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Tag: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

  • JR Motorsports to attempt Cup debut with Justin Allgaier in 2025 Daytona 500

    JR Motorsports to attempt Cup debut with Justin Allgaier in 2025 Daytona 500

    JR Motorsports (JRM) will attempt to etch a new chapter to its illustrious racing legacy by fielding a NASCAR Cup Series entry for the first time on this year’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

    Justin Allgaier, the reigning Xfinity Series champion from Riverton, Illinois, who pilots the No. 7 Chevrolet Camaro entry for JRM in the Xfinity division, has been named the driver of JRM’s No. 40 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry throughout the upcoming Daytona Speedweeks as he attempts to secure the organization’s first participation in both a NASCAR’s premier series event and in the Great American Race.

    With Allgaier named the driver of JRM’s first Cup entry, Greg Ives, the 2014 Xfinity championship-winning crew chief, will work atop the pit box of the No. 40 entry that will be sponsored by Traveller Whiskey, the latter of which was created by 10-time Grammy Award-winning artist and country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton.

    The news comes as JRM is coming off its 19th consecutive campaign in the Xfinity circuit, where the organization achieved its fourth championship with Allgaier, the latter of whom notched his first championship within NASCAR’s top three national touring series in his 14th campaign in the Xfinity Series. Throughout the 2024 season, Allgaier also notched two race victories and utilized consistency throughout the Xfinity Playoffs en route to his first title. He has amassed 25 career victories through 471 current starts in the Xfinity circuit.

    To date, Allgaier has made 82 career starts in the Cup Series division. He made his first four career starts in NASCAR’s premier series in 2013 before he spent the following two seasons as a full-time Cup competitor, all of which occurred with Turner Scott Motorsports. After scaling back down to the Xfinity circuit to join JRM, beginning 2016, the Illinois native would only make a total of seven additional Cup starts in five over the next nine seasons (2016, 2020-22, 2024). His most recent Cup start was the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he piloted the No. 5 Chevrolet entry for Hendrick Motorsports as an interim competitor for Kyle Larson, the latter of whom was competing in the Indianapolis 500 and was unable to participate in the Coke 600 overall due to inclement weather.

    Should Allgaier qualify for this year’s Daytona 500, it would mark his third overall start in the Great American Race and his first since the 2015 Cup season. Currently, Allgaier’s best result in the Daytona 500 is 27th, which occurred in 2014. His best result in a Cup event is eighth, which occurred at Bristol Motor Speedway in April 2015.

    “This is an incredible honor to be driving JR Motorsports’ inaugural entry into the Cup Series, and to do it with not only Dale and Kelley, but Chris Stapleton and Traveller Whiskey makes this even more special,” Allgaier said. “Entering into the DAYTONA 500 has been a goal of this company for a long time and I know that we are going to have everything we need to go out and contend for the win. This is going to be special for sure.”

    The news of JRM’s attempted Cup debut for the 2025 Daytona 500 also brought excitement for both Chris Stapleton and Dale Earnhardt Jr., the latter of whom is the team owner of JRM and a two-time champion of the Great American Race. Since debuting in the Xfinity division in 2005, JRM has amassed 88 career victories, including seven in 2024 and once with Earnhardt Jr. as the driver at Richmond Raceway in April 2016. The organization is set to field four full-time entries in 2025, with Allgaier and Sammy Smith along with rookies Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch scheduled to compete as full-time competitors. Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen, both of whom compete in the Cup Series for Trackhouse Racing, will also pilot a fifth JRM entry in select Xfinity events for the upcoming racing season.

    Ironically, JRM’s announcement of its attempted Cup debut comes 10 years and three days to the date, January 12, where the organization first announced its expansion from the Xfinity circuit by fielding a part-time entry in the Craftsman Truck Series division, an expansion that would result with the organization competing in the series on a full-time basis for only the 2016 season and nab a total of two victories during the 2015 season.

    “We’ve been waiting for the right moment for JR Motorsports,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “With Justin winning the Xfinity Series championship and Chris Stapleton’s undeniable star power, the planets aligned for this perfect opportunity to enter this year’s DAYTONA 500.”

    “Traveller Whiskey joining JR Motorsports for their inaugural entry into the Cup Series at the DAYTONA 500 feels like a very natural partnership,” Stapleton added. “I’m honored to be apart of this historic moment with Dale and Kelley [Earnhardt Miller], and excited to see Justin race the No. 40 Traveller Whiskey Chevrolet in Daytona.”

    JRM is an unchartered entry for this year’s Daytona 500 festivities. This means that Allgaier will have to earn a starting spot for the Great American Race. He will have to either rely on his speed during the Busch Light Pole Qualifying session on February 12 at 8:15 p.m. ET or through his result in the Daytona Duels scheduled for February 13 at 7 p.m. ET to outduel additional non-chartered entries. Both sessions will air on FS1.

    The 2025 Daytona 500 is scheduled for February 16 with a coverage time slated to commence at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

  • Top NASCAR drivers who never won a Cup Series Championship

    Top NASCAR drivers who never won a Cup Series Championship

    Many talented Cup Series drivers, despite showcasing remarkable skills and achieving numerous victories, never captured a NASCAR championship. Though the championship title eluded them, these drivers made significant contributions to NASCAR and enjoyed outstanding careers.

    Davey Allison

    Allison, the son of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison, followed in his father’s footsteps. He got his start on the local tracks in Alabama before his big break in NASCAR. In 1987, he replaced Cale Yarborough in the Ranier-Lundy Ford Thunderbird.

    During his first season, he claimed two wins, five poles, and nine top-fives and earned the title of Rookie of the Year. During his tragically shortened career, he won 19 races and 14 poles, including the Daytona 500, before his death in a helicopter accident in 1993.

    In 2018, Allison was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame

    Dale Earnhardt Jr.

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of NASCAR’s most popular and talented drivers. Throughout his career, he captured 26 wins in the Cup Series, including the 2004 and 2014 Daytona 500. He also won back-to-back Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) championships in 1998 and 1999.

    However, he never won the NASCAR Cup Series championship. This could be a result of the highly competitive drivers and teams during his tenure as a driver, including champions like Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart.

    He also experienced multiple setbacks due to injuries, including significant concussions that affected his performance and ultimately led to his retirement from full-time racing. He accomplished all of this while under the pressure of being the son of legendary driver Dale Earnhardt.

    Carl Edwards

    Carl Edwards came close to winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship multiple times. His most notable near-championship win occurred in 2011 when he finished tied on points with Tony Stewart after the season’s final race. However, Stewart won the championship due to having more wins throughout the season.

    Edwards was a strong competitor in the late 2000s, with 28 career wins, 124 top-5s, 220 top-10s, and 24 poles in 445 starts. Edwards decided to retire from full-time racing after the 2016 season. He was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023, and in 2025, he will be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    Denny Hamlin

    Hamlin has achieved 54 Cup Series wins, 234 top-fives, and 258 top-10s but has not yet won a Cup Series championship. His victories include three Daytona 500 wins (2016, 2019, 2020) and three Southern 500 wins (2010, 2017, 2021).

    “A championship will not change how I view my career and what I’ve accomplished,” Hamlin said, “It will only change, and probably not, change what others view of me.”

    “I’d love to have the accolades,” he continued, “I really would. But I certainly am not gonna get too down on it. This racing has afforded me a great life, a great retirement plan with 12XI. I love the sport and whatever the outcome is, it is. I’m certainly gonna give it my all and not regret any one thing that I’ve done.” He concluded by saying, “I know that I gave it my best effort, for sure.”

    Fred Lorenzen

    Lorenzen began his career as a mechanic for Holman Moody in 1960. But, by the end of the year, he became the lead Cup Series driver for the team. He captured 26 race wins and 32 poles throughout his career in NASCAR’s premier series, including the 1965 Daytona 500. And he accomplished this, despite never running a full season.

    He was once asked how he wanted to be remembered. He simply said, “As a good driver. If you want to be the best and be good, you’ve got to put everything else aside and go for it. Anybody can go to the top if they want to bad enough. If you want it bad enough, you’ve gotta give everything else up and go for it.”

    Mark Martin

    Martin was a consistent front-runner and fan favorite. He had 40 Cup Series wins, 453 top-10s, and 56 poles in 882 races spanning over 31 years. However, he never won the championship. Martin was runner-up in the championship standings multiple times (1990, 1994, 1998, and 2009).

    He was impressive in the Cup Series, but his Xfinity record is also outstanding. He won 49 of his 236 races with 152 top-10s and 30 poles over the 23 years. With limited races, he also captured seven wins in 25 races in the Craftsman Truck Series. Martin earned 96 wins across NASCAR’s three national series and was seventh on the all-time list. In 1998, he was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2017.

    Although these drivers may not have claimed the ultimate prize of a Cup Series championship, their achievements and impact on NASCAR have left an enduring and memorable impact on motorsports.

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcomes radio issues for top-10 run in Xfinity return at Bristol

    Dale Earnhardt Jr. overcomes radio issues for top-10 run in Xfinity return at Bristol

    Not even several rounds of adjustments to restore his radio communication issues with his team could dampen Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s bright smile and enthusiastic attitude as he capped off a wild night to his lone annual NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season with a seventh-place run at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 20.

    Earnhardt Jr., a two-time Xfinity Series champion and 15-time Most Popular Driver in the Cup Series from Kannapolis, North Carolina, rolled off the starting grid for the 2024 Food City 300 at Bristol in 13th place after he posted a qualifying lap at 119.365 mph in 16.075 seconds several hours prior to the main event.

    At the event’s start, Earnhardt Jr. was hampered by radio issues that prevented him from communicating clearly with his crew chief Andrew Overstreet and spotter T.J. Majors. During the first caution period that flew past the opening lap, he made his first pit stop in an attempt to have his radio restored. Amid his first pit stop, however, he was then penalized for speeding on pit road as he restarted towards the tail end of the 38-car field. In addition, he was still mired with radio issues and not receiving concise feedback from his No. 88 JR Motorsports team.

    For most of the event’s opening stage, Earnhardt Jr. was mired outside the top-20 mark on the track but remained on the lead lap category. Through another caution period that flew on Lap 51, he also swapped out his helmet with a new one to continue to have his radio communication with his pit crew restored. He would also receive new wiring harnesses and a fresh pair of glasses to go along with his radio adjustments. After proceeding to finish 20th at the conclusion of the first stage period, Earnhardt Jr., who had pitted during the previous caution period, remained on the track and restarted inside the top-10 mark when the second stage period commenced on Lap 95. By then, his radio communication with his crew was restored after four attempts.

    Throughout the second stage period that was mired with two caution periods, Earnhardt Jr. kept his No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro entry racing inside the top-10 mark and against a bevy of Xfinity Series regulars, future stars and fellow JR Motorsports competitors. Racing as high as fourth place, Earnhardt Jr. would settle in ninth place at the second stage’s conclusion and collect two stage points.

    Restarting in the top 10 at the start of the final stage period with 121 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr., who was beginning to have his radio communication issues returning, muscled his way up to sixth place during the event’s final restart period with 94 laps remaining. With the laps dwindling, he made several repeated launches in an attempt to overtake Ryan Truex for fifth place, but the latter withstood his ground. Despite being overtaken by teammate Brandon Jones with approximately 20 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. would muscle his car to a seventh-place result when the checkered flag flew.

    With the result, Earnhardt Jr. notched his 96th top-10 result in his 147th Xfinity Series career start, his fourth since becoming a semi-retired competitor in 2018 and his first at Bristol in the Xfinity circuit since he finished fourth during the spring Bristol race in 2011. The seventh-place result marked the eighth top-10 finish in 12 races this season for JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro team led by crew chief Andrew Overstreet. The team was also coming off its first victory of the season with newcomer Connor Zilisch winning in his series’ debut a week ago at Watkins Glen International.

    Even after his eventful night at Bristol that involved rallying from the rear of the field to notch a top-10 run, the biggest question was did Dale Earnhardt Jr. have fun in his lone Xfinity Series start of the 2024 season?

    “Yes,” Earnhardt Jr. said on CW Network. “Yes, I did.”

    “I was worried because [the race] was heading in the wrong direction there quickly,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “You do your best and we tried not to lose any laps, tried to figure out how to get it right. We finally got to where I could hear [spotter] TJ [Majors]. The balance of the car was really good.”

    During his post-race interview, Earnhardt Jr., who was greeted by Ryan Truex and rookie Shane van Gisbergen on pit road, expressed the excitement he felt while being competitive and racing both toward the front and against the current field of Xfinity Series regulars.

    “I’m thrilled [to] come out here, be competitive,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “Man, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to be competitive. I can come out here for another 20 years, but eventually, these young kids, they just get to be so good. It’s fun to be able to run with them tonight.”

    Currently, Earnhardt Jr., who is set to join TNT Sports’ broadcasting team for NASCAR coverage in 2025, is not scheduled to make any Xfinity Series starts for next season, with the Hall of Famer solidifying his decision earlier in the day to focus more with his broadcasting and JR Motorsports’ ownership commitments. While he admits that he will miss the desire to drive for next season, he did leave all options for another race return for the 2026 season on the table.

    “Maybe I’ll get back in this [No. 88 car],” Earnhardt Jr. said. “I’ll miss it and probably end up signing up for something in [2026].”

    With Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s 2024 NASCAR season as a competitor complete, his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro entry will return to action next weekend at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 with Connor Zilisch returning behind the wheel for his second Xfinity Series career start. The event is scheduled to occur next Saturday, September 28, and air at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • Custer rallies to win regular-season finale at Bristol, claim 2024 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship

    Custer rallies to win regular-season finale at Bristol, claim 2024 Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship

    In a war of attrition-type event under the lights, Cole Custer muscled his way from early adversity to claim the 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Regular Season Championship by winning the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 20.

    The reigning Xfinity Series champion from Ladera Ranch, California, led three times for a race-high 104 of 300-scheduled laps in an event where he started on the front row but had his race hit an early roadblock when he cut a tire and hit the backstretch’s outside wall that resulted with him dropping off the pace and plummeting below the leaderboard. After managing to continue and remain on the lead lap amid slight cosmetic damage, Custer carved his way back into the top-10 mark when the first stage period concluded.

    Then after leading for the first time just past the event’s halfway mark before proceeding to finish second in the second stage period amid mixed pit strategies, Custer’s charge to win the regular-season title ignited as his title rival Justin Allgaier was involved in three separate incidents that both dropped him out of race-winning contention and off of the lead lap category. Despite regaining the lead prior to the start of the final stage period before losing it to Sheldon Creed a few laps later, Custer dropped the hammer by sliding in front of Creed with a bold move from the inside lane to reassume the top spot with 91 laps remaining.

    For the remainder of the event, Custer was able to weave his way through lapped traffic and maintain a steady margin to within a second over Creed as he triumphed for the second time in the 2024 Xfinity Series season and captured the regular-season title by a narrow margin over Allgaier.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Chandler Smith notched his second Xfinity Series pole position and the fifth of his career after he posted a pole-winning lap at 121.366 mph in 15.810 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Cole Custer, who clocked in his best qualifying lap at 120.490 mph in 15.925 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Sam Mayer, Josh Williams, Parker Retzlaff and Leland Honeyman dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Stefan Parsons also dropped to the rear of the field due to an engine change to his entry. Parsons, however, was unable to roll off the starting grid with the field and was pinned multiple laps down due to the engine changes being made.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Chandler Smith muscled his No. 81 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra ahead of Cole Custer with a strong start from the outside lane and he maintained the lead while transitioning to the inside lane through the backstretch. Exiting the backstretch, however, Justin Allgaier used the outside lane to draw even with Smith and muscle ahead entering the frontstretch to lead the first lap.

    On the following lap, Custer, who was battling Anthony Alfredo for third place, hit the outside wall entering the backstretch after he cut a tire and he dropped off the pace, which drew the event’s first caution period. During the caution period, Custer pitted for repairs and fresh tires to his No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang. Another competitor who pitted was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who pitted to address a radio issue inside of his cockpit and was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    When the race restarted under green on the ninth lap, Allgaier used the outside lane to launch his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro ahead through the first two turns and proceeded to lead the following lap ahead of Chandler Smith and Anthony Alfredo. Jeffrey Earnhardt and AJ Allmendinger followed suit in front of a stacked field. By Lap 12, Chandler Smith challenged Allgaier for the lead through every turn and straightaway, but the latter was able to fend off the former through the Lap 15 mark.

    Through the first 20-scheduled laps, Allgaier was leading by two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith followed by Alfredo, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Allmendinger while rookie Jesse Love, Brandon Jones, Jeremy Clements, Sheldon Creed and Ryan Truex were scored in the top 10. Behind, Riley Herbst, Ryan Sieg, Kyle Weatherman, Austin Hill and Parker Kligerman trailed in the top 15 ahead of Joe Graf Jr., Sammy Smith, Matt DiBenedetto, Chad Finchum and Josh Bilicki while Jeb Burton, Brennan Poole, Sam Mayer, Cole Custer and Austin Green were racing in the top-25 mark. Meanwhile, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was still having radio issues, was mired back in 31st place behind rookie Shane van Gisbergen.

    Ten laps later, Allgaier, who was slowly approaching the rear end of the field, stabilized his advantage to two-tenths of a second over Chandler Smith as Alfredo, Jese Love and Jeffrey Earnhardt battled in the top five ahead of Allmendinger, Brandon Jones, Creed, Ryan Truex and Clements.

    Another 10 laps later, Allgaier slightly grew his lead to half a second over Chandler Smith while third-place Alfredo trailed by two seconds. With Love fending off Jeffrey Earnhardt for fourth place, Allgaier, who lapped van Gisbergen, extended his advantage to a second over Smith by Lap 45 while Allmendinger was trying to fend off Creed for sixth place.

    At the Lap 50 mark, Allgaier continued to lead by more than a second over Chandler Smith as Alfredo, Love and Jeffrey Earnhardt remained in the top-five mark. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was in 24th place and trying to remain ahead of his driver and leader Allgaier on the lead lap category.

    A lap later, the event’s second caution flew when Austin Green slapped the outside wall in Turn 2 and barely clipped Allgaier, who was lapping Green. The contact caused Allgaier’s rear bumper to come loose as Green, whose damaged car continued to steer down the track, made contact with Parker Retzlaff as both spun and wrecked against the inside wall.

    During the caution period, Earnhardt Jr. made another trip to pit road to change his helmet as part of his effort to have his radio communication with his team restored. Soon after, select names led by Allgaier, who pitted to have his rear bumper removed, pitted while the rest led by Chandler Smith remained on the track. Among those who pitted included teammate Brandon Jones, Sammy Smith, Sam Mayer, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Bilicki, Jeb Burton and the Sieg brothers of Ryan and Kyle.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 65 featured Chandler Smith rocketing ahead with the lead from the outside lane, where he led the following lap, while Love overtook Alfredo for second place. In addition, Allmendinger was battling Alfredo for third place in front of Creed. By then, Earnhardt Jr., who remained on the lead lap despite having to pit again to have his wire harness changed as part of his radio communication with his team restored, was mired within the top-30 mark on the track while Allgaier, who was racing without a rear bumper, was marching his way towards the top-20 mark.

    By Lap 75, Chandler Smith stretched his advantage to more than a second over Love while Allmendinger, Creed and Alfredo were scored in the top five ahead of Clements, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ryan Truex and Joe Graf Jr. Smith would then add another second to his advantage by the Lap 80 mark.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 85, Chandler Smith thundered his way to his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Love settled in second ahead of Creed, Allmendinger and Alfredo while Clements, Custer, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Truex and Graf were scored in the top 10, with Ryan Sieg settling in 11th place. By then, Allgaier muscled his way up to 18th place behind Kligerman, Mayer and Sammy Smith while Earnhardt Jr., who had his radio communication with his team restored after four attempts and despite making earlier contact with Leland Honeyman, managed to drive up to 20th place.

    Under the stage break, a majority of the front-runners led by Chandler Smith pitted while the rest led by Ryan Sieg and including Brandon Jones, Mayer, Sammy Smith, Allgaier, Earnhardt Jr., Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, Josh Bilicki and Sheldon Creed remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Kligerman was penalized for equipment interference. In addition, Kyle Weatherman was penalized for a safety violation while Graf was penalized for speeding on pit road.

    The second stage period started on Lap 95 as Ryan Sieg and Brandon Jones occupied the front row. At the start, Mayer launched a three-wide battle on both Sieg and Jones for the lead through the first two turns before Mayer launched his No. 1 Carolina Carports Chevrolet Camaro ahead and assumed the lead, where he led the following lap. As the field behind fanned out and scrambled for positions, Mayer proceeded to lead the Lap 100 mark while Sieg and Allgaier battled for second place in front of Jones, Jeb Burton and Earnhardt Jr., with Creed, Custer, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith trailing in the top 10.

    Through the Lap 110 mark, Mayer extended his lead to eight-tenths of a second over teammate Allgaier while teammate Jones trailed by more than a second. Behind, Ryan Sieg retained fourth place ahead of Custer, Creed, Chandler Smith and Riley Herbst while Earnhardt Jr., who was battling Sieg for fourth place a few laps later, had dropped to ninth place ahead of Love. By then, DiBenedetto pitted under green after he briefly fell off the pace due to losing power.

    Ten laps later, the caution flew due to Kligerman spinning his No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet Camaro from the inside lane and back across the middle of the track and towards the outside wall, starting from the backstretch to Turn 2, as he managed to continue without sustaining any significant damage to his entry.

    As the event restarted under green on Lap 126, Mayer rocketed ahead of teammate Jones from the outside lane as he brought teammate Allgaier, Custer and Creed with him while Jones, who struggled to launch from the inside, was trying to remain in the top-five mark. Mayer would proceed to lead the following lap as the field behind jostled for spots. With Mayer proceeding to lead up to the Lap 130 mark, Custer challenged Allgaier for second place while Chandler Smith overtook Jones for fifth place. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was up to eighth place in front of Ryan Sieg and Love while Sammy Smith was mired in 14th place.

    Just past the Lap 140 mark, Mayer extended his advantage to more than two seconds over a fierce battle between Custer and Allgaier for the runner-up spot as Creed fended off teammate Chandler Smith for fourth place. Custer would then proceed to challenge Mayer for the lead towards the Lap 145 mark while Creed tried to close in from third place.

    At the halfway mark on Lap 150, Mayer retained the lead by a narrow margin over Custer, who managed to draw even and assume the lead for himself during the following lap as Creed tried to challenge Mayer for the runner-up spot. Creed then made contact with Mayer through Turn 1 on Lap 152 before he turned left and made contact with Allgaier, sending the latter for a spin through the backstretch. Allgaier would then hit the inside wall head-on before he slid back across the racetrack and managed to continue without getting hit by the field.

    During the caution period, a majority of the leaders led by Custer pitted while the rest led by Clements remained on the track. Amid the pit stops, Allgaier, who pitted to have his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro repaired, was penalized for dragging a saw block out of his pit box and on the track, which caused sparks to flame out of the front of Allgaier’s entry as he was dragging the tool towards his front splitter.

    With the race restarting with nine laps remaining in the second stage period, where Clements and Sammy Smith occupied the front row, Clements fended off both Sammy Smith and Kligerman to retain the lead as he led the following lap. With Kligerman trying to challenge Clements for the lead, Jones carved his way to third place ahead of Creed and Custer, who hit the wall for a second time, while the field behind scrambled and jostled for spots between competitors who pitted and those who remained on the track. Amid the on-track chaos, Clements maintained the lead ahead of a side-by-side battle involving Kligerman and Jones with five laps remaining.

    When the second stage period concluded on Lap 170, Clements notched his first Xfinity stage victory of the 2024 season. Custer carved his way to second ahead of Truex, Creed and Chandler Smith while Love, Herbst, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr. and Kligerman, who hit the wall amid contact with Custer a few laps earlier, were scored in the top 10. Despite recording a single point during the event’s two stage periods, Kligerman was able to officially secure his spot into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs based on points. By then, Ryan Sieg was mired in 12th place and running seven spots ahead of Sammy Smith while Allgaier, who was pinned a lap down, was down in 30th place.

    During the stage break, select names including the leader Clements, Kligerman, Allmendinger, Sammy Smith and Allgaier pitted while the rest led by Custer remained on the track.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Custer and Creed occupied the front row. At the start, Custer rocketed away from both Creed and Truex and he proceeded to lead the following lap in front of a stacked field. Creed then overtook Custer for the lead during the next lap period as the latter was battling handling issues while Chandler Smith and Love trailed in the top five. With Herbst, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg and Jones battling within the top 10, Creed proceeded to lead with 115 laps remaining.

    Then with 101 laps remaining, the caution returned due to Allgaier, who was three laps down, spinning his damaged car in Turn 2 and blowing a right-rear tire as he kept his car from spinning back above the track and towards oncoming traffic. At the moment of caution, Creed had maintained a narrow lead over a hard-charging Custer, who was within striking distance of toppling Allgaier atop the regular-season standings, while Chandler Smith, Love, Truex and Mayer were scored in the top six, with Earnhardt Jr. up to seventh place despite having his radio communication issues returning. During the caution period, select names including Herbst, Josh Williams and Kyle Weatherman pitted while the rest led by Creed remained on the track.

    The start of the next restart period with 94 laps remaining featured teammates Creed and Chandler Smith occupying the front row as Creed, who restarted on the outside lane, managed to fend off teammate Smith and lead the following lap while muscling ahead. Custer then battled and slid in front of Creed’s No. 18 Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Toyota Supra to move back into the lead with 91 laps remaining as he had the preferred outside lane while Creed followed suit in second ahead of Chandler Smith, Love and Truex. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr., who made slight contact with Truex, occupied sixth place as Jones, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill were trailing in the top 10 while Sammy Smith was back in 16th place.

    Down to the final 80 laps of the event, Custer stretched his advantage to eight-tenths of a second over Creed while Chandler Smith, Love and Truex continued to run in the top five. Behind, Earnhardt Jr. was still trying to challenge Truex for fifth place along with Jones as Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill remained in the top 10. Meanwhile, Sammy Smith gained two spots and was up to 14th place as Custer continued to stretch his lead to a second-and-a-half over Creed with 70 laps remaining.

    With 60 laps remaining, Custer, who was mired in lapped traffic, had his advantage slightly decrease to eight-tenths of a second over Creed as Chandler Smith, Love and Truex continued to follow suit in the top five. With Earnhardt Jr., Jones, Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Hill retaining their respective spots in the top 10, Allmendinger, Clements, Sammy Smith, Kligerman, Alfredo and Herbst followed suit in the top 16 while Brennan Poole, Graf, van Gisbergen and Josh Bilicki were mired in the top 20.

    Ten laps later and with the front-runners mired in lapped traffic, Custer stretched his advantage back up to a second over Creed and Chandler Smith while Love and Truex trailed by as far back as three seconds in the top five. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. retained sixth place in his No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of teammates Jones and Mayer while Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger were in the top 10. By then, Sammy Smith remained in 13th place while Allgaier was scored eight laps down in 30th place.

    Another 15 laps later, Custer, who continued to weave his way through lapped traffic, continued to lead by more than a second over Creed while Chandler Smith and Love remained in third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Truex was fending off repeated challenges from Earnhardt Jr. for fifth place as Jones also tried to navigate his way past both while Mayer, Ryan Sieg, Allmendinger, Clements, Hill and Sammy Smith followed suit in the top 13.

    Down to the final 20 laps of the event, Custer, who was currently scored atop the regular-season standings by a narrow margin over Allgaier and had made contact with Graf while trying to lap him, retained the lead by within a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith while fourth-place Love trailed by three seconds. Behind, Truex, racing in his No. 20 Toyota Genuine Parts Supra, was being pressured by Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro for fifth place while Earnhardt Jr. dropped to seventh place ahead of Mayer, Ryan Sieg and Allmendinger as Sammy Smith was back in 15th place ahead of Kligerman.

    With 10 laps remaining, Custer, who lapped 18th-place van Gisbergen a few laps earlier before van Gisbergen made light contact with Custer to express his displeasure over receiving a bump from Custer while being lapped, stabilized his lead to a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith as Love and Truex remained in the top five ahead of Jones, Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg, Mayer and Allmendinger.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Custer kept leading in his No. 00 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang by a second as Chandler Smith started to challenge teammate Creed for the runner-up spot through every corner and straightaway. In the process, Creed retained the spot by a narrow margin while Love retained fourth place by two seconds over both Truex and Jones as Earnhardt Jr. trailed by another two seconds.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Custer remained as the leader by more than a second over both Creed and Chandler Smith. With the latter two unable to narrow the deficit amid their late battle on one another, Custer was able to smoothly navigate his way around Bristol for a final time before he cycled back to the frontstretch and claimed the checkered flag for both his second Xfinity victory of the 2024 season and to capture the regular-season championship by three points over Allgaier, who capped off his long night in 30th place.

    With the victory, Custer notched his 15th career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, his first at Bristol Motor Speedway and his first race victory since he won at Pocono Raceway in July. The victory was also the third of the season overall for both the Ford nameplate and Stewart-Haas Racing.

    As an added bonus, Custer, who came into the regular-season finale at Bristol trailing Justin Allgaier in the regular-season standings by 43 points but took advantage of Allgaier’s triple misfortunes, became the seventh competitor overall to win a regular-season championship in the Xfinity circuit and the first Ford competitor to do so since Austin Cindric made the last accomplishment in 2020. With the title and the bonus points, Custer will commence the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs to defend his series title before moving back up to the Cup Series with Haas Factory Team in 2025.

    “Man, it’s unbelievable,” Custer said on the frontstretch on the CW Network. “Just a testament to these [No. 00] guys. A really hard month, but everybody at the shop really kept their heads in it. All the guys did such a great job. Unbelievable car all night. Ready to get to the Playoffs. It’s huge, huge to get this momentum because our confidence was going down this last month. To get this win really means a lot.”

    Behind Custer, Sheldon Creed fended off teammate Chandler Smith to claim his record-setting 13th runner-up result in the Xfinity Series while rookie Jesse Love and Ryan Truex finished in the top five.

    Meanwhile, Brandon Jones, who missed the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs, came home in sixth place while team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. battled through adversity from his radio communication issues to finish seventh in his 147th career start in the Xfinity Series. Ryan Sieg, Sam Mayer and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 on the track.

    Sieg’s eighth-place result was not enough for the Tucker, Georgia, native to launch himself back into the top-12 mark in the regular-season standings as Sammy Smith claimed the 12th and final berth into the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs with a 15th-place result at Bristol.

    “It’s been a real grind the last couple of months, just kind of struggled here and there,” Smith said. “We’ve hit it a couple of times, but that was one of those nights again. Just really struggled and I just feel like we got to dig deep and figure something out. It’s cool to make the Playoffs. We just got to keep getting better.”

    “There were a few races where we led some points slip,” Sieg said. “All in all, a great year. Nothing to hang our heads on. We still got some races to go win and that’s the goal. That was our goal this year. We’ve been in shots to do it. Just got to execute everything.”

    Sammy Smith along with race winner Cole Custer join Justin Allgaier, AJ Allmendinger, Austin Hill, Sam Mayer, Parker Kligerman, Chandler Smith, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst along with rookies Jesse Love and Shane van Gisbergen as the 12 competitors who have qualified for the 2024 Xfinity Series Playoffs. All 12 competitors will now embark on a seven-race Playoff stretch for this year’s championship.

    There were 11 lead changes for nine different leaders. The race featured seven cautions for 57 laps. In addition, 16 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Cole Custer, 104 laps led

    2. Sheldon Creed, 28 laps led

    3. Chandler Smith, 29 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    4. Jesse Love, one lap led

    5. Ryan Truex

    6. Brandon Jones

    7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., one lap led

    8. Ryan Sieg, five laps led

    9. Sam Mayer, 55 laps led

    10. AJ Allmendinger

    11. Anthony Alfredo

    12. Jeremy Clements, 17 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    13. Riley Herbst

    14. Austin Hill

    15. Sammy Smith

    16. Parker Kligerman

    17. Brennan Poole, one lap down

    18. Shane van Gisbergen, one lap down

    19. Joe Graf Jr., one lap down

    20. Josh Bilicki, one lap down

    21. Josh Williams, one lap down

    22. Blaine Perkins, one lap down

    23. Kyle Sieg, one lap down

    24. Ryan Ellis, one lap down

    25. Jeb Burton, one lap down

    26. Kyle Weatherman, two laps down

    27. Logan Bearden, two laps down

    28. Carson Ware, five laps down

    29. Greg Van Alst, eight laps down

    30. Justin Allgaier, 10 laps down, 60 laps led

    31. Leland Honeyman, 10 laps down

    32. Chad Finchum, 20 laps down

    33. Stefan Parsons, 24 laps down

    34. Matt DiBenedetto, 25 laps down

    35. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Accident

    36. Garrett Smithley – OUT, Rear Gear

    37. Parker Retzlaff – OUT, Accident

    38. Austin Green – OUT, Accident

    The 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs are set to commence next Saturday, September 28, at Kansas Speedway for the Kansas Lottery 300 and the Round of 12 opener. The event’s broadcast time is slated to occur at 4 p.m. ET on the CW Network.

  • The Daytona 500 is more than just a race

    The Daytona 500 is more than just a race

    I always smile when one of those ESPN “More than a game” commercials dances across my television screen. The idea that sports mean so much more than the crack of a bat or kick of a ball is not exclusive to me, but you’ll find no bigger proponent of this theory and it all harkens back to a February night in 2014.

    The catalyst for this extraordinary moment in my young life is, unfortunately, a sad one. Twelve days before the running of the 2014 Daytona 500, my grandmother passed away. A Proverbs 31 woman through and through, we all grieved, though being just shy of 8 years old at the time, I’m not sure I understood what grief was or exactly how to process it. Regardless of my family’s situation, though, there I was, parked in front of my television on February 23, 2014, ready to kick off the new NASCAR season along with millions of other fans. A diehard Dale Jr. fan, I knew how good he always was at the superspeedways, and I waited with my fellow fans as the race endured an excruciating rain delay.

    With school out the next day in observance of Presidents’ Day, my mom graciously allowed me to stay up into the wee hours of the morning to watch Dale Earnhardt Jr. take the checkered flag in front of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin.

    I think I can confidently say that I am more “into” my faith now than I have ever been, but no spiritual or religious moment for me will ever compare to that special feeling as I watched Dale Jr.’s Chevy, with a piece of trash stuck to the grill, cross the line first. In a time of grief for myself and my family, my favorite driver had brought healing. I could’ve sworn my grandmother was in the passenger seat of Jr.’s car in those final few laps, somehow keeping his temperature gauges from spiking with a piece of plastic stuck to the car, willing him to victory as a seven-year-old kid in Arkansas went absolutely bonkers. If Bill France had a special relationship with The Man Upstairs, he would have allowed my grandmother into the Daytona 500 pew, helping her guide Jr. to Victory Lane. It was the first win for Jr. since I became both a fan of NASCAR and Jr. himself in 2013, making it even more special.

    Whenever people ask me why I sit in front of a microphone or document and devote so much time to covering this sport, I always tell them that my goal is to give back, in whatever way possible, to a sport that has given me so much more than I could’ve ever imagined. Entertainment, sure, but it’s also helped me get jobs, meet incredible people, and given me a goal to reach for as I look to college and beyond. Without this insane, wonderful, mess of a sport, I simply wouldn’t be who I am.

    On February 19, I will walk through those hallowed Daytona gates as a fan for the first time, nearly a decade after Dale Jr.’s 2014 triumph, and I don’t doubt that my grandmother will be on my shoulder as I walk to my seat, which may as well be a seat in Heaven next to Bill France. If you see me walking through the concourse on Monday, I’ll likely have some tears leaking out of my eyes, which will finally be seeing one of my favorite places in the world in the flesh.

    We all have our reasons for watching common men do uncommon things for 38 weeks out of the year, but no matter what yours is, just remember; it’s always more than just a race.

  • Mayer clinches Championship 4 berth with late Xfinity victory at Homestead

    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.

  • Allgaier fends off Hemric to win Xfinity Playoff opener at Bristol

    Allgaier fends off Hemric to win Xfinity Playoff opener at Bristol

    Justin Allgaier commenced the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs in dramatic fashion by dominating and making a late charge back to the front amid a late pit stop for four fresh tires to outduel Daniel Hemric amid a late battle and win the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 15.

    The 37-year-old Allgaier from Riverton, Illinois, led three times for a race-high 110 of 300-scheduled laps in an event where he started 10th and battled up towards the front as he collected stage points during both stage break periods, all while leading for the first time in Lap 109. Amid late on-track chaos, Allgaier and crew chief Jim Pohlman rolled the dice by surrendering the lead and pitting for fresh tires during a late caution period with 50 laps remaining. Restarting within the top 15 during the final restart with 44 laps remaining, Allgaier methodically carved his way back to the front before engaging in a fierce battle with Daniel Hemric for the lead with 20 laps remaining. Allgaier then succeeded in reassuming the top spot from Hemric following a bold pass with 12 laps remaining and managed to pull away to win for the third time in the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season and become the first Xfinity Playoff contender to transfer from the Round of 12 to 8.

    With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Friday, Playoff contender Cole Custer claimed pole position after posting a pole-winning lap at 122.341 mph in 15.684 seconds. Joining him on the front row was Josh Berry, who posted the second-best qualifying lap at 122.123 mph in 15.712 seconds.

    Prior to the event, the following names that included Derek Kraus, Anthony Alfredo and Riley Herbst dropped to the rear of the field due to unapproved adjustments made to their respective entries. Jeb Burton also dropped to the rear of the field in a backup car after wrecking his primary car during Friday’s practice session.

    When the green flag waved and the race started, Custer rocketed ahead as he then transitioned his No. 00 Mobil 1 Ford Mustang from the outside lane to the inside lane to retain the lead through the first two turns. Behind, rookie Chandler Smith made his way into second over Berry followed by John Hunter Nemechek as Daniel Hemric and rookie Sammy Smith followed suit. As the field jostled for early positions amid two lanes, Custer proceeded to lead the first lap.

    Through the second to fifth lap, the field running in the middle of the pack fanned out to as high as three lanes while most of the front-runners ran in a single file line behind the leader Custer. In the process, Berry, who nearly got loose while battling Nemechek for third place through Turn 2, slowly began to lose spots as he dropped out of the top five due to being stuck on the outside lane. Berry’s misfortunes allowed Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Brandon Jones to move into the top five behind Custer and Chandler Smith.

    Through the first 10 scheduled laps, Custer was leading by more than a second over Chandler Smith followed by Nemechek, Sammy Smith and Justin Allgaier while Brandon Jones, Berry, Daniel Hemric, Trevor Bayne and Ryan Sieg were in the top 10. By then, Playoff newcomer Parker Kligerman was in 11th ahead of Sam Mayer, Jeremy Clements, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and rookie Parker Retzlaff while Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill were mired in 19th and 20th. Meanwhile, Jeb Burton was mired back in 31st.

    Ten laps later, Custer continued to lead by two seconds over Nemechek followed by Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith and Allgaier. Behind, Berry lost a spot to eighth place over Brandon Jones and Bayne while Kligerman cracked the top 10 as he was in 10th ahead of Mayer and Hemric. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. was in 13th while teammates Creed and Hill were still mired in 18th and 19th, respectively. In the process, Burton gained three spots to 28th as Custer’s lead decreased to a second over Nemechek by Lap 25.

    At the Lap 35 mark, Custer stabilized his lead by a second over Nemechek while Allgaier, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith continued to run in the top five. Behind, Brandon Jones, Bayne, Berry, Ryan Sieg and Mayer completed the top 10 while Kligerman, Hemric, Earnhardt Jr., Jeffrey Earnhardt and Retzlaff trailed in the top 15. Meanwhile, Hill and Creed were in 17th and 18th while Jeb Burton was in 25th. Custer’s lead would increase again to more than two seconds over Nemechek at the Lap 40 mark.

    By Lap 50, Custer’s advantage stabilized to more than two seconds over the new runner-up competitor, Allgaier, while Nemechek fell back to third in front of Jones and Sammy Smith. By then, Playoff contenders Chandler Smith, Mayer and Kligerman were in the top 10 while Berry and Hemric trailed in 11th and 12th in front of Earnhardt Jr. In addition, Hill was in 16th, teammate Creed trailed in 19th and Burton, who would lose a lap to the leaders, was in 23rd.

    Fifteen laps later, Custer extended his lead by nearly three seconds over Allgaier while Nemechek, Jones and Sammy Smith were scored in the top five. With Bayne, Chandler Smith, Mayer, Kligerman and Ryan Sieg running in the top 10, Earnhardt Jr. moved up to 11th in front of Hemric, Berry, Retzlaff and Riley Herbst. Custer would proceed to stretch his advantage to more than two seconds over Allgaier just past the Lap 75 mark.

    When the first stage period concluded on Lap 85, Custer claimed his sixth Xfinity stage victory of the 2023 season. Allgaier settled in second as he trailed by more than a second while Brandon Jones, Nemechek, Bayne, Chandler Smith, Kligerman, Mayer, Earnhardt Jr. and Sammy Smith were scored in the top 10. By then, Playoff contenders Hemric, Hill, Berry, Creed and Burton were mired within the top 20 on the track, but they did not claim the first round of stage points. In addition, 16 of 38 starters were scored on the lead lap.

    Under the stage break, the lead lap field led by Custer pitted for service. Following the pit stops, Custer retained the lead after exiting first while Allgaier, Jones, Nemechek, Earnhardt Jr. and Bayne followed suit.

    The second stage started on Lap 95 as Custer and Allgaier occupied the front row. At the start, Custer rocketed ahead and retained the lead from the outside lane while Jones and Allgaier battled for second through Turns 1 and 2. Then in Turn 3, Allgaier nearly got loose after battling dead even and making slight contact with Jones. Their contact allowed Earnhardt Jr. to close in from fourth before Jones would succeed and clear Allgaier for the runner-up spot. Amid the battles, Custer proceeded to lead by the Lap 100 mark as Nemechek settled in fifth.

    Not long after, the battle for the lead intensified between Custer and Allgaier, who reclaimed the runner-up spot from teammate Jones during Lap 101 before using the inside lane to gain ground on Custer. After a brief dueling match, Allgaier gained the lead from the inside lane by Lap 109. With Allgaier leading, Custer, who remained on the outside lane, retained second in front of Earnhardt Jr. Behind, Jones, who had a small tire rub towards the left-rear fender of his No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro, was in fourth in front of Nemechek while Sammy Smith, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Bayne and Mayer were in the top 10 by Lap 115.

    At the Lap 125 mark, Allgaier was leading by a second over Custer while Earnhardt Jr., Jones and Nemechek continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Sammy Smith was in sixth ahead of Herbst, Bayne, Chandler Smith and Mayer while Hill, Kligerman, Hemric, Berry, Jeb Burton and Creed were in 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 18th and 21st, respectively. Allgaier would continue to lead by more than a second over Custer by Lap 135. By then, Jones regained third place from Earnhardt Jr. while Nemechek retained fifth in front of teammate Sammy Smith.

    On Lap 146, the caution flew when Joe Graf Jr. got bumped by Connor Mosack before he spun exiting the frontstretch and through Turn 1 as he nearly collected Custer, Jones and Earnhardt Jr. while spinning towards the Turn 1 outside wall before he spun below the apron and proceeded. The incident occurred laps later after Playoff contender Kligerman took his No. 48 Spiked Light Coolers Chevrolet Camaro to the garage due to a wheel bearing issue.

    During the caution period, a bevy of names that included Jones, Earnhardt Jr., Bayne, Herbst, Mayer, Chandler Smith, Hemric and Berry pitted while the rest led by Allgaier remained on the track.

    When the race restarted on Lap 153, Allgaier fended off Nemechek to retain the lead as the field jostled for positions. Seven laps into the restart, Allgaier was leading by a tenth of a second over Custer followed by Hill, Bayne and Earnhardt Jr. while Nemechek was battling Hemric for sixth place. By then, Jones was in ninth ahead of Herbst while Berry was in 11th and Sammy Smith was back in 15th.

    Then on Lap 166, the caution flew when Berry, who was battling teammate Mayer in the top 10, raced up the track in Turn 1 and clipped Mayer’s No. 1 Huck’s Market Chevrolet Camaro, with the ensuing contact resulting with Mayer spinning and slapping the outside wall while Berry got hit and collided into the outside wall by teammate Jones, thus knocking out three JR Motorsports competitors from contention and hindering Mayer and Berry’s start to the Playoffs, as Ryan Sieg also spun and collided into Jones’ No. 9 Menards Chevrolet Camaro from the carnage. The caution for the multi-car wreck was enough to conclude the second stage period scheduled to conclude on Lap 170 under caution as Allgaier claimed his ninth Xfinity stage victory of 2023. Custer settled in second followed by Hill, Earnhardt Jr. and Bayne while Nemechek, Hemric, Herbst, Chandler Smith and Jeffrey Earnhardt were scored in the top 10.

    During the stage break, various pit strategies ensued as Earnhardt Jr., Bayne, Chandler Smith, Parker Retzlaff and Herbst remained on the track while the rest led by Allgaier and Custer pitted.

    With 121 laps remaining, the final stage commenced as Earnhardt Jr. and Chandler Smith occupied the front row. At the start, Earnhardt Jr. and Chandler Smith dueled for the lead for a full lap until Earnhardt Jr. rocketed his No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro ahead of Smith and clear of the field with both lanes to his control. With Earnhardt Jr. leading, Bayne moved his No. 19 He Gets Us Toyota Supra into second as Allgaier would follow suit a few laps later. The caution, however, would return with 116 laps remaining after Jeremy Clements and Joe Graf Jr. wrecked in Turn 1. Following the incident, Jeb Burton ran into the side of Jeffery Earnhardt to express his displeasure over being put into the wall by Earnhardt prior to the caution period.

    During the ensuing restart with 110 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. retained lead and moved from the outside to the inside lane to fend off teammate Allgaier. By then, Bayne trailed closely along with Herbst, Chandler Smith and Nemechek as Earnhardt Jr. continued to lead.

    With 100 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. was leading by a second over Bayne followed by Allgaier, Custer and Nemechek while Herbst, Hill, Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith and Chandler Smith were in the top 10. By then, Creed and Hemric were mired in the top 15.

    Fifteen laps later, Earnhardt Jr. continued to lead by more than a second over Custer while Allgaier, Nemechek and Bayne trailed in the top five ahead of Ryan Sieg, Sammy Smith, Hill, Creed, Herbst, Chandler Smith, Hemric, Retzlaff, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Derek Kraus as Jeb Burton followed suit in 16th.

    Shortly after, the caution flew when Creed slid up the track and made contact with teammate Hill entering the frontstretch as Hill, the 2023 Xfinity regular-season champion, spun and hit the inside wall. The damage to the No. 21 Bennett Transportation Chevrolet Camaro was enough to terminate Hill’s run late in the event. During the caution period, a majority of the field led by Earnhardt pitted while Allgaier, Ryan Sieg, Hemric, Jeffrey Earnhardt and Jeb Burton remained on the track.

    With the race restarting under green with 76 laps remaining, Allgaier and Hemric dueled for the lead until Allgaier pulled ahead through Turn 2 as Ryan Sieg closed in while in third place. Behind and in the ensuing laps, Earnhardt Jr. overtook Jeb Burton for fourth as Nemechek and Custer followed suit.

    With 60 laps remaining, Allgaier retained the lead by two-tenths of a second over Hemric while Earnhardt Jr., Ryan Sieg and Nemechek were in the top five. Behind, Custer was in sixth ahead of Chandler Smith, Sammy Smith, Bayne and Herbst while Creed was back in 12th ahead of Jeb Burton.

    Following another caution period eight laps later after Josh Bilicki got sideways off the front nose of Rajah Caruth and wrecked on the frontstretch, select names that included Allgaier, Jeb Burton and Retzlaff pitted while rest led by Hemric remained on the track.

    With the race restarting with 44 laps remaining, Hemric fended off Nemechek to lead from outside lead while Custer and Earnhardt Jr. battled for third. Though Nemechek led Lap 257 by a hair, Hemric regained momentum from the outside lane to reassume the lead in his No. 10 Cirkul Chevrolet Camaro. As Hemric worked to retain lead from Nemechek, Earnhardt Jr. trailed closely in third while Custer and Chandler Smith were in fourth and fifth.

    With 30 laps remaining and amid a four-car battle for the lead, Hemric was leading by two-tenths of a second over Nemechek while Custer and Earnhardt Jr. were under seven-tenths of a second as they joined the battle. Shortly after, Earnhardt Jr. fell off the pace and pitted under green before he then parked his No. 88 Chevrolet in Nemechek’s stall as smoke and fire started to billow inside of the car. Despite his event coming to a late closure, Earnhardt Jr. was able to emerge unscathed and the race remained under green flag conditions as the safety crew put out the fire and towed Earnhardt Jr.’s car back behind the wall.

    With Earnhardt out of contention, Hemric retained the lead by a tenth of a second over Allgaier followed by Nemechek, Custer and Chandler Smith with less than 25 laps remaining. Shortly after and with 20 laps remaining, the battle for the lead intensified as a side-by-side battle ensued between Hemric and Allgaier. Despite being pressured by Allgaier on the inside lane, Hemric, who nearly lost the lead after getting briefly held up by Kligerman, remained on the outside lane to retain the lead.

    With 15 laps remaining, Hemric was still leading by a tenth of a second over Allgaier as both continued to challenge one another amid the turns for the lead. Then three laps later, Allgaier muscled his No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet Camaro ahead from the inside lane. He would then clear Hemric through Turn 2 to assume the lead and continue to lead with 10 laps remaining as he had both lanes under his control.

    Down to the final five laps of the event, Allgaier stretched his advantage to nine-tenths of a second over Hemric while third-place Nemechek trailed by more than two seconds ahead of Custer and Chandler Smith.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Allgaier remained as the leader by more than a second over Hemric. With Hemric unable to close the deficit amid lapped traffic, Allgaier was able to navigate his way around the 0.533-mile oval circuit for a final time and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim the checkered flag and win for the third time this season by more than a second over Hemric.

    Photo by Chad Wells for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    With the victory, Allgaier notched his 22nd career win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, his third of the season, his first since winning at Daytona International Speedway in late August and first at Bristol since 2010, where Allgaier had claimed his first Xfinity career victory. The victory, which also marked the fifth of the season for JR Motorsports, automatically transferred Allgaier, crew chief Jim Pohlman and his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro team a spot into the Round of 8 in the 2023 Xfinity Series Playoffs.

    During his victory celebration, Allgaier, who gave his father and team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr., a ride across the side mirrors of his race-winning car to Victory Lane, broke the news that he will remain as a full-time Xfinity Series competitor for JR Motorsports for the 2024 season.

    “How cool was it that I got to battle with the bossman, Dale Jr.,” Allgaier said on USA Network. “Just cannot say enough for this team. This team has done such an amazing job at this racetrack since I started at JR Motorsports. We led a lot of laps and the monkey was definitely on our back. The pit strategy there, man, coming down pit road all by myself, that was nerve racking. I’m speechless, man. This place, Jim Pohlman and I circled this place on our calendar when we started the year, before we ever even took the green flag lap. We said we want to win Bristol. Man, we won Bristol! It’s Bristol, baby! Let’s go!”

    Hemric, who was announced to be driving for Kaulig Racing for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season earlier in the day, settled in second place for the third time this season and the 13th time in his career. Despite falling one spot shy of claiming his second Xfinity victory, Hemric was left satisfied with his result as he is currently ranked in sixth place in the Playoff standings while 12 points above the top-eight cutline.

    “It’s been a hell of a day,” Hemric said. “I just want it so bad for these guys. Everybody at Kaulig Racing deserves it, so proud of our effort, though. We came a long way over the course of 300 laps there.”

    Nemechek, Custer and Chandler Smith finished in the top five, thus joining Allgaier and Hemric as Playoff contenders to notch top-five results in the Playoff opener. Ryan Sieg, Trevor Bayne, Herbst, Sammy Smith and Grala completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Playoff contenders Sheldon Creed and Jeb Burton ended up 11th and 13th, Kligerman concluded his long night in 31st, 54 laps down, and Hill, Mayer and Berry were the three Playoff contenders who failed to finish the first Playoff event. In addition, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended up 30th after his late ignition issues prevented him from finishing the event.

    There were eight lead changes for five different leaders. The race featured six cautions for 48 laps. In addition, 14 of 38 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Results.

    1. Justin Allgaier, 110 laps led, Stage 2 winner

    2. Daniel Hemric, 33 laps led

    3. John Hunter Nemechek, one lap led

    4. Cole Custer, 109 laps led, Stage 1 winner

    5. Chandler Smith

    6. Ryan Sieg

    7. Trevor Bayne

    8. Riley Herbst

    9. Sammy Smith

    10. Kaz Grala

    11. Sheldon Creed

    12. Derek Kraus

    13. Jeb Burton

    14. Connor Mosack

    15. Parker Retzlaff, one lap down

    16. Brett Moffitt, one lap down

    17. Rajah Caruth, two laps down

    18. Ryan Ellis, two laps down

    19. Stefan Parsons, two laps down

    20. Josh Williams, two laps down

    21. Kyle Sieg, two laps down

    22. Brennan Poole, three laps down

    23. Kyle Weatherman, three laps down

    24. Jeremy Clements, three laps down

    25. Anthony Alfredo, four laps down

    26. Joe Graf Jr., five laps down

    27. Josh Bilicki, six laps down

    28. Blaine Perkins, six laps down

    29. Chad Finchum, 24 laps down

    30. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – OUT, Ignition

    31. Parker Kligerman, 54 laps down

    32. Jeffrey Earnhardt – OUT, Brakes

    33. Austin Hill – OUT, Dvp

    34. Brandon Jones – OUT, Suspension

    35. Sam Mayer – OUT, Accident

    36. Josh Berry – OUT, Accident

    37. BJ McLeod – OUT, Power

    38. Timmy Hill – OUT, Rear gear

    *Bold indicates Playoff competitors

    Playoff standings

    1. Justin Allgaier – Advanced

    2. John Hunter Nemechek +65

    3. Cole Custer +39

    4. Austin Hill +21

    5. Chandler Smith +18

    6. Daniel Hemric +12

    7. Sammy Smith +5

    8. Sheldon Creed +4

    9. Jeb Burton -4

    10. Sam Mayer -14

    11. Parker Kligerman -22

    12. Josh Berry -24

    With the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs underway, the postseason battle for the title continues next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, for the second Round of 12 event. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, September 23, at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Earnhardt Jr. finishes 30th at Bristol amid late ignition issues

    Earnhardt Jr. finishes 30th at Bristol amid late ignition issues

    The conclusion of the Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday, September 15, saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. stand outside of the care center and managing a small smile as he watched his JR Motorsports’ driver, Justin Allgaier, win the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff opener.

    It occurred not long after the 15-time NASCAR Cup Series Most Popular Driver and two-time Xfinity Series champion from Kannapolis, North Carolina, was forced to retire due to a late ignition issue that sidelined him from a potential top-five finish in an event where he ran upfront and was battling amongst the front-runners for the victory prior to his late retirement.

    Making his first of two scheduled Xfinity Series starts while driving his own-operated No. 88 Hellmann’s Chevrolet Camaro, Earnhardt Jr. rolled off the starting grid during Friday night’s event at Bristol from 15th place. He managed to crack the top 10 at the first stage’s conclusion by Lap 85 and collect a handful of stage points while scored in ninth. Restarting sixth at the start of the second stage period on Lap 85, Earnhardt Jr. made his way into the top five as he was running third by Lap 125. Amid a handful of on-track incidents that wiped out his drivers, Josh Berry, Sam Mayer and Brandon Jones, Earnhardt Jr. managed to dodge the carnage and collect more stage points by finishing fourth at the conclusion of the second stage period on Lap 170.

    Electing to remain on the track prior to the start of the final stage period and amid mixed strategy, Earnhardt Jr., who inherited the lead, led the field back to green flag competition with 121 laps remaining. He would proceed to fend off rookie Chandler Smith to clear the field, assume both lanes under his control and lead a total of 47 laps before pitting amid a caution period within 80 laps remaining. During the ensuing restart with 76 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. quickly carved his way up to fourth and would survive another late restart with 44 laps remaining to move up to third as he continued to mix up the competition amongst the Xfinity Series regulars.

    Then while running in fifth place with 30 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. fell off the pace and directed his No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro to pit road before coming to a stop inside John Hunter Nemechek’s pit stall as smoke and fire were seen billowing inside the cockpit due to an ignition issue. Though Earnhardt Jr. was able to escape his smoking car, the ignition issue was enough to terminate his strong race on pit road and out of the race as he ended up in 30th place in the final running order.

    “Somehow or another, the shifter tunnel caught on fire,” Earnhardt Jr. said on USA Network. “I saw some smoke in the car. I smelled it and I was like, ‘Hopefully, that’s not me’. That last lap, I saw a big fireball down in the tunnel in the car and I felt it. My uniform was burning up. I was like I can’t keep going. I gotta stop. I hate it. We were gonna finish in the top 10, maybe top five. We had a shot at winning it if the car was gonna run good at the end. I had fun.””

    The result that left a small burnt mark on his fire suit, though, could not keep Earnhardt Jr. from smiling from both an owner and driver’s perspective amid his strong and “fun” run as he also celebrated Allgaier’s victory and automatic transfer to the Playoff’s Round of 8.

    “I had a blast,” Earnhardt Jr. added. “Check that box. The Hellmann’s car was fast. We drove up there and led laps legitimately. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Man, what’s going on?’ It makes me wanna do more, but I’m going to Homestead. I’ll see everybody there. We’ll have some fun at Homestead riding the fence.”

    Friday night’s Xfinity event at Bristol marked Earnhardt Jr.’s 145th career start in the series and his first since competing at Martinsville Speedway in April 2022. It also marked his sixth Xfinity start since retiring from full-time Cup Series competition at the conclusion of the 2017 season, where he has notched three top-five results and five top-15 results since 2018. To go along with 26 career victories in the Cup circuit, including two Daytona 500s, Earnhardt Jr. is also a 24-time race winner in the Xfinity circuit, with his latest victory occurring at Richmond Raceway in April 2016.

    With his first Xfinity Series scheduled start of this season at Bristol complete, Earnhardt Jr. will make his second and final series start of this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday, October 21, with the event’s coverage slated to occur at 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.

  • Over the Wall with Joey Meier 

    Over the Wall with Joey Meier 

    Joey Meier is best known today as the pilot for Dale Earnhardt Jr. but his journey into the NASCAR world began as a child. He was raised in a racing family in Marathon, Florida, where his dad, Freddy, raced on the beaches of Daytona and then famously qualified for the final race held on Daytona Beach in 1958. 

    Growing up, Meier used to work on cars and quite often went to Hialeah Speedway and Punta Gorda Speedway in the West Hollywood Florida area in Lee County. Racing was always in his life but flying wasn’t. He even raced street stocks and won a race but always thought he would be a better mechanic than a driver. Later in his career, he utilized that skill to help a driver and crew chief with feedback during a race.  

    MW: How did you get into flying?

    JM: I graduated high school on a Wednesday and the following Saturday after I graduated, my mom was in an airplane accident. She was with her boyfriend at the time in some type of general aviation – amphibious type airplane, and they were messing around, and they were involved in a very bad wreck. She survived but was never the same. She had broken her neck in several spots but she regained some mobility. I was at the speedway and I got called to go to the hospital. 

    But because of that accident, and I didn’t even know what kind of airplane she crashed in, it immediately sucked me into aviation. But I never thought I was smart enough to be a doctor, a lawyer, or a pilot. And so it was never in my reach. That was my thought process. 

    But at the end of her recovery, I found myself very invested in the aviation world. I took pilot lessons and got my initial pilot’s license and I didn’t have a direction on the aviation side.

    So, I actually went back to aviation maintenance for two and a half years. I still really didn’t have a direction but my great uncle was an airline pilot and he allowed me to pursue a part of the flying side as far as being a mechanic. I was still young, not quite twenty years old. So once I realized that I could take my love and passion for racing and pursue it via an aviation entrance, that’s where it all began. 

    And ever since then I’ve gone on to fly charter cargo maintenance and went to work in the airlines for five years. But the entire time I was doing that, I was pursuing a job with Dale Earnhardt. 

    So my future boss at the time, Mike Collier, it just happened to work out that in 1997 when they expanded their flight department with Dale, they called one day and asked, ‘Are you still interested?’ I said, ‘Yep’ and I was in his office two weeks later and started at DEI.

    MW: After your final season, with Brad Keselowski, how and when did you have this conversation with Dale Jr. about becoming his pilot, the opportunities it would bring, and what it would require?

    JM:  Midway through 2018 as drivers do, they were looking to make a change. Brad wanted to take me off the roof to pursue a different direction in his flight department and in his spotting department. So after multiple conversations in which I didn’t want to come off the roof, we agreed to step away from the spotting and flying side at the end of 2018.

    But he needed somebody to fill in flying in 2019. So I actually went and I stayed at Penske from a spotter standpoint and spotted the Wood Brothers car in 2019 and did a little bit of flying for Brad. But then also flew for Victory Air which is another race organization that just does aviation for race teams that don’t have their own flight department. So I spotted the Wood Brothers and flew for Brad, a little bit and Victory Air a little bit and that got me through the end of August in 2019.

    Dale had an event occur in Bristol in 2019 that changed the direction of his flight department and opened up an opportunity for employment right away, and as they were searching for someone to take a place that was opening. I was involved in those conversations of if I knew of anybody and it was a perfect opportunity for me to change directions and what I felt was a better course in my life and I went to work for him in December of 2019.

    MW: I’ve talked to a couple of people that have actually flown with you and they’ve said that you have kind of like a signature move? 

    JM: What we used to do and I don’t do it anymore because we haven’t really experienced the opportunity to, but, back in the day, whenever we went to race, we would do a victory lap before we took off. And what that consisted of was on the ground before you took off, you would actually ask (and most of your Towers would allow it) to simply do a Victory 360 on the runway and make an announcement, “Hey congratulations,” kind of like what you would do with the race car. You go around in circles with your hand out in the air. 

    So that’s what we’re doing with the airplane and it seems to be what all the guys are now doing. So, if you have an opportunity to get on a flight where the team has won, a lot of the pilots will still do the 360, but it’s on the ground. I don’t know if it’s a signature move but, I definitely was one of the first that did it to celebrate whenever we’d win a race. 

    MW: What’s the difference between your communication while flying and while spotting?

    JM: The difference with me from a flying standpoint as you got to remember in flying, you only have one radio and there might be 20 aircraft on the same radio, so I don’t want to say a lot of words. But I want to be very concise with what word I say. That one word will convey a very large message. So I want to be on the radio as short as I can and I transferred that over to the spotting so we could get in these different styles of techniques years ago.

    Plate racing is where the word energy came from and it was very successful at the time. And now that word has gone. It’s taken on its own little life but, I never wanted to spot as much as I like talking clearly, I always wanted to try to keep my words in my messages as short as possible, while trying to convey, a very large message with the least amount of words possible

    MW: I was going to ask if you ever watch from the roof, and if so, has it ever made you want to get back into spotting?

    JM: This year I’m going to have an opportunity to spot for my current boss as he runs a couple of Xfinity races. He’ll be running at Bristol and Homestead. Also, I’ll be spotting for Carson Kvapil during his truck debut at Bristol and I’m looking forward to that immensely. (Meier also filled in for T.J Majors while he was out sick recently).

    Also, I was fortunate enough last year as a lot of the truck teams were looking for spotters and I was fortunate enough that the KVM Truck team with John Hunter called and I was able to spot in Knoxville with him. We had an amazing amount of fun. And then at the same time, Ryan Blaney’s spotter, Josh Williams had a chance to run a modified race at Caraway, and I went up and spotted him and we had a really good time.

    And that made me realize that I do miss it. I enjoy it thoroughly. I’ll also travel with Dale on The Late Model side whenever he does a Late Model race. It’s kind of a volunteer group of guys because we don’t race full-time. We’ve raced in North Wilkesboro and Florence. And we did that a couple of times this year. 

    I’ll also travel with Dale on The Late Model side whenever he does away a Late Model race. It’s kind of a volunteer group of guys because we don’t race full-time. We’ve raced in North Wilkesboro and Florence. And we did that a couple of times this year.

    MW: Is there anything that you and Dale do together, particularly outside of racing? 

    JM: No, it’s definitely a working relationship and that’s fantastic. We text quite a bit back and forth when we’re not working together, relative to whatever it might be, you know. As long as it continues that way because we have a good working relationship, I hope I can keep doing that. 

    MW: With you having all of this valuable knowledge and experience, has it ever crossed your mind to enter the booth or be a Pit Road commentator at any point?

    JM: You know, back in 2013 MRN was gracious enough to put myself and the team up with Woody Cain and we had our own podcast. It ran for nine years. I thought we had a lot of good times. We were under the MRN Banner in which we had some guidelines. If an opportunity presents itself, I’ll tell you who does a really good job nowadays and I would love to do it and wish I could have been in that spot but Coleman Presley has been approached by Fox and does some TV from the roof from the spotter’s viewpoint.

    I think that’s wonderful. I’ve always said that I thought that in the future and I was clearly wrong, but I always thought there’d be crew chiefs from the roof because you see a much bigger picture. Now, one of the reasons I’m wrong is because technology has brought all that information to the computer tables in their pit boxes. So they don’t need to be on the roof anymore to see what the spotter sees. But it’s still a good viewpoint.

    Visually obviously, the spotters will always stay on the roof. But Coleman does a really good job. And if that opportunity ever presented itself, I’d love to do it. I do miss being at the racetrack. Now, I’m not going to risk or entertain moving on from the position I’m in now, because this is something I hope I can stay for the next 10, or 20 years doing. As I know, it sounds, a long way away but. my health is virtually perfect.

    MW: What do you do while Dale’s working?

    JM: Melissa, that’s a good question because now that I’m not involved in racing, there’s no need for us to stay with the race team, right? So the flight department has its own budget and our requirements are to try to be as efficient as possible. If you’re traveling as much as I do; you know that the closer to the racetrack/airport, you get, the more expensive your hotels are. All right, so we don’t need to be there. I don’t need to be close to a racetrack or close to the airport. I land and I can drive. For instance: I can go north from Daytona or north from Homestead or wherever I have to go to get what’s a little more efficient for our hotel needs. So I do that and we’ll get in a car and we’ll drive

    40, 50 miles up north. This is also allowing me to enjoy one of my greater hobbies that I enjoy away from racing and that’s bowling. And what I do is – I carry a set of bowling balls with me in the airplane. Actually, I carry three with me wherever I go. And I do a lot of tournaments on the road, or I just do some open bowling and practicing or some tournaments. And I’ve had the luck to run into some good people around the U.S., and I’ve actually taken some instruction which I did down in Daytona in March, which was really cool, but allows me to bowl because I’m a bowling fool. I work to support my bowling habit.

    MW: Is there anything on your bucket list you have yet to achieve?

    JM: Professionally, all I’ve ever wanted to do is my job. Hopefully, I can carry this off into the sunset. My bucket list is to able to finish that out. Personally, I’ve got two wonderful kids. One’s in the Navy and one’s a manager at Celsius Manufacturing. They’re just now starting their lives right there just getting into their 30s. Believe it or not, I’ve got two wonderful grandkids, and as a grandfather supporting them is a very unique experience and I’m looking forward to continually experiencing things in life with my wife, kids, grandkid, and our dogs. I don’t really have a bucket list, I just want this ride to continue on.

    I’d like to personally thank my friend, Joey Meier for this interview as I’m grateful for the many opportunities we’ve had over the years to chat about racing and flying. 

    Joey Meier hands Dale Earnhardt Jr. the American Flag at Dover Motor Speedway after 9/11.

  • Travis Mack to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Charlotte

    Travis Mack to call 100th Cup event as crew chief at Charlotte

    A significant milestone start is in the making for Travis Mack, crew chief for Daniel Suarez and the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team in the NASCAR Cup Series. By participating in this weekend’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Mack will call his 100th career event as crew chief in NASCAR’s premier series.

    A native of Louisville, Kentucky, Mack’s racing career began as a mechanic for Frank Kimmel’s ARCA Menards Series team before joining Hendrick Motorsports as a shock specialist and front-end mechanic in 2004, where he worked with Jeff Gordon before eventually teaming up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Nine years later, he served as a car chief for JR Motorsports’ No. 7 team and driver Regan Smith in the Xfinity Series before moving over to JRM’s No. 9 team and rookie Chase Elliott for the 2014 season, where the team ended up winning the series championship. Beginning in 2015, he became a car chief for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team in the Cup circuit.

    At Richmond Raceway in September 2017, Mack made his debut as a Cup Series crew chief in an interim role for Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 HMS team after Earnhardt’s regular crew chief, Greg Ives, was suspended due to a lug nut infraction stemming from the previous event at Darlington Raceway. During the event at Richmond and with Mack atop the pit box, Earnhardt Jr. led 13 laps before finishing 13th.

    In 2018, Mack was named crew chief for Leavine Family Racing’s No. 95 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry piloted by veteran Kasey Kahne. Following the first 15 events of the 2018 season, however, Mack was replaced by Jon Leonard after the team posted five top-20 results and finished no higher than 17th three times. Mack would return to the Xfinity Series to serve as a crew chief for Michael Annett and the No. 5 JRM team for the remainder of the 2018 season.

    In November 2020, Mack, who achieved his first Xfinity victory as a crew chief with Annett at Daytona in February 2019, was named crew chief for the newly formed Trackhouse Racing and driver Daniel Suarez for the 2021 Cup season. Despite being suspended for two of the 26 regular-season events, Mack and Suarez achieved a strong fourth-place run at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Course in March along with a total of three top-10 results and nine top-15 results. While they did not make the 2021 Cup Playoffs, the duo proceeded to finish in the top 15 five times throughout the postseason before concluding the season in 25th place in the final standings.

    Remaining at Trackhouse Racing and paired with Suarez for the 2022 season, Mack led the No. 99 team to two fourth-place results and a total of four top-10 results through the first 15-scheduled events. Then at Sonoma Raceway in June, Mack achieved his first Cup Series career victory as a crew chief when Suarez led a race-high 47 of 110 laps and notched his first career win in NASCAR’s premier series, thus becoming the first Mexican-born competitor to win a Cup event. To go along with five additional top-10 results for the remainder of the regular-season stretch, Mack and Suarez qualified for the 2022 Cup Playoffs. Despite transferring from the Round of 16 to 12 on the strength of three consecutive top-20 results, the duo missed the cutline to the Round of 8 by a mere margin and after a power steering issue at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in October diminished the team’s title hopes. With only a single top-10 result during the final four scheduled events, Mack and Suarez capped off the season in 10th place in the final standings.

    This season, Mack, who remains at Trackhouse for a third consecutive season, has led Suarez and the No. 99 team to four top-10 results through the first 13-scheduled events, with their best on-track result being a fourth-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in February. The duo is ranked in 18th place in the driver’s standings and trail the top-16 cutline to make the 2023 Cup Playoffs by 13 points.

    Through 99 previous Cup events, Mack has achieved one victory, eight top-five results, 21 top-10 results and 395 laps led while working with three different competitors.

    Mack is scheduled to call his 100th Cup Series event as a crew chief in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 28. The event is scheduled to commence at 6 p.m. ET on FOX.