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  • Cindric notches first win of 2020 at Kentucky Speedway

    Cindric notches first win of 2020 at Kentucky Speedway

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results:

    1. Austin Cindric, 41 laps led

    2. Riley Herbst

    3. Ross Chastain

    4. Chase Briscoe, five laps led

    5. Michael Annett

    6. Anthony Alfredo

    7. Justin Haley, three laps led

    8. Kyle Weatherman

    9. Ryan Sieg

    10. Brett Moffitt

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

    12. Jeremy Clements

    13. Joe Graf Jr.

    14. Jesse Little

    15. Myatt Snider

    16. Chad Finchum

    17. Harrison Burton

    18. B.J. McLeod

    19. Ronnie Bassett Jr. – OUT, Accident

    20. Justin Allgaier – OUT, Accident

    21. Timmy Hill – OUT, Accident

    22. Bayley Currey, one lap down

    23. Vinnie Miller, two laps down

    24. Alex Labbe, two laps down

    25. Kody Vanderwal, two laps down

    26. Josh Williams, three laps down

    27. Brandon Brown, four laps down

    28. Mason Massey, six laps down

    29. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Suspension

    30. Matt Mills, 14 laps down

    31. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Brakes

    32. Colby Howard – OUT, Accident

    33. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Rear gear

    34. Jeb Burton – OUT, Accident

    35. Stephen Leicht – OUT, Electrical

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

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

  • Briscoe claims inaugural Xfinity race on Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit

    Briscoe claims inaugural Xfinity race on Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Results:

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

    2. Justin Haley

    3. Noah Gragson

    4. A.J. Allmendinger, two laps led

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

    6. Ross Chastain

    7. Justin Allgaier, two laps led

    8. Alex Labbe

    9. Michael Annett

    10. Preston Pardus, two laps led

    11. Brandon Brown

    12. Brandon Gdovic

    13. Jeremy Clements

    14. Jade Buford

    15. Kyle Weatherman

    16. Myatt Snider

    17. Ryan Sieg, two laps led

    18. Jesse Little

    19. Timmy Hill

    20. Anthony Alfredo

    21. Stephen Leicht

    22. Josh Williams

    23. Josh Bilicki

    24. Mike Wallace

    25. Harrison Burton

    26. Joe Graf Jr.

    27. Chad Finchum

    28. Kody Vanderwal, one lap down

    29. B.J. McLeod, one lap down

    30. Matt Mills, one lap down

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

    32. Vinnie Miller, two laps down

    33. Riley Herbst, five laps down

    34. Bayley Currey, eight laps down

    35. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Axle

    36. Brett Moffitt, 18 laps down

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

    38. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Chassis

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

  • Briscoe rallies from late spin to win at Pocono

    Briscoe rallies from late spin to win at Pocono

    From a late spin to the lead following a late restart, Chase Briscoe emerged victorious in the fifth annual Pocono Green 225 at Pocono Raceway for his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series win of the season and the sixth of his career. In a race that felt like a war of attrition with multiple on-track incidents occurring, Briscoe was a victim of one of nine cautions when he spun with 22 laps remaining in Turn 1 after sustaining a flat left-rear tire. Briscoe was able to rally from the incident to battle Ross Chastain for the lead with less than 10 laps remaining and overtake Chastain for the lead on an overtime restart to win.

    The starting lineup was based on a random draw. Points leader Noah Gragson drew the pole position and started alongside Myatt Snider. Jeffrey Earnhardt and Cody Ware started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Gragson launched ahead of the field on the outside lane and was pursued by teammate Justin Allgaier while Snider was being pressured by Chase Briscoe and Justin Haley for position. The caution flew when Brandon Jones, fresh off his first NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career win at Pocono earlier in the day, was turned off the front nose of Austin Cindric and pounded the Turn 1 inside wall head-on. The damage was too severe for Jones to continue as he ended his race without completing a single lap. 

    “Ultimately, you make up spots on these restarts, so we were trying to go three-wide and get them early,” Jones said. “But, obviously, you have to have a little give and take. It’s just early. It doesn’t take much when you get three-wide to get pushed around. But from my vantage point, we got hit in the back…We had a really good positive. We won the truck race. I had high hopes for this race, too.”

    The race restarted on the fourth lap with Gragson retaining the lead. Entering Turn 1, Ross Chastain attempted to split the middle between Briscoe and Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Chastain and Briscoe made the slightest of contact entering the straightaway, but they all proceeded racing straight and still in a three-wide battle. The caution returned when contact from Daniel Hemric got Josh Williams sideways and into the outside wall on the Long Pond Straightaway, where he sustained heavy front nose damage. Also involved was Joe Graf Jr. as both competitors were knocked out of the race. Under the caution laps, Williams expressed his displeasure towards Hemric. Under caution and due to the extended caution laps, NASCAR cancelled the competition caution scheduled on the 10th lap.

    The race restarted on the eighth lap as Allgaier received a push from Chastain to challenge Gragson for the lead. Chastain attempted to move to the inside of Gragson and Allgaier for the lead, but he slipped, allowing Gragson to move into the lead. Then, in Turn 2, Cindric powered on the outside lane to take the lead, which he led the following lap. Gragson settled in second followed by Allgaier, Briscoe and Michael Annett while Chastain was back in sixth ahead of Snider and teammate Haley.

    On Lap 10, Allgaier slipped while battling teammate Gragson for second in Turn 1. Though he was able to straighten his car, the slip costed him five spots back in eighth. A lap later, Chastain moved into second after passing Gragson while Briscoe and Snider battled behind. By then, Cindric was leading by more than five seconds while Allgaier had rallied back to race in fifth.

    The caution flew on Lap 14, when rookie Harrison Burton, who had reported fluid on the track, got loose entering Turn 1 and made head-on contact into the inside wall, a wreck that was reminiscent to his teammate Jones. The front nose damage was enough to end Burton’s day on the wrecker as this marked his second consecutive DNF of the season and after starting this season with 10 consecutive top-10 finishes and two wins.

    “I was racing with [Michael Annett] and felt good, and it just instantly came around,” said Burton. “That’s a weird place to come around. That hit looked harder than it was, so I’m all right. Thankful that my team built safe racecars. I’ve unfortunately tested that out twice this year. Bummer, but we’ll be back and hopefully win some more.”

    The following lap, the race was red-flagged for nearly 21 minutes to allow the safety workers to clean the reported oil in Turn 1 and the Long Pond Straightaway that reportedly came from Brandon Brown’s car, which retired. Following an extensive cleanup, the field returned under caution. Once the field entered Turn 4, a majority of the competitors, including Haley, Allgaier, Hemric, Gragson, Riley Herbst and Alex Labbe, pitted. Those that remained on the track included Cindric, Chastain, Snider and Annett. The race restarted with three laps remaining in the stage. At the start behind the leaders, Chad Finchum pulled his No. 13 MBM Motorsports Toyota out of line after struggling on the restart, but the field scattered around him and the race proceeded under green. With the field jostling for positions, Cindric was able to pull away by six-tenths of a second over Chastain.  

    On the final lap of the first stage, Alex Labbe, one of the Dash 4 Cash contenders and who was in 11th, spun entering Turn 1 and tapped the inside wall, though he was able to drive his car back to his pit stall with damage to the front nose of his car. The stage concluded under caution with Cindric winning it. Chastain finished second followed by Allgaier, Snider, Annett. Briscoe, Gragson, Herbst, Haley and Hemric finished in the top 10. Under the stage break, Chastain remained on track to assume the lead while Cindric, Snider, Annett, Ryan Sieg and others pitted.

    Following another extensive clean-up for the spilled oil through Turn 1 and the Long Pond Straightaway, the second stage started on Lap 26. The field fanned out to three lanes before Chastain, racing on the outside lane, retained the lead followed by Allgaier with Gragson trailing by a second. Haley was in fourth followed by Herbst. On Lap 29, Cindric made the slightest contact with Herbst as Herbst slipped in Turn 3 and fell to ninth while Cindric advanced into eighth. By then, Chastain was leading by four-tenths of a second over Allgaier with Gragson trailing by two seconds. Trailing behind Gragson were Briscoe, Hemric and Cindric. 

    On Lap 35, Chastain and Allgaier were ahead of third-place Cindric by nearly five seconds. A lap later, Allgaier drew himself alongside Chastain to challenge for the lead, which he succeeded. Soon after, Chastain peeled off to pit road for a pit stop. Teammate Haley and Briscoe also pitted, but Briscoe was assessed a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road. Back on the track, Allgaier was leading by three seconds over a hard-charging Cindric. Allgaier was able to stabilize his lead to win the second stage and earn his fifth stage win of the 2020 season. Cindric was second followed by Gragson, Hemric and Herbst. Snider, Annett, Sieg, Brett Moffitt and Jeremy Clements finished in the top 10.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the lead-lap competitors pitted and Cindric exited pit road first followed by Allgaier, Hemric, Gragson and Snider. Chastain, however, remained on track to inherit the lead after he pitted prior to the conclusion of the second stage. Teammate Haley also remained on track. Labbe pinned a lap behind under the hood.

    When the final stage commenced with 46 laps remaining, Chastain took off with the lead on the outside lane and was quickly pursued by Allgaier. Haley trailed the front runners by seven-tenths of a second followed by Cindric and Gragson. Two laps later, Herbst moved his way all the way up to fourth after passing Gragson, but he slipped entering the tunnel turn and fell all the way back to eighth. 

    A lap later, Haley, who slipped entering Turn 4 following contact with Herbst, veered dead left into the right rear of Herbst and sent Herbst around in Turn 4, where he made minimal contact with the wall. Herbst’s wreck capped off a disappointing day for Joe Gibbs Racing as all three of their Xfinity operations were involved in a wreck. Haley pitted with left-front damage while Herbst also pitted after sustaining front nose energy along with a flat left-front tire to his No. 18 Monster Energy/Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Soon after, NASCAR assessed Haley a two-lap penalty in his pit stall for rough driving and following his on-track contact with Herbst, which ended his hopes of winning the race and the final Dash 4 Cash bonus of the season. Haley and his crew chief Alex Yontz were also called for a post-race meeting with NASCAR officials in the Xfinity Series hauler.

    Under caution, some like Cindric, Allgaier and others pitted while others like Chastain, Gragson, Hemric, Snider, Clements, B.J. McLeod, Dexter Bean and Jesse Little remained on track.

    When the race restarted with 38 laps remaining, Chastain retained the lead but behind, contact from Snider got Gragson loose in Turn 1, where he came back across the track and ignited a multi-car wreck that included teammates Allgaier and Hemric, along with Cindric and Sieg. The wreck ended Cindric’s chances of winning the race and the final Dash 4 Cash bonus after having a strong racecar. Hemric also retired while Gragson, Allgaier and Sieg continued. Under caution, a majority of the leaders, led by Chastain, pitted while few like Briscoe, Moffitt and McLeod remained on track.

    The race restarted with 33 laps remaining, and Briscoe was able to clear the field through Turn 1. Moffitt settled in second as Snider and Chastain moved into third and fourth. Behind, Annett, the lone JR Motorsports’ competitor without damage, challenged Clements for fifth. Two laps later, Briscoe was ahead by a second over Snider and Chastain, both of whom remained within sight of another for the runner-up spot. Behind, names like Moffitt, Clements, Jesse Little, Ryan Vargas, Dexter Bean and Stefan Parsons were racing inside the top 10 with McLeod battling Parsons for position.

    With 22 to go, Briscoe fell off the pace after sustaining a flat left-rear tire and he spun in Turn 1, though he continued without sustaining any damage. Briscoe’s misfortune allowed Snider to move into the lead followed by Chastain. Under caution, Snider remained on track along with four others while Chastain pitted for four fresh tires and fuel with hopes of gaining more speed to take the lead.

    Four laps later, the race restarted and Snider took off with the lead while Chastain, racing on fresh tires, boosted his way into second on fresh tires. Behind, Briscoe, rallying from his late spin, moved into third after passing Annett and Moffitt. With 15 to go, Snider was leading by four-tenths of a second over Chastain with Briscoe trailing by two seconds as the top three started to gap fourth-place Annett by nearly five seconds. Three laps later, Chastain passed Snider for the lead in Turn 1 and three turns later, Briscoe moved into second with the top-three competitors separated by less than six-tenths of a second.

    With 10 laps remaining, the battle for the lead ignited between Briscoe and Chastain with Chastain maintaining a small advantage over Briscoe. After making several attempts to pass Chastain, Briscoe succeeded with seven laps remaining in Turn 2. The following lap, Briscoe was starting to extend his lead by four-tenths of a second with Snider trailing by nearly three seconds. The caution returned when Finchum wrecked in Turn 2 and came to rest across the outside wall. Under caution, Snider and Annett led a handful of cars to pit road for service, including Allgaier, while Briscoe and Chastain remained on track. When the pit stops concluded, Snider was all the way back to 15th.

    The race restarted in overtime and Chastain received a push from Allgaier on the inside lane to retain the lead. Soon after, Briscoe gained a huge run in the Tunnel Turn and bumped into the rear bumper of Chastain to retain the lead and start the final lap. Briscoe was able to maintain a steady gap over Chastain for one final lap to claim another checkered flag of the season. With the win, Briscoe became the fifth different winner in five NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the Tricky Triangle and he recorded the second victory of the weekend for Stewart-Haas Racing, a day after Kevin Harvick won the first of two Cup Pocono races of the weekend. The victory was also Briscoe’s second with interim crew chief/veteran Greg Zipadelli.

    “Yeah, a ton of concern [when Chastain passed me in overtime],” Briscoe said on FS1. “I felt like if I’d picked the bottom [lane], I could’ve, maybe, slid him, but I was really tight and was worried if I went to the bottom, I’d get too tight on exit. When I was catching Ross, I knew his trouble end was the Tunnel Turn. He was just so loose, so I just tried to use that to my advantage. I knew that was the one spot where I could, probably, make the pass. It was fun. He’s one of the hardest guys to race against and pass. We raced clean the whole time. We were really not that good at the beginning. We, kind of, struggled and didn’t have the speed I really anticipated to have here. It’s always fun when you can do that. We’re halfway to eight [wins], so hopefully, we can keep going.” 

    Chastain finished second for his fourth top-five result of the season. Despite the disappointment of finishing second and falling short of claiming his first win of the season, Chastain secured the fourth and final Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus of the season, second for the Kaulig Racing driver.

    “We did everything right,” Chastain said on FS1. “We got the good push that we needed and cleared [Briscoe] into [Turn] 1. It’s tough to be upset with second, but I am. I’m so proud of Kaulig Racing, [Richard Childress Racing], everybody that brings these racecars and we’re unloading and we are in the top two to three every week. I know how lucky I am, but man, it’s the memories we take with us, not the money.”

    Clements rallied from a pit road speeding penalty to finish third for his first top-five result of this season while Snider made a late charge in two laps to notch a career-best fourth in his 12th series start, his sixth driving the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

    “I knew that I was getting a big push from behind,” Snider said. “I had a run coming on [Gragson], but I knew we were going to fall off real fast, so I started lifting up, but the guy behind me didn’t. So you can kind of see me squirreling around the whole time, and I’m trying slow down, but I just couldn’t stop. I hate that it got so many involved with it, but it ended up being a great day for us. We’re up front leading laps, and we had a chance to win there. It came down to experience for me. I’ve only had a few races with this RCR car. It’s got speed. I’ve just got to get myself a little more consistent, but kudos to the RCR guys for bringing such a fast TaxSlayer Camaro. I had a blast today. Just got to get a little more experience and I think that we’ll be able to win some races.”

    Annett finished fifth for his first top-five result of the season followed by teammate Allgaier, who rallied from the late multi-car wreck that also collected his two JRM teammates. Moffitt, Timmy Hill, Herbst and Jesse Little finished in the top 10. Ryan Vargas, who was running in the top 10 until he got into the outside wall in Turn 1 on the final lap, settled in 13th.

    There were 12 lead changes for six different leaders. The race featured nine cautions for 31 laps. Only 21 of the 36-car field finished on the lead lap.

    With the win, Briscoe emerged with the points lead by three points over Gragson and 33 over Chastain.

    Results:

    1. Chase Briscoe, 24 laps led

    2. Ross Chastain, 31 laps led

    3. Jeremy Clements

    4. Myatt Snider, eight laps led

    5. Michael Annett

    6. Justin Allgaier, nine laps led, Stage 2 winner

    7. Brett Moffitt

    8. Timmy Hill

    9. Riley Herbst

    10. Jesse Little

    11. Dexter Bean

    12. Ryan Sieg

    13. Ryan Vargas

    14. B.J. McLeod

    15. Kyle Weatherman

    16. Jeffrey Earnhardt

    17. Alex Labbe

    18. Vinnie Miller

    19. Kody Vanderwal

    20. Carson Ware

    21. Stefan Parsons

    22. Noah Gragson, one lap down, eight laps led

    23. Justin Haley, two laps down

    24. Bayley Currey, three laps down

    25. Matt Mills – OUT, Transmission

    26. Chad Finchum – OUT, Accident

    27. Stephen Leicht – OUT, Electrical

    28. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Accident

    29. Austin Cindric – OUT, Accident, 11 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    30. Tommy Joe Martins – OUT, Oil leak

    31. Jeff Green – OUT, Power steering

    32. Harrison Burton – OUT, Accident

    33. Brandon Brown – OUT, Engine

    34. Josh Williams – OUT, Accident

    35. Joe Graf Jr. – OUT, Accident

    36. Brandon Jones – OUT, Accident

    The NASCAR Xfinity Series will travel to the midwest and compete in the first oval-road course race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 4, where the race will air at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Briscoe rallies from penalty to win at Homestead in overtime

    Briscoe rallies from penalty to win at Homestead in overtime

    From a penalty to victory lane in a span of two days, Chase Briscoe outlasted the field in two overtime attempts to claim a thrilling win in the Contender Boats 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the second of a series doubleheader weekend in Miami. It was his fifth NASCAR Xfinity Series career victory and third of this season.

    The win was also Briscoe’s first with interim crew chief and veteran Greg Zipadelli, who filled in for the suspended Richard Boswell after Briscoe’s team was penalized for a fallen ballast off of Briscoe’s car prior to yesterday’s series race at Homestead. In addition to crew chief Boswell, car chief Nick Hutchins and engineer D.J. Vanderley were also suspended for the next four series races.

    The starting lineup was based on the results from Saturday’s event at Homestead, where the top-15 finishers from Saturday were inverted for Sunday’s race and the remaining spots were placed in the finishing order from Saturday. New additions were placed at the rear of the field. With his 15th-place result on Saturday, Myatt Snider started on pole position and was joined on the front row by Brandon Brown. Daniel Hemric, Carson Ware and Jairo Avila Jr. started at the rear of the field due to driver changes along with Justin Allgaier and Kody Vanderwal, both racing in backup cars. Noah Gragson also started at the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments.

    When the green flag dropped, Snider received a boost from Justin Haley on the inside lane to jump to the lead. By the time Snider led the first lap, Ross Chastain moved into second and was able to take the lead the following lap. Briscoe, who started ninth, moved into second and three laps later, Austin Cindric raced into third.

    On Lap 8, Briscoe made a move on the inside lane in Turn 1 and took the lead from Chastain. Three laps later, Cindric took the lead and was able to stabilize his lead to a comfortable margin over Briscoe. Cindric was able to maintain the lead by nearly two seconds over Brandon Jones and Briscoe when the field reached the competition caution on Lap 20. At the time of caution, Harrison Burton was in seventh after starting 15th with teammates Gragson and Allgaier were in sixth and eighth after both started at the rear of the field. Alfredo was in 10th after starting 12th and Hemric and Allmendinger were in 12th and 16th after starting at the rear of the field. Snider and Brown had fallen back to 11th and 29th. Under the competition caution, a majority of competitors remained on the track while some like Ryan Sieg and Riley Herbst pitted for early adjustments.

    The race restarted on Lap 24, and Cindric retained the lead after receiving a strong start on the inside lane. Briscoe, who restarted on the outside lane, was shuffled back to fifth as Jones, Burton and Haley moved up the leaderboard along with Allgaier. By Lap 31, while most of the competitors continued battling for positions, Sieg, who restarted in 22nd but on fresh tires, had charged all the way up to second. The caution flew a lap later when Caesar Bacarella and Tommy Joe Martins wrecked on the backstretch. Under caution, the leaders remained on the track while a few including Chastain and Michael Annett pitted.

    When the race restarted with four laps remaining in the first stage, a four-wide battle for the lead took place between Cindric, Sieg, Jones and Allgaier through Turns 1 and 2 before Sieg took the lead in Turn 3. Sieg was able to pull away from the field and win the first stage on Lap 40 for his second stage win in two days and by nearly two seconds over Annett, who made a miraculous charge after pitting prior to the restart. Cindric, Jones and Allgaier finished in the top five followed by Gragson, Burton, Hemric, Timmy Hill and Bayley Currey.  

    Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Cindric led Jones, Burton, Gragson and Annett. Sieg and Allgaier, both of whom pitted in the top three, fell back to 20th and 23rd after both had issues on pit road, where Allgaier clipped a tire out of Sieg’s pit box while entering his own pit box and then had issues exiting his pit stall while backing up to avoid making contact with Jeffrey Earnhardt. Chastain, who pitted in the closing laps of the stage, remained on track and assumed the lead.

    The second stage started on Lap 47 and Jones went three-wide with Chastain and Cindric to take the lead entering Turn 1. Four laps later, Cindric returned to the lead. By Lap 55, Cindric stretched his advantage to more than a second over Jones who was locked in a four-car battle with Hemric, Gragson and Burton. Two laps later, Hemric moved into second as Briscoe joined the battle. Their battle allowed Cindric to continue to extend his advantage to over two seconds through Lap 60. 

    As the race progressed, Gragson moved into second followed by Burton, Briscoe and Jones while Hemric had fallen back to sixth ahead of Allmendinger. Allgaier was in ninth while Sieg was stuck in 26th.

    On Lap 68, Gragson took the lead from Cindric and started to rocket away from the field while using the outside lane toward the wall to his advantage. Just like the majority of yesterday’s Xfinity race at Homestead, Gragson remained uncontested and cruised to the win of the second stage on Lap 80. Cindric finished second, trailing by nearly four seconds, followed by Jones, Briscoe and Hemric. Burton, Allgaier, Annett, Alfredo and Allmendinger finished in the top 10. Under the stage break, the leaders pitted and Gragson retained the lead followed by Briscoe, Burton, Hemric and Cindric.

    The final stage started with 78 laps remaining and Gragson received a bump from Burton on the inside lane to retain the lead. Two laps later, Cindric raced his way back to second followed by Briscoe while Burton, Hemric and Jones battled for fourth. Six laps later, Cindric reassumed the lead, where he started to stretch his advantage by more than a second over Gragson, who was challenged by Briscoe for the runner-up spot.

    With 60 to go, Gragson raced his way back to the lead after Cindric scrubbed the wall. The damage cut Cindric’s right-rear tire as he was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to address the flat tire. Once Cindric returned to the track, he was in 23rd, a lap behind, while Gragson was ahead by more than three seconds over Briscoe and nearly seven seconds over Hemric, Jones, Allgaier, Burton and Herbst.

    With 50 to go, Gragson stabilized his lead to above four seconds over Briscoe while Jones, Burton and Hemric continued battling for third while behind by more than 10 seconds. Soon after, green-flag pit stops commenced as teammates Chastain and Haley pitted. During the green-flag pit stops, Allgaier was slowing his car to make the left-hand turn to pit road right in front of teammate Hemric, which caused Hemric to lock up his front brakes and circle around the track for another lap to make his stop, which cost him time from the lead. Once nearly the entire field pitted, Josh Williams emerged with the lead before pitting a lap later and allowing Cindric to take the lead. Two laps later, Gragson reassumed the lead as he started to pull away.

    With 20 to go, Gragson, who continued rim-riding toward the outside wall, was ahead by over three seconds over Briscoe and 11 seconds over Cindric. Teammates Jones and Burton were locked in a heated battle for fourth while Hemric was back in sixth. During this time, Allgaier made an unscheduled pit stop after sustaining a flat tire from scrubbing the wall. Alfredo also pitted after making contact with the wall.

    With 10 to go, Briscoe narrowed the deficit to less than two seconds over Gragson, who slowly started to approach lapped traffic but remained running toward the outside near the wall. A few laps later, Burton made an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire which ended his hopes to win twice in two days. 

    In the final five laps, Briscoe started to close toward Gragson, cutting his deficit to less than a second, but he soon made contact with the wall, which allowed Gragson to stabilize his advantage back to over a second. 

    Just as Gragson was about to take the white flag to start the final lap, Cindric wrecked in Turn 3 after cutting a right-rear tire, which drew the caution and set the race into overtime. Under caution, the leaders pitted and Briscoe beat Gragson off pit road first following a stellar pit stop. Hemric exited third followed by Jones, Herbst and Annett.

    In the first overtime attempt, Briscoe maintained the lead and Jones took second away from Gragson. The caution quickly returned for a multi-car wreck in Turn 2 that started when Allmendinger got into the back of Herbst, sending Herbst and Annett against one another toward the outside wall while Hemric was clipped and made head-on contact with the inside wall as everyone else scattered to avoid the wreckage.

    In the second overtime attempt, Briscoe and Jones battled for the lead while Gragson made contact with the outside wall in Turn 2 and fell back to the top 10. On the final lap, Briscoe was able to clear Jones for the lead and hold off the Georgia native for one final circuit and by 0.072 seconds at the finish line to win the race and to become the first three-time winner of the series this season.

    “Just a testament to our team,” Briscoe said on MRN (Motor Racing Network). “Yesterday, we were so good and today, I don’t know what our deal was. We were still good, but we weren’t near as good as we were yesterday. I don’t know if it was the heat or what. We were able to find some speed up on the top [lane] that last run. I just kept trying to run the fence harder and harder and harder. I knew that if I could get to Noah, I felt like I’d put enough pressure on him after running him down the straightaway that he would make mistakes. With two [laps] to go, I was just trying to get more and more and more, and I was already on the edge. The caution, absolutely, fell perfect. The pit crew did an unbelievable job to get us upfront. Definitely a team win. [Jones] had a big run coming off of [Turn] 4 just because I drove it in so deep on the bottom so he could get to me. It almost cost me. It’s pretty dang cool for me, growing up a die-hard Tony Stewart fan to get a win with [crew chief] Zippy. That’s pretty cool. Happy that we can get our Ford Performance Racing School car in victory lane. We, definitely, weren’t the best car today, but I felt like we were yesterday. It’s nice to get some redemption.”

    Jones finished second followed by Chastain while Allmendinger beat Gragson for fourth and claim the second Dash 4 Cash $100,000 bonus. With his accomplishment, Allmendinger became the 12th different driver to win the $100,000 bonus from the Dash 4 Cash program in the last five seasons.

    “We fought hard trying to figure out how to make the car better,” Allmendinger said on MRN. “At the end, we made it the best, but we were still about a ninth-place car. I fought hard to get Ellsworth Advisors $100,000, for Chevrolet, ECR, LeafFilter Gutter Protection, for sure. Can’t thank Xfinity enough for all they do and I guess we get to go to Talladega and do it again, right?!”

    The fifth-place result did very little to satisfy Gragson after dominating both Xfinity races in Miami and to fall short in the closing laps.

    “[I’m] Gonna have to start working on myself because that’s unacceptable on my standards,” Gragson said on MRN. “[Crew chief] Dave Elenz and the rest of the team, they did an unbelievable job to set up the car. We had the lead there at the end and the caution [fell] with a lap and a half to go. These guys, they work their tails off and it’s not to run fifth. It’s to win these races. Gonna keep on focus, keep positive. Super thankful for this team and them sticking behind me. Gonna keep working on myself and try to be better next time, just learn from the opportunity and just take the positives from today.”

    Allmendinger, Brisoce, Jones and Chastain will contend for the third Dash 4 Cash bonus next weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

    Haley, Snider, Burton and Herbst finished sixth through ninth and as the only competitors to finish on the lead lap while Cindric, the first car a lap down, finished 10th.

    The race featured 20 lead changes with eight different leaders. There were six cautions for 28 laps.

    Gragson retained the lead in the Xfinity Series regular-season standings by 18 points over Briscoe and 45 over Burton.

    Results:

    1. Chase Briscoe, 11 laps led

    2. Brandon Jones, five laps led

    3. Ross Chastain, 11 laps led

    4. AJ Allmendinger

    5. Noah Gragson, 81 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    6. Justin Haley

    7. Myatt Snider, one lap led

    8. Harrison Burton

    9. Riley Herbst

    10. Austin Cindric, one lap down, 60 laps led

    11. Anthony Alfredo, one lap down

    12. Josh Williams, one lap down, one lap led

    13. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    14. Colin Garrett, one lap down

    15. Jesse Little, one lap down

    16. Jeffrey Earnhardt, one lap down

    17. Colby Howard, one lap down

    18. Michael Annett, one lap down

    19. Ryan Sieg, two laps down, seven laps led, Stage 1 winner

    20. Tommy Joe Martins, two laps down

    21. Chad Finchum, two laps down

    22. Justin Allgaier, three laps down

    23. Alex Labbe, three laps down

    24. Matt Mills, three laps down

    25. Timmy Hill, three laps down

    26. Bayley Currey, four laps down

    27. Jeremy Clements, four laps down

    28. Carson Ware, four laps down

    29. Vinnie Miller, four laps down

    30. Caesar Bacarella, six laps down

    31. Daniel Hemric – OUT, Crash

    32. Stefan Parsons, 26 laps down

    33. Kody Vanderwal – OUT, Power steering

    34. B.J. McLeod – OUT, Clutch

    35. Kyle Weatherman – OUT, Fire

    36. Brandon Brown – OUT, Overheating

    37. Ja Junior Avila – OUT, Electrical

    38. Stephen Leicht – OUT, Handling

    Next on the Xfinity Series schedule is Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama, which will occur on June 20 at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • Briscoe’s team penalized following Homestead

    Briscoe’s team penalized following Homestead

    A race that had a difficult start but concluded with a strong comeback concluded with a disappointing outcome for Chase Briscoe and his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford team following the Hooter’s 250 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

    It started even before the drop of the green flag when a piece of ballast came off of Briscoe’s car and was situated on the track during the pace laps. Briscoe was then directed by NASCAR to pit as his crew went to work to replace the missing ballast from his car. By the time Briscoe returned to the track while serving a pass-through penalty for having too many crew members over the pit wall, he was six laps behind the field. From there, Briscoe spent the entire race making up the laps he lost from the leaders.

    When the first stage concluded, he was three laps behind. By the time the second stage concluded, he was one lap behind. When the caution flew with seven laps remaining following a single-car wreck, Briscoe took the wave around to return to the lead lap and was then able to race from 11th to seventh when the checkered flag flew. Briscoe’s seventh-place result was his seventh top-10 finish of this season.

    “It was definitely a frustrating day, but we can’t hang our heads,” Briscoe said. “We had another really good, fast race car and we just made a silly mistake this week and forgot something. Last week, I made a silly mistake on pit road, so it all evens out. The positive is that we had a really fast race car. In fact, I felt like we were the fastest car by quite a bit. The good thing is we get another chance at it tomorrow and hopefully, we can put it all together and not make any mistakes and get another win.”

    Following the race, however, Briscoe’s team was hit with a major penalty as a result of the ballast that separated from his car prior to the race. As a result of violating rule 12.5.2.7.4.d. from the NASCAR RuleBook, crew chief Richard Boswell, car chief Nick Hutchins and engineer D.J. Vanderley have been suspended for the next four series races, beginning with the second Homestead race on June 14. Briscoe’s post-race penalty does not come with any fine nor points implications as he is second in the standings, trailing points leader Noah Gragson by 18 points.

    This marks the second time this season where a team was hit with a safety violation as a result of ballast loss from a car. In May, Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team was also penalized for a loss of ballast prior to the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a penalty that resulted in Hamlin’s crew chief Chris Gabehart, car chief Brandon Griffeth and engineer Scott Simmons being suspended for the upcoming NASCAR Cup Series races.

  • Racing versus reality

    Racing versus reality

    Sometimes in NASCAR, we tend to focus only on the wins and losses. And nothing makes us happier than an all-out rivalry, a good guy to cheer for and a bad guy to heckle.

    But then we are reminded that, in the end, it’s only racing. The significance of what happens on the track diminishes when we are confronted with the stark realities of life.

    Wednesday night, social media was buzzing over the contact between Kyle Busch and Chase Elliott during the Toyota 500 at Darlington Raceway. The argument over whether the contact was intentional or simply bad timing by Busch was debated throughout the night.

    But in the midst of this controversy, we learned that Xfinity Series driver, Chase Briscoe and his wife, Marissa, had lost the child they were expecting. Briscoe shared the heartbreaking news on social media.

    Yesterday was the hardest day of my life,” he posted on Twitter. “Marissa Briscoe and I heard the worst news any soon-to-be parent could hear. That we wouldn’t be welcoming our daughter to the world on December 1st. I know God has a plan and we may not understand it but we seek Him and trust Him.”

    While the NASCAR community grieved with them over their loss, reality took precedence as Briscoe prepared to compete in the Toyota 200 race Thursday afternoon at Darlington. It was the first race for the series since March 7 as the COVID-19 pandemic soon precluded any sporting events.

    It was also Briscoe’s first race since receiving the devastating news. It was time to go back to work. One can only guess at the strength it took to compartmentalize his emotions and concentrate on the task before him.

    As the race wound down and we saw Briscoe fighting to retain the lead with Busch on his back bumper, the NASCAR world held their collective breath until he crossed the finish line to collect the checkered flag.

    When he climbed out of his car, tears streaming down his face, his emotions told the story of unimaginable grief that we hoped was momentarily eased with the joy of winning the race.

    “This is for my wife. This has been the hardest week I’ve ever had to deal with,” Briscoe said. “When I took the lead, I was crying in my car. This is more than a race win. This is the biggest win of my life after the toughest day of my life. To be able to beat the best there is so satisfying.”

    Sometimes in NASCAR, we tend to focus only on the wins and losses. Thanks to Briscoe for reminding us of what is truly important.

  • Chase Briscoe battles with Kyle Busch and wins at Darlington in dramatic fashion

    Chase Briscoe battles with Kyle Busch and wins at Darlington in dramatic fashion

    A final restart would bring an entertaining end at Darlington Raceway as Chase Briscoe held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch to take the race win. It was Briscoe’s fourth career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and his second win of the season.

    An emotional Briscoe said, “This is the number one win. Honestly, winning the Daytona 500 couldn’t even top the feeling of just, like I was saying earlier, the ups and downs. This is what my family needed and what my wife needed.”

    Noah Gragson led the field to green after a random draw gave him the pole position. His JR Motorsports teammate, Michael Annett, would be on his inside. As the two got the green flag, Annett’s No. 1 would spin the tires, miring him backward in the race.

    Ross Chastain would reach near the top 5, and Busch would climb his way upwards into the Top 10. Ryan Sieg’s No. 39 would showcase some good pace as he closed in on Gragson’s No. 9 before the competition caution would fly on Lap 15.

    With everyone’s positions maintained, Gragson would lead the field down for the restart. Austin Cindric would benefit from a quick launch, moving up to third. Myatt Snider found trouble off Turn 2 as he hit the wall after contact with Timmy Hill, giving the No. 93 damage to the back end, bringing out the yellow.

    Busch had some right-side damage to his No. 54 due to contact with the wall during the green flag stint.

    Gragson would continue to hold his ground on the restart, Chastain would look to challenge but would not be able to reach the No. 9 as Gragson would cruise to take victory in Stage 1.

    Chastain, Sieg, Busch, and Cindric would round out the Top Five while Justin Allgaier, Daniel Hemric, Briscoe, Annett, and Justin Haley would round out the Top Ten to end the stage.

    Busch would be the first one off pit lane, putting the No. 54 in the lead.

    As Stage 2 began, the intensity began to pick up. Gragson would lose out to Busch and Allgaier on the restart, dropping to third.

    Chastain and Briscoe would go at it for multiple laps for a handful of laps before the No. 98 would loosen the Kaulig car off Turn 2, costing Chastain several spots as Hemric and Annett would rocket past him. Later, Annett would kiss the Turn 1 wall but would keep on going without much of an issue.

    Nobody would be able to challenge the No. 54 as Busch won Stage 2. Allgaier, Gragson, Briscoe, and Annett would be in the Top 5. Hemric, Chastain, Cindric, Sieg, and Jeremy Clements would round out the Top 10.

    Busch, however, was caught speeding on pit road, sending him to the rear of the field. With Busch at the back it allowed many of the regulars to pounce on a potential win as the final stage begun. Allgaier took the lead but the No. 7 would spin his tires, allowing Briscoe to take the first position.

    Brandon Jones would experience a vibration with his No. 19, bringing his car down pit lane.

    With 30 to go, Busch had made his way up to the eighth position, passing teammate Harrison Burton off Turn 2. The distance between Briscoe and Allgaier would dissipate as the No. 7 closed in.

    Hemric would try and pass Gragson on the outside, but his teammate would push up the track, allowing Annett to take both spots. Hemric later would overtake the No. 1 to take third back.

    The lead would swap as Allgaier would pass Briscoe off Turn 2. Then, Briscoe would pull the crossover and when the two were side by side into Turns 1 and 2, Allgaier would slap the wall.

    A caution would fly with 15 laps to go when Annett’s No. 1 would go for a spin. Annett was trying to get around Joe Nemechek’s No. 47 in Turn 3 while battling Hemric. The No. 1 would get loose and spin on the apron, bunching the field back together.

    Briscoe would have a better stop than Allgaier and the No. 98 would become the race leader. Busch would gain multiple spots in pit lane, putting the M&M’s Toyota in the third position. Briscoe and Allgaier would the field down with 10 laps to go. The two would make contact but Briscoe would hold his ground. Busch would then pounce on the No. 7, taking over the runner up spot.

    However, the fun was not over.

    Coming to the white flag, Briscoe hit the Turn 4 wall and Busch pounced on the inside. The two would go side by side into Turn 1 and Briscoe would keep his foot in it, holding the lead as both of them rubbed fenders.

    Into Turn 3 Busch would have one final look to the inside and they were side by side momentarily before the No. 98 edged out Busch to take the checkered flag.

    Race results:

    1. Chase Briscoe
    2. Kyle Busch – Stage 2 Winner
    3. Justin Allgaier
    4. Austin Cindric
    5. Noah Gragson – Stage 1 Winner
    6. Daniel Hemric
    7. Ryan Sieg
    8. Ross Chastain
    9. Harrison Burton
    10. Justin Haley
    11. Brett Moffitt
    12. Jeremy Clements
    13. Brandon Brown
    14. Anthony Alfredo
    15. BJ McLeod
    16. Josh Williams
    17. Alex Labbe
    18. Riley Herbst
    19. Joe Graf Jr
    20. Brandon Jones
    21. Ray Black Jr.
    22. Timmy Hill
    23. Jeffrey Earnhardt
    24. Chad Finchum
    25. Michael Annett – one lap down
    26. Tommy Joe Martins – one lap down
    27. Colby Howard – one lap down
    28. Joe Nemechek – one lap down
    29. Vinnie Miller – two laps down
    30. Mason Massey – four laps down
    31. Ronnie Bassett Jr. – four laps down
    32. Kody Vanderwal – five laps down
    33. Bayley Currey – five laps down
    34. Matt Mills – 12 laps down
    35. Myatt Snider – 18 laps down
    36. Jesse Little – OUT
    37. Colin Garrett – 36 laps down
    38. Landon Cassill – OUT
    39. Stephen Leicht – OUT
  • NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings- Phoenix I

    NASCAR Xfinity Series Power Rankings- Phoenix I

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

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

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

      Previous Week Ranking – Fifth

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

      Previous Week Ranking – First

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

      Previous Week Ranking – Third

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

      Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked

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

      Previous Week Ranking – Second

    Fell Out 

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

    Previous Week Ranking – Fourth

  • Chase Briscoe wins postponed Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas

    Chase Briscoe wins postponed Xfinity Series race at Las Vegas

    Chase Briscoe led 89 laps in his No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford to clinch the Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday night. The race, originally scheduled for Saturday, was postponed to Sunday evening after only 50 laps were completed due to inclement weather.

    Briscoe won Stage 1 of the race Saturday but had had to wait until Sunday to seal the deal. It was a decisive win with Briscoe leading at the line by 2.874 seconds. It was his third career win in 52 Xfinity starts and his second top-five this season.

    Briscoe said that getting a race win early in the season would provide extra motivation for the team going forward.

    “Yeah, it’s so early, but definitely it’s nice to get a win early. I think obviously we were hoping that we could get a win at some point in the year, we expected to, but to get it before Phoenix is definitely nice just because we can go there and kind of try some stuff because I feel like that’s one place I need to get way better at. 

    “That being said, it’s nice to take the point lead. It doesn’t mean as much this early in the season like you said, but it’s a good confidence-booster for all the guys and it goes a long way when you’re that first garage stall with your guys and their work ethic and everything else. We knew that we could go win races, but to get one this early in the year I think it’ll go a long way, especially on this west coast swing. It’s hard to stay motivated and for us to win the first one that definitely goes a long way.”

    Austin Cindric led 39 laps and finished second in the Team Penske No. 22 Ford for his first top-five of the year.

    “It was definitely a track position sensitive race after the sun went down,” he said. “We knew it was gonna tighten up and tried to adjust for it on the final stop and didn’t get quite enough, and then obviously lost a little track position. I tried to hang it wide-open on Chase’s door, but track position is pretty important and then just fell off too tight following him there. It was pretty bottom dominant. It was really weird the track didn’t take any rubber today even in the Cup race. That was different than what I expected, but overall a great day for our MoneyLion Ford Mustang and we’ll try again next week at Fontana.”

    Ryan Sieg placed third in the No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet. JR Motorsports’ Noah Gragson overcame a penalty for speeding on pit road that sent him to the back of the field, to finish fourth in the No. 9 Chevrolet for his second top-five this season. Harrison Burton captured fifth place in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and was the highest-finishing rookie.

    Brandon Jones, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier (Stage 2 winner), Riley Herbst and Ross Chastain rounded out the top 10 at Las Vegas.

    Chase Briscoe is the series points leader by seven points over Noah Gragson.

    Next week the Xfinity Series travels to Auto Club Speedway for the Production Alliance Group 300.

    Official Results:

    1. Chase Briscoe
    2. Austin Cindric
    3. Ryan Sieg
    4. Noah Gragson
    5. Harrison Burton
    6. Brandon Jones
    7. Michael Annett
    8. Justin Allgaier
    9. Riley Herbst
    10. Ross Chastain
    11. Brandon Brown
    12. Justin Haley
    13. Josh Williams
    14. Jesse Little
    15. Brett Moffitt
    16. Myatt Snider
    17. Ray Black II
    18. Alex Labbe
    19. Joey Gase
    20. Joe Graf Jr.
    21. Chad Finchum
    22. JJ Yeley
    23. Robby Lyons II
    24. David Starr
    25. Matt Mills
    26. Timmy Hill
    27. Joe Nemechek
    28. Vinnie Miller
    29. Mason Massey
    30. Kyle Weatherman
    31. Jeremy Clements
    32. Tommy Joe Martins
    33. BJ McLeod
    34. Stephen Leicht
    35. Daniel Hemric
    36. Landon Cassill
  • Briscoe locks up 2019 Rookie of The Year

    Briscoe locks up 2019 Rookie of The Year

    The 2019 Xfinity Series season was a great season to look back on for Chase Briscoe and the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team, especially after winning Rookie of the Year honors. There were a couple of rocky starts at Daytona and Atlanta, finishing 12th and 15th, respectively. However, from Las Vegas to Dover, the team finished mainly in the top five. There were some issues later such as Charlotte in May when Briscoe finished 19th, one lap down. There were a few more including Chicago in July with a 15th place result and a DNF at Daytona.

    But the team got right back on track the following week at Kentucky with a top-five finish. Then at Iowa, Briscoe had a great car and secured his first win of the season, his first since the victory at the Charlotte Roval. With the win, he was able to lock the No. 98 Stewart-Haas Racing team into the Playoffs.

    The team started off the Playoffs at Richmond Raceway with another top-five finish. Then two weeks in a row at the Charlotte Roval and Kansas, Briscoe qualified the No. 98 on the pole. The Playoffs were looking up for the Stewart-Haas driver, however, a wreck at Texas prior to ISM Raceway hurt their chances to advance. Briscoe finished 22nd and was in a must-win situation going into the final race in the Round of 8.

    An eighth-place finish wasn’t enough to push the team for the Championship 4 and they were left to battle for a top-10 position. Even though he could not win the championship, Briscoe still had an opportunity to win the race at Homestead and he certainly had the car capable of doing so. He started fifth and won the first stage. The No. 98 team remained consistent for a finishing position of fifth for Stage 2.

    Briscoe never fell out of contention in spite of bringing out the caution on Lap 124. He bounced off the wall off Turn 1 and eventually had a flat tire. Even with the incident, new tires helped the team and in the end, he came home with a third place finish after leading 14 laps.

    “Yeah, I think if I had to read it on a 1 to 10 scale, I would say it was like a 6 1/2,” Briscoe said.  “I felt like at the beginning of the year I kind of struggled to understand what I needed in these race cars, and truthfully how to drive them and the feel I was looking for.  I just struggled to find ‑‑ the biggest thing was I couldn’t feel the right rear ever. As the season went on, we kind of switched from trying to say do what Harvick ran the year before and what Cole was running and just try to build more of a setup to what I felt better about.”

    “Iowa was really the first race that we decided to do that, and that was the race we won.  It seemed like from then on out we were a serious contender every week. Felt like the second half of the year was a lot better than the first half of the year, but we definitely ‑‑ looking back at these playoffs, especially, I felt like we could have realistically won three or four of the races, and weird stuff happens. The Kansas deal, the Roval was one where I felt like I could have ran down Allmendinger. Dover, I think we led the most laps and didn’t catch a caution, and then tonight just getting into the wall.”

    “I think the end of the year was definitely better than the first part of the year, but overall we definitely have more to improve on and I can get way better as a driver I feel like.”

    While winning Rookie of The Year may help his resume, Briscoe currently has no plans for 2020 and does not know if he will be back with Stewart-Haas Racing next year.

    “I know they’re still working on trying to find funding to make it happen, but as of right now I don’t have anything,” Briscoe added.

    “Obviously I was wanting to win the race tonight. I feel like if I did that, it would have made everything a lot easier. But I felt like we showed speed and I feel like if we do get to go back next year, I feel like we could be serious championship contenders, and hopefully, they can and we can work together and try to figure something out.  But yeah, right now they’re still working on it.”

    Briscoe finishes the 2019 season with one win, 13 top fives, 26 top-10s and 197 laps led along with an average finish of 8.2.