Mayer and Allmendinger while Alfredo, Ryan Sieg, Hill, Burton and Retzlaff were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, all five JR Motorsports competitors led by Sam Mayer and including teammates Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Jones and Kvapil, remained on the track while the rest led by Almirola pitted for service. Amid the pit stops, Herbst was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Kligerman was also penalized for speeding on pit road.

The second stage period started on Lap 70 as teammates Mayer and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, however, the caution quickly returned after Jones, who struggled to launch from the second row on the outside lane, ignited a stack-up that resulted in Logan Bearden, Deegan, Allmendinger, Hill, Heim, Retzlaff, Leland Honeyman, Herbst, Burton, Bean, Kyle Sieg and Alfredo all wrecking and sustaining damage to their respective entries entering the first turn. The incident was enough to send the event in a red flag period for more than nine minutes.

When the red flag lifted and the field resumed under a cautious pace, the competitors who wrecked, including Herbst, pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track. By then, top names that included Retzlaff, Heim, Hill and Allmendinger were ruled out of the event.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 80, Sammy Smith and Mayer battled for the lead through the first two turns until Smith muscled ahead with the lead through the backstretch while Almirola fanned out to three lanes in his drive back to the front. As Smith retained the lead during the following lap ahead of teammate Mayer, Creed was in third ahead of a tight side-by-side battle between Allgaier and Custer while Kvapil and Almirola followed suit.

Following another caution period that occurred on Lap 84 after Kligerman spun his No. 48 Spiked Lite Coolers Chevrolet Camaro from 29th place in Turn 2 due to cutting a left-front tire, the start of the following restart period on Lap 90 featured a brief side-by-side battle between teammates Sammy Smith and Mayer through the first two turns. With Smith muscling ahead through the backstretch and entering Turns 3 and 4, Mayer then got loose after he hit the curbs exiting Turn 4, which allowed teammate Allgaier and Creed to move into second and third while Mayer, who got his car stuck on the outside lane but resumed under full pace, dropped to 10th place.

At the Lap 100 mark, Sammy Smith continued to lead by a second in his No. 8 TMC Transportation Chevrolet Camaro over teammates Allgaier and Kvapil as Almirola and Custer trailed in the top five. Behind, Creed occupied sixth place ahead of Jones, Burton, Ryan Sieg and Josh Williams while Mayer, Chandler Smith, Love, Alfredo and Taylor Gray were running in the top 15 ahead of a battle between Herbst and van Gisbergen.

Ten laps later, Sammy Smith retained the lead by a tenth of a second over teammate Allgaier, who was using the front bumper to pressure his JR Motorsports teammate for the top spot through the turns, while teammate Kvapil trailed by within eight-tenths of a second. Another lap, however, Allgaier managed to draw even with Smith on the inside lane through the frontstretch until he muscled his No. 7 Jarrett Logistics Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead through the backstretch. With Allgaier leading, Smith retained second while Almirola challenged Kvapil for third place.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Allgaier, who stretched his advantage, captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Almirola settled in second followed by Sammy Smith, Kvapil and Custer while Creed, Jones, Chandler Smith, Burton and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10. By then, 29 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Allgaier pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola assumed the lead after he exited pit road first ahead of Sammy Smith while Creed, Custer, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Jones, Herbst, Ryan Sieg and van Gisbergen followed suit in the top 10. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier lost 14 spots due to an issue while having his left-rear tire changed while Taylor Gray was penalized for his pit crew jumping over the pit wall too early.

With 120 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Almirola and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola muscled ahead from Smith amid contact to retain the lead while teammate Creed moved into the runner-up spot through Turns 3 and 4. Teammate Chandler Smith would grab third place from Smith during the following lap, thus placing all three Joe Gibbs Racing entries in the top three spots, while Custer followed suit and overtook Smith for fourth place.

Not long after, the battle for the lead between Almirola and Creed ignited as the latter gave the former a bump through Turns 3 and 4, but Almirola retained the top spot during the proceeding laps. Behind, Custer and Jones were racing in the top five while Allgaier, Herbst, Smith, Kvapil and Ryan Sieg occupied the top 10, with a series of bumps and jostles for spots ensuing in the middle of the pack.

With 110 laps remaining, Almirola stretched his advantage to more than a second over teammate Creed as Custer intimidated Chandler Smith for third place. Almirola would stabilize his advantage to more than a second over teammate Chandler Smith as teammate Creed dropped to third with 100 laps remaining.

Down to the final 85 laps of the event, Almirola continued to lead by nearly a second over teammate Chandler Smith while third-place/teammate Creed trailed by two seconds ahead of Custer, Allgaier and Kvapil.

Four laps later, the caution flew due to a metal debris reported in Turn 3. During the caution period, nearly the entire lead lap field led by Almirola returned to pit road for service while Kligerman, who did not have any fresh tires in his pit box, remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Almirola exited first ahead of teammate Creed, Custer and teammate Chandler Smith while Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Herbst followed suit.

When the event restarted under green with 73 laps remaining, Kligerman and Almirola battled for the lead through the first two turns until Almirola managed to muscle ahead through the backstretch and move in front of Kligerman, who made contact with Custer through Turns 3 and 4. The contact allowed Creed and Custer to move ahead in second and third, with Chandler Smith following suit in fourth. As Kligerman began to lose ground on old tires while also trapped on the outside lane, Chandler Smith made contact with teammate Creed amid a tight three-wide battle during the following lap in Turn 3, though Creed managed to bump and fend off Smith for second place while Custer and Sammy Smith bumped and battled for fourth place. Amid the bumps and late battles, Almirola stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second with 70 laps remaining.

Down to the final 60 laps of the event, Almirola was leading by seven-tenths of a second over teammate Creed while teammate Chandler Smith trailed by nearly a second while Sammy Smith and Custer were racing in the top five. Behind, Herbst occupied sixth place ahead of Mayer, Kvapil, Love and Allgaier while Taylor Gray, Ryan Sieg, Alfredo, Jones and Burton were scored in the top 15.

Following another caution period with 55 laps remaining after Garrett Smithley spun in Turn 1, the start of the following restart period with 46 laps remaining featured a tight side-by-side battle between teammates Almirola and Chandler Smith, which ensued for the next four laps until Almirola managed to clear Smith and move in front of him to have both lanes to his control with the lead. Smith then got loose as he tried to re-challenge Almirola for the lead, which allowed teammate Creed to battle and overtake Smith for the runner-up spot while Custer and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top five. With a series of bumps and late battles igniting in the middle of the field, Almirola slightly stretched his lead to four-tenths of a second with less than 40 laps remaining.

With 30 laps remaining, Almirola was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Creed while teammate Chandler Smith trailed by less than a second as he was trying to mount a charge on Creed for the runner-up spot. By then, Mayer carved his way back to fourth as he was ahead of Custer while Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Herbst, Alfredo and Kvapil were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Love occupied 11th place while Jones, Gray, van Gisbergen and Ryan Sieg were in the top 15.

Ten laps later, Almirola extended his advantage to two seconds over teammate Chandler Smith, who bumped into the side of teammate Creed three laps earlier, to move into the runner-up spot. Behind, Creed, who slipped up the track in Turn 1 with 22 laps remaining while giving teammate Smith a bump back following their contact, was battling Mayer for third while Allgaier trailed by more than four seconds in fifth place.

Another three laps later, the caution flew after Ryan Sieg, who was running in the top 15, spun and hit the outside wall in Turn 1 after he over-drove his No. 39 Sci Aps Ford Mustang entering the turn, which evaporated Almirola’s reasonable advantage over teammate Chandler Smith.

Down to the final 11 laps of the event, the event restarted under green. At the start, teammates Almirola and Chandler Smith battled dead even and rubbed fenders for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. Then in Turns 3 and 4, Smith bumped Almirola and muscled his No. 81 Wheelers Toyota Supra into the lead. A lap later, however, Almirola bumped and sent Smith up the track in Turns 3 and 4. This allowed Almirola to reassume the lead followed by Mayer while Smith was left to battle teammate Creed for third place.

Then with a series of battles and on-track contact ensuing within the field in the closing laps, Mayer bumped and made his move beneath Almirola for the lead through the backstretch with eight laps remaining. Amid a tight side-by-side battle, Mayer then motored his No. 1 10X Health Chevrolet Camaro ahead to lead the proceeding lap ahead of Almirola before the caution returned due to a multi-car wreck that erupted when Jeb Burton got turned sideways along with Myatt Snider and resulted with both, including Clements, Kyle Sieg and DiBenedetto all wrecking and sustaining significant damage to their respective entries. The incident was enough to send the event into overtime.

At the start of the overtime period, Mayer and Almirola briefly battled dead even for the lead in Turn 1 until Creed attempted to stretch the battle to three lanes through the turn, which he got Mayer sideways amid contact. This allowed Almirola to muscle ahead on the outside lane as he reassumed the lead from Mayer while the field fanned out through the backstretch.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Almirola remained as the leader by four-tenths of a second over Mayer. Not long after, the caution returned and the event was deemed official after Herbst, who was racing in the top 10, got sideways entering Turn 1 and backed his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang hard against the outside wall as Ryan Ellis and Brandon Jones also piled into the carnage. With the event concluding under caution, Almirola was able to coast his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry around the Martinsville circuit smoothly for a final time before returning to the frontstretch and claiming his first checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity season.

With the victory, Almirola, who was making his fourth Xfinity start of the 2024 season, recorded his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series career win in his 108th series start. He also achieved his first victory at Martinsville Speedway and his first series win since winning at Sonoma Raceway in June 2023 while driving for RSS Racing. As a bonus, Almirola claimed the first Dash 4 Cash’s $100,000 bonus of this season, which marked his first time achieving the award. The victory was the fourth of the season for both Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota.

The Martinsville victory with Joe Gibbs Racing was extremely meaningful for the veteran Almirola, whose first career start across NASCAR’s top three national touring series occurred in a JGR car in the Xfinity Series at Richmond Raceway in May 2006. In addition, Almirola was credited with his first Xfinity career victory with JGR at the Milwaukee Mile in June 2007.

The victory occurred after Almirola, who had started on pole position and was dominating early, was forced to relinquish his seat to Denny Hamlin, who was initially set to compete in the entry but was not able to arrive at the track in time for the event’s start, due to sponsorship obligations. In the end, Hamlin proceeded to win as a relief competitor while Almirola, who did not participate in the team’s celebration, was credited the victory due to starting the event.

For tonight, Almirola, who retired from full-time Cup Series competition at the conclusion of the 2023 season and rejoined Joe Gibbs Racing for a part-time campaign in the Xfinity Series, was not to be denied of earning an Xfinity victory driving for JGR while completing all of the event’s miles from start to finish behind the steering wheel.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Man, this is so awesome,” Almirola said on FS1. “To win for Joe Gibbs Racing, I’ve had an asterisk next to a win for Coach [Gibbs] for 17 years and this is so awesome to finally put a real win banner up inside the shop at Joe Gibbs Racing. Man, this GR Supra was fast. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Coach, for calling me and giving me this opportunity to come and have some fun and still scratch the itch of racing, but still to get to spend a lot of time with my family. I’ve had so much pressure to win. I think everybody expected me to just get in [the No. 20 car] and go win.

“The reality is it’s really hard to jump in these cars and race against the guys that do it week in and week out. This just feels really good. I’ve won a lot of races in my career, through the late model ranks and stuff to get me that opportunity to go to work for Coach. And then from there, it’s been a lot of ups and downs and a lot of struggles over 20 years in NASCAR. To cap off my career doing it the way I want to do it with Coach, with this whole organization at Joe Gibbs Racing, it feels amazing. We’re gonna celebrate this one.”

Mayer, who led 11 laps and has finished no higher than ninth during the first six events on the schedule, posted a strong runner-up result followed by Chandler Smith, who led three laps and rallied from starting at the rear of the field without posting a qualifying lap to finish third.

“The way this year’s gone, I’m happy with P2 at the end of the day,” Mayer said. “We finished the race. The car’s pretty much in one piece. Man, those restarts here are just ruthless and painful. Obviously, [Almirola] was really, really good today, and it was good that I was able to keep up and be as fast as them and pass all those [Joe Gibbs Racing] cars there at the end and march up to the front, for real. That’s the first time I’ve done that here. Super proud of [the No. 1] guys. We’re digging ourselves out of a whole little by little. At the end of the day, we needed a [win] and got one, I feel like, stolen from me there a little bit. We’re gonna go and try to haul the mail [at Texas Motor Speedway].”

Newcomer Carson Kvapil achieved a solid fourth-place finish in his Xfinity Series debut while Allgaier ended up in fifth place. Sheldon Creed, Sammy Smith, Cole Custer, rookie Jesse Love and Josh Williams finished in the top 10.

With Almirola not scheduled to compete in next weekend’s event on the schedule at Texas Motor Speedway, the next four competitors who will contend for the second Dash 4 Cash bonus of this season will be Sam Mayer, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed.

There were 15 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured 11 cautions for 68 laps. In addition, 24 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the seventh event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Chandler Smith continues to lead the regular-season standings by 35 points over Cole Custer, 41 over Austin Hill, 76 over Jesse Love and 79 over Justin Allgaier.

Results.

1. Aric Almirola, 148 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Sam Mayer, 11 laps led

3. Chandler Smith, three laps led

4. Carson Kvapil

5. Justin Allgaier, 14 laps led, Stage 2 winner

6. Sheldon Creed

7. Sammy Smith, 42 laps led

8. Cole Custer, 27 laps led

9. Jesse Love

10. Josh Williams

11. Shane van Gisbergen

12. Parker Kligerman, five laps led

13. Taylor Gray

14. Brennan Poole

15. Anthony Alfredo

16. Blaine Perkins

17. Ryan Sieg

18. Hailie Deegan

19. Myatt Snider

20. Dexter Bean

21. Matt DiBenedetto

22. Jeremy Clements

23. Kyle Sieg

24. Dawson Cram

25. Riley Herbst – OUT, Accident

26. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Accident

27. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

28. Joey Gase, one lap down, one lap led

29. Garrett Smithley, two laps down

30. Logan Bearden, four laps down

31. Leland Honeyman, seven laps down

32. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

33. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

34. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident

35. Corey Heim – OUT, Accident

36. AJ Allmendinger – OUT, Accident

37. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

38. Akinori Ogata – OUT, Brakes

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 and where the second Dash 4 Cash event will occur. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 13, at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

April 7, 2024
Chandler Smith prevails for second Xfinity victory of 2024 at Richmond

Chandler Smith’s strong start to the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season continued into Easter weekend with a late victory in the ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond Raceway on Saturday, March 30.

The 21-year-old Smith from Talking Rock, Georgia, led twice for 76 of 250-scheduled laps in an event where he started in fourth place and finished in the top 10 during both stage periods before he made his first appearance as the race leader with 87 laps remaining after he navigated his way past teammate Aric Almirola.

Despite restarting in 15th place after pitting during the final restart period with 68 laps remaining, Smith was able to quickly carve his way back to the front and he reassumed the top spot with 60 laps remaining. From there, he maintained a reasonable gap between himself and Almirola while leading the rest of the way en route to his second Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and his second in a row at Richmond.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Parker Retzlaff notched the first pole position for himself and Jordan Anderson Racing after he posted a pole-winning lap at 120.428 mph in 22.420 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Brandon Jones, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 119.915 mph in 22.516 seconds.

Prior to the event, Joey Gase dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to his entry.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Retzlaff rocketed ahead with the lead followed by Cole Custer, who drew alongside Retzlaff for a full lap, starting in Turn 1, and nearly took the lead from the inside lane. Retzlaff was able to use the outside lane to muscle ahead through Turns 3 and 4 as he led the first lap while the field behind jostled for early spots.

Through the second to fifth lap mark, the field began to fan out as Retzlaff maintained a reasonable lead over both Custer and Justin Allgaier while Brandon Jones settled in fourth ahead of Chandler Smith and Corey Heim. Retzlaff would retain the lead by the Lap 10 mark by three-tenths of a second over Allgaier as Custer fell to third ahead of Chandler Smith and Jones.

Just shy of the Lap 20 mark, the event’s first caution period flew after Ryan Vargas came to a stop on the frontstretch as his car went up in smoke, starting in Turn 4. During the event’s first caution period, some including Garrett Smithley, Patrick Emerling, Blaine Perkins and Joey Gase pitted while the rest led by Retzlaff remained on the track.

When the event restarted on Lap 27, Retzlaff fended off both Custer and Allgaier as the field fanned out entering the first two turns. Through the backstretch, however, Custer and Retzlaff made contact, which got Retzlaff loose as Allgaier made his move on the outside lane and assumed the lead. Allgaier would retain the lead by the Lap 35 mark as Corey Heim moved into the runner-up spot while Custer, Aric Almirola, Retzlaff and Brandon Jones were running in the top six.

By Lap 43, the event’s second caution period flew after Jones, who was running in the top six, slipped sideways entering the first two turns after his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro went up in smoke, where he then made contact with the outside wall as Ryan Sieg spun after running over Jones’ spilled fluid. The incident occurred just after Allgaier overtook Heim for the lead. During the caution period, some including AJ Allmendinger, Jeremy Clements, Shane van Gisbergen and Brennan Poole pitted while the rest led by Heim remained on the track.

As the event restarted under green on Lap 56, Allgaier and Heim battled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch as Aric Almirola trailed closely in third. Allgaier would then muscle ahead of Heim by the Lap 60 mark while Almirola moved into the runner-up spot. As the battles within the field ensued between those running on fresh tires versus those on old tires, Almirola assumed the lead over Allgaier by Lap 64.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 75, Almirola captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Poole settled in second ahead of Heim, Allgaier and Herbst while Mayer, Chandler Smith, Custer, Gray and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Almirola pitted. Following the pit stops, Almirola retained the lead after he exited pit road first followed by Allgaier, Riley Herbst, Chandler Smith, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer and Brennan Poole.

The second stage period started on Lap 84 as Almirola and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola rocketed ahead with the lead from the inside lane while Allgaier, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Hill battled within the top five. Almirola would stabilize his advantage to three-tenths of a second over Herbst by the Lap 90 mark as Chandler Smith, Allgaier and Hill remained in the top five ahead of Parker Kligerman, Mayer, Cole Custer, newcomer Taylor Gray and Sam Mayer.

On Lap 95, the caution returned after Logan Bearden hit Garrett Smithley before he spun in Turn 4. During the caution period, some including Hailie Deegan, Dawson Cram and Ryan Sieg pitted while the rest led by Almirola remained on the track.

With the event restarting on Lap 101, Almirola fended off a brief challenge by teammate Chandler Smith past the frontstretch and through the first two turns while the field fanned out. As Kligerman scrapped the outside wall after making contact with Custer through the first two turns, Almirola retained the lead ahead of teammate Chandler Smith. Almirola would continue to lead by nearly a second by the Lap 110 mark as Allgaier, Chandler Smith and Herbst trailed in the top four followed by a side-by-side battle between Hill and Mayer. Amid the battles towards the front, Sheldon Creed was black-flagged for having smoke billow out of his car due to a right-rear brake issue.

At the halfway mark on Lap 125, Almirola was scored the leader by more than a second over teammate Chandler Smith followed by Allgaier, Herbst and Hill while Mayer, Gray, Sammy Smith, Retzlaff and Love were running in the top 10 ahead of Heim, Custer, Kyle Weatherman, Josh Williams and Allmendinger. Meanwhile, Shane van Gisbergen was in 16th while Kligerman, Bubba Pollard, DiBenedetto and Jeb Burton occupied the top 20 spots on the track.

Fifteen laps later, Almirola extended his advantage to more than three seconds over teammate Chandler Smith while third-place Mayer also trailed by more than three seconds. Behind, newcomer Taylor Gray trailed by more than five seconds in fourth place while Allgaier occupied fifth in front of Hill, Heim, Herbst, Retzlaff and Custer.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 150, Almirola captured his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Mayer settled in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Gray and Heim while Allgaier, Hill, Retzlaff, Custer and Logan Bearden were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Almirola returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Almirola retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Mayer, Gray and Hill while Chandler Smith dropped and exited pit road in fifth place ahead of Allgaier and Custer.

With 91 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Almirola and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Almirola retained the lead over Mayer, whose left-front fender was smoking due to making contact with Heim during the second stage’s break period. With Mayer remaining on the track for the following lap, he would be overtaken by Chandler Smith while Hill, Allgaier and Custer were running in the top six. Chandler Smith would then proceed to overtake teammate Almirola for the lead with 87 laps remaining.

With 78 laps remaining, the caution flew after Joey Gase, who was running towards the rear of the field, was punted by Dawson Cram entering the first turn, which sent Gase spinning and colliding into the outside wall, which terminated his run. Amid the incident, however, Gase expressed his displeasure to Cram by ripping out the rear bumper out of his wrecked car and tossing it at Cram during the caution period.

During the caution period, some led by teammates Chandler Smith and Almirola pitted while others led by Allgaier remained on the track.

With the event restarting under green with 67 laps remaining, Allgaier and Custer battled for the lead in front of Retzlaff and Herbst while Chandler Smith was trying to carve his way back to the front on fresh tires. Seven laps later, Smith reassumed the top spot after navigating his way past Allgaier and Custer.

With 45 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by nearly two seconds over teammate Almirola while Jesse Love, Heim and Allgaier were racing in the top five ahead of Hill, Gray, Herbst, Kligerman and Custer.

Fifteen laps later, Chandler Smith retained the lead by more than a second over teammate Almirola while Heim, Love and Gray were racing in the top five. Smith would extend his advantage by more than two seconds over Almirola with 20 laps remaining.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Chandler Smith continued to lead by more than three seconds over teammate Almirola while Heim, Gray and Love were running in the top five. Meanwhile, Bubba Pollard was up to sixth place while Hill, Kligerman, Sammy Smith and Allgaier were running in the top 10 as Chandler Smith stabilized his advantage by three seconds with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Chandler Smith remained as the leader by four seconds over teammate Almirola. As teammate Gray overtook Heim for third place, Smith was on cruise control for a final circuit as he cycled his No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra back to the frontstretch for a final time and to claim his second checkered flag of the 2024 Xfinity season.

With the victory, Chandler Smith, who has finished in the top eight through the first six events on the 2024 schedule, notched his third Xfinity Series career win in his 42nd series start and his first since winning at Phoenix Raceway in early March. He also notched his second consecutive series victory at Richmond Raceway and he joined Austin Hill as the only competitors to repeat as race winners during the 2024 Xfinity season.

“Never give up, never give up,” Smith said on FS1. “This car was not good, Stage 1 wasn’t good, wasn’t good in Stage 2, but we were able to do some strategy there with our Mobil 1 GR Supra and this thing was as fast as Xfinity Internet when it counted. I’m back here winning races here on a consistent basis. I think we took over the points lead again too, so I’m just blessed. I’m beyond blessed.”

As Chandler Smith celebrated on the frontstretch and in Victory Lane, teammate Aric Almirola, who led a race-high 95 laps compared to Smith’s 76, settled in the runner-up spot in his third Xfinity start of the 2024 season.

“We just got a little bit too loose,” Almirola said. “The run before that in Stage 2, when I took off my car was really, really good. At the end, it just felt a little tight and that last run for whatever reason, different set of tires or what, I let Chandler go, and when I started to just creep back to him, I didn’t have anything to go with. I was too loose in and I couldn’t get throttle down on exit. [I] Hate that to win both stages and feel like we had the dominant car and then to let it slip away there at the end, is disappointing. Still a fun week, this weekend, coming back to Richmond 18 years after making my first start for Coach [Gibbs]. I really wanted to put this [No. 20 He Gets Us Toyota Supra] into Victory Lane today, but it’s gonna have to wait.”

Newcomer Taylor Gray capped off a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2-3 finish by achieving a third-place finish in his series debut while Corey Heim and Jesse Love finished in the top five. Newcomer Bubba Pollard also delivered with a sixth-place finish in his Xfinity debut while Kilgerman, Hill, Sammy Smith and Custer finished in the top 10 on the track.

With today’s Xfinity event at Richmond serving as a qualifying event for the first Dash 4 Cash round of the 2024 season, race winner Chandler Smith along with Aric Almirola, Jesse Love and Parker Kligerman have qualified for the first Dash 4 Cash round that will occur next Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.

There were 14 lead changes for seven different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 51 laps. In addition, nine of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the sixth event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Chandler Smith leads the regular-season standings by 10 points over Austin Hill, 41 over Cole Custer, 67 over Jesse Love, 71 over Riley Herbst and 80 over AJ Allmendinger.

Results.

1. Chandler Smith, 76 laps led

2. Aric Almirola, 95 labps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

3. Taylor Gray

4. Corey Heim, 15 laps led

5. Jesse Love

6. Bubba Pollard

7. Parker Kligerman

8. Austin Hill

9. Sammy Smith

10. Cole Custer one lap down, seven laps led

11. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, 28 laps led

12. Josh Williams, one lap down

13. Riley Herbst, one lap down

14. AJ Allmendinger, one lap down

15. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

16. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down, 27 laps led

17. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

18. Matt DiBenedetto, one lap down

19. Josh Bilicki, one lap down

20. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

21. Garrett Smithley, one lap down

22. Logan Bearden, one lap down

23. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

24. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

25. Dawson Cram, two laps down

26. Jeb Burton, two laps down

27. Ryan Ellis, two laps down

28. Brennan Poole, two laps down

29. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

30. Sam Mayer, four laps down

31. Hailie Deegan, nine laps down

32. Ryan Sieg, 30 laps down

33. Blaine Perkins, 69 laps down

34. Joey Gase – OUT, Accident

35. Sheldon Creed – OUT, Brakes

36. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Brakes

37. Brandon Jones – OUT, Engine

38. Ryan Vargas – OUT, Engine

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, for the DUDE Wipes 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, April 6, and air at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 30, 2024
John Hunter Nemechek dominates for 10th Xfinity career victory at Las Vegas

In an event mired with gusty winds, John Hunter Nemechek zipped his way to a dominant victory in The LiUNA! at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 2, for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 season.

“We definitely worked hard for this one,” Nemechek said. “We were good, but we weren’t great. Tyler (Allen), all of the guys on the 20 team just kept adjusting on it. Hats off to them. They made this Toyota GR Supra faster every single time that we made a pit stop. It continued to get faster, faster and faster. The Safeway Toyota GR Supra looked good, proud to have all of the brands that we do, all of our partners – feels good to come back and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and to do it here in Vegas – I’ve been so close, so many times with Joe Gibbs Racing, so to finally get it done, it feels really good.”

The 26-year-old, second-generation Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, led five times for a race-high 99 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 12th but raced his way to the front as he led for the first time on Lap 56 and finished in second place behind teammate Chandler Smith during both stage periods. After swapping the lead with Smith at the start of the final stage period, Nemechek, who reassumed the top spot during a restart with 72 laps remaining, then withstood a late round of green flag pit stops to reclaim the lead with 10 laps remaining, where he would muscle away from pole-sitter Cole Custer, Smith, and Austin Hill to cash in his first Xfinity Series victory of the 2024 campaign and his 10th of his career.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, March 1, Cole Custer, the reigning Xfinity Series champion, notched his first Xfinity pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.281 mph in 29.788 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Chandler Smith, who clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 181.178 mph in 29.805 seconds.

Before the event, Anthony Alfredo dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car while Justin Allgaier, Blaine Perkins and Sage Karam 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, AJ Allmendinger made a bold three-wide move beneath Custer and Chandler Smith through the first two turns in his early bid for the lead. Through Turns 3 and 4, however, Smith muscled ahead and proceeded to lead the first lap as Allmendinger was left to battle Austin Hill for the runner-up spot while Custer went up the track and was engaged in a tight three-wide battle for fourth place that involved Parker Retzlaff and Parker Kligerman. As the field behind continued to jostle for early spots, Chandler Smith was stretching his early advantage by more than half a second over Hill.

Through the first five scheduled laps, Chandler Smith was leading by more than seven-tenths of a second over Hill followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Allmendinger and Custer while Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Parker Retzlaff and Sammy Smith were running in the top 10 ahead of Aric Almirola, Sheldon Creed, Sam Mayer, Corey Heim and Brandon Jones. Meanwhile, rookie Jesse Love was in 17th, Justin Allgaier was running 20th and Shane van Gisbergen was mired within the top 25.

Two laps later, the event’s first caution period flew after Retzlaff, who was running in the top 10, slid sideways in front of Sammy Smith entering Turn 4 and was hit by Sam Mayer, which damaged both vehicles, as Almirola barely dodged the carnage.

When the race restarted under green on Lap 13, the field fanned out to three lanes again approaching the first turn as Chandler Smith managed to retain the lead in front of Allmendinger and Hill while Kligerman muscled his way up to fourth place as Nemechek, who was pinned in the middle of the three-wide battle, slid back to sixth place in between Custer and Ryan Sieg. Amid the early battles ensuing behind, Chandler Smith maintained a reasonable advantage over Allmendinger and Hill by the Lap 15 mark.

Through the first 25 laps, Chandler Smith was leading by more than a second over Custer followed by Nemechek, Hill and Allmendinger while Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Herbst, Allgaier and Brandon Jones were running in the top 10. Behind, Sammy Smith was back in 11th ahead of Creed, Jesse Love, Heim and Kyle Weatherman while Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Leland Honeyman, Kyle Sieg and Hailie Deegan followed suit in the top 20 along with Josh Williams, Almirola, Anthony Alfredo, Ryan Ellis and Jeremy Clements.

Ten laps later, Chandler Smith extended his advantage to more than two seconds over teammate Nemechek while Custer and Hill battled for third place as they trailed by four seconds. By then, Shane van Gisbergen had taken his car to the garage following a mechanical issue.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Chandler Smith captured his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Teammate Nemechek settled in second followed by Hill, Herbst and Custer while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Kligerman, Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hill exited pit road first followed by Herbst, Nemechek, Custer, Allmendinger and Allgaier while Chandler Smith lost six spots due to a jack issue and exited seventh amid his pit service.

The second stage period started on Lap 53 as Hill and Herbst occupied the front row. At the start, Hill and Herbst dueled for the top spot through the first two turns until Hill muscled ahead with the lead exiting the backstretch. With Hill leading the race, Nemechek and Herbst battled for the runner-up spot in front of Allmendinger and Custer while Chandler Smith was trying to carve his way back to the front from sixth place.

Just past the Lap 55 mark, Nemechek rocketed past Hill for the lead as Hill, who had debris clogging his front grille, was being pressured and overtaken by Herbst, Chandler Smith and a host of competitors, where he would drop to seventh place before he cleared the debris off of his grille. With Hill mired in the top 10 and mired in a bevy of traffic through the on-track battles, Nemechek retained the lead by half a second over both Herbst and Chandler Smith by the Lap 60 mark.

Just past the Lap 70 mark, Nemechek continued to lead by eight-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Herbst trailed by more than a second. With Allgaier and Allmendinger running in the top five, Hill was back in sixth ahead of Kligerman, Ryan Sieg, Custer and Sammy Smith while Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Almirola, Creed and Heim trailed in the top 15 as Josh Williams was up to 16th place.

Ten laps later, Nemechek retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over teammate Chandler Smith while Herbst, Allgaier and Allmendinger continued to run in the top five ahead of Hill and Kligerman. Meanwhile, Jesse Love cracked the top 10 as he was in ninth ahead of Custer while teammates Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones battled for 11th ahead of Almirola.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Chandler Smith overtook teammate Nemechek on the final lap to capture his second consecutive Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in third followed by Allgaier and Allmendinger while Hill, Love, Kligerman, Custer and Ryan Sieg were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Smith retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Herbst and Nemechek while Hill, Allmendinger, Custer and Love followed suit.

With 104 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as teammates Chandler Smith and Nemechek occupied the front row. At the start, both dueled for the lead for a full lap and they continued to battle dead even for the top spot for the following lap until Nemechek managed to muscle ahead of Smith and manage both lanes to his control. With Nemechek leading Smith, Herbst trailed in third ahead of Hill, Allgaier and Allmendinger while the rest of the field behind jostled for spots.

At the halfway mark on Lap 100, teammates Nemechek and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead again, but Nemechek withstood his ground and maintained the top spot while running on the outside lane. Nemechek would retain the lead until Chandler Smith reassumed the top spot with 90 laps remaining. By then, Herbst trailed in third place by a second as Hill and Allgaier continued to run in the top five.

With less than 80 laps remaining, Chandler Smith was leading by a tenth of a second over teammate Nemechek while third-place Herbst trailed by nearly a second ahead of Allgaier, Hill and Allmendinger. The caution would then fly with 73 laps remaining after Retzlaff stalled his car towards the exit of pit road. This resulted in the entire lead lap field led by Chandler Smith returning to pit road for service, where Nemechek managed to reassume the lead after beating Smith off of pit road first followed by Hill, Herbst, Allgaier and Allmendinger.

When the race restarted under green with 72 laps remaining, Nemechek fended off teammate Chandler Smith and Hill to maintain the lead from the outside lane while the rest of the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions through the backstretch. Amid the battles, Nemechek continued to lead with less than 70 laps remaining. He would also maintain the lead with less than 60 laps remaining as Herbst was running in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Hill and Allgaier.

With 50 laps remaining, Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second over Herbst while teammate Chandler Smith trailed in third place by more than three seconds. Hill and Allgaier continued to run in the top five while Custer, Sammy Smith, Allmendinger, Almirola and Brandon Jones were running in the top 10 ahead of Ryan Sieg, Kligerman, Love, Williams and Hailie Deegan.

Ten laps later, Nemechek stabilized his advantage to a second over Herbst and over three seconds over Chandler Smith while Hill and Allgaier remained in the top five. By then, Ryan Sieg cracked the top 10 as he was running 10th behind Custer, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Almirola while Creed overtook Deegan for 15th.

Another five laps later, green flag pit stops slowly commenced as Brandon Jones pitted his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro. Chandler Smith would surrender third place to pit during the following lap along with Herbst, Hill, Custer, Sammy Smith, Love, Allmendinger and others before Nemechek pitted with 31 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Jeb Burton was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With Nemechek pitting, Allgaier assumed the race lead with 31 laps remaining followed by Almirola, Williams, Creed and Poole. Allgaier, who was one of seven competitors opting to stretch the fuel tank as far as possible, retained the lead by nine seconds over Williams with 25 laps remaining. Meanwhile, Nemechek was mired back in eighth but was running as the highest competitor who had recently pitted ahead of Herbst and Chandler Smith.

Then with 21 laps remaining, Allgaier, who led 11 laps during his fuel stretch, pitted his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro under green as Williams assumed the race lead. By then, Nemechek carved his way up to third place while Hill, Chandler Smith and Herbst were trying to keep pace with Nemechek. Amid their charge to the front, Williams retained the lead with 15 laps remaining as he was leading by less than 12 seconds over Nemechek.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Nemechek reassumed the lead after Williams, who led the previous 10 laps, pitted under green. By then, Nemechek was out in front by more than four seconds over Hill while Chandler Smith, Custer and Herbst trailed by nearly six seconds in the top five.

With five laps remaining, Nemechek continued to lead by five seconds over a tight three-car battle for the runner-up spot that involved Hill, Custer and Chandler Smith while Herbst trailed by more than six seconds. Meanwhile, Allmendinger trailed in sixth place by seven seconds as Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Allgaier were mired in the top 10 and trailing the lead by nearly 22 seconds.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Nemechek remained as the leader by nearly five seconds over Custer. Amid the gusty temperatures, Nemechek was able to navigate his way around the Vegas circuit smoothly for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch as the winner as he claimed the checkered flag by more than four seconds over Custer.

With the victory, Nemechek, a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor for Legacy Motor Club and a part-time Xfinity competitor for Joe Gibbs Racing, scored his 10th career win in the Xfinity Series, second across NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and his ninth driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, with JGR claiming its first victory in 2024 and its fourth at Vegas in the last 10 years. The victory was also the first for rookie crew chief Tyler Allen.

“Hats off to all the guys on this No. 20 team from Joe Gibbs Racing,” Nemechek said on FS1. “Man, it’s awesome to come back out here and win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with a limited number of starts. Our goal was to come and win as many [races] as we possibly could. Nothing else matters. Congrats to [crew chief] Tyler [Allen], who’s the crew chief this year of the No. 20 car. His first win as a crew chief. We’ll go celebrate in Victory Lane. Man, it feels so good to win here in Las Vegas.”

Custer, the pole winner, settled in second place followed by Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Riley Herbst while Allmendinger, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Brandon Jones and Allgaier finished in the top 10.

There were 12 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 22 laps. In addition, 13 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Following the third event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith and 27 over Riley Herbst.

Results.

1. John Hunter Nemechek, 99 laps led

2. Cole Custer

3. Chandler Smith, 74 laps led, Stage 1 & 2 winner

4. Austin Hill, six laps led

5. Riley Herbst

6. AJ Allmendinger

7. Ryan Sieg

8. Sammy Smith

9. Brandon Jones

10. Justin Allgaier, 11 laps led

11. Parker Kligerman

12. Aric Almirola

13. Corey Heim

14. Josh Williams, one lap down, 10 laps led

15. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

16. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

17. Jesse Love, one lap down

18. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

19. Brennan Poole, one lap down

20. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

21. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

22. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

23. Jeb Burton, two laps down

24. JJ Yeley, two laps down

25. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

26. Sheldon Creed, three laps down

27. Nick Leitz, three laps down

28. Patrick Emerling, four laps down

29. Garrett Smithley, five laps down

30. Joey Gase, five laps down

31. Blaine Perkins, five laps down

32. BJ McLeod, five laps down

33. CJ McLaughlin, four laps down

34. Dawson Cram, eight laps down

35. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Fuel pump

36. Sage Karam – OUT, Transmission

37. Shane van Gisbergen – OUT, Engine

38. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, for the Call811.com Every Dig. Every Time. 200. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 9, at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

March 2, 2024
Austin Hill snatches dramatic Xfinity victory at Atlanta in overtime

In an event dominated by rookie Jesse Love, teammate Austin Hill captured the final spotlight by claiming a dramatic, overtime victory in the RAPTOR King of Tough 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, February 24, for his second consecutive NASCAR Xfinity Series victory to commence the 2024 season.

The 29-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led the final two of 168 over-scheduled laps in an event where he was poised for a potential top-10 result while teammate Jesse Love dominated the event from pole position and had won the event’s two-stage periods. Following a caution period with two laps remaining that sent the event into overtime and with fuel becoming a concern for a multitude of front-runners, Love’s dominant quest to victory came to a halt at the start of overtime as he stumbled to keep up to pace. Love’s misfortune parted the seas for Hill to move into the lead. From there, Hill was able to fend off Chandler Smith for two laps to grab his second consecutive Xfinity victory to commence the 2024 season.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, February 23, rookie Jesse Love notched his second consecutive pole position of the 2024 season after posting a pole-winning lap at 173.935 mph in 31.874 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Austin Hill, winner of this year’s season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway, after he clocked in the second-fastest qualifying lap at 173.706 mph in 31.916 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Brandon Jones, Patrick Emerling, Jeb Burton, Parker Retzlaff, Joey Gase, Ryan Ellis and Brennan Poole 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 Love and Hill dueled for the lead for a full lap in front of two tight-packed lanes until Love managed to lead the first lap by a hair. By the conclusion of the second lap, Love had both lanes to his control with the lead while Riley Herbst was battling Hill for the runner-up spot.

By the fourth lap, Josh Williams had fallen off the pace due to a flat tire on his Kaulig Racing entry. Amid Williams’ issues, the race remained under green flag conditions as Love also retained the lead followed by Herbst, Sam Mayer, Ryan Truex and John Hunter Nemechek while Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed, Hill, Parker Kligerman and Sammy Smith occupied the top 10 by the fifth lap mark.

Through the first 15 scheduled laps, Love continued to lead in front of a long single-file line of competitors that included Herbst, Mayer, Truex and Nemechek while Hill, Kligerman, AJ Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier trailed in the top 10.

Fifteen laps later, Love retained the lead ahead of Herbst, Mayer, Kligerman and Truex in the draft while Allmendinger, Allgaier, Creed, Sammy Smith and Ryan Sieg were running in the top 10.

When the first sage period concluded on Lap 40, Love, who has led every lap thus far, captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Herbst settled in second while Mayer, Truex, Kligerman, Allmendinger, Allgaier, Creed, Ryan Sieg and Sammy Sith were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, a majority of the field led by Love pitted. During the pit stops, Brandon Jones was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation while Poole was also penalized due to his crew members being over the pit box too soon.

The second stage period started on Lap 47 as Love and Kligerman occupied the front row. At the start, Love and Kligerman dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Love muscled the No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead with drafting help from Allgaier. Kligerman, however, would spend the next two laps battling dead even with Love for the top spot until Love muscled back ahead by the Lap 50 mark.

Nearing the Lap 60 mark, the caution flew after JJ Yeley spun off the front nose of Kyle Weatherman exiting the frontstretch and entering the first turn. During the caution period, some drivers, including Shane van Gisbergen, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger and Kyle Sieg pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track.

During the next restart on Lap 63, Love battled against teammate Hill for nearly a lap until he muscled ahead from the outside lane as he was pursued by Allgaier and Herbst while Hill remained as the lead competitor on the inside lane. As the laps progressed, Nemechek made contact with the outside wall in Turn 3 and Hill drifted outside the top 10 while he continued to run the inside lane. Amid the events, Love continued to lead the race.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 80, Love captured his second consecutive stage victory of the 2024 Xfinity season. Allgaier settled in second while Herbst, Truex, Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Cole Custer, Hill, Allmendinger and Creed were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Love pitted while Jeb Burton remained on the track. Shortly after, Burton would surrender the lead to pit, which gave the lead to Allmendinger, who only pitted for fuel.

With 76 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Allmendinger and Love occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger and Love dueled for the lead in front of two packed lanes. Allmendinger and Love would then swap the lead during the next seven laps before Love assumed control of both lanes with the top spot with 67 laps remaining.

With 50 laps remaining, Love was leading ahead of Allmendinger, Herbst, Truex and Kligerman while Hill, Brandon Jones, Custer, Mayer and Sammy Smith occupied the top 10 in front of Allgaier, van Gisbergen, Chandler Smith, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Sieg, Creed, Retzlaff, Anthony Alfredo, Leland Honeyman and Ryan Ellis.

Fifteen laps later and with the majority of the field running in a long single-file line towards the outside lane, Love continued to lead ahead of Herbst, Truex, Kligerman and teammate Hill. By then, Allmendinger, who was stuck on the inside lane, had slipped within the top 15.

Another 15 laps later, Love retained the lead as part of a 15-car breakaway followed by Herbst, Truex, Kligerman and Hill.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event and with the leaders approaching lapped traffic, Love maintained the lead in front of Herbst while Truex, Kligerman and Hill remained in the top five, though fuel was becoming a concern for the front-runners.

Then with three laps remaining, Custer, who was running in the top 10, fell off the pace through the frontstretch after he ran out of fuel. Teammate Herbst then met the same fate entering Turns 1 and 2, but the event remained under green flag conditions. With two laps remaining, however, the caution flew after Ryan Sieg came to a stop on the backstretch due to running out of fuel.

During the caution period, some including Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith, van Gisbergen, Allmendinger, Creed, Retzlaff, Jeremy Clements and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Love remained on the track. With the event sent into overtime, disaster struck for Allgaier, who was running toward the front but was forced to pit after he ran out of fuel prior to the start.

At the start of overtime, Love along with Kligerman and Allmendinger fell off the pace after all three ran out of fuel through the frontstretch. With Love stumbling on gas, Austin Hill shoved Ryan Truex out of his path to assume the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch followed by a hard-charging Chandler Smith while Shane van Gisbergen followed suit in third.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader by a narrow margin over Chandler Smith and van Gisbergen. With Smith unable to gain enough momentum amid the draft to mount a final lap charge, Hill was able to maintain control of both lanes and cycle his way back to the frontstretch to claim his second consecutive checkered flag of the 2024 season.

With the victory, Hill notched his eighth career win in the Xfinity Series, his sixth on a superspeedway venue and his third victory in his previous four starts at Atlanta, his home track. Hill also became the first competitor to win the first two events on the schedule since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment in 2008.

“I just gotta thank my guys, everyone on this No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet,” Hill said on FS1. “We all worked through it. I was really thinking we were down and out. I was thinking [Love] was going to go get ‘em, and hey, if I can’t win, let my teammate win. We were riding there in fourth or fifth, whatever it was. I was saving fuel. We came to the restart zone and I’m like sloshing it around and we go through the gears. When I went to shift from third to fourth [gear], I actually stumbled and [Chandler Smith] hit me really hard, and that woke it back up, and I had enough fuel to complete the lap.

“But I’ve got to take this moment to congratulate, Jesse Love, my teammate. He ran an awesome race. To be a rookie and to lead that many laps, he should be sitting in Victory Lane right now. The No. 2 team did a hell of a job. So awesome to win here at my home track again for the third time. Man, what a race. I thought we were down and out. I really did. I thought we were just gonna run second or third and here we are in Victory Lane.”

Chandler Smith settled in the runner-up spot followed by Shane van Gisbergen, who achieved his first top-three result in the Xfinity circuit. Sheldon Creed came home in fourth place followed by Retzlaff while Jeremy Clements, Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Sammy Smith finished in the top 10.

Jesse Love, who led a race-high 157 laps, ended up in 12th place ahead of Allmendinger after he came up two laps shy on his dry tank of fuel.

There were 11 lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured four cautions for 23 laps.

Following the second event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill continues to lead the regular-season standings by 17 points over Sheldon Creed, 28 over Riley Herbst, 30 over both Chandler Smtih and Jesse Love, and 36 over Parker Retzlaff.

Results.

1. Austin Hill, two laps led

2. Chandler Smith

3. Shane van Gisbergen

4. Sheldon Creed

5. Parker Retzlaff

6. Jeremy Clements

7. Anthony Alfredo

8. Jeffrey Earnhardt

9. Ryan Truex

10. Sammy Smith

11. Sam Mayer

12. Jesse Love, 157 laps, Stage 1 & 2 winner

13. AJ Allmendinger, eight laps led

14. Brandon Jones

15. Riley Herbst

16. Cole Custer

17. Kyle Weatherman

18. BJ McLeod

19. Parker Kligerman, one lap led

20. Brennan Poole, one lap down

21. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

22. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

23. Jeb Burton, one lap down

24. JJ Yeley, one lap down

25. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

26. Nick Leitz, one lap down

27. Hailie Deegan, one lap down

28. Justin Allgaier, one lap down

29. Joey Gase, two laps down

30. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

31. Dawson Cram, two laps down

32. John Hunter Nemechek, three laps down

33. Patrick Emerling, three laps down

34. Garrett Smithley, three laps down

35. CJ McLaughlin, four laps down

36. Kyle Sieg, four laps down, one lap led

37. Josh Williams, nine laps down

38. Jordan Anderson – OUT, Steering

Next on the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule is The LiUNA! At Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, March 2, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 24, 2024
Austin Hill rallies to notch third consecutive Xfinity opener victory at Daytona

Austin Hill rallied from three different circumstances that sent him to the rear of the field to commence a new season of NASCAR Xfinity Series competition on a victorious note three years in a row by winning the rain-postponed United Rentals 300 at Daytona International Speedway on Monday, February 19.

The 29-year-old Hill from Winston, Georgia, led nine of 120 scheduled laps in an event where he shared the front row with new teammate and series newcomer Jesse Love. After being edged by Love at the conclusion of the first stage period, Hill was involved in a multi-car wreck at the start of the second stage period that sent him to the rear of the field. He would rally with cosmetic damage to his No. 21 Richard Childress Racing entry by winning the second stage but would hit another obstacle by being nabbed with a speeding penalty on pit road during the stage’s break period that sent him to the rear of the field for a second time. After rallying from that, he would hit a third obstacle by pitting during a late caution period with approximately 20 laps remaining to address a flat tire to his entry.

Amid the three issues that sent him to the rear of the field, Hill capitalized on two late-race caution periods and late-race carnages to draft Jordan Anderson to the lead during the final restart with three laps remaining before he assumed the lead. He would then fend off late challenges from Sheldon Creed, Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones to muscle away from the field and notch his third consecutive victory in the Xfinity Series’ opener at Daytona.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, February 17, newcomer Jesse Love secured his first Xfinity career pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.079 mph in 49.702 seconds. Joining him on the front row was teammate Austin Hill, who clocked in the second-best qualifying lap at 181.068 mph in 49.705 seconds.

Prior to the event, Dawson Cram and BJ McLeod were sent to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. In addition, Sage Karam would start at the rear of the field due to an engine change to his No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing entry.

When the green flag waved and the 2024 Xfinity Series commenced, Love muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead from the outside lane and ahead of teammate Hill entering the first two turns. With the field stacked amid two tight-packed lanes through the backstretch, Love, who transitioned from the inside to the outside lane to keep Hill behind him, proceeded to lead the first lap. He would proceed to lead the ensuing laps while keeping teammate Hill behind him amid the draft. By then, a majority of the field migrated to a long single-file line towards the outside wall while some led by AJ Allmendinger raced on the inside lane.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Love was leading a bevy of competitors running in a long single-file line towards the outside wall while teammate Hill, Parker Kligerman, Justin Allgaier, Anthony Alfredo, Sammy Smith, John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed, Jeb Burton and Daniel Suarez were scored in the top 10. Behind, Ryan Truex was in 11th followed by Riley Herbst, Cole Custer, Brandon Jones and AJ Allmendinger while Sam Mayer, Daniel Dye, Parker Retzlaff, Shane van Gisbergen and Hailie Deegan rounded out the top 20.

Just past the Lap 20 mark and with the majority of the field still running in a long single-file line on the outside lane, Love also continued to lead ahead of teammate Hill, Kligerman, Allgaier and Alfredo. By then, Sammy Smith, Nemechek, Creed, Burton and Truex were running in the top 10 ahead of Custer, Brandon Jones, Allmendinger, Dye and Retzlaff while van Gisbergen moved up to 16th as Herbst fell back to 17th.

Then on Lap 22, the event’s first caution flew when Suarez, who stepped off the gas to avoid running into the rear of van Gisbergen, got bumped and turned into the outside wall entering Turn 1, where he then spun back across the track and clipped Sam Mayer as Mayer hit the outside wall head-on. Hailie Deegan and Kyle Weatherman would also be involved, with all four competitors being eliminated early from contention.

During the event’s first caution period, some led by Love remained on the track while others led by Allgaier pitted for service.

With the event restarting for a one-lap dash to the conclusion of the first stage period on Lap 29, teammates Love and Hill dueled for the lead in front of the field that was fanning out to three tight-packed lanes through the first two turns and the backstretch. When the field returned to the frontstretch to complete the first stage period on Lap 30, Love was able to edge Hill by a hair to claim the first stage victory. Hill ended up second followed by Kligerman, Alfredo and Burton while Creed, Nemechek, Allmendinger, Allgaier and Ryan Truex were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, some led by Love pitted while the rest led by Allmendinger remained on the track. During the pit stops, Alfredo was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

The second stage period started on Lap 35 as Allmendinger and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Allmendinger received an early push from Herbst to muscle his No. 16 Celsius Chevrolet Camaro ahead with the lead through the backstretch until Allgaier muscled ahead from the inside lane entering Turns 3 and 4. He would be followed by Cole Custer and Blaine Perkins as the field behind fanned out to three lanes.

Then during the following lap, where Allgaier was pinned in a tight three-wide battle for the lead against Custer and Perkins, the caution returned after Love, who was running in the top 10 but mired in the middle lane amid a stacked field, got loose in front of Nemechek, where he spun, clipped Allmendinger and triggered a multi-car wreck that collected van Gisbergen, Kligerman, Daniel Dye, Alfredo, Josh Williams, Frankie Muniz, Jeremy Clements and Hill, who spun towards the backstretch’s infield, but managed to keep his No. 21 Bennett Chevrolet Camaro away from the inside wall as he proceeded with cosmetic damage.

Following the second carnage of the night, the event proceeded under green on Lap 42, where Allgaier muscled ahead on the outside lane from Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer and Riley Herbst. Not long after, Custer and Herbst pinned Allgaier in a three-wide battle for the lead as Custer muscled ahead in his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang from the inside lane. Custer would proceed to lead the next lap, Lap 44, as the field fanned out to three tight-packed lanes while Allgaier was trying to regain ground from the inside lane.

On Lap 44, however, Allgaier, who attempted to draw even with Custer for the lead entering the backstretch, went up the track and bumped against Custer sending Allgaier’s No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro spinning towards the backstretch’s infield as Garrett Smithley also spun.

When the race restarted on Lap 48, teammates Parker Retzlaff and Jeb Burton zipped by Custer from the inside lane through the first two turns as Clements tried to follow suit. Burton would then move his No. 27 Golden Corral Chevrolet Camaro in front of Clements to be drafted into the lead from Retzlaff during the next lap, with Retzlaff and Clements getting shuffled out of the lead draft while Hill muscled his way back to the front with a bandaged race car.

Following another caution period on Lap 50, where Nemechek spun his No. 20 Pye Barker Toyota Supra across the frontstretch after losing a left-rear tire as Josh Bilicki also got bumped and spun, the event restarted under green on Lap 56, where Burton maintained a brief lead over Ryan Sieg and Hill before he would be pinned in a three-wide battle with Hill and Sheldon Creed for the lead. Following the battle, Hill was back atop the leaderboard during the following lap.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 60, Hill fended off Sammy Smith and Creed to capture the stage victory. Sammy Smith edged Creed for the runner-up spot while Custer, Sieg, Ryan Truex, Herbst, Allgaier, Allmendinger and Brandon Jones were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, a bevy of names led by Hill pitted while the rest led by teammate Love remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Hill, who slid through his pit box, was penalized and sent to the rear of the field for speeding while entering pit road.

With 54 laps remaining, the final stage commenced under green as Love and Sammy Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Sammy Smith muscled his No. 8 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet Camaro into the lead from the inside lane while Love was left to battle Creed for the runner-up spot in front of two stacked lanes. Smith would proceed to lead the next four laps until Herbst moved his No. 98 Monster Energy Ford Mustang into the lead from the outside lane, where he would lead the next four laps.

With 45 laps remaining, select names led by Hill and including teammate Love, Leland Honeyman and Kligerman peeled off the racetrack to pit under green before more names led by Allmendinger and including Sammy Smith, Clements, Daniel Dye, van Gisbergen and Jordan Anderson pitted. Over the next several laps, more names pitted while three names led by Natalie Decker and including Ryan Ellis and Garrett Smithley remained on the track to inherit the top three spots with less than 40 laps remaining.

With 33 laps remaining, Ellis assumed the lead followed by Smithley as Decker dropped to third, though all have yet to pit. Meanwhile, Herbst, the first competitor who pitted, was in fourth and leading a bevy of competitors that fanned out to three lanes.

Then with 24 laps remaining, the caution flew after contact from van Gisbergen sent Jeb Burton spinning entering the frontstretch. By then, Ellis, Smithley and Decker remained on the track as the top-three leaders while Ryan Sieg was the lead competitor of those who pitted followed by Herbst, Custer, Chandler Smith, Hill and Truex. During the caution period, some led by Ellis, Smithley and Decker pitted while the rest, led by Sieg, remained on the track. Not long after, Hill would pit under caution due to a flat tire on his entry.

During the next restart with 18 laps remaining, Sieg received a draft from Herbst to muscle away from Chandler Smith and retain the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch. The caution, however, quickly returned after Retzlaff made contact with Clements exiting the backstretch and ignited another multi-car wreck that included Honeyman, Smithley, van Gisbergen and Burton.

The start of the next restart with 11 laps remaining featured Herbst and Sieg dueling for the lead through the first two turns and through the backstretch as the field slowly started to fan out to three lanes by the time the front-runners returned to the frontstretch. Not long after, however, Herbst was penalized for a restart violation, where he was laying back prior to the restart zone.

Two laps later and a three-wide battle between Herbst, Anderson and Chandler Smith ignited, the caution returned after Karam, who was being drafted at full speed by Allmendinger, bumped and sent Custer into the backstretch’s outside wall, where he then veered back to the left and clipped Karam into the wall as another multi-car wreck ensued that collected Poole, Daniel Dye, Allgaier and Custer, where all four were sent sliding and slamming into one another towards the infield’s grass before the former two slid back across the track. By then and with Herbst out of contention by falling back to the tail of the field, Anderson was scored the leader followed by Chandler Smith, Hill, Sieg and Retzlaff.

As the event restarted with three laps remaining, Chandler Smith muscled into the lead on the inside lane followed by Sieg and Truex. Not long after, Anderson was drafted by Hill into the lead through the backstretch. Hill, however, seized an opportunity to veer to the right and overtake Anderson entering Turns 3 and 4 while Chandler Smith, Retzlaff and Truex followed suit amid the draft. Hill would maintain the lead over Chandler Smith, Truex and a hard-charging Brandon Jones during the next lap followed by Creed as the field began to fan out and scramble to the front.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill remained as the leader ahead of ex-teammate Creed, who muscled his way into the runner-up spot followed by Sieg and Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith was losing momentum on the outside lane. Then as the field navigated through the first two turns, Sammy Smith and Sieg made contact that resulted with both along with Truex wrecking. The race, however, remained under green flag conditions as Hill remained ahead of Creed and a scattered field with the lead. With Creed unable to gain any draft or momentum for one final turn, Hill was able to smoothly navigate his way around Turns 3 and 4 with a comfortable advantage at full speed before he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his third consecutive checkered flag at Daytona to commence a new season of competition.

With the victory, Hill achieved his seventh NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory in his 82nd series’ start and his fifth on a superspeedway venue as he also became the first competitor to achieve three consecutive Xfinity Daytona opener victories since Tony Stewart made the last accomplishment from 2008-10, with Stewart proceeding to win a fourth consecutive opener in 2011. Compared to his two previous season-opening victories at Daytona that ended under caution, Hill earned this year’s victory under green flag conditions. The Daytona victory was also the ninth overall in the Xfinity circuit for Richard Childress Racing.

“[Tonight’s victory] tops it all,” Hill said on FS1. “Three-peat. You know how hard it is to win at Daytona? God almighty! I don’t know what was going on with me on pit road today, but my guys just kept telling me, ‘Look, man, dig deep; you’re really good at these superspeedways.’ I tried to screw it up on pit road—sped on pit road, slid through the box, about slid through the box on the first stop, but man, this Bennett Chevrolet was fast as Xfinity 10G, that’s for damn sure. I don’t even know what time it is. I know it’s past my bedtime, but we’re about to party tonight, I can tell you that. I am so stoked. This is incredible…it can’t get any better.”

Creed settled in the runner-up spot for the eighth time in his career and in his first event driving for Joe Gibbs Racing while Retzlaff, Jordan Anderson and Chandler Smith finished in the top five.

Herbst rallied his way to finish sixth while Nemechek, Allgaier, Brandon Jones and Allmendinger completed the top-10 finishing order on the track.

Notably, Ryan Ellis ended up 11th after leading 11 laps followed by newcomer Shane van Gisbergen, Cole Custer, Blaine Perkins and BJ McLeod. In addition, Natalie Decker settled in 18th and pole-sitter Jesse Love ended up 20th while Ryan Truex, Ryan Sieg and Sammy Smith ended up 21st through 23rd, respectively, following their last-lap accident.

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

Following the first event of the 2024 Xfinity Series season, Austin Hill leads the regular-season standings by 11 points over Sheldon Creed, 24 over Riley Herbst, 25 over both Parker Retzlaff and Justin Allgaier, and 26 over Jordan Anderson.

Results.

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

2. Sheldon Creed, two laps led

3. Parker Retzlaff, six laps led

4. Jordan Anderson

5. Chandler Smith, one lap led

6. Riley Herbst, eight laps led

7. John Hunter Nemechek

8. Justin Allgaier, eight laps led

9. Brandon Jones

10. AJ Allmendinger, three laps led

11. Ryan Ellis, 11 laps led

12. Shane van Gisbergen

13. Cole Custer, six laps led

14. Blaine Perkins

15. BJ McLeod

16. Garrett Smithley

17. Patrick Emerling

18. Natalie Decker, seven laps led

19. Brennan Poole

20. Jesse Love, 34 laps led, Stage 1 winner

21. Ryan Truex

22. Ryan Sieg, 12 laps led

23. Sammy Smith, one lap down, six laps led

24. Anthony Alfredo, two laps down

25. Parker Kligerman, two laps down

26. Jeb Burton, two laps down, eight laps led

27. Daniel Dye, three laps down

28. Sage Karam – OUT, Accident

29. Jeremy Clements – OUT, DVP

30. Leland Honeyman – OUT, Accident

31. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident

32. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

33. Frankie Muniz – OUT, DVP

34. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

35. Daniel Suarez – OUT, Accident

36. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

37. Hailie Deegan – OUT, Accident

38. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

With the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season underway, the next event on the schedule is Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, for the RAPTOR King of Tough 250. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, February 24, and air at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

February 20, 2024
Joe Gibbs Racing reveals driver-crew chief lineup for 2024 Xfinity Series season

Joe Gibbs Racing revealed its highly anticipated driver lineup for the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season that will feature two new full-time additions, a notable veteran and a combination of new and familiar part-time faces that will result into a four-car expansion for the organization.

The organization’s first new addition features Sheldon Creed, who will be piloting the No. 18 Toyota GR Supra on a full-time basis. The 26-year-old Creed from Alpine, California, joins JGR following a two-year campaign at Richard Childress Racing, where he recorded seven runner-up results, 11 top-five finishes and 28 top-10 results during the stint. He also made the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs before settling in a career-best seventh place in the final standings.

The 2024 season is set to mark Creed’s first campaign driving a Toyota within NASCAR’s top three national touring series as he spent his entire career piloting a Chevrolet (2016-23). Having previously won the 2018 ARCA Menards Series and the 2020 Craftsman Truck Series championships, Creed approaches the 2024 season with aims of both achieving his first victory in the Xfinity circuit and returning to the Playoffs.

Another new full-time addition to JGR’s lineup for next season is Chandler Smith, who will be assuming the reigns of the No. 81 GR Supra. Smith’s move to JGR comes as the 21-year-old native from Talking Rock, Georgia, is coming off his first full-time campaign in the Xfinity circuit with Kaulig Racing, where he notched his first career victory at Richmond Raceway in April. He also claimed three poles, eight top-five results, 13 top-10 results, an average-finishing result of 15.6 and a spot in the 2023 Xfinity Playoffs, where he ended up in ninth place in the final standings. Despite being initially locked into a three-year deal with Kaulig, Smith ended up paying a buyout of his contract to depart the organization early, with the official announcement of his departure from Kaulig being made last October.

Smith’s move to Joe Gibbs Racing also marks his return to the Toyota Racing family following a one-year absence. He previously achieved 10 ARCA Menards Series victories with Venturini Motorsports (2018-20 & 2022) and five Craftsman Truck Series victories with Kyle Busch Motorsports (2021-22), all while piloting Toyota entries. With the 2024 season within the horizon, Smith, who ended up in the runner-up spot in the 2023 rookie standings, strives to return to the Playoffs and contend for both additional victories and the title in the Xfinity circuit.

With Creed and Smith locked in as full-time competitors, Joe Gibbs Racing will also be fielding two additional entries that will each be piloted by multiple competitors throughout the 2024 season.

The first All-Star entry features the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra that will be primarily split between Aric Almirola and John Hunter Nemechek.

The 39-year-old Almirola from Tampa, Florida, is coming off his 12th full-time campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series and sixth driving for Stewart-Haas Racing, where he settled in 22nd place in the 2023 final driver’s standings on the strength of two poles, two top-five results and five top-10 results. Despite announcing his retirement from full-time NASCAR competition following the 2023 season in late October, Almirola remained interested in pursuing a part-time campaign within the Xfinity circuit for the 2024 season.

Almirola’s upcoming part-time campaign with JGR reunites both parties as the Floridian commenced his NASCAR career with the organization between 2005 and 2007. Having achieved three victories in 460 career starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, Almirola has also made 104 career starts in the Xfinity circuit. During the span, he recorded a total of four victories, with his latest occurring at Sonoma Raceway in June as he delivered the first victory for RSS Racing. The move to JGR will mark his first campaign in a Toyota since the 2010-11 Truck Series seasons.

Meanwhile, Nemechek returns for his third Xfinity campaign with at least one start in the series for JGR. He will commence the 2024 campaign by competing in the series’ first two-scheduled events at Daytona International Speedway and at Atlanta Motor Speedway, both in mid-February, before returning to compete at Nashville Superspeedway in late June, all while sponsored by Pye-Barker Fire & Safety. The events at Daytona, Atlanta and Nashville are just three of 10-scheduled starts planned for Nemechek, with the remaining seven venues yet to be revealed. The 26-year-old Nemechek from Mooresville, North Carolina, is coming off a full-time campaign with JGR in the Xfinity Series, where he drove the No. 20 entry to a season-high seven victories, two poles, 17 top-five results, 24 top-10 results, 1,083 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.5. He would also make the Playoffs and claim a Championship 4 berth, where he would settle in fourth place in the final driver’s standings. In addition to his part-time Xfinity campaign, Nemechek is set to compete in the Cup Series on a full-time basis for Legacy Motor Club.

For JGR’s second All-Star entry, the following names that include Joe Graf Jr., Taylor Gray, William Sawalich and Ryan Truex will be splitting driving responsibilities of the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra.

For Truex, the 31-year-old native from Mayetta, New Jersey, is coming off his second consecutive part-time campaign with JGR, where he achieved his first career victory both in the Xfinity circuit and within NASCAR’s top three national touring series at Dover Motor Speedway in April. He also recorded two additional top-five results in six total starts, all occurring in JGR’s No. 19 entry.

The 2024 season will mark Truex’s fifth part-time Xfinity campaign with JGR (2011-12, 2022-23). In 24 Xfinity starts with JGR, Truex has achieved one victory, six top-five results and 14 top-10 results. In total, he has made 90 career starts in the Xfinity Series, where he has accumulated eight top-five results and 30 top-10 results.

For Graf, the 25-year-old native from Mahwah, New Jersey, returns for a second part-time campaign with JGR after making his first six starts with the organization this past season. During the stint, he recorded two top-10 results while making the rest of his 27 series starts at RSS Racing as he ended up in 23rd place in the final standings. Currently, he has made 126 career starts in the Xfinity Series and has accumulated a total of five top-10 results.

For Gray, the 18-year-old native from Artesia, New Mexico, joins both JGR and the Xfinity Series as a newcomer, though his first part-time schedule with the organization has yet to be announced. In addition to the Xfinity Series, Gray is set to compete on a full-time basis in this year’s Craftsman Truck Series season with TRICON Garage after competing in nearly the entire schedule this past season, where he recorded six top-10 results and settled in 15th place in the final standings. He previously recorded nine victories across the ARCA Racing Series divisions, including three in the ARCA Menards Series.

Lastly, Sawalich, another newcomer to the Xfinity Series, will compete in the closing stretches of the upcoming Xfinity schedule once he turns 18 years of age on October 3. His schedule will involve the final three events at Homestead-Miami Speedway in mid-October followed by Martinsville Speedway and Phoenix Raceway, respectively, in early November.

The 17-year-old Sawalich from Eden Prairie, Minnestoa, is coming off a 25-race schedule across the ARCA Racing Series for JGR. Throughout his stint, Sawalich secured the 2023 ARCA Menards Series East championship on the strength of four victories and finishing no lower than fourth place throughout the eight-race schedule. He would also record four victories in the ARCA Menards Series and a single victory in the ARCA West finale at Phoenix Raceway in November.

In addition to his part-time Xfinity schedule, Sawalich will pilot JGR’s No. 18 entry for a majority of the 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule as he will share the ride with Tanner Gray, who competes in the Truck Series for TRICON Garage.

The amount of races that will occur between Almirola, Graf, Gray, Nemechek and Truex between the Nos. 19 and 20 entries remain to be determined.

Photo by John Knittel for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“Over the last couple of months, we’ve been working diligently to put together our 2024 Xfinity program which will include the addition of a fourth team,” Steve DeSouza, EVP NASCAR Xfinity Series/Development at JGR, said. “Our 2024 roster has a great balance of experience, youth, wisdom, and talent. We believe the veteran drivers will continually benchmark our program, compliment, and challenge each other, as well as assist our younger drivers to further develop their skill set. We are also excited about our crew chiefs and the teams they have assembled. We take a lot of pride in not only our program’s on-track success, but also in the opportunity to develop and promote our team members.”

The crew chief lineup for JGR’s four-car entry will feature a bevy of first-timers alongside a notable name. Veteran Jeff Meendering returns for his sixth season with JGR as he will be paired with Chandler Smith and the No. 81 entry. Meanwhile, Tyler Allen, a former Xfinity and Cup engineer for JGR, will graduate to the role of crew chief for the No. 20 entry that will be split between Almirola and Nemechek while Seth Chavka, a former lead race engineer for JGR, will campaign in his first full-time season as a crew chief for the No. 19 entry that will be split between Graf, Gray, Sawalich and Truex. Lastly, Sam McAulay, who previously served as a lead race engineer for veteran Denny Hamlin in the Cup Series, will assume the role as crew chief for JGR’s No. 18 entry that will be piloted by Creed.

With the driver and crew chief lineup set, Joe Gibbs Racing’s campaign in the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is scheduled to commence at Daytona International Speedway for the United Rentals 300. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to occur on February 17, 2024, at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

December 13, 2023
Custer earns first Xfinity Series championship with dramatic, overtime victory at Phoenix

In his first full-time NASCAR Xfinity Series season in four years, Cole Custer etched his name as a first-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion after fending off title rivals Justin Allgaier, Sam Mayer and John Hunter Nemechek amid an overtime shootout to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, November 4.

The 25-year-old Custer from Ladera Ranch, California, led four times for a race-high 96 of 202 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started in seventh place and provided early speed, especially throughout the long runs, to carve his way to the front. After finishing in the runner-up spot during the first stage period, Custer made his first presence as the leader on Lap 53 and he would spend the majority of the event battling amongst his title rivals Nemechek, Allgaier and Mayer towards the front on the track.

Then after beating his title rivals off of pit road following a late pit stop with less than 20 laps remaining during a caution period, Custer reassumed the race lead from Daniel Hemric during a restart with 12 laps remaining and had appeared to be cruising for both the race victory and title when another caution period with four laps remaining briefly stalled his momentum and sent the event into overtime. Despite slipping back to third at the start of the overtime shootout, Custer then overtook Allgaier and Nemechek amid a three-wide battle before the final lap and would muscle away from the field to win the 2023 Xfinity Series’ finale and claim his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship in his fourth full-time season in the series.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, rookie Sammy Smith notched his second Xfinity pole position of his career and in recent weeks after posting a pole-winning lap at 132.582 mph in 27.153 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Austin Hill, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 132.572 mph in 27.155 seconds. Meanwhile, John Hunter Nemechek was the highest-qualifying title contender as he started in third place while his title rivals Cole Custer, Justin Allgaier and Sam Mayer started seventh, eighth and 16th, respectively.

Prior to the event, Anthony Alfredo dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his B.J. McLeod Motorsports entry. Rookie Blaine Perkins also dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments to his Our Motorsports entry.

When the green flag waved and the finale commenced, Sammy Smith rocketed his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra away from the field that fanned out through the dogleg and entered Turns 1 and 2. As the field continued to fan out through the backstretch while the competitors jostled for early spots, Smith proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of a side-by-side battle between teammate Myatt Snider and Austin Hill while title contenders John Hunter Nemechek, Justin Allgaier and rookie Chandler Smith followed suit.

During the second lap, a three-wide battle for the runner-up spot ensued between Hill, Myatt Snider and Nemechek as Sammy Smith checked out with the lead by half a second. In the process, Allgaier fended off Chandler Smith for fifth place as he tried to make a move on both Nemechek and Hill for more. Then on the third lap, the first caution of the finale flew after Allgaier, who was trying to make a three-wide move beneath Nemechek and Hill, got loose underneath Nemechek and spun his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro in Turn 1, with the field scattering to avoid hitting Allgaier as the veteran proceeded without making any on-track contact.

When the race restarted on the seventh lap, the field fanned out through the dogleg as Sammy Smith retained the lead ahead of Hill and teammate Myatt Snider. Not long after, the caution quickly returned after Kyle Sieg spun and wrecked across the outside wall in the frontstretch.

During the following restart on Lap 12, Hill and Sammy Smith dueled for the lead through the frontstretch before Hill muscled his No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the outside lane to assume the lead. With Hill leading the field through the backstretch, Daniel Hemric, who was running in the top 10, made on-track contact, but he continued to run under the race pace as the field fanned out and continued to jostle for early spots. With Sheldon Creed being penalized for a restart violation and Hemric pitting under green to address a flat left-front tire, Hill retained the lead by a narrow margin over Sammy Smith while Nemechek, Myatt Snider and Chandler Smith trailed in the top five by the Lap 15 mark.

Through the Lap 20 mark, Hill was leading by three-tenths of a second over Sammy Smith followed by title contender Nemechek, Snider and Chandler Smith while title contender Cole Custer trailed in sixth place ahead of teammate Riley Herbst, title contender Sam Mayer, Connor Mosack and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. Meanwhile, Allgaier moved up to 15th while rookie Parker Retzlaff, Josh Berry, Brett Moffitt and Kyle Weatherman occupied the remaining top-15 spots. In addition, Rajah Caruth, who was driving the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports, was battling Derek Kraus for 16th place.

Ten laps later, Hill continued to lead the race by a tenth of a second over a hard-charging Nemechek, who was currently leading the championship battle, while Sammy Smith, Custer and Snider trailed in the top five. Meanwhile, Mayer was in seventh while teammate Allgaier returned to the top 10 as he was in 10th place behind teammate Brandon Jones. Another two laps later, Nemechek overtook Hill exiting the frontstretch to assume the race lead in his No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra as Custer was scored in third place and trailing by more than two seconds. By then, Mayer gained one spot to sixth place while Allgaier was still mired in 10th.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, title contender Nemechek scored his 11th Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Title contender, Custer, followed suit in the runner-up spot and by less than four seconds while Chandler Smith, Hill, Mayer, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Snider and Moffitt were scored in the top 10.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Nemechek pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek retained the lead after he managed to exit pit road ahead of his title rivals Custer, Allgaier and Mayer, respectively, while Hill, Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith followed suit. Amid the pit stops, Sammy Smith was penalized for speeding on pit road while Derek Kraus was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Nemechek and Custer occupied the front row in front of Allgaier and Mayer. At the start, Nemechek and Custer dueled for the lead through the dogleg and the frontstretch as Custer fended off Nemechek to assume the lead both in the race and the championship battle. With Custer leading Nemechek, Mayer was in third ahead of teammate Josh Berry and Chandler Smith while Allgaier fell back to sixth in front of Hill, Connor Mosack and Brandon Jones. Amid the battles ensuing within the pack, Custer was leading by half a second over Nemechek while third-place Mayer trailed by more than a second.

By Lap 60, Custer was leading by half a second over Nemechek followed by Mayer, Berry and Hill while Allgaier trailed in sixth place ahead of Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones, Mosack and Snider. Behind, Herbst trailed in 11th place in front of Creed, Parker Kligerman, Moffitt and Caruth while Jeb Burton, Kaz Grala, Parker Retzlaff, Kyle Weatherman and Jeremy Clements occupied the top 20.

Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by more than a second over title rival Nemechek and by more than two seconds over title rival Mayer while Berry and Hill trailed in the top five. As Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones followed suit in sixth and seventh, Allgaier was mired back in eighth while Herbst and Creed were in the top 10.

At the Lap 80 mark, Custer extended his advantage to more than two seconds over Nemechek while third-place Mayer trailed by less than three seconds. Meanwhile, Allgaier retained eighth place while Hill, Chandler Smith, Berry and Brandon Jones were running in front of him on the track.

Five laps later, the caution flew after Derek Kraus blew a right-front tire and smacked his No. 11 Poppy Bank Chevrolet Camaro into the outside wall just past Turn 2. Kraus’ incident was enough for the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 90 to conclude under caution as Custer claimed his ninth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Mayer settled in second followed by Nemechek, Hill and Chandler Smith while Brandon Jones, Berry, Creed, Allgaier and Herbst were scored in the top 10.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Custer retained the lead after exiting first ahead of Mayer, Hill, Nemechek, Creed, Chandler Smith and Jones while Allgaier exited in ninth place.

With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period commenced as Custer and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start and with the field fanning out through the frontstretch dogleg, Custer retained the lead ahead of Mayer while Hill was in third behind Nemechek, Chandler Smith, Creed and Berry. Shortly after, Nemechek would navigate his way up to the runner-up spot over Mayer while Custer retained the lead nearly six-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Allgaier would trail in eighth place as Custer led the halfway mark on Lap 100. Another lap later, the caution returned after JJ Yeley wrecked in the backstretch.

With the race restarting with 91 laps remaining, Custer retained the advantage by a narrow margin over Nemechek through the frontstretch before Nemechek used the outside lane to navigate past Custer and return to the lead. With Nemechek leading both the race and the championship battle over Custer, Chandler Smith was in third followed by a side-by-side battle between Mayer and Creed while Hill and Allgaier pursued in sixth and seventh, respectively. As the front-runners settled in a long single-file line, Nemechek retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Custer with less than 90 laps remaining.

With 75 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by half a second over a hard-charging Creed while Custer, Mayer and Hill trailed in the top five. Behind, Allgaier was in sixth ahead of Chandler Smith, Herbst, Jones and Berry while Grala, Caruth, Moffitt, Snider and Sammy Smith occupied the top 15.

Ten laps later, Nemechek was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Creed, who led four laps from Laps 127 to 130 before Nemechek reassumed the top spot through the frontstretch. Behind, title contenders Custer, Mayer and Allgaier trailed in the top five ahead of Hill, Chandler Smith, Jones, Herbst and Berry.

Another lap later, the caution flew after Snider, who was battling Caruth and Moffitt for 12th place, slipped sideways off the front nose of Moffitt entering Turn 3 as Snider then spun and slapped his No. 19 Tree Top Toyota Supra against the outside wall before he spun again. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Nemechek pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Nemechek retained the lead after exiting pit road first followed by Creed, Custer, Allgaier, Mayer, Hill and Chandler Smith. Amid the pit stops, Moffitt and Brandon Jones were penalized for speeding on pit road.

During the proceeding restart with 58 laps remaining, Nemechek and Custer dueled for the lead as the field fanned out through the frontstretch’s dogleg and the first two turns. Through the backstretch, Nemechek muscled ahead with the lead while Custer overtook Creed to move into the runner-up spot. As the field returned to the frontstretch, Chandler Smith challenged Creed for third place while Allgaier and Mayer pursued within close distance along with Herbst, Hill and Daniel Hemric. As Allgaier battled Creed for fourth place in front of Mayer, Nemechek retained the lead over Custer and Chandler Smith with 55 laps remaining.

With less than 50 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over title rival Custer followed by Chandler Smith as Allgaier and Mayer pursued in the top five. Behind, Creed fell back to sixth while Herbst, Hill, Sammy Smith and Hemric were in the top 10.

Then with 43 laps remaining, Custer used the inside lane to muscle his No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang past Nemechek through the backstretch as the Californian reassumed the lead. Despite Nemechek’s efforts in keeping Custer close within his front windshield, the latter started to pull away with the lead in both the race and the title fight by four-tenths of a second with 40 laps remaining. By then, Chandler Smith retained third place while title contenders Allgaier and Mayer remained in fourth and fifth.

With 36 laps remaining, Chris Hacker spun while trying to enter pit road, but the event remained under green flag conditions as Custer retained the lead by more than half a second over Nemechek as Chandler Smith, Allgaier and Mayer continued to pursue in the top five on the track.

Down to the final 30 laps of the event, all four championship finalists were running first through fourth on the track as Custer continued to lead by two-tenths of a second over runner-up Nemechek, by more than two seconds over third-place Allgaier and by less than four seconds over fourth-place Mayer, with non-title contender Creed occupying fifth place ahead of Hill and Chandler Smith.

Two laps later and with the leaders mired in lapped traffic, the battle for the lead between Custer and Nemechek reignited as Nemechek tried to make several runs beneath Custer for the top spot. As both continued to battle closely for the lead amid the lapped traffic, Allgaier started to close in as he was trailing by only a second while Mayer trailed by more than three seconds.

With 20 laps remaining, the four championship finalists continued to run first through fourth on the track as Custer retained the lead by eight-tenths of a second over Nemechek and by less than two seconds over Allgaier while fourth-place Mayer trailed by three seconds. Just then, the caution flew after Connor Mosack made contact against the outside wall entering Turn 3 before he came to a halt just towards the wall within the turn.

During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Hemric exited first after opting for a two-tire pit stop followed by Custer, the first competitor with four fresh tires, as Allgaier, Nemechek, Hill, Mayer and Creed followed suit.

As the race restarted with 12 laps remaining, Hemric and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Custer muscled ahead with the lead through the first two turns. Behind, Allgaier, who had faint smoke puffing out of his car, threaded the needle between Hemric and Hill to assume the runner-up spot while Nemechek followed suit in third place. As the field behind continued to jostle and fan out for late spots, Custer retained the lead in both the race and the championship battle by a narrow margin over Allgaier and Nemechek, with the latter two battling for the runner-up spot and trying to keep Custer within close reach. Shortly after, Custer was leading by three-tenths of a second over a hard-charging Nemechek with 10 laps remaining.

Down to the final five laps of the event, the top-four championship finalists returned to running first through fourth on the track as Custer continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Nemechek as Allgaier and Mayer trailed within two seconds. Shortly after, the caution flew and the event was sent into overtime after Anthony Alfredo spun in Turn 4 after getting hit by Dawson Cram. By then, Custer was leading by more than a second over Nemechek as Allgaier and Mayer remained in third and fourth, respectively.

When the event restarted in the first overtime attempt, Nemechek and Custer dueled for the lead through the frontstretch’s dogleg before Nemechek muscled ahead while Custer was stuck in a three-wide battle with Allgaier and Mayer entering the first two turns. Then through the turns, all four championship finalists went four wide entering the backstretch as Nemechek, who went wide entering Turns 1 and 2, and Allgaier rubbed fenders, which resulted in Nemechek briefly scrubbing the outside wall in his No. 20 Toyota, while Custer made his move beneath both. Then through Turns 3 and 4, Allgaier and Custer dueled for the top spot before Custer muscled his No. 00 Ford ahead with the lead and took the white flag to start the final lap.

During the final lap, Custer remained as the leader followed by a hard-charging Allgaier as Creed and Herbst made their way into third and fourth on the track. By then, Mayer was back in fifth while Nemechek was slowly falling off the pace and losing ground of his title rivals. Through Turns 1 and 2, Allgaier was caught in a tight battle for the runner-up spot involving Creed, Herbst and teammate Mayer. This, however, allowed Custer to muscle away with the lead through the backstretch. With Allgaier unable to close the gap entering the final set of turns as he was trying to retain second place on the track, Custer was able to smoothly navigate his way around the final turns at Phoenix before returning to the frontstretch and streaking across the finish line first to win both the race and the championship.

With his accomplishment, Custer became the 33rd different competitor to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship as this marks the fourth consecutive season where the Xfinity Series featured a first-time champion. Custer also became the first competitor from California to win the Xfinity title since Tyler Reddick won back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019 as he recorded the first Xfinity driver’s title and the second owner’s title for Stewart-Haas Racing. The championship was also the first for rookie crew chief Jonathan Toney as Custer became the first Ford competitor to win the Xfinity title since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2020. This season marks the sixth consecutive year where the championship-winning competitor won the final event on the schedule.

Overall, Custer, who finished in the runner-up spot in the final standings in 2018 and 2019 and returned to full-time Xfinity Series competition this season after spending the previous three seasons in the NASCAR Cup Series, achieved three victories throughout the 2023 season, with the Phoenix finale victory occurring after the Californian had won at Portland International Raceway in June and the inaugural, rain-shortened Chicago Street Course in July. He also racked up a total of nine stage victories, six poles, 14 top-five results, 21 top-10 results, 586 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.8 throughout the 33-race schedule.

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“I thought it was over,” Custer, while addressing the overtime shootout, said on USA Network. “I went from first to third. I was able to shift the car all night. Doug Yates’ horsepower worked out. It pulled me off the corner. I can’t believe we won that thing after going back to third on that restart. Man, I can’t say enough about these guys. We started the year off and it was a struggle. We had to kind of dig deep with each other and really talked about how to get better. To see how much this group’s grown through the year and to be a part of something. I knew I wanted to work with [Jonathan Toney]. I knew he was the guy that could make it happen. I wouldn’t want to do it with anybody else. I just can’t thank [owner] Gene Haas enough. He’s given me opportunities. I wouldn’t be here without him. I can’t thank him enough and Ford Performance, Haas Automation, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. It’s awesome to bring one back to Stewart-Haas right now. Man, I’m gonna enjoy this.”

“You get knocked down a little bit and you just want to prove that you can go out there and do it,” Custer, who will return to Stewart-Haas Racing to defend his title in 2024, added. “I think these guys have just really, always believed in me all year and I just can’t thank them enough for giving me really fast race cars and still believing in me when things weren’t going great.”

“I am super proud of Cole [Custer],” Tony Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, added. “He literally won that one on his own. I’ve watched the replay four times and I still don’t know exactly what he did, but what he did was perfect. It didn’t look good going into [Turn] 1, but coming off of [Turn] 2, whatever he did in the center of [Turns] 1 and 2 was perfect and then, finished it off in [Turns] 3 and 4. This group of guys, they don’t have any quit in them. It hasn’t been a perfect season, but at the end when it counted, they did their job and did their work. Cole drove his ass off tonight.”

With Custer winning both the race and the championship, Sheldon Creed finished a career-best second place for the seventh time in his career and during his final event driving for Richard Childress Racing while Justin Allgaier ended up in third place on the track and as this year’s championship runner-up. The runner-up result in the final standings marks the second time that Allgaier concluded the season as the championship runner-up, though the Illinois veteran remained positive in a season where he notched four victories, a season-high 13 stage victories, three poles, 15 top-five results, 20 top-10 results, 643 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.6.

Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“First of all, hats off to this whole race team, everybody at JR Motorsports” Allgaier, who will remain at JR Motorsports for the 2024 Xfinity Series, said. “To bring the Camaros that we brought this weekend. I don’t know if I’ll get another shot at [the championship] next year. We, at least, will have a shot at it, but I don’t know if we’ll make [the Championship 4]. So proud of the effort of this team and what we were able to accomplish. The restart was fantastic. I thought we did everything right. [Nemechek] kind of missed the bottom [lane] and drove all the way up. Honestly, I was afraid I was gonna run in the back of him and when I tried to turn back down the hill, it just was enough to let [Custer] get back to my inside and ultimately getting down into Turn 3, I don’t know. I’m gonna replay this one in the back of my head a couple of times. I drove it in there pretty deep and just kind of washed up. [Custer] had the turning car all night and we were just a little bit too free, but again, proud of our team, everybody at BRANDT Professional Agriculture. To have the season we had, to finish third in the race and second in points, I can’t be more thankful. We weren’t quite there, but especially even after trying to give [the championship] away on Lap 2 or 3 or whatever, still coming back through, what a night. We’ll be back. We got three months, two months to Daytona. We’ll come back stronger and go try to get to Victory Lane again.”

Meanwhile, Sam Mayer finished fifth on the track behind Herbst and in third place in the final standings while Nemechek, who wrecked on the final lap, ended up 28th on the track and in fourth place in the final standings. The third-place result in the final standings kept Mayer optimistic in a season where he rallied from rolling on his roof at Daytona International Speedway to notch his first four career victories and notch 13 top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 177 laps led and an average-finishing result of 13.2 while contending for his first Xfinity title. Nemechek, however, was left disappointed on pit road in a season where he notched a season-high seven victories along with two poles, 17 top-five results, 24 top-10 results, 1,083 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.5.

“Those last two restarts were hectic,” Mayer, who will remain at JR Motorsports for the 2024 Xfinity season, said. “We had our work cut out for us. We somehow made it happen there on the first [restart] and then, God blessed us with a second one and gave us another chance at it, but just a little bit short. Our Accelerate Professional Talent Solutions Chevrolet was as fast as Xfinity 10G [Internet]. We were up in the top five. You really can’t do much more other than that. It’s my first top five here [at Phoenix]. I can’t really be too bummed out. It’s more motivating to go out there and do it next year and win the [championship] next year…My best is gonna be even better next year, so I’m looking forward to getting to Daytona, starting the year off right instead of upside down and finish it right instead of third.”

Photo by Patrick Sue-Chan for SpeedwayMedia.com.

“[The car was] Destroyed and it didn’t turn,” Nemechek, who will be driving for Legacy Motor Club for the 2024 Cup season, said. “I don’t know if we had a right front [tire] start going down or what exactly it was, but just drove in and didn’t turn. Man, I hate it for our guys, hate it for Toyota [Toyota Racing Development], Pye Barker. [My] Toyota GR Supra was really, really fast, but drive down and it doesn’t turn, it’s not a very good thing. Once we got pinched into the fence there off of [Turn] 2, it hurt the right side even more. I think we had a right rear [tire] start going down as well. It sucks to end up where we finished. I had a really strong effort all day. Proud of this whole No. 20 crew. Just sucks to end our season this way, but overall, a really successful season for this No. 20 team, Joe Gibbs Racing. I was proud to be behind the wheel of this No. 20 car all year. Seven wins is a lot to be proud of. One race doesn’t define us as a group. It’s really just another race. If you win, you come out a champion. It’s what we told ourselves all week. We almost had it, but overall, really proud of this group, proud of myself. We put ourselves in contention. That’s really all you can do. Just needed [the car] to turn a little bit better and the results might have been a little bit different. Man, it sucks, but I’m looking forward to next year and looking forward to getting in a Cup car.”

Photo by David Myers for SpeedwayMedia.com.

On the track, Josh Berry finished sixth in his final event driving for JR Motorsports while Austin Hill, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Kaz Grala completed the top 10 on the track.

There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured eight cautions for 46 laps. In addition, 29 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Cole Custer, 96 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. Sheldon Creed, four laps led

3. Justin Allgaier

4. Riley Herbst

5. Sam Mayer

6. Josh Berry

7. Austin Hill, 21 laps led

8. Chandler Smith

9. Sammy Smith, 11 laps led

10. Kaz Grala

11. Brandon Jones

12. Jeb Burton

13. Parker Retzlaff

14. Rajah Caruth

15. Brett Moffitt

16. Parker Kligerman

17. Kyle Weatherman

18. Ryan Sieg

19. Dawson Cram

20. Jeremy Clements

21. Daniel Hemric, four laps led

22. Myatt Snider

23. Jeffrey Earnhardt

24. Anthony Alfredo

25. Josh Williams

26. Ryan Ellis

27. Joey Gase

28. John Hunter Nemechek, 66 laps led, Stage 1 winner

29. Brennan Poole

30. Timmy Hill, two laps down

31. Joe Graf Jr., two laps down

32. Blaine Perkins, two laps down

33. Stefan Parsons, eight laps down

34. Connor Mosack – OUT, Accident

35. Chris Hacker – OUT, Suspension

36. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

37. Derek Kraus – OUT, Accident

38. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Vibration

*Bold indicates championship finalists

Final standings.

1. Cole Custer

2. Justin Allgaier

3. Sam Mayer

4. John Hunter Nemechek

5. Austin Hill

6. Sammy Smith

7. Sheldon Creed

8. Daniel Hemric

9. Chandler Smith

10. Parker Kligerman

11. Josh Berry

12. Jeb Burton

The NASCAR Xfinity Series teams and competitors enter an off-season period before returning to action at Daytona International Speedway to commence the 2024 racing season. The season opener at Daytona is slated to occur on February 17 at 5 p.m. ET on FS1.

November 4, 2023
Allgaier grabs thrilling Xfinity victory at Martinsville in overtime, secures Championship 4 berth

In a matter of one turn during an overtime shootout, Justin Allgaier went from being scored outside of the cutline to make the Championship 4 round to racing his way into the round and receiving an opportunity to contend for this year’s NASCAR Xfinity Series championship after notching a thrilling victory in the Dead On Tools 250 at Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 28.

The 37-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led twice for 21 of 256 over-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row and quickly took care of business in the early stages by winning the first stage period amid a strategic pit call to remain on the track on old tires. After pitting for fresh tires prior to the second stage, Allgaier spent the stage mired outside the top 10 and battling amongst his fellow Xfinity Series rivals to remain in contention of making the cutline.

Then amid chaos after chaos followed by a multitude of caution periods and restarts, including an overtime shootout, Allgaier, who restarted fifth in overtime, managed to muscle his way up to third place on the final lap. He then benefitted from a final lap altercation involving Richard Childress Racing’s Playoff contenders Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill to overtake both entering the final turn before edging Creed in a photo finish to win for the fourth time in this year’s Xfinity Series season and race his way into the Championship 4, where he will be one of four competitors who will battle for this year’s championship at next weekend’s finale at Phoenix Raceway.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 27, Playoff contender and rookie Sammy Smith notched his first Xfinity pole position of his career after posting a pole-winning lap at 94.515 mph in 23.035 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender Justin Allgaier, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 94.458 mph in 20.047 seconds.

Prior to the event, the following names that included Jeb Burton, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chris Hacker, Devin Jones and Brett Moffitt 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, Sammy Smith rocketed his No. 18 Pringles Toyota Supra ahead of the field prior to entering Turn 1 as he maintained the lead over Allgaier and Playoff contender Cole Custer. With the field running in two-wide formation and stacked through the backstretch, Smith proceeded to lead the first lap ahead of both Allgaier and Custer while Riley Herbst and Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek pursued in the top five.

During the next three laps, Sammy Smith stretched his advantage to more than a second over Allgaier, who was being pressured by Custer for the runner-up spot while Nemechek and Herbst remained dead even for fourth place in front of Playoff contender Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones and Richard Childress Racing’s Playoff contenders Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill. Amid the early on-track battles, the first caution of the event flew on the fourth lap after Joe Graf Jr. spun with a flat left-rear tire in Turn 2.

When the race restarted on Lap 10, Sammy Smith and Allgaier dueled for the lead until Smith muscled away from Allgaier entering the backstretch. Behind, Custer was in third ahead of Nemechek while Herbst, Creed, Chandler Smith and Austin Hill battled for fifth. Amid the battles, Sammy Smith retained the lead by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier and a second over Nemechek by the Lap 15 mark.

At the Lap 20 mark, Sammy Smith was leading by half a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Custer and Herbst while Creed, Hill, Myatt Snider, rookie Chandler Smith and Brandon Jones were in the top 10. With Daniel Hemric, Ryan Sieg, Josh Berry, rookie Parker Retzlaff and Parker Kligerman running in the top 15, Playoff contender Sam Mayer, who is already guaranteed a spot into this year’s Championship 4 by winning last weekend’s event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, was in 18th.

Fifteen laps later, Sammy Smith continued to lead by seven-tenths of a second over Allgaier while Nemechek, Custer and Herbst continued to run in the top five. Behind, Creed, Snider, Hill, Chandler Smith and Hemric were scored in the top 10 while Mayer was mired in 19th.

Another six laps later, the second caution flag of the event flew due to an incident involving Kyle Sieg in Turn 2. During the caution period, a majority of the lead lap field led by the leader Sammy Smith pitted while the rest, including Allgaier, Nemechek, Custer, Hill, Josh Bilicki, Anthony Alfredo, Rajah Caruth, Josh Williams and Brennan Poole remained on the track.

During the following restart on Lap 49, Allgaier briefly dueled with Nemechek through the first two turns before muscling his No. 7 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the inside lane to gain the advantage with the top spot. Shortly after, Custer battled and overtook Nemechek for the runner-up spot as Hill tried to join the battle amid a series of on-track battles ensuing behind the front-runners.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 60, Allgaier, who came into the event three points below the top-four cutline to make this year’s Championship 4 round, captured his 13th Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer followed suit in second along with Nemechek, Hill and Sammy Smith while Alfredo, Herbst, Myatt Snider, Chandler Smith and Josh Bilicki were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contender Sheldon Creed ended up 11th while Mayer was mired back within the top 30.

Under the stage break, some led by Allgaier, including those who remained on the track during the previous caution period, pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track.

The second stage period started on Lap 68 as teammates Sammy Smith and Myatt Snider occupied the front row. At the start, Smith and Snider dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Smith managed to fend off Snider through the backstretch to retain the top spot. Behind, Chandler Smith moved up to third ahead of Herbst and Berry while Creed was in sixth ahead of Hemric, Brandon Jones, Kaz Grala and Ryan Sieg. The caution, however, would return on Lap 72 after Custer, who was mired within the middle of the pack after pitting during the stage break, made contact with Layne Riggs entering Turns 1 and 2 as Riggs spun while Mayer slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting Riggs.

When the race restarted on Lap 79, Sammy Smith fended off Chandler Smith entering Turn 1 to retain the lead while continuing to run on the inside lane. Shortly after, Snider gave Chandler Smith a light bump to move him out of the groove and overtake him for the runner-up spot while both Berry and Herbst tried to move Chandler Smith out of the groove to overtake him for third and fourth. In the midst of the bumping and on-track contact for positions, Creed pursued closely in sixth while Sammy Smith maintained the lead over teammate Snider.

On Lap 87, the caution flew after Ryan Sieg, who was battling Herbst for sixth place, got loose underneath Herbst, made contact against Herbst’s Ford and spun towards the middle of the track in Turn 2, with the field managing to fan out and dodge Sieg’s No. 39 Ford as the Georgian continued without sustaining any significant damage to his entry. During the caution period, select names that included Mayer, Kligerman and Alfredo pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track.

The ensuing restart on Lap 94 featured Sammy Smith rocketing away from the inside lane to retain the lead while Berry retained second place ahead of Snider, Chandler Smith, Creed and Herbst. Not long after, a three-wide battle ensued between Chandler Smith, Snider and Creed while Brandon Jones carved his way up to sixth followed by Hemric, Herbst, Grala and Retzlaff. Amid the contact and physical battles ensuing behind, Sammy Smith extended his advantage by nearly a second over Berry as the event surpassed the Lap 100 mark.

At the Lap 110 mark, Sammy Smith was leading by more than a second over Berry and more than two seconds over third-place Snider while Creed, Chandler Smith, Grala, Brandon Jones, Retzlaff, Custer and Jeremy Clements were running in the top 10. Behind, Playoff contenders Allgaier, Nemechek, Mayer and Hill were scored in 14th through 17th, respectively.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 120, Sammy Smith, who navigated his way through lapped traffic and came into the event 49 points below the Championship 4 cutline, captured his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Berry trailed in the runner-up spot followed by Snider, Creed and Grala while Retzlaff, Chandler Smith, Custer, Brandon Jones and Herbst were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Allgaier, Mayer, Nemechek and Hill were scored in 11th, 14th, 15th and 17th, respectively, as Nemechek managed to clinch his spot into this year’s Championship 4 round.

During the stage break, nearly the entire field led by Sammy Smith pitted for service while Layne Riggs and Ryan Sieg remained on the track. Following the pit stops, Mayer exited pit road first after only electing fuel to his entry while Sammy Smith followed suit with four fresh tires along with Berry, Snider, Creed, Custer and Herbst.

With 121 laps remaining, the final stage period started as Riggs and Ryan Sieg occupied the front row. At the start, Riggs gained a strong start on the inside lane to muscle away from the field with the lead while Mayer quickly made his way into the runner-up spot along with a hard-charging Sammy Smith while Ryan Sieg fell back to fourth in front of Snider. Behind, Creed battled with Custer and Allgaier for seventh as Sammy Smith overtook Mayer for the runner-up spot before igniting his charge on Riggs for the lead.

Then with 116 laps remaining, Sammy Smith reassumed the lead after overtaking Riggs for the top spot. Snider and Berry would follow suit not long after as Riggs managed to remain in fourth in front of Mayer.

Down to the final 100 laps of the event, Sammy Smith was leading by more than three seconds over Berry and by four seconds over teammate Snider while Custer muscled his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang into fourth place ahead of Riggs. Mayer, Creed, Herbst, Grala and Allgaier were in the top 10 while Retzlaff, Nemechek, Brandon Jones, Chandler Smith and Hill were back in the top 15.

Four laps later, the caution flew after Riggs, who was running fifth, got hit by Mayer as Riggs spun for a second time in Turn 2. During the caution period, select names that included Playoff contenders Allgaier and Hill pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track.

With the race restarting with 90 laps remaining, Sammy Smith fended off teammate Snider and Berry to retain the lead as the field behind fanned out and jostled for late positions. As Sammy Smith retained the lead and started to pull away from his competition, the caution returned a few laps later after Akinori Ogata spun in Turn 2. During the caution period, select names that included Snider, Creed and Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by Sammy Smith remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Chandler Smith was penalized for having too many men over the pit wall.

During the following restart with 81 laps remaining, Sammy Smith muscled away from Berry to retain the lead through the first two turns as Berry managed to remain in front of Custer and maintain the runner-up spot. With Herbst and Mayer battling for fourth place in front of Nemechek, Grala and Jones, Sammy Smith checked out with an advantage of more than a second with 75 laps remaining. Shortly after, the caution flew due to Kligerman losing a right-front tire and falling off the pace through the frontstretch. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Sammy Smith pitted while the rest led by Nemechek remained on the track.

With the race restarting with 68 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead ahead of the field while Hill made his way into the runner-up spot. As Allgaier was trying to carve his way into the top five, the bumping within the pack continued to ignite amongst the Playoff contenders and front-runners through every turn and straightaway. Then three laps later, more on-track trouble ignited after Snider fell off the pace and stacked up the field exiting the backstretch, which resulted with Connor Mosack, who was hit by teammate Grala and was scraping the inside wall, spinning and hitting Grala as Clements and Jeb Burton were also involved by hitting Mosack. In the midst of the carnage, Playoff contender Custer sustained minimal front-nose damage to his No. 00 Haas Ford, but he continued to remain on the track in 12th place. Not long after, Playoff contender Chandler Smith retired due to a mechanical issue to his No. 16 Quick Tie Products Chevrolet Camaro, which took him out of the equation of making this year’s Championship 4 round.

In the ensuing restart with 54 laps remaining, Nemechek and Hill dueled for the lead for a full lap, with Hill leading the next lap, and they continued to duel for the lead during the next lap as he led the respective lap before he muscled his No. 21 Global Industrial Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Nemechek’s No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra and clear with the lead from the outside lane. The caution, however, quickly returned during the following lap after Akinori Ogata spun for a second time of the day, this time in Turn 4.

During the following restart with 44 laps remaining, Nemechek challenged Hill for the lead from the outside lane and he managed to pull ahead through the frontstretch to lead the following lap just before the caution flew against after JJ Yeley and Ryan Ellis wrecked in the frontstretch.

With the race restarting with 36 laps remaining, Nemechek and Hill dueled for the lead through the first two turns until Nemechek used the outside lane to retain the lead from Hill. With Nemechek leading Hill, Allgaier was trying to fend off Creed and Sammy Smith for third place, with Creed and Smith placed in “must-win” scenarios to advance into the Championship 4 round, before the latter two managed to overtake the veteran Allgaier for third and fourth. As the race progressed, the caution would return with 31 laps remaining after Kaz Grala spun in Turn 2.

With the race restarting with 25 laps remaining, Nemechek retained the lead as he restarted from the inside lane while Hill managed to fend off teammate Creed to retain the runner-up spot. This allowed Sammy Smith to challenge Creed for third place followed by Allgaier and Custer as Smith made his way into third place.

With less than 20 laps remaining, Nemechek was leading by eight-tenths of a second over Hill while third-place Sammy Smith trailed by more than a second. Behind, Creed, Allgaier and Custer engaged in a fierce battle for fourth place and for the final spots to the Championship 4 round while Herbst, Jeb Burton, Snider and Riggs were scored in the top 10. Meanwhile, Mayer was mired in 16th as the battle between Creed, Custer and Allgaier ensued while Nemechek extended his advantage to more than a second over Hill with 15 laps remaining.

Following another caution period after Alfredo spun in Turn 4 with 14 laps remaining, the race restarted under green with eight laps remaining. At the start, Sammy Smith tried to make a move beneath teammate Nemechek entering Turn 1, but Nemechek blocked his teammate and retained the lead over Hill through the first two turns. Behind, Sammy Smith lost third place to Creed after he hopped the curb entering Turn 1, which allowed Allgaier to challenge him to fourth place. Back at the front, however, Hill gave Nemechek a push to the bumper entering Turn 3, which moved Nemechek up the track as Hill and Creed moved into first and second through the frontstretch. Then as Nemechek, Allgaier, Sammy Smith, Herbst and Custer battled for third behind the two Richard Childress Racing competitors during the following lap, the caution returned for six laps remaining as a multi-car wreck ignited entering the backstretch when Jeb Burton and Snider made contact and resulted with Snider hitting Riggs, spinning back across the track and collecting Grala, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Mayer, Clements, Josh Williams, CJ McLaughlin, Rajah Caruth, Chad Finchum, Jones and Bilicki. The carnage was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period for 28 minutes.

Once the red flag was lifted and the field returned under a cautious pace, the event was sent into overtime as the on-track safety workers continued to clean the racing surface amid the carnage and leaked fluid. Amid an extensive caution period, the race restarted in overtime as teammates Hill and Creed occupied the front row in front of Nemechek, Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Custer. At the start, Nemechek got into the rear of Hill, which caused Nemechek to go way below the inside lane as Hill tried to fend off teammate Creed for the lead entering Turn 1. Hill and Creed then made contact entering the backstretch, which allowed Hill to muscle ahead of his teammate as Allgaier trailed in third place. By then, Nemechek moved up to fourth while Sammy Smith and Custer battled for fifth.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Hill, who was bumped by teammate Creed entering Turns 3 and 4, remained as the leader ahead of Creed and Allgaier, who scrubbed the frontstretch’s outside wall after making contact with Nemechek. Then in Turn 1, Creed ran into the rear of teammate Hill, which caused Hill to go wide as Creed made his move beneath Hill for the lead. After dueling with Hill through the backstretch, where Hill rammed into the side of Creed, Creed muscled his No. 2 Whelen Chevrolet Camaro ahead from Hill and assumed the lead before he went up the track in Turn 3, locked up the front tires and was hit in the rear by Hill. Amid the chaos, Allgaier made his move beneath both as Hill was then turned by Nemechek and triggered a multi-car wreck. With the wreck ensuing behind, Allgaier and Creed rubbed fenders approaching the finish line, with Allgaier edging Creed by 0.032 seconds to grab the victory and race his way into the Championship 4 round.

With the victory, Allgaier achieved his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season, his first at Martinsville, his first since winning the Playoff opener at Bristol Motor Speedway in September and the 23rd of his career. The 2023 season marks Allgaier’s sixth season reaching the Championship 4 round as he will officially contend for his first elusive Xfinity Series championship in his 13th full-time campaign in the series, eighth while driving for JR Motorsports.

“[Spotter] Eddie D’Hondt, [crew chief] Jim Pohlman, both of those guys kept telling me it’s not over,” Allgaier said on USA Network. “Thank God is so good. You fans that came here today. Coming to the start/finish line, I don’t think I saw a single person sitting down. I just was hanging on and trying to go as fast as I can. I hope everybody that crashed on the frontstraightaway is alright. Man, this Hellmann’s car has been lights out all year. It’s been as fast as Xfinity 10G, for sure. I cannot say enough about the Hendrick Engine shop, everybody at Chevrolet, all of our partners. We got a shot at going for the championship in Phoenix. This is an emotional one. I’ve wanted to win at Martinsville for a long time and man, I’ve been on the other end of that too many times. To be able to come out of here tonight with the win and to have a shot at the championship next week, Jim Pohlman, what an incredible crew chief. He’s done an amazing job. Pit crew was lights out. Heck, I don’t even know who to thank right now. This is incredible.”

Amid the overtime shootout and the final lap accident, Cole Custer, who ended up 19th backwards and with a wrecked race car, managed to claim the fourth and final spot into the Championship 4 berth by seven points as he will join Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek and Sam Mayer as the four competitors who will contend for this year’s Xfinity Series championship.

“It’s just Martinsville, everybody’s desperate,” Custer, who made the Championship 4 for the third time in his career, said in the infield care center. “It’s just one of those deals. I just can’t all my guys enough. They worked so hard and just gotten better and better and better throughout the year. I’m so glad this is over. It’s just amazing to be in the Final Four and have a shot at [the championship]. I think we’ll have something for [the competition] at Phoenix.”

Meanwhile, Austin Hill, this year’s regular-season champion who was unable to limp his wrecked race car across the finish line, ended up 21st with a DNF and was the first competitor scored out of the Playoffs. Teammate Sheldon Creed and Sammy Smith along with Chandler Smith were also eliminated from the Playoffs after all three came into Martinsville placed in “must-win” situations to transfer. The incident did very little to ease Hill’s frustration over missing an opportunity of contending for the title and towards his Richard Childress Racing teammate over the late contact.

“It wasn’t cool of me to do what I did into [Turn] 1 like driving [Creed] up the racetrack, but I still kind of stayed off of him,” Hill said. “[Creed] just did not give me a chance getting into [Turn] 3 and he didn’t give me a chance getting into [Turn] 1 [on the final lap]. Just shoved me up the racetrack. I know he’s in a “must-win” situation, but still, man, uncalled for that to happen and then, neither of the [Richard Childress Racing] guys make it to the Final Four. It’s just frustrating. Pretty excited for [Creed] to go to his next adventure over at [Joe Gibbs Racing]. I don’t have to put up with him no more…Just ridiculous.”

“I don’t know if it’s fair,” Creed said. “I don’t like racing that way and that seems to be the way that this race always plays out. I thought we had it there coming to the checkered. Not proud of racing like that. A shot at the Championship Four. I didn’t blast [Hill]. He’s still with me. I drug [raced] right here to keep him next to me and then, we raced pretty hard [in Turn 3] and I don’t know who gets into him. I feel like I played pretty fair for the situation and he’s gonna be mad, but it’s for a Championship 4 spot and I wanna fight for my guys all the way to the end.”

On the track, Sammy Smith ended up third followed by Herbst and Josh Berry while Hemric, Parker Retzlaff, Alfredo, Jeb Burton and Kligerman finished in the top 10.

There were 13 lead changes for eight different leaders. The race featured 15 cautions for 101 laps. In addition, 20 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Justin Allgaier, 21 laps led, Stage 1 winner

2. Sheldon Creed, one lap led

3. Sammy Smith, 147 laps led, Stage 2 winner

4. Riley Herbst

5. Josh Berry

6. Daniel Hemric

7. Parker Retzlaff

8. Anthony Alfredo

9. Jeb Burton

10. Parker Kligerman

11. Layne Riggs, nine laps led

12. Rajah Caruth

13. CJ McLaughlin

14. Josh Williams

15. Myatt Snider, one lap led

16. Brandon Jones

17. Jeremy Clements

18. John Hunter Nemechek, 54 laps led

19. Cole Custer, one lap led

20. Brett Moffitt

21. Austin Hill – OUT, Accident, 22 laps led

22. Blaine Perkins – OUT, Accident

23. Josh Bilicki – OUT, Accident

24. Ryan Ellis – OUT, Transmission

25. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

26. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

27. Chad Finchum – OUT, Accident

28. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

29. Joe Graf Jr., 16 laps down

30. Chris Hacker – OUT, Radiator

31. Connor Mosack – OUT, Radiator

32. Brennan Poole – OUT, Engine

33. Akinori Ogata – OUT, Oil line

34. JJ Yeley – OUT, Accident

35. Ryan Sieg – OUT, Steering

36. Chandler Smith – OUT, Accident

37. Devin Jones – OUT, Engine

38. Kyle Sieg – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff competitors

Playoff standings

1. Sam Mayer – Advanced

2. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

3. John Hunter Nemechek – Advanced

4. Cole Custer – Advanced

5. Austin Hill – Eliminated

6. Sammy Smith – Eliminated

7. Sheldon Creed – Eliminated

8. Chandler Smith – Eliminated

The 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season is set to conclude next Saturday, November 4, at Phoenix Raceway, where a champion will be crowned. The finale’s broadcast is slated to occur at 7 p.m. ET on USA Network.

October 28, 2023
Mayer clinches Championship 4 berth with late Xfinity victory at Homestead

Two weeks after keeping his championship hopes alive by earning a walk-off victory in the Playoff’s Round of 8 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course, Sam Mayer will officially race for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series championship after achieving a late victory in the Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 21.

The 20-year-old Mayer from Franklin, Wisconsin, led three times for 46 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started 13th and made his presence at the front known at the start of the second stage period while scoring a handful of stage points during the first two stage periods. Then after assuming the lead with 49 laps remaining while pole-sitter and Playoff rival Cole Custer pitted under green due to a flat tire, Mayer, who pitted with under 37 laps remaining for his final set of tires, withstood two late restarts, including the final one with 23 laps remaining, to fend off a hard-charging Riley Herbst and claim his fourth Xfinity Series victory of the 2023 season. Above all, Mayer punched his ticket into this year’s Championship 4 round as he will contend for the 2023 Xfinity Series title at Phoenix Raceway in two weeks’ time.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 20, Playoff contender Cole Custer secured the pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 165.604 mph in 32.608 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Playoff contender John Hunter Nemechek, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 164.704 mph in 32.786 seconds.

Prior to the event, Patrick Emerling and Ryan Ellis 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, Custer used the outside lane to rocket away from Nemechek and retain the lead through the first two turns. With the field fanning out and jostling for early spots through the backstretch, Custer proceeded to lead the first lap while Nemechek was overtaken by Justin Allgaier and Austin Hill for second and third place. Josh Berry would follow suit during the following along with rookie Sammy Smith while Custer was leading by half a second.

Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Custer retained the lead by half a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Hill, and Berry while Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Brett Moffitt, Riley Herbst and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. Behind, rookie Chandler Smith and Sheldon Creed were in the top 15 along with Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Kaz Grala and Daniel Hemric were a part of the battle.

Ten laps later, Custer stretched his advantage to a second over Nemechek followed by Allgaier, Hill and Sammy Smith while Mayer, Herbst, Berry, Moffitt and Creed occupied the top 10 on the track. Behind, Chandler Smith was in 13th ahead of Hemric and Earnhardt Jr. while Ryan Sieg and Grala were in the top 12. In addition, Ryan Newman was running in the top 20.

At the Lap 35 mark, Custer continued to lead by more than a second over Nemechek as Allgaier, Mayer and Creed were in the top five. Behind, Herbst occupied sixth place ahead of Moffitt, Hill, Grala and Sammy Smith while Chandler Smith, Parker Kligerman, Daniel Hemric, Earnhardt Jr. and Berry were in the top 15.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Custer, who came into the event 15 points above the top-four cutline to transfer into the Playoff’s Championship 4 round, captured his eighth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Mayer settled in second ahead of Nemechek, Creed and Moffitt while Allgaier, Herbst, Hill, Grala and Hemric were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Chandler Smith and Sammy Smith were mired in 11th and 14th, respectively.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted. Following the pit stops, Custer retained the lead after exiting pit road ahead of Mayer, Creed, Nemechek, Allgaier and Herbst. Amid the pit stops, Brandon Jones was penalized for his crew members’ going over the wall too soon. Josh Williams was also penalized for pit interference.

The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Custer and Mayer occupied the front row. At the start, Custer and Mayer dueled for the lead for nearly a lap. Mayer would lead the following lap by a hair until Custer fought back and reassumed the top spot by Lap 54. Another few laps later, Allgaier made his way into the runner-up spot over teammate Mayer as Nemechek and Hill trailed in the top five.

At the Lap 60 mark, Custer was leading by six-tenths of a second over Allgaier followed by Mayer, Nemechek and Hill while Herbst, Kligerman, Berry, Creed and Chandler Smith were racing in the top 10.

Seven laps later, the caution flew after Dawson Cram wrecked in Turn 1 and lost his left-rear wheel in the process. During the caution period, the front-runners led by Custer remained on the track while select names that included Jeremy Clements, Derek Kraus, Brennan Poole and Kyle Sieg pitted for fresh tires.

When the race restarted on Lap 72, Custer and Nemechek briefly dueled for the lead until Nemechek muscled ahead with the lead from the inside lane. With Nemechek driving away from the field, Mayer and Custer battled for the runner-up spot followed by Allgaier and Kligerman while Hill and Herbst followed suit along with a hard-charging Kraus.

Then on Lap 78, Kraus, who pitted during the previous caution period, assumed the lead from Nemechek. Kraus would proceed to lead just past the Lap 80 by more than a second over Nemechek as Custer, Mayer and Allgaier were scored in the top five. By then, Kyle Sieg was in sixth while Hill, Kligerman, Herbst and Hemric were in the top 10. By then, Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Creed were in 11th, 12th and 14th while Earnhardt Jr. was in 13th.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Kraus, who was making his seventh Xfinity career start, captured his first Xfinity career stage victory. Nemechek settled in second ahead of Custer, Mayer and Allgaier while Kligerman, Kyle Sieg, Herbst, Hill and Hemric were scored in the top 10. 16, 18 and 2 in 11th, 12th and 14th while Earnhardt Jr. was back in 16th.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Custer retained the lead after exiting pit road first. Amid the pit stops, Berry was penalized for speeding on pit road.

With 104 laps remaining, the final stage started as Custer and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Custer and Allgaier dueled for the lead through the first two turns and they continued to battle dead even entering the backstretch. Shortly after, the caution returned after Playoff contender Chandler Smith, who was battling for a top-10 spot on the track, was hit by teammate Kraus, who was being rubbed by Brandon Jones, before Smith bounced off of Creed and spun before he was then hit by Brett Moffitt.

During the following restart with 97 laps remaining, Allgaier benefitted from restarting on the inside lane as he muscled away from Custer to inherit the lead. Amid the battles ensuing behind the leaders, Allgaier would lead the next eight laps before Custer reassumed the lead with 90 laps remaining.

Then with 81 laps remaining, Allgaier, who was running third, made a pit stop under green to address a loose left-rear wheel on his No. 7 hellowater Chevrolet Camaro. By then, Custer extended his advantage to two seconds over Mayer followed by Herbst, Nemechek and Hill while Earnhardt Jr., Sammy Smith, Creed, Hemric and Kraus were running in the top 10.

With nearly 65 laps remaining, green flag pit stops commenced as Joe Graf Jr. pitted. Richard Childress Racing’s Hill and Creed would pit under green a few laps later followed by Earnhardt Jr., Herbst, Custer, Mayer and others. As the green flag pit stops dwindled, Custer reassumed the lead with 53 laps remaining.

Four laps later, however, Custer fell off the pace while leading through the frontstretch and pitted after the right-front tire was spotted flat on the No. 00 Haas Automation Ford Mustang. Custer’s late misfortune moved Mayer into the lead while Hill, Nemechek, Herbst and Allgaier followed suit in the top five.

With 37 laps remaining, the caution returned after a wheel was spotted leaning against the outside wall on pit road. The caution occurred a few laps after Allgaier had pitted for his final set of tires. During the caution period, the lead lap field led by Mayer pitted for their final set of tires.

As the race restarted with 30 laps remaining, Mayer retained the lead ahead of Hill, Nemechek and Herbst as the field fanned out and jostled for late positions. Shortly after, the caution returned after Earnhardt Jr., who was battling within the top 10, got loose entering the backstretch, slipped up the track and bumped against his JR Motorsports’ driver Berry, which sent Berry into the outside wall before Berry went up the track in Turns 3 and 4 and scraped the wall amid a flat tire to his No. 8 Tire Pros Chevrolet Camaro.

During the following restart with 23 laps remaining, Mayer cleared Hill entering Turn 2 to retain the lead as the field behind fanned out through the backstretch. Mayer would stabilize his advantage to seven-tenths of a second over Hill as Nemechek, Herbst and Brandon Jones followed suit in the top five with 20 laps remaining.

Down to the final five laps of the event, Mayer extended his advantage to more than a second over Nemechek while Herbst, Hill and Earnhardt Jr. were scored in the top five. Behind, Hemric was in sixth while Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Kligerman and Joe Graf Jr. were up in the top 10.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Mayer remained as the leader by more than two-tenths of a second over Herbst. Amid Playoff contender Creed wrecking just past the backstretch, the race remained under green flag conditions. With Herbst unable to narrow the gap, Mayer was able to navigate his No. 1 Accelerate Pros Talent Chevrolet Camaro around the Homestead circuit smoothly for a final time as he returned to the frontstretch and claimed his fourth checkered flag of this season and of his career.

With the victory, Mayer, who achieved his first oval-circuit win in the Xfinity Series and came into the event 16 points below the top-four cutline, became the first Playoff contender to secure one of four vacant spots into this year’s Championship 4 round as he will officially contend for his first Xfinity Series championship. Mayer’s victory was also enough for the Chevrolet nameplate to secure this year’s manufacturer’s title and it was the seventh of the season for JR Motorsports.

“That’s unreal. We won on an oval! Whoo!” Mayer exclaimed on USA Network. “I can’t believe it. These guys, the Accelerate Pros Camaro today was just so good. It’s all about putting a full race together and I’m so proud of these guys. They kicked tail on pit road. We made it happen with these [Hendrick Motorsports] engines. Stewart-Haas [Racing] had [the race won] today, that’s for sure. It’s just really cool to be able to beat an amazing organization like that. We got to turn it on a little harder going to Phoenix.”

Herbst, who achieved his first Xfinity victory a week ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, settled in the runner-up spot while Nemechek, Hill and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished in the top five. Behind, Hemric ended up sixth while Kligerman, Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith and Joe Graf Jr. finished in the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contenders Custer, Allgaier and Creed, all of whom led a combined 126 laps, ended up 13th, 15th and 26th, respectively.

There were 13 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 33 laps. In addition, 12 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Sam Mayer, 46 laps led

2. Riley Herbst

3. John Hunter Nemechek, seven laps led

4. Austin Hill

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

6. Daniel Hemric

7. Parker Kligerman

8. Brandon Jones

9. Sammy Smith

10. Joe Graf Jr.

11. Derek Kraus, 21 laps led, Stage 2 winner

12. Parker Retzlaff

13. Cole Custer, one lap down, 114 laps led, Stage 1 winner

14. Ryan Sieg, one lap down

15. Justin Allgaier, one lap down, eight laps led

16. Kyle Weatherman, one lap down

17. Josh Williams, one lap down

18. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

19. Brennan Poole, one lap down

20. Jeb Burton, one lap down

21. Jeremy Clements, one lap down

22. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

23. Leland Honeyman, one lap down

24. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

25. Patrick Emerling, two laps down

26. Sheldon Creed, two laps down, four laps led

27. Mason Massey, two laps down

28. Anthony Alfredo, three laps down

29. Blaine Perkins, four laps down

30. Kaz Grala, six laps down

31. Connor Mosack – OUT, Electrical

32. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

33. Mason Maggio – OUT, Electrical

34. Chandler Smith – OUT, Engine

35. Brett Moffitt – OUT, Accident

36. Dawson Cram – OUT, Accident

37. CJ McLaughlin – OUT, Carburetor

38. Ryan Newman – OUT, Rear gear

*Bold indicates Playoff competitors

Playoff standings

1. Sam Mayer – Advanced

2. John Hunter Nemechek +44

3. Cole Custer +3

4. Austin Hill +3

5. Justin Allgaier -3

6. Sammy Smith -49

7. Chandler Smith -54

8. Sheldon Creed -65

The Round of 8 in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to conclude next Saturday, October 28, at Martinsville Speedway, which will determine the Championship 4 field. The event’s broadcast is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

October 21, 2023
Herbst dominates for first Xfinity Series career victory at Las Vegas

In an event where an early ticket to the championship finale at Phoenix Raceway was up for grabs for eight Xfinity Series Playoff contenders, a non-Playoff contender stole the show after Riley Herbst scored his first elusive NASCAR national touring series victory by winning the Alsco Uniforms 302 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his home track, on Saturday, October 14.

The 24-year-old Herbst from Las Vegas, Nevada, led three times for a race-high 103 of 201-scheduled laps in an event where he started at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang. After methodically navigating his way through the field and racing his way into the top 10 by the conclusion of the first stage period, Herbst then claimed a dramatic victory at the conclusion of the second stage period after racing his way past teammate Cole Custer and John Hunter Nemechek in two laps. He then reassumed the lead with 96 laps remaining and quickly cycled his way back into the lead amid a late green flag pit stop period before muscling away from the field and beating runner-up Nemechek by nearly 15 seconds to claim his first Xfinity Series career victory in his 139th series start and in front of his home crowd.

With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, October 13, Josh Berry claimed pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 181.996 mph in 29.671 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, the fastest competitor during Friday’s practice session who proceeded to post the second-best qualifying lap at 181.702 mph in 29.719 seconds.

Prior to the event, a bevy of names that included Stefan Parsons, John Hunter Nemechek, Patrick Emerling, Josh Williams and Riley Herbst dropped to the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries.

When the green flag waved and the race started, Berry and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Berry gained the momentum from the outside lane to muscle his No. 8 LubeZone Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Custer through Turns 3 and 4 and lead the first lap. By then, rookie Chandler Smith made his move beneath Custer to gain the runner-up spot while Daniel Hemric and rookie Sammy Smith battled for fourth place in front of Justin Allgaier, rookie Parker Retzlaff, Austin Hill and Sam Mayer.

Two laps later, the first caution of the event flew after Patrick Emerling, who had smoke billowing out of his car, slapped the outside wall through the frontstretch. During the caution period, some including Brett Moffitt, Joey Gase, Stefan Parsons and Brennan Poole pitted while the rest led by Berry remained on the track.

Following an extensive caution period, the race restarted on the 10th lap. At the start, Berry and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead until Smith rocketed his No. 16 Barger Precast/Quick Tie Products Inc. Chevrolet Camaro ahead through Turns 1 and 2. Smith would proceed to lead at the Lap 12 mark with Berry and Custer giving chase. By then, the caution returned when Moffitt slapped the outside wall entering the frontstretch, which caused Joe Graf Jr., who was running behind Moffitt, to get loose after hitting Moffitt before he too hit the frontstretch wall.

During the proceeding restart on Lap 18, Berry and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead again until Smith rocketed ahead from the outside lane. In the process, Custer made his move into the runner-up spot from Berry. Behind and amid the field fanning out and jostling for early positions, Sammy Smith and Hemric battled for fourth while Austin Hill moved up to sixth as Allgaier fell to seventh.

Just past the Lap 25 mark, Chandler Smith was leading by four-tenths of a second over Custer followed by Sammy Smith, Berry and Hemric while Hill, Allgaier, John Hunter Nemechek, Sheldon Creed and Parker Retzlaff were in the top 10. Behind, Brandon Jones was in 11th ahead of Parker Kligerman, Layne Riggs, Riley Herbst and Sam Mayer while Myatt Snider, Ryan Sieg, Jeb Burton, Anthony Alfredo and Kaz Grala occupied the top 20.

Ten laps later, Custer assumed the lead over Chandler Smith. Behind, Sammy Smith, Hemric and Hill were in the top five while Nemechek, Allgaier, Berry, Kligerman and Creed were running in the top 10. Meanwhile, Playoff contender Mayer was down in 16th while Jones, Herbst, Snider, Retzlaff and Riggs battled in the top 15.

When the first stage period concluded on Lap 45, Custer captured his seventh Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Chandler Smith fended off Sammy Smith to settle in second followed by Hemric and Hill while Nemechek, Allgaier, Brandon Jones, Kligerman and Herbst were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Creed and Mayer were scored outside the top 10 in the running order as there were mired in 13th and 15th, respectively.

Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted for service. Following pit stops, Custer retained the lead as he exited pit road ahead of Hemric, Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Allgaier and Hill. Amid the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation. Not long after, Sammy Smith, who lost a bevy of spots during his service, pitted again to address loose lug nuts on his No. 18 Pilot Flying J Toyota Supra.

The second stage period started on Lap 52 as Custer and Hemric occupied the front row. At the start, Hemric and Custer dueled for the lead through the first two turns and the backstretch until Custer used the outside lane to muscle ahead and clear Hemric to retain the lead. Then during the following lap, the caution quickly returned after Kaz Grala blew an engine entering Turn 1 and triggered a multi-car pileup amid his smoke that collected Rajah Caruth, Alfredo, Jeremy Clements, Josh Williams and Kyle Weatherman. The incident was enough for the event to be placed in a red flag period.

Nearly nine minutes later, the red flag lifted once the carnage was cleared and the oil was cleared as the field resumed under a cautious pace. During the caution period, Hill and Jeb Burton pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on track.

When the race restarted on Lap 58, Custer and Hemric battled dead even for the lead for nearly a full lap until Custer muscled his No. 00 Haas Ford Mustang through the frontstretch. With Custer leading Hemric, Nemechek and Chandler Smith battled for third followed by Allgaier as Herbst joined the battle. Shortly after, Nemechek moved into second place from Hemric. Allgaier would follow suit into third place as Hemric slipped to fourth in front of Herbst while Chandler Smith, Berry and Creed battled for sixth. In the process, Custer retained the lead.

By Lap 65, Custer was leading by half a second over Nemechek followed by Allgaier, Hemric and Herbst while Chandler Smith, Berry, Creed, Brandon Jones and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. In addition, Mayer and Sammy Smith were running in the top 15 while Hill was mired back in 17th.

Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by nearly four-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Allgaier, Herbst and Hemric were racing in the top five. Behind, Chandler Smtih occupied sixth place ahead of Berry, Mayer, Jones and Cred while Sammy Smith and Hill were in 11th and 14th, respectively. Custer would stretch his advantage by seven-tenths of a second over Nemechek by Lap 80 as Herbst moved up to third. By then, Sammy Smith was back in the top 10 as he was scored in 10th while Creed slipped to 12th front of Snider and Hill.

When the second stage period concluded on Lap 90, Herbst, who spent the previous two laps overtaking Nemechek and Custer after gaining ground amid lapped traffic, scored his second Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Custer and Nemechek settled in second and third while Allgaier, Hemric, Chandler Smith, Berry, Mayer, Sammy Smith and Jones were scored in the top 10. By then, teammates Hill and Creed were in 13th and 14th, respectively.

During the stage break, the lead lap field led by Herbst returned to pit road for service. Following the pit stops, Herbst retained the lead after edging teammate Custer off of pit road first followed by Hemric, Nemechek, Allgaier and Chandler Smith followed suit.

With 105 laps remaining, the final stage period started as teammates Herbst and Custer occupied the front row. At the start, Custer reassumed the lead from Herbst as Nemechek claimed the runner-up spot over Herbst while Hemric and Allgaier followed suit.

At the halfway mark between Laps 100 and 101, Custer was leading by six-tenths of a second over teammate Herbst followed by Nemechek, Hemric and Chandler Smith while Allgaier, Hill, Mayer, Jones, Creed and Sammy Smith were running in the top 11.

Then with 96 laps remaining, Herbst returned to the lead as he led by a hair over Custer while the lead between the Stewart-Haas Racing teammates intensified. Six laps later, Herbst extended his lead to more than a second over Custer while third-place Nemechek trailed by nearly two seconds as Chandler Smith and Allgaier were in the top five.

With 80 laps remaining, Herbst continued to extend advantage as he was now scored three seconds ahead with the lead over Custer while Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Allgaier were in the top five. Behind, Mayer, Jones, Hemric, Hill and Sammy Smith in top 10 while Creed was in 13th behind Riggs and Snider.

Ten laps later, Herbst stretched his advantage to more than four seconds over teammate Custer while Nemechek, Chandler Smith and Allgaier remained in the top five. By then, Mayer, Jones, Hill, Sammy Smith and Riggs were in the top 10 followed by Snider and Hemric while Creed was still mired in 13th ahead of Berry and Ryan Sieg.

With less than 65 laps remaining, pit stops under green commence as Hemric pits followed by Creed, Chandler Smith, Allgaier, Hill and Riggs. Custer would pit with less than 60 laps remaining along with Nemechek, Mayer and Snider before Herbst surrendered the lead to pit with 58 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Ryan Sieg was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation.

Then with 56 laps remaining, Herbst cycled back into the lead after Kyle Sieg managed to lead the previous lap. Shortly after, Custer moved back to second followed by Chandler Smith, Nemechek, Sieg and Hill. Hill, Allgaier and Mayer would all overtake Sieg with 46 laps remaining as Herbst’s advantage stood to eight seconds over teammate Custer. Herbst would proceed to retain the lead by more than eight seconds over teammate Custer with 40 laps remaining while Chandler Smith, Nemechek and Allgaier trailed by a distance in the top five.

With 30 laps remaining, Herbst was leading by more than 11 seconds over Chandler Smith, who prevailed in a three-way battle against Nemechek and Custer, while Mayer trailed behind in fifth place. Behind, Allgaier, Hill, Jones, Hemric and Riggs were in the top 10. In addition, Creed was in 13th behind Berry while Samm Smith, who pitted to address a loose wheel during the previous green flag cycle period, was back in 17th.

Ten laps later, Herbst increased his lead by more than 13 seconds over Nemechek while Chandler Smith, Custer and Mayer trailed in the top five ahead of Allgaier, Hill, Jones, Hemric and Riggs. By then, Creed slipped to 15th while Sammy Smith was still mired in 17th.

Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Herbst retained the lead by more than 14 seconds over Nemechek as Chandler Smith, Custer and Mayer trailed by a distance in the top five. By then, only the top 10 competitors on the track were scored on the lead lap as Herbst continued to lead by a large advantage over Nemechek with five laps remaining.

When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Herbst remained as the leader by more than 14 seconds over Nemechek. Having no competition close in from behind, Herbst was able to navigate his way around his home track for a final time before returning to the frontstretch and crossing the finish line first to claim his first checkered flag in NASCAR and by nearly 15 seconds over Nemechek.

With the victory, Herbst, who was revealed to return to Stewart-Haas Racing for the 2024 Xfinity season, became the fifth first-time winner of this year’s Xfinity Series season, the first since Sam Mayer won at Road America in late July, and the first competitor to achieve a first Xfinity career win at Las Vegas since Ross Chastain made the last accomplishment in 2018. The victory was also the third of the season for Stewart-Haas Racing, the fourth for the Ford nameplate and the first for crew chief Davin Restivo.

“Oh, my goodness,” Herbst said on USA Network. “I love this town. I love this team. I can’t thank Monster Energy enough. Everybody said that I couldn’t do it. Oh, my goodness. You don’t know what this means, what this takes off my chest. I can’t believe it. I love you, Las Vegas. Let’s go.”

“I’ve been working on myself and everything I can control,” Herbst added. “I knew all I could do is all I could do and if there was a caution, there was a caution and we’re gonna race them straight up. This year was such a failure because we didn’t make the Playoffs. It’s so embarrassing to be in a car like this that doesn’t make the Playoffs and walk in the garage each week with your head down, but [crew chief] Davin Restivo and all these guys on the No. 98 team told me to keep my head up and we’re gonna go win a race and that’s what we did. I can’t fathom it. Let’s go party and we’re gonna celebrate tonight.”

Nemechek settled in second followed by Playoff rivals Custer, Chandler Smith and Sam Mayer. Allgaier ended up sixth while Hill, Brandon Jones, Hemric and Layne Riggs finished in the top 10.

There were 11 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured five cautions for 26 laps. In addition, only 10 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

Results.

1. Riley Herbst, 103 laps led, Stage 2 winner

2. John Hunter Nemechek

3. Cole Custer, 62 laps led, Stage 1 winner

4. Chandler Smith, 23 laps led

5. Sam Mayer

6. Justin Allgaier

7. Austin Hill

8. Brandon Jones

9. Daniel Hemric, one lap led

10. Layne Riggs

11. Myatt Snider, one lap down

12. Josh Berry, one lap down, 11 laps led

13. Parker Kligerman, one lap down

14. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

15. Sheldon Creed, one lap down

16. Ryan Sieg, two laps down

17. Sammy Smith, two laps down

18. Kyle Sieg, two laps down, one lap led

19. Connor Mosack, two laps down

20. Ryan Reed, three laps down

21. Daniel Dye, three laps down

22. Jeb Burton, four laps down

23. Rajah Caruth, four laps down

24. Brett Moffitt, four laps down

25. Brennan Poole, four laps down

26. Stefan Parsons, four laps down

27. Ryan Ellis, four laps down

28. Blaine Perkins, six laps down

29. CJ McLaughlin, seven laps down

30. Jeremy Clements, eight laps down

31. Dawson Cram, eight laps down

32. Joey Gase, eight laps down

33. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

34. Anthony Alfredo – OUT, Accident

35. Kaz Grala – OUT, Accident

36. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Accident

37. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

38. Patrick Emerling – OUT, Accident

*Bold indicates Playoff competitors

Playoff standings

1. John Hunter Nemechek +47

2. Justin Allgaier +21

3. Austin Hill +19

4. Cole Custer +15

5. Chandler Smith -15

6. Sam Mayer -16

7. Sammy Smith -35

8. Sheldon Creed -41

The second Round of 8 event in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs is set to occur next Saturday, October 21, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida, with the event’s broadcast to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

October 14, 2023